So, it's 3rd week here and I'm still not feeling any significant amount of stress about getting my work done. I'm not sure how well I'm doing in my classes, but I'm usually done with my work really early and I feel like I understand what I'm reading. We haven't turned in anything major or taken any huge tests yet, but so far so good. I'm usually in bed by 11 or midnight... something my friends are really jealous of.
My Chinese Religion class is really interesting and I'm considering taking Chinese next year instead of doing Spanish next term. I think it might upset mom, but I have all the tools I need to learn Spanish at home and I really want to take advantage of this opportunity. I think it'd be really challenging. Also, to fulfill my language requirement for it I'd have to take more than a year of it as opposed to the one semester of Spanish I'd have to take, nevertheless I'm considering it. (But still really intimidated by the whole idea.)
My Cinema and Media Studies class is really interesting. The prof is clearly an expert in the field and loves what she does. We screen movies on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So far we've watched Broken Blossoms, Stagecoach, and Now Voyager. We also listened to The War of the Worlds radio broadcast, which has a really interesting back story... think hysteria on a massive scale because people thought the program about aliens taking over Earth was real, what sillies. Tonight we're watching Citizen Kane and I'm pretty excited for it.
There's a lot less to say about my psych class. It's lecture based and a tad boring. We're working with very elementary concepts right now and we get a lot of busy work assignments, but we have a big test next Wednesday, so we'll see how that goes.
Anyway, all in all everything at Carleton is great. My stint with influenza really didn't hinder my work, it was actually nice to take a week off from the dining hall though. That place has taken so many turns for the worst. The supervisors have lost a lot of points in all of the chefs, student managers, and student workers' books. The chefs and the rest of the staff are still great. Maybe I'll take some of my spare time to call corporate on the supervisors :). Haha.
I went to a hockey game last weekend and I went ice skating out on the bald spot yesterday. I watched the inauguration during my CAMS class, our teacher ended up getting really caught up in the excitement and just let the class go after she took a picture of us (so we'd remember where we were during this moment in history). Silly, Carol.
It's Friday Eve guys!!!! :) !!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
A chapter
This week's work involved a group of 10 volunteers from Fairfield college working on a home all week. The workscope involved but was not limited to: installing bamboo flooring, ceramic tiles, door trim, doors, window trim, thresholds, subflooring, and linoleum flooring. I had some very dedicated volunteers, and some house captain support which made my job easier. The job this week was delegation, and it really began to wear on my mind. I would get really anxious at night and waking up about what jobs could be done next.
But the result of that brain strain was pretty miraculous, we got so much done and the volunteers and I got pretty close. We all went out for Felipe's burritos which are like Chipotle's and margaritas. It was a lot of fun hanging out with new faces and hearing how a few of them were seriously considering joining Americorps with Rebuilding Together New Orleans next year. They were an idealistic bunch, and they didn't mind talking about it with me. They are a Jesuit college so they dont swear. Margaritas and theology ended up being a pretty good mixture and I made a few facebook friends. After Felipe's, my house captain support drove me to a coffee shop where I could read Stones of Summer then we went home. I found out through texting that the Fairfielders went to Bourbon street, those rascals, them.
Yesterday was an exceptional day, actually one of my favorite all time. I went for a walk at 7 that morning and saw the Mississippi all fogged over, nature dancing in the humid and warm air, and I just sat overlooking the river for about a half hour. I walked by the site of a Rebuilding Together party that was scheduled for that night, I thought, I hope there's no karaoke machine. Like some logical proof in my brain, karaoke plus me equals destiny. Inescapable. And of course the night rolls around and the party gets started, crescendos and begins to die down at about ten or so, when I finally strike gold in the CD booklet and find the Wallflowers' One Headlight. Let's just say me and my buddy Darren have stage presence... and I'm a world class singer. I got complements all night, no kidding, from people I knew and didn't know. Coincidentally this party venue is right across the street from Old Point Bar, the one where I showed some people some dance steps.
After the party, we walked back to the cars, and Amanda, the only person in RT who is under 21, drove us to Mimi's and we had a two hour dance party to some unbelievably bassy jams. I got a text at 4:22pm today from Darren.
"That was awesome," he said, "all of it."
"Yes, it was the lost kids on parade outside city limits and the universe was watching," I said.
"But if only they could run faster, stretch their souls farther-but, alas, Sunday's dawn. And so it begins, their venture back towards the refrain." Darren said.
"I think you're a poet, too" I said.
But the result of that brain strain was pretty miraculous, we got so much done and the volunteers and I got pretty close. We all went out for Felipe's burritos which are like Chipotle's and margaritas. It was a lot of fun hanging out with new faces and hearing how a few of them were seriously considering joining Americorps with Rebuilding Together New Orleans next year. They were an idealistic bunch, and they didn't mind talking about it with me. They are a Jesuit college so they dont swear. Margaritas and theology ended up being a pretty good mixture and I made a few facebook friends. After Felipe's, my house captain support drove me to a coffee shop where I could read Stones of Summer then we went home. I found out through texting that the Fairfielders went to Bourbon street, those rascals, them.
Yesterday was an exceptional day, actually one of my favorite all time. I went for a walk at 7 that morning and saw the Mississippi all fogged over, nature dancing in the humid and warm air, and I just sat overlooking the river for about a half hour. I walked by the site of a Rebuilding Together party that was scheduled for that night, I thought, I hope there's no karaoke machine. Like some logical proof in my brain, karaoke plus me equals destiny. Inescapable. And of course the night rolls around and the party gets started, crescendos and begins to die down at about ten or so, when I finally strike gold in the CD booklet and find the Wallflowers' One Headlight. Let's just say me and my buddy Darren have stage presence... and I'm a world class singer. I got complements all night, no kidding, from people I knew and didn't know. Coincidentally this party venue is right across the street from Old Point Bar, the one where I showed some people some dance steps.
After the party, we walked back to the cars, and Amanda, the only person in RT who is under 21, drove us to Mimi's and we had a two hour dance party to some unbelievably bassy jams. I got a text at 4:22pm today from Darren.
"That was awesome," he said, "all of it."
"Yes, it was the lost kids on parade outside city limits and the universe was watching," I said.
"But if only they could run faster, stretch their souls farther-but, alas, Sunday's dawn. And so it begins, their venture back towards the refrain." Darren said.
"I think you're a poet, too" I said.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Nope. Definitely not a door.
You know that old joke, "When is a door not a door?" I saw this today.
....and does this belong to anyone? It looks great on our chair, but we really should return it to it's rightful owner.
OK, you can have your blog back now. I'm done flooding it for today. Have a great weekend, everyone!
....and does this belong to anyone? It looks great on our chair, but we really should return it to it's rightful owner.
OK, you can have your blog back now. I'm done flooding it for today. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Random October photos
Pete and I were in Sandwich, Illinois in October. We witnessed what appeared to be some kind of ritual. Large groups of celebrants moved around an arena in coordinated patterns, forming mysterious symbols. Each tribe was clad in its own unique style of traditional clothing. Some of the participants played musical instruments, while others waved ceremonial flags in coordination with the music. The tribe leaders stood in front on elevated platforms and waved their hands in the air. Our favorite tribe was this purple one.
The collaborative sculpture pictured below is completely unrelated to the previous photo. Visitors to an ordinary office cubicle could add something to the piece if they felt inspired, using a pile of report binders as their medium. Some boldly dared to accentuate the piece with binder clips and stickers. The sculpture's destruction shortly after this photo shoot was a great loss to Chicago's art community.
The collaborative sculpture pictured below is completely unrelated to the previous photo. Visitors to an ordinary office cubicle could add something to the piece if they felt inspired, using a pile of report binders as their medium. Some boldly dared to accentuate the piece with binder clips and stickers. The sculpture's destruction shortly after this photo shoot was a great loss to Chicago's art community.
Random September photos
Here's a giant red ball that appeared near work in September. It had been roaming the city for awhile when it decided to rest for a day on LaSalle Street.
Another week in September, my dad and I went to a class about steam tractors. Many of these monsters are over 100 years old. They run just like old train locomotives. Most of the tractor is a giant water tank with a separate chamber for a fire. You fill the tractor with water, keep shoveling in fuel such as coal or wood to boil the water, and use the steam power to plow fields, power a sawmill, or demolish roads. (It's way more complicated than that, but the instructors made it look easy.) They actually let us drive these working pieces of history. The instructors and other volunteers own and maintain most of these machines themselves. They were incredibly generous with their time and expertise. Here's me driving one - I don't think my fingers are supposed to be over that gear.
And this is another tractor in action.
Another week in September, my dad and I went to a class about steam tractors. Many of these monsters are over 100 years old. They run just like old train locomotives. Most of the tractor is a giant water tank with a separate chamber for a fire. You fill the tractor with water, keep shoveling in fuel such as coal or wood to boil the water, and use the steam power to plow fields, power a sawmill, or demolish roads. (It's way more complicated than that, but the instructors made it look easy.) They actually let us drive these working pieces of history. The instructors and other volunteers own and maintain most of these machines themselves. They were incredibly generous with their time and expertise. Here's me driving one - I don't think my fingers are supposed to be over that gear.
And this is another tractor in action.
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