CRA-W DMP Program Summer 2004

Journal
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Week 7

At work this week I got programs to start compiling and assembling! It felt great the first time I got Hello World to work, I started jumping up and down giddily all over the 3rd floor of ACES. Hello World was actually particularly difficult because it required me to figure out system calls, loading addresses of strings, and variable argument lists. I got function calling and parameter passing to work for integers, as well. I finished off the week tackling the float. Float/integer conversions are kind of a pain. Once that's done, structs are next on my list of things to do, along with figuring out system calls in OS X, which are significantly more difficult than system calls in PPC for linux. Next week Jim Burrill from U. Mass will be here to visit, so it will be nice to finally meet him instead of just seeing the big speaker phone that is Jim sitting in the middle of the table.

I did more ballroom Monday and Tuesday night this week, and then Tuesday night after the lesson I hung out with Javier, the assisstant instructor. On Wednesday night Vinh cooked dinner for me and his friends Annie and Arthur. Vinh is an AMAZING cook. I made him write all his recipes down for me because the meal he cooked us was so, so good. He made a salad out of spinach, cranberries, walnuts, and this homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing with mushrooms. He grilled salmon and skewered vegetables, and he made this pasta with an uncooked sauce that was so very good. For dessert, he grilled peaches, and then dunked them in this sauce he made out of yummy dessert wine, and then he made cream out of whipped cream and ricotta chese and spread that on top. SUCH a good meal! Afterwards we were going to go to the Dallas Night Club for some country dancing, but I was pretty tired at that point and hadn't been sleeping much so I went on home.

Thursday night I went to the first partner tricks class at ballroom where we learned a few dips and drops and this cool move where your partner holds you by your armpits and swings you around in circles with your feet off the ground. That night, I convinced some of the UTBDC people to come to the Austin Swing Syndicate dance with me! It was totally awesome, I was sooo glad they came. I had some of the most fun I've had dancing here that night.

Ian, Vinh, Linda, myself, and Palani at the Austin Swing Syndicate dance Thursday night. Dan was there too, but he left early before I got the picture.

Friday night I did not dance for the first time in weeks. Instead, I went downtown with Walter, Chris, and Jenn. We ate dinner at an Irish Pub, and then we went to Stubb's to see a They Might Be Giants concert. One of the opening acts was actually really hilarious, I enjoyed them a lot (Common Rotation). After the concert, we went to Amy's Ice Cream for some dessert. I had honey graham (soooo good) and Walter and Chris both had Shiner ice cream. Shiner is a local beer that everyone here loves. It was very, very weird to have ice cream that tastes like beer. Saturday I went shopping for the first time since I got here so I could get a new dress for the Austin Ballroom Dancers (ABD) dance Saturday night. I took a nice long bus ride out to Barton Springs Square Mall and I spent waaaay too much money, but I got an awesome dress. Saturday night I went to the ABD dance. It was UTBDC night so anyone with UTBDC got in for $3. A bunch of people from the club came which was really nice, because usually it's just me and Vinh there. Javier came as well, and afterwards he was supposed to give me a ride out to 6th street to meet up with Kartik, Julia, Mike, Walter, Chris, Jenn, and some others who were out playing billiards and drinking. None of them picked up their cell phones though, so I just hung out with Javier for a while instead. I also called Connor that night to wish him a happy birthday. Happy 21st birthday, Connor, you're awesome!!!

The UTBDC gang at the ABD dance Saturday night. Well, everyone but Vinh, who was too busy dancing to be in the picture with us!

Sunday I went into work to try to get floats finished up. I grabbed lunch with Walter, and then tackled the floating point. Sunday evening Javier picked me up and gave me a ride out to Diloris's for ballroom practice. Practice was really fun because Cami and Santos, who are both really good, weren't there, so I got to dance with Javier, Bruce, and Stewart (also all very good) quite a bit. Stewart, the main instructor and head of the gang, helped me out with my standard a bit, and Javier and Bruce taught me some cool Latin stuff.

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