:: Pedantic Platitudes ::

Greetings! My name is Sam J and I am a student at Harvard University. Perhaps this blog will present a little look into the mundane yet unique events that make up my life.
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:: Monday, March 31, 2003 ::

I have just finished packing, and I am now having dinner. I will be leaving in 30 minutes to go to the SLO Airport. My flight leaves at 7 p.m. and get to LA at about 8. Then I have a flight from LA that leaves at 9:45 p.m. and will arrive in Boston sometime after 6 a.m., local time, on April 1.

It's been a great week back in California. I look forward to returning home once again in a couple of months. Thanks to all my friends for the great times this week!

Next post will be from Boston!

:: SL 5:03 PM [+] ::
...
Sigh. My final day home. The next time I am back I will have completed my first year in college. It’s a really frightening thought!

I was supposed to go visit Katie’s biology class at Cuesta this morning, but I neglected to check my voicemail, so I went back to sleep. Oops! I woke up later and realized what I should have done, but Katie was nice enough to stop by my house, so we went to the beach, where I hadn’t been in a super long time. It was such a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, and the sunlight made the water perfectly blue. The beach was more beautiful than I had ever seen it before. I picked up a lot of sea glass and shells. For some strange reason, there was no longer any kelp or annoying flies everywhere. Instead, the beach was covered with pebbles. It was an interesting (but wonderful) change from the beach I used to know.

:: SL 1:09 PM [+] ::
...
:: Sunday, March 30, 2003 ::
Today is my last full day in California, sob sob! My family and I had lunch at Hometown Buffet, and for some reason it really reminded me of my school's dining hall, except the food at school is much better. Afterwards, I went to a Key Club DCM in place of my sister, who opted instead to go to a piano recital. It was a spring training session for new officers. It was nice to see old Key Club friends and make new ones from around SLO County.

Later in the evening, Katie called and said that Sean was back in town, so I felt obligated to meet him. We went to SLO-town and met him near Barnes and Noble. He seemed... nice. But I approve. Afterwards, I met up with Jessi and her mother, who is the nicest person in the world, and we went to see Dreamcatcher. Now, because I have not seen that many scary movies, this was the scariest movie I have ever seen. I kept jumping in my seat and letting out little yelps because of the suspense and surprises. But I can see how it can be a bad movie at the same time because I guess it used a lot off cliche scary-movie techniques. The aliens were particularly frightening. There was also a really neat Matrix short using computer animation (the cool kind that is so realistic it looks like live action) that preceded the movie. After the movie, I came home and spent the rest of the night chatting online.

The commentary: It was a fun night out; the movie really got my heart racing. It was nice to finally meet Sean after hearing so much about him. And Jessi's mom (and Jessi, too) is really super. It was a great final night in California for a while.

:: SL 7:44 PM [+] ::
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:: Saturday, March 29, 2003 ::
Fear my wrath.

:: SL 11:28 PM [+] ::
...
My library schedule cutback story made it onto the front page (A1) of The Tribune! Yay! Today, my mom decided to take my sister and me shopping, so we went to Santa Maria to have a day of fun. It really was very nice of her to let us have this day out, and I'm glad she enjoyed the break to go out. We went to the mall, and I had those delicious chewy cookies (sugar, chocolate chip, and peanut butter chip). We also got some See's chocolates. After that, we went to Costco, where I have not been in months. Yay for buying items in bulk!!!

We had Chinese takeout for dinner. That was delicious with different combo items such as orange chicken, chow mein, broccoli beef, and cashew chicken. (My apologies to vegetarians.)

I watched a lot of TV, and then I wasted a lot of time online. But then again it wasn't wasting time because I was chatting with wonderful friends online. I love vacations.

:: SL 6:53 PM [+] ::
...
:: Friday, March 28, 2003 ::
My editor gave me a great tip today on the possibility of county libraries cutting staffed operating hours. So I called up the library director, but he was out at a meeting, so I spoke to the assistant director, who refused to divulge any information and kept saying, “This is off the record.” So I finally reached the library director, and he finally gave me the information I needed. I also went to the SLO Library to get some reaction from patrons. I finished my story, and my editor gave me thumbs up. Yay! Then, I said goodbye to all my wonderful co-workers, but I will see them once again in the summer (I hope… The Tribune has a really high turnover rate because it’s a small paper).

I had to drive my sister to Los Osos because she was going to a party, so I dropped by Round Table Pizza to randomly say hi to Jessi, who was working there tonight. It really was “Hi and Goodbye.”

After I got back, I tried to do a little schoolwork because I have put it off all this week. I watched a chemistry lecture online and started looking at my long-neglected math notes.

:: SL 12:30 PM [+] ::
...
:: Thursday, March 27, 2003 ::
I spent most of work today on the copy desk, where I got to do a lot of copy editing and design my own entertainment page! It was fun to be nitpicky once again and to do a page layout. Two of my editors/supervisors also took me out to lunch with another reporter, so we went to the new Golden Gong Chinese restaurant where the old Carl’s Jr. used to be. The food was good. I ordered the sweet and sour chicken lunch special. After work, I walked to downtown SLO, where I hung out at Barnes and Nobles. Lo and behold, I ran into Jessi, so we decided to go to the red tent to taunt the Aryan bear (it has blue eyes and semi-blonde fur). I thoroughly enjoyed watching the city of San Luis Obispo’s subtle yet undeniable assertion of white supremacy dance a jig and “hug” young children. Tee hee… Surely I jest.

Anyways, Jessi and I went to Starbucks to wait for Katie to be done, and Jessi drank nearly all of her beverage there in 15 minutes. I was thoroughly impressed, even though Jessi reassured me that she usually gets a larger sized drink, so that’s why it seemed like she finished so quickly. I had my dinner there after I yoinked a plastic fork from a random food stand. I contributed to horrible stereotypes by eating Chinese takeout (from my lunch earlier in the day) from one of those Chinese takeout boxes. I should have used chopsticks to get the whole effect, but ‘twas the best I could do. Then, we met up with Frankie and Noah and Katie at the red tent at 8:30. The creepy monkey music guy was turning the crank, and with the dancing bear earlier the whole scene was rather reminiscent of a really bad carnival, or better yet, a circus. Send in the clowns! The Downtown Association had some fliers on a table, but it was a little windy, so I had to pick up the fliers. I did this out of love of the environment, not of the Downtown Association. I commented that I should receive double pay for helping the Downtown Association control its fliers as well as helping the sanitation department for helping to clean the streets. Then we walked around randomly as Frankie and Noah shameless promoted their television show. We ran into Sharilyn and her family, and her brother was staring at me in a frightening manner. Finally, we decided we should go see a movie, so we picked View from the Top. Jessi and I bought Jamba Juice, and I rediscovered the gustatory pleasures of Mango A-Go-Go.

We waited in Barnes and Nobles for the movie to start, and we had Solo Stix in a random aisle. It was all fun, until an employee “nicely” told us to move. And come to think of it, she was being very nice. She could have kicked us out, but she advised us to move to the café section so we could still eat our food. We finally went to the movie, which started at 10. It had a slow start that wasn’t funny, so I complained, but the movie took a turn for the better, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the movie. I love movies about people overcoming difficulties and achieving their dreams through hard work and perseverance. It was funny, too, because Mike Myers was in it. Gwenyth Paltrow did a good job also.

Well, the wonderful Thursday night of Farmers Market came to an end as I bummed a ride from Katie (thank you!), and I got home and went to sleep. That was such a long post... I'll try to keep it to a minimum next time.

:: SL 11:57 PM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 ::
Racism sucks.

After working at The Tribune, I went with my dad to get rechargeable batteries because my digital camera uses a lot of battery power. We went to the electronics department of Sears and found the batteries. I also decided to look for an earpiece for my cell phone because I use it so often. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what the model number for my cell phone was, so my dad and I looked at the various selections and tried to find the one that seemed to fit my cell phone. We were there deliberating for over 15 minutes trying to decide which one to buy. There was nobody else in the department except for two employees, who were conversing loudly. Now, I’m not upset about the fact that the two employees stood there staring at us for 15 minutes without offering any assistance whatsoever when it was pretty obvious that we could have used some help. I’m upset about the fact that they laughed to each other said things like, “Look at those two Asians, they can’t even figure it out so they have to take out their cell phones...” and basically derided us for not being able to find what we needed by ourselves.

Needless to say, we were livid. I wouldn’t have thought much if I hadn’t heard their racist remarks, but I heard them loud and clear, so we didn’t buy anything from Sears and instead went next door to Best Buy, where the people were so friendly and helpful. As soon as we stopped at the cell phone section, an employee came up to us and asked if he could help with anything. He was able to find for us the accessory I needed for my cell phone, and I also bought my rechargeable batteries there.

As soon as I got home, I called Sears and made my complaint heard. The manager of the SLO store only apologized but said, “Well, they (the employees in question) have a co-worker that’s Asian.” Yes, but I have a friend who is African-American, but that doesn’t give me permission to use the “n-word.” Whatever. I’m never shopping at Sears again.

On a lighter note, I watched Lilo and Stitch on DVD, and that was a lot of fun. It’s such a cute movie with such a great happy ending. And it’s colorful and set in Hawaii. It would be cool to go to Hawaii sometime in the future.

:: SL 8:57 PM [+] ::
...
Funny link of the day: The Twenty Worst Games of All Time

:: SL 7:38 PM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 ::
I went to work again at The Tribune. Today, my assignment was to investigate the impact of the Mozart Festival on the economy of San Luis Obispo County. I have never written a story for the business section of the newspaper, so it was a neat experience. I also got to check out a report that some gas stations had been charging for air and water; there is a state law that requires all gas stations to provide air and water free of charge to customers. So I checked out the problem, and it turns out that someone had misread a gas station’s policy, which required customers to go to the check-out counter to obtain a token, which could then be deposited into the machine for air and water. It turns out it was a non-story.

After work, I had some free time, so I watched TV and wasted time online. I then took my sister to her violin lesson and watched her practice, which was a neat experience. I had no idea she was so good on the violin, but I should never have doubted her because she is such an excellent musician.

Subsequent to the music lesson, a bunch of dear friends came by to visit, so we went to my grandparents’ house and had a good time with lots and lots of candy. Oh, and I got to serve bottled water, too. (Such is the high-quality service one receives when he or she visits the house... hint hint... visit more often.)

These past few days, I had downloaded a lot of sappy, lovey-dovey power pop ballads, so I finally put them on a CD. Some songs on the CD: “Dreaming of You” by Selena, “I Knew I Loved You” by Savage Garden, “Your Song” from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, “Drowning” by the Backstreet Boys, and “I Lay My Love On You” by Westlife.

:: SL 7:18 PM [+] ::
...
:: Monday, March 24, 2003 ::
Today, I went to work at The Tribune. It was neat to see old co-workers once again. I was assigned to investigate what the most frequently checked out book is at the public library. As it turns out, it varies depending on what the current bestseller is. But apparently John Grisham books are the most frequently checked out.

I also went to visit the high school today. My sister wanted me to talk to the Key Club, so I did so. I also ran into Aaron Walters, whom I hadn't seen since last year, and some other students still at the high school.

After work, I went to Round Table Pizza in Los Osos to visit with some friends. We had dinner at Sylvester's Hamburgers, which was quite delicious despite the evil cashier lady (well, bitchy is more like it).

Then we went to my grandparents' house to hang out and play dominos and cards. Then we went to Frankie's house to watch fake wrestling, which was quite entertaining.

Today was a great day; I was productive because I went to work, but I also got to spend a lot of quality time with friends. It was a good time all around.

:: SL 11:51 PM [+] ::
...
:: Sunday, March 23, 2003 ::
So, about this time, I'm really starting to get sick of the war. I'm reading about all the death and destruction, and it totally makes me feel disgusted at the whole thing. I'm going to have to stop reading/watching the news because it is probably making me depressed. It's time we stop fighting and bring our troops home!

Today, I did a little driving, as my sister needed transportation to Los Osos. Although I have my license already, it has been three months since I have been behind the steering wheel of a car.

I tried to get a little schoolwork done by watching a chemistry lecture online. Then, the Academy Awards began, and I enjoyed watching all the celebrities and the musical production numbers and film tributes. I’ve always enjoyed watching the Oscars, and this year wasn’t as super as in previous years, but it was fun to watch nonetheless.

:: SL 3:53 PM [+] ::
...
:: Saturday, March 22, 2003 ::
I spent too much time sleeping today, but that was only because I had stayed up so late the night before. I hope to adjust to West Coast time soon.

Today, I went into SLO-town to hang out with a friend, and I got to enjoy all the goodies of SLO, from Sweet Stix at Pizza Solo, to Caribbean Passion at Jamba Juice. It was a Saturday night downtown, and it seemed so dead. There were very few people out, and I didn't even see anyone I knew. I guess the times don’t warrant going out anymore. Afterwards, my friend and I went to the new Borders bookstore at the Madonna Plaza. They had a really neat section for CDs, and you could listen to almost every CD they sold. So I listened to several CDs, and now I have a ton of CDs I want to buy now. The only bad thing was that CDs are really expensive at Borders. They cost $17-18 per album. I guess that's the price you pay to be able to preview the music you're going to buy.

After I got home, I watched Saturday Night Live, expecting hilarious commentary on the war, but it was a re-run, so I went to bed soon after reading a couple of chapters from Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, a most hilarious book that I wholeheartedly recommend.

:: SL 10:49 PM [+] ::
...
:: Friday, March 21, 2003 ::
I finished my chemistry, yay! After breakfast, I finished packing my bags and hopped on the T. I arrived at the airport at about 11 a.m., in time for my 11:50 flight. As with every other flight I have ever been on, I was seated near some baby/child that would not shut up. Luckily, I was still able to get a little bit of sleep. The movie shown on this flight was Antwone Fisher, which I had already seen, but it is an excellent movie that shows how people in situations of adversity can still overcome them. I had a 2.5-hour stopover at LAX, but I read teen magazines at the newstand to pass the time. I got back to Morro Bay at 7 in the evening, and it's good to be home.

My sister said that tonight was the only night she had free time to spend with me, so she and I went to see the movie musical Chicago at the Bay Theater. I finally saw the movie tonight after intending to see it for the past three months, and I'm glad it's still playing. I enjoyed all the thrilling musical numbers, especially the choreography.

After the movie, a bunch of friends and I got together at my grandparents' house, and we talked and talked and had a grand time discussing our "issues" and other crazy fun things. It's so wonderful to be home and to see friends again. We then randomly drove to Los Osos and got snacks at Ralph's. I am still ill, and the staying up late probably wasn't such a good idea, but it was such a fun time that I think it was definitely worth it.

:: SL 9:13 PM [+] ::
...
I am still up at this crazy hour, working on my chemistry problem set. I don't know why I felt the need to blog this, but it's 3:35 a.m., and my mind is no longer functioning correctly.

:: SL 12:36 AM [+] ::
...
:: Thursday, March 20, 2003 ::
Well, I managed to fall asleep somehow last night. But I awoke to the sound of eager anticipation, for the housing assignments were about to arrive! They were hand delivered at 8:30 a.m., and many people stayed up all night last night with their blocking groups in anticipation. As it turns out, I was put in Leverett House, which is a river house! It's a little farther away from Harvard Yard, but at least it wasn't the Quad! And, it's closer than Dunster, which is where all my other roommates (they were in different blocking groups from mine) were put. So we all went to breakfast in the freshman dining hall, and what a party atmosphere it was! Representatives from each of the houses were there to greet and welcome the new members of each houses for the next year. They handed out t-shirts and signed people up for the house e-mail lists. The Leverett shirt is pretty cool. It is bright yellow and says LEVERETT in the Wonder Bread logo (with its primary colors and bright bubbles).

Then, something great was that my math TF let us out of class early to allow us to participate in the 12:30 anti-war walkout/protest. So we all went outside and congregated in Harvard Yard to show our discontent with the unjustified war on Iraq. I later learned that over 2,000 people showed up and that I had participated in the second largest gathering/protest ever at Harvard. There were many students and professors who took to the microphone and spoke about myriad aspects of the war. My friend and I cheered and clapped at appropriate moments. It was a good feeling to be around people who had similar opinions on the war.

I went into The Crimson for an hour to help with a survey they were doing. I had to call up random people and ask them some survey questions on how they felt about war in Iraq. After this, I came home and began my dreaded chemistry problem set.

This evening, however, my future Leverett House-mates and I went to Leverett to take a tour of the house. It's actually very nice! Part of Leverett is in the old, brick style, and the other part consists of two concrete towers. The towers are horrendously ugly, but after actually looking inside, it's really quite nice. Plus, the views of the river and of downtown Boston are spectacular from the upper levels. We went to various rooms throughout Leverett House, and each room had a host who would tell us a little bit about the dorm. There was also excellent food. I had Indian food, pizza, and tiramisu! Good stuff. Finally, we all gathered in the Leverett dining hall, where we were introduced to the house masters and monkey bread, which is this amazingly delicious buttery-cinnamon baked good that was basically the soft center of a cinnamon roll.

Today has really felt like the last day of school. First off, it's almost spring break, as tomorrow is the last day of school before vacation. Then there was the whole getting out of class to protest. Also, the resolution of finding out where we will be living for the next three years felt like a finale worthy of the end of the year. It's been a bright, event-filled day that comes along once in a lifetime.

:: SL 2:10 PM [+] ::
...
How funny! (Yes, I realize that every other person has already linked to this site. I'll try to be a little more original in the future.)

:: SL 1:53 PM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 ::
I slept most of today in an attempt to rid myself of my wretched cold. However, this evening, I went out with Jordan and a bunch of people in his dorm for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the North End (the Italian district of Boston) to celebrate the night before the announcement of housing assignments. The food was delicious and high-quality, and there was even a student discount! The service was wonderful, also. So much better in comparison with the horrible time I had the last time I went to an Italian restaurant.

After we got back on campus, and after some confusing mix-ups and delays, said friends and I embarked on the River House Challenge - a "tradition" we thought had been going on for years and years but was actually started last year. Tomorrow we find out our housing assignments for the next three years, so it's a pretty big deal. Each house has its own pros and cons, its own architecture, character, and feel. Obviously, everyone wants to be in Adams House because it is closest to Harvard Yard. The next closest houses are the other river houses (so called because they are next to the Charles River). However, nobody wants to be put in Mather, which is far away and has an ugly, concrete design. Worse still are the Quad houses - Currier, Pforzheimer, and Cabot - which are a twenty-minute walk away from the yard. Saddened are most who are assigned these houses, but the benefit is that the rooms are super-nice with many singles. So the River House Challenge is to avoid the Quad, and this is done by taking a shot of alcohol in the courtyard of each of the river houses, finishing off with one final shot on the bridge over the Charles River. This is a total of 10 shots, and needless to say people are very drunk when/if they finish the challenge. Unfortunately, I participated by drinking only Vanilla Coke, but I felt that the spirit of participating was what was important. It was a fun bonding experience visiting all the houses and talking with friends, who were becoming increasingly drunk as the adventure progressed. Finally, we reached the bridge, everyone finished their drinks, and it was getting late, but Jordan and I went to a physics study group. After that, we went to a special breakfast at 2 a.m. to celebrate our upcoming housing assignments. I went to bed soon after that.

Unfortunately, I could not go to sleep because my coughing was so bad, so I went to UHS to get some medicine. I felt bad doing that... the "emergency" care will probably cost an arm and a leg. (Yes, I'm still as frugal as ever.)

:: SL 10:48 PM [+] ::
...
Well, it looks like we're going to war. Goodbye innocent people of Iraq, goodbye international relations, goodbye peace. Hello death and destruction.

:: SL 10:48 PM [+] ::
...
:: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 ::
I would like it to be known that I was quite upset today when the temperature only hit a high of 50 degrees. Now, this would normally be wonderful weather compared to the freezing winter temperatures of the past months, especially in addition the sunniness of today. However, when it follows a 76 degree day, it makes one feel cheated, as if nature is merely teasing us with warm weather.

I had a chemistry lab that wasn't all that much fun. But then I had dinner with Jordan, and that was a high point in my day. Later in the evening I went to a complete run-through of Act 1 of the freshman musical. The production is coming along nicely. It truly is hilarious with such well-written jokes.

It is early to bed tonight, as I really would like to recover from being sick.

:: SL 9:19 PM [+] ::
...
Yuck. Still sick, even after the medication last night. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

:: SL 11:52 AM [+] ::
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:: Monday, March 17, 2003 ::
From the finale of one of the show-stopping numbers in the musical The Producers:
"Soon we'll be going... We've got to be going... You know we'll be going... You bet we'll be going... You know we'll be going to war!!!"
Mind you, this was making fun of Hitler's aggression during World War II, but I think we can see some interesting parallels.

:: SL 6:50 PM [+] ::
...
Some high points of tonight's speech:

"We are a peaceful people..." Yes... We are so peaceful that we are pursuing an unprecedented, unprovoked, and practically unilateral attack against another nation.
"Do not destroy oil wells..." And they say this war is not for the oil!
And once again the inability to say "nuclear." After all, "nucular" just sounds so much better!

:: SL 6:41 PM [+] ::
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Help our president! Donate to charity.
(Explanation here: CNN.com)

:: SL 6:29 PM [+] ::
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Happy St. Patrick's Day! I realized this morning as I was scrambling to find something green to wear that I have no green in my wardrobe whatsoever! This is disturbing because green is my favorite color. However, I lucked out because I found in my closet an oversized green jacket that I had not worn in a year, so I was saved and was able to dress in the appropriate color for today.

I went to UHS (the school's hospital) to try to get treatment for my cold. I've just been coughing, which hurts my head. It took me an hour's wait to finally see a nurse. At least I was able to get some medicine, so I will be drugging myself up shortly. I was going to take a nap, but I spent too much time at lunch, so I figured I might as well try to get some work done and just go to bed earlier tonight. So much for that...

Anyways, I had to go to a mandatory film showing for my Vietnam War class, but I left early to watch a monkey speak on television. There were many interesting reactions. One girl started sobbing when the ultimatum was declared.

Later tonight, I wasted more time once again online and chatting with friends. But social time is never wasted time, and it was fun, anyways. Wink! Wink!

:: SL 6:28 PM [+] ::
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:: Sunday, March 16, 2003 ::
The dining hall staff celebrated next week's Academy Awards by hosting the "Oscar Brunch," which featured lots of delicious gourmet food, in addition to gourmet fruit and cheese platters and these stations where the chefs would make omelettes.

I then went to a mid-comp interview for The Crimson, and I was told that I am on track to finish my news comp by the end of the year! I just have to keep pushing hard to get it all done! Afterwards, there was a mandatory meeting for all compers. The Crimson's lawyer came and spoke to us about libel law in hopes that nobody will be sued or be disciplined by the school.

Afterwards, I had a mini-crisis as my key had fallen out of my pocket while I was sitting down at the libel seminar, but I lucked out because my friend sitting next to me noticed right after I left, so I was able to reclaim my room key. What a lifesaver.

After dinner, I had some wonderful conversations with friends on the phone and online. I'd like to thank AIM for helping me waste so much time.

:: SL 10:12 PM [+] ::
...
I apologize that I wasn't able to post the link of the story I wrote for The Crimson. The newspaper's online archives system was down for the weekend, but apparently it is now back up again. My story can now be read here.

:: SL 2:08 PM [+] ::
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:: Saturday, March 15, 2003 ::
I slept through most of today. The rest certainly did me some good, I think.

I did take a small break from sleeping in the early afternoon in order to be in a film a friend of mine is making. I play a corrupt, drug-addicted senator whose only campaign contributions from constituents are "food stamps." The film is a satirical look at race relations in our country. Other than that, I slept until dinnertime. I then talked for some time with my good friend from across the hall. Afterwards, we decided to take it easy this Saturday night because we were both sick, so we went to the store across the street from the campus and got some snacks. We then watched The Royal Tennenbaums. It's such a quirky and eccentric movie. I loved it! Unfortunately, the DVD had some problems near the end, so I missed the last 10 minutes of it, but I plan to watch the end of the film in the future.

Then my friend and I went to the huge St. Patrick's Day party The Crimson was throwing, and there were a ton of people there. It wasn't as fun for me as it was for all the other people there, who were all drinking. I guess it was the alcohol that made it "fun" for everyone else. But it was nice to go out with friends on a Saturday night.

With the being sick, napping, and partying, today was the first day that I've been in college when I did not do a single productive thing the entire day. Hmmm. I should hope I do not do this again, as it will probably result in a ton of work to do the next day!

:: SL 10:36 PM [+] ::
...
Augh. I have such a horrible headache today. I feel as if my head is about to explode. I think I am becoming ill. 'm going to take a nap now.

:: SL 8:05 PM [+] ::
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:: Friday, March 14, 2003 ::
My story was on the front page of The Crimson today! Read it here.

:: SL 10:31 PM [+] ::
...
I went to chemistry class this morning and turned in my problem set. Then I had a meeting with my academic advisor, helpful as always. I had section for my Vietnam War class, and then I took a much-needed nap considering the fact that I had slept very little the previous night due to my chemistry problem set. I then went to section for my introductory psychology class. It was so hilarious because our TF (teaching fellow) kept making witty comments. "There's a film called Farmer Eroticism." And then we discussed milking cows for some reason. "What does it feel like to milk a cow? Do you pull and squeeze?" Then the reply was, "You have to aim for the bucket," and a visual demonstration utilizing suggestive hand gestures accompanied the explanation. I then whored out my brain for four psych studies to make some money. Two of the studies were visual memory experiments, and it got a bit tedious looking at nearly the same thing over and over and typing on a keyboard whether the object was facing the left or the right.

This evening my friends and I went out to dinner to celebrate somebody's birthday. We went to an Indian cuisine restaurant, and the food was quite delicious. I had curry chicken with rice. The curry wasn't too overpowering, but it was strong enough to be just right. We had some great discussions about war in Iraq and other pressing issues - not the traditional conversations of birthday parties but fun nonetheless. We then came back to the campus and went to the top floor (the tenth floor) of the Science Center, where there is a huge telescope and observatory. My friend knew how to set everything up, and we looked at such details as craters on the moon and Jupiter and four of its moons. It was an amazing experience. I had never looked into such a sophisticated telescope, and the sight was incredible. It was too bad that there were a few clouds that obscured the view. I shall add this to the list of great things I have had done that can't be done elsewhere. Then Jordan and I went to see a version of MTV's Singled Out dating show sponsored by our prefects and involving many freshman from our school as contestants. It was truly hilarious the questions and clever responses people made up in order to secure a date. "Spits or swallows?" "Tightie whities, Joe Boxer, or let it all hang out?" etc. etc.

I went back to my dorm and watched the end of the movie Ice Age across the hall. I then decided to go to bed early because I felt as if I was starting to get a little sick. I hope I'm not!!!

:: SL 9:53 PM [+] ::
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:: Thursday, March 13, 2003 ::
It was a busy day today. I had to go to classes, participate in a psych study, then rush over to The Crimson to write a story for tomorrow, then finish a paper by 8 p.m., then go back to The Crimson to finish my story and have it edited, and finally go back home to do my chemistry problem set (yay). Yep... so that's what I'm doing this fine Thursday night... working on my chemistry, but not in the way I'd like to... (get it? ha!).

:: SL 11:14 AM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 ::
Today was the psychology midterm, and it was not a pleasant experience. But, on the brighter side, I did finally get around to doing my laundry, and I also got to have dinner with someone special.
--------------------------------
Once again, somebody else has put into better words my exact sentiments about a particular topic.
From ChicagoImprovAnarchy.com:

So, it's come to this. Our Congress has decided to revive a World War I era stupidity, and change the names of certain food items in the House cafeteria. From now on, if you eat at Congress, French Fries and French Toast are going to be called Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.

For those not familiar with the history, during WWI anti-German sentiments caused people to call sauerkraut "freedom cabbage" and frankfurters "hot dogs."

And so, I am now officially embarrassed to be an American. Whether or not you agree with France's decision to oppose us on this war, how can you argue that this kind of childish and moronic gesture accomplishes anything but making us all look like fools? These are the men and women we have elected to represent us - and they are acting like nothing more than a bunch of vindictive little babies who can't take anyone disagreeing with them.

It is shameful, it is disgraceful, and we as a people should not stand for it. But not only do a large majority of Americans stand for this sort of thing, but they actually support it! Is it any wonder people all over the world regard us a bankrupt culture? Is it too much to ask of our elected officials, the people who are supposed to be leaders, to rise above this sort of behavior? Apparently.

Then again, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - so from now on I'm going to call "Bush" "Freedom Pubes."

:: SL 8:18 AM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 ::
I had a midterm in my Vietnam War class today. Blech. It wasn't too pleasant. I also had a chemistry lab, but my group finished early (we completed the two-hour lab in one hour), so I actually got to have lunch! I then went to hear famed intellectual and founder of modern linguistics Noam Chomsky speak about biolinguistics. The lecture was quite fascinating. I hadn't seen someone special in a long time, so we talked for a while at dinner. There was a fun party study break for our proctor, who finally finished his thesis and is now the "doctor proctor." We had lots of cake and sparkling apple cider and crackers and cheese. Then I went to the library and spent the rest of the night trying to study for my psychology midterm tomorrow. The hell of midterms is almost over. I'm pretty much ready for spring break right about now.

An annoying thing at this school is the concept of "blocking." It's where you have to get together in groups of eight, and this group is the group of people you will be guaranteed to live with in the same dorm. Needless to say, there is always high drama, as people as forced to decide who their seven best friends are. Unfortunately, this process has not been too pleasant for me, and thus I am still trying to work out a blocking group. It's quite aggravating that they force us to sort all this out in the middle of midterms. As if we didn't have enough things to worry about already.

:: SL 11:12 PM [+] ::
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What is wrong with our country and government? I'm starting to think that America is becoming snootier than France in some regards:
CNN.com
Why rag on France? The "administration" is throwing a childish hissy fit just because it's not getting its way and intelligent countries are finally gathering the courage to stand up to the international bully that is the United States.

:: SL 7:55 PM [+] ::
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Here's a website that my friend started:
OneRevolution.org

:: SL 5:02 PM [+] ::
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And now, the obligatory anti-war commentary...

Hmmm... war... that doesn't seem like such a good idea, considering how the rest of the world feels about this topic. Obviously, we need to protect our country from the evils of terrorism, but I feel it can be done diplomatically and through heightened intelligence, WITHOUT infringing on our civil liberties. For example, a plethora of terrorist attacks have been foiled by raids that followed intense monitoring of terrorists. All this war-mongering by our "president" and empty threats and unilateralism only serves to reaffirm America's reputation and image as an international bully and to spawn new terrorists for the future.

:: SL 4:58 PM [+] ::
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:: Monday, March 10, 2003 ::
I sat in on the most amazing class today. The class is a linguistics class about the various dialects of English, and it explores such variations of English all over the world, from within the United States (Californian sufer/stoner/valley girl, Boston, New York, Mid-West, Southern, etc), to Canada, to Australia, to England, and other English-speaking countries. I had wanted to take this course, but unfortunately it conflicted with my psychology class. Today's lecture was about Canada. The professor brought in two native Canadians: one from Montreal and one from Vancouver. We learned that most Canadians modify their speech here in the US in order to avoid ridicule. They rarely say "eh" or "aboot" (as portrayed in the South Park Movie or Chasing Amy) when they are in the United States because they get made fun of. There were also some neat cultural differences, too. For example, whole milk in Canada is called "Homo milk," and macaroni and cheese is called "Kraft dinner." Today's lecture gave me a greater appreciation of Canada (as if I didn't appreciate Canada enough already).

I spent most of today at the library studying for my Vietnam War class midterm tomorrow. However, I did manage to spend plenty of time talking with friends. I feel as if I have become closer to all my friends in general, and that is a good thing.

:: SL 2:40 PM [+] ::
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Let's try this again:

The song that is the hottest craze in my entryway right now. Hear it here:
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/bangbangbang.shtml

:: SL 1:34 PM [+] ::
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:: Sunday, March 09, 2003 ::
Well, today has been a rather uneventful day. I went to a comp meeting for The Crimson newspaper. Then I watched some psychology lectures online to try to catch up in that class. I had a good dinner, and then spent a lot of time talking to friends. I had an excellent bonding experience with my roommate John because he finally downloaded Kazaa Lite and has been obsessed with downloading songs. So we talked about what our favorite songs were and downloaded them on our own computers. Finally, I finished up some homework and tried to go to bed early because I have an early class tomorrow. Sigh. Another weekend is over.

:: SL 9:52 PM [+] ::
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Yay! If you search for "Pedantic Platitudes" at google.com, my blog comes up as the first search result! How exciting! It's good to be #1.

:: SL 12:47 AM [+] ::
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I am staying up late now listening to Jordan's radio show, which plays 3-5 a.m. on Saturday night (early Sunday morning). The show features electronica music. It's really neat to listen to the radio and know the DJ and recognize the voice.

:: SL 12:37 AM [+] ::
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Gee, the weather certainly has been crazy. Just two days ago, it was really nice. The sun was out, and the ice was melting, finally exposing the ground. It actually felt like spring was finally here. Then, we were hit by a huge snowstorm that dumped a ton of snow on us. All of a sudden, it seemed as if we were in the middle of winter. But then today it was nice again (in the 40s). It was so nice, in fact, that my friend actually pulled out her Hawaiian shirt and shorts and declared that it was summer. Such crazy weather.

:: SL 12:35 AM [+] ::
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:: Saturday, March 08, 2003 ::
Well, it looks like I will be going home to California for spring break, from March 21 to March 31. I can't wait to go home and see my friends and family again! Plus, I will get to work at The Tribune during that time.

Today, my friend from across the hall, along with her friend visiting from high school, and I went to this thrift store called The Garment District. It's a really large store, and it sells lots of different clothes, vintage and previously worn, etc. It also sold accessories, from leather bracelets to colored wigs to hats and shoes. I didn't buy anything, but there were definitely things I wanted to buy. I saw this jacket that actually fit me that was bright orange and spelled SECURITY across the back and had a lot of reflective stripes on it. I would have bought it, but I was thinking it might not be such a great idea to wear something like that because somebody might mistake me for real security, or something like that.

Later in the evening, I spent some time with Jordan. We went to drink some hot chocolate, and then we listened to some electronica music. It really was a wonderful evening.

:: SL 1:21 PM [+] ::
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:: Friday, March 07, 2003 ::
Today, my friend gave a rousing performance of a piece from The Vagina Monologues (oh no... not that again!) about a woman who loved to make vaginas happy. We were all together in an informal group of friends, and she decided to perform it. It was particularly interesting because this friend... well, she loves to make vaginas happy. Not to be outdone, I performed my favorite piece, My Angry Vagina, from The Vagina Monologues. It drew an enthusiastic response, as it always does. Why, I even remember the first time I read aloud the My Angry Vagina piece from The Vagina Monologues. It really was unforgettable and quite powerful.

It was a nice evening, hanging out with a bunch of friends. We talked about life, school, and relationships. It's good to talk about things to sort problems out.

:: SL 11:30 PM [+] ::
...
Yesterday, I used twice the phrase "place of employment" (as in, "I need to call my place of employment"), and each time I received strange stares from those listening. Sheesh. Some people just have no appreciation for well-crafted, pedantic speech. I'd rather say "place of employment" anytime than say that ear-grating word, "jooooaaarb" (job).

:: SL 6:31 PM [+] ::
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:: Thursday, March 06, 2003 ::
It's Thursday, so of course I have to work on my chemistry problem set due tomorrow morning. The Undergraduate Council had offered a presentation of the movie Catch Me If You Can for only $1, but I missed it in favor of doing my chemistry. God, I'm pathetic.

Other than that, it is Thursday, so all the folks back in SLO-town and its surrounding populated localities are off to Farmers' Market. Sigh. I miss wandering in and out of random shops and walking up and down the street and hanging out in Barnes and Noble and having Jamba Juice and Pizza Solo and watching late-night movies at Downtown Cinemas.

:: SL 11:24 PM [+] ::
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What the hell are lewd eeps?

:: SL 5:25 PM [+] ::
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Today, my father is leaving for Taiwan to visit my grandpa, who is turning 80 next week.

:: SL 1:06 PM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 ::
Today, I went to some classes. Chemistry was boring as usual; psychology was fascinating as usual. Then, later in the afternoon I got an e-mail from Jordan inviting me to go along with a group of friends to a Celtics game! So we went to Boston's Fleet Center, which is a huge indoor stadium that is used for a variety of purposes, from a basketball court to a hockey rink to a concert venue. It was the first time I had ever been to the Fleet Center, and it was also the first time I had ever been to a professional sports game. It was neat to watch the NBA game with the Celtics vs. the Knicks. We had seats at the very top row, so everything was far away, but later in the game we moved down to the ground level seats and found some empty seats. It was neat to watch the game from up close! It was just like on TV, except there was much more excitement, spirit, and atmosphere with all the other people in the arena. I was rooting for the Celtics because they are Boston's team. The Celtics won 97-95. It was a great time to spend with friends.

:: SL 9:49 PM [+] ::
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Why do Canadians get such a bad rap? I dunno what's up with that, but here's something a dear Canadian friend of mine sent to me:

Courtesy of Rick Mercer from This Hour Has 22 Minutes CBC Television:

On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to offer an apology to the
United States of America. We haven't been getting along very well
recently and for that, I am truly sorry. I'm sorry we called George Bush a
moron. He is a moron but, it wasn't nice of us to point it out. If it's
any consolation, the fact that he's a moron shouldn't reflect poorly on
the people of America. After all it's not like you actually elected him.

I'm sorry about our softwood lumber. Just because we have more trees than
you doesn't give us the right to sell you lumber that's cheaper and better
than your own.

I'm sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey. In our defence I guess our excuse
would be that our team was much, much, much, much better than yours...

I'm sorry about our waffling on Iraq. I mean, when you're going up against
a crazed dictator, you wanna have your friends by your side. I realize it
took more than two years before you guys pitched in against Hitler, but
that was different. Everyone knew he had weapons.

I'm sorry about that Liberal MP calling you guys: "Damned Americans" We
know some of you are good people.

And finally on behalf of all Canadians, I'm sorry that we're constantly
apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way which is really a
thinly veiled criticism. I sincerely hope that you're not upset over this.
We've seen what you do to countries you get upset with.

Thank you.

:: SL 9:45 PM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 ::
Well, today was another day of mad studying for my math midterm. I spent the whole day studying, and then I took the math midterm, which went from 7:30 to 9:30 at night. Everything was done well in last semester's math class, but this semester everything just seems so much worse; the web site isn't well-updated, the times are screwy, and the review sessions weren't well organized. Oh well. The midterm - like the class - was a soul-crushing experience. (My apologies for the overuse of the phrase "soul-crushing"... I don't actually use it all that often.)

But after the test, I went to a great study break, where the theme was "dress up like your roommate," so I borrowed my 6'8" roommate's pea coat and dapper hat made in Italy and wore them. Because I am so short, and John is so tall, the coat and hat were huge on me. Also, we have a running gag on how "WASP-y" John dresses/acts, so I wore a dark blue sweater with a white collared shirt underneath to emulate John. The get-up was well-received.

Afterwards, I had some cheesecake and chatted with some friends upstairs. Then I gave my friend a call and we went out for a nice walk into the nice, but cold, night. The ice had frozen over on the river, but the lights still reflected gently against the ice. It really was a beautiful night.

:: SL 10:38 PM [+] ::
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:: Monday, March 03, 2003 ::
Augh. Chemistry: that horrible class that has a tendency to crush one's soul. But after chemistry, I had a fairly free day, until I had to study for my math midterm tomorrow. When will it all end???

I had stayed up late last night, so I took a nap this afternoon. Then Jordan and I went to dinner. Afterwards, we went to the Redline Restaurant to hear Marc Abrahams, the founder of the Ig Nobel Awards, speak. He shared many humorous anecdotes of scientific studies whose results "cannot or should not be reproduced." For example, one study looked at the spread of gonorrhea through inflatable sex dolls. Another discussed the effects of falling coconuts. He also talked about the development of the awards show, which is held every year at Harvard University and is most irreverent. It was a most interesting talk. Learn more about the Ig Nobel Awards here:
http://www.improb.com/

Later, I attended a Crimson comp meeting. Then I had a long talk with some friends from home and from across the hall.

:: SL 11:51 PM [+] ::
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Take the Harry Potter quiz!
http://encarta.msn.com/quiz/quiz.asp?QuizID=56
Here's my score:
You know your Harry Potter books. Are you enrolled at Hogwarts?
You got 12/12 correct.

:: SL 8:06 AM [+] ::
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:: Sunday, March 02, 2003 ::
Today was a day of mad studying for my chemistry midterm tomorrow. I also had another review session for my math midterm on Tuesday. I did have a wonderful dinner with my friend Jordan, though. Tonight (like every Sunday night) ice cream was served in the dining hall, and they had a huge variety of toppings. I had vanilla ice cream with caramel (real caramel!) and cherries. Yum yum. Then it was back to studying into the late hours of the night.

:: SL 10:26 PM [+] ::
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Ha! I have conducted a highly unscientific survey, and the results indicate that there is more support for my criteria (see post below) than there is for the other criteria. See? The lesson here is that oral sex and manual sex are not on the same plane. Disclaimer: My personal beliefs dictate that these activities are not wrong in any way, and I am not trying to promote the concept of virginity. In fact, I feel that "virginity" is nothing more than a means by which those jealous ones who have not "had some" can disparage those who have. Over and out on this topic... for now.

:: SL 6:30 PM [+] ::
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:: Saturday, March 01, 2003 ::
This is war! A blog war!

My friend, who shall remain nameless (::cough:: KATIE ::cough::), from California has been insisting on the following (and ridiculous) criteria:
And I quote (she has been bold enough to even publish this on her blog):

"here is the true definition of what it means to be a SUPER V (well at least the west coast version)
Superior Super V + (has to have the + sign)= Never Been Kissed
Ultra Super V + = Has been kissed but no Sexual relationships
Ultra Super V= Has been kissed and has been touched in certain areas
Super V= Has had Manual or Oral sex but not both
V= has had both Manual and Oral Sex
Half of a V- has pulled out half way during the beginning stages of sex
The non innocent -has had sex."

She has even gone as far to say that this is a "West Coast" version of the rules just because I disagreed with her... Now, being a West Coaster by heart, I completely object to this excuse that the criteria can be different because of the different coasts. Thus, here are my rules, which are obviously correct. Yes... 'tis true... I came up with these on the front steps of a church, so it must be the gospel truth.

Ultra Super V Plus = Pure
Ultra Super V = Kissing
Super V = Manual Sex
V = Oral Sex
Half a V = Coitus Interruptus
Non-V = Corrupted

See why my scale is better? It is obvious that my use of the phrase "coitus interruptus" makes my criteria far superior.

:: SL 10:51 PM [+] ::
...
Due to the thrilling events of last night, I slept until noon. Then I went to a review session for my math class because there will be a midterm on Tuesday. My friends and I then went out to Boston's Chinatown to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The food was wonderful. We had sesame chicken, roast duck, sweet and sour pork, shrimp with vegetables, and fried rice. It was good to have real food as opposed to dining hall food. We were guided by one of my friends from across the hall who is originally from China. We had a great time; this one girl was acting fascinated by everything in Chinatown, as if she had never been there before (she has actually been to China, which made it all the more funny). Then, at the restaurant there was live seafood, and there were these clams that had huge appendages that looked like... well... penises. So all we could do was joke about them. Anyways, a good time was had by all.

I then had to go to a chemistry review session for the test on Monday. It was held at 9 on a Saturday night. How pathetic is that? It was sad. Anyways, I then had a delightful conversation with "the hottest lesbian at Harvard," who is such a nice girl who lives in my entryway. She is very supportive of anything people have to say, so I had a good talk with her. I also talked to my friends back at home via phone, which was nice.

:: SL 10:31 PM [+] ::
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