We went on a quick run yesterday afternoon and finished all the R's. It was a shorter run than we've been doing – just over four miles – and we wanted to squeeze in one run because we've got a special celebrity guest joining us on Sunday, and we didn't want his run to begin with the long boring segment that today's run did. Aren't we thoughtful?
I guess, actually, we also completed the Q's, although there aren't actually any buildings that begin with Q. In case you are curious, here are the letters that we "skipped", since no buildings begin with these letters: I, J, Q, U, X, Z. If you rearrange those letters, you can make the word "quiz".
Our first leg took us to the Recycling Center, right next to the fire station and police office. There are lots of dumpsters and trucks, and this certainly isn't the most scenic spot on our tour. I bet they recycle a lot of paper here, though.
We were totally on the wrong side of campus for our next stop, which is the Red Barn. It is a really cool spot, actually. There were horses on the little riding area right outside, and we stopped and looked at the horses in the stalls, and even considered running through until we saw that a horse was being saddled up and we thought we might disturb it. Someone has written a lot about the history of the Red Barn: you can find more information than you ever wanted to know here and here. Just keep clicking "next" and "previous" and you'll get sucked in like I just did.
Distance: 4.2 miles (a grand total of 145.3 miles). See you on Sunday for the S's. There's a lot; several buildings, not surprisingly, begin with the word "Stanford".
I guess, actually, we also completed the Q's, although there aren't actually any buildings that begin with Q. In case you are curious, here are the letters that we "skipped", since no buildings begin with these letters: I, J, Q, U, X, Z. If you rearrange those letters, you can make the word "quiz".
Our first leg took us to the Recycling Center, right next to the fire station and police office. There are lots of dumpsters and trucks, and this certainly isn't the most scenic spot on our tour. I bet they recycle a lot of paper here, though.
We were totally on the wrong side of campus for our next stop, which is the Red Barn. It is a really cool spot, actually. There were horses on the little riding area right outside, and we stopped and looked at the horses in the stalls, and even considered running through until we saw that a horse was being saddled up and we thought we might disturb it. Someone has written a lot about the history of the Red Barn: you can find more information than you ever wanted to know here and here. Just keep clicking "next" and "previous" and you'll get sucked in like I just did.
At this point, we had almost run 3 miles, and we had only visited two buildings. Fortunately, everything else was pretty close, including Redwood Hall. It is yet another one of those older buildings in the "All the buildings are named after trees except for Polya and Forysthe" quad. I'm not exactly sure what happens at Redwood Hall; a quick search mentioned "Postdoc orientation" and "IT training", which seems important, I guess.
Ira did float one theory about these buildings, though, that is worth mentioning. As I said, all the buildings are named after trees (Cedar, Cypress, Pine, Spruce) as are the nearby portables (Acacia, Birch, Oak, Juniper, Laurel, Poplar). The two exceptions are Polya, named after the great mathematician George Polya, and Forsythe, named after the first chair of the Stanford computer science department George Forysthe. Why? Well, our theory is that it is a incredible geeky inside joke. One of Polya's great contributions to the field of mathematics was something called a "Polya tree", which has to do with graph theory and combinatorics. And, George Forsythe no doubt had a hand in the theory of a "binary tree," which is an important concept in computer science. We're going to believe that someone knew this and the naming scheme of these "tree" buildings reflects this inside joke.
Our next location was the Roble Modules, which deserves a bit of a rant. On the map, there are two different buildings in the "Roble Modules" area of the map: Bambi and Godzilla. Loyal blog readers will of course note that Godzilla has been removed due to construction on Roble Field, so only Bambi remains. Furthermore, there is no sign labeling the area as "Roble Modules" anywhere. So, to sum up, we've visited a random trailer named "Bambi" three times now: once under the B's, once while we were looking for Godzilla, and once while we were looking for the Roble Modules. Enough, map-maker! We're done with Bambi!
(Hey Ira, someone else has a blog mentioning the wacky naming of Bambi. And, hey look, the first link discusses Memphis BBQ. I think you should get to know him, if you don't already.)
Our final stop was Rogers: The Bridge Peer Counseling Center. It is a cute little cottage across the street from the Faculty Club near Tressider. They do a lot of good work at the Bridge, and I know they have helped a lot of people. I do have to question, map-maker, the way this building is listed on the map, under the R's and with the lengthy description following the colon. Most people know this as "the Bridge", and I'd bet most Stanford students could locate "the Bridge" but have never heard of "Rogers." I think it should be under the B's. Maybe something like "Bridge Peer Counseling Center (Rogers)", since the parentheses are used liberally elsewhere. I think this is the only use of a colon anywhere. It is a nice building, though.
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