A Work in Progress

Picture Updates!

2007-04-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hey guys - here are a few pictures so you can see what I've been up to.

Me looking dubious, dressed up for Drag Ball:

Running for Drag King:

The last performance of the Vagina Monologues - I'm second in from the right:

Doyle Owl insanity - the owl is in there somewhere:

Me and Jenny dressed up at Fetish Ball:

Yay for Reed!

Cherry Petal Snow

2007-03-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

Blooming!

2007-03-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

Portland is so beautiful right now - especially Reed. The trees burst into color last week, and now there are magnolias, cherry trees, the works, lighting up the campus. It was so pretty I had to get out and take bunches of pictures of the cherry trees in the sun. Hurrah!

To make up for the lack of posts: A comic. For anyone who's ever felt ashamed to be a tourist.

2007-03-06T00:09:00.000-08:00

From Dorothy Gambrell, at www.catandgirl.com

(click on it if it's too small)

Pointless.

2007-02-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

AHAHAHA. Uh... I have free time today because I worked all weekend. Woo. Except for I don't really have free time - I can just work all day and not be stressed out, instead of working all day and being stressed because I know I will still be behind at midnight. So.
Yes. I don't really have a lot to say at the moment, I just felt I should make an entry.

The Best Condom Commercial in Europe

2007-02-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

At special request from Ben, you can see the condom commercial that I so poorly imitated at the following link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=xWkZ_StRjU0

Enjoy. And be safe.

An update on this whole vlogging shenaniganry (should that all be in caps?) An Update On This Whole Vlogging Shenaniganry

2007-02-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

Tuesday's Highlights

2007-02-06T23:22:00.000-08:00

Ferris Bueller on Epicureanism

2007-02-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

Vlog. Oh yes, get ready.

2007-02-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

I've reached a new arrangement...

2007-02-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

Yep. I redid my room on a whim. It's a lot bigger now, somehow.

Augustus Caesar

2007-01-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

was human. "Twelve Caesars" is amazing. Augustus Caesar, the most powerful man in the Mediterranean, who seized control of Rome at age nineteen, who decieved Antony and Cleopatra into suicide... was human.
I laughed so hard I cried, listen to this: "He also had a favourite metaphor for swift and sudden actions: 'Quicker than boiled asparagus.'"
What? Augustus said funny things? I love this book.

Jacquaux le rat!

2007-01-27T23:38:00.000-08:00

This is Jacquaux, Maggie's and my rat for Psychology. He's the smartest rat in the class. He learned to press the right lever for food in five minutes. By ten he was consistently pressing the lever, five times a minute, on average. As he got better, we only gave him food every other time, then every three times, the every four times! By the end of it he'd pressed the lever almost three hundred times (and only pressed the wrong lever twenty times) and ate one hundred banana-flavored pellets. He's the champ!

Day 1. And counting.

2007-01-22T22:32:00.000-08:00

So. I'm done with the first day of second semester of my freshman year, and I already feel like I'm behind. Grar. I'm reading Lucretius, (as my roommate just so eloquently burst out in frustration, "Oh man! Lucretius!") a Roman philosopher-poet-scientist dude, who was surprisingly accurate as far as atomic physics go. But he's long winded, and repeats himself, and now and then lapses into, 'well, you just have to admit that I'm right, because you just have to.'
I have a seven hour block of classes tomorrow, plus another book in Lucretius' "On the Nature of Things" and who knows what else I'll have to do for Psych and French. Oy vey. Eh. I'll be fine. Maybe I'll even use some of my spare time to learn the fine art of trapeze. I'm not kidding. There's a circus school up on Hawthorne called Do Jump.
So. I'm going to bed. I want to be rested for my Tuesday.

Starburst Paper Cranes!

2007-01-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

Grease, Hoops, and Zombies, oh my!

2007-01-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

Well, the second day of Paideia was a roaring success. I dismantled various parts of 3 dollar bikes and put them back together again in considerably better condition. You should've seen me, wielding a wrench and a grease rag. I had fun, plus now I can claim to know slightly more than nothing about bike mechanics. Yay!
A bit later I went to Peter (the fire-eater)'s class on contact juggling. He taught us some fun 'crystal' ball tricks (go check out YouTube, search for contact juggling) and I met a super-cool Portland punk named Dustin. He's a whiz with hoops, and taught me some of his blindingly awesome tricks. I can't say I'm ready for performance yet, though.
And finally, the piece de resistance - Zombie Self Defense. This was amazing. A bunch of people showed up and clamored for spots on the couches around the demonstration table. The teacher, Nick, was all set for battle with zombies in army fatigues and running shoes. He had a full array of weapons that one might use against the undead, such as a machete, which we will get back to a bit later. He began with a scientific explanation of what happens when a person gets infected by the Solon virus, which will turn humans into zombies within 24 hours, complete with an explanation of the effect it has on the frontal lobe - the site of the zombification. He went on to explain the capacities of zombies, such as the ability to survive underwater, in order to better arm us when the time comes. It is very important to know the abilities of your enemy when planning your strategy. And if you're prepared for your enemy, you must take your own state into consideration as well. You must remove all loose clothing and long hair. And this is just what he did. Nick actually sawed off his own shoulder-length curls in front of an audience - now that's devotion. We gave him a round of applause. He then moved on to the demonstration portion, and oh my - Gallagher revisited. He brought out two coconuts, two honeydew melons, and a cantaloupe, and proceeded to destroy them with: a kitchen knife, a hatchet, both ends of a hammer, a crowbar, and the machete. We passed around the shards afterwards, though if they had been real zombie heads, we wouldn't have eaten them because zombie flesh is fatally toxic (though, as we ascertained during the Q&A session, we don't know the LD50 for zombie flesh).
So, yes. That was pretty nuts. And today, if I ever get out of bed, I'm going to review some theatre tech stuff, do some more bike maintenance, learn to twirl an umbrella with grace and style, knit, make paper cranes out of Starburst wrappers, dye my own wrapping paper, and get a course on how to deal with cops from two old Reedies who are now lawyers. Oooh... Or, at least, I could do all those things.

Oh, P.S. - IT'S SNOWING LiKE CraZy!

(Note the excited Reedies snowball fighting in the bottom right)

A Grade-A Day

2007-01-14T23:44:00.000-08:00

If both-coast days are a little uncomfortable, second days back are (in this case) pretty awesome.

I woke up to the sad realization that I, away from the comforts of my parents' refrigerator, had no food. So I donned my new scarf (Thanks Mom!) and stuffed a pair of socks into my pocket to serve as makeshift gloves. This may need some explanation - I could stick my thumbs through the holes in the heels and wear the rest of the sock as a sort of mitten. It didn't come to that, thankfully, as my nine a.m. walk to Trader Joe's was blue-skied and brisk, but not freezing. I got all sorts of yummy goodness, such as pesto pizza and vanilla yogurt. The cashier even gave me a raffle ticket (for $25) for bringing in my own bags!
On my way to the mailroom later, I ran into three of my friends tossing around a frisbee. I joined in for a bit, and we discussed all sorts of interesting things in between throws. When I got my mail, I saw that a stranger had written me - an old Reedie by the name of Clint who read my application essay in Reed magazine and was "blown away". He had a few things to say about how it spoke to his own spirituality and sense of wonder, which was really gratifying. It was pretty fantastic, actually.
A bit later Phil and I went to the bread-making class at the Co-op. I had so much fun! We proofed our yeast, got in flour fights, drank homemade Pinot Noir (wooo...fancy), and devoured our naan and tortillas, complete with avocado, tomato, and olive oil and garlic toppings. Mmmmm. I'm thinking I might apply to be in the Co-op dorm next year if I don't get the HA position. There was a strong sense of community, likely due in part to their simple act of making and eating dinner together five times a week. Plus I could learn to cook. See the massive loaf of bread me and my friend Kate made - and this is only half of the thing!

After that I pretty much hung out with Peter and Phil for the rest of the day. This involved long dreaded sunglass-wearing folk appearing out of the cold to play beautiful piano music and leaving without a word, that pesto pizza, contact juggling, intense discussions, and the suchlike.
Ah yes, a good day. And tomorrow I'll be able to pick up my film (hurrah!). I might even build a bicycle.

Airplanes are weird.

2007-01-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

Something about waking up in Michigan, being (essentially) hurled into the air, and landing in Oregon is just bizarre.
Two-coast days are always strange for me.

A Progression
Detroit Airport to Chicago Airport to My Dorm Room:

On one of my flights I saw the most amazing thing: Turns out, you can see rainbows from 30,000 feet up, too. Instead of bows, though, the arc goes full circle so you get a sort of prismatic double-ringed rainbow cast to any clouds below. This was pretty mindblowing in and of itself, but at one point the plane was directly between the sun and a cloud below my window, and cast into the rainbow-ring's center was our plane's shadow, which flickered and morphed as it passed over the cloud peaks. A picture wouldn't have done it justice.

Oedipus the Movie, in 8 Minutes, with Vegetables

2006-12-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

Go to http://www.oedipusthe movie.com.
That's all. It speaks for itself (and how!)

The Airport Saga - a special request from The Ignorance Stomper

2006-12-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

Oh man... I spent 30 consecutive hours on airplanes or in airports, ending at 1:00 yesterday afternoon.

Due to 100 mph winds, my 6 am flight from Portland was delayed until 8:30 that night, leaving me with little else to do but wait. I passed the 15 hour PDX airport stay without too much agony. I hung out with other stranded Reedies until their flights left all around 2:00. Then, I began to get creative. I sat in the Brookstone storefront for way too long, as they have a massage chair demo, and it was a prime place to sit and peoplewatch in optimum comfort. I retreated to the waiting lounge, which was full of plush chairs that looked a whole lot more comfortable than they really were, and did crossword puzzles for two and a half hours. I'm getting especially good at them, what with their heavy use of clues about ancient Greece. Pretty soon, I got a call from my loving mom, who, in response to my casual "I'm getting kind of hungry," told me to eat out at one of those fancy airport restaurants that charge ten dollars for spinach dip. So I looked very much out of place in a swanky diner for the next few hours, and as a by-product got very full. Around 7:30 I got a call from my dad, who soon passed the phone over to my drunk sister-in-law. She advised me to head to the nearest bar and hit on old guys. That way, she explained, I would get free drinks and be able to have a good time at the airport. I, of course, thanked her for her dubious advice and got on an 8:00 flight for Seattle. I think I may have sat two seats away from Alec Trebek, but it was hard to tell.
When I got to Seattle, I was supposed to be on an 11:30 flight to Chicago, which was delayed until 1:40. I tried to standby for a flight at 1:00 (since that extra half an hour would have allowed me to catch my connecting flight in Chicago) but it was overbooked by seven and 46 other folks were standing by for the same flight. Apparently there were massive blackouts in Washington, to the point where the entire airport was running on generator power. I guess this horrid West coast weather has been all over the news - a few people have died because of it, and some hikers are lost up on Mt. Hood in a few feet of new snow. So I feel like my inconveniences are trifles compared to those kind of troubles.
I caught the 1:40 flight, after watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off on my trusty laptop (I bought in in PDX since I knew I'd be bored out of my mind by Seattle). When that was over, I still had a few hours to wait, and I watched a couple of punks practice their breakdancing moves. For the record, breakdancers are awesome, and I wish I was that cool. Once on the flight, I passed right out on that flight (I think I dreamt something about eyeballs with removable parts?) and when I woke up my pillow was frozen to the window. Mmmm. Of course, it was 7:35 when we touched down, and my flight to Detroit left the gate at (when else?) 7:35. So I talked to a super-helpful lady at Customer Service who put me on the next flight to Detroit at 10:44. At that point, a few more hours waiting seemed boring, yes, but no problem. I was so grateful, I told her she was fantastic.
I got on the flight to Detroit at 10:30, passed out a few times while we were still taxiing, and FINALLY made it on the ground at 1:10. Oh my god... I needed to brush my teeth SO BADLY. Ugh. My mom was all smiles and hugs when I met her at the car, and full of sympathy ("You poor dear!"). Every time I come home I realize that I've forgotten how flat and grey Michigan is. There are a lot of trees, though, so that's really really nice, and it's good to be home, no matter where that may be. As soon as I got home I took a looong shower and I must have brushed my teeth for nearly the same length of time.

Home is where the toothpaste is.

Reading Week... and masochistic tendencies.

2006-12-11T14:23:00.000-08:00

“From too much reading and too little sleep, his brains dried up and he withered his wits.” – Don Quixote

Ahh... Reading Week at Reed College. Yes, it's intense enough to deserve Capital Letters. There's a stim (stimulants) table in the lobby of the library, stocked with chocolate, coffee, mate (MA-tay), green tea, black tea, 'dragon tea', ginko pills, ginko extract, guarana, Vitamin B12, nicotine, wasabi, caffeine pills, piracetam, and many more obscure and barely-legal stimulants.
This array is meant to facilitate the re-reading of your entire syllabi from all your classes - for me, this means that in the past four days I've re-read The Iliad, Works & Days and Theogony, Greek Lyric, The Presocratics Reader, Herodotus' Histories, The Oresteia, The Bacchae, Antigone, Oedipus the King, and nine chapters of Biology. Ooooh, aaaaahh....

See, here I exhibit typical Reedie tendencies, as defined in Theresa Swayne's article, "Stress Culture at Reed":
"Academic life at Reed is strongly flavored by what I call the 'stress culture.' Within the stress culture, social life consists of agonizing aloud and at length about how much work one has to do before an audience of admiring colleagues...This may be accompanied by the exclusive wearing of black, a cultivated gaunt and haggard look" (observe) "and an addiction to caffeine and/or nicotine... The high holidays of the stress culture are Reading Week, Finals Week, and Thesis Day. Its acolytes are freshlings in the throes of a Hum(anities) paper; its novitiates are those taking the junior qual(ification exam) or, perhaps, organic chemistry; its adored saints are seniors in labor with the T-word" (that is, the Thesis). Note my skeptical expression:

I think, perhaps, that some good old fashioned 'chilling' is in order. I hereby declare yesterday an anti-holiday, in which I will not succumb to the cracked-out obsession with studying, slumped over a stack of textbooks and lecture notes until your back feels as if it will never be whole again.
So, as I said, that anti-holiday was yesterday, so today must be the day I re-read Plato's Republic and the Trial and Death of Socrates! Once again, ooooh, aaaaah....
(See? I'm agonizing aloud and at length, for "the litany of suffering is recited incessantly to the exclusion of other activites, such as actually getting the work in question done.")

I freeze... I freeeeeze!

2006-12-03T21:45:00.000-08:00

Yes, we have no heat. Damn it. Here I sit in four layers, clutching my tea, the warmest thing in the room, trying to study Biology - but to no avail, as I am miserably cold.

Feel sorry for me. It might help.

Gypsies, Thieves, and Tramps - Winter Formal with the Vagabond Opera

2006-12-03T15:25:00.000-08:00

Kara and I went as gypsy-tramps. Observe:

Diagnosis: Quixotic

2006-12-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

My high school English teacher, Mrs. Martin, read this essay and wrote, "I like this - but I honestly don't know how an admissions officer would respond. Maybe if you apply to a liberal arts school, you'll be okay."
I did apply to a (very) liberal arts school, and not only was I okay, but Admissions liked it so much they chose to publish it in the Reed Magazine alongside several other freshman application essays. Check it out at: http://web.reed.edu/reed_magazine/autumn2006/features/my_essay/mayer.html

I think I'll send the link to Mrs. Martin.

Mad Timê!

2006-11-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

IMPORTANT NOTE: Click on the itty-bitty pictures to truly grasp the glory that is this tower and its makers.

Timê (TEE-may) – honor, reputation. Timê can be achieved by immortal or noble ascendants, good looks, and excellent deeds.

Yes, yes, within my first month at Reed I, the lowly freshman, achieved MAD TIMÊ! Check out our trecherous tower of no less than FIVE tables, a kommie mini-exercise bike, and a random trash can. We risked life and limb for this endeavor, but recieved our reward thousand-fold.
Observe: The fine makers of this monument:

From left to right: Nameless Happy-boy, Yours truly (note the sparkle in my eye gained only by the posession of Mad Timê), Peter the Dirty Raver/Circus Freak/Bad Influence, Kevin the 4th-Dimension Obsessed Gangsta Computer God, Nameless Cute Scrounger with the Pink Barbie Backpack, and Dormie Peter the Gay Pirate.

Then, as a sign from the gods that they approved of our offering and bestowed upon us (what else?) Mad Timê, a rainbow appeared overhead! It was actually a double rainbow, but you'll have to take my word on that one.

Oh majestic Tower of Timê, how you seem to glow against the ever-darkening Portland sky...

Portable Anna!

2006-11-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

Encouragement for Disgruntled Republic-Readers

2006-11-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

From my dear Humanities professor, Ralph, part of a very long en masse e-mail to his crop of reluctant freshman. Here, he attempts to explain Plato's approach to knowledge:

"One way to think about what Plato’s up to is to remind yourself of the Pre-Socratics. Remember how they were grappling with the problem of what truly exists, and how do we know what we know? One of the notions lurking back there is that whatever we can have knowledge of must be unchanging. After all, it seems kind of straightforward: I can know this caterpillar -- it's an inch long; it's green; it's got a bunch of legs; etc. And I say, "This is a caterpillar." (I don't say, "This is a dog," or whatever.) But then it turns into a butterfly. So I think OK, I know this butterfly -- it's got yellow wings with black spots and whatnot. And I'm willing to say, "This is a butterfly." (I don't say, "This is a caterpillar.")

But how can I know or even talk coherently about a thing that is coming-to-be? I mean, is it a caterpillar or a butterfly? And don't tell me, well, it's this other thing in between when it's changing, because all you've done then is create a third existing thing, not a thing-coming-to-be. (You've created a butterpillar, maybe.) At what point is it no longer a caterpillar, and at what point is it a butterfly? (Or, at what point is it no longer a caterpillar, and is now a butterpillar? At what point is it no longer a butterpillar, and is now a butterfly? And so on, ad nauseam.) When I say, "This is an X," am I not talking about an X that actually exists, as opposed as coming-to-be? Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to say, "This IS an X." In fact, I say, "This is NOT an X." (You try to get around this by saying, "It WILL be an X." But isn't that just another way of saying it IS NOT an X?)"

Well. The rest of the e-mail was a little more encouraging.
I still don't want to read Plato though, despite Ralph's cunning use of 'butterpillar'.

This speaks for itself.

2006-11-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

Exhibit A: The average score on the last Biology midterm was 51%

Exhibit B: Students set up a shrine to the Doyle Owl outside the mailboxes (where we would learn our Bio exam fates) to alternately beg for mercy and to thank the Owl for those few extra points our BS earned us on the essays.

Exhibit C: At a 'Reading Effectively' workshop I attended tonight, when asked "What are some ways you can keep your attention on the reading," someone threw out, "Self-flagellation!" The professor took him seriously and asked for examples of the various methods of self-flagellation one would employ to promote maximum concentration.

MUHAHAHAHA!!!!

2006-11-14T17:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, that was my maniacal laugh of glee for the day.
Why, you may ask - and I'll be happy to tell you:
I don't have to take Biology next semester!
Yes. The world is a just place.

Yellow Carpets

2006-11-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

I love fall. This is the view from my window. Leaves of all kinds coat the ground and the whole world is fall colors.

Ooooh, candy!

2006-10-30T14:08:00.000-08:00

I love this place. Some random girl with three big bags of candy came through the library, sprinkling goodies for overworked Reedies.

See how happy it makes us?

Thucydides - the Warrior Scribe!!!

2006-10-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

I have no idea who came up with this or why (in God's name, WHY?!?) but I find it endlessly amusing. All romantic portrayals aside, Thucydides was a long-winded, poetically senseless aristocrat who saw fit to use the most complicated language possible to meander his way through the History of the Peloponnesian War. Pfft. The 'Warrior Scribe'. He got exiled from Athens because he sucked as a general and so many citizens died under his leadership.

Harvest Ball!

2006-10-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

Michelle was the Morton Salt girl and I... well... I dressed weird. When asked, I was either "Vibrance as a concept" or "Dr. Seuss's acid trip."

Root Beer & Jay Mellies Tribute Pt. 2

2006-10-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

Today was the last lab in the Microbiology section of Bio - as a celebration we popped the (lovingly self-crimped) tops on our homemade rootbeer and sipped away. Note my dormie Jane's doofusness and the series of tadpole development statuettes in the background.

Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to publish the last few Jay Mellies quotes that particularly piqued my interest:
When referring to Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, "He was, as the Brits would say, 'going on holiday' and 'tidying up'."
“I’m gonna write out Major Histo-compatibility Complex for you – it’s kind of a mouthful without a lot of coffee.”
“Sounds kinda early in the morning to be talking about gastric juices.”
"My cell kinda looks like an upside-down duck."
On the topic of the innate immune defenses, coughing and sneezing, "Trying to expel the little buggers onto your neighbor.”

And the final and possibly best Jay Mellies quote, "Don't eat shit and wash your hands."

Back at Reed!

2006-10-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

Hoo yeah! Here I am again, putting off my reading, just like old times (old times being a week ago). See? "Ancient and Classical Greek Art" - Cult, Politics, and Imperialism. I don't know what that means yet, but there is a section called Sexuality and the Standing Male, so maybe it'll be interesting.

Breaking News!

2006-10-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Scientists discover a large, swirling dark spot on Uranus!

Hahaha! I don't care if I am old enough to vote - jokes that good are few and far between.

A Tribute to Jay Mellies

2006-10-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

This is a tribute to my Microbiology professor, Jay Mellies. Now, before you scoff, I want you to understand that this man is hilarious. He has this big ol’ ears that stick out, he’s a bit jumpy and often awkward, but he knows his bacteria and dammit, he’s a funny guy. A sampling of Jay quotes, fresh from the lecture hall:
“Fructose, sucrose glucose, thiscose, thatcose.”
Gonorrhea is a type IV pili, as it attaches to your genital system and them transfers genetic information “like nobody’s business.”
“Why study bacteria? They’re fun and exciting, and they’ll kill you.”
“We’re gonna vortex the daylights outta this thing.”
Osmolarity??? “It’s water activity dammit!”
“This cute little squid lives off the coast of Hawaii” (voice from the crowd: “Hawaii has a lot of coasts, Jay.”) “Dammit, it lives off the coast!”
Plus, he taught us how to make root beer, so we'll be popping the caps on our homemade fizzy goodness in a couple weeks. "It's a simple aerobic fermentation."

Tania Pérez-Salas

2006-10-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

Oh my god... This dance performance was amazing. I teared up at the sheer awe - these dancers were fantastic, absolutely out of this world, I just want to go lift weights so I can dance like them. Oh man... Here are some pictures, but they won't do it justice:

RKSK Strikes Back!

2006-10-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's flu season at Reed, oh yes indeed - the campus is one big cough nowadays. But never fear! The communists are here! In a supreme breach of pseudo-security, I shall publish the communique regarding the fantastic anti-sickness table in the library lobby:

"kounter revolutionary bourgeoisie kapitalist agitators (pretty mutsh the worst kind of kapitalist agitator) have unleashed the flu virus upon our skool in an effort to inkrease sales of their flu vakkines! but fear not, the state is well prepared for germ warfare. we have stokked the library lobby with vitamin k [by which we mean vitamin c, as you may have guessed --ed.] tablets, orange juice, kleenex, sterile latex gloves,airborne, khikken (ramen) noodle soup... feel free to leave a get well soon kard on the table for a komrade. unfortunately, unlike the bountiful stim table, supplies are limited; kome quikkly! and klean up after yourselves! and finish your damned midterms!"

I love this school - my nose is blown and as I walk my pockets jingle merrily with the sounds of chewable Vitamin C tablets.

Me, you, and the stuffed animals.

2006-10-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

I feel like a prop. I'm enthroned upon a pile of communist stuffed animals, dutifully going over my lecture notes (well, I WAS), and a couple herds of prospies walk by. The tour guide points me out, "As you can see, this is where most Reedies spend their time, the library, and there are plenty of stuffed animals here (provided by RKSK) to keep our diligent students comfortable during their long hours in the Hauser Fundome" -- (the Hauser Fundome is our name for the Hauser Library) -- he continues, "Feel free to gawk at the Reedies, you can feed them too, but don't get to close to their mouths - they can get snappish." All the parents sort of chuckle and the prospies gape, wide-eyed, at the real, authentic Reed College Student.

Extra, Extra - Read all about it!

2006-10-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry, bad joke - I had to do it. Today I was an extra in the new Sean Penn movie, "In the Wild." It was not very glamorous, but I did get free food and 75 bucks (Ooh! And I saw the girl who played Donnie Darko's girlfriend!).
Maybe I'll even watch the movie when it comes out.

I found my cell phone!

2006-10-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Honor Principle rocks! Some awesome someone turned my phone in to the Safety Office - now my poor baby is charging, as her battery is all worn out after such a big adventure.

I'm a NINJA!!

2006-10-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

We're so stealthy... they caught us eventually though, crouching between the door and the refrigerator in the Scholz 1 common room. Otherwise - black as the night, fast as lightning!

I lost my cellphone...

2006-10-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

And I KNEW I was going to! "Anna, putting your phone in your back pocket is not a good idea..." but did I listen? Of course not! Who ever listens to their own good advice?

Reed Kommunal Shit Kollective

2006-10-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

These posters were all over campus before RKSK freshman bootcamp. I'm not at liberty to give any details, except that yes, those animals are, in fact, communist.

The Things We Find Funny When Overworked...

2006-10-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

There's a particular girl at Reed who generally wears obnoxious shirts that read things like, "I'm too pretty to do math," and "I'm just here to annoy you." Recently though, after I had concluded that I don't like word shirts in general, she wore what I deemed to be a genuinely funny shirt: "You have beautiful eyes... can I touch them?"

Balinese Shadow Puppetry

2006-10-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a Shadow Puppetry performance, from the Balinese tradition. It was really cool, and they sang in this ancient language that has died but for these performances. The translator characters were pretty comical - these buck-toothed English-speakers, in ridiculously casual language for the formalness of all the rest of it. If any of you ever get the chance, I'd recommend checking out a performance.

Black Athena Lecture

2006-09-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

Now I know most of you won't be interested in the full 6-page set of notes I took on Pancho Savery's FANTASTIC lecture about Egyptian influence on Ancient Greece, but there is one part which I think most everybody can appreciate:
"One 'obscure truck driver from Tupalo, Mississippi, took the blacks’ term for wild times and wild sex ‘created’ a type of music, thereby becoming the ‘King of Rock and Roll’. This is, of course, Elvis, who was famous for many songs, one of which was entitled “Hound Dog.” Most people are familiar with this song, but what most don’t know is that four years before Elvis took the song to radio, Big Momma Thornton sang the very same song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2aHVING6XQ
Of course, when Big Momma sang the song, the full meaning was expressed. A Hound Dog was some ‘demanding, phony, unreliable male of insatiable sexual appetite’ – this was obviously intended to be sung by a woman. When Elvis claimed the song as his own, not only did he fail to credit Big Momma or the black tradition, but it wilted into a song about a literal hound dog, “thus, the complex double entendre was lost”

Poiple!

2006-09-28T23:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, I now have purple hair. On a whim, and partially to avoid reading any more Herodotus, dyed the tips of my hair and fingers a nice deep purple. So. Now you know.