Living only a couple of miles from UW now, I find myself popping in and out of campus more often. I spent most of today at various libraries on campus. I had never before been to the Suzzallo library, and it took my breath away today when I walked in.

Picture taken from my camera phone, and from halfway along the hall. You can’t see the window decorations in this photo, but they were beautiful. The whole thing had an old church feel to it.

Right outside this hall, the world’s largest book was showcased. It was a book on Bhutan. As big as it was, it seemed to me like that record could be beaten :).

Nothing beats 70F and sunny Seattle. I spent a little bit of the evening at Gasworks Park and the views were breathtaking. Photos taken from my phone.

My grandfather passed away last night. Two months ago, my grandmother, his wife, passed away. They were wonderful parents, amazing grandparents and loved us all dearly. Until the very end, they played pivotal roles in all our lives - guiding, wishing, praying and wanting the best for all of their grandchildren. And now they leave this void that cannot be filled.

I wish they waited until I could see them again. Memories of the last time I saw them three years ago haunt me. But in writing this and crying through it, I have made peace with them leaving.

Thaatha, Paati - We know you are in a better place. Please continue to watch over us from the heavens above. We miss you.

(Picture taken from my phone. Black and white wasn’t intentional, the camera decided it was good enough.)

I had a fun day with my team today, skiing at Stevens Pass. Conditions there were perfect for skiing - new powdery snow, 29F, bright & sunny, and hardly any other skiers.

Koshal, my brother for the uninitiated, was featured in an article on the Seattle Times (the popular local newspaper in Seattle).

One UW student who made that move is Koshal Thirumalai, 21, a junior majoring in computer engineering.

“I definitely wanted to go to school in Washington or California,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to go anywhere else if you are into computers. That’s pretty much where the tech hubs are.”

There’s even a cool picture of him.

MSNBC’s “The Week in Pictures” is one of the best photo journalism websites around town. They keep me coming back every week with a fresh set of stunning pictures. You even get to vote on your favorite one at the end.

I only wish that they were lest protectionist about it. I can’t find an easy way to link to the pictures, and the only way to see them is a flash slideshow. In fact, there isn’t an an easy way to even get to the slide show other than the main page. From their own help page:

How do I bookmark or save a link to a slide show?
Send the link to yourself using the “Email this” link in the lower-right corner of the slide show. Use the address generated in the e-mail to return to the slide show in the future.

That’s just silly.

This Saturday, I’m moving out of Redmond (98052) and into Capitol Hill (98102).

While I’m not looking forward to the commute twice a day, I am looking forward to a much nicer apartment, a much more ’soulful’ neighborhood, and as always, a new beginning.

Tomorrow, I’m through with my Compilers course for this quarter. I was hesitant to sign up for it at the beginning of the quarter, but I’m glad I took it. I learned a lot from this course.

If you think you’re missing out on all the fun, don’t worry. All the lectures (video + presentation + annotations) are recorded and stored for eternity. Play them back anytime from the course website.

Charles Simonyi, an ex-Microsoftie, became famous last year as a space tourist. Late last year, he recounted his experiences - training and the actual flight - through a talk at UW. If you have a free hour, this is a good way to spend it.

Training and Reality: Adventures of a Spaceflight Participant

1. I switched to a new team at Microsoft, doing some incredibly cool new stuff. I’ll eventually be able to talk about it.
2. I’ve been working on a Java compiler in Java for my Compilers class at UW. It’s intense. I finished up with Artificial Intelligence last quarter, that was a great class.
3. I flew back down to UMD, recruiting for Microsoft. I hadn’t been back to campus in 4 years, it was a blast from the past. Walking down the halls of the old engineering building brought back a lot of memories.
4. I bought Rock Band for my 360. It has taken over my weekends.
5. And later this month, I’m switching apartments again. After almost 4 years, Redmond has tired me out. I’m moving to either Capitol Hill or U-District (not sure yet where).

Meanwhile, I’m going to try and get back on the blogging train. See you soon :).