March 2011
31 posts
No. 130
What is it about hosting that is so exhausting (in such a good way)? Why is giving something your full attention so incredibly draining?
Making sure someone is comfortable and at ease at all times, stuffing them full of more food than they think they want, manipulating them into letting you pay for everything, and in general watching like a hawk and staying one step ahead of your guest sounds...
February 2011
28 posts
No. 129
Hey. I write blog posts and doesn’t afraid of anything. However, I almost never write my posts on time, and end up writing them at two in the morning before I go to sleep. It’s pretty irresponsible. But tonight I am trying to write it a little bit earlier. There is lightning. And a banana. I am kinda hungry actually. But I shouldn’t be. It will be ok. The lightning...
No. 128
I can’t remember the last time I spent an hour and a half on my dinner, but I did today and I am not sorry.
A friend I haven’t seen for a long time flew in today and, after a round of highly delicious fondue with bread and apples, we set out to find real dinner in a restaurant with the friend who graciously provided transportation to and from the airport. I also can’t remember...
No. 127
Trimester report! It was put to me yesterday that I have passed the third-of-the-way-through mark in this project. I had already acknowledged that fact, but still wasn’t sure quite what to make of it.
On one hand, I’ve sometimes felt like I can’t come up with anything worth saying and the semi-coherent ramblings my brain spits up certainly can’t be improving my writing...
No. 126
Suppose a sinking city in the rust belt has an airport that is a hub for a major airline. Suppose that it must expand its runways to stay competitive. Suppose constructing these runways will destroy a significant amount of wetlands around the airport. What should the airport do?
If it builds, it damages a high-quality wetland ecosystem that (among other things) houses endangered flora and fauna,...
No. 125
I do not understand my peers’ collective obsession with girl scout cookies. Why are they so much better than other cookies? Is it the affiliation with girl scouts? The taste? The packaging? I was a part of something called Indian Princesses as a kid, so if it’s connected to some larger love of all things girl scout because they’re great or something, I’m thoroughly out of...
No. 124
I know I’ve had a body for quite a few years and all, but the more I have it, the more I get the impression I really don’t know anything about how it works.
Eat bad food or too much of one food, and your stomach will get back at you. Sure. Trip over your shoelaces and faceplant, and you need look no further for the cause of your lovely blossoming bruises the next day. Fine. I am...
No. 123
Music is great. Playing music is even better. Playing music with other people is best of all.
I met for the first time with a group of musicians today who get together to talk about and jam out with traditional Irish music. I’ve wanted to get into it for years now, and playing in ensembles is the bread and butter of my love for flute, so basically everything about this is wonderful. During...
No. 122
Ever since the question “What do you want to be?” has been put to me seriously (i.e. in the past few years), the only consistent answer I have given has been “Not a teacher.” So many unruly children! So much investment in the work! So hellish-sounding! My mother, who is a teacher, generally kept her mouth shut about this, except for the occasional comment about life...
No. 121
One of my favorite things about being in college is that whenever I meet someone new, I immediately assume that they are somehow mad awesome and if I can’t see it right away, all I have to do to uncover it is look harder. The part I like about that is that I have yet to be wrong.
Not five minutes ago, I saw “Songs for a New World,” a not quite musical, not quite song cycle piece...
No. 120
I freely admit that I haven’t had loads of work experience - I don’t even earn enough to file a legit tax report - but in my humble opinion, I have consistently had some of the best jobs ever (not to mention the best bosses ever).
The first paycheck I got was via camp counselorship at a camp I’d loved for years as kid. My boss was young, hilarious, and so awesome. He once shot a...
No. 119
So I posted about time dilation a few days ago because it made my head go all wonky and I was having a hard time processing it. After explaining it like twenty times to whoever I could collar and jabber at for a few minutes, and after rereading my textbook at least that many times as well, I’m slightly more okay with it.
That’s nice, because now I also have length distortion and...
No. 118
The snow is melting and there is great sadness - in the human community, certainly, but also in the snowman community. One (presumably homeless) snowman has parked himself behind our dorm with a cardboard sign that reads, “THE END IS NEAR.” There are two children with him, both with arms raised up and fingers splayed in body language that communicates nothing but horror. One of them is...
No. 117
Quite a few lovely coincidences have collided with my life of late. For example, there’s the other 365 project I follow, who collaborated with (and linked to) a similar project. On the very first page of this last project is a picture with a quote from one of my all-time favorite songs by one of my all-time favorite bands. Upon discovering this, I fangirled a little, grinned a lot, and...
No. 116
I know about this article because I follow Things Organized Neatly. I follow Things Organized Neatly because it brings me joy. As someone who likes to organize things neatly but does so in a functional rather than beautiful way, I enjoy seeing my quotidian actions elevated to such an aesthetically pleasing level.
Besides my need for clean spaces, I think this has something to do with my policy...
No. 115
Among the many things I have learned recently, relativity stands out as one of the most mind-bending.
One of my courses this semester is a physics class for humanities kids, taught by a professor who reminded me of Nash in A Beautiful Mind almost as soon as he opened his mouth. The impression one gets of watching him lecture is one of an awkwardly charming genius. It takes a certain kind of...
No. 114
There’s something unbelievable about the way mashups work. For me, their beauty lies in the bizarre incongruity inherent in the genre that somehow still balances out perfectly in good mashups.
Some artists, I like because when I listen to their music I think why didn’t I write this? I could totally have written this. Then I pretend for a few moments that I did, and am totally inspired...
No. 113
I love to dance. I love to be barefoot. Dancing barefoot, it follows, is a great joy to me. Unfortunately, not everyone feels the same way.
This evening marked the first contra dance of the new semester. As usual, there was a decent turnout, both of barefoot and shod people. As usual, I decided to forgo shoes. I’ve done it plenty of times before, with no adverse side effects besides maybe...
No. 112
I don’t consider myself a theater critic. My knowledge of acting is limited and my knowledge of creating drama is virtually nonexistent. Nevertheless, I will pass this judgment: Sarah Ruhl’s “Eurydice” is an unbelievable piece of work.
I went to see it with only vaguest notions about its backstory. It was something Greek, that’s all I knew. The program further...
No. 111
There was a point in my life where I became bored. I thought to myself “this is unacceptable. What can I do to make my days more worthwhile?” The solution I came up with was a document in which I would enter, daily, something I had done that I was proud of and something I had done that had made someone happy. Some days I got frustrated, trying to think of something I did that improved...
