Here's a little archive of the update blurbs I've put on my website...


Let's see, who am I? As far as I know, I'm a fourth year graduate student in Astronomy at Harvard, currently freezing my ass off. On the side, I'm a resident advisor in the graduate dorms and the editor of a Harvard's graduate student comedy magazine, The Harvard Satyrical Press (www.harvardsp.com), which is never funny, so don't check it out unless you enjoy not laughing. Other than that, I'm a human being, a Scrabble addict, a virulent idealist, and a human being not located on the political spectrum who'd like to see the space program replace the military industrial complex so we can do something cool as a species before we destroy ourselves. In addition, I like ultimate frisbee, reading anything from political satire to science fiction to technical treatises on parallel universes. I make short films with my USC film school brother and may sell out and make a beeline to the film industry to write sci-fi screenplays and do my best Carl Sagan impression with modern CGI. I would give my left arm to go into space, provided it could be easily re-attached without complications. In any case, that's my story, in brief. I'll let you know as soon as my first novel hits Barnes and Noble. People who are cool and interesting to talk to. People who are funny and laugh a lot. People who aren't afriad of jumping from politics to the perils of dating to the meaning of life in the cosmos. In other words, nerds who beat the stereotypes and manage to be cool at the same time.

My name is Andrew Samuel Friedman, and this is my story...or at least, the official one. I'm currently a fourth 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. Despite the bone-chilling temperatures, I'm excited to be here at Harvard and in Boston, and in my day job here, I've been doing research on cosmology (...MORE)

My name is Andrew Samuel Friedman, and this is my story...or at least, the official one. I'm currently a fourth 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. Despite the bone-chilling temperatures, I'm excited to be here at Harvard and in Boston, and in my day job here, I've been doing research on cosmology and ridiculous astronomical explosions called gamma ray bursts with Professor Ramesh Narayan in the Harvard Astronomy Dept and Dr. Joshua Bloom now a Professor in the Astronomy Department at UC Berkeley. My new project for the thesis will be with Professor Robert Kirshner studying supernova explosions to explore cosmology and the expansion history of the universe. My work will be supported in part by the NSF through a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. 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 also with Professor 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)...look for us on the web (www.harvardsp.com), or in print around campus. Shameless plugs aside, that's my story. Cheers....A.S.F., 9/24/05 (Here's an archive of recent Updates to the story.)

    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. Despite the bone-chilling temperatures, I'm excited to be here at Harvard and in Boston, and in my day job here, I've been doing research on cosmology and ridiculous astronomical explosions called gamma ray bursts with Professor Ramesh Narayan in the Harvard Astronomy Dept and Dr. Joshua Bloom now a Professor in the Astronomy Department at UC Berkeley. My new project for the thesis will be with Professor Robert Kirshner studying supernova explosions to explore cosmology and the expansion history of the universe. My work will be supported in part by the NSF through a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. 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 also with Professor 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)...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, 4/25/05 (Here's an archive of recent Updates to the story.)

 
   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