Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton.

It's finals week. Which means, you guessed it, Midnight Breakfast in the dining halls tonight and tomorrow night!

"So long, and thanks for all the fish"

Before this week, I cried twice this semester.  This is a happy story, so don’t be put off.

Imagine Rich's post, but not at all. And not at my normal time.

Why I am posting now?

You say it's to detract away from Rich's post and steal his thunder?

You've found me out.

Imagine Nicole's Post But Without a GIF

I also have to study essentially constantly for finals, but I am a sub-par student, so between the time I turn in the two papers I have due tomorrow and the beginning of the Friday-afternoon procrastathon, I will make a real post here.  In the meantime, watch my thanksgiving video!  Password is "PTG".

http://vimeo.com/80861871

-Rich

One Question

One Question: Do I have time to post this week or next week due to finals?

And on the seventh day God ended his work.

"Your prison is walking through this world all alone."

You are unremarkable and unoriginal.  Some days that comforts you, following the path laid out for you by a billion forefathers and foremothers, whispering your destiny as they trod along.  Some days it scares the shit out of you, because darn it if you didn’t believe it when your mother said you were like a snowflake.

Another week gone by.  Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone.

A Break to Thank

I have been in front of a computer for most of the day trying to work on my research paper. I'm not as productive as I assumed I was going to be this week, and it worries me. My eyes hurt, but I will try my best to entertain you, because I am thankful for you. And I'm always up for a story, even if I'm the one who tells it.

Six Crooked Highways

Today isn't Thursday.

Hello everyone!  This'll be a short one, and it will begin with an apology that I missed the last two days I should have posted.  I'm SO BUSY.  I'm basically going to just tell you what work I have to do and anything else that comes to mind while I sit here alone in lab, waiting for my assay to run.  I'm playing Led Zeppelin right now!

Internationally Domestic This Week

Hello, friends.

For the first time in about a month, I'm spending an entire weekend in Madrid!  How nice.  Sorry I missed last week's post; I was in Denmark, which complicated things.

I forgot it was Wednesday

I'm about to go to bed. I know I need to write a post, but I can't right now. Busy with trying to do all the work I have to do while also staying healthy.
Here's a link to some photos of a walk I took with my friend Mike this past Friday:
http://punditz.tumblr.com/post/67444541406/damn-androscoggin#notes

I'll try to be better. Argh. Sorry.

Two weeks and counting

Oh man, I promised a good post and I'm going to let you guys down.  I would feel bad if I was not so exhausted.  Sometimes a man needs sleep, and this is one of those times.  I hope you visit me in dream land as you occasionally do.  See you all next week.

Well, if you’re travelin’ in the north country fair, Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline

GIS is taking up a little bit of my time.

There's so much free frozen pizza in the English Department lounge. I think they're training our stomachs for our future diets as struggling artists.

A list of things and then another list of things. Thoughts on thoughts on thoughts.

Anyone can think a thing because, but to think something despite...

Well this week's post is going to be a short one again because I have a  lot of work to do, but after this week I should be free to make long, thought provoking posts, or so I hope. 

Something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is, do you, Mister Jones?

Today is the first day of my offseason, and it is a strange thing. My last race was on Saturday, and since I am not not eight on the team, I will not be racing Regionals this coming Saturday or Nationals the Saturday after that. That is not to say I will not be there.

"My heart is made of stronger stuff than glass"... Except that bulletproof kind.

Hey, guys.

Writing this post from Cole's favorite spot in Europe... and "Mr. Tambourine Man" just came on and my heart filled with that weird jolty-adrenaline feeling.  We are in the most adorable hostel, and there's going to be live music very soon.  But they've been playing incredible music all day, from our friends like Kansas and Mumford & Sons.

Jump, jump! Or, to use the Spanish informal second person imperative form, "¡Salta!"

The Seven of Cups

The sun has pierced the clouds and the leaves are gently falling in front of my window.  My kettle has boiled and tea is steeping--I shall now rise from the depths of Google Scholar and Web of Science to regale you with tales of the past seven days.

"New medical study suggests you should run. Run! It's too late for us. Save yourself, the report concludes."

Hey folks. This week's theme is about how I've been appreciating the arts in different ways than I usually do. And then perhaps branching out from there about life in general, as my posts tend to do. But let's go ahead and get this party  small gathering of friends started.

One day to get it all right

Unfortunately, I don't have time to write a lot this week either. These next two weeks are going to be the hardest of the semester for me so I'm trying to focus on staying afloat and sadly that means blogging takes a hit. However, I am committed to posting so I will provide what minimal entertainment I can.

So be it, Jedi.

November already? Jumping jellyfish, that happened fast.

"You'll follow me back with the sun in your eyes, and on your own, bedshaped with legs of stone."

When you read this, I’ll be in Turkey, which marks the fourth country out of five I’ll be visiting this semester, unless something unexpected happens.

Sorry I missed last week’s post.  Fridays can be tough, because I’m such a party animal and all.

Here’s what’s up in my life.  I have written a series of vignettes for your enjoyment.

I GOT TO POST ON HALLOOOOOOWEEEEENN

My roommate and I have developed a playlist for our working party.  Here it is, so you know what I'm listening to while I write this.

• Breaking the Law
• Enter Sandman
• TNT
• Boulevard of Broken Dreams
• Vagabond
• Hotel California
• Wild Horses
• Renegade
• Immigrant Song
• Skyfall
• Oops!...I Did It Again
• Dashboard
• Baba O'Riley

Guess which ones Varchas chose!  Let's get this blog started, it's way too late. (Edited)

The Halloweek

Hey there, dream sailors. This year I have found myself wanting to invest all of my energy into truly enjoying Autumn and the Holidays, themes and tradition that surround them. It's been really nice caring about things, investing time and love into the things I do, and getting the gratification of the outcomes that come with it. So I guess my theme this week (maybe I'll do themes now, eh?) is investing in Autumn.

Noms

Yikes, Tuesday snuck up on me. I really want to make this toffee apple crumble so I'm going to do that instead of writing a blog. But I will take many pictures so you can follow me along my journey and hopefully enjoy them as much as you would my writing.  I advise you to use the photo viewer thing because there are a lot of photos and it's easier that way.  Though I realize now that I can't add commentary which kind of sucks. It's pretty self-explanatory except a couple of parts: a) I was bored while it was cooking so I took selfies of myself  b) Then, still waiting for it to be done, I decided to give a tour of my house for the select few who haven't seen it. c) Some pictures might not make sense why I took them but if you know our house dynamic you might.  Well without further ado, off we go!

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.

It's been a relatively uneventful week. No class last Monday or Tuesday for Fall Break, but back at it now. No race last Saturday either. The post-season starts this Saturday with NESCACs, for which I am very excited. No, that doesn't quite do it. I haven't been this excited for a race since the California State Championships in 2010.

Yawn Yawn

Well, it's 1:53 AM on a Friday, which means bed time, not blog time.  See you tomorrow.

-Rachael

Now I Feel Like A Copycat

Looks like Jason and I decided to post on the same week.  It was my plan all along, I swear!  Below the fold are some excuses and some facts about my life.

Patience Gets Us Nowhere

Ever since the break-up it hasn't been the same.  We're in that stage right now where one of us keeps reaching out to the other only to get no response.  I don't know what to do anymore.  Every time I try to make amends my mind goes blank.  What do I say?  What does she want to hear?  If only there was a way to end this phase, I would give anything.

I Just Felt Like Running

Most of what has happened since I last posted is very good. Only one thing sticks out as very bad. Okay, maybe not very bad, but kind of a drag. I'll go ahead and get that one over with first.

Challenging the Theory of Karma

So, I’m sick for the fourth time in three weeks.  I got incredibly ill in Italy, bloated and throwing up and throwing down and throwing curses like they were going out of style.  I deduced, through trial and error (namely, getting sick twice) that it was the Italian water acting as a wolf-in-lamb-costume.  Sure, no one else got sick from it, but I also have the Indian water poisoning background, so I figured it was a repeat exposure problem.

Sickness hasn't taken away my Ansel Adams-osity. This is Retiro.

Short Post Today, But I'll Write A Longer One Tomorrow(ish)

Hey dudes with 'tudes,

I'm feeling tired and not invested in the idea of writing so I'm going to do what I do best and post a few photos then skedaddle. But I want to write about my week, so I'll just do it tomorrow. So I'll post tomorrow too, I think. Much love.

A Long-expected Party

I just took the most wonderful nap. I love me some naps. Nap nap nap.

A Historically-Inaccurate History of the Mediterranean

Alright, guys.  I know you’ve been dying to learn more about the Mediterranean.  This is your one big chance, so don’t blow it.

Chapter One: That Time Columbus Flipped Off Homer

Today I went Canoeing on the Androscoggin

Hello there dear friends,

Today I went canoeing on the Androscoggin, as you might have gleaned from the title of this post. It's important that you know this because now you know that I have exercised today, and therefore I am tired. Also, I just didn't get that much sleep last night because sometimes the night gets away from me. Oh, also also, Bates won the most prestigious British Parliamentary debate tournament in all of the US (and pretty esteemed around the world) at Yale University. I was there to judge and I made new friends and got to see older friends.

So let the memories be good for those who stay.

October means rain. I don't mind — yet. But I will soon. The last two weeks have been the most beautiful I've ever seen in Vermont, so I suppose we've earned a bit of dreariness. I'm making myself a promise, related to that. Next year, I am going to take a series of walks outside of campus and take pictures of the fall colors. I didn't do that much this time around, and now that the wet part is here, I think I may have missed my chance. I did take some though. The iPhone painting effect is on display here, and by that I mean a couple of these pictures resulted from close zoom-ins with my phone, which somehow end up looking like watercolors.

Leaving on a Midday Flight to Marseilles

Hello, friends.

Last week I posted to you about to leave for Naples.  This week I post to you having survived and loved Italy, 14 minutes away from leaving for a flight to Marseilles.  I know, I know--how did anyone convince me to go to the land of maliciously-silent letters?  In a place where meeting up requires a silent 'z' and 's' ("rendezvous"), I think I would just rather stay home.

Paid in Food

Hello Dream Sailors,

I have been doing things and I plan on doing more things and look at me experiencing life!

I'm So Tired

Once again, I find myself confronted with the realization that, throughout the week, I make mental notes to write things down here on Monday, but I cannot remember them. What I ought to do is actually write them down once they happen, but I don't.

I Tried to Be Proactive...

When was the last time you considered the difference between “bragging” and “showing off,” in an effort to explain the intricacies of the English language to two thirty-year-old men in a Madrid bar?  And when was that time you took shots with a 60-year-old woman on a Thursday night at an all-you-can-eat Asian buffet?

Oh, so you’ve never had a week like mine?  Read on.

I'm More of a Mahogany Girl

Hello fellow creatures of existence, 

Both of my roommates are sick so I drank orange juice today even though I don't particularly enjoy our school's orange juice. That is how dedicated I am to staying healthy ("healthy" being a term I have a fairly loose definition of). Despite my heroic precautions against those villains known as viruses, I'm feeling sort of crappy. But not in a "I'm sick" way but more of a "mehhhh I have this paper and project proposal due on Friday but all I can manage to do is watch New Girl on Netflix" way. Here's a short summation of certain parts of my life presented in the format of a list of specific skills I have honed this week, though:

Creepy Stuff Happens in Nowhere

It must be Monday again. Mondays aren't too bad for me. I've got one class, and it goes from 9:05 to 9:55. Tuesdays are a little different. I have three classes and a lab. That's six and a half hours of sitting in a classroom. And Tuesday is our hardest workout day in XC. And it means I usually have a lot of work to do on Mondays, which is definitely true today.

Taking a Week Off

Hey guys.

Well, I'm taking a week off, because I'm feeling a little frustrated with the blog this weekend.  Glad that everyone's coming back to post, though.

If you're dying to read stuff by me, I have three advice columns up at amwordmag.com.

I'm about to finish (A) Game of Thrones.  Pretty good.  I hope I am like Arya.  That would be a good person to be like.

-Rachael

Bravest When Alone, Courageous with Strangers

Fellow Bloggers and Audience Members Alike,

I may have dropped the ball this past month by not posting about the beginning of the school year, but fear not! I am back in action and plan to post consistently once again. Now let's see what I've been up to in a very non-linear temporal movement because, well, timey-wimey.

When I say jump, you say:

Well, back to the ol' grind.

One week of classes in the books, and it wasn't too bad. My workload is going to be pretty steep this semester. Take a jump if you care to see what I've got.

Depart from Hollywood Standards

“I have stolen glances at attractive Spanish men.  I was burnt, and impaled by splinters, in the town of Vilafranca.  I have spent the night with five people where only three should fit and left with both my sanity and my life.  I’ve never been expelled from university, but one time in 3^rd grade, I did get in trouble for reading past the late bell.  I tread over mountain passes with heavy packs that others fear to walk unburdened.  I have talked to valedictorians, loved cha, and written jokes to make my friends weep.  You may have heard of me.”

The serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made.

Today was my first day of classes, and by classes I mean class, because I only had one. Geology 170: The Dynamic Earth. Kinda a basic geology course. One of the requirements for the geography major is that you have to take one class in the geology department, and this one seems pretty good. We go on hikes during our lab periods. Good enough for me.

Taking the Plunge

Contrary to this post’s title, I did not have the opportunity to jump off of any Mallorcan cliffs.  Well, the only opportunity I had was diving to my death off the bluff that that overlooked this island, and I wasn’t feeling suicidal.  But I’ve taken a metaphorical plunge into the crazy and exciting Spanish culture.  Oh, and I swam in the Mediterranean—but you already knew that.

Like a Rolling Stone

In the last two weeks (-ish), I have slept in three houses, one condo, one cabin in the woods, one tent, and one dorm room. I have driven through five states, flown across two countries, and ridden on four boats of various sizes. I have eaten pancakes with chocolate chips inside the batter and pancakes with chocolate chips added on top. I have taken several fine naps. Most of all, I have eaten pancakes with chocolate chips inside the batter.

When the Urban Youths Conquered Spain

Right now I’m on an eight day semi-educational tour of Spain.  Before I left, I wrote a mini blog post, to show up magically on Friday/Saturday—but then the internet wasn’t working, so I just decided to bring the computer along.  So this blog is a two part fiesta.

Best. Thing. Ever.

I Look Spanish... Until I Open My Mouth

Please treat the date of this post as a warning that I may be posting on Saturdays as often as Fridays.  Forgive me in advance.  This week, my excuse of choice is that I’ve been sickish since Thursday and it’s incredibly hot here.

Spain is incredible.  The people here have a sense of community that I haven’t witnessed anywhere else.  Policemen help old men to their seats at soccer matches.  Random people strike up conversations on the metro.  Café owners politely tolerate the broken Spanish of a young woman who just wants a chocolate croissant, dammit.

Get Excited, Breeches

I'm in Spain.  Derek and I switched blogging days again, so I will be posting this Friday and you all may start posting whenever you want.  That is all.

-Rachael

So it has come to this...

It is the last week of Short Term. There is a large party being thrown in my house currently. What am I doing? Embroidering my underwear with sassy phrases next to a feverish, sleeping boy who has taken shelter in my room because he wants some sleep but the first floor of Hayes is too noisy. So. I'm doing needlework and have become the caretaker of a sick human. I am a mother. I am what a person might call the life of the party, if said person was being sarcastic. I am actually really, very content.

The Breaking of the Fellowship

You Have Options: Video or Text. (Each has some information that the other does not, so choose wisely. Or be the wisest of all the blog-audience and just skip over my post completely.)

Vlog or Blog, you decide.

"To old friends who deserved better than they got."

Well, this week's post title comes from none other than Rothfuss's Wise Man's Fear.  I felt compelled to take a picture of that page when I read it, that's how much I like it.

Poor Derek fits into the category of old friends who deserved better; his Ducks did not move on to the next hockey chapter, whatever that would be called.  I know I've been a vocal complainer of all things hockey on this blog, but I really did want them to win, especially after watching three games with him while I was in Middlebury.  I now know 100x more about hockey than I ever thought I would.  Ask me a question--there's a small chance I'll know the answer.  As Kvothe said about learning Adema, my hockenese has "progressed to the point where I could actually be considered inarticulate, as opposed to just confusing."  Maybe that's not a perfect fit, but I read it today, so it came into my mind.

Climbed a mountain and I turned around.

Hello, hello. I have one class left in 14th grade, and then some finals. Which, if I think about them, get me a little stressed. 'Cause one of them is a 3,000 word schmangarang due on Tuesday. I'm kinda over those sorta things. I'll get through it. Maybe. I'm flying home on the 18th. I really don't want that to happen because I'll miss my friends, especially those who are seniors, so I'll never see them again except when I do. I really do want that to happen, though, because it will mean I'm done with finals. And I'll be able to see you guys at home. Well, those of you that are at home. Rachael is here right now. Here as in Middlebury. Let's talk about that, shall we?

Finals Coming Up

Hey guys, this is gonna have to be a short one so I can get back to reading about QTLs and LOD scores.  Interesting stuff!  Last week I couldn't post because it was the day before the massive party that is Renn Fayre (I'll talk about it next week AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I TYPED A HEART AND IT RUINED EVERYTHING WHAT THE HELL. WELL NOW I DON'T FEEL LIKE TYPING OUT ALL THE NICE THINGS I SAID SO I'LL JUST TELL YOU THAT I AM IN SF THE WEEKEND OF JUNE 1 AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE.

-Rich

I live dangerously, I jump off bridges and buy second-hand bathing suits.

Out of all of the changes I've seen in myself over the past two years of college, I think one of my favorite would be my increased appetite for adventure, outings, exploring, and just interactions with the  world as a whole. However, it also means I always have a lot of ground to cover every Wednesday post...

A Silence of Three Parts

It was night again.  Middlebury College lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.  The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that were lacking.  

They laid siege to it for seven years.

I just completed by penultimate week of class today, and I realize you guys are even closer to the end than I am. I hope you're surviving. Most of you. After I blogged last Friday, I got in a bus bound for Tufts, which is pretty close to MIT. I thought about texting you, Raku, but it probably wouldn't have been worth it because I was occupied with the track meet all day. So I didn't.

Birthweekend

Let's talk about the escapades of my birthweekend. THROUGH PICTURES.

2306 words in my head, 2306 words...

Hello, fellow students and friends.  If you in a position similar to my own, you are tired but proud, after a semester’s worth of hard work.  If you are in a position dissimilar to my own, you probably just thought, “Nope!  Not I!”  And if you are in a position neither similar nor dissimilar to my own, I will be ignoring you.

Sympathy for the Devil

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS START NEXT WEEK.

Earlier this week, the Ducks claimed their second ever Pacific Division title and clinched the second seed in the West. In the next two days, the standings will sort themselves out and the Ducks' first round opponent will be revealed. It's gonna be San Jose, Detroit, Minnesota, or Columbus. If it's San Jose, Jason, you should probably/definitely spend all the money you have in your pocketses and go to a game with Amanda.

On to less important things, like school.

Almost Done

This Post is Going to Be a Picture-Themed Post

Want to see what I've been up to?
Good.

Something's Got Me REAL Bothered

Part I, 11:20 EST: I've been nostalgic and looking over our old posts.  Well, the fancy template land that Jason (I think it was him) put on the blog is making it impossible to determine links from regular text.  Which I'm not down with.  For instance, could you tell that the word "links" was a link?  I didn't think so.

Full blog post later today.  ((Update, Jason fixed it.))

Dumbledore's Man Through and Through

This post will have lots of Harry Potter in it. But let's get the boring stuff outta the way first, shall we?
I finished my Shakespeare paper about four and a half minutes ago. Ms. T's comments about Othello may have inspired me, because I wrote about how the women in Much Ado About Nothing know what's up and the women in Othello are useless sacks of carrot peelings and as such all the women get what's coming to them. Sorta. I dunno. Anyway, I'm gonna re-read that paper later today and send it off and yay me. Jump?

SO SLEEPY

Spring Break and Cloudy Skies

Hey guys, sorry I forgot to post yesterday. I went to Portland for the day and by the time I realized I had forgotten my post, I was already asleep (I had a dream that you guys got angry at me for not posting. Who knows, maybe it's a premonition more than a nightmare). But here is a quick synopsis of my Spring Break so far.

More Fiction? Fiction it is.

Today was a big day for me, so I will be posting the story that I wrote yesterday rather than digging through my mind for nonfiction.  I wrote it instead of doing homework, because my burgeoning career as an author is clearly more important than everything else.  It is over 1300 words, which was an accomplishment for me, because normally my stories are shorter than two pages.

Read after the jump if you want to read "My Plain Name."  It has bad words, I know this will surprise you.  It's still a little rough, because I wrote it yesterday, but that's that.

Until next week, wayward travelers.

-Rachael

P.S. The spacing is a little weird.  P.P.S. Some of these names I actually like and I used my own justification for.  P.P.P.S. This was my exercise in creating a narrator that readers would not necessarily side with.

Oh who am I kidding Gary, I've got the Suds.

I guess it's Friday again. Not one of my best days. This particular one, I mean. Not Fridays in general. No, this particular day, Friday April 12, 2013, has not been the best day of my life. Neither was yesterday. You see, I'm a little sick right now. [cough] I think by saying "a little" I may be selling myself short. I'm sick enough to not get on the bus tonight that's headed to [cough] West Point to race a bunch of soldiers in the 5k. Which is a shame, because I really like the 5k. It's also a shame because I have only one more race after this, and now that this [cough] one's gone, I will only have raced two 5ks this season.

Oh hey---Nope.

It's finals week, so I therefore do not exist other than on word documents and lurking on Facebook every 15 minutes while I'm writing my paper on what academics think The Enlightenment was.

Spoilers: Everyone has a different opinion and I'm pretty sure they're all wrong.

The site's layout is lookin' good, my loves. I appreciate your hard work, Rachael and Jason.

Keep on being your wonderful selves,

Nicole

Guten Tag!

So I changed up Rachael's background idea a bit. Lemme know what you think. If you want other logos for your schools, too bad because those are the ones that I deemed fit. If anyone complains we are going back to horseradish or leeks. Just kidding. Maybe.

Also, sorry for not posting this week, I'll be back with a vengeance next week. And pretend you haven't heard that before to humor me. Thanks.

Loveums,

Jason

Holi cow.

This picture has nothing to do with the blog, but it is so classy.  Holi on the quad happened yesterday, and I skinned my knees sliding in the mud soon after this photo was taken.  What an old fashioned childhood moment.      L to R: Emma Watson, my little Desi, friend Keya.

I feel like the background design is too much.

It was a great idea, but it's just a lot of stuff and sort of detracts from the actual writing. Thoughts?

Wait only for my boot heels to be wandering.

Here I am, sitting at my computer in my dorm room in Middlebury, Vermont, and I've got to write all about my time in Southern California over spring break. There must have been at least 38.6 billion moments during the trip that were awesome enough to merit mention here. With any luck, I'll remember half of them. Because I am lucky enough to be friends with the photographically inclined David Russell, I have a huge photo library, courtesy of the big man, at my disposal. These pictures should help with the storytelling.

Nope.

Not this week, folks. I might be doing an all-nighter tonight and I cannot take an hour away from work for the blog.

My apologies. But as a consolation prize, you can listen to the music I will be playing in the background as I write my paper.

It is up to you to decide if I'm joking.

Breaking up the Monotony

Hi, all.  My contribution to the blog this week is an idea.

A long time ago, I suggested changing our background to our respective school logos.  Well, this evening I spent about an hour doing just that, but I didn't want to make this call unilaterally.  Below is what I had envisioned for the blog's look.  If you guys like it, (it's okay if not) I will probably edit the background color so it's not white, because white makes the title of the website hard to read.  You guys could pick the background color if we want to change it.

It's okay if you prefer the look of the current page, this was just for fun.  Let me know what you think (as if you guys ever hold back).  I even put us in posting order <3

Happy new week--sending good thoughts your way.
Rachael

Update: I literally just found out that I won the NOAA Hollings scholarship.  $16,000 and a 10 week paid internship with NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the summer after our junior year.  I am really really excited about this.  My mind is a little blown.  Glad I could share this with you guys.

"When there's nothing left to burn... you must close down your incinerator plant."

What up, my droogs? Let's start with a re-cap of today, because it is the most recent day that has happened and therefore is fresh in my memory. Onward? Onward!

Seeing 20-20

Seeing as this is my first Monday being 20, I thought I would piece together a list of 20 things I’m into right now.  This isn’t a list of the 20 best things of all time; in fact, few of these things would appear on that list (napping would.  You guys would.).  But I am a woman of phases, and these are some phases I’m in right now.

Go West, Young Man

Currently typing this in LAX. Waiting to connect to San Diego. Yeah. Burlington to Newark to LA to San Diego. Pretty dumb, right? Although I am pleased that LAX has free WiFi. Can't say the same about Chicago.

Hashtag One Only Exists A Singular Time

Let's have a chat, shall we?

78

Just spinning 'round in circles.

No longer is the path clear, for the surface is scratched. 

Will the music no longer play? Or is this just momentary pause.

What scratches lie hidden from my sight? 

Must I continue to discover where they lie?

Well at least the music is nice.

I won't be posting next week, so I'll talk to you in two weeks.

-Jason

Down the Foggy Ruins of Time

I'm sleepy. I'm really sleepy. Staying up to watch west coast hockey games takes a toll. As does work. As does practice. On Tuesday it rained about as hard as I've ever seen it rain, and it did that for the entire day. We had a track workout that day. Warmup + Drills + 3x(600 + 400 + 200) + Cooldown + Plyos + Second Cooldown. Which isn't that bad of workout, if you do it in decent weather. Rain sucks, guys. We had no idea how lucky we were to grow up in Orange County. I can deal with the cold and the wind and the snow. Snow is fine. Snow doesn't soak you to the bone. But rain makes running miserable. Rain makes being miserable. I hate rain. I really hate rain.

Hey There, Squares.

Short Post.

Hello. Jason here,

But I guess you probably already know me, sort of...

Daylight Savings!! Give me back my hour of sleep.

Hi guys, I'm going to keep this post short because I've got a bug that's been going around and I have to read two sections of lecture notes before my physics lecture tomorrow morning.

And but for the sky there are no fences facing.

I guess it's Friday again. Just took a test, actually. In my History of the American West class. Had to write a little bit about the Whitman Massacre, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Camp Grant Massacre, the Battle of Little Bighorn, and the Nez Perce War. Fun stuff. Well, for me. Not so much for the Native Americans. Or Custer. But he kinda had it coming.

Let's Take A Brief {PAUSE}

Hey there, you sailors of my heart,

This week has been filled with highs and lows you would not believe. However, since the lows are too embarrassing to admit, I'll stick with describing the parts that leave me feeling like the week has left me with a net positive life. Onward? ONWARD!

We closed our eyes and enjoyed the view

Phew so an actual blog post for once. Or so I hope.

Somerville-Clay strikes again

This is in list format, not because I’m lazy, but because random thoughts should not be disguised as cohesive paragraphs.

Thanne have I gete of yow maistrye.

This past week has been exceptionally average.

Don't Hate Me Because I Forgot to Post on Wednesday, Love Me Because I Remembered On Thursday

That being said, I'm actually quite busy with two tests coming up and a 8-10 page paper I have yet to have time to start. However, I will do my patented list of thoughts for you to enjoy. So...enjoy?

Another Haiku

Because I again lack the time to post I will leave you with another haiku.

Five weeks without you.
Sometimes I mourn, but I know
It is for the best.

Loveums,

Jason

Soapboxes and Cigarettes

Sometimes I tell you stories with my strong moral opinions attached.  And by sometimes, I mean almost all the time.  I think I’m obsessed with right and wrong, mostly because I’m an optimist constantly let down by the things that people do that go against my principles.

Still Alive?

I face-planted on the ice today… is how I wanted to start last week, but I kind of got sidetracked when I suddenly remembered that I'm also taking an online programming class this semester and I hadn't gone through any material for the whole week. It's a slow process, but I've been trying to organize my life better so I can make good use of my free time. All-nighters two Thursdays in a row, and it's just the beginning of the semester! At the pace I'm going, I won't survive when we get to the harder stuff. Something's got to change.

I was wondering what you’re doing here.

Lightning speed post because I have zero time, go!

I might be back

Hey guys.  I know it has been literally forever since I posted on here, and I always feel bad but I also really do have good reasons, I promise.  I miss all of you, and I'll try to write posts more consistently starting now, and fuller posts starting next week. Hopefully I accomplish this goal sooner than I accomplish my goal of eating every kind of squirrel in the world.  That one hit a huge road block when I became a vegetarian.  For a quick rundown of my life right now, I present to you: THE CHECKLIST:

• Post on the blog for once (DUN)
• Study for tomorrow's O-chem test
• Study for Wednesday's Gene-Reg test
• Study for Math 212, which I'm getting fucked in
• Do my math and physics problem sets by tonight
• Take pictures for people
• Drive my friend to a computer repair shop across town
• Eat as healthy as possible
• Make O-chem flashcards
• DRINK MORE COFFEE

Those are the things on my list right now.  Maybe a video this weekend or something to give an actual update.  <3 about="" guys.="" here="" i="" m="" not="" p="" posting="" really="" sorry="">
-Rich

Middlebury Has Three Dining Halls, Which Means I Have Three Times the Anxiety When Deciding My Meal Plans for the Day. I CANNOT LIVE UNDER THESE CONDITIONS.

Okay, go ahead and raise your hand if you're currently in Derek's Dorm at Middlebury right now. Don't be shy. Go ahead and raise your hand! Oh my, it's just me, then? How unfortunate for you all.

Protection from what?

I can't stay too long this week because I have two midterms on Thursday that I need to study for.

One thing I've been thinking about is how much I like taking my music class. It really breaks up the monotony of technical reading. If only my major didn't have so many requirements :( I'm debating whether to fill my sparse openings in the next two years with a) nothing b) cs courses or c) German.  I figure that a language course is probably the most useful humanities course to take given the possibility that it might help me get a job in Germany if I ever pursue that.  We will see what happens though. I already know next semester doesn't have room for any humanities. Shame.

In the spirit of not being able to write my blog post for this week, I give you a pessimistic haiku I wrote. Hope you enjoy.

Fantasies exist
only to remind us of
our unhappiness.

Loveums,

Jason

30,000 Views? Yeah, we're the shit.

This is a gem of a photo from my friend's birthday dinner.  This is my "protective significant other" pose.  Did it work?  Are you intimidated?

I wish I could be a writer/blogger/ social entrepreneur instead of go to college.  I have ideas all the time of things that I don’t have time for.  I will list some of them, because I trust you guys not to steal from me.

"As it was supposed to happen," Bokonon would say.

That's not me, but you can pretend it is.

Guess what I did right after I wrote my post last Friday? Guess, guess! I did the thing I said I was going to do, which is snowmobiling. Now, I didn't take any pictures, and even though I think my mom probably did, well, her camera and her phone are each about three thousand miles away from me, and I'd rather write this post now than ask her to send me some pictures and wait and wait and wait. Instead, I'll just Google image search "Lofty Peaks Snowmobiling"(the company we used, duh) and see what I can find. Well, I found that picture that you're looking at now. Pretty much what we were doing. We rode a ways out to this meadow tucked away between some pretty big mountains, played around the meadow for a while, then rode back. Obviously, it was loads of fun, but I would have preferred to spend more time exploring different trails that just riding around in one meadow for such a long time. And no, I'm not apologetic about having a great time and wishing it was a little better. Nor am I apologetic about wishing the snow was a little better on Saturday.

Nicole Does Stream-of-Consciousness?

Okay, here's the delio, hot-shots.
I tried making a video like Rich used to do.
It is of low quality both graphically and content-wise.
Enjoy.

I know what you're thinking...

My Stranger Week, or How Public Transit is More Dangerous than Getting into a Car with Strange Men

I took this picture from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  The Reflecting Pool is true to its name.

Wasn’t sure how to properly capitalize the title, so bear with me if I did it wrong.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Here I am in Utah. The skiing has been pretty bad because we haven't had snow in a while, but it's supposed to snow this afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow, so tomorrow should be a good day. Because the conditions suck so much right now, we're planning on going snowmobiling today. Can't wait.

Wednesdays Always Sneak Up On Me

So I know I didn't make an actual post last Wednesday, so first I must apologize for that.
I'm sorry.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way,  I will recount to you the most interesting parts of these past two weeks in no particular order (mostly because I have no idea what I'm going to remember, and when I'm going to remember it):

Electro Swing!

Electro swing has become one of my favorite genres of music. I touched briefly on my fling with it last semester, but I found a music video of select art style that has made me revisit it because it's just that awesome.

I'm a Photojournalist, Boom!

(If you’re confused at any point during the post, keep reading.  It’ll be okay.)

Hey! Another week gone by. Oof. I don’t really have the energy to write a coherent post (as usual, right?) so I found some pictures that summed up my month and I’ll just write about them... ok? Great.

We owe it to each other to tell stories.

This blog is a strange thing, particularly when considered with its relationship to the rest of my week. You see, throughout my week, I see and do all sorts of strange, wonderful, dreadful, or at least marginally anecdote-worthy things. Yet, when I sit down to write on the blog, as of course I am doing right now, I can't help but think that a thousand tiny stories have come and gone from my busy little head over the last seven days, a few of which I would have liked to share.
I suppose I'll have to stick to the big stories, for now. Let's start with the track meet.

What Have I Done?

I fell asleep trying to read an essay on Food Ethics after my Zumba class at around 9 pm and just woke up a few minutes ago.

Injury #2

I gotz da homework to do's so this shall be short.

"Dumbledore’s man through and through, aren’t you, Potter?"

Well.  What a week.  I feel like I just posted, but an entire week has gone by.

The South Will Rise Again

Look at how pissed off all the fans are. I love it.

Now is the Winter of Our Discontent?

So it's cold here, yeah?

Dobro Utro!

UPDATED: Inauguration Woo!

Well, today I went to the Inauguration.  It lived up to the flighty temptress that Dumbledore spoke of in Half Blood Prince.  Assuming said flighty temptress kicks you out of bed at 3:30 in the morning and keeps you in the freezing cold on hard plastic for 8 hours.  Which sounds like something a flighty temptress would do.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Howdy folks. Let's talk about my week.

Zumba, Yoga, Zumba

Hello all. Guess what? I've exercised three days in a row. I know, I know. Impressive for me.  It's not even a New Years Resolution of mine to get fit (If you were wondering, I didn't make any resolutions), I just have to get two PE credits finished before I graduate. I was only going to take one P.E. class this semester, but I realized that exercise like Zumba and Yoga are fun and pretty easy, so why not just exercise every day and get all my requirements filled? It's only an hour of my day. And it's pretty much in replacement of going on Tumblr, so I see it as an improvement of my time allocation. 
We'll see how long I last before I drop one. WE'LL SEE.

"Frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing"

The semester, for me, starts today.  My first decision of the semester was one I will be sure not to recount to my children: I skipped a class.

You fail only if you stop writing.

My name is J-term Derek.
I take my time after workouts. I have walked slowly from one end of campus to the other. I came in third place in a game of Settlers because seven of the ten development cards I drew were Knights. I have found time to go grocery shopping in town. I did no better in a game of Cards Against Humanity later on that same night. I once went to bed at 9:00. Another time, I slept in until 10:00 (I have also woken up at 6:30, though.) I have gone an entire day without doing homework. I play Mario Cart and Return of the King on Gamecube, and NHL on Xbox. I have talked to friends, loved poems, and written short narratives that make my classmates laugh.
You may have heard of me.

BLAAAAAH-gging

I'm back at Bates College, and I've been taking classes for about...three days now even though it feels like a lifetime. A short lifetime, though. It's important to specify. It feels like the lifetime of a baby that dies after three days. Okay, it seems we're off to a good start, so let's reconvene after the jump.

A Far Green Country

Huell Howser

1945-2013

One of my favorite people I never met.