Blogs
03/05/10
"This is going to change how you see the world," Chandra promised us as class discussion started.
A friend of mine sitting next to me let out a little exhausted whimper, and I just stared at Chandra dubiously. I'd been up for most of the night re-reading and re-re-reading the many pages of Foucault we'd been assigned, and every time I thought I'd grasped what he was saying about power and discourse the threads fell apart again. The idea of wrangling with a brilliant yet egotistical French philosopher for two and half hours in our Contemporary Theory of Anthropology class teetered on the fine line of promising academic enlightenment or mental breakdown.
The...Read Entire Post
02/26/10
Hey all!
I apologize, once again, for having not written in quite some time. I have a good reason though.
For the past, well since January 14th, I have been co-chairing Colby's Haitian Relief effort with another freshman, named Lisa Kaplan. We are both members of the Student Advisory Board of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement. After Hurricane Katrina hit, the Goldfarb Center was asked to lead fundraising efforts, and they gladly accepted. Similarly, after the Haitian Earthquake, the college asked the Goldfarb Center to take the initiative on the college's relief efforts. Thus, an email was sent out to the Student Advisory Board asking for students...Read Entire Post
02/26/10
I'm not, er, good at science. I'd like to think this is because of my vaguely postmodernist discomfort with any methodology, scientific or otherwise, that purports to produce 'truth,' but mainly it's because the diagrams are too complicated. Not that I don't heartily respect those who study sciences, like the three of my five roommates who have to put in sweat and blood and long lab hours toward their biology majors. It's just...science is a bit like the very, very modern art you find at places like the Pompidou Center in Paris or, occasionally, at the Colby Art Museum. It just doesn't quite translate meaningfully inside my brain (which I guess shows...Read Entire Post
02/17/10
Sometimes I play a game where I go to Miller library, choose a random aisle, and spend ten minutes (or an hour, or an evening) learning all I can about whatever obscure topic I’m surrounded by. (And yes, my friends make fun of me for it.)It’s amazing the stuff you can find, especially in those darkest corners of the third floor—you know, where nobody ever goes unless they’re looking for a discrete place to talk on their cell phone. I’ve flipped through books on the economics of reindeer-herding, feminism at Starbucks, and why cannibalism is nutritionally beneficial. My favorite may be the 591-page “A Short History of Norway,” written in 1829, which...Read Entire Post
02/06/10
Apparently, a few months from now, there will be a little thing called Commencement where I am expected to smile when they tell me I'm no longer a Colby student. Because I prefer basking in a state of denial, I've resolved not to think about this fact until I'm actually shaking Bro's hand on a platform.
Kris - you all know Kris, right? If you don't you must hightail it to his blog - graduated last year, and had this to say in response to one of my 'BEING A SENIOR IS TERRIFYING' moments on Facebook:
"I'm not sure if this is actually how it happened or just how I'd like to remember it, but I think I tried to...Read Entire Post
02/02/10
As it turned out, my JanPlan was way busier than I had anticipated. That's to be expected, I suppose, given that I had to go to "hell" for my one class.
In a sense, it was edifying having so much work to do for one class. It involved mainly reading, debating and writing about China from various perspectives. Most of the literature was very depressing, and I can only conclude the class was aptly named "Hell On Earth".
Did I learn anything? Much less anything useful?
Absolutely, if only how sad human oppression has been, and that the sort of brutality seen in parts of the world today is really nothing new. Of course I'd like to believe I knew all...Read Entire Post
01/31/10
Sorry that I've been gone so long! I've been really busy, as I will demonstrate in the following long list of what I did this Jan Plan. Here it goes.
This Jan Plan I:
Went skiing twice at Sugarloaf,
Went to Freeport and bought $10 Brooks Brothers Cords (TEN DOLLARS!),
Ate at Pad Thai Too twice (the first time, I made the mistake of NOT ordering the larger, Colby sized portion),
Ate at the Bread Box once (I highly recommend the baked brie),
Led/Am co-leading Colby's Haitian Relief Effort (as a first-year...It's crazy!),
In that capacity, I have met with Bro (President), Dean Terhune (Dean of Students), Vice President Ammons...Read Entire Post
01/29/10
I'm big on libraries. Maybe I read too many fantasy novels as a kid, but when people told me that libraries were magical portals that could transport you to other worlds, I used to take it semi-literally. Even now, I can recite my hometown library card number off the top of my head but frequently forget my credit card digits. (Yes, I'm aware that's pathetic.) The fact that Colby has three - three! - libraries at a school with only 1,800 students was a really big selling point for me.
The fact that I love libraries so much might be the main reason I can't wholeheartedly entertain thoughts of moving to Paris permanently after graduation. Because...Read Entire Post
01/26/10
Far before I boarded the plane to Paris, my mother asked me something in the solemn kind of voice you usually expect from someone who wants to borrow money or needs help burying a body in the desert. “You’ll go to the Hermès sale with me, won’t you?” she requested, eyes wide. I laughed a little, amused by the dramatics, but nodded.
For those who don’t know Hermès, it’s a Parisian luxury goods and fashion house that sells things I never thought would have a three-digit price tag, like beach towels. Scarves are one of its specialties and are what interest my mother, an avid collector. For years, she’d...Read Entire Post
01/25/10
Just for fun, let’s return to October, when my group was tracking rhinos in the Ugab Desert. Our trackers are Abel, Jonas, and Sam.
25 October
This morning we found a spoor early, just a kilometer or so out of camp. It was on the way to the spring where we fill our water jugs, and the spoor crossed directly over our tire tracks from last night. By watching the trackers I’m learning more of what to look for: skin wrinkles on the bottom of the footprints, dampness in the sand, whether the prints are over or under...Read Entire Post