Mike Oren.com

My niece, Brooke, has her birthday (she's turning 2) next weekend, and I'll be in the Chicago area for that and more than likely won't be doing an update to my site that weekend. As for what's been going on since the last update, the IRB has finally been improved and I can now finally begin conducting the user study once we finalize the script for our procedure and make some final updates to the program. My other research project is also going well, while I was working on my audio game project an undergrad that's working on the geology project with me wrote the C++ code I needed in C++ to get the color of the texture at the contact points, so I've now written some preliminary code that utilizes that to adjust the friction levels and play a different sound via a JAVA program.

Outside of research and such, I've found myself missing Danielle more and more. We've been dating for over 3 years and in total we've spent about a year of that time apart (with me in various internships, graduating a semester early, and now being in grad school). I often say it's not a big deal to me, that I just get caught up in work and don't think about how much I miss her, which is partially true. While I'm working I focus on work, but as working all the time isn't good for social, mental, or physical health there are plenty of times when I find myself just thinking about Danielle and missing her. When I'm in bed at night I find myself sad that I can't give her a kiss good night and when I'm out shopping I find myself wishing she were with me, especially when I find something I think she might like (or something I think we can both make fun of together). I mean, sure we talk online and on the phone just about every day, and we've recently taken to mailing letters or cards to one another about once a week. Still though that's not the same, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing her in mid-October when she'll be on fall break and visiting me here in Ames. Until then though, I guess I'll just be content reading her letters over and over again and smiling at the sheets full of kisses she sends me.