Flipflops in Flebruary

Oh wait, I'm a month off.  My alliteration doesn't work.  Hm, try this...

Flipflops in Flmarch

Hello everyone.

Yes, you're all right.  Five months is far too long to go without a new entry on a blog.  Where has the time gone?

Ah, life.  It's wonderful to be in college.  I have succumbed to the sad truth that I am now a full-blown nerd.  Everyone at this college is.  But what an amazing group of nerds.  When I walk around campus and 80% of the conversations I overhear center on "the meaning of the liberal arts," "Aristotle vs. Machiavelli," "how the cigar is part of living the good life," "the pursuit of the good, the true and the beautiful," there is no denying that I am definitely removed a good distance from the real world.  When I drop my credit card and get a call the next morning saying it's been found, I just have to acknowledge that this place I'm at is not representative of most colleges.  I look around the student lounge and see that students have left all of their books -- and laptops -- lying there for hours at a time, sometimes even overnight.  But they never get stolen.

It's amazing.

I think the spring bug is biting.  The weather was a sunny and beautiful 70 degrees and I just had to pull out the flipflops.  And capris.  I'm utterly depressed at the forecasts telling me winter is coming back.  In fact, I think I'll stay in a state of denial as long as I can.  I gave my toenails a fresh layer of color, so I'm set for a nice long stint of sandal wearing.

School is always fun.  At the moment, I have open in front of me my Spanish text book (quiz tomorrow--on expressions of emotion that trigger a subjunctive case--yee haw), Aristotle's Politics, practice quizzes for political economy, and Voltaire's Candide.  Evidence of a true liberal arts education...a little bit of everything.  Once I get done with all of that, I will read Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and a speech by Frederick Douglass for my American history class Friday...bet you couldn't guess that our topic is the Civil War.

Since I always like to spread myself around, I'll fill you in on my extra-curricular activities as well.  I'm writing more and more for the school paper.  I think I'm probably writing an average of 1500-2000 words a week.  I am accompanying three vocal students and have decided I definitely do not like to play Broadway music--I just hate having to count out all those syncopated rhythms.  I'm taking piano lessons and am really enjoying working on some Scriabin, Ravel, Mozart and Saint Seans (pronounce it like "Sa Sahn").  We had the one big dance of the semester--the President's Ball--and I got all dressed up, went out to dinner with a group of friends and danced the night away.  Once in a long while, I'll get over to the weekly swing dances, but not as much as I would like.  Today I went bowling with Best Buddies, a student outreach to special needs people in the community, and had a ton of fun.  I hope to go back.

Classes end Friday for spring break week.  I'll be heading to Chicago to lose myself in the craziness of the St. Patrick's Day festivities with my sister and a few friends.  I'm so excited to see the river dyed green.  Green beer...well, that's a different story.  Sounds sketchy to me.  I think I'll try to avoid that one.  Not a big fan of beer and definitely not a big fan of green...unless it grows that way naturally (like lettuce and broccoli do).

I came home at Christmas break so happy at the new life I had begun here, but I have to say, I'm even happier now.  The friendships that began in the fall have grown and multiplied.  On a campus of 1200 students, I know most of the faces and many names.  It's nice.  I'm getting to know the profs better--both through my classes and through interviews for my news writing--and have enjoyed some long conversations with them on issues of philosophy, politics, religion and life in general.  One prof always says at the ends of our conversations, "Good-bye, kiddo. You're doing great."  It's nice knowing our profs care about us and take the time to get to know us.  My friend who came here from a big state university never had that experience before she got here.  The atmostphere of the close-knit community amazes all of us here.

Well, I hope you all are doing well.  If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand time: I always love hearing from you people.  Send me an email sometime telling me how you're doing.  You don't even have to write full sentences.  Just bullet-point the events of your life.  That will do fine.  Any news is wonderful.

Cheers!

Some of my Collegian team--at the bowling alley

I don't know why this is so small...but anyway, it's us girls the night of the President's Ball

What can I say?  It's scary eyes.  Actually, we painted on our own masks to go to a masquerade party.  Fun times.

Everything in its place

Life happens so fast here at school.  I decided to categorize the highlights of the last week or two in a different way.

Something dumb: The “Master Cleanse Lemonade Diet.”  Ok, so this was probably not the greatest thing to do in the middle of the semester, considering the amount of stress I live with.  However, two friends and I gave no heed to common sense and decided to fast for 10 days, drinking nothing but a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water.  They gave up after 24 hours.  I lasted 5 days and then got sick.  End of diet.

Something smart: Conversations on ethics, justice, truth, society, purpose.  I have been having many stimulating conversations with profs and students—both in and out of class on these subjects.  Movie discussions, class readings, and even the college newspaper all allow for significant debate on the Christian’s role in culture and politics, the ethicality of various modern scientific and lifestyle practices, and practical strategies to achieve societal movement in the right direction.

Something surprising: Birthday party.  I was kidnapped today…Al Qaeda style.  Blind-folded, thrown into a car with a silent driver.  When I was taken out of the car-red towel still draped over my entire head-my captors led me in circles until they finally undid my mask and there were all my hall girls waiting to surprise me with a cake at the lake!  Fun times.  Got even better when the fearless Jill charmed her way into securing a kayak from some people for me to paddle around the lake and then snookering the ice cream lady-in-a-truck to give us all free ice cream bars.

My captors
 
The Great Surprise

How do you work a kayak?

 Ice cream, anyone?

Something boring: Spanish class, until…oops my turn to conjugate.  Spanish does not top my “All-Time Favorite Classes Ever Taken” chart.  Guess I was dozing the other day.  All I know is, I looked up and the teacher was pointing at me expectantly and I had to quickly figure out which verb we had just been conjugating.  Oops.

Something beautiful: Garden party.  The campus-wide party in the arboretum the other night was a beautiful affair.  An amazing cake buffet with stacked, tiered champagne glasses and sparkling grape juice.  Tiki torches and white lights everywhere.  Beautiful girls, handsome guys.  Band from Detroit and a black and white dance floor.  Worst combination of the night: two-inch spiked heels and ultrasoft and squishy forest floor.

Something ugly: Face Masks…I guess a picture is worth a thousand words on this one

Something fun: Swing dancing.  Swing club is getting off to a good start and has lots of people excited about big band music.  However, I nearly wore through my shoes one night when the swing dancing was moved to an outdoor location and we had to dance in the parking lot.  Polished floors are definitely preferable.

Something crazy: waking up at 7 am for a birthday party.  So my neighbor Mary had a birthday the other day.  We got up and took the cake I had made the night before over to the arboretum and hid in the old stone gazebo.  Then Jill banged on Mary’s door with a panicked plea for help—one of us had broken her ankle in the arb!  Mary came rushing over, first-aid kit in hand and then we popped out singing “Happy Birthday” to her.  The sun was just rising.

Something new: attention…when I had kids.  Yes, I got my first babysitting job…for one of my professors, no less.  I watched them at school and took them to the cafeteria (affectionately known as Saga) for lunch.  I don’t think so many people have ever introduced themselves to me in the space of one lunch period before.  “Whose kids are those?”  “Are they yours?”  “What’s your name again?”  Getting more socially connected was definitely worth the price of getting chocolate ice cream slobbered into my shoulder.

Something old: me.  Yes, it is a fact.  I am now one year older than I was last year at this time.

Something creative: Mary’s cake.  I was proud of this one, considering we have a kitchen basically lacking anything approaching what might be termed a necessity of cooking.  About 90% of the cabinets and cupboards are bare.

Something unimaginative: salad at Saga--iceberg, unripe tomatoes, and canned bean sprouts.  Yum.

Something outlandish: confronting and contradicting multiple PhDs.  Ok, so maybe it’s not the smartest idea in the world.  But I just try to be as charming as I can be and ask good questions.  Isn't that part of the beauty of college anyway?

Something mundane: ironing my clothes on the floor.  I discovered it is much simpler to iron on the floor than monkey with getting out my mini-ironing board.  I now use my ironing board as a table when I feel the need to eat Chinese-style: low to the ground.

Well, I guess that about sums up my life these days.