:: 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 28, 2005 ::

Yay, I'm home. After arriving at the Los Angeles airport at noon on Friday, my sister picked me up and we drove to USC, where she is considering going for college. We walked around USC and took pictures. It's a really pretty campus, and it was nice to see students wearing t-shirts and shorts on the warm day. Yay for SoCal.

We had lunch nearby, and then we drove to the Brea Mall, where my sister wanted to go shopping. She had been there before on a band trip, but it was my first time at the mall. I saw a lot of cool stores, but it wasn't terribly different from anything in Boston. There was a Disney Store, however. It didn't have that much cool merchandise, though. Lots of children's clothes.

We then started driving towards the Disneyland Resort, but we serendipitously passed by the Disney Character Warehouse in Fullerton, so we stopped by to check out what was on sale there. I had heard about this store, but I didn't know where it was... what a coincidence we stumbled upon it. I found a really cool Pluto t-shirt, as well as a fun Mickey Mouse Steamboat Willie key chain. We then drove to Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort to have dinner. We had Mexican food from Tortilla Jo's. We then saw the nighttime "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks. So beautiful! We then drove to our hotel room and stayed for the night.

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early to go to Disneyland! Yay! Our first ride was the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, which just opened last week in Tomorrowland. It's a slower-moving "dark ride" based on the Buzz Lightyear character from Disney-Pixar's Toy Story films, and it is interactive because the vehicles have laser guns you can use to shoot at targets in the ride scenes. They take your picture in the ride, and this time instead of selling it to you at an exorbitant price, they have little kiosks (I love that word) where you can e-mail your picture to friends!

Here's my sister and me on the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters!



We then went on a bunch of other rides, from the classic Matterhorn Bobsleds to the thrilling Indiana Jones Adventure. Since this summer will be its 50th anniversary, Disneyland has been preparing by freshening up its rides and adding new things. Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room just reopened a couple weeks ago from a major, nearly year-long refurbishment, and the show was dazzling. It had been looking very dusty in previous years, and now everything is in working order, looking as good as it did when it opened in 1963. The Haunted Mansion also got a couple of new special effects, and they were amazing. Also, the castle had been repainted, and it looks brilliant. Speaking of repainting, Tomorrowland is getting a new color scheme! Instead of the un-futuristic earth tones, the land is getting new white and blue paint. Yay for that.

In the afternoon, we hopped across the plaza to Disney's California Adventure. I hate Disney's California Adventure, and each time I go, I am, once again reminded of how much I despise that "theme" park. I'll concede that it does have a couple of fun attractions, though, such as the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (which just opened last year), the California Screamin' roller coaster, and the Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular stage show. So we saw the Aladdin show and rode Tower of Terror and California Screamin'. We then headed back to Disneyland proper to have dinner and check out the nighttime entertainment. We saw the fireworks show (currently the short and low-tech yet still dazzling Fantasy in the Sky – they'll be putting in a huge new fireworks spectacular this summer for Disneyland's 50th). Then, we saw the amazing Fantasmic! nighttime show.

Because it was such a busy day being spring break and the day before Easter and all, they added a third Fantasmic! performance at 11:30 after the 9 and 10:30 shows. We caught the last show, and the park was surprisingly empty during that time, so it was almost like a private performance of the show. We saw it from such a great location and didn't have to be bothered by people crowding around or pushing. We then did some shopping and left the park. Yay for Disneyland. I can't wait to go back. Things are really starting to look up for Walt Disney's original theme park, and I can't wait to see what more things are going to be added in the future.

Oh! I forgot to talk about all the mullets I saw at Disneyland! I swear I saw a hundred people with mullets at Disneyland. I seriously want to take pictures of them all and then publish them in a book called "The Mullets of Disneyland." What is it about Disneyland in particular that attracts people who have mullets? You'd think that, with this being Southern California, people would have better fashion sense, but noooo.

On Sunday, we slept in and then went back to Downtown Disney to the World of Disney store, where I got a t-shirt I wanted to get but missed the day before. We then to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen Express at Downtown Disney and for a snack got beignets (I hope I spelled that right!), the New Orleans deep-fried dough treat that's covered in powdered sugar! It was so amazingly sweet. I'm going to have to go on a diet now after consuming that much sugar and oil. In the early afternoon we left to drive home to Morro Bay. On the way, we stopped by small Danish village Solvang to get a kringle pastry. At home, I unpacked and had dinner. At night, I went to visit my grandparents at their home.

Today, I ran some errands, helped my parents by going to the bank, worked on my website, and watched some random TV and movies. It was kind of boring and quiet, but that's the way home is. Hopefully I'll be doing a bit more starting tomorrow!

:: SL 9:35 PM [+] ::
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:: Thursday, March 24, 2005 ::
Last week was seriously one of the best ever. I had been studying for my Wednesday midterm, and I stayed up pretty late studying on Tuesday night. Wednesday was going to be terribly dreary with tiredness since I had to wake up so early to go work in the psychology lab, but the shift wasn't so bad, and then I received good news... I was accepted to the summer program I had applied to and really wanted to get into! It's going to be so cool, and I'll still have lots of time to do my newspaper internship!

So I went into the exam feeling good about things, and the midterm wasn't too bad! I felt I did pretty well on it. Then I went back to the psychology lab to work, even though I didn't have to, and got more stuff done, so that was another pleasant thing in my day. Then I went to dinner, where they served turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce... just like Thanksgiving! And there was pie for dessert! Yay, pie.

Yep... last week was simply wonderful... yay for things working out. The good news brightened the rest of my week, and it only got better. My friend's friend from home was visiting, and she had talked about him for a long time, so it was great to finally meet him. His name is Haakon (sounds like "hawken"), which is the coolest name ever. I visited them on Thursday, and we chatted and had fun. We also watched The Incredibles. What a great movie! It was nice to see it again. We also saw some of the bonus features on DVD, including one that was in a comic book style. That was hilarious because the villain was so over-the-top and this random dog sidekick kept bouncing up and down, and that's all it did.

The next day, I stopped by my suite-mate's birthday party, and we played the game Apples to Apples, another fun game. I missed the surrealist game, alas, but did have some yummy Japanese chocolate-filled cookies that depict cartoonish koala bears. I then went to another friend's get-together to say hi. They had also played the surrealist game earlier, and it was fun to read the captions for their illustrations. I also ate some avocado! It reminded me of the avocado farm just outside my hometown!

I then went to Mather House to visit my friend, whose blockmates were holding a big party. It was fun to dance! I had a really great time. After the party ended, I stayed with my friend and her visiting friend, and we chatted and played video games into the morning... got to see the sunrise!

After a little bit of sleep, I had to get up to work in the lab! I ran a bunch of subjects. Afterwards, I then went to work at the Hasty Pudding, where it was the last weekend of the run in Boston. I took tickets, and then helped with some cleaning up duties since the theater is undergoing a major renovation after the show closes. After having dinner, I went back to the Hasty Pudding to help out again for the evening show. I got to watch part of the show, which is called "Terms of Frontierment." It's a western-themed musical, and it was a lot of fun, if not extremely offensive. The songs were really catchy, though.

This week, besides going to classes, I worked in the psychology lab a lot. In addition to going into the lab, I had to get a bunch of surveys completed as well, so I spent a lot of time at Brain Breaks to get people to fill out the questionnaires. Then I had to enter all the data into an Excel file. Yep, many late nights. Lots of work, but it was quite nice when I finished it all. Yesterday, I also went into Boston to tutor high school students for HPEP. It's a tough job doing the things a teacher does, coming up with a lesson plan, making sure you're saying the right things, keeping the students awake by engaging them in interactive activities, discussions, and projects.

Today, the freshmen found out what upperclass houses they're assigned to, and so I went to the freshman dining hall to represent Leverett House! It was like a huge party, with students from each house making lots of noise and congratulating the freshmen who had been placed in their houses. The houses also expressed their friendly rivalries, making little jabs here and there with their poster slogans and chants. The party continues tonight, as welcoming parties around Leverett House offer food and socializing for the incoming freshmen to give them a taste of what the house is like. Later, I'm going to a friend's birthday party, and then I'm going to see a movie! I'm all done with schoolwork for now, and spring break is on its way!

Tomorrow, I'm heading home for spring break (which is until April 3)! Yay! I don't have any classes on Friday, so I'm able to leave for break early. My flight leaves at 6 tomorrow morning, so I'm taking the 4 a.m. shuttle to the airport. I can't wait to see my friends from home again!

Oh, our house masters got a new puppy! Meet Rosie:


:: SL 9:47 AM [+] ::
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:: Sunday, March 20, 2005 ::
Alas, once again I find myself listening to sappy love ballads on my iTunes.

:: SL 5:56 PM [+] ::
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:: Friday, March 18, 2005 ::
"Luigi is totally Mario's bitch."
"Um, aren't they brothers?"
"Oh. Well, incest is this year's bestiality!"
"Bestiality was never in!"

:: SL 2:59 PM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 ::
For shame.

:: SL 4:42 PM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 ::
Beware the Ides of March!!!

:: SL 11:29 AM [+] ::
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:: Saturday, March 12, 2005 ::
Woo! I was drunk dialed for the first time ever last night! And what's better than getting my first-ever drunk call? Getting two drunk calls on one night!!! I always complain about how nobody ever drunk dials me (probably because not that many of my friends drink alcohol), so it was particularly exciting to finally get called. Woo!

Note to friends: If you get drunk, call me!!!

:: SL 6:20 PM [+] ::
...
:: Friday, March 11, 2005 ::
Alas, it is snowing again. It had snowed quite heavily earlier this week, and then much of the snow melted away. Now, it's piling up once again. You'd think that the middle of March would be all pretty and spring-like, but noooo.

On Presidents' Day, my friends and I went to the super-posh dessert restaurant Finale to celebrate the 21st birthday of one of my suite-mates. It was fun as we got to meet his friends from home and enjoy tasty (not to mention very fancy) dessert. I had the "Molten Chocolate" dessert, which was this amazing chocolate cake that had a slightly crisp and sponge-like outside with a dense, gooey chocolate sauce in the inside. I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor and the texture. The whole thing was served warm and contrasted with a small scoop of creamy... oh, I just noticed it's all described here. Check out the site; it offers a nice picture of how well the dessert was presented. Finale is all about presentation. Afterwards, we played the Surrealist Game, the most fun game ever, and then I did schoolwork.

Two weekends ago, my friend and I threw a "Pop Music Party" in the common room of the suite in which I live. It was a ton of fun. We invited a bunch of our friends and danced to a lot of fun pop music. We also got funding from the Undergraduate Council, so we were able to get a lot of refreshments. After dancing, we went to the Quincy Grille, where we had snacks and chatted. Some of you may have received some special calls from me that night.

Last weekend was Harvard Model Congress! HMC is one of the extracurriculars in which I am involved. After meetings and trainings for the entire year, our organization culminated in a huge weekend government simulation for hundreds of high school students from around the country. Each of the high school students came to Boston and were assigned a role for the weekend, such as an actual senator or congressperson (and some were Supreme Court justices, lower court judges, National Security Council members, etc.) and they dealt with global and domestic issues, from the threat of terrorism to confirming a new Supreme Court justice.

I was part of the Press Corps, so I got to coach journalistic writing for the students who were assigned to be reporters. We also did layout for the newspapers. It was a hectic schedule, yet the high school students were so productive; they would churn out so many stories that we almost couldn't fit them all into the papers. Over the course of the weekend, we put out eight newspapers: seven serious ones and one humor/parody magazine. 'Twas a lot of work, but we still had a lot of fun. The event was held at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Boston, right next to the huge Prudential/Copley mall, so we treated ourselves to Krispy Kreme donuts and Cheesecake Factory desserts to keep us motivated.

This past week, I've spent a lot of time in the psychology lab. We've been running subjects and collecting data for this study I'm working on. I had a midterm on Tuesday, and that was intense but fun to study for because the subject matter is most enjoyable. Last night, I went to a birthday party for one of my friends. It was the first time I had been to the Quad in a year, which is kind of sad, but then again, I don't have that many friends who live there and since the closure of Hilles Library, there's really no other reason to go there.

The party was hilarious; the theme was "Hamster Party," and it was based on an inside joke with the roommates of the person whose birthday it was. They set up shredded newspaper all over the floor of the "hamster room" and put up print-outs of hamsters on the wall. One was a rasterized poster of a hamster holding a wine bottle! Party guests than romped through the hamster room with the newspaper shreds as if it were a hamster cage! All that was missing was a hamster wheel... oh, and a giant water dispenser. Yeah, we danced to fun electronica music, too, DJ'd by my friend Jordan.

Quotes of the Day: "My throat hurts from talking like a man."

"You should hit the Jacko jackpot."

"You should be the next Michael Jackson." "Yeah, too bad I hate children."

"If I grew huge mouse ears, would you love me then?"

:: SL 12:25 PM [+] ::
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:: Thursday, March 10, 2005 ::
The Bunny Suicides

:: SL 11:18 PM [+] ::
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:: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 ::
A Fairy Tale:

Once upon a time, there was an amazing technological innovation called "spell check." People discovered what a marvelous and helpful tool it was, and they started using it. The quality of typed text improved dramatically for all those who used it, and they lived happily ever after. The End.

:: SL 12:57 PM [+] ::
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:: Thursday, March 03, 2005 ::

Open wide!

:: SL 11:29 AM [+] ::
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:: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 ::
Yay. A reminder that there are, indeed, still good things in the world:

The Jesus Dance

:: SL 11:14 PM [+] ::
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