Bring on the Funny...

For my regular readers (wait...who am I kidding...) or more accurately the people who have stumbled onto my blog for some reason: you may or may not know that I am in the middle of working on an important step in my research. This means that I do the following things:

• Rarely leave the house
• Spend most of my day legitly staring at my computer screen
• From the last statement, I should add making up words
• Drinking wonderful ice tea (black current is my personal favorite)

The unfortunate side effect:  I feel slightly like a mole or maybe that was because I watched The Wind in the Willows on Dvd.  (There was a tv series too).  I have felt that I needed to bring a little funny into my life (and take regular breaks) every so many hours.  As this is a blog I will point you in the direction of some internet related funniness.

To Keep the Mole-Like Feelings at Bay List:

• Cake Wreaks: Hilarious on weekdays.  Amazing cakes on Sunday.  Plus it is about cake what other reason would you need?
• (The Customer Is) Not Always Right:  I think the title is self explanatory.
• Check out the products at Despair, Inc.  Try not to laugh too hard ;-)
• Article Circle Cartoons: This comic included penguins and polar bears.  (Why are you still here reading my blog?  Did you miss the part about the penguins?)

Well, that is all I have to talk about today.  Enjoy the summer while it lasts!

What's in a name? (Or Notes to Self Regarding Coding)

A couple of months ago (read: end of spring semester), I started writing so code (in java if anyone cares). It all started when I wanted to test some I was considering for my research. Attempting to be smart, I decided I would just write the program for reuse later. Now, that was not my mistake. The mistake was what came next: thinking I would brilliantly name all of my classes really good long descriptive names. My logic being that months later I would easily be able to use the code for the final intended purpose!

I have learned a new lesson: really long names are often just as problematic and did I mention a pain to type? However, I had no problem trying to figure out what was what. I think that was mostly due to the massive comments I left myself too. I have heard the wisdom that descriptive names make the code more "self documenting".

So the question really is: is there a balance between being descriptive and just being silly? Is it better to have names that are only 5-15 characters long? Or is 25+ characters just right or too long? Is it only really long when it gets over 45 characters? (OK I feel like the Goldilocks of programming at the moment...) Does the long names actually make the code less clear?

Wait...I have a blog?

I really should update this more often! But I have been very busy with graduate school and my research. I also decided to make a change to the look of the blog with one of the cool new templates. Maybe this will encourage me to come up with a whole blog of something important. Or (more likely) not. Now I understand micro-blogging, it is easier to come up with just 140 characters!

I have been spending most of my spare time knitting. I am finally getting to be halfway OK at it :) I have enough scarfs to last me for the next few years. Made 2 sweaters so far (1 more successful than the other). Learning socks was a interesting experience.

Anyway, I have a point...maybe. Hmmm...I forgot. Oh right, knitting + grad school + randomness + geekiness = blog. This should be interesting.

And this little blog went to FL...

"What Dad means by "see" of course, is "drive past at 67 miles per hour." Dad feels it is a foolish waste of valuable vacation time to get out of the car and actually go look at an attraction." - Dave Berry (Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need)

A couple of weeks ago I went on vacation to Key Biscayne, FL. (Key Biscayne is very close to Miami/Fort Lauderdale). The beach was wonderful. Unfortunately, it did rain quiet a bit while we were there - but I actually don't think that really took away from the experience. It rained every afternoon - which made it a perfect time to go shopping or eat lunch.

Arrived in the early afternoon - the perfect time for a late lunch. I would highly recommend the Sawgrass Mills Shopping/Outlet Mall in Sunrise. FL. For lunch I recommend the always amusing Rainforest Cafe (I just love when the restaurant has the "storm" part). Rainforest Cafe has a very yummy veggie burger. I always enjoy looking at the outlet stores.

I would also like to mention (not that any of you care - but I am going to anyway) that we had a spiffy Escape Hybrid as a rental car which I absolutely loved. The ride was smooth and the car was really quiet. I also like the size of the Escape - you get the nice space in the trunk for everything but the car isn't "big" (easy to park, etc). Drove fabulous in the rain too.

Other shopping that I recommend: Dadeland Mall and Village of Merrick Park. Dadeland Mall is extremely large! Every store you can think of is located in Dadeland Mall! (There was a very large Apple Store - and yes I did go look in it...just because...it was there...).

The Village of Merrick Park is an absolutely beautiful outdoor shopping area (since it really isn't a "mall" exactly). I purchased a book at the Border Store there that I been thinking about buying: China Bayles' Book of Days. Excellent book all about herbs and a wonderful companion to the mystery series. (This could have something to do with all the herbs I planted...)

During the trip we also eat at the Hard Rock Cafe in Miami. It is located on the bay - very pretty surroundings. (There is also a mall there too). I do believe that the Hard Rock Cafes have the absolutely best veggie burger anywhere! (There are some fabulous desserts too...but I really do go for the veggie burgers!)

The rest of the vacation was spent sitting on the beach, relaxing, and reading. In the late evenings I watched movies: Quantum of Solace and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1957). As I mentioned in my tweets, I enjoyed both movies. (So I will not bore you with the details yet again!)

Books I recommend from my vacation/beach reads:

• The Lara McClintoch Archaeological Mystery Series by Lyn Hamilton
• The Victorian/Edwardian Mysteries by Robin Paige
• The Sir John Fielding Mysteries by Bruce Alexander

Summary: Had great time on vacation! Highly recommend the area for anyone looking to go on vacation. Well thanks for reading!