So then

I seem to be most alert in the wee hours of the morning...either that or I'm less distracted now than at other times. Just a few quick updates: I picked a room for next year; it's a hundred square foot single on the third floor. Decent enough; it'll hold me and my things, which is the important thing. A few friends are moving in next year, so it'll be a fun time. Scheduling for the fall semester is over until I find out whether or not I got into the Sparta course. The Red Sox lost again...swept by the Devil Rays. My fantasy baseball team is collapsing into a smoking pile of rubble, and due to some restrictions on which players can and can't be dropped from the team I'm forced to hold on to some unwanted luggage.

Apparently Mars (the candy maker, not the planet) is about to close a deal to buy Wrigley. Is it just me, or are giant mergers becoming the next big thing? Delta merges/takes over United; Northwest and Continental try to make a deal but fail. Are we nearing a consolidated market, where a few giants (fewer than right now, at least) control each sector? I wonder. There's a possibility that mergers could stimulate the economy (don't ask me to explain, economics to me is a vague concept in the back of my mind).

Colby hosted a debate on health care tonight, between Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute (obviously unbiased) and Hugh Waters from John Hopkins. To sum up: Cannon supported competition between public insurance companies to improve care and lower prices; Waters had a scheme called, cleverly enough, Medicare Part E (the E stands for Everyone). Brilliant. The only problem is that Waters lauded Medicare as a bastion of efficiency, and when asked questions equivocated and didn't answer. Cannon had some problems of his own, mostly with the presentation of his argument. Another problem with Waters was his insistence on linking a lower life expectancy in the US than in Japan with worse health care. Um...no. Sorry.

Anyhow, I should probably get to sleep and get the five hours of sleep I still have left. I'll leave you with the thought of a beautiful spring day in Maine, which is exactly what we had for the past week, and exactly what we will not have for the next couple days, as the rain moves in. Taking advantage of the wonderful weather last Friday I went down to the bottom of the quad with a few friends and played cricket. It's a fantastic thing to do on a warm and sunny afternoon.

I'm going to try to share some music.


And:

Getting back in the swing of things

I feel vaguely guilty that I have been inconsistent (at best) in posting lately. I'm not sure why I haven't been recapping every day with a blog post. I could say it has something to do with time constraints, but that would be a lie. I post at night/early morning for a reason, and that's because there is a complete lack of other things to do...well, almost complete. But usually by midnight on a weekday and one or two on weekends (in this case, almost three), things have quieted down and I'm back in my room and relatively sober. And then...I go to bed. Surprise. Perhaps I'll put a little note up that says "Blog, stupid," or something like that. It could work.

Anyway, per Andrew's request at my last disjointed ramble of thoughts, here is a short synopsis of the topics I will cover. I'm not sure why I'm writing this before the rest of the post, as my tendency to digress will probably render it useless.

So I will come back to summarize later...to start the train of thought a-chugging away...later today is room draw, which I have to be at as kind of a mere formality. But of course it's more than that, because as of right now, despite being dorm president, I don't actually have a room. While I agree that it's a good idea to not put a lot of emphasis of the rooming benefit part of being a dorm president, I think that I should at least be able to pick the room that I particularly want rather than having limited options when it comes to getting my room. As long as there's a single available I'm happy...I shall see.

Red Sox lost again, the fourth time in a row. Devil Rays are awful, and Buchholz was amazing(ly unlucky). Thank goodness the bullpen didn't need to come in.

Watched Casablanca tonight. What an amazing movie. Personally I prefer Lauren Bacall to Ingrid Bergman, but whatever. Next weekend I'm setting aside an entire afternoon/evening to watch Lawrence of Arabia. I wish people still smoked in movies. Now that smoking isn't PC, it's no longer cool with Hollywood to smoke. And yet there is nothing sexier than Lauren Bacall sliding through the door in "To Have and Have Not?" I don't think so.

Fortified my health today.

The fish is still alive, which is good. This makes two weeks, which for a free goldfish is something of a record for me...although I'm not sure how many fish I've actually had (two? less). I went for the little furry cute things, although the last hamster I had was insane and not really cute.

Played softball today, which was fun. Got a hit all five times I came to the plate, and pitched just about the whole game. The only bad thing about that was having to pitch from about thirty feet away from the batter. I got hit twice, once on the arm by a line drive and once by a bouncer that took an amusing path. It hit me in the thigh, bounced up, and came down on top of my head. Fun.

Being knowledgeable about the Civil War (more so than the average college freshman at least) has its perks. Apparently Shipyard Brewery makes something called "Chamberlain Pale Ale," which has a portrait of a man in a Union Civil War uniform on the label. I was able to inform friends of the man's identity as Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War general from Maine (a professor at Bowdoin, actually) who came back to Maine after the war and became governor for a few years.

It's random shit like that that gets me strange looks. One of my friends actually assumed I am a Mainer based on that. Nope, just a person who remembers odd things. Thank you, Jeff Shaara.

That's pretty much it...I feel like sleeping. I'm actually not going to go back to the synopsis...sorry, Andrew.

That time of year again

It's five weeks to the end of school, and not only is room draw for next year coming up soon, course selection for the fall is opening up tomorrow. I have a general idea of what I want to take, but I'm not quite sure yet. The problem stems from my uncertainty of what major I want. Right now I'm a declared biology major, so I feel like taking a biology course would be a good idea. I also declared a minor in classical civilization, mostly to get into a course on Sparta next fall. The two classes I'm sure of are organic chemistry (which I fear) and my last semester of Italian (thank G-d). I know I want to take a history course of some kind, seeing as that's the other major I'm considering. If I take a biology course, that means I'll have two science labs again. Now to decide between four or five classes. Looking at the schedule I've mapped out, five seems manageable, if only because the day wouldn't be too crowded (the Sparta course meets just once a week). I would have three classes Monday morning, two Tuesday morning and one in the afternoon, three Wednesday morning and biology lab (I'm thinking bacteriology) in the afternoon, two Thursday morning and O-Chem lab in the afternoon, and two Friday morning. Class would start at nine MWF and nine thirty TR, which I've managed this semester. In the fall I'll even have time for lunch every day, something which has not been true for Mondays and Wednesdays this semester. There's plenty of time still open in the day for work, both academic and at the bookstore. The only problem I see is that I would have to take chem lab on Thursday, which cuts into Chorale rehearsal by an hour. Without the Sparta course I could move lab to Tuesday afternoon, which would lighten the load at the end of the week considerably. I just have to decide...Of course, even if I elect to take the Sparta course, with just 15 openings I might not even get in. That's why I declared the minor. Ah well...I have a little time to decide.

On other fronts...chorale concert in a little over a week. Beethoven's Mass in C, and that's it. Tour has been confirmed as going to Argentina next spring, which will be amazing. Passover is roughly half over, and so far the food in the dining halls is still tolerable. Thank G-d for the fact that rice and beans are still allowed. Although the dining halls are relatively good with food (even matzo pizza at one dining hall), the local groceries are not. I went to a Hannaford's to buy food and discovered a complete lack of matzo. I am drinking Dr Brown's cherry soda and eating Manischewitz. Yay for gefilte fish! But if anybody wanted to get me this...

It's Spring!

Finally...it's actually warm...the temp hit 76 degrees today, an amazing number for us snowbound northerners. Of course, there are still places with snow on the ground, but for the most part the ground is clear.

Continued at a much later time...Big Papi is officially cleared of his slump. In other unrelated news, I acquired a fish. Its name is Cicero, and it will hopefully survive the semester. I found Cicero in a vase sitting on a path outside one of the dining halls after the freshman class dinner, and after some minutes of wondering why it was there, decided to claim it as my own. So far, no angered announcements of lost fish.

The hosting of two high school seniors went well, and without any embarrassing stories to tell of it, I will leave it at: hopefully two awesome people will be coming to Colby next year. They truly were cool people.

Other than that, not much to say. I discovered that playing two hours of ultimate frisbee a day is not a good choice after a winter of inaction, and that falling asleep in the sun is also not a good idea. I am sore and sunburned, and also tired, and so I shall go to bed and not awake until late, late in the morning/early in the afternoon.

No, I Won't Go to Bed

When there's nothing else to do except sleep, I don't really feel like sleeping. Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days of the week, one because I have nothing to do in the evening, and the other because I have little to do all day. Radio show excepting, Thursdays are blissful (and that only because I have to wake up way too early to do the show). And yet despite the fact that I should be getting to bed, as it is past getting late and is now, in fact, late, I don't want to sleep.

Tomorrow may be hellish; I'm hosting not just one, but two prospective students, and although I have no problem with that alone, fitting them into my room should be an interesting experience. Tomorrow night is the class dinner; I have no idea why this is necessary, neither have I any idea why the theme is "Yacht Club." I don't have the heart to inform the planners of this no doubt exciting meal that I have, in fact, never been in a yacht club, and never plan on it. As it is, I will attempt to look "the part," and will wear a hideously orange polo shirt with khaki slacks. Is this an appropriate look for a "Yacht Club?"

I'm not sure why I said that tomorrow (now today) may be hellish; despite the high schoolers coming up, the day really won't be that bad. The day that could really be bad is Friday, when I have to take said high schoolers around to my classes, get rid of them, eat, work, and then spend a few hours orienting volunteers at the local animal shelter. (This way is up, this way is down, etc). I volunteered to help run/coordinate the Colby Pawpals, a group that organizes volunteering at the animal shelter. My responsibilities keep mounting...horrors.

Speaking of responsibilities, my term as dorm president will commence next fall with me residing in the same dorm, with different rules. Difference numero uno: alcohol is allowed. Hopefully the dorm won't go downhill too fast. I'll be attempting to get a single; I no longer get first pick of room in the dorm but instead pick first of all rising sophomores in the dorm. So, after the rising seniors and juniors have had their way with the rooms, I get to pick from what's left (hopefully, a single). I was planning on a triple with a couple friends, but they had the opportunity to get a better room in chem-free housing and took it. So I'll have a single, with luck, and despite the apparent rule against lofting the bed (no doubt something to do with the ever present exposed water pipes that run through the dorm), I'll cram everything in there.

I may have mentioned this before; I'll be playing softball for the Colby Christian Fellowship team, which never fails to amuse me (and others who know me). I personally just wanted to find a purpose for my glove, let alone a religious purpose. Nevertheless, a friend (the girl I beat in dorm president elections, actually) wants me to attend her church this Sunday. Um. I'll be going, but I don't plan on participating too much. I have no idea what denomination the church is, nor do I have any idea why she wants me to go. Apparently I'm too blatant in my lack of religiosity. Maybe I should take down the Nietzsche quote from my door (okay, that's a lie; no Nietzsche quote...yet).

It is now 1:30 AM, and all is well...except that I'm at my desk typing, not in bed sleeping, or even reading. I really can't think of anything else to write about...the Red Sox lost painfully to the Yankees, a defeat made more painful by the arrival of four Yankees fans right when Timlin loaded the bases. My fantasy baseball team is in an absolute rut, although I am buoyed by: 1) I have good players and 2) they can't stay cold forever and 3) the other teams have to cool off sometime...right? Anyhow, I'm off to finally get in bed. I think I'll read if I can't drop off right away...I'm rereading Douglas Adams, and also "The Kings of New York," about a high school chess team. Until later.

Return to Normality?

Hopefully. I've finally caught up with all my work, and the next week, at least, should be pretty peaceful. Then, of course, comes exams in all the classes, and then another week or so before finals. But of course I'm tired of talking academics...I declared a major, biology, although I'm considering history. Given that I haven't actually taken a history class here yet, I'm going to hold off on actually declaring it as my major.

Enough academics. Other events coming up/recently past: I'll be playing softball on a recreational team, which promises to be enjoyable. I couldn't get enough people together to captain my own team, so I'll be playing *pause for dramatic/humorous effect* for the Colby Christian Fellowship team. Chances are it's better than the team the campus Hillel is fielding, anyway.

Lessee...that's actually about it, really. Other than watching the Red Sox whenever there's a game (they're finally winning, yay), being won over by Vampire Weekend and hoping that they will release a second CD as good as their first, and being introduced to Buffy, not much is going on.

I have job(s) for the summer, which is nice; I'll still be working at veterinary clinics, probably splitting hours between two. I can hardly wait to be out of here...as much as I love it here, I'm looking forward to a time when getting home doesn't bring work with me. Plus, I want summer and all the glorious things that come with it...even though the Reds aren't selling tickets to the Red Sox series, I still plan on absorbing as much baseball as possible during the summer (radio, internet radio, TV, possibly games at GABP? I never know).

I actually had less to write than I thought I did...I suppose that's good, considering I should probably sleep. One more quick thing: finally having interesting things to do in lab, for example getting a solution that may or may not contain certain metals, and performing a series of tests of my own design to determine what metals are in the given solution. Fun! And until whenever...so long, and thanks for all the fish.

Well I'll be darned

Ever heard of these books? They're conservative brainwash material and garbage, one and all. I'm sorry, maybe that came off as a little bit harsh. Lets let them speak for themselves:

From the Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam:
The jihad continues today: Europe could be Islamic by the end of the twenty-first century

From the Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism:
Horner (an attorney and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute) reveals the full anti-American, anti-capitalist, and anti-human agenda of today’s environmentalists, dubbing them “green on the outside, red to the core.”

From the Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design:
Wells begins by explaining the basic tenets of Darwinism, and the evidence both for and against it. He reveals, for instance, that the fossil record, which according to Darwin should be teeming with “transitional” fossils showing the development of one species to the next, so far hasn’t produced a single incontestable example. On the other hand, certain well-documented aspects of the fossil record—such as the Cambrian explosion, in which innumerable new species suddenly appeared fully formed—directly contradict Darwin’s theory.
Wells then turns to the theory of intelligent design (ID), the idea that some features of the natural world, such as the internal machinery of cells, are too “irreducibly complex” to have resulted from unguided natural processes alone. In clear-cut layman’s language, he reveals the growing evidence for ID coming out of scientific specialties from microbiology to astrophysics.

From The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science:
Why embryonic stem cell research is snake oil medicine (which is why it needs government subsidies)

And of course many, many more. Not only politically incorrect, but incorrect in every other aspect as well. This series of books is from the same publisher that produced such "quality" reading as: The Truth About Muhammad and the ever classic Epidemic: How Teen Sex is Killing Our Kids.

From the same group that contains Regnery, Perseus Books, comes this painful tripe, Boys Adrift, which states that:

"More and more studies show that some of the most common video games may be discouraging boys from engaging in more traditional pursuits such as sports and sex."

So in retrospect, perhaps video games are a good idea after all? It seems that they distract boys from pursuing sex, which as teens could potentially give them any number of sexually transmitted diseases.

I'll leave you with this. Just know that conservative nutjobs are out there, and they're watching you.

It's been a while

Life right now is hell. After a full week of BMR and not really being able to do anything but sing, dance, drink, and sleep, all my work hit me really hard Sunday and Monday. Thankfully the worst of it is over after the chem exam this (Tuesday) evening, at which point I'll be able to relax and gain some sleep. Depending on how I'm doing Wednesday evening, I may choose to sleep in and skip the radio show. That's unlikely, though, as I want to play more Vampire Weekend. I'm so infatuated with their sound right now...I also have lots and lots of The National to unload over the air. Playing three songs every two hour show means that getting through all of it is highly unlikely. Ah well.

A little highlight today was finding out that East Quad will not be chem free next year. I now have the option of taking the duties of dorm president in a dorm that is no longer what I thought it would be when I ran, or I can move to another chem free dorm. The chem free dorm that is likely to be offered me is out of the way and not a terrific place to live. This year it was the party dorm, and in general it's dark and dingy. So...I think I'll take my chances with living in a non chem free dorm next year. I'll still have a single (although possibly not the one I wanted - that may be turned into a lounge area, so I'd lose the fireplace), so...all in all, not terrific, but not the most terrible thing ever. The only real problem is that now my friends who were going to live chem free will now no longer be in my dorm...which sucks. Argh.

Anyways, worse things have happened. The shows went great, and I do have a recording on disk (actually two separate disks), so everyone can see if they want. Simply put, it was...spectacular. Mass props for anybody who gets the reference.

It's late, and although I did drink soda to stay awake (I've been off soft drinks for nearly four months, but I needed the caffeine), it's starting to wear off. Writing an Italian composition does that to me...yeargh. I'm just so sick of work. I want to curl up and sleep for a couple days. That may be what happens this weekend. I might just crawl in bed Friday afternoon and not come out until Monday morning. The awesome thing is that aside from one biology paper there's nothing stopping me from doing that...we shall see. Summer is nearly here, and with it comes a steady job with no extracurricular requirements. I can't wait. It was about fifty today and sunny, and it should reach sixty by Wednesday. YAY!

That pretty much sums up my past week...I wasn't really doing much beyond BMR and going to class. Oh, and one other thing. COLBY RAISED TUITION. By 5.25 percent. To my parents: if you haven't heard yet, you will. A letter was apparently sent out last Friday. Even with the replacement of loans with grants...argh. What a pain in the tuchus.

Funny

So the work is going faster than I thought...and these are helping.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

I'll be back...I promise

So anybody who checks this place out regularly has probably noticed that I haven't exactly done anything with it for a full week. Reason: Five hour rehearsals and performances for BMR for the past week. End result being that I won't have a decent post to share for another two or three days, because of this awesome thing called a backlog that means that for the first time in a long time (and possibly the first time ever), I have work to do for all four of my classes at the same time. That, and I might have to drive to Orono again. So please hold steady, I promise I'm not abandoning you or my blog.

Quick music plug: Try out the Rustic Overtones. A Portland based band, they split up for something like several years after one cd. Now they're back together with a new cd, and despite the cliche they're frankly pretty damn good. Also, Vampire Weekend. If the fact that I played lots of both of them on the show last week matters (and it should), it means that you should check them both out. Do it now!