Here's a little archive of the update blurbs I've put on my website...
Hi, I'm currently a third year graduate student at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophysics, and hoping to get my Ph.D. in Astronomy some time before the sun stops burning hydrogen. I did my undergrad at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) double majoring in Physics and Astrophysics, and I'm originally from sunny San Diego, so I'm not yet used to this whole ice age phenomenon here on the east coast. As it is, despite the bone-chilling temperatures, I'm excited to be here at Harvard and in Boston, and I've been diving head first into some astrophysics research in cosmology with Professor Ramesh Narayan and Dr. Joshua Bloom in the Astronomy Department. My work will be supported in part by the NSF through a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. In my day job here, I do research on cosmology and ridiculous astronomical explosions called gamma ray bursts. I also have a keen interest in the interface between astrophysics and the history and philosophy of science, so if anyone feels like chatting about parallel universes, time travel, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, I'm your man. My long term aspirations, in decreasing order of probability, fall somewhere along the lines of teaching astronomy, writing science fiction and screenplays, and going into space as a civilian scientist. On Earth, in my spare time, I've recently taken over as the Resident Advisor (RA) on the Fourth Floor of Child Hall (Child Sky), I've been the Social Coordinator/Web Designer for the Graduate Dormitory Council (GDC), a Teaching Fellow (TF) for Science A-35 with Professor Bob Kirshner, an occasional ultimate frisbee player for Dudley House, and I am currently the editor in chief of a newly formed Graduate Student Humor Magazine, the Harvard Satyrical Press (HSP -- that's quite a few acronyms that I only used once). Anyway, look for us on the web (www.harvardsp.com), or in print around campus. Shameless plugs aside, that's my story. Cheers...Sincerely, Andrew Friedman, 12/3/04 (Here's an archive of recent Updates to the story.)
Hey,
I'm Andrew Friedman, currently a second year graduate student at the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center For Astrophysics, and hoping to get my Ph.D. in Astronomy some time
before the sun stops burning hydrogen. I did my undergrad at UC
Berkeley (Go Bears!) double majoring in Physics
and Astrophysics, and I'm
originally from sunny San Diego, so I'm
not yet used to this whole ice age phenomenon here on the east coast. As it
is, despite the bone-chilling temperatures, I'm excited to be here at Harvard
and in Boston, and I've been diving head
first into some astrophysics research in cosmology with Professor Ramesh
Narayan in the Astronomy
Department. My work will be supported in part by the NSF
through a National Science
Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Other than that, in addition to
classes, I'm the social coordinator and webmaster for the Graduate
Dormitory Council, I'll be TF'ing Astronomy
35 for Professor Bob
Kirshner in the Spring and playing a little Ultimate Frisbee for Dudley
House when the temperatures permit. I'll also be a Non-Resident Tutor at
Eliot House and the editor
of a newly formed Graduate Student Humor Magazine/Website, the Harvard
Satyrical Press. So basically, I've got my hands full. As it happens, I'm
actually taking this Fall semester off due to health reasons, but it's given
me time to recuperate, relax, and do things like write a Science Fiction screenplay,
run a comedy magazine, spend some time at home, and not to mention, update this
webpage. If for some strange reason, this stuff interests you, please check
it out and enjoy. Cheers....Sincerely, Andrew Friedman, 11/28/03 (Here's
an archive of recent Updates to the story.)
Welcome to the ridiculously overdone website of Andy Friedman.
Everybody's got a story, so here's mine, in brief. I just graduated from UC
Berkeley in December 2001 with a double major in Physics and Astrophysics, which
admittedly, was a bit of a crazy thing to do. I almost took a year off, but
after having a semester off plus the summer, I decided that graduate school
was the best place to be. In the end, I decided to head east for Harvard, where
I'm now a first year Astronomy graduate student. I left behind my previous California
life for a few reasons. I was just so impressed with the Astronomy department,
the people here, and the city of Boston in general, and I feel like its a good
thing to try living on both coasts. Out of the places I could have ended up,
this is definitely the place where I'm likely to maximize my personal and professional
success. In any case, I'll be here for the long haul, going for the Ph.D., which
will probably take about 5 years, hoping to eventually end up as an Astronomy
Professor somewhere in the observable universe. If for some strange reason the
stuff here interests you, enjoy.... 10/14/02
Welcome to the ridiculously overdone website of Andy Friedman.
Everybody's got a story, so here's mine, in brief. I've just graduated from
UC Berkeley in December 2001 with a double major in Physics and Astrophysics,
which admittedly, was a bit of a crazy thing to do. I almost took a year off,
but after having a semester off plus the summer, I decided that graduate school
was the best place to be. This summer, I just got back from Alaska, and I'll
be working at a really cool a summer job. Basically, I'll be one of 5 TA's teaching
Physics, Astronomy, Math, and Computer Science through the Summer Science Program,
a 6 week program in Ojai California for really bright high school students,
essentially an astronomy summer camp...it sounds fantastic, but of course I'm
biased. After the program ends in August, I plan to go to Minnesota with the
family and spend some time in San Diego, and maybe make a short film with my
brother Barry, and basically bum around having a good time with as little responsibility
as possible in my days before starting graduate school in Astronomy at Harvard
in the Fall. In the end, I decided to head east for Harvard, leaving behind
all my previous life in California for a few reasons. I was just so impressed
with the Astronomy department, the people that I met there, and the city of
Boston in general, and I feel like its a good thing to try living on both coasts,
and out of the places I could have ended up, its definitely the place where
I'm likely to maximize my personal and professional success. In any case, I'll
be in there for the long haul, going for the Ph.D., which will probably take
about 5 years, hoping to eventually end up as an Astronomy Professor somewhere
in the observable universe. So before I get swamped by the delirium that is
Astronomy grad school, I'm making an effort to do things like updating this
website. If for some strange reason the stuff here interests you, enjoy....
6/25/02
Welcome to the ridiculously overdone website of Andy Friedman.
Everybody's got a story, so here's mine, in brief. I've just graduated from
UC Berkeley with a double major in Physics and Astrophysics, which admittedly,
was a bit of a crazy thing to do. I though about taking a year off to do some
traveling, but since I graduated in 4.5 years, I've essentially already had
6 months off, (plus I'll get the summer), so taking a year off didn't end up
seeming like the right thing to do, since I didn't exactly have a well formed
plan, like spending 6 months in England or something else worthwhile. I do know
that this summer, I plan to spend some time in San Diego, and go to Alaska and
Minnesota with the family (and maybe Vegas with my Dad), along with cool a summer
job. Basically, I'll be a TA teaching Physics, Astronomy, Math, and Computer
Science through the Summer Science Program, a 6 week program in Ojai California
for genius high school students, essentially astronomy summer camp...it sounds
fantastic, but of course I'm biased. Other than that, I plan to make short films
with my brother Barry, do graphic design work, write science fiction, and basically
bum around having a good time with as little responsibility as possible in my
days before starting graduate school in Astronomy. I heard yes from Caltech,
Harvard, UCLA, UCSB, and Stanford (No on Princeton and M.I.T.), and in the end,
I decided to head east for Harvard. I was so impressed with the Astronomy department,
the people that I met there, and the city of Boston in general, and I feel like
its definitely the place where I'm likely to maximize my personal and professional
success. In any case, I'll be in there for the long haul, going for the Ph.D.,
which will probably take about 5 years, hoping to eventually end up as an Astronomy
Professor somewhere in the observable universe. So before I get swamped by the
delirium that is Astronomy grad school, I'm making an effort to do things like
updating this website. If for some strange reason the stuff here interests you,
enjoy.... 5/9/02
Welcome to the ridiculously overdone website of Andy Friedman.
Everybody's got a story, so here's mine, in brief. I've just graduated from
UC Berkeley with a double major in Physics and Astrophysics, which admittedly,
was a bit of a crazy thing to do. But now, with a bit of uncharacteristic good
sense, I've decided to take a year off before grad school to do a bunch of traveling
(I'm thinking about backpacking through Europe, going back to Australia where
I studied abroad for the Spring 2000 semester, and possibly going to Japan.
I also might try to teach some high school kids Physics and Astronomy through
the Summer Science Program, make short films, do graphic design work, write
science fiction, and basically bum around having a good time with as little
responsibility as possible. I still don't know where I'm going for grad school,
but so far, I've heard yes from Caltech, Harvard, and UCLA, and I'm still waiting
on Princeton, M.I.T., Stanford, and UC Santa Barbara. I'm planning now to visit
whatever schools I get into, so if my luck holds, I'll probably be gone for
a month strait hopping from city to city, which will be reasonably insane. Whatever
happens, come Fall 2003, I'll be in there somewhere for the long haul, going
for the Ph.D., hoping to end up as an Astronomy Professor somewhere in the observable
universe. Until then, I get to waste time doing things like updating this website.
If for some strange reason the stuff here interests you, which probably means
we already know each other, then enjoy.... 2/9/02