Category: Other

Reflecting on the Past Decade

I haven’t posted in a long time, and I keep meaning to come back to writing. Let me just start with taking a moment to reflect on some personal milestones during this past decade:

  • completed a dual-degree graduate program and earned my master degrees in library & information science (2011) and in mathematics (2012)
  • met my now-husband while in grad school and got married (2015)
  • went on my first flight (2010)
  • went on my first international trip (2012)
  • learned to drive and bought our first car (2013)
  • fulfilled my first career goal of becoming a Mathematics Librarian while at Dartmouth (2014-15)
  • bought our first house (2018)
  • birthed our first child (2018)
  • presented my first keynote at a regional conference (2018)
  • published two peer-reviewed articles (2018-19)

I’ve also lived in New York, Massachusetts, Washington DC, New Hampshire, and Utah; went on several road trips across the country, mostly camping along the way; hiked and explored a number of national and state parks; and traveled internationally to Canada, India, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Brazil, and the United Kingdom.

I have many people to thank for their love, care, and support at every step along the way. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my husband who has supported all my endeavors, been with me through all the ups and downs, and brings so much joy to my life; my parents and siblings who can always be relied upon to have heartfelt talks; and the few friends who are scattered around the country but will drop everything to be there for me. I also want to acknowledge every professional who has mentored me, offered advice, or simply wanted to connect.

Thank you ❤️

Reception & “Star Stuff” Challenge Winner

The EHSL Arts and Crafts Exhibit reception was held March 24, and the turnout was small but intimate. Some of my coworkers wanted to know how I made the stars so we had an impromptu hands-on workshop.

Some additional photos from the event, courtesy of Bryan Hull.

And I’m sad to report that there were no winners of the Star Stuff Challenge. Better luck next time! If you’re looking for a tutorial, this one is pretty good:

Star Stuff

Rainbow in a JarI am super excited to be part of the Eccles Health Sciences Library Artists and Crafters Exhibit (March 8 – April 7). Come by to see my origami pieces on display during the Library’s open hours!

Star Stuff
by S.A.Z.
I discovered the craft of origami while in elementary school. My class was reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and learning how to fold our own paper cranes. Over the years I’ve picked up a number of origami books and expanded my repertoire to include flowers, hearts, inanimate objects, and other animals. Nowadays I’ve settled on folding paper stars and looking for creative ways to display them. For this particular arrangement, there are two distinct pieces: “Lucky Stars” (the test tubes) and “Rainbow in a Jar” (see photo). If you are interested in purchasing a tube of stars, please email me.

Challenge: the first person to correctly guess the exact number of stars inside “Rainbow in a Jar” will win a tube of “Lucky Stars.” One guess per person; details and submission form are here. Please read rules carefully before entering. Good luck!

Maui 2017

Maui RainbowAloha! We finally made it to Hawai’i last week! Hubby had a hard time surprising me with this birthday trip (how can you when we have to coordinate time off from work?). So we planned it together and had a fabulous time! Four days in Maui and by the end, I really didn’t want to come back to Salt Lake City. We booked an Airbnb in Makawao (Upcountry) and our hostess was just the nicest, sweetest person. She gifted me a bag of her favorite coffee when she found out it was my birthday.

Makawao was the perfect location for driving to different parts of Maui (e.g. 15 min airport, 1 hr Haleakala, 45 min Lahaina, 15 min Paia, 30 min Kihei). We tried to do as many touristy things as possible: went to a luau; drove the Road to Hana; went for sunrise on Haleakala; and of course, saw some sea turtles. We didn’t have time to go whale watching or snorkeling unfortunately. Instead, we enjoyed our time on a number of great beaches and did a coffee tour at a local farm. Specific places we went…

Groceries

  • Upcountry Farmer’s Market (Makawao) — weekly on Saturdays so we got lucky and bought bread and some vegetables for cooking later. Arjun had a breakfast burrito and I had a hot dog at one of the food stands. Then picked up a fresh coconut from another stand.
  • Rodeo General Store (Makawao) — stopped here for some jam and cheese to go with our bread.
  • Foodland (Pukalani) — grocery chain on the island for all other essentials.

Specialty Food Places

  • T. Komodo Bakery (Makawao) — recommended stick donut
  • Sip Me (Makawao) — coffee was ok; they were training a new barista that day.
  • Coconut Glen’s (Hana) — vegan coconut-based ice cream; it was fantastic!
  • O’o Farm (Kula) — took the “Seed to Cup” Coffee and Breakfast Tour; great experience, great food, great coffee, but I was so wired afterwards.
  • Akamai Coffee (Kihei) — great little coffee place; they roast their own beans.

Food Establishments

  • Feast at LeLe (Lahaina) — I definitely overate for our first-time at a luau. Food and entertainment were both fantastic; plus unlimited drinks.
  • Thai Food by Pranee (Hana) — a pretty good Thai place in the town of Hana.
  • Paia Fish Market (Paia) — THE MOST AMAZING FISH. Hands down. We got the Ahi + Blackened Fresh Catch Plate and onion rings.
  • Grandma’s Coffeehouse (Kula) — a very popular place for breakfast plates.
  • Coconut’s Fish Cafe (Kihei) — excellent fish tacos.
  • Da Kitchen (Kahului) — excellent Ahi Poke Bowl; who knew fish made like this could taste so good?

Sights

  • Whalers Village (Lahaina) — there’s a whale skeleton at the entrance to this shopping complex.
  • Waikamoi Nature Trail (Road to Hana) — very lush green rain forest; the mosquitoes loved me…
  • Garden of Eden Arboretum (Road to Hana) — indeed a tad pricey for admission, but it was a great garden to wander and get lost in.
  • Hana Lava Tube (Road to Hana) — now this was a cool stop. The owner’s brother is actually a geophysics professor here at the U!
  • Haleakala National Park — of course, we had to come here for the sunrise. Unfortunately, the day we picked was rainy and windy.

Beaches

  • Ka’anapali (Lahaina) — near Whaler’s Village; not much shade and lots of resorts nearby.
  • Hamoa (Road to Hana) — the most BEAUTIFUL and PICTURESQUE beach I have ever been to.
  • Ho’opika (Paia) — where we saw sea turtles and surfers go wild in the rain.
  • Kamaole (Kihei) — a beautiful spot facing west to watch the sunset.

And this concludes our adventures in Maui. Click here for photos (and click the ⓘ or see comments for captions). Mahalo!

155 Digits of Pi

I’m going to work it into a poster in our Book Arts Workshop. Look out for a Halloween Book Arts event!

        3.14159265358979323              (4 spaces)
      84626433832795028841971            (2)
     69399375105820974944592             (1)
    307   816       406                  (3,7)
    2      86       208                  (6,7)
           99       862                  (7,7)
           80       348                  "
           25       342                  "
          117       067                  (6,7)
         9821       4808                 (5,7)
        65132       8230     6           (4,7,5)
        647093      8446095505           (4,6)
        822317      25359408             (4,6)
          128         4811               (6,9)
155 digits of pi in the shape of π, 14 lines, 26 characters wide
character occurrence
. 1
0 14
1 14
2 19
3 17
4 16
5 14
6 13
7 10
8 21
9 17