http://www.thematchstory.com/
Boston Med
ABC, tonight at 10/9c
Joseph Helfgot's story
For anyone who wants to watch...
Edit: In the Boston area, it's airing on Channel 5, WCVB TV.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Songs on Repeat
There are two songs I'm currently obsessing over: King of Anything by Sara Bareilles and Blue Lips by Regina Spektor. Since I've had them stuck in my head for around three days straight, I figured I'd post the lyrics. I'm doing them from memory as best I can because 1. I'm really bored and 2. maybe it'll help get them out of my head.
King of Anything by Sara Bareilles
Keep drinking coffee stare me down across the table
As I look outside
So many things I'd say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by
You've got opinions, man
We're all entitled to them
But I never asked
So I thank you for your time
And try not to waste any more of mine
Get out of here fast
I hate to break it to you babe
But I'm not drowning
There's no one here to save
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me how to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
You sound so innocent
All full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to
Jump up on board with you
Ride off into your delusional sunset
I'm not the one who's lost
With no direction, oh
But you'll never see
You're so busy making maps
With my name on them in all caps
You've got the talking down
But not the listening
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
All my life, I've tried to make everybody happy while I
Just hurt, and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
Let me hold your crown babe
Blue Lips by Regina Spektor
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And all the gods and all the worlds
Began colliding on a backdrop of blue
Blue lips, blue veins
He took a step but then felt tired
He said I'll rest a little while
But when he tried to walk again
He wasn't a child
And all the people hurried past, real fast
And no one ever smiled
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And no one saw and no one heard
They just followed lead
The pictures in his mind awoke
And began to breed
They started out beneath the knowledge tree
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences
And they marched along the railroad tracks
They smiled real wide for the camera lenses
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue, the most human color...
King of Anything by Sara Bareilles
Keep drinking coffee stare me down across the table
As I look outside
So many things I'd say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by
You've got opinions, man
We're all entitled to them
But I never asked
So I thank you for your time
And try not to waste any more of mine
Get out of here fast
I hate to break it to you babe
But I'm not drowning
There's no one here to save
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me how to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
You sound so innocent
All full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to
Jump up on board with you
Ride off into your delusional sunset
I'm not the one who's lost
With no direction, oh
But you'll never see
You're so busy making maps
With my name on them in all caps
You've got the talking down
But not the listening
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
All my life, I've tried to make everybody happy while I
Just hurt, and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it's my turn to decide
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything?
Let me hold your crown babe
Blue Lips by Regina Spektor
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And all the gods and all the worlds
Began colliding on a backdrop of blue
Blue lips, blue veins
He took a step but then felt tired
He said I'll rest a little while
But when he tried to walk again
He wasn't a child
And all the people hurried past, real fast
And no one ever smiled
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
He stumbled into faith and thought,
God this is all there is
The pictures in his mind arose
And began to breathe
And no one saw and no one heard
They just followed lead
The pictures in his mind awoke
And began to breed
They started out beneath the knowledge tree
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences
And they marched along the railroad tracks
They smiled real wide for the camera lenses
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue lips, blue veins
Blue, the color of our planet from far far away
Blue, the most human color...
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Day 30 - Whatever Tickles Your Fancy
Warning: This post is kind of depressing, but not completely.
I know the woman who wrote this book. I knew her husband, and I'm friends with her older son Ben. I've known their family since before I can remember - we all vacationed together at Purity Spring Resort in New Hampshire the same week every summer since Ben and I were toddlers. "Same time, same place, every August." So I sort of have a personal connection to their lives and their story.
Joseph, Susan's husband and Ben and Jake's dad, had always had heart issues. I remember when we'd hike down this hill to Swift River every year to go tubing in the mini-rapids, he'd have some trouble getting back up. My mom would go with him a little early, before we all left, so he could take his time climbing up the hill. I knew something was wrong with his heart, but I think I was around 7 the first time I remember this happening, so I didn't think much of it. He seemed generally fine.
It got to the point where he really needed a heart transplant - actually, for maybe a year or so he was basically surviving from this mechanical heart...I don't really understand the medical aspects of it, to be honest. They finally found a match for him, but after the transplant he didn't wake up. He'd had a stroke or something. I think this was early my senior year, and I remember crying while I was driving to school that morning. He wasn't gone yet, but we'd gotten a call from another Purity family telling us what was going on, that he was on life support and they were waiting for his older children from a previous marriage to fly in before letting him go.
Ever since Joseph's problems had started and it had been clear that he'd need to be an organ donation recipient, or maybe before that, his family had always been really big supporters of organ donation. At Jake's bar mitzvah, they'd given out lime green Donate Life wrist bands to everyone. And when Joseph passed away, not only was he able to re-donate his new heart (which is rare), but the doctors came to Susan and asked if she'd give consent for him to donate his face to a recipient who'd had some sort of accident. Maybe you heard about it on the news - I think it might've been the first face donation in the U.S. or something. That was Joseph.
Now Susan is semi-famous. There was a write-up about her and Joseph's story in the Boston Globe when they did Bostonians of the Year, and then she wrote a book and started the Joseph Helfgot Foundation, and now his story is being covered on Boston Med, which is this TV show on ABC. She's creating so much life from their loss. She's amazing.
It makes me sad that Joseph's not around to see it. It makes me feel weird that all of this has happened kind of in the name of his death, without his knowing about it. I think he'd be proud though. It also makes me wonder about this belief I've always had, and I remember being taught it at temple once but I don't remember ever really being taught it after that, which is that when you do good things, you shouldn't expect recognition. But I don't think that means recognition has to be bad, when you can use that recognition for further selfless purposes, for example to spread your message of life and hope and show other people how important organ donations can be.
Anyway, I felt like rambling on that right now because we just got the news about her book's coming out and the beginning of the Joseph Helfgot Foundation. Not exactly a pick-me-up, but important to talk and think about nonetheless.
I know the woman who wrote this book. I knew her husband, and I'm friends with her older son Ben. I've known their family since before I can remember - we all vacationed together at Purity Spring Resort in New Hampshire the same week every summer since Ben and I were toddlers. "Same time, same place, every August." So I sort of have a personal connection to their lives and their story.
Joseph, Susan's husband and Ben and Jake's dad, had always had heart issues. I remember when we'd hike down this hill to Swift River every year to go tubing in the mini-rapids, he'd have some trouble getting back up. My mom would go with him a little early, before we all left, so he could take his time climbing up the hill. I knew something was wrong with his heart, but I think I was around 7 the first time I remember this happening, so I didn't think much of it. He seemed generally fine.
It got to the point where he really needed a heart transplant - actually, for maybe a year or so he was basically surviving from this mechanical heart...I don't really understand the medical aspects of it, to be honest. They finally found a match for him, but after the transplant he didn't wake up. He'd had a stroke or something. I think this was early my senior year, and I remember crying while I was driving to school that morning. He wasn't gone yet, but we'd gotten a call from another Purity family telling us what was going on, that he was on life support and they were waiting for his older children from a previous marriage to fly in before letting him go.
Ever since Joseph's problems had started and it had been clear that he'd need to be an organ donation recipient, or maybe before that, his family had always been really big supporters of organ donation. At Jake's bar mitzvah, they'd given out lime green Donate Life wrist bands to everyone. And when Joseph passed away, not only was he able to re-donate his new heart (which is rare), but the doctors came to Susan and asked if she'd give consent for him to donate his face to a recipient who'd had some sort of accident. Maybe you heard about it on the news - I think it might've been the first face donation in the U.S. or something. That was Joseph.
Now Susan is semi-famous. There was a write-up about her and Joseph's story in the Boston Globe when they did Bostonians of the Year, and then she wrote a book and started the Joseph Helfgot Foundation, and now his story is being covered on Boston Med, which is this TV show on ABC. She's creating so much life from their loss. She's amazing.
It makes me sad that Joseph's not around to see it. It makes me feel weird that all of this has happened kind of in the name of his death, without his knowing about it. I think he'd be proud though. It also makes me wonder about this belief I've always had, and I remember being taught it at temple once but I don't remember ever really being taught it after that, which is that when you do good things, you shouldn't expect recognition. But I don't think that means recognition has to be bad, when you can use that recognition for further selfless purposes, for example to spread your message of life and hope and show other people how important organ donations can be.
Anyway, I felt like rambling on that right now because we just got the news about her book's coming out and the beginning of the Joseph Helfgot Foundation. Not exactly a pick-me-up, but important to talk and think about nonetheless.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Day 29 - Hopes, Dreams and Plans for the Next 365 Days
So close to the end of this thing! I like how it's taken me the whole summer to do it, not just 30 days. Oh well.
So hopes, dreams, and plans. Hmmm. I hope/dream/plan to:
Edit: inspired by Aubree's facebook note, i'm adding some fun, more Haver-specific things to this list. i think i was in a serious mood when i wrote what's above. (and anyway, copying is the highest form of flattery, right? :P) so here are some more:
omg i smell bacon cooking downstairs...gotta run! :P i'll add more as i think of them.
So hopes, dreams, and plans. Hmmm. I hope/dream/plan to:
- Make new friends at school, especially freshmen, but also remain just as close to my friends from last year.
- Also stay close to my high school friends, as we have this year.
- Travel! Road trips, plane rides, whatever. See new places.
- Have an awesome Customs experience the second time around. Be a good CP, avoid horrible conflicts/issues or at least deal with them reasonably well, be a good mentor and supporter to my freshmen while also being friends with them and having a fairly close, fun hall, learn from my freshmen and Customs experience and hopefully they'll learn from me too, have awesome discussions during PAFs etc, maintain a close customs team with good communication and teamwork.
- Something in the dating/relationship realm? Maybe? Just sayin'...
- Improve the whole home situation, or at least maintain the improvements from this past year.
- Finalize my major/minor (Psych/Spanish?) and study abroad plans (Argentina!!!), and be happy with my decision.
- Figure out my summer plans.
- Take interesting classes that I enjoy, learn a ton, share my knowledge, not get too stressed out, gain a clearer idea of what my interests are, fulfill more requirements, get grades I'm happy with.
- Have Bryn Mawr lunches MWF first semester with Fairleigh, Alex, and Josh!
- Finish up my PE requirement.
- Go to the gym more. For real. This needs to happen.
- Find more things to ramble about so I can keep this blog going.
- Maintain balance in my life between academics, customs, friends, all my other activities, maybe a job, and general free time; keep a firm grip on my sanity and not let my stress levels get too high.
- Avoid too much drama.
- Not spend too much money.
- Do everything in moderation.
- Be just as happy with myself and my life at the end of it as I am now, if not more so.
- Do fun things over breaks, including visiting people at school and something else that's fun or at least relaxing over spring break.
- Visit Sarah at Hamilton at some point during the year.
- Get a job during the year.
- Work with the CDO to figure out winter break/June internships or jobs in a field I'm actually interested in - psychology or non-profits, or something else I/we come up with.
- Continue to be there for my friends.
- Do lots of things that make me happy.
- Do lots of things that make others happy.
- Have an awsome year!
Edit: inspired by Aubree's facebook note, i'm adding some fun, more Haver-specific things to this list. i think i was in a serious mood when i wrote what's above. (and anyway, copying is the highest form of flattery, right? :P) so here are some more:
- Lots of stargazing, with everyone. also the daytime equivalent which is laying out on Gummere and Founders greens
- Taking more sunset pictures with Hannah
- Run a kick-ass group with Abby! (step 1...become a real club. *cough Jason McGraw answer my email cough*)
- Late-night trips to Wawa; pints of ice cream may be consumed
- eating too many fries at the Coop
- Adventures in Philly! more eating at Sansom Kabob
- 3/2, 3rd section, and customs cousin adventures! which will hopefully involve philly, food, and fun
- Run away to cook/bake/do work in Alex, Jake, and Alec's apartment. home-made confections are a must.
- Movie nights with Fairleigh and Emily and Alex and Josh anyone else who wants to join
- watching more 30 Rock and The Office and Fringe late at night with Fairleigh and Alex
- avoiding getting the stomach flu and/or swine flu
- creating more delicious DC concoctions
- baking pie at Swat with Hilary and Erica
- lots of tri-co visiting in general
- eating at Panera and that diner, which are driving distance but too far to walk
- other adventures with my car! (who's up for road trips? driving to the beach? anything along similar lines?)
- founders dances!!! which will inevitably include some crazy outfits
omg i smell bacon cooking downstairs...gotta run! :P i'll add more as i think of them.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Happiness in Website Form
http://dailysquee.com/
If you've never seen this website, go look at it. In fact, if you have seen this website, go look at it. It will make you happier. :D
If you've never seen this website, go look at it. In fact, if you have seen this website, go look at it. It will make you happier. :D
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Ramble on That Thing Called Love
This is one that always eludes me. What the hell is love anyway? When I say love, I mean "I Love You" kind of love, with capital letters, as in being in love with someone. How can you define that???
Whatever it is, it calls for a ramble. (A really, really long ramble, apparently. This might actually be the rambliest ramble I've ever written. Whoops.) So here goes.
In my philosophy class first semester, we talked about how reason separates humans from animals, but I think emotion does too. I don't think love is just an instinct – I don't think animals can feel this kind of love. I think it's more of a deep emotional connection that is a distinctively human phenomenon. And I think it takes time to create this connection, which is why I don't believe in love at first sight. I believe in lust at first sight, and really awesome chemistry at first sight, but I don't think you can love someone without knowing him or her incredibly well. But at the same time, I'm not sure if you can really put a time frame on how long that takes either. I mean, I know of many times when people have said "I Love You" too soon, before they really meant it. That's bad. But can you ever really advise those people, "You need to wait at least a month," or something like that? How fast can love happen? How fast can you really get to know a person? Or do you really have to get to know them all that well before you feel that thing that you identify as being Love? I feel like it’s a gradual thing; it's not just a black and white, I'm in love or I'm not. Even though we make it black and white because when someone says it, there's this moment when it's established. But how else would we express it for sure, than that moment when we say it out loud? There's always the "I'm falling for you" line - that shows how it's gradual - but how do you really know (other than "you just know") when you've fallen for someone?
Which of course brings up the issue of how to know you're actually in love, and don't just have a super big crush, or just feel really comfortable, or it's just been long enough that you're sick of not having said it. I'd like to believe that it's more complicated than [time + really big crush + feeling comfortable + chemistry = Love]. I've heard, as I mentioned, that "You Just Know," which I'm putting in capital letters because it's intimidating and scary (at least to me). What if you just think you know, and you really believe you know, and then you realize you were wrong? Saying "I Love You" and not meaning it, or having to take it back later, is basically one of the worst things ever. It's something you never want to hear taken back.
But what if you thought you loved someone, and then it turned out that they weren't the person you thought they were? I think that all we can ever really understand of anyone is the concept of that person we have in our own mind, which will always be flawed and limited. So can we ever really love another person, or can we only really love our concept of that person and who we think they are? That's kind of depressing. Or maybe it isn't. All we can know about even ourselves is our self-concept, which can be just as twisted and wrong as our concept of someone else. It's just how the mind works. (Thank you, Social Cognition term paper.)
Going back to when to say "I Love You," I once read a quote that was something like, "Don’t make decisions when angry, and don’t make promises when happy." I knew the first part, but I hadn't really thought about the second. It makes sense, though. Just like you can be overly mean and unfair when you're all upset and riled up, you can be unrealistically optimistic when you're in a really good mood. And to say "I Love You" is kind of like a promise. It's like a promise that you mean it, and all of the things that go along with that. So maybe people shouldn't say I Love You when really, really happy at the moment, just like we shouldn't send nasty, unfair emails or texts when we're mad; we need to wait until we're emotionally balanced again to make sure we're saying what we really mean.
And off on another tangent, is anyone else really annoyed by how difficult it is to say "I love you" to a significant other without its meaning that you're in love with that person? I feel like when you're flirting, or you're first start something with someone, or even if you've been in it for awhile but aren't ready to proclaim that you're in love with them, the natural reaction so often is to say I love you, but then you don't because that phrase is off limits or something. It's reserved for something bigger. But you can love someone without being in love with them. There are so many different kinds of love. So why do we censor ourselves and find something else to say when we want to say I love you, but not to mean that we're in love? It's silly. I think we should be able to say it, and then when we mean to say that we're in love with someone we should just say that, I'm In Love With You.
Ok, I think that’s enough rambling on this topic, seeing as I could probably ramble about it forever and ever, and I basically already have. :P
Wow, that was long...
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Ramble on Judaism and Christianity
For some reason, I keep thinking about this.
The Christian Bible includes both the Old and New Testaments, so why is it that Christians don't keep kosher or celebrate Hanukkah?
Disclaimers:
1. For the intents of this ramble, I am treating both testaments as true. This ramble isn't about my personal beliefs – it's about the relationships between the two religions and their texts, in a very basic and general sense.
2. I haven't read the whole bible. I've read all of Genesis and Exodus, all of Matthew, and various other stories, all only once through, plus whatever excerpts I've read at Hebrew School, Torah Study, or camp.
3. I'm honestly not that familiar with the history of Christianity in terms of what happened hundreds of years after Jesus' lifetime and the formation of the religion, so that might account for a good chunk of what I'm missing.
So. Why is it that Christians aren't Jews, plus? Why don't Christians celebrate all the Jewish holidays and observe the Jewish customs, plus the ones centered around Jesus' life and teachings? If Jesus was supposedly Jewish, and furthermore the son of the God that made all the rules of Judaism, why wouldn't he preach his new teachings in addition to those rules? It seems like he kind of let his new followers off the hook for all the old Jewish stuff, in favor of the new things he was teaching them.
I was talking to Erica about this, and she said that the way she's had it explained to her, Judaism was sort of an elite religion. To be truly observant you basically had to sit around studying Torah all day, and only the rich could really afford to do that. So along comes Jesus, who says that no, you don't have to sit around studying all day – all you really have to do is be good people to be good in the eyes of God, and here's how to be good people. All of a sudden, pleasing God was something that was accessible to the masses.
But if Jesus is the son of God, and God is perfect, and God made those rules laid out in the Old Testament, how could Jesus have had the authority to go to the people and tell them the rules had changed? If God told him to, did that mean that the original rules weren't perfect? If God didn't tell him to…well that would be really bad, wouldn't it? Or are the father and the son supposed to be equals in the trinity? Even if they are equals, why would one deity say to the people that they don't really have to observe the Sabbath, even if the other deity told them to? That would mean a weird competition for power over dictating the rules that just doesn't seem right in this context. Plus, (and here's the kicker,) if the rules did change so that all you had to do was be a good person and not follow all of the 613 commandments in the Torah, why does the Christian Bible still include the Old Testament?
I have no idea. Maybe I'm wrong about some of these details or interpretations. Maybe I'm vastly over generalizing. Maybe it has to do with the history of the formation of the religion. Maybe I'm completely way off and just don't know my stuff that well. But these are things I wonder about, and it'd be cool to understand more about these questions and their answers.
The Christian Bible includes both the Old and New Testaments, so why is it that Christians don't keep kosher or celebrate Hanukkah?
Disclaimers:
1. For the intents of this ramble, I am treating both testaments as true. This ramble isn't about my personal beliefs – it's about the relationships between the two religions and their texts, in a very basic and general sense.
2. I haven't read the whole bible. I've read all of Genesis and Exodus, all of Matthew, and various other stories, all only once through, plus whatever excerpts I've read at Hebrew School, Torah Study, or camp.
3. I'm honestly not that familiar with the history of Christianity in terms of what happened hundreds of years after Jesus' lifetime and the formation of the religion, so that might account for a good chunk of what I'm missing.
So. Why is it that Christians aren't Jews, plus? Why don't Christians celebrate all the Jewish holidays and observe the Jewish customs, plus the ones centered around Jesus' life and teachings? If Jesus was supposedly Jewish, and furthermore the son of the God that made all the rules of Judaism, why wouldn't he preach his new teachings in addition to those rules? It seems like he kind of let his new followers off the hook for all the old Jewish stuff, in favor of the new things he was teaching them.
I was talking to Erica about this, and she said that the way she's had it explained to her, Judaism was sort of an elite religion. To be truly observant you basically had to sit around studying Torah all day, and only the rich could really afford to do that. So along comes Jesus, who says that no, you don't have to sit around studying all day – all you really have to do is be good people to be good in the eyes of God, and here's how to be good people. All of a sudden, pleasing God was something that was accessible to the masses.
But if Jesus is the son of God, and God is perfect, and God made those rules laid out in the Old Testament, how could Jesus have had the authority to go to the people and tell them the rules had changed? If God told him to, did that mean that the original rules weren't perfect? If God didn't tell him to…well that would be really bad, wouldn't it? Or are the father and the son supposed to be equals in the trinity? Even if they are equals, why would one deity say to the people that they don't really have to observe the Sabbath, even if the other deity told them to? That would mean a weird competition for power over dictating the rules that just doesn't seem right in this context. Plus, (and here's the kicker,) if the rules did change so that all you had to do was be a good person and not follow all of the 613 commandments in the Torah, why does the Christian Bible still include the Old Testament?
I have no idea. Maybe I'm wrong about some of these details or interpretations. Maybe I'm vastly over generalizing. Maybe it has to do with the history of the formation of the religion. Maybe I'm completely way off and just don't know my stuff that well. But these are things I wonder about, and it'd be cool to understand more about these questions and their answers.
Excitement!!!
I have a ramble on Judaism and Christianity basically set to post, but I'm too excited about customs to talk about anything else!
My hall is SO COOL. Like...aaaahhh! It's such a good mix of people, from what information I've gathered from stalking them for the past two days. Yes, I'm creepy. Yes, it's loving. Yes, I basically have everyone's names, rooms, and home states memorized. And really, was anyone expecting anything else?
So since I wanted to post something, and this is basically all that's on my mind right now, I felt the need to come on here and freak out to the internet at large.
CUSTOMS X IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!
♥
My hall is SO COOL. Like...aaaahhh! It's such a good mix of people, from what information I've gathered from stalking them for the past two days. Yes, I'm creepy. Yes, it's loving. Yes, I basically have everyone's names, rooms, and home states memorized. And really, was anyone expecting anything else?
So since I wanted to post something, and this is basically all that's on my mind right now, I felt the need to come on here and freak out to the internet at large.
CUSTOMS X IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!
♥
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Day 28 - Your Year In Great Detail
No one actually has to read this. In fact, I don't really feel like writing it. But I'm on day 28 out of 30, and I'm not stopping now...
I'll do this by categories, cause going by month seems kind of ridiculous.
Adjusting to College
I'm starting with this one because it seems to be the most defining aspect of this year. A year ago I was still working, incidentally in the same office I'm working in now, preparing for school. I knew who my customs group was, and I'd probably been college shopping. It's so weird to think back on that now, not even knowing what Maia looked like or how big my room was.
I guess I knew but didn't realize how much of an adjustment it would be. Academically, it was fine. It's just that all of a sudden I didn't know anyone, and I had no really close friends like I had at home. But as time went on, that changed. It's funny because around April or so, I found something I'd written at the beginning of classes about how I felt about all of it, and how I didn't feel at home yet and didn't know when I would. So I wrote something new, about how I did fall into things with time, and how I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, how much I love Haverford and the community and feel a part of it, how I felt like I could tell my closest friends at school anything. I wish I could show those two side by side to incoming freshmen, to say "It's really going to be okay," but I won't. They need to go through it for themselves.
Friends
This reminds me of a song we used to sing in girl scouts: "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold." That's basically what I did, and that's definitely true. I was nervous about its being weird to go home to my Needham friends once we'd all established ourselves elsewhere and made new friends, but it was so easy to fall back into things whenever we were home for breaks. And it goes without saying that I've made tons of awesome friends at Haverford! My hall was amazing, and so was my customs team as a whole. I can't fail to mention customs week - Primal Scream, Pluralism, getting-to-know-you games, endless meetings in Marshall... Also, hanging out in Alex's room and the common room, playing board games, pregaming and partying and going to dances, attempting to tunnel, atticking in Marshall and Gummere, sneaking in the the faculty pool after Haverfest, movie nights with Fairleigh and Emily, watching TV shows with Fairleigh and Alex, that awesome fort we built, going to Chipotle and Wawa, eating breakfasts with Maia in the common room on Mondays and Wednesdays, actually eating every meal with Maia second semester, hall dinners, etc. We all had a great time, and I'll especially miss 3/3 so much next year when we're all living different places around the school.
Family
My parents learned to live without me this year, and I think the distance has been good for all of us. I talked to my parents once a week while I was at school, and breaks went pretty smoothly, and summer has too so far. We lost Samson around Memorial Day, which was sad, and other than that this year has been uneventful. We did thanksgiving with my dad's side and Christmas with my mom's, and we just went down to CT to see my aunt and uncle (mom's brother and his wife) again this summer, which was cool. Also, for spring break Neelima and I flew out to LA to stay with my aunt and uncle (mom's sister and her husband), which was a blast. I hadn't been out there since I was 7 - usually they come to RI where my uncle's dad lives - so it was fun to see all the sights again once I'd actually remember them. It was also fun to travel out there without my parents - it had been a plan since I was 8 or so for me to go out there with a friend. And getting dirt on my family from my aunt was pretty fun too. :P
Academics
First semester I took Intro Psych, Happiness Virtue and the Good Life (Philosophy), Exploring Critical Issues through Writing (Spanish), and Intro Computing (at Bryn Mawr). Spanish drove me crazy, and I loved the philosophy class. I also found CS fun in this kind of twisted way, but mostly it was something different, fun times playing with robots, and time spent with Josh and Abby. And Bryn Mawr lunches were a plus. :) Second semester I took Perspectives on Immigration and Education in the US (Writing Sem), Logic (Philosophy), Social Problems (Soc), and Social Cognition (Psych). Soc was the biggest headache ever; Writing sem was my favorite class this year hands down. Barbara Hall is amazing, and I'm basically devastated that she's leaving. And Ralph Barnes is just crazy, although it took me two semesters to realize this, but he's gone now too because he was a visiting prof. Thank goodness I had Maia in both of my obnoxious classes this year, because we just bitched together. Oh, and I think I wrote over 50 pages between the last week of class and finals weeks second semester. Ridiculous.
Hobbies/Activities
Chorale, Photo for the Bi-Co, SAGA, QDG, Stitch-n-Bitch (once), Quaker Bouncing (twice), and a ton of emails from clubs I never did. And Massage Therapy, Bowling, and Intro Fitness. Oh, and starting GSpot with Abby at the end of the year! yay!
Misc.
Going to Purity over Fall Break and then visiting friends at schools near home, working in my dad's office this summer and over winter break, Plenary failing, a New Years resolution to work out three times a week (which lasted two weeks), getting the stomach flu after spring break, my now-infamous facebook note to my hall, the two snow days in a row when I had Social Problems anyway, playing/traying/tabling in the snow, getting Customs with Josh, buying out all of Bath and Body Works and banning myself from the store, trips into philly, hall sweatshirts, a summer of friends and beaches and boredom (and office monsters)...and well, here I am.
I'll do this by categories, cause going by month seems kind of ridiculous.
Adjusting to College
I'm starting with this one because it seems to be the most defining aspect of this year. A year ago I was still working, incidentally in the same office I'm working in now, preparing for school. I knew who my customs group was, and I'd probably been college shopping. It's so weird to think back on that now, not even knowing what Maia looked like or how big my room was.
I guess I knew but didn't realize how much of an adjustment it would be. Academically, it was fine. It's just that all of a sudden I didn't know anyone, and I had no really close friends like I had at home. But as time went on, that changed. It's funny because around April or so, I found something I'd written at the beginning of classes about how I felt about all of it, and how I didn't feel at home yet and didn't know when I would. So I wrote something new, about how I did fall into things with time, and how I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, how much I love Haverford and the community and feel a part of it, how I felt like I could tell my closest friends at school anything. I wish I could show those two side by side to incoming freshmen, to say "It's really going to be okay," but I won't. They need to go through it for themselves.
Friends
This reminds me of a song we used to sing in girl scouts: "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold." That's basically what I did, and that's definitely true. I was nervous about its being weird to go home to my Needham friends once we'd all established ourselves elsewhere and made new friends, but it was so easy to fall back into things whenever we were home for breaks. And it goes without saying that I've made tons of awesome friends at Haverford! My hall was amazing, and so was my customs team as a whole. I can't fail to mention customs week - Primal Scream, Pluralism, getting-to-know-you games, endless meetings in Marshall... Also, hanging out in Alex's room and the common room, playing board games, pregaming and partying and going to dances, attempting to tunnel, atticking in Marshall and Gummere, sneaking in the the faculty pool after Haverfest, movie nights with Fairleigh and Emily, watching TV shows with Fairleigh and Alex, that awesome fort we built, going to Chipotle and Wawa, eating breakfasts with Maia in the common room on Mondays and Wednesdays, actually eating every meal with Maia second semester, hall dinners, etc. We all had a great time, and I'll especially miss 3/3 so much next year when we're all living different places around the school.
Family
My parents learned to live without me this year, and I think the distance has been good for all of us. I talked to my parents once a week while I was at school, and breaks went pretty smoothly, and summer has too so far. We lost Samson around Memorial Day, which was sad, and other than that this year has been uneventful. We did thanksgiving with my dad's side and Christmas with my mom's, and we just went down to CT to see my aunt and uncle (mom's brother and his wife) again this summer, which was cool. Also, for spring break Neelima and I flew out to LA to stay with my aunt and uncle (mom's sister and her husband), which was a blast. I hadn't been out there since I was 7 - usually they come to RI where my uncle's dad lives - so it was fun to see all the sights again once I'd actually remember them. It was also fun to travel out there without my parents - it had been a plan since I was 8 or so for me to go out there with a friend. And getting dirt on my family from my aunt was pretty fun too. :P
Academics
First semester I took Intro Psych, Happiness Virtue and the Good Life (Philosophy), Exploring Critical Issues through Writing (Spanish), and Intro Computing (at Bryn Mawr). Spanish drove me crazy, and I loved the philosophy class. I also found CS fun in this kind of twisted way, but mostly it was something different, fun times playing with robots, and time spent with Josh and Abby. And Bryn Mawr lunches were a plus. :) Second semester I took Perspectives on Immigration and Education in the US (Writing Sem), Logic (Philosophy), Social Problems (Soc), and Social Cognition (Psych). Soc was the biggest headache ever; Writing sem was my favorite class this year hands down. Barbara Hall is amazing, and I'm basically devastated that she's leaving. And Ralph Barnes is just crazy, although it took me two semesters to realize this, but he's gone now too because he was a visiting prof. Thank goodness I had Maia in both of my obnoxious classes this year, because we just bitched together. Oh, and I think I wrote over 50 pages between the last week of class and finals weeks second semester. Ridiculous.
Hobbies/Activities
Chorale, Photo for the Bi-Co, SAGA, QDG, Stitch-n-Bitch (once), Quaker Bouncing (twice), and a ton of emails from clubs I never did. And Massage Therapy, Bowling, and Intro Fitness. Oh, and starting GSpot with Abby at the end of the year! yay!
Misc.
Going to Purity over Fall Break and then visiting friends at schools near home, working in my dad's office this summer and over winter break, Plenary failing, a New Years resolution to work out three times a week (which lasted two weeks), getting the stomach flu after spring break, my now-infamous facebook note to my hall, the two snow days in a row when I had Social Problems anyway, playing/traying/tabling in the snow, getting Customs with Josh, buying out all of Bath and Body Works and banning myself from the store, trips into philly, hall sweatshirts, a summer of friends and beaches and boredom (and office monsters)...and well, here I am.
Oh, and also...
This Article.
I read it on the way to work, and it's pretty legit. I don't really feel much like rambling about it at the moment but I think it speaks for itself.
(Except that it doesn't mention solutions! Gahhh pet peeve...)
I read it on the way to work, and it's pretty legit. I don't really feel much like rambling about it at the moment but I think it speaks for itself.
(Except that it doesn't mention solutions! Gahhh pet peeve...)
Day 27 - Your Month In Great Detail
Wow, it's almost like this 30 day thing wants me to ramble. :P
Honestly, I think I've already mentioned most things worth mentioning that have happened this month. July 1 was the office outing to Thompson Island where I hung out with office people and office people's kids, and played volleyball and lawn games and ate delicious seafood. I saw Leah S-G, which was fun because I hadn't seen her in awhile, and we walked around Africa. (Africa is a nickname for Cutler Park, for anyone who might be confused.) I went to fireworks and the flea market, swam in the Natick Pond, got an ear infection, got a cold, hung out with people a lot in various locations such as people's houses and cars, friendly's, camilla's, panera, and lizzy's ice cream. We went to the Vineyard, where we swam and hung out and shopped and ate and relaxed. I also took my trip around to visit school people, which I think I already covered in more-than-sufficient detail. I'm still waiting to hear on freshmen, and I'm still super excited for customs. I've also IMed/skyped with people a lot, which involved helping two people figure out their fall schedules and convinving Alex to take 2 classes and PE with me. (I'm doing Fencing and I'm so pumped!) Other than that I've mostly been at work. Which actually takes up the majority of the time I'm not sleeping.
So that's my July in a nutshell. 4 more days til August!
Honestly, I think I've already mentioned most things worth mentioning that have happened this month. July 1 was the office outing to Thompson Island where I hung out with office people and office people's kids, and played volleyball and lawn games and ate delicious seafood. I saw Leah S-G, which was fun because I hadn't seen her in awhile, and we walked around Africa. (Africa is a nickname for Cutler Park, for anyone who might be confused.) I went to fireworks and the flea market, swam in the Natick Pond, got an ear infection, got a cold, hung out with people a lot in various locations such as people's houses and cars, friendly's, camilla's, panera, and lizzy's ice cream. We went to the Vineyard, where we swam and hung out and shopped and ate and relaxed. I also took my trip around to visit school people, which I think I already covered in more-than-sufficient detail. I'm still waiting to hear on freshmen, and I'm still super excited for customs. I've also IMed/skyped with people a lot, which involved helping two people figure out their fall schedules and convinving Alex to take 2 classes and PE with me. (I'm doing Fencing and I'm so pumped!) Other than that I've mostly been at work. Which actually takes up the majority of the time I'm not sleeping.
So that's my July in a nutshell. 4 more days til August!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Ramble on Numbers as Identity
This one's really, really random, but it's just a thought I had. I have better rambles on the way, I promise.
In Logic class last semester, we learned how in ancient Greece, there was no concept of 0. If something didn't exist, why quantify it? Even 1 wasn't a number – it was a unit. The numbers started with 2, and they represented quantities. They quantified people or objects, such as a merchant's stock. That's why roman numerals were so easy. People weren't doing math with them; they were just recording that they had XXXIV of something, and the next day they only had XXVII left.
When did numbers start being used in ways that didn't quantify anything? When did they start representing places and people? We are all labeled by so many numbers, quietly nestled away in various systems based on these strings of digits that identify us. (And if they're just randomized strings of digits, can they even be called numbers?) Social Security numbers, student ID numbers, bank account and credit card numbers, College Board and AP numbers, even telephone numbers, street addresses, and zip codes all somehow identify us and where we're from. Yet they don't really quantify anything - they didn't start at 0. They're just impersonal and efficient ways to keep large quantities of people organized within systems.
So when, historically, did that happen? When did numbers stop being used just for quantities and start being used as labels?
That's my random thought for the day.
In Logic class last semester, we learned how in ancient Greece, there was no concept of 0. If something didn't exist, why quantify it? Even 1 wasn't a number – it was a unit. The numbers started with 2, and they represented quantities. They quantified people or objects, such as a merchant's stock. That's why roman numerals were so easy. People weren't doing math with them; they were just recording that they had XXXIV of something, and the next day they only had XXVII left.
When did numbers start being used in ways that didn't quantify anything? When did they start representing places and people? We are all labeled by so many numbers, quietly nestled away in various systems based on these strings of digits that identify us. (And if they're just randomized strings of digits, can they even be called numbers?) Social Security numbers, student ID numbers, bank account and credit card numbers, College Board and AP numbers, even telephone numbers, street addresses, and zip codes all somehow identify us and where we're from. Yet they don't really quantify anything - they didn't start at 0. They're just impersonal and efficient ways to keep large quantities of people organized within systems.
So when, historically, did that happen? When did numbers stop being used just for quantities and start being used as labels?
That's my random thought for the day.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Day 26 - Your Week In Great Detail
Basically, this week has been awesome. Awesome enough, I think, that I almost don't mind working for three more weeks because I'll be back at school so soon. I've seen friends I missed, and I've been to so many cities in such a short amount of time that when I saw a guy wearing a Yankees hat in Philadelphia it actually took me a panicked second to figure out where the hell I was. So I'll go by cities.
City 1: Boston
Last Saturday morning, Neelima picked me up and we got bagles at Cafe Fresh before she drove me to the bus at South Station. I guess Boston doesn't really count much as a city except for that drive to the Megabus.
City 2: New York
My bus arrived at around 3, and Erica was there to meet me. Fairleigh's bus was wicked late, so we stood around with Dan, Alisha, Erin, and Chris. Apparently Dan and Alisha live in the city, and Erin and Chris were visiting. They were all very couple-y and me and Erica were just excited to see each other. Fairleigh's bus finally got there and we went back to Erica's apartment, ate Thai food with all the above people, then Fairleigh, Erica, and I had the most amazing girls night ever. It involved cookie dough, three flavors of ice cream including sangria sorbet which is incredible, fancy cheese and crackers, Sex and the City, and Amelie. We also chilled on the roof of Erica's dad's building and sat on some rocks down by the Hudson and talked.
Sunday, Fairleigh and I chilled most of the day while Erica slept from 11am until 4pm (it's a long story involving her dad and a triathlon). I finished up Sarah's friendship bracelet, which is awesome. Then we went to Shake Shack in Madison Square, walked through Union Square and went to The Strand, which is a bookstore. Then we stayed up later than necessary doing nothing.
Monday, Fairleigh and I chilled in the morning while Erica was at her improv class, and then we…I have no idea what we did on Monday. Oh, we went to Ricky's I think, and I got awesome green fishnets for Dorm Olympics, and some tights for my Halloween costume. And we must've walked around, but I forget where we went. That night Erica babysat and Fairleigh and I got ourselves to Chinatown all by ourselves and wandered around there. Then we stayed up til 3 skyping with Josh.
Tuesday, Erica had improv again so Fairleigh and I went to Columbus Circle and wandered, then Erica met us and we ate, walked through a little bit of Central Park, and went to a chocolate shop. Then Fairleigh and I got our stuff and barely made the Megabus in time.
City 3: Baltimore
Tuesday night we got ice cream at TCBY with Fairleigh's mom and sister. Wednesday morning Fairleigh and I made berry pancakes and went to Starbucks. She showed me this hippy-esque store called Something Else, and we also went into a consignment shop. Then we met Fairleigh's mom for lunch at the Paper Moon Diner, which is this awesome place where all the waiters share tables and it's all decorated with random crap all over the walls and ceiling in odd positions (I posted pics on facebook). Then we wandered and shopped on The Avenue in Hampdon, where I bought awesome yarn to make Fairleigh a scarf and we got Alex shotglasses with mustaches on them. I napped back at Fairleigh's, and then she took me on a driving tour of downtown, and then we ate dinner at her grandparents' house with her dad, sister, uncle, and cousin.
Thursday morning Fairleigh and I left at 8 to pick up her friend from high school, Celia, and we hit the road on our way to Haverford. I drove her car, which we named Mildred (Millie for short) because it drives like a grandmother and completely refuses to accelerate.
City 4: Philadelphia
We arrived at Haverford at around 11:30, when Alex was at work and Josh was about to leave for work, so we said hi and then drove to Swat to hang out with Hilary, who is Fairleigh and Celia's high school friend. We got lunch in the town of Swarthmore with Abby, who drove over to meet us. We went back and sat around in Josh and Alex's apartment, and then Fairleigh, Celia, Hilary, Alex, Josh, Marta, and I met Kelley in Philly and we all got dinner at Sansom Kabob. Then we wandered around Chinatown and got gelato, and I saw that guy with the NY hat and got really confused. Then we all hung out with Ryan in back at the apartment, and Josh and I wrote out postcards to our future freshmen whose names we still don't know.
Friday, we walked around Suburban Square and Ardmore while Alex worked, as Josh had left for Pittsburg early that morning. Then when Alex got off we chilled in the coop (literally) because the campus center has a/c, and then we met up with Kelley and Ori and we all went to Panera before we left to go back to Baltimore.
Back to Baltimore
We arrived back in Baltimore last night, and this morning Fairleigh and I went to Starbucks and this grocery store where they were giving out free samples of Hagen-daas ice cream, complete with a brownie chunk and hot fudge. Then we watched Gilmore Girls and her mom drove me to the airport.
Back to Boston
I flew into Boston, my parents picked me up, and we got dinner in Boston at this place called Durgin Park. It's in Quincy Market, and they have excellent steamers and strawberry shortcake. Then we walked back through the marketplace on the way back to the car. Now I'm finally home (although off to Connecticut in the morning!).
And that's the end of my busy week and awesome trip! :D