they confiscated the peanut butter

I almost made it through security without a hitch, but the official airport security people had to search my luggage. Turns out that I had accidentally packed a jar of peanut butter in my carry on. ( And, it turns out that peanut butter is considered a liquid.) Now, this wasn't just any jar of peanut butter. I'm not talking about Skippy or Jif. No, this was a jar of P.B. Loco peanut butter. P.B. Loco is a Minnesota-based company founded by 3 former lawyers. It serves up flavored gourmet peanut butters and funky sandwiches. I discovered the store a few years ago at the Mall of America, and I was hooked. There are many cool flavors (they may sound strange, but they taste sooooo good!)- mocha, banana, Asian curry, sun dried tomato, cinnamon raisin, white chocolate raspberry, etc.

While in Ann Arbor, I came across these peanut butters in a spice shop. I was really excited, and I bought the chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter. My knitting needles, hand cream, and contact solution passed through security just fine, but sadly, the official airport security people confiscated the peanut butter. Boo. I'll get over it. And order peanut butter online.

s'mores, sandwiches, and cupcakes

Last night, a friend and I got together for s'mores and a movie at the Michigan Theater, an historic theater on campus. We saw Vicky Christina Barcelona, which I recommend. So, the theater is pretty cool and the interior is like a live theater with a stage, not a movie theater. I am definitely glad that we checked it out.

I spent my last day in Ann Arbor ducking in and out of art galleries downtown. Lots of paintings, pottery, and art that I cannot afford. In a couple of the galleries, the artists were staffing the front desks so I got to chat with them.

So, my favorite sandwich places ever: The Big 10 in Minneapolis, the Meeting Street Cafe in Providence, and now Zingerman's, this popular deli in Ann Arbor. So, here's a strange thing about myself: I don't like to make sandwiches. I will spend embarassingly (is that a word?) lengthy amounts of time baking and cooking, but I hate making sandwiches. I have a friend who, when she eats out, refuses to order sandwiches because these are something that she can easily make at home. I, however, am completely the opposite: rarely will I ever put anything between two slices of bread. I love sandwiches, especially when other people make them for me. So, even though Zingerman's garners rave reviews and several people told me to give it a try, no arm twisting was necessary.

Zingerman's was busy, which was to be expected on a Saturday afternoon. In addition to the deli, Zingerman's has a coffeehouse and a store where it sells pastas, olive oils, gourmet condiments, and baked goods. (Oh, and it is supposed to have an excellent selection of chocolate bars, but I was too focused on the cheese and bread samples to give them a try.) It boasts a friendly staff eager to help and offer samples. Below, you stand in line and place your order; then you head outside or next store to the coffeehouse to take a seat and wait for someone to bring your food. The great customer service keeps everything organized and running smoothly to ensure an experience that could otherwise be very chaotic and unpleasant.

Outside, there were a couple of food tents. Here, I sampled freshly made mozzarella, salami, prosciutto, and bread and olive oil.

The service was quick, and the staff easily found me, patiently and eagerly waiting for my food. Although Zingerman's has a huge selection of sandwiches, it did not take me long at all to decide upon the Reuben- corned beef, Switzerland Swiss cheese, sauerkraut & Russian dressing on grilled, hand-sliced Jewish rye bread. In a NYC Slow Food corned beef taste-test, a panel of judges that included Mario Batali and Jeffrey Steingarten, voted Zingerman's the Best of Show. (Uh, I think I just plagiarized from the website) Why would I order anything else?

The sandwich is huge! (This is the small- I can't imagine what a regular looks like) It was so, so good. Even though it was stuffed with meat, sauerkraut, and cheese, eating it was not nearly as messy or as difficult as I had anticipated. I would have liked to have tried out Zingerman's baked goods (a friend recommended the chocolate cake-but it was rumored to be the size of my head), but I had no room for dessert, so I bought a chocolate chip cookie to eat later. Dubbed the "funky chunky chocolate cookie," Zingerman's chocolate chip cookie did not disappoint. LD recommended that I try the cookie (for my chocolate chip cookie mission research, of course), and I'm glad that I heeded his advice. This cookie was full of bittersweet Belgian chocolate chunks and toasted walnuts in an all-butter batter. Soft, chewy, wonderful. After my adventure at Zingerman's, I stopped at Cake Nouveau.
The chef and owner is a trained artist, and Cake Nouveau specializes in wedding cakes and special event cakes. They sell cupcakes (with rotating weekly flavors) in this small, intimate, and very cute store. It had a good vibe, and the employee who helped me out was very nice. The chef/owner has won some cake challenge competitions on the Food Network, so it is no surprise that the cupcakes and cakes on display were absolutely beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.

It seems as though cupcakes are all the rage now, and normally I don't cave in and buy them in bakeries, no matter how delicious they may appear. I think that bakeries trick its customers: it spends too much time making food look really good and not enough time making sure it tastes good. So, I tend not to buy baked goods because the critical pessimist in me is sure that I'll be disappointed. (plus, the cupcake snob in me believes that I can do better) Well, I'm glad that I broke this guideline today. I chose the Chocolate Truffle cupcake. I was not sure what to expect; I kind of expected the cupcake to taste mediocre, only because I did not think it was possible for something to look good and taste good. I was wrong. This cupcake was moist and oh so chocolate-y, with a light and fluffy chocolate buttercream frosting. Clearly, the chef makes sure that her cakes and cupcakes look and taste impressive. This was absolutely fabulous. My only complaint? That I did not discover this place earlier!

So, that wraps up my trip to Ann Arbor, and I am headed back to Southern California tomorrow morning. I cannot believe how fast this past month flew by!

sights of the u of m

Let me give you a walking tour of the University of Michigan campus. I will start with this giant rock on the corner of Hill and Washtenaw, just a couple steps outside my front door. It seems as though this rock gets painted nearly every other day for all sorts of occasions. I've been here for a month, and I've lost count of how many times it's been painted. U of M students paint this rock blue for game days, and their Ohio rivals have been known to paint over it in red.Next up: This giant cube outside the Michigan Union. You can't tell, but it spins on its axis. Kind of cool.

I've walked through this park many times between Newberry and class.
This is the entrance to the "Diag," a long diagonal path (get it?) through campus.


The Law Quad:

The periphery of campus is surrounded by coffeeshops, restaurants, bars, and shops. Lots of activity, and lots to do. Another note: You've probably noticed that I've omitted the Big House- unfortunately, the Stadium is currently under construction.

a picture is worth a thousand words

The legendary Hippie Hash: hash browns, veggies, and feta cheese:
Best ice cream ever: Kilwin's Ice Cream

Next up: the Gerald Ford Presidential Library







Hidden behind the staircase: Watergate

and then: The Wave Fields by Maya Lin


And finally: the Museum of Natural History

Highlights from ICPSR

Save the residuals. Some matrices look perfectly nice and well behaved, but they are KILLERS! Let the numbers work for you, and listen to the story they are telling you. Interpret results both statistically AND substantively. Have some class when you say Poisson; it's not poison. It's not where you go to school but what you do with it. Have confidence in what you do, what you know, and what you can contribute to the field.

One of the most important things that I learned this past 4 weeks is to remember that results have both statistical and substantive meaning. All too often, the p values and significance levels get emphasized so much that the real world meaning of the results simply gets lost. So, my regression professor emphasized over and over that we need to interpret out results both statistically and substantively. Numbers have real world meaning, and it's not all about the asterisks.

All right, I'm off to play now. Stay tuned for pictures!

almost...done...with...stats...camp

This past month has flown by so, so quickly. Stats camp is almost over- I turned in both of my final homework assignments on Tuesday evening, and tomorrow is our last day of class. If I had to sum up ICPSR in one word, I think that I would say that it is intense. In 4 weeks, we learned the amount of class material that is usually learned in a class that is at least a 10 weeks- and most of us took 2 classes. We all started to get burnt out near the end of last week. On Monday, our regression professor asked us a simple question, only to watch our eyes glaze over.

Yet, I am glad that I came to ICPSR. The homework was intense, but it was something that we all went through (or suffered through) together. ICPSR was headquartered in Newberry, where they set up study lounges, computer labs, and a library. (Remember, this is where I found the free coffee!) The offices for the professors and TAs were here too. I really enjoyed learning statistics in this environment because most of us did our homework in Newberry, so there were always fellow classmates, professors, and TAs easily accessible if we had any questions.

I learned a lot, much more than I expected. And, I feel more confident with statistics and I understand it so much better than before. Much of this is to the credit of my regression professor, who is simply an amazing teacher. Seriously, he has a gift. He uses these metaphors and speaks in plain language to explain statistical concepts. Today he taught us about Maximum Likelihood Estimation by using a metaphor about GPS navigation, mountain ranges, and a parachuter. This might sound strange, but I understand MLE, so mission accomplished.

I have 2 full days to explore Ann Arbor before I head back to Southern California. Now I will get to be a tourist, which means that I'm going to wander around, find cool places to eat, and do the things that I wasn't able to do these past few weeks.

8/8/08

So, I have a confession to make. I'm a nerd. Totally geeky. How geeky, you ask? Last night a couple friends and I got together for pizza, beer, and the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. I love all these Olympic. In fact, in bums me out that I'm not home right now, glued to the TV. Because I'm sharing a house right now with about 15 people, I can't have a monopoly over the TV. And oh yeah, I'm also doing lots and lots of stats homework.

Anyway, here's where the geek part comes in. While my friends and I were sitting there talking about how much we loved the Olympics, I was trying to think of ways to tie it into my research. Seriously. I actually gave some thought to this. And shared it with my friends. So, here's what I was thinking: When did the Olympics become political? In the past, countries have boycotted, athletes have demonstrated, and then there was the massacre in Munich in 1972. This year, demonstrators staged protests during the Olympic torch relay runs. And, Iraq almost didn't get to go to the Olympics. All right, I might be missing other events, but I'll move on.

Let's talk about citizenship and representation of a country. Many athletes (Michael Phleps, Shawn Johnson) are citizens of their home countries, train there, and represent their home countries. However, there are several (Adam Harris, Yao Ming) with dual citizenship and choose to represent a country other than the one in which they live and train. What does this say about allegiance, membership, and identity?

Finally, (and this is my personal favorite and gripe) this is what I have to say to the media: enough about all the mothers on the Olympic team. Seriously. Just stop it. Now, I'm a fan of Jennie Finch and Dara Torres too. Really, I think they're just great. But surely there are men (Bryan Clay) who are also combining fatherhood, training, and the Olympics. Where are they? As long as the media focuses on mothers, it exacerbates the notion that raising children is still a woman's job and not a man's. By glorifying Finch and Torres (but not Clay), the media is sending the message that they are extraordinary because they have been able to become Olympians despite being full time mothers. In contrast, Clay is not considered extraordinary because fatherhood is STILL considered to be a part time endeavor, and it is assumed that he has a partner (wife) who assumes child rearing responsibilities. So, the media may be doing something good (showing that women can be both athletes AND mothers), but it is still reinforcing gender roles and stereotypes by focusing on the accomplishments of the mothers and not the fathers.

All right, more on this later. I have to go do stats homework now.

cookies, cookies, cookies

Two super cool things happened today. First, I wrote a computer program that does Ordinary Least Squares. That's right, I don't need Stata, SPSS, SAS, or R to do OLS- today I made my own statistical package. I know that this means nothing to most of you, but it is seriously cool. Second, I just found out that one of my ICPSR friends is friends with the masterminds behind Insomnia Cookies. This company was started by some mastermind undergrads at the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. What began as a late night cookie-baking enterprise among friends morphed into a genius business plan that became Insomnia Cookies. Cookies are freshly baked straight out of this giant blue van, and the company's goal is to provide an alternative to greasy late night snacks. They even deliver- but sadly, not to California. Insomnia Cookies can be found on about a dozen college campuses throughout the United States. I found this franchise stationed outside the Michigan Union:
These cookies are so good- soft, warm comfort food. There are quite a few varieties of cookies- chocolate chunk, sugar, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, macademia nut- and brownies too. I ate the chocolate chunk cookie, and it was probably one of the best that I've ever eaten.

I told LD about Insomnia Cookies, and I said that I might drop out of grad school to bake cookies. (He did point out that the company does have franchise opportunities.) When the political science department decided to support me in learning statistics at ICPSR, I'm sure that it did not intend for me to go to Michigan and decide to change career goals. So, in case I do wind up baking cookies out of a giant blue van, I will be sure to put my newly acquired statistical skills to good use. (Maybe I can design a study that examines cookie preferences.) Oh, and I'll supply the department with a lifetime supply of cookies, which might actually be a good deal. After all, my cookie services will stop when I finish the program- and I don't intend for that to take a lifetime.

The Smokin Fez Monkeys and Mustard's Retreat

Last night, we went to The Ark, this venue in downtown Michigan featuring daily performances by various folk artists. We went to see Mustard's Retreat, a local singing/songwriting duo. This Ohio based jug band, Smokin Fez Monkeys, opened for them. (I don't actually know what jug band means, but this is how the band identifies itself on its CD. On a side note, isn't it cool how I've figured out how to link websites to my blog posts? Neat-o.)

So, Mustard's Retreat is composed of these 2 men about my dad's age who sing and play a bunch of different guitars that all sound the same to me. They've been singing and songwriting together since the 1970s. The music was super mellow and they had good harmonies, and I knew that my parents would enjoy it. The Smokin Fez Monkeys was composed of 4 men and a woman who plays the violin. One guy plays the bass, another plays the banjo, another played this instrument that looked like a guitar, and the last guy played percussion, only it was this upright smorgasbord of various noisemakers. The music was also sprinkled with harmonicas, jugs (is this why it's a jug band?), etc. This band was awesome; they were quirky, upbeat, funky, and original. The music was unique, and it sounded bluegrass and folk-like to me. I could have listened to them for the entire evening, which is why I purchased their CD.

Funnily, we were the youngest group at the Ark last night. The rest of the audience were around our parents' age. And with a Russian, a Brazilian, and a Korean in tow, we also brought the only ethnic diversity as well.

The Little Brown Jug

It's time for a story. Well, I'm not promising you a good story, but here goes. This is a story about the Little Brown Jug rivalry between Minnesota and Michigan. You can read about it yourself on Wikipedia (it's a credible source, right?), but I'll give you the abridged version. The football rivalry started in 1903, when Michigan came to Minnesota. Fearing that the Gopher fans would contaminate the water supply, Michigan Coach Yost sent his student manager out to purchase a water jug. Anyway, of course Michigan was on a 28 game winning streak, and Minnesota somehow managed to tie the game. The game was called (I don't know what this means, but this is what Wikipedia said), Minnesota fans rushed the field, and the Wolverines left behind their water jug. Minnesota repainted the jug and commemorated the game by writing the score on it. Later, Yost wrote to Minnesota, requesting the jug. The response? Coach Cooke wrote "We have your little brown jug; if you want it, you'll have to win it." And of course, Michigan won it back when the two teams met up again in 1909. And Michigan continues to win it, over and over again.

On my first night in Ann Arbor, I passed the Brown Jug Restaurant. Michigan is really proud of their football program, and rightly so. According to Wikipedia, Michigan leads the rivalry 65-22-3. I'm no statistician (not yet, anyway), but that's about a 3 to 1 lead over Minnesota.

This story isn't over yet. On Wikipedia, there is a picture from the 2003 matchup. Apparently, this game is so important because it is considered to be the biggest comeback in Michigan football history. That was the year that I was in the marching band (colorguard), and if you look closely, you can see the band in the photo. Anyway, Minnesota built up this huge lead against Michigan and it seemed that we would finally win the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 1986. I, along with thousands of other frustrated and disgruntled Gopher fans, watched Michigan score touchdown after touchdown in the 4th quarter to win the game.

Go BLUE!

Yesterday, I learned about BLUE (Best Linear Unbiased Estimators) in my regression class. Ha! Now I know why ICPSR is at the Univ of Michigan. (Get it? 'Cause the colors are blue and gold) My regression professor is super cool and an excellent instructor. He is dedicated to helping students truly understand statistics, and (do I dare say this?) he makes statistics...fun. Seriously. If we were to compare statistics to driving a car, this professor wants us to understand not only how to drive the car but also understand what is going on under the hood. I had the pleasure of picking his brain during his office hours yesterday, and I became an even bigger fan.

Last night a couple friends and I ate yummy Indian food and wandered around downtown. We all kept commenting on how cool Ann Arbor is and how our current places of residence are nothing like it. A nice college town, Ann Arbor has personality (unlike Irvine, which has no soul). Anyway, we ended up at the Monkey Bar, sitting outside and drinking margaritas. Then we headed over to Kilwin's for some hand dipped ice cream in homemade waffle cones. Kilwan's also has a chocolate shop and makes fudge. It smelled amazing.

Today, I went to an ICPSR picnic and met some more people. Tonight, I am going to a comedy club. In the meantime, I am going to be doing some homework.

the tour of scotland

Well, I could tell you about how I spent a really long and tedious time today calculating the coefficients to a multivariate equation, but I'm almost positive that you would prefer that I discuss scotch instead. Last night, my friend Bruce and I went to Ashley's, a local pub along State Street. (It reminded me of the Big 10 in Minneapolis, except with a way bigger and better beer selection.) I drank a pint of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a local brew. It was a fantastic porter. Bruce and I shared an order of Stilton Fries, waffle fries covered in Stilton and served with a jalapeno dipping sauce. They were highly recommended and a local favorite. Then Bruce decided that we should sample the scotch. We got a Flight of Scotland, which had 4 samples: Auchentoshan, Glengoyne, Glenfarclas, and Bunnahabhain. Now, my friend seems to be an experienced connoisseur of liquor, while I am not. The sampling went something like this:

B: (After a quick explanation of Scotland and where all the samples come from: highland, lowland, etc; B hands me the Auchentoshan) Now, smell the scotch and tell me what it reminds you of.
K: (Sniffing) It smells like tequila.
B: (laughing) Try again. Really inhale.
K: Still smells like tequila to me.
B: Let me try. (So, he takes the shot, inhales, and starts talking about how he smells the aromas of cherrywood and a bunch of other stuff.)
K: Okay, I'll try again. (Deep inhale) Still smells like tequila. (Then I taste the scotch) And it tastes like tequila, too.
B: (shaking head at me and taking the scotch) I taste cherrywood...(and then he lists of a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember right now)

So, the scotch sampling went on like this until we got to the last sample, the Bunnahabhain. This one still smelled like tequila to me, but a smoky one. When I tasted it, it didn't taste like tequila, but rather a campfire in my mouth. That's exactly what I said, too. So, it was fun to sample the scotch, but clearly I don't have a sophisticated palette or discerning nose. Or, maybe I just drink too much tequila.

(I should point out that the night of beer and scotch had no effect on the length of time it took me to calculate coefficients today. If you saw the equation, the data, and all the requisite steps, you would understand.)

and this one time, at stats camp...

Stats camp is underway! Okay, the formal name is ICPSR, or the Inter Consortium for Political and Social Research. I am taking Categorical Data Analysis and Regression II: Linear Models, and I'm attending lectures on Matrix Algebra. Hey, don't navigate away from this page! You've stopped reading this, haven't you?

Okay, so some cool things (seriously, I am easily amused): ICPSR is headquartered in a neat-o undergrad residence. They've set up a library so we can check out books and articles, a computer lab, and study lounges. AND they have free, all you can drink coffee!!! (I am without a coffee maker, so this makes me very happy.) Other cool things: I found a Bruegger's Bagels and a Jimmy John's. I just got a fan, so my quality of life has improved significantly. And I took a walk tonight and saw fireflies, I mean lightning bugs! (Is that the name?)

So, I've met some nice people, and I've seen a few familiar faces. Stay tuned!

will the real U of M please stand up?

So here I am, blogging to you from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Let me start off by saying that you really can't get a break when it comes to visiting the Midwest. If you go in the winter, the weather is snowy and cold. If you go in the summer, it's hot and humid. And anyone who has lived in Minnesota would say that these are really the only two seasons. In case you've forgotten, I am in Michigan for a month long statistics workshop, also known as stats camp. Yeah, yeah, make all the jokes you want. After going to Girl Scout Camp, diving camp, band camp, and colorguard camp, let's add one more to the list.

I took a quick walk around the neighborhood tonight. The campus reminds me of the University of Minnesota, and the neighborhood bears some resemblance to Dinkytown. I made a new friend at UCI a couple months ago. He is originally from Detroit and he graduated from the University of Michigan. When I told him that I graduated from the Univ of MN, he said that a common pastime of Michigan students was to debate which school (the Univ of MN or the Univ of MI) was the real U of M, all over pitchers of beer. They never came to a consensus, and I told him that we did not have similar conversations in MN. I guess we just skipped the debates and went straight for the beer.