Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Why Chris Brogan's advice on being yourself only applies to some.
Today in my New Media class we watched two videos about finding your voice in business that Chris Brogan posted on his blog a few days ago. I had seen them in my Blogreader but watching again in class made me realize that I do not completely agree with him.
It seems that Chris' only solution to finding your voice in business is to be yourself. I'm all for "being yourself" and I agree with his saying that he is just going to be himself because then it's easier to remember which "me" he's being.
He says that swearing is part of his personality and therefore he will swear when he feels it necessary. I can understand this. I've been known to get creative with expletives on occasion. But there's a time and a place for everything.
I do not think that tactically censoring myself is being a different me.
Chris' advice only applies to a certain kind of person. It applies to a person who has established themselves and has the power and ability to say what they want and rationalize their behavior after the fact. Chris Brogan has established himself. He has positioned himself as a guru, whether people agree with that title or not. He is a go-to guy. He can say what he wants and people can decide to listen or ignore.
I am an intern. I am working to position myself as a reliable and ideal hire in a few months when I graduate. Not only is it unprofessional to swear in front of my coworkers and superiors and then justify it by claiming to be acting as my true self but I would feel extremely uncomfortable swearing or behaving in certain ways at work.
Similarly, I would feel extremely uncomfortable swearing in the middle of a classroom, in the middle of dinner at a friend's house and while giving directions to an innocent old lady on the side of Comm Ave. You need to consider the implications of your behavior before acting out sporadically.
It is irresponsible and disrespectful to disregard your audience.
There's a time and a place for everything. Chris missed out on this point. Yes you need to be able to show your personality. Yes you must always stand up for yourself. No you should not feel entitled to behave however you want for the sake of being yourself. Chris forgot to mention that it is essential to identify your audience and act accordingly.
Tactically censoring yourself and basing behavior on audience doesn't mean you're not being you. There is not one you.
Sometimes it's a good idea to take advice like this with a grain of salt. Sure it would be nice to have free reign to say and do what you want but that's not realistic in most cases.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Pictures to show you how crazy the year was.*
*The links have more juicy details.
New Year's Eve 2008.
The room situation in 2008.
Boogying.
Valentines 2008 at the Slackers concert.
Spring Break Two Thousand Great: London.
At Archangel in London. Yes. My tights tore while I was out.
With Chrissy Poo, our host, at Imperial.
...and then we had a pillow fight.
On the London Eye. I told her to stay away from the window.
Spring Break London.
Some crazy fool in London.
Birthday dance with Zachary.
Birthday dinner. Happy 21st to me!
On a roof for Marathon Monday.
Semi-Annual End Of Semester binge.
Last day at COM Student Services.
Stanley Cup.
Ann Arbor. New friends, new experiences.
The Infamous Wednesday.
Nichole was such a slave driver. Look how she's forcing me to hold the monkey.
Emily's birthday. This was before she started rapping.
Going Away Luau.
The Semi-Annual Back To School Binge.
Many action shots were taken this year.
Parents Weekend and a visit from the family.
The hottest costume this Halloween.
Sometimes these things happen.
Being attacked.
Attacking Brian with my weapon. (I was the girl from Kill Bill, obviously.)
Christina H at An Tua Nua!
The typical scene at An Tua Nua.
Senior Hard Hat Party.
Dancing and singing at Com Prom.
Noelle's famous Pirate Eye.
Our first Thanksgiving feast.
Chi Phi formal: Reunion with Meaghan, our old roommate.
Thanksgiving with the cousins.
Chrissy Poo and the end of 20 Wads.
Secret Santa and holiday dinner.
Ice skating with cousin Anna.
Dancing our way into 2009.
New Year's Eve 2009: Ann Arbor.
It's going to be a good one. I can feel it.
The room situation in 2008.
Boogying.
Valentines 2008 at the Slackers concert.
Spring Break Two Thousand Great: London.
At Archangel in London. Yes. My tights tore while I was out.
With Chrissy Poo, our host, at Imperial.
...and then we had a pillow fight.
On the London Eye. I told her to stay away from the window.
Spring Break London.
Some crazy fool in London.
Birthday dance with Zachary.
Birthday dinner. Happy 21st to me!
On a roof for Marathon Monday.
Semi-Annual End Of Semester binge.
Last day at COM Student Services.
Stanley Cup.
Ann Arbor. New friends, new experiences.
The Infamous Wednesday.
Nichole was such a slave driver. Look how she's forcing me to hold the monkey.
Emily's birthday. This was before she started rapping.
Going Away Luau.
The Semi-Annual Back To School Binge.
Many action shots were taken this year.
Parents Weekend and a visit from the family.
The hottest costume this Halloween.
Sometimes these things happen.
Being attacked.
Attacking Brian with my weapon. (I was the girl from Kill Bill, obviously.)
Christina H at An Tua Nua!
The typical scene at An Tua Nua.
Senior Hard Hat Party.
Dancing and singing at Com Prom.
Noelle's famous Pirate Eye.
Our first Thanksgiving feast.
Chi Phi formal: Reunion with Meaghan, our old roommate.
Thanksgiving with the cousins.
Chrissy Poo and the end of 20 Wads.
Secret Santa and holiday dinner.
Ice skating with cousin Anna.
Dancing our way into 2009.
New Year's Eve 2009: Ann Arbor.
It's going to be a good one. I can feel it.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
All hopped up on caffeine
I am dizzy.
Perhaps it's because I've consumed 1/2 bottle of Mountain Dew, 1/2 bottle of Coke and 1/2 giant bag of peanut M&Ms while accumulating bed sores from sitting on the couch since 10 AM writing my cultural anthropology final paper.
Aah, finals week. You slay me.
Let me tell you how Ali saved my life. One word.
EasyBib.com.
WOW! So glad this was kept a little secret until my last paper during my second to last semester ever!!! Sweet! Bibliographies would have been so much easier (and more accurate) if I had discovered this little beaut earlier. So it's my Christmas gift to those of you still crying over bibliographies.
Anywho.
Tomorrow is my first real actual final. So I figure this will come in handy. Although technically I have studied. But that's ok. If all else fails...
Perhaps it's because I've consumed 1/2 bottle of Mountain Dew, 1/2 bottle of Coke and 1/2 giant bag of peanut M&Ms while accumulating bed sores from sitting on the couch since 10 AM writing my cultural anthropology final paper.
Aah, finals week. You slay me.
Let me tell you how Ali saved my life. One word.
EasyBib.com.
WOW! So glad this was kept a little secret until my last paper during my second to last semester ever!!! Sweet! Bibliographies would have been so much easier (and more accurate) if I had discovered this little beaut earlier. So it's my Christmas gift to those of you still crying over bibliographies.
Anywho.
Tomorrow is my first real actual final. So I figure this will come in handy. Although technically I have studied. But that's ok. If all else fails...
This is how I'm sure we're all feeling about finals '08:
Countdown to Freedom: Maria’s Checklist
12/9: Theories and Processes of Communication final paper presentation
12/11: Theories and Processes of Communication final paper due
12/12: Office party (woo)
12/13: Secret Santa with 426
12/15: Cultural Anthropology final paper due
12/16: Conflict Res and Negotiation presentation
12/16: Conflict Res and Negotiation final exam
12/18: Cultural Anthropology final exam
12/19: Theories and Processes of Communication final exam
12/20: FLY HOME
Saturday, December 6, 2008
GOOD LUCK ON THE LSAT ALI!!!!
Left on the fridge for my smarty-pants roommate who will be taking the LSAT in the morning. Wish her luck!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The day I sold my soul for a better grade.
That Professor Wu is one devious man.
Today in Theories and Processes he dangled the bait. And let me tell you. I jumped.
For three whole points added to the final grade... THREE POINT... I hope you understand how huge that is... I'm serious.
For three whole points added to the final grade, all I had to do was go sit in a basement at a cubicle with a phone and harass old people and immigrants during their dinners, which I would interrupt to ask personal and complicated questions.
We were given a headset and directed to the appropriate SurveyMonkey questionnaire. Sheets of paper displayed anonymous phone numbers we were supposed to call.
"Hi, my name's Maria and I'm calling from a creepy basement in a small brownstone at Boston University to harass you during your down time, time you're probably using to feed yourself, care for your children and enjoy the few hours of your life you have free. May I continue?"
I hate myself.
Most people either didn't answer or hung up on me. The girl next to me was hung up on a lot. I had to stop her from re-dialling and screaming, "BITCH! I'M A PERSON TOO!" (I'm serious)
So two people were nice enough to complete the survey for me. Luckily they didn't realize that although I said it would only take 10 minutes, it would actually take over 20.
The first was an older gentleman who didn't speak much English. He didn't understand my opening spiel but agreed to the interview anyway. He laughed at many of the questions, frequently replied with "I don't know anyting about dat" and made up answers that made no sense. When I asked what race he considered himself, he emphatically declared, "What? I'm Jamaiiiiiican!"
One of the questions we had to ask was: What do you think the three biggest problems facing our country are? The girl next to me showed me her screen as she typed the following reply from a participant, "Fire, jewelry, water."
The second and final person willing to participate over a span of two hours was an old man suspicious I was spying on him from outside his window. This is how it started.
Maria: Would you be willing to participate? It won't take long.
Man: Well... hang on... JANICE! Are you on the other line?!
Janice: Yes.
Man: WELL HANG UP THE PHONE! I got the TV going in there!
Janice: Ok. Ok.
Man: I can't hear!
Janice: [click]
Man: ...How did you get this number? Do you know who I am?
He stuck with the survey until the end. He was born in 1922, apparently, and felt he had the authority to declare that most of his answers were none of my business.
At least I didn't get the person who answered the phone by singing, "No bananas! I have no bananas for you today my friend! No!"
Friday, May 2, 2008
Junior year, where'd you go???
Well, that's it folks! Junior year is pretty much over for me. (I'm just going to ignore the finals I still have to take for now...)
Every semester has passed by a little faster than the previous one. I have NO idea where this semester went. I still feel like we're a month (tops) into it. But apparently we're done. I think I should make a list of the things I accomplished/experienced to make myself feel better.
.... to be continued
Every semester has passed by a little faster than the previous one. I have NO idea where this semester went. I still feel like we're a month (tops) into it. But apparently we're done. I think I should make a list of the things I accomplished/experienced to make myself feel better.
- Tried cream cheese for the first time ever (and loved it)
- Tried mayonnaise for the first time ever (by accident, but won't eat ham sandwiches without it now.)
- Lived without Tara for the first time in five semesters (and hated it. Will never do it again.)
- Turned 21 (but turned legal for the second time in my life... Still.)
- Secured my first internship
- Finally met my faculty adviser
- Went on vacation with people who weren't my family
- Made a graffiti wall in my room
- Filed taxes by myself
- Discover the wonders of Gmail
- ... and Skype
- Had Joe visit when he was taller than me
- Re-learned that you can't trust anybody ever
- Re-started my Netflix account (... not sure how I lived without it.)
- Discovered the L Word
- Started writing again
- Found my favorite bar (for now)
- Went clubbing, Zurich style
- Made friends with Omar, the Subway guy, who now recognizes and greets Noelle and I with a hug whenever we go
- Maintained a constant of roughly 30 beers in my refrigerator at all (sort of) times.
.... to be continued
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I feel like Harold and Kumar looking for White Castle...
Just a week ago I was but a young 20 year old eagerly awaiting midnight. My how things have changed.
My birthday was pretty much one of the greatest things ever for several reasons. My parents clearly knew what they were doing when they conceived me. Last weekend was the perfect weekend to turn 21. Not only did my birthday fall on a Friday, it also fell on Marathon Monday weekend. Room 426 feared the weekend.
THURSDAY
I woke up at about 8 to finish my 12-20 page paper on Vietnam and the Tet Offensive that was due the previous Tuesday. I finished my paper after a few hours and then called my Media Relations professor, who I was supposed to be meeting that morning. She informed me that I was mistaken... she NEVER has office hours on Thursday. Thursday is her day with her kids. After making me feel like a heartless over-achiever who would receive a final grade of "F," she told me we could just talk on the phone. We talked about my internship this summer and I told her it's my first internship and I'm nervous I'll screw everything up and look like a complete rookie. She told me that if my only worry was that I'd make a mess up, stop worrying. First, my bosses will not expect perfection, she told me. Also, I am a professional and conscientious student and she knows I'll do well, she told me! WOW!! This was just what I needed to hear.
Feeling wonderful about myself and my future, I packed my bag for classes and headed out. I ran into Christina and shared my excitement by exclaiming, "I am in the best mood ever!" Christina laughed hysterically and continues to re-enact this moment I shared with her. I'm not usually a morning person so my chipper attitude starkly contradicted her usual perception of me as the "princess of darkness" with really bad bed hair and a grumpy frown every morning.
I went to classes, fully completed my paper, had dinner with Michelle and squeezed in a 20 minute nap in preparation for the evening. Katie, Drew, Zach, Evan, Erin and Kevin came over to start celebrating in 426. People made wonderful toasts, including Christina's cheersing the "two-one" and everyone making weird noises mocking my occasional tourettes. We had a lot of fun in my room. I love my friends. (Yea. Corny. Get over it. It was a special weekend.)
The clock was ticking closer to midnight. Kevin gave me frequent updates as we scurried to Kenmore T Stop. We boarded the T and Kevin informed me that it would be mere minutes until my 21st birthday. Michelle (I think) and others were telling people on the T that it was my birthday and everyone was getting excited. Strangers started counting down from 10 seconds. My blood was rushing. Here I was in the middle of Boston on a T at midnight with (most of) my favorite people helping me celebrate my birthday. The clock finally struck midnight and everyone started screaming "happy birthday." Strangers on the T sang the happy birthday song and the second I stepped off the T, Antonia, my birthday buddy and twin, called me to celebrate our birthdays. We all went to a club called Caprice and boogied for a solid two hours.
We got home at about two. One of my roommates (who, for reputation preservation, shall not be named) shared some intimate time with our toilet bowl. While I took off my dancing shoes and got on some jammies, Noelle fell asleep like a little Korean angel in my twin bed. Luckily, she positioned herself close enough to the wall to save room for me. I fell asleep within two minutes of laying down but was woken some hours later by an arm slamming into my face. I slept soundly until Noelle woke at five realizing she wasn't in her bed and left.
FRIDAY
I was in better shape Friday morning than anyone expected. People seemed disappointed I wasn't hung over on my birthday. One of the advisers at work gave me a gift of big chocolate and coconut truffle type things. They were amazing. At about two in the afternoon, my boss decided it was time to take me to the pub. We went to the Dugout with another guy I work with for a mid-afternoon beer.... A mid-afternoon pitcher of beer and a gigantic "shot" of Jagermeister that took four swigs to consume, to be precise. My boss even let me pick songs on the jukebox. I decided on some Creedence. Good Golly Miss Molly and Susie Q. It was a perfect way to start Friday's festivities.
As a birthday gift, I got to leave work early. I headed home, talked to everyone in my family for a while and got a surprise birthday visit with whom I had another beer. Having not eaten yet that day, I met Drew for lunch. He brought me to the BU Pub. On our way there, someone screamed happy birthday from across the street. I love my birthday. The pub was as magical as people say. It's in a castle and the inside is dark, somewhat medieval looking and cave-like. I got a ham and cheese sandwich and another beer. Life is a lot more enjoyable when you can go wherever you want without being kicked out or yelled at.
After the pub, Drew brought me home. I fell asleep within minutes. I already had a long day of drinking and I was pretty pooped. I forgot to set an alarm clock, which was somewhat problematic since we were supposed to go to dinner downtown. My roommates struggled to wake me up and we finally went to Sunset Cantina. We had to wait for a table for one hour. It was ridiculous. When we finally sat down we were all starving and delirious. People started pounding on the table hoping our food would come faster. Our waitress took all our orders slowly and then stated, "I don't think this will work. I can't even read my writing." We decided she was completely wasted.
Ali ordered me a 32 ounce strawberry margarita. It came in a bowl-shaped glass the size of my head. As I nursed the monstrosity, someone approached the table and grabbed my shoulder. It was Michael. He looked into my eyes and said, "Come with me. You're having a shot right now." I followed him to the bar where he ordered me a Bongwater (Jagermeister and some other fruity stuff.) I returned to my seat and enjoyed a delicious dinner. I was minding my own business, innocently chugging my margarita when all of a sudden people erupted into song and a giant slice of ice cream cake approached our table. I tried to blow out the candle but it was a trick candle that kept re-lighting. Our drunk waitress ripped my camera from the table and forced me to pose with the cake. Those were probably the most awkward pictures of the weekend. When the song ended, everyone at the table started screaming, "woo! woowoo! woo! woo!" The cake was orgasmic. While we feasted, Christina, in true Christina form, made a video in which she forced everyone to wish me a happy birthday. The video ended with a shot of Noelle's mouth as she screamed "woo! woo! woo!" while Christina screamed over her, "aaaaaand CUT!"
Following Sunset, we went to An Tua Nua, a bar on campus. This was somewhat disastrous. The bouncers let me and my friends in for free since it was my birthday but wouldn't let everyone in. We were all extremely frustrated. Michelle, Katie and I entered the bar and looked around. There was a crazy-dancing short man in a button-down shirt and dress pants sweating in the middle of a dance circle. I'm pretty positive he was on ecstasy or some equivalent. We went to the bar where Michelle bought me a Surfer on Acid (Jagermeister, Malibu, pineapple juice.) The theme of my birthday was definitely Jagermeister.
The three of us stood at the bar preparing to drink when some tall, scrawny, seemingly pre-pubescent young man approached us. He asked me what I was drinking and continued making pointless conversation. His moves were suspiciously similar to those taught by the Pick Up Artist on MTV. He bought me a beer and followed us around for the entire evening, apparently oblivious to our painfully obvious attempts at ditching him. He told the DJ it was my birthday, apparently. I didn't hear them say happy birthday, but he assured me they did. The strangeness of An Tua Nua evolved when a group of small Asian guys approached Katie, pointed at her toes (she was in sandals) and laughed. None of us understood what was happening. We left shortly thereafter.
SATURDAY
I slept in and relaxed in the room for the morning and afternoon. Drew came to pick me up for the evening's adventures. We went to his friend's apartment where we listened to Three Six Mafia (amongst other things) in preparation for the evening concert. We met Noelle, Evan, Michelle and Louis on Nickerson Field. We missed Cobra Starship but made it in time for Three Six Mafia. They took the stage and invited several eager, scantily clad collegiates to join them on stage. There was a "booty shaking contest" and a lot of arms flying to the beat. The first ten or fifteen minutes of their performance were pretty good but then the sound system gave in and almost every song thereafter was interrupted by the faulty equipment. The guys of Three Six Mafia grew very angry and frustrated screaming things like, "yall pay too much money to go to school here to have this shit happen." Eventually, one of them just gave up and said he couldn't stand it any more and they left.
Everyone left the field. Most people ended up at Chi Phi. As did the cops. Surprise, surprise. After being chased out by the cops, I met some people at T Anthony's for some pizza. I went home, went to bed and thus ended Saturday.
SUNDAY
Sunday was a day of rest. For the most part. Noelle and I hung out with Drew and other people at Chi Phi then got some food and walked home in the lovely weather. For the rest of the day, we watched movies and relaxed. Evan joined our night-in for a little while. The rest was much needed.
MONDAY
This was one of the longest day of my life. I got a text from Evan at 9:30 in the morning to wake me up for the marathon. He and I started the festivities in my room then headed out to watch the marathon. We met Noelle, Christina, Andrea and others by the marathon. We all went to someone's apartment where students were watching the marathon from the roof. This was extremely dangerous and we were all afraid Noelle was going to go flying off the roof so we didn't stay very long. We walked around for a while observing the hilarity of super healthy runners making their way across 26 miles of land contrasted to the completely obliterated college students screaming ridiculous things to encourage the runners. Aah, Marathon Monday.
Evan and I headed back to the dorm to meet Drew and eat some lunch then we all set out for the marathon again. We walked all over campus and eventually ended up at Chi Phi where one of the brothers was indulging in a short nap on the hood of a car. Inside the house, there was a huge water leak upstairs. As they tried to clean up the mess, two of the brothers got in a minor physical altercation that was resolved fifteen minutes later when we found them sitting in the sun on the porch chatting.
We all sat on the porch reflecting on the craziness of the weekend. Evan told us that he felt like a different person than who he was on Thursday. He and I headed to Sunset Cantina for dinner. Even though we were seated right away, our meal took over an hour to arrive. Sunset needs to work on their time management. When the food came, we were too tired to eat. We had the waitress pack everything up and brought it home. I'm pretty sure I had shin splints by the end of the day. We put on The L Word and Evan passed out on my floor after forcing Noelle to stroke his back.
My birthday weekend was, in-and-of-itself, one long marathon. Our years of training paid off and got most of us through the weekend unscathed. Katie broke her house key in the door, some people hugged some toilet bowls, some brain cells were damaged, most livers were damaged, many embarrassing pictures were taken but everyone made it through.
Thanks guys! Here's to another great year.
My birthday was pretty much one of the greatest things ever for several reasons. My parents clearly knew what they were doing when they conceived me. Last weekend was the perfect weekend to turn 21. Not only did my birthday fall on a Friday, it also fell on Marathon Monday weekend. Room 426 feared the weekend.
THURSDAY
I woke up at about 8 to finish my 12-20 page paper on Vietnam and the Tet Offensive that was due the previous Tuesday. I finished my paper after a few hours and then called my Media Relations professor, who I was supposed to be meeting that morning. She informed me that I was mistaken... she NEVER has office hours on Thursday. Thursday is her day with her kids. After making me feel like a heartless over-achiever who would receive a final grade of "F," she told me we could just talk on the phone. We talked about my internship this summer and I told her it's my first internship and I'm nervous I'll screw everything up and look like a complete rookie. She told me that if my only worry was that I'd make a mess up, stop worrying. First, my bosses will not expect perfection, she told me. Also, I am a professional and conscientious student and she knows I'll do well, she told me! WOW!! This was just what I needed to hear.
Feeling wonderful about myself and my future, I packed my bag for classes and headed out. I ran into Christina and shared my excitement by exclaiming, "I am in the best mood ever!" Christina laughed hysterically and continues to re-enact this moment I shared with her. I'm not usually a morning person so my chipper attitude starkly contradicted her usual perception of me as the "princess of darkness" with really bad bed hair and a grumpy frown every morning.
I went to classes, fully completed my paper, had dinner with Michelle and squeezed in a 20 minute nap in preparation for the evening. Katie, Drew, Zach, Evan, Erin and Kevin came over to start celebrating in 426. People made wonderful toasts, including Christina's cheersing the "two-one" and everyone making weird noises mocking my occasional tourettes. We had a lot of fun in my room. I love my friends. (Yea. Corny. Get over it. It was a special weekend.)
The clock was ticking closer to midnight. Kevin gave me frequent updates as we scurried to Kenmore T Stop. We boarded the T and Kevin informed me that it would be mere minutes until my 21st birthday. Michelle (I think) and others were telling people on the T that it was my birthday and everyone was getting excited. Strangers started counting down from 10 seconds. My blood was rushing. Here I was in the middle of Boston on a T at midnight with (most of) my favorite people helping me celebrate my birthday. The clock finally struck midnight and everyone started screaming "happy birthday." Strangers on the T sang the happy birthday song and the second I stepped off the T, Antonia, my birthday buddy and twin, called me to celebrate our birthdays. We all went to a club called Caprice and boogied for a solid two hours.
We got home at about two. One of my roommates (who, for reputation preservation, shall not be named) shared some intimate time with our toilet bowl. While I took off my dancing shoes and got on some jammies, Noelle fell asleep like a little Korean angel in my twin bed. Luckily, she positioned herself close enough to the wall to save room for me. I fell asleep within two minutes of laying down but was woken some hours later by an arm slamming into my face. I slept soundly until Noelle woke at five realizing she wasn't in her bed and left.
FRIDAY
I was in better shape Friday morning than anyone expected. People seemed disappointed I wasn't hung over on my birthday. One of the advisers at work gave me a gift of big chocolate and coconut truffle type things. They were amazing. At about two in the afternoon, my boss decided it was time to take me to the pub. We went to the Dugout with another guy I work with for a mid-afternoon beer.... A mid-afternoon pitcher of beer and a gigantic "shot" of Jagermeister that took four swigs to consume, to be precise. My boss even let me pick songs on the jukebox. I decided on some Creedence. Good Golly Miss Molly and Susie Q. It was a perfect way to start Friday's festivities.
As a birthday gift, I got to leave work early. I headed home, talked to everyone in my family for a while and got a surprise birthday visit with whom I had another beer. Having not eaten yet that day, I met Drew for lunch. He brought me to the BU Pub. On our way there, someone screamed happy birthday from across the street. I love my birthday. The pub was as magical as people say. It's in a castle and the inside is dark, somewhat medieval looking and cave-like. I got a ham and cheese sandwich and another beer. Life is a lot more enjoyable when you can go wherever you want without being kicked out or yelled at.
After the pub, Drew brought me home. I fell asleep within minutes. I already had a long day of drinking and I was pretty pooped. I forgot to set an alarm clock, which was somewhat problematic since we were supposed to go to dinner downtown. My roommates struggled to wake me up and we finally went to Sunset Cantina. We had to wait for a table for one hour. It was ridiculous. When we finally sat down we were all starving and delirious. People started pounding on the table hoping our food would come faster. Our waitress took all our orders slowly and then stated, "I don't think this will work. I can't even read my writing." We decided she was completely wasted.
Ali ordered me a 32 ounce strawberry margarita. It came in a bowl-shaped glass the size of my head. As I nursed the monstrosity, someone approached the table and grabbed my shoulder. It was Michael. He looked into my eyes and said, "Come with me. You're having a shot right now." I followed him to the bar where he ordered me a Bongwater (Jagermeister and some other fruity stuff.) I returned to my seat and enjoyed a delicious dinner. I was minding my own business, innocently chugging my margarita when all of a sudden people erupted into song and a giant slice of ice cream cake approached our table. I tried to blow out the candle but it was a trick candle that kept re-lighting. Our drunk waitress ripped my camera from the table and forced me to pose with the cake. Those were probably the most awkward pictures of the weekend. When the song ended, everyone at the table started screaming, "woo! woowoo! woo! woo!" The cake was orgasmic. While we feasted, Christina, in true Christina form, made a video in which she forced everyone to wish me a happy birthday. The video ended with a shot of Noelle's mouth as she screamed "woo! woo! woo!" while Christina screamed over her, "aaaaaand CUT!"
Following Sunset, we went to An Tua Nua, a bar on campus. This was somewhat disastrous. The bouncers let me and my friends in for free since it was my birthday but wouldn't let everyone in. We were all extremely frustrated. Michelle, Katie and I entered the bar and looked around. There was a crazy-dancing short man in a button-down shirt and dress pants sweating in the middle of a dance circle. I'm pretty positive he was on ecstasy or some equivalent. We went to the bar where Michelle bought me a Surfer on Acid (Jagermeister, Malibu, pineapple juice.) The theme of my birthday was definitely Jagermeister.
The three of us stood at the bar preparing to drink when some tall, scrawny, seemingly pre-pubescent young man approached us. He asked me what I was drinking and continued making pointless conversation. His moves were suspiciously similar to those taught by the Pick Up Artist on MTV. He bought me a beer and followed us around for the entire evening, apparently oblivious to our painfully obvious attempts at ditching him. He told the DJ it was my birthday, apparently. I didn't hear them say happy birthday, but he assured me they did. The strangeness of An Tua Nua evolved when a group of small Asian guys approached Katie, pointed at her toes (she was in sandals) and laughed. None of us understood what was happening. We left shortly thereafter.
SATURDAY
I slept in and relaxed in the room for the morning and afternoon. Drew came to pick me up for the evening's adventures. We went to his friend's apartment where we listened to Three Six Mafia (amongst other things) in preparation for the evening concert. We met Noelle, Evan, Michelle and Louis on Nickerson Field. We missed Cobra Starship but made it in time for Three Six Mafia. They took the stage and invited several eager, scantily clad collegiates to join them on stage. There was a "booty shaking contest" and a lot of arms flying to the beat. The first ten or fifteen minutes of their performance were pretty good but then the sound system gave in and almost every song thereafter was interrupted by the faulty equipment. The guys of Three Six Mafia grew very angry and frustrated screaming things like, "yall pay too much money to go to school here to have this shit happen." Eventually, one of them just gave up and said he couldn't stand it any more and they left.
Everyone left the field. Most people ended up at Chi Phi. As did the cops. Surprise, surprise. After being chased out by the cops, I met some people at T Anthony's for some pizza. I went home, went to bed and thus ended Saturday.
SUNDAY
Sunday was a day of rest. For the most part. Noelle and I hung out with Drew and other people at Chi Phi then got some food and walked home in the lovely weather. For the rest of the day, we watched movies and relaxed. Evan joined our night-in for a little while. The rest was much needed.
MONDAY
This was one of the longest day of my life. I got a text from Evan at 9:30 in the morning to wake me up for the marathon. He and I started the festivities in my room then headed out to watch the marathon. We met Noelle, Christina, Andrea and others by the marathon. We all went to someone's apartment where students were watching the marathon from the roof. This was extremely dangerous and we were all afraid Noelle was going to go flying off the roof so we didn't stay very long. We walked around for a while observing the hilarity of super healthy runners making their way across 26 miles of land contrasted to the completely obliterated college students screaming ridiculous things to encourage the runners. Aah, Marathon Monday.
Evan and I headed back to the dorm to meet Drew and eat some lunch then we all set out for the marathon again. We walked all over campus and eventually ended up at Chi Phi where one of the brothers was indulging in a short nap on the hood of a car. Inside the house, there was a huge water leak upstairs. As they tried to clean up the mess, two of the brothers got in a minor physical altercation that was resolved fifteen minutes later when we found them sitting in the sun on the porch chatting.
We all sat on the porch reflecting on the craziness of the weekend. Evan told us that he felt like a different person than who he was on Thursday. He and I headed to Sunset Cantina for dinner. Even though we were seated right away, our meal took over an hour to arrive. Sunset needs to work on their time management. When the food came, we were too tired to eat. We had the waitress pack everything up and brought it home. I'm pretty sure I had shin splints by the end of the day. We put on The L Word and Evan passed out on my floor after forcing Noelle to stroke his back.
My birthday weekend was, in-and-of-itself, one long marathon. Our years of training paid off and got most of us through the weekend unscathed. Katie broke her house key in the door, some people hugged some toilet bowls, some brain cells were damaged, most livers were damaged, many embarrassing pictures were taken but everyone made it through.
Thanks guys! Here's to another great year.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Chooch visits his sister.
I love having guests!
Joe came to visit me two weeks ago for his spring break. The little bugger arrived at about 8 AM Wednesday morning. I eagerly awaited his arrival in Logan airport. He came down the escalator and I didn't realize until he was standing next to me that he'd grown another three inches. We headed to my dorm stopping at Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast. I brought him up to my room where he threw his luggage on the floor and spent some time looking at the things on my walls. The first thing he scoffed at were the advertisements of men (mostly scantily clad) on the wall next to my bed. I left him to ponder the greatness of my room and sleep while I went to work.
Several hours later, I returned to find him snoring like a chainsaw with The Mask DVD menu repeating itself on my TV. I took him to the dining hall for a little snack then brought him to an after-hours work event I had to attend. It involved passing out registration codes to freshmen. I figured he wouldn't mind checking out the girls. Apparently they didn't mind checking him out either. Several approached him to ask questions while I was across the hall handing out codes and trying not to gag after someone drive-by-farted in my area. He and my bosses made fun of me and then I dragged him away. We had a barbecue to attend.
Joe and I caught up on life while walking to the other side of campus. Drew came by work that week to inform me he really wanted to grill something. Joe and I headed to the house where Drew greeted us eager to work the grill. In the kitchen, Drew had already prepared six massive lumps of meat with a "special rub" he brought all the way from Texas. Joe and I were very excited. Meat and beer. What more can you ask for? A bunch of us stood on the porch. While Drew tended to the burgers, the other guys told me to bring Joe to a lot of parties and told Joe to tell girls he was actually a freshman in college. We took the burgers inside and ate around the kitchen counter. They were the best burgers I've had in a while. We all went to Zach's room where the boys played video games and made fun of each other. Joe got pretty accurate insight into the Chi Phi lifestyle. I was happy he got to meet people I see often. We went home and were so tired we passed out at 10:30. Day one, great success!
Thursday we woke up around noon and headed to the GSU for lunch. I finished my Stats homework while Joe ate Twizzlers and played on the Gameboy he stole from my room. I brought him to class so he could see what he has to look forward to. My Stats class is a 1.5 hour lecture taught by a Russian with a heavy, almost indecipherable accent. I guided Joe to the seat I claimed for myself this semester in the very last row. I took notes while he tried to beat Donkey Kong. About an hour into the class, we both bored of our tasks. He took my graphing calculator and we wrote notes to each other. Some read along the lines of "if you read this you have herpes" and "stop talking. your breath smells like dirty butt." We giggled silently as we insulted each other in the back row. After the lecture, I brought Joe to Uburger, a famous establishment here at BU. It was very enjoyable. Later that night we went to see Doomsday. The movie was bizarre, ridiculous and one long advertisement for the new Bentley Continental GT but it was highly entertaining and left me with the overwhelming desire to punch someone and then run them over with a Bentley.
Friday morning I left Joe snoring like a trucker while I went to work. The office was not busy and my bosses are wonderful so I got to leave a couple hours early to be with my brother. He met me at work and then we went to he GSU for some food. We went to Fenway to get him a Red Sox hat that fit since the one I got him for Christmas was a couple sizes too big. Oops. We went to the Prudential with the roommates hoping to go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Upon discovering there was about a two hour wait, we headed to the food court and got Japanese food instead. Some old man was leaning back in his chair convulsing. We thought he might be having a heart attack or something so Michelle and Ali informed security who then told them he was a "regular sleeper." Security woke him up and he wandered around the food court falling asleep while standing in front of various fast food booths. (Joe got a pretty good taste of Boston during the trip.)
That night we brought Joe to a party at our (often visited) friends' house. We sketchily entered through a back door leading us to a dirt floor basement that opened into a brick room with a bar, graffiti, Christmas lights and people dancing. Joe was able to meet some of my friends and experience dumb, drunk people as well as a dance party to Shipping Up To Boston and The Impression That I get, two Boston favorites. We left the party and brought Joe to T Anthony's for pizza. Free Falling was playing so we all sang along with the drunk people. We got a large pizza to share. When Erin and Noelle referred to it as a pie, Joe asked them to repeat five times and didn't understand. Don't Stop Believing came on so naturally everyone danced and sang loudly. Another accurate taste of college life here.
We had an early morning the next day. Steve came up to visit from Worcester. It was great to have both of my brothers here at the same time. We were a little late to meet Steve at the train station so, in a true OCD/ADD/whatever-you-want-to-call-it fury, Steve called about ten times before we reached the station. We had a lot to catch up on since we hadn't seen each other since Christmas so we went to Teriyake House. I got a delicious passion fruit smoothie and orange chicken. That place has the best smoothies. We left Teriyake House and Steve firmly stated, "I would never live in Boston." When asked why, he told me it was because there are "too many people and too much going on. I like being in small areas." Oh Stever. I know. We went back to my room where the boys watched Brick and I made weird noises while taking a nap. (Another trait I've inherited from my father.) We brought Steve back to the station then Joe and I met the roommates for dinner at Charlie's. After a power nap, Joe and I went to see 21 with Noelle. The movie was ok. It was exciting to recognize so many places. (The movie was film on our campus.) I made sure to point out every place to Noelle and Joe. "I forgot I hate watching movies with you," Noelle whispered loudly.
Sunday we woke up in time for Joe to pack and eat some breakfast. While waiting for the T I realized I forgot his passport in my room so I sprinted (ok... speed walked) to my room and then back to the station. We rushed to his gate to discover his flight was delayed a little. By the time I got back to my dorm he was calling to tell me his flight, which was supposed to leave at 1 PM, would actually be leaving at 8 PM! Delta! What the hell! So poor Joe was stranded in Logan with nothing but an old Gameboy, Donkey Kong and our mom calling repeatedly to make sure he hadn't been kidnapped by a pedophile.
Joe finally made it home ok. I was very happy he and Steve came to visit. Joe got to see a lot of my life here including my crazy roommates, friends, bosses, place of employment, boring Stats class, favorite places to eat and the city that I love. He even reminded me how much stronger than me he is by tossing me over his shoulder and slamming me onto the air mattress on the floor which squealed as it deflated under my weight. Come back Chooch!!!!
Joe came to visit me two weeks ago for his spring break. The little bugger arrived at about 8 AM Wednesday morning. I eagerly awaited his arrival in Logan airport. He came down the escalator and I didn't realize until he was standing next to me that he'd grown another three inches. We headed to my dorm stopping at Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast. I brought him up to my room where he threw his luggage on the floor and spent some time looking at the things on my walls. The first thing he scoffed at were the advertisements of men (mostly scantily clad) on the wall next to my bed. I left him to ponder the greatness of my room and sleep while I went to work.
Several hours later, I returned to find him snoring like a chainsaw with The Mask DVD menu repeating itself on my TV. I took him to the dining hall for a little snack then brought him to an after-hours work event I had to attend. It involved passing out registration codes to freshmen. I figured he wouldn't mind checking out the girls. Apparently they didn't mind checking him out either. Several approached him to ask questions while I was across the hall handing out codes and trying not to gag after someone drive-by-farted in my area. He and my bosses made fun of me and then I dragged him away. We had a barbecue to attend.
Joe and I caught up on life while walking to the other side of campus. Drew came by work that week to inform me he really wanted to grill something. Joe and I headed to the house where Drew greeted us eager to work the grill. In the kitchen, Drew had already prepared six massive lumps of meat with a "special rub" he brought all the way from Texas. Joe and I were very excited. Meat and beer. What more can you ask for? A bunch of us stood on the porch. While Drew tended to the burgers, the other guys told me to bring Joe to a lot of parties and told Joe to tell girls he was actually a freshman in college. We took the burgers inside and ate around the kitchen counter. They were the best burgers I've had in a while. We all went to Zach's room where the boys played video games and made fun of each other. Joe got pretty accurate insight into the Chi Phi lifestyle. I was happy he got to meet people I see often. We went home and were so tired we passed out at 10:30. Day one, great success!
Thursday we woke up around noon and headed to the GSU for lunch. I finished my Stats homework while Joe ate Twizzlers and played on the Gameboy he stole from my room. I brought him to class so he could see what he has to look forward to. My Stats class is a 1.5 hour lecture taught by a Russian with a heavy, almost indecipherable accent. I guided Joe to the seat I claimed for myself this semester in the very last row. I took notes while he tried to beat Donkey Kong. About an hour into the class, we both bored of our tasks. He took my graphing calculator and we wrote notes to each other. Some read along the lines of "if you read this you have herpes" and "stop talking. your breath smells like dirty butt." We giggled silently as we insulted each other in the back row. After the lecture, I brought Joe to Uburger, a famous establishment here at BU. It was very enjoyable. Later that night we went to see Doomsday. The movie was bizarre, ridiculous and one long advertisement for the new Bentley Continental GT but it was highly entertaining and left me with the overwhelming desire to punch someone and then run them over with a Bentley.
Friday morning I left Joe snoring like a trucker while I went to work. The office was not busy and my bosses are wonderful so I got to leave a couple hours early to be with my brother. He met me at work and then we went to he GSU for some food. We went to Fenway to get him a Red Sox hat that fit since the one I got him for Christmas was a couple sizes too big. Oops. We went to the Prudential with the roommates hoping to go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Upon discovering there was about a two hour wait, we headed to the food court and got Japanese food instead. Some old man was leaning back in his chair convulsing. We thought he might be having a heart attack or something so Michelle and Ali informed security who then told them he was a "regular sleeper." Security woke him up and he wandered around the food court falling asleep while standing in front of various fast food booths. (Joe got a pretty good taste of Boston during the trip.)
That night we brought Joe to a party at our (often visited) friends' house. We sketchily entered through a back door leading us to a dirt floor basement that opened into a brick room with a bar, graffiti, Christmas lights and people dancing. Joe was able to meet some of my friends and experience dumb, drunk people as well as a dance party to Shipping Up To Boston and The Impression That I get, two Boston favorites. We left the party and brought Joe to T Anthony's for pizza. Free Falling was playing so we all sang along with the drunk people. We got a large pizza to share. When Erin and Noelle referred to it as a pie, Joe asked them to repeat five times and didn't understand. Don't Stop Believing came on so naturally everyone danced and sang loudly. Another accurate taste of college life here.
We had an early morning the next day. Steve came up to visit from Worcester. It was great to have both of my brothers here at the same time. We were a little late to meet Steve at the train station so, in a true OCD/ADD/whatever-you-want-to-call-it fury, Steve called about ten times before we reached the station. We had a lot to catch up on since we hadn't seen each other since Christmas so we went to Teriyake House. I got a delicious passion fruit smoothie and orange chicken. That place has the best smoothies. We left Teriyake House and Steve firmly stated, "I would never live in Boston." When asked why, he told me it was because there are "too many people and too much going on. I like being in small areas." Oh Stever. I know. We went back to my room where the boys watched Brick and I made weird noises while taking a nap. (Another trait I've inherited from my father.) We brought Steve back to the station then Joe and I met the roommates for dinner at Charlie's. After a power nap, Joe and I went to see 21 with Noelle. The movie was ok. It was exciting to recognize so many places. (The movie was film on our campus.) I made sure to point out every place to Noelle and Joe. "I forgot I hate watching movies with you," Noelle whispered loudly.
Sunday we woke up in time for Joe to pack and eat some breakfast. While waiting for the T I realized I forgot his passport in my room so I sprinted (ok... speed walked) to my room and then back to the station. We rushed to his gate to discover his flight was delayed a little. By the time I got back to my dorm he was calling to tell me his flight, which was supposed to leave at 1 PM, would actually be leaving at 8 PM! Delta! What the hell! So poor Joe was stranded in Logan with nothing but an old Gameboy, Donkey Kong and our mom calling repeatedly to make sure he hadn't been kidnapped by a pedophile.
Joe finally made it home ok. I was very happy he and Steve came to visit. Joe got to see a lot of my life here including my crazy roommates, friends, bosses, place of employment, boring Stats class, favorite places to eat and the city that I love. He even reminded me how much stronger than me he is by tossing me over his shoulder and slamming me onto the air mattress on the floor which squealed as it deflated under my weight. Come back Chooch!!!!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Constantinipple!!!
Check out my notes from Communication Revolution today. The class goes from 11 to 12:30 and is my first class in a nine-hour class day. The professor lectures the entire time and sometimes (most of the time) I doze off. This is what happens to my notes:
Notice in the middle the writing gets lighter and sloppier than usual.
This example of dozing-off-notes is particularly interesting because instead of making squigly lines that mean nothing, I actually wrote words that had nothing to do with the lecture. The words are:
...it's not ??? go for one guy when he is an asshole asshole...
I couldn't make out the whole sentence. I snapped out of my short snooze giggling because "asshole" was repeating in my head over and over.
I think I'll stay up late before the next Comm Revolution class to see what I write while dozing off again.
(... yes that does say Constantinipple at the top of my notes. I was bored. He wrote Constantinople on the board. It looked like Constantinipple. I laughed.)
Notice in the middle the writing gets lighter and sloppier than usual.
This example of dozing-off-notes is particularly interesting because instead of making squigly lines that mean nothing, I actually wrote words that had nothing to do with the lecture. The words are:
...it's not ??? go for one guy when he is an asshole asshole...
I couldn't make out the whole sentence. I snapped out of my short snooze giggling because "asshole" was repeating in my head over and over.
I think I'll stay up late before the next Comm Revolution class to see what I write while dozing off again.
(... yes that does say Constantinipple at the top of my notes. I was bored. He wrote Constantinople on the board. It looked like Constantinipple. I laughed.)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Pet Peeve # 1
The word: "like."
When did it become impossible to finish a sentence without using "like" at least twice?
My class schedule this semester is pretty great aside from my Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, I have all four classes between 11 AM and 9 PM with one one-hour break at 5 PM. Yesterday was the first day all the classes ran their full time. I had Communication Revolutions from 11 to 12:30, Media Relations 12:30 to 3:30, Stats 3:30 to 5, break 5 to 6 and Mass Communication Research 6 to 9. This schedule is pretty brutal.
The people in my first class are all relatively literate. People started grating on my nerves during Media Relations. The class runs for three hours, which in-and-of itself is pretty difficult to stomach. Since it was only our second class of the semester, the professor made us each introduce ourselves by answering six questions:
1) What is your full name, including middle name(s)
2) Who/what were you named after
3) Where are you from
4) What PR experience have you had
5) What is your dream job
6) What is an interesting "factoid" about yourself.
.... I hate stuff like this. Seriously? Who cares who I was named after? What a waste of an hour and a half.
One girl pranced up to the front of the class wearing an outfit that didn't match and exposed parts of her body I did not want to see.
Girl (who's real name is not as follows): Hi!! OK! My name is Sarah Jenna Lee!! I'm not really like sure like where exactly my name came from but like I think my mom named me after like my great grandma or something like that. I'm from like this little town in Connecticut.
Umm, I like haven't had any like reeeeeal PR experience but I like helped plan this party cuz like one of my friends' dad's was like my boss last summer so like he just kinda gave me the job. It was so fun.
I'm like not really sure like what I reeeeeeally wanna do. But I think I wanna be like an event planner or like do something for famous people where I can like travel a lot and like meet a lot of famous people or something.
What else? Oh yea. Umm. Something interesting about me. (Looks up while crossing one leg over the other. Her eyes bulge open.) I've been tattooed on like nine times!! It's like a passion.
Twenty-five "like" sprinkled stories later I had a throbbing headache and felt dumber than when I entered the classroom.
Later that night, the same stories spurted from the mouths of my fellow classmates in Mass Com Research.
Random girl: I like think polls are good because they like really give you a good chance to like find out what people think about stuff and like you can ask a bunch of different people and like all the different genders and stuff.
I wonder how many genders she thinks there are?
I really wish I could taser people every time they used "like" unnecessarily. I know my dad used a similar method to make sure my brothers and I never picked up the habit. HEY! Verbal tasering is still abuse.
When did it become impossible to finish a sentence without using "like" at least twice?
My class schedule this semester is pretty great aside from my Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, I have all four classes between 11 AM and 9 PM with one one-hour break at 5 PM. Yesterday was the first day all the classes ran their full time. I had Communication Revolutions from 11 to 12:30, Media Relations 12:30 to 3:30, Stats 3:30 to 5, break 5 to 6 and Mass Communication Research 6 to 9. This schedule is pretty brutal.
The people in my first class are all relatively literate. People started grating on my nerves during Media Relations. The class runs for three hours, which in-and-of itself is pretty difficult to stomach. Since it was only our second class of the semester, the professor made us each introduce ourselves by answering six questions:
1) What is your full name, including middle name(s)
2) Who/what were you named after
3) Where are you from
4) What PR experience have you had
5) What is your dream job
6) What is an interesting "factoid" about yourself.
.... I hate stuff like this. Seriously? Who cares who I was named after? What a waste of an hour and a half.
One girl pranced up to the front of the class wearing an outfit that didn't match and exposed parts of her body I did not want to see.
Girl (who's real name is not as follows): Hi!! OK! My name is Sarah Jenna Lee!! I'm not really like sure like where exactly my name came from but like I think my mom named me after like my great grandma or something like that. I'm from like this little town in Connecticut.
Umm, I like haven't had any like reeeeeal PR experience but I like helped plan this party cuz like one of my friends' dad's was like my boss last summer so like he just kinda gave me the job. It was so fun.
I'm like not really sure like what I reeeeeeally wanna do. But I think I wanna be like an event planner or like do something for famous people where I can like travel a lot and like meet a lot of famous people or something.
What else? Oh yea. Umm. Something interesting about me. (Looks up while crossing one leg over the other. Her eyes bulge open.) I've been tattooed on like nine times!! It's like a passion.
Twenty-five "like" sprinkled stories later I had a throbbing headache and felt dumber than when I entered the classroom.
Later that night, the same stories spurted from the mouths of my fellow classmates in Mass Com Research.
Random girl: I like think polls are good because they like really give you a good chance to like find out what people think about stuff and like you can ask a bunch of different people and like all the different genders and stuff.
I wonder how many genders she thinks there are?
I really wish I could taser people every time they used "like" unnecessarily. I know my dad used a similar method to make sure my brothers and I never picked up the habit. HEY! Verbal tasering is still abuse.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Greetings!
Dante's Inferno is the bane of my existence.
I thought it would be an easy and interesting class about hell... Sometimes it's interesting (like when we talk about sinners stuck eternally in rivers of blood while being hunted by killer Centaurs with bows and arrows) but it's extremely difficult to stay awake/enjoy life when the professor is an arrogant literature snob who expects all students to read his mind and snickers when they don't answer questions precisely how he expects. This is why I choose to sleep instead of speak in class. That all changed when he threw a D- in my face. Needless to say I at least keep my eyes opened these days.
Today he brought up an interesting observation. According to my literature professor, self-reliance is stressed too heavily in our culture today. It is "disgusting" that we are encouraged to rely only on ourselves. According to Dante, he told us, the notion of self-reliance is just an illusion.
For once I agree with him. It's unreasonable to think we can truly rely on no one but ourselves. Independence is essential and the ability to eventually live alone and control your emotions and your life is vital but so is a support system. It's impossible to live without the influence of others. You need other people to help put life in perspective. You need Christina screaming "stop being a bitch" in your face. You need Noelle stuffing pillows up her shirt and challenging you to a belly smashing contest. You need 426 screaming the words to Stay by Lisa Loeb for no apparent reason. Otherwise life would be unnecessarily dull. Self-reliance means nothing unless it's accompanied by crazy friends.
That is all.
Now excuse me while I write a 5-8 page letter to the CEO of General Motors explaining why the corporate communication function is necessary to his business.
I thought it would be an easy and interesting class about hell... Sometimes it's interesting (like when we talk about sinners stuck eternally in rivers of blood while being hunted by killer Centaurs with bows and arrows) but it's extremely difficult to stay awake/enjoy life when the professor is an arrogant literature snob who expects all students to read his mind and snickers when they don't answer questions precisely how he expects. This is why I choose to sleep instead of speak in class. That all changed when he threw a D- in my face. Needless to say I at least keep my eyes opened these days.
Today he brought up an interesting observation. According to my literature professor, self-reliance is stressed too heavily in our culture today. It is "disgusting" that we are encouraged to rely only on ourselves. According to Dante, he told us, the notion of self-reliance is just an illusion.
For once I agree with him. It's unreasonable to think we can truly rely on no one but ourselves. Independence is essential and the ability to eventually live alone and control your emotions and your life is vital but so is a support system. It's impossible to live without the influence of others. You need other people to help put life in perspective. You need Christina screaming "stop being a bitch" in your face. You need Noelle stuffing pillows up her shirt and challenging you to a belly smashing contest. You need 426 screaming the words to Stay by Lisa Loeb for no apparent reason. Otherwise life would be unnecessarily dull. Self-reliance means nothing unless it's accompanied by crazy friends.
That is all.
Now excuse me while I write a 5-8 page letter to the CEO of General Motors explaining why the corporate communication function is necessary to his business.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
