...well only if I choose to.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of IAP (Independent Activities Period)...It's one of my favorite times of the year because everything is pretty much optional.

MIT with no class?!?!?! SCORE.

During January, a lot of people do externships, some go to Zambia, some France, some stay at home ... and some go to lab.

After a brief search on the IAP website, I found some pretty interesting activities:

Opera - the Ultimate Dramatic Experience
David Collins M.Ed. pre-opera lecturer and historian for Opera Boston
Tue Jan 16, Thu Jan 18, Tue Jan 23, Thu Jan 25, 10:30am-01:00pm, 4-160

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: none

Opera is the marriage of theater and music. In 4 sessions we explore the fascinating and addictive world of opera, using audio and video examples to follow the history of opera from the late Renaissance through the death of Puccini in 1924. Among the composers represented will be: Monteverdi, Rameau, Purcell, Handel, Gluck, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Gounod, Offenbach, Verdi, Wagner, Richard Strauss and Puccini. Emphasis will be placed on understanding opera as a dramatic art form expressed through music. Consideration will be given to different dramatic aesthetics - crucial factors in a composer's approach to opera. This course is geared for both beginners and those wishing to expand their operatic horizons.
Contact: Steve Michaels, E38-400, x8-8104, michaels@ilp.mit.edu
Sponsor: Music and Theater Arts

Science Policy Bootcamp
William B. Bonvilliam-Director MIT Washington, DC Office, Taras Gorshnyy, Alicia Jackson, Asher Sinensky and Cathribe Tweedie
Mon Jan 22 thru Fri Jan 26, 09:30am-12:30pm, TBD

Signup by: 08-Jan-2007
Limited to 25 participants.
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Geared for Grad Students or Post Doc. in Science or Engineer

Science and technology public policy strongly guides the future of science education and research. Despite significant interest in science policy issues within the graduate student community at MIT, there exist few opportunities for increased understanding about and practical involvement with science policy. Given the challenges to future federal support, the aim of this five-day seminar is to introduce graduate scientists and engineers to the ‘nuts and bolts’ of science policy making. The course will expose students to the fundamental structure and dynamics of science policy and inform them of routes into a policy experience or career. This seminar is cosponsored by MIT's President's Office that strongly supports the integration and deepening of science policy awareness within the MIT community at all levels.
Web: http://stellar.mit.edu/S/project/policybootcamp/index.html
Contact: Alicia Jackson, 13-4057, x3-7234, jacksona@mit.edu
Sponsor: Materials Science and Engineering
Cosponsor: Presidents Office

AND MY FAVORITE MIT EVENT PERIOD HANDS DOWN AND FIREWORKS!!!!111ONEONEONE!!!

Annual MIT Mystery Hunt
Dan Katz, Jennifer Braun
Fri Jan 12 thru Mon Jan 15, 12pm-12:00am, Lobby 7

No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 15-Dec-2006
Single session event

Join us for the 2007 Mystery Hunt, the annual MIT puzzle and sleep-deprivation competition. Get together with friends to solve puzzles that will lead you to a coin hidden somewhere on campus. The hunt starts Friday at noon and ends when the coin is found, some days later.

Please sign up at the website. Lone hunters looking for a team can sign up as unattached hunters. New hunters always welcome.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/
Contact: Jennifer Braun, puzzle@mit.edu
Sponsor: Mystery Hunt

I'll be playing with some of my best friends this year, and I'M INCREDIBLY STOKED.

If you'd like to play remotely, shoot me an email to bryanblogs [at] mit [dot] edu, and I'll respond with some info.

SO EXCITED.

PS. If you refresh the IAP homepage enough, you can see my friend Yonas, he's juggling. He's also playing on our mystery hunt team.