The Dirty Dozen

          The ride home was uneventful, though we did stop at the Oneonta Wal-Mart for snacks to bring to Logan's. I obtained a dozen glazed donuts for under $3 from the "a tiny bit old" pastry rack and felt like a bargain hunter. Logan's New Year's Eve party was good fun, though I fell asleep in the minutes up to midnight. After the madness was finished, I spent the night reading comic books and playing games, as per our usual routine.

Blue Velveeta

          I had breakfast at the Collegiate, a great diner in town, with my family, grandparents, aunt and uncle. I settled on a grilled cheese with tomato and vanilla milkshake, which was the best breakfast I've had in some time. Afterward, we went to visit some friends of my dad's, Liz and Jim. We had a fun time introducing our dogs and talking about the relative dangers of bath salts and marijuana, during which my mother kept her lips tightly sealed. Back at my grandfather's, I napped for a few hours and then watched Blue Velvet, a painful David Lynch production full of awkward eroticism and Laura Dern.
          Quotes of the day:
"Their next album should be Who's Left." - Jim
"If Google opened a pharmacy, I would love to work there. I love Google." - Iris
"Why don't you have a beer instead of that? That's sugar, Andy." - Father
...
Me: "I'll do the metal look. Shave my head, grow a really long beard and braid it in two."
Iris: "About our children's custody..."

Tiberium Complex

          We left for Alfred this morning, and I slept for all six hours of the ride. The entire time, I had extraordinarily vivid dreams that bled into each other, pausing for a few moments when I woke up and resuming effortlessly. For the first time in my life, I woke up laughing. At my grandfather's, the whole family came over to spend time together: my family, 4 uncles, 3 aunts, 6 cousins, 2 dogs, and my grandparents themselves. When it grew late, I finally installed the entire Command & Conquer suite on my computer and played around with the first game for a while.
          Quotes of the day:
"His personality is that of a mushroom." - Father
"I will teach you!" - Father, to the road
"Yellowpink was on the fucking hinky-pink!" - dream-Brian
"Eat muddy shit!" - Father
"He had short man complex, yes he did. Strike first, talk later." - Father, on my uncle Phil

One and Only

          I woke up at 4 AM with Bitsy snuggled in with me on the couch, roused myself and got down to housework. It was a dull day until I went to Brian's, where we planned to start on season two of Boardwalk Empire and instead spent the entire night in a conversation ranging from elementary school enemies to our colleges' idiosyncrasies.
          Quote of the day:
"I remember the cat was there, bless that bitch's soul..." - Brian

Quesarettas

          I helped Brian shovel out his driveway for two or three hours this morning, working at a steady pace. After the job was done, we went to Moe's for food and watched Trapped In the Closet in the corner booths, laughing at inappropriate times and being public nuisances. At home, I quickly passed out on the couch, smothered in a huge blanket.

Secret Mishaps

          Brian and I played another clix game at my house; I lost through a self-imposed handicap, the coaching I provided him, poor tactics, and sheer bad luck. A nasty storm was revving up as evening fell, so we decided to just stay at his house for the night. We finished season one of Boardwalk Empire, which I was quite happy to watch again. I spent the night in his brother Sean's bed, which is absurdly comfortable compared to my own. (No room for a box spring underneath my mattress. ;_;)

I Have Not Lost a Minute's Sleep Over What Was Done

          Ryan woke me up in a hurry at 8, just as I predicted. The morning was relatively calm after this, though Ryan got upset after a glass ornament broke; the tree was beautiful, and I chilled out on the couch and savored each gift. The best stuff: a Fujifilm instant-film camera, a $250 Amazon gift card, two Magic 8-Balls, SuperFreakonomics, and a Red Onion gift card as well. As per tradition, we spent most of the afternoon and evening at my grandmother's house with my mother's side of the family, where I took a nap with a chihuahua. After we were done with our families for the day, Brian and I played a brief clix game, which I won (unsurprisingly.) We also continued our viewing of Boardwalk Empire.
          Quote of the day:
"I kinda want to sit across from that hater, so I can look at him horribly." - cousin Alex

A Moment's Rest

          I had the quietest Christmas Eve I can recall. I put my presents under the tree, cleaned up my room, and am just taking it easy until tomorrow morning, when Ryan will undoubtedly wake at 8 AM and force everyone out of bed.

Fly, Black Arrow

          I went to Alterniverse with Logan and Steve for a massive clix game this afternoon, a match pitting eight or nine teams against one guy playing a "Thanos plus extras" team. It was a rousing game, if somewhat one-sided, and Logan and I had a funny encounter with the cashier at the convenience store across the street. There was even a guy who looked uncannily like the old-school Green Arrow and - possibly coincidentally - had Green Arrow on his clix team. Back in Saugerties, Logan and I played a three-hour game of Halo 3: ODST and saved a recording in the replay editor. We rewatched a good deal of our antics, following the alien cannon fodder in a documentary-style fashion with dramatic commentary. ("We were only following orders...")
          Quote of the day:
"He rolled snake eyes against a squirrel!" - Green Arrow

I Must Continue My Training

          My father brought me McDonalds in bed this morning as a surprise, unfortunate timing given my expedition there with Brian less than twelve hours prior. Alaric and I engaged in a Highlander TF2 match (competitive gaming wherein each team has only nine players, one of each class) and were roundly chastised by the other team. Our defeat didn't fall too short of humiliating, but I look forward to trying again at some point. In the evening Brian and I drove to Poughkeepsie to get some last-minute presents for our families. We ended up semi-lost on the way, overshooting the bridge and then ending up on a one-way street to nowhere desirable, and finally navigating using a half-loaded set of Google Maps directions on McDonalds wi-fi. We obtained a variety of things at the mall, then ate at the Ruby Tuesday in Kingston to sate our tremendous appetites. Despite the various stresses of the evening, it was a fun outing for sure.

The McMuffin Crisis

          I chose to put in one more day at Morse before Christmas comes. A dark, heavy rain fell for most of the morning, and inside Mrs. A was pouring it on with more Jesus than I was comfortable with. One kid explicitly stated that his family celebrates Hanukkah, but this was completely ignored by everyone, and I lost a little faith in the allegedly inclusive nature of the classroom. I never realized how much swag teachers accumulate at Christmastime, but Mrs. A received gifts from pretty much every child and I found myself quite envious. The rain stopped in time for recess and I found myself playing around on the asphalt with the students. I hated four-square in elementary school, but decided to play it with them today; I find that my opinion was justified. All that the game consists of is arguing about who's out or not and why, no one knowing where they're supposed to go, and general confusion about the rules. I also hurt my ankle lunging for the ball, so I'm back on my old "track and field limp" with pain shooting through my right leg at every step. I extracted myself from the game after a few minutes of this and went to play hopscotch with the quietest, tiniest, adorablest girl in the class.
          After recess, the class went for a short walk down the road, with two children on each arm of Mrs. A, myself, and Mrs. A's daughter (freshman in college, also volunteering.) Ryan was swaggin' with me in one hand and a lady friend in the other, which brought a smile to my face. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching A Christmas Carol (the animated version with 300% star power.) Seriously, though - Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Cary Elwes and Bob Hoskins all in the same animated film! I got the distinct impression that the students would miss me, since they all hugged or high fived me. Later on, Brian and I hung out at the garage and I helped him along in his game of Oblivion. We also went to the rest area McDonalds, but forgot that they change over to breakfast at 2 and were subsequently disappointed.
          Quotes of the day:
"You're the bestest friend I could ever have..." - one of the girls to another, melting my icy heart
...
Me: "Ryan, what did I tell you about raising your hand when you don't know the answer?"
Ryan: "I just forget!"

Fight Club

          I used most of the afternoon cleaning and trying to make sense of the growing hoarder's paradise that is my house. This is not to be a battle indiscriminately fought; I've written up a checklist of every room in the house, every area of the yard, each porch/deck, the carport, the shed, the garage, and each vehicle. So far I've more or less organized my own room, Ian's room (mainly through his own efforts), and our closet, just so no one can complain that I'm misdirecting my attention. In the evening, I hung out with Sam and Brian at Burger King and then the mall to obtain presents. Sam and I still fight over little things, just as we always have, and the night was an exercise in self-restraint in a variety of ways.

The Eyebrow Incident

          I spent my second day at Morse fighting back yawns - difficult to do in the middle of singing Christmas carols (as well as the single obligatory Hanukkah song.) I also helped the kids on a craft project and worked with glitter, the funnest substance known to man. When they left for the special class of the day, I had a conversation with their teacher's aide, Mrs. B. This was enjoyable because she was an aide when I was at Morse myself, and it was fun hearing her talk shit about some of the problem children I grew up with, as well as reminiscing about old friends.
          In the late evening, Matt and I took a pit stop in his car and sat around talking. He recorded our entire chill-out sesh, resulting in a 3 hour sound file for future enjoyment. (Also a boon for today's entry.) Eventually, we retreated into the warmth of his room for more conversation, snacks, Skyrim, and the typical Andy/Matt idiocy. Afterward, Brian picked me up to continue our usual television programming.
          Quotes of the day:
"Mathematician rules tell us we have to round it up." - Mrs. A
"You are outlined like a smoke angel." - Matt
"Years after that incident, I couldn't even smell clam chowder." - Matt
"I'm trying to be less of a human and more of, like, a force or a presence." - Matt
"I'm honest like ice. Like black ice on the road. Like you don't see it coming, and then you have to swerve." - Matt
"I'm gonna try to redefine my wardrobe." - Matt
"Chips... better grab everything I can!" - me
"I would much rather you be dead, than have myself responsible for your death." - Matt
"We got Jaime Lannister right here on the mic and, uh, in the room, we also got DJ Brienne..." - me

Bring Back Snacks

          Preparing for my first day of three with Mrs. A's second graders, I shaved with what must be the bluntest razor in existence. At school, the students were very apprehensive of me, though they seemed to enjoy my company. I helped Mrs. A keep the class in order, collected their work, etc. My tasks were not difficult, and the day went by rather quickly. It was a bit like herding cats at times, but the kids' cuteness made it more than worth the trouble. Aside: the students' school computer usernames are their first initial followed by the first four letters of their last name, and one child ended up with the unfortunate "GINGR".
          Quotes of the day:
"You always start with the pennies column. That's one of the laws of mathematicians." - Mrs. A
"Did you know that Christmas isn't just about celebrating Jesus' birthday? He also gave his life for us... he would still be alive." - random child to another
"You sense yourself beginning to like it. And you're scared. It's like rape." - Matt, on Ke$ha

Semester's End

           I telephoned Ryan's second grade teacher, here referred to as Mrs. A., to confirm that I'd be volunteering in the class for a few days this week. I'll be helping out tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday in an as yet undefined role. I received my grades for this semester: A-, B+, B, C+. It's not my best work, but I'm as content as can be. Brian and I laid The Sopranos to rest at long last, finishing the final two episodes. We immediately moved on to Boardwalk Empire, watching the first two episodes of that show.

Head In Hands

           I really let loose at Brian's tonight, and we continued with The Sopranos – we have only two episodes left. It was a great night at first, but near the end I was beset with a crushing headache and held it in my hands all the way home and into bed. Not the most auspicious way to finish the evening, but next time will certainly be better.

New Beginning

           I slept all day, and somehow the parents left me alone. Much later, Brian picked me up, and back at the garage we restarted our old Sopranos tradition. There's still much to be done – his brother Sean's things are all over the couch, the TV is up at Plattsburgh, the engine is still underfoot, and it's cold as balls. Regardless, we used my laptop to start over with season 6 part 2, and soon we'll have to find a new show.

Defiance, Oklahoma!

           I was woken by a phone call at 5 AM. I picked up to hear my parents arguing on the other end, trying to figure out how they wanted me to get home. Rather than leaving today, they decided that tomorrow would be a more suitable time to come and get me. This was a stroke of good luck (I'd fallen asleep without packing) so I decided to get day drunk instead. Sean and I decided that this would be the best possible time to return our textbooks, and found the line mercifully short. The return went without incident, and I sold back last year's Oklahoma! for $1.75, though one of the “quarters” was some kind of Asian currency. They didn't have a listing for Green Grow the Lilacs, which I take as a good sign for Professor Feinstein's current students. I probably would've received about ten cents for it anyway.

           Back at the apartment, my father called me again. He said that plans had changed and that he might come up as soon as 5 or 6 PM. This threw me into a rush of packing and patching things over with Iris, who had been quite pleased that I was staying an extra night. I packed my bags, got together a crate of things that I don't need at school, said my goodbyes, and we left sometime after 9 PM. The trip was uneventful, and I got home safe.

           Quote of the day:
“I got ripped one night, put this on loud out in the garage and danced around.” - Father

Levitt, Cobb, and Extraction

          My last final, Reason, Risk and Evidence, went acceptably well. I know I passed the course, but by how much is the question. Being done with everything for the semester is indescribable, like high school summer vacation times two, and even though you know it's coming it's still the most joyful feeling. Afterward, I met Andrew in the lobby and we decided to grab lunch, where we were met by my other friend named Andrew from that class, and by the Delivery Man as well. (At first, he was sitting with someone who I consider a one-way mortal enemy, but due to his kindhearted nature, this is unsurprising.)

           Later on, Katie and I went to the North End to obtain cannoli for our families. With both of us feeling ravenous, we decided to stop and eat somewhere. After some indecision we settled on a nice little restaurant down a side street. We shared a delicious plate of bruschetta and I had a bowl of calamari as well. I chose the four cheese ravioli, which was good, though nothing to write home about. I was most grateful for the company and for the chance to sit and take it easy. We obtained cannoli at Mike's and started home, though not before a brief run-in with a standard Amerifat tourist trying to impress someone or other. I dropped one of my bags and took out the cannoli to inspect it for damage, whereupon this guy goes, “Can't even get down the block, Mike's is that good!” in this superior tone. I wanted to shoot back with, “I'm sure you're quite the expert,” but was momentarily stunned with rage and held my tongue. Back at 610, several of us watched Inception – Katie's first time! - and I enjoyed it as much as ever, though I have a new awareness of how annoying Ariadne is throughout the film. I also love that one of the most fridge-horrifying moments in the film is handwaved by Cobb with no apparent evidence. (“Are we killing parts of his brain?” “No, they're just projections.”)

           Quote of the day:

“I know, most people want to kill me. It's fine.” - Katie

Fist God Pantheon

          I spent a good deal of time trolling for deals on the newly-implemented Steam Market. This feature allows one to purchase in-game items from other players, trading on Steam Wallet funds. The brilliance of it is that since Steam gets a cut of the sale, however small, they're making money on a product that they already sold. (With the exception of crates and other randomly dropped items, which would be free otherwise.) TF2 is currently the only game supported, which suits me well enough. Alaric and I had a brief argument about the expected utility of waiting to snag deals on items; his position centered on considering the matter in terms of utiles, while mine was more of a cost-benefit analysis. It was an enjoyably intellectual exchange granted the inane subject matter – description tags for virtual weapons pixels. I did snap one up for $.06 when the average going rate was $.58 or so, and trending upward slowly but surely. 

          At the library, I met my friend Andrew from RRE to study for our final tomorrow. The library always sucks, but especially at this time of the semester. We reviewed the year's material, crossed our fingers, went off topic quite a lot, and finally hit the road after sufficiently wearing ourselves out. We share the high school-cultivated habit of never studying unless it's known to be necessary. 

          Some of us gathered at Eric's behest to watch The Man With the Iron Fists, written, directed, and starred in by RZA (yes, of Wu-Tang Clan.) His performance was solid, if not amazing; Lucy Liu as Madame Ninja (not her name, but you get the picture) was enjoyably corny; and Russell Crowe was quite entertaining as Mr. Knife, though I wish he had been the villain. Much time that might have been allocated to character development became more fight scene material, which carries an obvious set of pros and cons, but the movie was rather watchable overall. Not to mention, pro wrestler Dave Bautista made a fun appearance as Brass Body, which prompted us to watch some wrestling after the movie finished. Alaric demonstrated remarkable proficiency in pro wrestling knowledge, and we decided that drunken wrestle-watching might be a wonderful time waiting to happen.

          Quote of the day:
"Your descent into madness is tangible today." - Alaric

Sapere Aude

          The Modern Political Thought final went quite well. There were matching, fill in the blank, multiple choice, short answer, and a choice of essay prompts; most people went with the Marx prompt, but I chose the one about Benthamite utilitarianism vs. Kantian deontology. I also pulled a "joke answer crossed out with single line" on the definition of sapere aude: "Immanuel Kant's catchphrase, Latin for 'dare to know'; often delivered after defeating other philosophers in rap battles." I watched a few episodes of Parks and Recreation with the boys; I find it mildly to my liking, but I'm not crazy for the main character, played by Amy Poehler. For a comedy, though, I have to say it's one of the better programs I've seen. After a disturbingly powerful and sudden ice cream craving today, Iris arrived with multiple tubs of ice cream and toppings as well, and we all reaped the benefits.
          Quotes of the day:
"Applied modern political thought." - Sean, propping up the toaster with my textbook
"We could take a test on Marx, find the average and that's what everybody gets." - Professor Lovely
"I can't believe I gave away so much free chicken on this thing..." - Professor Lovely
...
Hugh: "What was the answer to the one about Hobbes?"
Muji: "Fear and reason."
Hugh: "Shit, I wrote fear and fear."

Big Bird

          I'm far from interested in typing up the gory details, but my QT paper was well and done by the deadline. My attempt at the last RRE assignment was not quite as successful (I passed out), but I did turn it in with five and a half questions done out of six. Two classes down, two finals to go, and no extraneous work left over.
          Quote of the day:
"I'm supposed to moisturize until I feel like an oily turkey." - Iris

Into the Valley

          I took most of the day to sleep and recuperate from last week's insanity. I shared dinner with Alanna at Stetson East, then braced myself for the flood of work ahead. My QT final paper is due by noon tomorrow, and my grade is almost certainly riding on its quality; after that, I have until six to do the final RRE homework (during finals week...) but I'll probably have a minimal amount of energy to throw into it. Tonight will be a long night - hopefully the last for a while.

Dead Patriots Society

          A cold rain fell on Worcester as we made our egress (some might say escape) from the city. After a brief scare, we realized that the Saturday rail schedule would be different and waited around, observing a minor confrontation between two rather unlikeable people. Overestimating the time I would require to be there on time, I headed straight to my volunteering for the day rather than going home. I took the Red Line farther than I've ever gone, all the way to Quincy Center on the Braintree branch. Once there, I realized that I still had about two hours to kill, so I called my mother to give her an update and got some food at a deli nearby. My volunteer engagement was scheduled to be in the basement of a large church, but the door was locked, so I took shelter from the rain and ate under the overhang at the front of the building.
          Someone finally let me inside, where the Prison Book Fund was operating for the day. It's an all-volunteer group which sends free books to prisoners in order to further their intellectual pursuits, and I immediately took an interest to the work. I stamped packages for delivery, read prisoners' letters to determine what sort of books they were looking for, and wrapped up parcels. Other Northeastern students arrived in a group, we all worked together around a table, and I had a pretty good time. If possible, I'll continue putting in time here next semester - it's work that speaks to me, feels worthwhile, and isn't grueling in difficulty. Some of the mail is quite interesting, like the letter I opened wherein the writer described his efforts to obtain paralegal certification, as well as naming his favorite patriot (John Adams.) Some others had a more melancholy bent, such as an inmate from New Jersey who reported that the state has discontinued all continuing education programs for prisoners. This disturbs me due to the United States' already out-of-control prison population and tendency to put people in prison and leave them there. How can there be rehabilitation if there are no avenues for personal betterment while incarcerated? Then came the letter from someone at "Liberty Correctional Institute," which, while located in Liberty County, Florida, still sounds like a sick joke.
          Aside: we were given a brief tour of the church by the volunteer leader, who indicated that the program is secular but grateful for the church's assistance, and that the place is of historical interest at any rate. It's a beautiful Greek Revival building with a large domed ceiling, and I may have forgotten to mention that there are two dead United States presidents in the basement - John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The only other place where there are multiple presidents buried is Arlington National Cemetery, which hardly counts as exceptional due to its size. The Adams' First Ladies are also buried there, so my count of unexpected basement tombs for the day comes to four.
          After a very brief break at home, Harrison and I went over to Alanna's for drinks and free pizza. Before long, we headed for the Paradise Rock Club to see a band called The Faint. When we got there, Alanna realized that she "lost" her wallet, so we commenced a frantic search. On the Green Line back to Northeastern, she found it tucked in a non-pocket in her bag, and Harrison and I were momentarily stupefied. We returned to the venue, saw a girl fall and eat concrete, and got inside in time for the last song in the opening band's set. Somehow, despite being an hour to an hour and a half late, we were right on time. The Faint was an enjoyable dance-rock outfit, and I danced harder than I had at any show before. I guess I went pretty crazy. It was a busy day, but I had a wonderful time with Sabs, Harrison and Alanna and I wouldn't change a thing.
          Quote of the day:
"This bitch got balls!" - douche in the Worcester train station

Sabreezy Arctica

          I spent much of the early part of the day playing TF2 with Alaric, messing around as a sandvich/mittens hoovy on pub servers. (Translation: We ran around as nearly useless, sandwich-dispensing characters with a weapon that forces the enemy to stop and laugh.) I went to Stetson East with Sabrina and Harrison, where we witnessed some kind of staff drama unfolding. After we ate, Sabrina and I took the T to South Station, where we caught the commuter rail to Worcester. For the first hour there were no seats to be had, but we eventually snagged an abandoned spot. Once we arrived, Sabrina's friend Eric (one of those conversational-and-charming-nerd types) picked us up at the station and took us back to his house at WPI. We dropped our baggage and headed for the Palladium in the city proper.
          Never go to Worcester. It's a terrible place. The Palladium itself is a black hole of ancient carpeting and thirty different kinds of wallpaper, those strange musty venue smells (you know what I mean) and a deep, subterranean coldness. We grabbed a table and sat down for the first two acts, who were both awful. The first band, Black Trip if I remember correctly, was a mess of grunting and grindy guitar, and were thoroughly uninspiring in that special way that only bad metal bands can be. The second act was Arsis, who I've heard of, but they proved disappointing as well; I'm not a metal lightweight compared to most, but I can't go for the wall-of-unintelligible-noise thing. I was dog tired and chilled to the bone, but managed to half-doze through parts of both of these sets. Thank goodness for our booth. Finally, the band we came to see was up: Sonata Arctica. I do enjoy my power metal, and this band did not disappoint. The crowd was pumped at this point, the band went all in, and the singer's theatrics, while corny, were fun anyway. Sabrina and I danced on the floor for the majority of this set, and we left somewhat deafened and quite satisfied with the band. The other special thing about metal is its concert fanbase; there are plenty of completely normal people who love it, and then there's the guy in the cheetah print suit and the girl in an outfit that defies physics/any standard of decency/her mother. On the way out, Sabs and I mused on the venue's name and whether it was a reference to the metal of the same name. We spent the night on Eric's floor - mine as restful as could be, Sabrina's tossing and turning - and were glad to finally crash.
          Quote of the day:
"They call him the rectifier. He's gonna rectify the situation." - Harrison

Praise Plainview

          I received an amusing letter from my brother Ryan today, covered in various stickers. I discovered my nearly untouched drink from last night and finished it, becoming quite day drunk in the process. Iris and I watched the penultimate and final episodes of Boardwalk Empire, season two. Later, I joined Katie for dinner at Stetson East, then returned for a viewing of There Will Be Blood. I greatly enjoyed the movie despite my father ruining the ending for me last year (he gave me a completely wrong impression of who the characters were.) Jonny Greenwood's score, which could have easily been replaced with a standard Western soundtrack, lends an unusual power to the film, and Daniel Day-Lewis is stellar as usual
          Quotes of the day:
"They're all Amish... we should be their friends!" - Laura
"Spin! Spin! Praise pharaoh." - Katie

Only Stings For a Moment

          I spent most of my morning ripping through an extra credit assignment for Quantitative Techniques rather than studying for my International Relations final, reasoning that I could briefly look over the material during QT as a refresher. I ate a breakfast burrito at Boloco with Sean and Alaric, turned to continue with my work and found that I'd just run out of paper. The worst feeling came over me when I entered the QT classroom. Everyone else had calculators and pencils with them, and less computers were visible than usual. Instantly, I knew I'd messed up something terrible, and truly I had: the final was being administered that day, but the Blackboard date had never been updated. Needless to say, I utterly bombed the exam - anywhere from a 20 to a 50, in all likelihood. In a way, though, I'm glad it happened this way. I didn't stress, it was over quickly, and I was lost anyway; I still have a large final project to do, which will hopefully tide my grade over failing.
          My International Relations final went fine. Afterward, I called my father to discuss my glorious return, then steeled myself for my last class with Professor Lovely. Harrison and I brought in our Play-Doh for extra credit, took a webcam pic, and generally enjoyed the class. I went to pep band for a change, a women's hockey game versus Dartmouth; we won 3-2 in overtime. This game was spent chatting with the mellophone section due to a rather shoddy trumpet turnout (which is only normal, I suppose.) We had some company afterward, but I quickly passed out. It was probably for the best.
          Quote of the day:
"It's not the journey, it's the...? Who said that? Jacques Rousseau? Helen Keller?" - Professor Lovely

Hoodfellas

          Considering my sleep deprivation, I wasn't out for too long last night - maybe seven hours. Anyway, Harrison and I took a great walk later on, heading across the Mass Ave bridge, looping around and across the Longfellow Bridge, and settling on a dock with seats attached to it for a while. At one point we ran across a busy street and scaled a fence, and I felt like even more of a hoodrat after a cop drove by, lights flashing, about a minute later. I enjoy Harrison's company because he's interesting, funny, and I never feel judged for anything.

World Record

          I failed to mention my sleep schedule the past few nights. I woke at 4 on Saturday and, with the exception of four cumulative hours of naps, have stayed up for 62 hours total. I cranked out a quick paper for International Relations attacking free trade as an economically unbalancing force, but couldn't remember what it was about until I checked just now. We also had the final disputation in Modern Political Thought, but I can't recall much of that either. I suppose it's true about sleep and memory. Near the end of my streak, I played a teeth-clenching game of chess against Katie (we're two people who hate to lose.) Iris and I also watched some more Boardwalk Empire before I gave in to sleep.
          Quotes of the day:
"I find that figure somehow wrong." - Professor Ogden
"But dude, justice never sleeps!" - me

Extreme Yoga

          Alanna brought over a surprise this evening: homemade eggplant parm and bread to share - one of the best meals I've ever had. Allie, Iris, Harrison, Alaric and Eric all joined us, and for the first time in a while we had a nice sit-down dinner in the suite. Afterward, some of us watched a few episodes of Trapped In the Closet and worked on Katie's "1000 Ways To Kill [redacted]" list, for which we brainstormed ~300 entries in a sitting. I also joined Alanna for a quick jaunt into Burstein (my first) and conversation. This was an enjoyable evening.

Disappointment In Beantown

          As a prelude to the not-greatness of my night, I went to band for a men's hockey game against the contemptible UMass Amherst, which we lost 3-6. The main event for the evening was the Husky Hunt cruise, a trip out on the Spirit of Boston. My pregaming was unsuccessful, and I found myself in no mood to dance. In fact, the only quiet place on the boat was out by the rail, so there I stayed. Sabrina and I spent a few minutes on the top deck with Cassandra, and I came in to find out how we placed in the points (28th place, out of 50 teams.) Afterward, I took a cab for the first time in my life and grossly undertipped, being unfamiliar with cab etiquette.
          Quotes of the day:
"Yo. Be that hopeless place tonight, man." - random guy on the cruise
"I could get with any of them if I wanted to." - Sabrina
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