White Dust

a lot of people at some point or another.

So many people were ready for spring, and then it snowed. not surprisingly, but still. That and the wind and the restlessness definitely impacted people's moods.

I'm not sure about the Astor Home, since there is a bit of drama going on around it (the girl who quite picked another girl to fill in, who is transferring and only interested in doing this for her resume. And Lizzo doesn't want to work with her. so we might switch days...hopefully it works out).

There are two sciency books that I have really like: Survival of the Sickest &Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers. The first one I read of 10th grade h. bio., and most of the bio I have interacted with since relates back to that book. Or most of the interesting bio. The 2nd one I have not yet finished, but I am reading it for health psych and it's hilarious. (or I think it is. Cat calls me a nerd for finding it entertaining).

Everything Will Be Alright

You know how Hamlet whines all the time, but its sortof okay, because he's smart and life actually sucks for him? Well Frankenstein is a jerk, but all he does is whine, and he's not witty and lewd while doing it. At least I'm done reading it.

The campus was deathly empty today.

Also, I'm now going to be doing scrap booking with two orphan girls every Wednesday. Lizzo started doing it last week, but her partner can't do it anymore, so she was looking for someone to fill in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Home_for_Children
I'm really excited.

Sorry Pascal, I'm keeping myself busy.

Post-Valentine's Day cookies.
(hearts and broken hearts by Rosette and Margaret)

Margaret and Angela are away this weekend. The dorm is definitely different without them.









Earlier this week I was going to take a photo of a dancer so that I could have something to base an etch off of (everything I can do from my head/is online is very cliche). But then I forgot my camera, so Sam brought it for me. And then I couldn't find my model, because I was afraid to check the room and she wasn't picking up the phone or coming out into the hallway. And then there was no studio space, so I got the photos, but they are very dark. I guess it'll have to work.



Some of the Soprano's seceded to the alto section when we started learning Beethoven's 9th. It's a known voice killer, we sang most of it down an octave for now. The concerts are at Sosnoff (Fisher Performing Art Center)

April 8th
8pm BEETHOVEN
April 9th
8pm BEETHOVEN
April 15th
8pm BRAHMS
April 16th
8pm BRAHMS




(The dorm reading the FreePress)


These were not weather appropriate yesterday, it was very warm, everything was melting.
And now it's snowing.

Also, I have discovered that its not that I hate cardio, its just that I hate running. Which explains why I have always loved biking, I guess.
And that the internet going out leads to me cleaning my room.

Paper Palace

Will and I trekked to Montgomery Place yesterday. It was hard to walk: everything is covered in ice, but it was fairly warm so it was melting.
We found this falling apart structure, some of it is made of papier-mâché, but also of planks of wood and metal tubes. It might be a parade float, a mini-Montgomery-mansion. But it says "theater cocoon" on the side, so perhaps not.








oh, and he slept on our floor again. When he left his room, his roommate+ where taking shots of cheap whiskey. Fan-tastic.













Watched The King's Speech with Marty and Cat. And Friday both Margaret and Rosette went off, one to visit her boyfriend, the other to go home.












Also I got a hat in the mail, ordered by Папа :).
And I still have to pick up another package he sent: Муми-тролли (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin)
which I plan on reading. Yes.

Andres said this photo doesn't look like me, but that might be because he usually looks at my face at a slight downward angle.*


Tulips and roses are being sold at Klien, Valentines' day is tomorrow.

*Mama says it makes my nose look big because I took it at arms length. There you go, my nose is smaller in real life.

gah.

angry.
Angela is threatening to have the AC lock up the kitchen because its not clean enough or something, because we aren't responsible?
I have cleaned dishes up after her so many times.
Hypocrisy.
and then if I clean a bunch of dishes she gets angry anyway, because she wants people do do their own shit. but if I don't (or Hannah or Margaret) they just stay there and she threatens to close it.
w.t.f.

But also, she just likes to get angry at people for absolutely no reason.
and a bunch of other stuff I won't go into here.

Procrastination

Procrastination=trimming Ethan's hair. he's sleeping on weather or not to go shorter.
and writing letters. (four in..six days)

and also looking at modcloth. gah, so...indie/hippster. so cute.
anyway, doing creative non-fiction reading. yes yes yes.

and then finishing psych chapter. and then maybe reading some of Frankenstein.

edit; mustache
These exist here, but in real, facial hair form. Also, talking about procrastination, according to Will, is 2nd generation procrastination, and I should go finish my reading.

Network Attacked....

"All,

Our network has come under attack by multiple viruses to users accessing a link to a story on the site of The Onion.

This parody news story about Bard dinner parties had been sent to all faculty and staff.

Do NOT click on this link. If you believe you have been infected, please contact the helpdesk immediately..."

It was a very obvious trojan,. Hannah's screen went black after she logged in, idk what her dad did to save it. But there was a side effect of weird music randomly playing after, so we had to track that down, and we found a 2nd virus...and no Rosette is backing up stuff on various thumb-drives and re-installing Windows.
very very strange way to attack Bard...via the Onion.

also I went to the gym with Susa for the first time. My arms are falling off. But also, the bike machine is really weird and icky.
a) the seat is really uncomfortable
b) there is a screen and you have to choose a path and then turn the wheel to follow it, and depending on the speed, you pass other bikers by or fall behind them. It made me dizzy.

Home Sick, a bit.

Had non-dairy animal protein for the 2nd or 3rd time since winter break. gar.
And the weather is making me sleepy. I still need to read the 2nd half of my psych chapter.
And I had wanted to make a print today.
Watched Snatch yesterday with Cat/Margaret/Marty. love. that. movie. Папа and I watched it more than once back home, and then he watched even more, pausing and going back to break down the accents.
Ze Germans :)

Didn't get to go home because Kirill had to write a paper. Which is fine, but according to Yulka, its not okay that I'm not there, watching the Дракон with them. I agree with her too.
Also, I made a list of things that I needed to bring back, and now all I have is a list.

The frustrating thing is that I had been offered another ride to Boston earlier, but figured it would be easier with Kirill, somehow. ah well. What I thought that was I would know that I would get back on Sunday in time for class.

I want to hug my brothers. Osya said that he put my letter to him on his wall.

??

okay, so turns out the kid is actually a red head. Margaret thought maybe it was my ride, but my ride is blond and friendly, and this kid is just sitting there. it's so weird. I guess it was someone else who I heard leaving earlier.

I'm not sure, but I think he might still be wearing just one sock.

update: now he's reading the newspaper. so. weird.

update: they turned out to be Jake's friends from NY, coming to watch him DJ at smog, no wounder I didn't recognize them. Two redheads and two more guys, one with a bad crustach. Jake didn't even tell Ethan (roommate) that they were coming, wtf.

but also "ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY—The Princeton Review announced this week that Bard College has topped its annual ranking of the nation's biggest dinner party schools.

The liberal arts college, which is located in New York's Hudson Valley and last year placed third on the list, has long been notorious for its active dinner party scene and consistently ranks near the top in such categories as roasting pine nuts with friends while discussing summer internships, and cooking with woks.

"Whether it's an intimate gathering of friends making vegetarian lasagna or an all-out potluck for studio-art majors, Bard students like to throw dinner parties, and they like to throw dinner parties hard," an excerpt from the rankings read. "It's almost impossible to walk the campus of this 2,000-student college on a Friday night and not hear the sound of Yellow Tail Pinot Noir bottles uncorking and Brian Eno's Here Come The Warm Jets album wafting across the quad."

"Potential applicants are advised to save some room for homemade vegan snickerdoodles, because this is one dinner party school that is not for lightweights," the excerpt concluded.

In surveys conducted by the Princeton Review, more than 80 percent of the students at Bard said they attend dinner parties "frequently to quite frequently," and another 60 percent said they regularly neglect their studies in order to pick up artisanal cheeses at the market in town.

The article quotes students who described the school's rampant "seven days a week" dinner party culture and the widespread popularity of on-campus herb gardening.

"People go crazy here with the dinner parties," said freshman Michael Lee, who claimed he knew about the school's reputation for all-evening-long dinner parties when he applied for admission, but found it even more pervasive than he'd expected. "I've been to dinner parties where guys show up with baguettes under both arms and just go for hours talking about Joanna Newsom or whatever. It's nuts."

Other students on campus claimed that some dinner parties carry on into brunch the next morning, and in many cases produce leftovers that can "last all weekend."

Bard administrators said steps in recent years to curb the school's rampant dinner party culture have met with mixed results.

"The bottom line is that kids here are always going to throw dinner parties," said Mark Halsey, associate dean of Bard College. "No matter how hard we crack down, students will still find a way to get fresh produce from the local farmer's market and make a big garden salad or puree some root vegetables. Some of them may even whip out Apples to Apples after dinner and play that while sipping on some limoncello. All we can do is try to make sure it doesn't get out of hand."

Continued Halsey, "That's why we have a strict policy that any student attending a dinner party with more than four courses will be immediately suspended."

School officials said Bard has made a number of positive changes since 2005, when a student was sent to the hospital after ingesting in excess of three poached tilapia fillets in less than an hour. Steps taken to manage the dinner party scene on campus include freshman orientation classes encouraging students to eat alone in their dorm room at least three times a week; banning the use of fondue kits on campus; and contacting the parents of students found using vegetables or tofu from the school's dining hall in their homemade stir-fries.

Still, students insisted that the dinner party scene is not likely to slow down anytime soon.

"I've already got three coming up this weekend," said sophomore Marissa Booth, holding up a handmade invitation made from a cut-up black-and-white photocopy of musician Kim Gordon scrawled over in colored pencil. "Although I won't be able to attend Jane's ravioli-making party because of my gluten allergy."" (the onion)



so true. Down to the artisan cheese and Joanna Newsom.

Non-Interaction

Watched The Social Network last night. Bard needs a crew team.

Waiting for Kirill to come and drive me home. but his bus broke down in Baltimore yesterday, and now its snowing pretty hard right now.

I woke up this morning, took a shower, went downstairs to eat some cereal.
Get my cereal, sit down.

He's wearing skinny blue jeans and a dirty beige jacket. I can only see the back of his head, his soft brown hair. His hands look bloated. There is a yellow and white stripped towel covering his butt, sprawling off onto the floor. His feet stick off the end of the couch, one with a sock, one without. His red leather shoes stand neatly by the couch and he blindly grasps the ground for his phone, trying to check the time.

I finish my cereal, go upstairs and eventually hear the slam of the common room door as he leaves.

Twirl of Classes and Skirts

Went contra dancing yesterday! Apparently it occurs every other Thursday, and...I mean, yes, it probably looks super silly, but it was also really fun. And dizzying. And I danced the guys part 3/4 times. (Hannah, Sarah, Sam, Hannah).
lots of circling and gypsying and promenading and balancing and swinging and messing up :)
The problem with dancing is two things:

• a) you often need flexibility and coordination. The need for these two is pretty minimal in contra dancing.
• b) sometimes with partnering there is the awkward sexual tension ect. but here there was so much jumping around and switching partners that its all just like...fun and friendly and awesome.

so it's the perfect dance.

Also went to a lecture by Robert Bernasconi called "Race, Slavery, and the Philosophers of the Enlightenment". It was really interesting, and also he's British.
But at the same time it's one of those lectures that left me with a feeling of 'but i can't really DO anything' and it sucks, especially since so much of this started a while ago and hasn't really broken down.

After having two days in a row with all my classes canceled, Thursday was definitely a rush. It was my 2nd printmaking class, my third creative non-fic. class, and first chamber singing rehearsal. I chose classes this semester partially based on who teaches them (ratemyprofessors.com =savior) & moderation requirements. That seems to work.


(Rembrandt, Prodigal Son)

Printmaking: it has a lot of steps. right now we are using zinc plates, covering them with grounds, etching that, and then putting them in the acid bath for 20-30 min. We have to have two prints and the first proof for next class. I was really worried at first, and I thought my etch was really bad ect. But first off, other kids are either seriously behind or their etchings aren't waaaay better, and 2nd, I think mine would look rally nice as an illustration in a childrens book (about Toby, the cat). My teacher is Andrew Mockler, who is a professor at Hunter College and comes down to us by train. I like him, I he mostly just shows us the steps, makes little witty/sarcastic jokes, and then tells us what he expects to have done for next class. Which leaves a lot of flexibility in terms of what to do, and I'm having fun studying a new medium, figuring out its strengths.
I'm just really excited to be doing something more serious than doodling in my sketchbook.

Creative Non-Fiction: Celia Bland has a presence. She has a specific..almost airy way of speaking that keeps the class hushed and attentive as we go over the techniques and effects of the hw readings. We do a lot of free writing, and are supposed to do that every day at the same time (which I have yet to start, unfortunately). The only assignment we've handed in so far was to write a discription of a place without our own presence in it, 3 pages. And then we put ourselves back in later. It was much harder than it sounds, and also very satisfying. I've never been challenged with creative writing before, in highschool those assignments were just easy A's.

Fysem: Megan Callaghan is a much much much better teacher than Varity Smith, partially because probably most anyone is (anyone that doesn't disrupt the flow of their own class by interpreting students to go off on tangents about how Inferno is like the LoTR). We have some...chatty people in the class, but she has a handle on them, and I like the way she has organized the readings/lead discussions so far. She teaches anthro., which I figured would work for the books we are reading this semester (started with Pascal's "Pensées", and now doing Rousseau's "Political Writings")

Health Psych: Is a normal class-class, and by far my largest one. One of our books is "Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers". It's funny. And Sarah Katey is much more into the subject than Frank Scalzo was for Intro. (sh's another non-Bard professor, Stony Brooke).The fact that she's done both social/behavioral psych as well as neuro makes her that much cooler.

Chamber Singing: I was so nervous for this, and James Bagwell doesn't use his bard e-mail so I couldn't figure out how to get an audition. I came to rehearsal, sang with everyone (Brahms Requiem!), and he let me saying that he can tell I'm fine. Yay! The class is supposed to be 35, but its 42, I think in part because there are many Seniors and he's letting in Freshman so that there will be enough next year. We will be singing with Vassar and in NY, so I'm excited to have signed up to DO stuff. There are a lot of music and voice majors.