Winter wonderland

Six inches of snow, the kind of candy-shell snow that coats the trees thick and turns their branches into coral reefs, whiter than bone. The kind of snow that defies gravity, sprayed onto the sides of fences and walls and tree trunks like powdered sugar. The city is painted in white, black, and brick red beneath an alien glow.

I went to the gym this morning with Emma. I realized that the last time I went to the gym, it was because it was too hot and humid to run outside. That was depressing. It sure felt good to work out, though. There are worse ways to start the morning than with some Billy Idol and a half-hour of cardio.

I spent eight hours on my China take home. I could have easily done it in six if I'd been worried about time, and maybe four if I'd studied beforehand instead of during the test, but whenever Rowan Flad says "it shouldn't take more than three hours of your time," he means of his own time, were he taking the test, which he constructed himself. Rowan is a dear, but wow. On the other hand , I think it was the most enjoyable final exam I've ever taken and the one I expect I will retain the most information from. When I am a teacher, instead of making the kids memorize a bunch of facts and spit them all back out in one (three-hour) moment of truth, I'm going to allow them to go back through their notes while answering the questions. This way they can learn the salient information by re-incorporating it into essays and re-reading power point lectures while not freaking out because they got confused between Xiaotun and Xibeigang. Kudos, Rowan. I might actually remember something about China now. Though I guess when you spend EIGHT HOURS on something, you remember it.

I've been sleeping really badly, which is odd, because I'm less stressed than I have been for awhile. It may be because I have so many fun tasks to plan on the horizon. I don't know. While reviewing Chapter 4 of Bodies in Flight, I was disheartened by how weak it was, and I considered eliminating an entire scene, which at the time felt humorous but now just comes across as kind of weird and pathetic. But I can't decided if I should polish the scene and ask people for feedback to see if they agree, or if I should just go ahead and cut it.

I quite like it here.

The approaching reprieve

A lovely, sunny day, though besmirched by two disappointments. I went to The Garage to review China notes in Starbucks, and luckily snagged a comfy chair. Of course, I couldn't go to The Garage without swinging by Hootenanny, since they were having a sale. I was hoping to spend my Visa gift card on a pair of the black Vans slip-ons with cute blue sharks on them, which I've liked since I arrived in Cambridge. Alas, though they were $29, they had no more in my size. Bummed out. After finals I think I'm going to make a trip to the mall, Faneuil Hall, and Newbury Street to properly browse stores. Then I tried to get tickets for Band of Horses on the 23rd, never thinking they'd be SOLD OUT, but they were, being a small venue. Well damn. If Tom hadn't been so "Oh maybe, let's check after Christmas" about it, I'd have gotten them right away. Definitely not worth the $100 on ebay. That's what happens when a little indie band suddenly explodes. No tickets for you.

However, I'm still feeling nice and relaxed and eager for semester break to begin. I have a list of ten things to do between January 16-30:

1. Contact Nancy and see if she and Rick want to do dinner.
2. Hang out with Guy, Ilana, and April.
3. Go to the gym four days a week with Emma.
4. Spend my gift cards on aforementioned shopping trip, perhaps with Peter.
5. Spend two hours a day editing Bodies in Flight.
6. Finish incomplete fanfiction, and begin my Bleach RP. It's writing practice. Right.
7. Spend unspent concert money (grr) on seeing Juno and There Will be Blood.
8. Spend one hour a day on free reading. First comes Dave Eggers.
9. Keep up with InRe, and start greeting card designs for Cafe Press.
10. Reorganize closet and move some stuff into my lab

Unfortunately, it is supposed to be cold starting Monday. Le woe.

Re: New Hampshire

For some reason, I'm really happy Clinton won New Hampshire.

It's not because I want her to win the generals. Not only don't I think she'd be a better leader than Obama; I'm not sure she's as electable. It's not unlikely that McCain would flatten her, though it's true the other Repubs probably wouldn't make much of a dent. It's not because I watched a video of her tearing up and felt a pang of feminine sympathy for her; yeah, she felt genuine for the first time in awhile, but it's the exception that proves the rule. It's not because her husband is a charmer who sets every Bush-hating heart waxing nostalgic; the last thing this country needs is to return to the partisan mud-slinging festival that was the Clinton Presidency.

It's because I don't want to see her broken. She's a woman who has lived under a constant barrage of attacks, mostly for no good reason. The fence-sitting politician she has become is a direct result of the merciless hatred she has combated for fifteen years. I like both candidates and I hate to see another Democrat get ridiculed by the press the way Clinton would have been had her emotional moment preceded sound defeat instead of victory. I want Clinton to go home from this race feeling like she was well-received and respected, not humiliated. I will still choose Obama in February, but I'm happy he won't be getting a free ride. And no matter who is left standing, I'll proudly get behind him or her.

A week into 23...

Long time no update! But I found myself an otherwise-unproductive half-hour between a lunch filled with rich discussion and my upcoming group meeting, and there is much to say on all fronts.

First things first. Through many changes of mind and heart in turn, I've decided to stay at Harvard next year after all. For one, the timing of trying to find a job in Boston for June while signing a lease sometime this spring is just tricky, and there aren't that many jobs I can do that would be any more enjoyable than school. Even if I opened up the field to include San Francisco and L.A., that makes the logistics of the future even more complicated and foreboding. Perhaps the worst thing for me to do for my mental health would be to thrust myself through asteroid belt of logistics into a black hole of uncertainties. I don't hate my schoolwork. I ust hate it when I feel like I'm being trapped into a career that isn't me or that is compromising my artistic identity. If I just treat school as my job at the moment, and take assignments maybe a mite less seriously, it's a pretty good deal.

The primary reason, perhaps, that I don't want to uproot myself is the fact that my social life is richer than it's ever been before. Outside of my department, which is a good place in its own right, I now have two solid, awesome, large groups of friends. I call them "Second Floor" and "Fourth Floor" crews, but really they both cross floors and even dorms. "Second Floor" consists of Emma, Philip, Matt, Mauricio, Lindsey, Natalie and Julian (who are kind of separate now sine they became an item and spend every minute together) Albert, Atanu, Ashley, and others. We meet in the South Kitchen where I proceed to devour the remains of the Classics Happy Hour snacks while the rest of them top off the drinks and Lindsey tries to do work.

Tangential to the Second (2FC) is my new rock band, The Vinyl Pants, which developed out of a particularly festive South Kitchen Friday night. There are Albert and Billy, Atanu, Garga, and Gourab, Andy, and me. Plus perhaps some Emma and other occasionally contributing 2FC members. After our next band practice I think I will make honor the VPs with their very own post.

"Fourth Floor" is my first group and will always hold a place in my heart. Peter was my key into this group, and remains my beloved neighbor and shopping buddy, the best excuse to go into an Abercrombie that ever walked the earth. Tom is my soulmate. Then there are Myrna, Maria, Lisa, the other Tom, Rob, Chris, Bens Woodring and Robbins, Giorgio, Kyle, Lauren, and the dearly departed Bryan, whom we all miss. Memorable 4FC activities have included our Christmas (Except You, Robbins) Party, the Harvard-Yale game, and Queen's Head Wednesdays.

It's interesting to compare the two groups. I enjoy spending time with both of them equally, but for different reasons. When I hang with the 4FC, we often get ourselves embroiled in deeply fascinating conversations about academic, philosophical, or political matters. This rarely happens in 2FC, which can be taken as both a pro and a con of each group. I think this difference owes itself to the fact that 4FC hails from a more diverse group of majors and has more Europeans in it. In 2FC, y contrast, we insult each other a lot, with very, very quick humor. The whole thing resembles some offbeat sitcom. We laugh a lot. We make music.

I love my friends.

On the academic front, my lab sample request has been submitted, and my llama domestication paper has been turned in. I'm drowning in Japanese archaeological thought at the moment and wishing I'd chosen to write about anime. On Sunday, from noon to midnight, is our China take-home final. I have no idea what to expect from that, but afterwards I have a full week to write my five- to seven-page China paper. From the 18th to the 30th, I have no obligations, save whatever labwork becomes possible that early on, band practice, toning in the gym with Emma, editing NaNoWriMo, roleplaying, and hanging out with aforementioned friends.

Finally, the PRIMARIES! This sure has turned out to be an exciting race. I'm pretty happy with the way things have been going. I really like Obama, but I wish I liked him more. People are finally starting to acknowledge Edwards, though I'm sure he won't win, and Clinton...well, I have to say, I'm not terribily surprised. What party is dumb enough to nominate a candidate that so many people (through no fault of her own) hate? I happen to think Hillary would be a good President, but it will be nice to have a reprieve from the Clinton-Bush family feud. I suppose honestly it's still anybody's game, though I'd all but bet my paycheck on Obama, and do it with a smile.

On the Republican side, while none of the candidates are remotely reasonable, at least autocracreep Giuliani and numbskull Romney have been knocked off their frontrunner perches. Huckabee is a nutcase, and would make a sickening President, but I think the electorate -- and even his own party -- know that and won't let it happen. McCain's war stance made me lose a lot of respect for him, but I've always admired his environmentalism and felt bad for what he suffered from the Bush campaign in 2000. He's always been my pick for lesser of nine evils. The flip side of that is, if too many independents like him enough, he might be able to pull votes away from Obama, which would be really lame.

It was 65 degrees this afternoon in Cambridge. Crazy, crazy world.