:: Pedantic Platitudes ::

:: Friday, October 01, 2004 ::

Yesterday, I went to my classes. Afterwards, I went to a meeting with a graduate student with whom I am working. She showed me the procedures for one of the studies she is running, and we did a quick run-through of the experiment. Afterwards, I returned to my room and did some work.

In the evening, following dinner, my friend and I went to the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government to watch the first presidential debate. It was so crowded there; a lot of people had turned out to watch this pivotal moment in this year's election.

I must say with relief that John Kerry did a great job in maintaining a steady position and defending himself from the meritless and scripted attacks from Bush. Bush looked really unprofessional during the debate. He appeared flustered, angry, and impatient. He rolled his eyes, shifted back and forth, and was hunched over his lectern. Bush kept repeating the same lines over and over again, and there were moments when he spoke that the audience just looked at each other and wondered, "What?" because it was so non-sequitur and nonsensical. Some quotes from Bush sounded like something right out of Saturday Night Live. The Republicans, who spun Al Gore's sighing out of control in the 2000 election, are now getting a taste of their own medicine. It was interesting to see just how much Bush relies on his backup staff; during the debate, when he had to answer direct and critical questions, Bush stuttered, hesitated, and spoke very poorly (as usual). However, when it came to the final two-minute wrap-up, for which the candidates could prepare, Bush suddenly sounded clear. The contrast really underscored just how much Bush's campaign is just built on a big act to hide that the man really doesn't know what he's doing. The country and the world are suffering due to this.

Today, I got up early to attend a section I thought I had to attend, but it turned out that it does not begin to meet until next week. Alas. I could have spent that time doing something more important... like sleeping.

After attending classes, I had lunch with some friends and then attended the rededication of the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, the centerpiece of the university library system. It's this huge, but beautiful, building in the middle of the campus that was built as a memorial by the mother of a book-loving Harvard graduate, Harry Widener, who died on the Titanic. The library opened in 1915 and now has 3.5 million books, but in the last five years it has gone through an extensive renovation that was such a massive undertaking. There was always construction going on inside and outside the library; it's so nice that it's finally all done.

The rededication featured some music and speeches. Then, a big red ribbon was cut with a big pair of scissors. Attendees were then treated with apple cider and a delightful selection of cookies at the reception afterwards.

Tonight, I went out to dinner with my friends Alex and Alex to John Harvard's, a really nice restaurant with really tasty food. I had a buffalo chicken salad, which was an interesting take on an already tasty food. It was nice, except they put too much dressing on the salad, and that didn't work well with the chicken, which was already very salty. For an appetizer, we had pita bread and hummus, and that was a nice, light beginning to the meal.

Later in the evening, I joined another group of friends, one of whom made smoothies from fresh fruit. It was very tasty, and it was like a taste of Jamba Juice, which reminds me of home. My friend from Minneapolis said a Jamba Juice just opened there, and her sister and she were obsessed with the wonderful concoctions.

We then watched some Father Ted, a hilarious British comedy about a bunch of Catholic priests and their exploits on a small, isolated island.

Quote of the Day: "The gays are destroying the morality of this country, but they do it while wearing such nice shoes!"

:: SL 11:16 PM [+] ::
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