:: 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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:: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 ::

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a great holiday weekend.

:: SL 11:23 AM [+] ::
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:: Monday, November 22, 2004 ::
Ha ha ha...

Wow.

:: SL 11:35 PM [+] ::
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Congress Passes $388 Billion Spending Bill

"The Senate voted 65-30 for the legislation late on Saturday that sets aside funds for a range of priorities including a presidential yacht, foreign aid and energy. It is one of the final pieces of work for the 108th Congress and they may return to finish a spy agency overhaul before the end of the year."

Great. Federal financial aid for college students and after-school programs are cut, and money to help clean up and protect the environment is reduced, but the president gets a fucking yacht.

It's breathtaking to learn about the priorities of this country.

:: SL 9:50 PM [+] ::
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I received 62 e-mails today! That has to be a new record.

:: SL 8:12 PM [+] ::
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:: Sunday, November 21, 2004 ::
Ah, yes... the week in review:

Last Sunday, I went to a meeting for Harvard Model Congress. We were coming with ideas on how to better the government simulation in the spring. It'll be a lot of planning before the big weekend in March, but it's going to be a lot of fun.

Afterwards, I went to a celebration for Diwali, a Hindu festival often described as a "Festival of Lights." Candles glowed all around, and there was a wonderful celebratory atmosphere. I didn't go with anyone, but at the ceremony I ran into several of my friends. Diwali is a time when Indian families get together, so participants at this ceremony recounted tales of being with their families, which they couldn't do because they were at school. There were a lot of prayers said and songs sung, and afterwards there were some amazing Indian desserts served. It was such a culturally enlightening experience. I'm glad I went.

On Monday, I spent all afternoon working at the psychology lab. It was fun running subjects with the new study I'm working on. You meet the most interesting people on this job.

On Tuesday, the tutors in my entryway from last year were having a study break featuring cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, so my friends and I went and socialized and ate the wonderful cheesecake. I love cheesecake! I tried the tiramisu, the German chocolate, and the peanut butter chocolate cheesecakes. So many varieties!

Wednesday was a super-busy day. I was running all around campus. I went to classes in the morning. Then, after a quick lunch break with a couple of friends and a hilarious conversation, I went to the Harvard Business School to participate in an economics study. They pay so well. I made over $20 in less than an hour. I then went to a lab meeting back at the psychology department building. After the meeting, I worked a couple of hours in the lab and then went to hear a talk about the neurobiology of economic behavior by a professor visiting from (gag) Stanford University. It was an interesting lecture.

I had wanted to watch a bit of the hilarious film Goodbye, Lenin! at the Center for European Studies, but they were having technical difficulties and the film started late, so I headed off to have a quick dinner and meet up with friends for a private early screening of the new Nicholas Cage film National Treasure, which was being presented by the Harvard Undergraduate Council.

From the trailer, National Treasure seems like a horrible, horrible movie. The concept and plot is so utterly outlandish that it's hard to take any bit of the film seriously. However, the film never really takes itself too seriously in the first place, so it was actually entertaining. If you allow yourself to suspend disbelief for a couple of hours during this movie, you can have a good time. There were some great car chase action scenes and big explosions (in true Jerry Bruckheimer style). It was very Indiana Jones-ish at parts, and it was actually fun to see how they pieced together random historical sites into one mystery to solve. I'm glad we got to see the movie for free; I wouldn't have wanted to see the movie if I had to pay for it.

On Thursday, I worked at the psychology lab in the afternoon.

A pseudo-Thanksgiving dinner Thursday night! After spending the afternoon working in the psychology lab and then having tea at the weekly Lowell House get-together, I went to dinner, where there was turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie! I love pumpkin pie. I haven't had it in quite some time, so it seemed to taste extra wonderful. After dinner I rushed to the Kennedy School of Government to participate in a 45-minute economics study in which I received $25. Yay.

Tonight, my roommate threw a tea party, so we drank tea and ate cookies. We also played the "psychiatrist game," and hilarity ensued, especially when we were portraying members of the opposite gender. I then spent the rest of the night doing schoolwork. I ended up pulling an all-nighter because there was so much work to be done.

On Friday, I went to breakfast and then to my classes. In the afternoon I got trained to code some videos in the psychology lab and then headed off to lunch. I then participated in an economics study at the Harvard Business School, where I made $32. This has been a particularly lucrative week with regard to business school studies; I've made about $80 this week from these short studies. Well, I guess that's really nothing compared to the people who make hundreds of dollars per hour.

After the business school study, I went and (finally!) got a haircut. I've been needing one for the longest time. The lady who cut my hair was very nice. We were talking about wild hair colors, and she mentioned that she has pink hair in her driver's license photo.

Since I've been craving it all week and the store is near the barbershop, I got some bubble tea! I got the lychee milk tea flavor. Good stuff! I then went to see the movie Bolivar Soy Yo with the Harvard University Colombian Association. It was in Spanish with subtitles. It was very funny!

This weekend is the huge Harvard-Yale football game, so the campus Friday night was abuzz with a billion parties. Harvard's college rival is Yale, so the match-up of its football teams is treated with great anticipation and celebration. This weekend, we got a lot of visitors from Yale. Music was blaring out of windows, and people were roaming the streets in search of the next event to go to. Friday night was my friend's 21st birthday, so I went to a get-together to celebrate it. It was good fun!

My friends were going clubbing in Boston, but it was getting kind of late and didn't seem worth the cost of admission and transportation, so I opted not to go, even though I really wanted to dance. I instead went to visit a couple of friends, and we chatted for some time. It was a pretty low-key evening for me, considering all the events there were on such a major party night. I was also dead tired from staying up the whole night before, so I went to bed fairly early.

One event I missed that I think would have been interesting was one called the "Dance Conspiracy," which was this party where everyone would be given radios and headphones, and everyone would set their radios to the same frequency, which would be playing dance music. So from a non-participant's perspective, it would be completely silent except for the shuffling and movement of dancing bodies, while to participants it would just be a regular dance. I thought it was a creative concept. It would be intriguing to see masses of people grooving but to apparent silence.

Yesterday was "The Game"! I had a quick lunch and headed over to the huge event. Before going into the stadium, I went to the massive tailgate on the field across the street. There were so many people partying there! Each house, club, and social organization had a tailgate, and they served food, snacks, drinks, etc. People were dancing to the blaring music, too. Lots of fun. I then headed over the stadium to watch the game. So much fun! Harvard defeated Yale 35-3. Yay!!!

Alas... this update was three and a half pages on a Word document. Sigh. I need to update more often so I won't need to write these uber-long super updates.

Quote of the Day: "Egads! My stock is falling! Flash!"

:: SL 8:21 AM [+] ::
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:: Friday, November 19, 2004 ::
I'm not a fan of coffee, but yesterday I had a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and for the first time ever I didn't find the coffee disgusting or unbearable, like I usually do. It wasn't tasty, but it wasn't horrible, either. Strangely enough, I hadn't added milk/creamer or sugar, either.

:: SL 5:23 AM [+] ::
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:: Thursday, November 18, 2004 ::
The revolution begins!

A Random Blog

Currently in beta testing, A Random Blog is a new site that will allow you to view, well, a random blog!

More features may also be in store to revolutionize the way you read your blogs...

:: SL 9:31 PM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 ::
Bad lede of the day:

From New Jersey's McGreevey makes goodbye address

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) -- Gov. James E. McGreevey, who stunned the nation with the disclosure that he is gay and would resign from his post, wants to put his political record straight.

:: SL 8:02 PM [+] ::
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Win a Flu Shot: That's the prize for contestants in a new reality TV show

:: SL 8:04 AM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 ::
I wonder what Jesus would sound like if he spoke like a valley girl...

"OKaaay, I, like, totally, like, died for your sins, m'kay?"

:: SL 10:57 PM [+] ::
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Ha!

eBay pulls 'Virgin Mary sandwich'

Auction here.

:: SL 4:47 PM [+] ::
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:: Monday, November 15, 2004 ::
Today, I found out that french fries dipped in bleu cheese dressing is quite tasty. I ate that along with spicy buffalo wings and an enchilada for lunch today. I had sugar cookies for dessert. It was one of the best lunches I've ever had.

:: SL 1:23 AM [+] ::
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I just had a cherry bagel. It was like a bagel with raisins, except there were dried cherries. Yum.

:: SL 1:22 AM [+] ::
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:: Sunday, November 14, 2004 ::
Ugh. Some finals club is having its initiations tonight, so there's tons of screaming and general hullabaloo out in the street. I hope it doesn't go too late into the night.

:: SL 10:56 PM [+] ::
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:: Saturday, November 13, 2004 ::
Two Saturdays ago, I went to Manchester, New Hampshire! Although it was a very wet day, it was fun going door to door to remind people to vote. I was volunteering for America Votes, an organization not affiliated with any candidate. It was an annoyance having to get up so early that day, but the drive up was pretty nice; it was probably the last good weekend to see the brightly colored falling leaves, and the highway to New Hampshire is surrounded by forests.

In New Hampshire, we handed out fliers and talked to people about the importance of voting, and I got sort of wet due to the rain, but it was all in good fun. They also gave us pizza for lunch. We found out that New Hampshire, which was a "red state" in 2000, had converted to a "blue state" this election. Yay. That night was my room's big "Rocktoberween" party, and pictures from that fun event can be viewed in a previous post.

Last Saturday, I went to see the play "The Playboy of the Western World," which is a major cultural classic in Ireland, studied and taught much like some works of Shakespeare are in the U.S. The production was presented in colloquial Irish accents by a major theater group from Ireland visiting Boston for this month, and my roommate, who was born in Ireland, invited us all to go see the show because his father is an actor in this production! It was such an interesting play; I am glad I had the chance to get this taste of Irish culture.

After the play ended, we got to meet my roommate's dad. We then headed back to campus, where I caught the end of the 80s DANCE! It was so much fun. My house throws a big 80s dance twice a year, and it's very popular with everyone because who doesn't have fond memories of 80s pop culture, with big hair, neon colors, and sweat bands? We danced to fun 80s songs including Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," Jon Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer," and A-Ha's "Take on Me." They also had Pop Rocks, the most fun candy ever, but they ran out before I got there. Alas.

Afterwards, my friend and I went to a local Mexican restaurant to get a late-nite snack; I had a quesadilla. Yum.

On Tuesday, I worked with a graduate student on running a new psychology study. This one will be a walk-in study, so I won't have to deal with the difficulties of scheduling people to come in at the same time.

Later in the evening, I went to see the musical Evita, which was the basis for the movie of the same name starring Madonna. It was interesting to see what they changed and added to the musical. The guy who played Che, the narrator, added some humorous touches to his performance, but I missed the fuller orchestrations of the movie (as well as the song "You Must Love Me," which was written for the movie). Interestingly, Evita is portrayed as getting to the top by sleeping around in the musical more than in the movie.

The chorus, although large for a stage musical, seemed tiny in scenes such as when Evita gives a speech to thousands of supporters off her balcony. The lady who sang "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" was an excellent singer, too. "So what happens now? (Another suitcase in another hall.) So what happens now? (Take your picture off another wall.) Where am I going to? (You'll get by you always have before.) Where am I going to? (Don't ask anymore.)"

Since we didn't have school on Veterans Day, I was able to relax a bit on Wednesday. I went to a lovely luncheon hosted for affiliates of Leverett House (old graduates and faculty members). The meal started with a nice pureed squash soup topped with toasted bread. The entrée was lightly browned salmon topped with tangy cranberry sauce and supported by a layer of spiced spinach and a foundation of richly buttery rice. For dessert, there was a most amazing berry tart with a thick but crumbly crust in a lovely vanilla-lemon sauce topped with fresh whipped cream and a leaf of mint. What an extraordinarily tasty meal. During the luncheon, I conversed with a former student who is now working for a financial firm in Boston and a nice lady who used to teach Japanese here at Harvard.

Later in the afternoon, I went to have tea and snacks with various faculty members at this weekly function, where I (strangely enough) was asked if I was British. I had a fascinating conversation about linguistics and accents around the world. Afterwards, I went to dinner and participated in Chinese table, where we practiced our Mandarin Chinese. There was a treat of dumplings and scallion pancakes. Yum!

That evening, my friends and I watched a Bollywood-style movie musical called "Kal Ho Naa Ho" ("Tomorrow May Never Come"). It's in Hindi, so there were subtitles, and we were amused by some of the bad or awkward translations, which my friend explained to us. It was a long movie (three and a half hours!), but it was a lot of fun, and there was a nice "live for today" message. There was an attractive character who wears glasses in the film, and she was repeatedly referred to as "Specsy," so afterwards we joked to each other, "Hey, Specsy!" There were a lot of random and cheesy (but still incredibly entertaining) dance and musical sequences, including one in which the male lead begins singing the song "Pretty Woman" in Hindi (complete with a rap interlude) during a block party on the street, as well as another random one in which the characters danced 70s style and performed a song entitled "It's the Time to Disco" at a dance club. It's a pretty catchy song! That musical number really made my day.

I then visited some other friends, and we watched the movie Bridget Jones' Diary. It was a humorous movie, although I'm not sure if I'm moved to see the sequel, which is out this weekend. We then stayed after, chatting and playing Super Nintendo: Super Mario World. It was so much fun. I hadn't played video games in a long time.

Even though I had stayed up very late, I had to get up early on Thursday to practice the study I'm running in the psychology lab I'm working in. Afterwards, I went with my friends Alex and Alex to have lunch at John Harvard's. I had a "California sandwich," which had grilled chicken, sprouts, Monterey Jack cheese, and avocado on focaccia bread. I then studied madly for my midterm on Friday, which was not fun to take.

I spent the rest of the day writing a paper, taking a quick break to visit friends after dinner (which was Chinese food night with General Gao's chicken, dumplings with ginger soy sauce, and steamed bok choy, among other dishes). Lunch wasn't bad, either; there was a "Savory Spotlight" on apples, and they had nearly a dozen varieties of apples, from Fuji to Golden Delicious. There was also hot mulled apple cider and apple crisp.

After finishing my paper (and walking through the still falling snow - it started snowing today for the first time this season! - to turn it in), I finally went to day after an exhausting day. On Saturday evening, my friends and I wanted to go to Burdick's (an upscale chocolate shop) for hot chocolate on a frigid evening, but it was very busy so we couldn't get seats. Finale, the upscale dessert restaurant, was very busy and all booked, too. A small dessert restaurant that we wanted to go to was closed, too, so we finally settled on bubble tea (always a delight in my book). I got the regular milk-tea with boba this time, and that was very tasty. This new store, which just opened this summer, offers the best bubble tea flavors because the owner imports the tea from Taiwan. Also, it is cheaper and offers a free drink program for frequent visitors. Yay for bubble tea! We then went to my friend's dorm and chatted and ate frosting-covered cookies.

My friend and I then watched "Sharpe's Revenge," part of a British made-for-TV movie series (a miniseries of sorts) based on books of the same name. The historical adventure details the exploits of Richard Sharpe during the Peninsular War, and we laughed at some outlandish scenes and exchanges between characters. I think I may have to watch the rest of the series now.

Wow, this update is two and a half pages long on a Word document; if only I could churn out my academic papers this quickly!

Quote(s) of the Day: "Jesus is not a member of the Teen Girl Squad!!!"

"A party without alcohol is like a rave without E!" "A 'rav'?"

"(sneeze)" "Mazel-tov! I mean, gesundheit!"

"Laugh like a lady; then make love like a whore."

:: SL 1:46 PM [+] ::
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:: Friday, November 12, 2004 ::
It's snowing!!!

First snowfall of the season. Winter really is here. There is still a lot of green grass on the lawns, so it looks a bit strange with the white snow falling. The ground is not too cold, so the snow melts as soon as it hits the ground.

The first snowfall of the season is always so magical.

:: SL 1:27 PM [+] ::
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Yesterday, I saw the student here who looks like a young Tom Cruise.

:: SL 3:08 AM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 ::
The latest song I've been hooked on: "Dragostea Din Tei" by the Romanian group O-Zone.

:: SL 5:29 PM [+] ::
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AUGH!

I like getting my daily dose of high-blood-pressure-inducing news.

:: SL 1:28 PM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 ::
Oooh! Remember how I wrote earlier about the new iPod Photo and how cool it was? It stores music files and picture files with a wonderful color screen that displays pictures so vividly, as I witnessed firsthand at the Apple store in the mall.

Well, now a site is giving them away for free! Forget the old "Get a free iPod" promotion... now it's a new "Get a free iPod Photo!"

All you have to do is sign up, complete a free promotional offer, and then refer some friends!

Get your very own free iPod Photo here: Free iPod Photo!

:: SL 10:29 AM [+] ::
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:: Monday, November 08, 2004 ::
This morning I entered through the doors of a restroom, and as the smell of the urinal cakes greeted and subsequently overpowered my olfactory bulbs, I thought to myself, "Thank goodness for sanitation products."

:: SL 10:40 AM [+] ::
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:: Sunday, November 07, 2004 ::
This animation is just oozing with cuteness.

I Love Egg

:: SL 4:07 AM [+] ::
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Our school newspaper has this wonderful student-produced comic strip called "School Spirits" by the Mercenary Missionary, and it features appearances by famous former Harvardians and characters of historical significance such as T.S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, and Teddy Roosevelt.

Recently, the comic had a running gag that I found absolutely hilarious; check it out:

Oct. 25

Oct. 26

Oct. 27

Oct. 28

Oct. 29

:: SL 1:01 AM [+] ::
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:: Saturday, November 06, 2004 ::


:: SL 1:54 AM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, November 02, 2004 ::
Election Day!

Everyone go out and vote!

I already submitted my absentee ballot last week, and I voted for John Kerry.

I love the USA, and I am very sad to see what the Bush administration has done to it after only four years. It doesn't matter if you identify as Democrat, a Republican, a member of another party, or an independent. As citizens of this country and this world, we cannot afford four more years of a Bush administration.

For starters, here are 100 factually-based reasons not to vote for George W. Bush.

George W. Bush has run one of the most secretive administrations in the history of the American presidency. His tenure in office has been marked with lies and distortions, and this political season has revealed just how power-hungry he is, doing and saying anything in an attempt to be reelected.

The Bush administration now has a net loss of thousands of jobs (the first in any administration since Herbert Hoover, and that was during the Great Depression), and the new jobs created pay less than the ones they replaced. Working families are struggling more than ever due to the policies of the Bush administration; meanwhile, huge corporations and the wealthiest individuals exploit tax loopholes and are given huge tax breaks. Bush apologists may whine that we're in a recession right now. Yeah, and even so, Bush has failed to help the economy and create more jobs.

We have spent billions upon billions of dollars on a war that was not necessary. George W. Bush lied to us about Iraq. Yes, Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator. But did we have to go to war to remove him at that exact time? And at what cost? Over a thousand U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq (most of them after Bush arrogantly declared "Mission Accomplished" on an aircraft carrier), even though reports confirm that the country had no weapons of mass destruction and no links to Al Qaeda, the real enemy and threat against the United States. This sidetracked our efforts in Afghanistan and may have cost us the ability to catch Osama bin Laden, who planned the evil terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Thousands upon thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens, mostly women and children, have been killed due to violence in Iraq. And the cost of the American reputation in the world is immeasurable. Many people in the Middle East already disliked Americans, but now, by going into Iraq, we have given them more reason to hate us. The pre-emptive, go-it-alone war in Iraq was a diversion from our true enemies, and the Bush administration's failure to plan for the country's reconstruction has now lead to chaos and spawned increased hatred and potential terrorism against the United States.

Here at home, George W. Bush's administration has weakened many crucial environmental laws; the director of the Environmental Protection Agency actually quit in protest against his anti-environmental policies. As soon as Bush took office, he announced that the U.S. would not be a part of the groundbreaking international Kyoto treaty to reduce global warming around the world. He then weakened laws designed to keep our air and our water clean. His solution to the devastating wildfires of last year was basically to allow more trees to be cut down. Bush's environmental policy is a danger to our natural resources, and we cannot allow another administration to create such harm to our precious Mother Nature. This administration has also systematically ignored or distorted science and research in order to fit their narrow ideology.

The list goes on and on. The Bush administration has done tons wrong for the American people and with its unfettered spending has driven what could have been the largest fiscal surplus in American history into what is projected to be the worst deficit in history. We cannot afford this; our children cannot afford this. We need a fresh start, and the fresh start comes from John Kerry.

John Kerry understands the plight of regular hardworking individuals in this country. He will keep the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, for those earning less than $200,000 a year. John Kerry also seeks to raise the minimum wage.

In these uncertain times, John Kerry will offer strength and wisdom in fighting terrorism. Having fought in the Vietnam War, he knows the importance of resolve and the difficulties of war. He will also offer a new perspective on the conflict in Iraq and how to get us out of that quagmire.

It's really a no-brainer. George W. Bush had his chance to do something good for the country, and he failed miserably; now, his policies have made our country less safe to terrorism and more difficult to get by financially. It's time for a change. Vote for John Kerry. It's the right thing to do for the future of America.

:: SL 1:18 AM [+] ::
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