Random Update (12.20.11)

Studying for Calculus exam with Matt, Bryan, and Charae! I will begin in about an hour, and be done by 2:30 EST. By tonight, however, I will be back in good ol' CST. Merry Christmas and see you next year, Mr. Blog.

Random Update (12.18.11)

Exams are ongoing, but the end is near. I have taken western cult., physics, and Spanish so far. I studied a lot for physics and did very well, I think. Spanish was good, not great (lots and lots of grammar), and western cult. was just a bunch of writing. Rumor has it our teacher sorta makes up our grades anyways.

Studying has taken place either a) in my room b) in the quiet study lounge or c) in the law school. The following is an interpretation of finals week, as enacted by Anne, Christine, Angela, and myself in the law school classrooms on lil' ol' Newton campus.

Random Update (12.8.12)

Grieves concert on Monday was the greatest $13 I have ever spent. If you're interested, look into his work. He's one of the most talented lyricists/rappers/artists I know, and his live show was even better than his studio recordings. Not many modern hip-hoppers or rappers can live (pun) up to that.

The t-shirt

Tomorrow (Friday) is the last day of classes before finals week! Also, Friday is the last day I plan to spend time going out and about a lot, because here in college, finals account for anywhere from 40%-70% of your final grade. Thus, I will be studying my hind-quarters off this weekend and throughout next week. I pride myself in not resorting to caffeine. Yet. As I mentioned, Friday should be fun. I'm going ice-skating again (I WANT MORE EMBARRASSMENT!!!) with Annmarie, Susan, and probably others. And I forgot to mention: it's finally dropped below 50 degrees here. Come at me, Northeastern weather patterns.

Random Update (12.3.11)

Since I was bombarded by essays and tests in the days before Thanksgiving, this week has flown by without much trouble at all. Other events include a hockey game, Concert for Congo, Afterhours, 3v3 Hoops for Hope, and The Acoustics performance. Here is a brief run-down of each.

Friday

7:30 PM Hockey Game: Attended with Anne, Angela, and Christine. Consult previous ice-skating photos for identification. We lost 3-5 to BU, I hear. I only stayed for one (1) period because at

8:30 PM Concert for Congo: I was 1/2 an hour late, and met up with Matt, Charae, and Erick. The concert raised money for a hospital that offers care to women in the East Congo who are the victims of all sorts of abuse and disease. Dance groups like Fuego! and Synergy performed, as well as a poet/activist who was extremely moving with his spoken-word songs. We ate, played a card game called Palace, and then later there was something at

11:00 PM Afterhours: Funny! Five (5) student written and directed one-acts. This lasted until about 12:30 PM, and then I went Bach home to Newton.

Saturday

11:00 AM 3v3 Basketball Tournament in the Plex. Participants include Matt (benched in bed due to illness), Christine, Kirsten and myself. We lost all our games in the Co-ed division, but played well. Christine and Kirsten went Bach to Newton to sleep, but I stayed for the

2:00 PM Basketball Game: We lost 61-75. It was tied at halftime. I went with Ted (Monty Python fan) and met Miguel (Arsenal fan) there.

6:30 PM The Acoustics Concert: Outstanding. Songs include: Dream On, Drops of Jupiter, Cinema (The beat-boxer beat-boxed the DUBSTEP REMIX of this song. It. Was. Too good!), Set Fire to the Rain, and others. They also had a hilarious skit about a 90's support group which included characters of lovable childhood things like AOL dial-up (beat boxer!), Oregon Trail, the cookie monster, and Lindsey Lohan. Perhaps Lohan is not a lovable childhood thing. But it was funny nonetheless.

Tomorrow includes such fun activities as golfing (the real kind!) with Matt in the morning, studying for the physics final from 2 to 8, and then doing other homework.

I miss everyone from Thanksgiving! Those few days were very relaxing and continue to keep me relaxed.

See ya!

Random Update (11.22.11)

Dear College,

Thanksgiving is the first real, honest-to-goodness break since you occupied my life. Having worked my posterior off the last week with your three midterms and two essays, I could not feel any better now that I am getting away. It was only last weekend that my stress went away. You offered me solace with the following: the "Neon Newton" super fun dance party on Friday, the Arsenal game Saturday morning (I don't know how I got up for that, but I did), ice skating Saturday night, and the BC playoff game on Sunday. It's been a nice two-and-a-half months, but as for now, College, I plan to read what I want, have standard sleep cycles, and eat amazing food with amazing people in the land they call Rugby Hall.

Enjoy the pictures. And don't worry, College, I'll be back soon.

Will

 From left to right: Hannah, Christine, yo, Crystal, Angela, Libby, Alex, Chris

 1) My face is ridiculous because 2) Alex didn't know what to do with his hand and 3) I put my hand on his because I thought it was funny

I'll let you guess why my pants are soaking wet...
(Thanks to others for the photos!)

Random Update (11.13.11)

"I was happy, and then your sister threw a seafish at my Tv."
-Mitt Romney-


This weekend was a very calming one despite the number of psychologically disturbing movies watched. Let's see if I can name them all: Silence of the Lambs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Inception, and an episode of that old Twilight Zone show. That actually does not sound like a lot. But it WAS. It is nice knowing why Silence of the Lambs gets all those compliments. It's a great film. Texas Chainsaw Massacre was straight up freaky in a "I don't understand the reasons for including scenes of bizarre dialogue and unwarranted screaming" sorta way. The plot is pretty much in the title, so that takes away a whiff of excitement while one watches it. Inception second round through was much better in that I knew what the heck was going on. I love knowing what's going on. It fools me into thinking the world is like a book or a math problem in that it can be better understood by objective analysis of a confined situation. That made sense, at least in my head. Anywho, some friends definitively won their first round matches this weekend. I imagine the Super Smash Bros. 64-man melee tournament bracket with the Nintendo characters replaced with BC students whose first and last names I know. They all fight to be closer friends of mine, but they don't know this. Lorena and Christine definitely won their matches by 1) being cool and 2) going beyond the college questionnaire of major, hometown, and things you do and onto more fascinating topics like the Christian Coptic Orthodox church, Puerto Rico, or music.


Things I did besides watch movies:
1) Football Game - We won 14-10 against NC State. It was nice to see the players all happy after a game for once. Next year... next year...
2) US men's soccer game, BC men's soccer game: real good fun to watch in the lounge with some amigos. Those amigos also won their first round matches.
3) Intramural Semifinals - we lost 2-0. I stayed after and played with some junior guys who were short a few players. We tied 3-3, I hit the post and had an assist. I really enjoyed both games. I've been playing central midfield, and I think I've been playing as good if not better than I ever have before. I need to look into club soccer...


"Stuff the ice chest"
-Mitt Romney-

 Newton in Fall

Mount Monadnock Ascent

You can see Mt. Washington if you look real closely-like.

 Top of Mt. Monadnock!

 Jeff can see Iowa!

 The levels: evergreen vs. deciduous.

 Jeff laid claim to this rock in the name of Jeff land. However, we made him take the picture-photo.

Catherine, Jeff, and myself. 

Random Update (11.1.11) <-- symmetry

Midterms are over. Monday is over. The sky is over! No, Serj Tankian. Not here. Not now.

Tonight we have intramural playoffs in the huge football stadium. I am bringing camera [editor's note: game was cancelled, reasons unknown]. Afterwards a few folks are watching Life of Brian. Tomorrow is the last Men's Varsity Soccer home game vs. UNC. Thursday is the night football game vs. Florida State. Friday is a hockey game vs. Maine. Friday is a mountain hike in New Hampshire. Also, I mentally defeated a sickness. I felt myself getting sick and said "Nooooooo! Not this week!" so I got better. Hot showers, cough drops, and music might have helped too. Email me with any questions for the blog and I'll gladly answer them! Albeit sporadically.


Can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving! Hasta luego.

Random Update (10.29.11)

Hello everyone. I've been really busy with midterms during the past two weeks. Hopefully y'all enjoyed the pictures.


Last week was probably the most stressful so far. Monday is always really long. I start out with five (5) hours of classes, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Then I have three (3) hours to crash and pretend to do work, because at 5:15 PM I grab the T to go to Jackson Mann elementary school and tutor English with a service group called 4Boston. That takes ~4 hours. Then I have a group reflection immediately after from 9:30 PM to 10:30PM. Needless to say, Mondays give me headaches.


Tuesday's, however, are very relaxing. I wake up around 9:00 AM and do laundry, while completing any reading for honors seminar which I have at 1:00 PM. Class was interesting, but I couldn't help but look out the window every once in a while. I swear, the leaves changed from green to dark red in two hours. But sleep deprivation might have contributed to that analysis. In any case, I was inspired to go running, and what a nice run it was. Running clears my mind of stress and allows me to focus on doing a number of other tasks. Such as building salt shaker towers, reading physics textbooks, and analyzing the book of Samuel and Ruth.


Wednesday was very normal. Three classes, nothing in the evening or afternoon. I had a nice siesta.


Thursday: Calculus test, which I thought was really easy. At night, I had my last CERT class
(Community Emergency Response Team). I've been taking these on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM throughout October. Thank goodness that's overover. IT SNOWED! But it had been raining, so nothing stuck to the ground.


Friday: Spanish test was ok, then I played 2v2 soccer with Jose for an hour or so. It was cold and fun. A group of folks embarked to Boston to purchase costumes around 4:00. Alex, the Brazilian who dislikes direct photos, and I got separated from the other seven (7) people and found a good and pretty cheap costume store. He is Charlie Chaplin. I am a priest. With a beard. And a whistle. It is my sin whistle, and I blow it when I see sin.


Today I got up and worked out. I'm getting into a nice groove. Every other day I go running and lift some form of weights. The running consists of a 20 minute or so warm up running around town, followed by 5 minutes of glory on the treadmill. After the run, I cool down, stretch, and pretend to bench and do curls. Later tonight I'm going to see Paranormal Activity 3.


Good niiiiiiiight ding ding ding ding ding

Random Update (10.25.11)

Every salt and pepper shaker from McElroy. This took a while. You can ask Matt or Ted.

Doodling.

Better doodling, in my opinion. I worked on this for a while. No, make that two whiles (you can ask Maria)

Wonderland!

 We went to Wonderland! It's the last stop on the T (blue line) and the beach is a short walk away. That's Jeff on the left, my partner is crime. Oh, and we're roommates.

The whole group! From left to right, it's Pat, Briana, Luiza, Kelley, Jeff, and myself. Good group of folks. Alex, who turns his back quite literally at the thought of being in photos, captured this lovely one. So, I guess it's not actually the whole group.

Beach recon. Deciding what spot to claim was a big group decision. We did well.

Beach! It's a bay-type thing here, so no waves. But, beach! 

Here is (from left to right again) Jeff, Alex the aforementioned back-turner, Kelley, and me. Lovely crane and apartments in the background. I guess it woulda made sense to take this facing the other direction... 

Got some soft-serve and milkshakes. 

The exodus ~4:30 PM 

Copyright Jake Hamel, All Rights Reserved. Alyssa over on the right there is priceless.  

My twin, Matt. We have our moments.

Gang sign and/or plea of innocence.


A big huge enormous thank you to Luiza for bringing a camera. Now I can prove my existence to persons of familiar relations!

Random Update (10.16.11)

Hey people who read this blog! It's come to my attention that I haven't randomly updated this for a week or so. Such is the nature of random updates. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Last week was only four (4) days long, and my day of death (Monday) was eliminated. Monday's I have class from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM without lunch break. So nice to not have that for once. Speaking of the word "once," I stared at a sign for a while that said "hit the button once... yada yada yada" and it took me about two (2) minutes to realize that it was the English word "once" and not the Spanish word for "eleven." Also, I've been in the habit of translating English conversation into Spanish in my head. This gets rather annoying. It must stop. Also my dreams are being infiltrated. Ayayay! But the good thing is that I got an "A-" on my first Spanish paper. I am really proud of that. It was a four (4) page essay in Spanish. I haven't done that before. Other school news includes having a Physics exam tomorrow, spending two (2) hours writing a lab with my lab partner, Brooks, today in McElroy dining hall, as well as deciding that I like the Honors Seminar class a lot more than before.

Non-school news. This week I spent playing a lot of soccer outside. Except Friday. Friday was rainy and disgusting. Actually Friday was the best day of the week, but I'll get to that later. I have started the CERT classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team. Basically you learn some basic techniques for situations when emergency professionals are unavailable. This includes disaster psychology, fire extinguisher skillz, and very basic triage/search and rescue. Thankfully it's only during the month of October, because having class twice a week for two and a half (2 and 1/2) hours is cutting into precious homework time, and thus sleep time. But forcing myself to schedule time is good. This weekend has been tiring. Friday classes ended, and then I had lunch with Kavi and other random people as they dropped by. We were in Stuart from 12:30 PM until 6:30 PM. Mostly because it was freakin pouring outside (or as some say, dumping outside) and walking home looked extremely un-fun. Anyways we were having such a good time it didn't seem like six (6) hours. After that, Jeff, Andrea, Kavi, Katie, Joann and I all went to the Hockey game. We are apparently ranked #1 in the nation. The atmosphere is unbeatable. Football games look so lame now. I'm not even a hockey fan, but I love going to hockey games. Even when we lose 2-3 to Denver (#3 in the nation), it's a blast.

Now I have an intramural soccer game. I say good day. 

Random Update (10.9.11)

This weekend is the breath of fresh air that I need after the first few weeks of school. The campus is much less crowded, because many locals have gone home for the long weekend. The weather has been absolutely beautiful. The people who are still here are more relaxed, it seems.

On Friday I finished classes around noon, had lunch with Kavi, explored the Study Abroad office, took a nap, woke up, ate, went to the BC soccer game (2-0 win vs. Wake), and finally almost went to a Ladytron concert. But ticketmaster was being silly, and we were being tired. I went to bed at 11:30 PM. 

On Saturday I woke up at 8:00 AM, ran a 5K Charity race with some guys, came in 2nd place with a (PR) 18:39 time. After the 5K, we returned to Newton, ate breakfast, kicked a ball around on the official soccer field, played in small sided game on the field hockey field. It was the kind of weather where you don't feel anything. Nothing cool, nothing warm. You just float along like you just took off your shoes and an invisible layer of clothing. I cannot say enough about how spectacular it was. Following soccer, Alex, Lorena, Andrea, Jeff, Jessica, and I walked to get ice cream. Afterwards all of us joined Luiza and Alyssa for Sushi. After Sushi we went back to Newton and watched "Shaun of the Dead." I ended up going to bed around 2:00 AM.


Today I woke up at 8:00 AM again. Pat and I rallied some troops. We left on the subway in swimsuits and backpacks (editor's note: we were not in backpacks; just wearing them) around 10:30 AM. Pat, Alex, Luiza, Kelley, Briana, Jeff, and I spent 11:30 to 4:30 at the beach. Props to Pat for the idea. Pat and Alex are freaking hilarious. They love Monty Python and Mr. Bean. We got pizza, threw a frisbee around, played beach soccer, slept, went in the water, got milkshakes/ice cream, and pretty much just had an amazingly relaxing day. Tomorrow cannot possibly be as awesome, but it can try.


Now I plan to either A) Write the draft for a paper B) Watch a meteor shower C) Watch star wars or D) sleep.


Thanks for the soccer ball,  DVDs, and snacks, Mom!


Stand by for photos from the beach!


Will

Random Update (10.6.11)

Today's Accomplishments:

1) Ask Jeff like a druggie, "What time issssit?"

2) Sleep for two (2) more hours. It's only 7:30.

3) Go to Calculus, Honors Seminar, and Physics.

4) Create Facebook page for Physics teacher (he knows not what we do)

5) Accept friend request.

6) Go to library with Maria, read Spanish.

7) Go back to Newton with Maria and Chris.

8) Fake nap for 30 minutes.

9) Email Kei (Boston? What a coincidence.)

10) Dinner in Stuart with Kavi. Talk for heap-big time.

11) Run one 5:14 mile.

12) Eat one loaf banana bread.

13) Shower one shower.

Today's about-to-be-accomplishments

1) Prepare for Spanish language lab session

2) Do problem set 11 for Calc

We have decided that the smiley face on the dining hall cups is actually mocking us.

Munchy can be seen at the top of the letter "G" in the end-zone.

Presenting...

Miss you Jane!

There's Spongebob. The same Spongebob can be half-seen on the poster on the left.

How sweet.

Matt (my other half, Matt Bread Matt, Mustache Matt) took this one. It epitomizes the students' feelings about the buses on Newton.

Random Update (10.2.11)

What a nice weekend. It was awesome to see Mom and Jane! They got me a Spongebob beanie baby, which goes well with my Spongebob poster. Highlights include going to the football game, showing them my dorm, and being exhausted. Speaking of the football game, the game stopped because a squirrel got onto the field somehow. I shall name him Munchy, in memory of the rodent from the Ice Age movies. The refs blew their whistles and waved their arms in an important fashion as we waited for Munchy to make his move. Munchy ran alarmingly parallel to the sidelines, and crossed the end-zone to the enormous roar of the entire stadium. We are desperate here at BC. We cheer on squirrels. Munchy, I mean. Anyways, Munchy made a second-half impact by scoring yet again, bringing final score to Wake 27 - BC 19 - Munchy 14. Munchy scored more touchdowns than we did. Rebuilding year much? The rest of the evening drifted along in the grass playing soccer and taking pictures. Eventually we ate at the dining hall on Newton campus called Stuart. Just a reminder, but Newton is freshman-only dorms which are a short bus ride from Main campus. I'm sure you know that, but reminders always help.

Now to answer a few questions from emails. Generally one takes five (5) classes per semester. The honors program counts as two (2) classes, and therefore I am only technically in four (4) classes. These are Introductory Physics, Multivariable Calculus, Naturalmente, and Western Cultural Tradition. The last one is the official name of the honors seminar series. I am beginning to understand/like Mr. Duket. We had a nice chat on Friday and I got a much better perspective on the class. It sure will require the work of two (2) classes, but I think ultimately it will be worth it. Unlike other semester-long classes, I will have Mr. Duket for the whole year. Now I shall explain how I got tickets to the Red Sox - Orioles game. A guy on our floor named Jack works at Fenway, and since he couldn't go to the game and had tickets, he raffles them off to our floor. I won, and Jeff and I went and had a good time. Lastly, I wish to say that the food here is delicious. Mostly I just love how the fruit is always very good. There are three (3) dining halls: one on Lower campus, one on Upper campus, and one on Newton campus. Lower and Upper campus are how Main campus as a whole is split up. Basically, the college is on a huge hill. I'll let common sense explain the names.

So, after Mom and Jane left, I went back to the room (~7:30), asked Jeff what he was doing, told Jeff I was taking a power nap until 8:21 precisely, and preceded to carry out my plan. I woke up slightly startled at 8:21. I had passed into deep sleep and my internal clock did not have enough internal memory to process the fact that I had just woken up to darkness when it was not in fact not the morning. So from here, Alyssa (the southern belle), Meredith (the photographer), Lev (the Russian who is actually Ukranian), and I took the T (the subway in Boston) to find a place to pierce Alyssa's ear. Apparently her ear piercings aren't symmetric and he needs another to be balanced. So down we walked. The store closed at 10:00 PM. We arrived at 9:30 PM. The diligent attendant of the piercing store regretted to inform us that although they were open another half-hour, they had stopped piercing for the day. The diligent attendant proceeded to inform us that they open up at 9:00 AM on Sunday, however the piercing specialist probably won't arrive until noon. I guess I never expected too too much from the piercing industry in the first place. So we walked around and found a cool store. Alyssa got a poster and the rest of us conserved out moneys. Off we went to dinner at a Thai place. I had never had Thai before. Oh boy do I wish that last sentence were false earlier in my life. 'Twas most delicious. Afterwards we took the T back to BC and took a bus to Newton. We hung out there for an hour or so and then went back to Upper campus to watch a scary movie. A halftime substitution was made. Alex (the Brazilian and Monty Python enthusiast) replaced Lev (the Russian who's actually Ukranian). We watched Dawn of the Dead. It really wasn't that scared. Actually we laughed more than freaked out. Around 4:00 AM, Alex and I walked back to Newton. I crashed on my bed around 4:30 and woke up at 12:00 noon. I did a physics lab from ~12:12 to ~1:34, when I took the bus to Upper with Matt (the other physics major, my other half, the carbivore) to go to the Card Game Club meeting. We played "Bang!" which involves a 52 card deck, cowboys, and Italian phrases with English translations. Around 3:30 PM I met up with my lab partner Brooks and finished the lab. Around 4:40 PM I took the bus to Newton with other guys on my intramural soccer team. All the girls on the team live on Newton, actually. The game was really close, and I scored the greatest goal of my soccer career. 25 yards out, knuckle-ball slightly left of the top right corner. I'm still excited about that goal. Seriously. Soccer is my drug. Gahhhhhhhhh

That catches you up to now, pretty much. I'm in the lounge of my dorm, having just finished Spanish and Calculus homework. I realize this is quite a long update. Oops. Remember, email me with questions and I may or may not answer them at some point or another! Now, to upload some pictures...

Random Update (9.28.11)

Well, technically it's the 29th. But I'm never sure how to refer to time when it's this time. Now. The date. Blah. So the Red Sox just lost in what was (yes I'm saying it) an exciting hour or so of baseball on the tv. The Orioles came from being down 2-3 to win 4-3 in the 9th inning, and Tampa Bay hit a walk-off winner in the bottom of the 12th to win 8-7 over the Yankees. So Boston lost the wild card. People here are angry, and we have a really obnoxious Yankees fan on our hallway. He needs to speak softly. And ditch any sticks he might have. Just watch quietly. He came into our dorm with his Yankees hat on (ironically they lost) and hugged Jeff whilst saying "big choke!" The other folks in the room were all thinking the same thing, namely that he must be deported and put on the no travel list for the room. Needless to say, he is probably the most disliked person on our hall now. Sadly, he seems to be struggling in the amiable relationship thing even outside of baseball. I feel bad for him, but he knows that he sins, and for that I really can't figure out what the heck is going on in his noggin.

I finished another huge problem set in Physics today. I sat outside on my free BC blanket listening to The Strokes and it was very nice. Jeff is currently cursing the Baltimore Orioles. Sorry, Baltimore fans. He is justified to use the curse words, I feel. But I digress. I'm going to stay up late and finish my homework for Friday, tonight. Or this morning. Gah. The temporal dilemma again. Today (Wednesday, yesterday, etc) I had Physics, Calculus, and Spanish. I keep repeating my schedule because I don't think it is as well known to y'all as it is to me. Those three are every M, W, F, with Honors Seminar on T TH, and Calc/Phy discussions on TH. Physics I mentioned earlier. We are doing Uniform Circular Motion and Tension. I got back my first test in Multivariable Calc and got all the hard problems right! Sadly I bombed the easy one, so instead of getting a 92, I missed 12 points and got an 80. My inner perfectionist is bothering me; my inner physicist is happy I understand the new material so well. I guess physicists do that. I dunno. Spanish was normal and kinda boring. Grammar review. Need I say more? On the subject of speaking Spanish, however, I got a 4Boston (service group) placement for teaching English Classes to non-English speakers, so talking in Spanish to the students before class should be as fun as it was in high school. 

Last weekend didn't have an update. Just those pictures. I think I'll keep it that way because it's accurate and I'm lazy. 

Je te mange.

To sum up the weekend in two photos...

Nighttime shenanigans at ze bus stop. Smart, fun folks you see here. Thank goodness our friend Meredith is a photograph freak. I need to give her a gift for such a service.

Woohoo!

Random Update (9.23.11)

I hope ze link to this is working. Ah, technology. I'm still figuring it out too, so bear with me. I know I just spelled bare wrong (Editor's note: I spelled bear right). So it is Friday yet again. I had Physics, Calculus, and Spanish today at 9, 10, and 11, respectively. My physics homework took about 1 and 1/2 hours of intense problem solving last night. It was a thing of beauty. Calculus is easy enough, but I have a midterm exam on Monday. I think that sounds worse than it will end up being. Gahhh the honors seminar is so dadgum boring! The teacher is very unorganized and the discussions don't trigger my thoughts in the least. It can only get better, though. I shared a song in Spanish today. It's "Emigrantes" by Orishas. YouTube that if you please. I like it a lot, and we are studying Cuba so it was relevant to the lecture! I have just woken up from another glorious nap, and have too much energy to sit and type about my life. I'm going to go play soccer before the torrential rains come around 3:00 pm. Wait. It's 3:00 now. I might be back soon.

Can't wait to see Jane and Mom in a week or so! If anybody has a question please email me and I'll try to answer it. I'm having a great time, and the rose petals have not fallen off the flower. Or whatever. That means "ba dap ba ba ba" I'm still lovin' it. Ask Uncle Jim Daddy about the rose thing. I only slightly understand it myself.

Dorm Room, Sports Games, and Architecture

Jeff's side of the dorm . 

My desk . 

The window (with blinds pulled), fridge/microwave/printer combo, and dresser . 

My bed and posters . Spongebob, Muse, and Monty Python . I am complimented often . 

The green monstah at Fenway . 

We had center field seats . 

Jeff took this one . Thanks, Jeff . 

I zoomed in . I really like this one a lot . 

Band section at the Northwestern football game . 

Gasson Hall at night . How inspiring for all the young minds to see .

Random Update (9.19.11)

Hello once again, assorted family members !


I recently got up from my afternoon nap (~1-2:15) after having my Friday classes at 9, 10, and 11 (Physics, Calc, and Spanish respectively) . Everyone on my floor seems to be sleeping or away at the moment . So my dorm floor has about 30 guys . Jeff, my roommate, is talking on Skype at the moment; I keep thinking he's talking to me, so I turn around every once in a while, but in vain . Of course, when he actually IS talking to me, I wind up ignoring him . This amuses me to pieces . So more about my floormates . Jeff is 6ft tall and is one of the short ones . It's freaky how tall everyone is . We all share one bathroom, which stays in surprisingly good condition . Lots of guys play soccer . We had a fun little pick-up game last Sunday evening . As for origins, J.M. is from Argentina/Peru, Jose is from Puerto Rico, and everyone else is seems is from either Massachusetts, New York, or assorted small New England-type states . Although the "HIII OMG I'M AT COLLEGE WHAT'S YOUR NAME?!!??!?!?!?" phase has passed, everyone maintains a friendly and approachable attitude . Also, because my dorm is on Newton (a campus about 0.83 miles from main campus) we bond over waiting for the bus and frolicking in the green space in the afternoons .


This weekend should be awesome . Jeff and I (he's the goalie) have intramural soccer practice at 5, and then we're going downtown to a concert (Toro e Moi) . I've never heard of them either, should be fun, and free tickets are never bad . Saturday is the football game . Tailgate around lunch, then the game . Now that all us freshmen know how to cheer, we should be louder and less confused . Saturday evening is open, which means adventuring througout the city and/or BC campus with amigos . Or like, disucssing free will and relativity of time . I did that the other day . Soooo college . That's my and my friend Maria's catch phrase for those classic and slightly typical "college" moments . We were going to go to surfing lessons on Sunday morning, but that was full so we're going to go next Sunday instead .


It's now 3:30 . I've been typing this email rather sporadically for the last 45 minutes . Well, I'm off to find soccer games and have some fun . By the way, Luke, I'm digging the blog . 


Hasta luego, I miss you guys

Random Update (9.10.11)

Welcome to the second update; I know some of you are newly added to the list . But it's still the second update .


Classes are great . My schedule is really great, I like the times I have classes, the people I've met in them so far, and the teachers are very good . Let's do a late Friday night breakdown of the situation .


Physics: M W F class at 9, TH class at 3, M lab at 12
AP Physics from junior year (Mitchell) really helps . The class goes well with my calc class . Umm let's see nothing too too exciting, except I'm making friends with a guy named Matt who lives in my dorm . He plays Egyptian rat-screw like a champ, has a mustache, and speaks broken German...


Calc: M W TH F class at 10
Even though I've never taken Multivarible calc, AP Calc BC has also prepared me well . I always get to class last, coming from physics, so I don't know anyone too well in here yet .


Spanish: M W F at 11
I was worried that this would be a difficult class . As it turns out, I am slightly over-qualified, along with another girl from LA named Kassandra . We are basically the only freshmen and we have fun speaking Spanish out of class with other hispanic kids .


Western Cultural Tradition: T TH class at 1 to 2:50
The kids in this class are undoubtedly smart, although our pretentious nature gets annoying when big words get used unnecessarily . People I know slightly better than others in this class include the ONE other guy from Tennessee, named Cameron . We bond over out uniqueness . Also, there's Lea, with an accent over the "E" so it sounds like princess leah . She's from Switzerland and has a French accent and a boyfriend who's a junior . Also, Malia is a girl who's from Menlo Park .


And that's it for now . It's 3:45 in the morning on Saturday . I went downtown earlier with a few friends I recently met and that was fun . But staying in dorms and talking and laughing usually produces the same, if not more powerful, enjoyment effects in terms of laughter and human bonding/information exchange .


Until next time...

Random Update (9.4.11)

BC is great, everything here is confirming my decision ! We just got back from a boat cruise (12-2 am) . It was a really nice view and I am slowly getting to know people by more than their first name and the familiarity of their face . That seems to be the overused and unavoidable thing to do with fellow freshman . Name, rank, serial number, then move on and forget everything you just learned about that person . Other things that happened are the football game, which was very exciting . They lost 17-24 . I don't particularly care because I had a good time, but that's too bad for the team . Also, despite any second thoughts about jumping into rooming with Jeff, it was almost certainly the right decision . We've been hanging out a lot, although we do go solo around to 3places just because, well, we are individuals and not insane . Ummm these last few days have felt super long . My room is great, even though we don't have a fridge, microwave, XBOX, PS3, or anything fancy . Spongebob posters and music seem to get the job done . And we try to avoid staying in our dorm rooms . I actually went for a run from Newton to Upper and around the reservoir . The weather is perfect and the run is scenic, I guess . 

I plan to get up at 10AM, eat a waffle, and then call home tomorrow around lunchtime . I may, however, sleep right through that . I'm pretty exhausted emotionally and physically . 

Expect more random updates, but also expect them to live up to their title, namely the "random" bit .