An end?

So, I got a pretty terse text message from the girl yesterday in response to my friendly “How are you?” – “I’m good – terribly busy.” Now, it is the week before finals and I am extremely busy as well. Even still, that isn’t usually something that you say if you’re interested in hanging out with someone. I guess the logical conclusion is that I’m, to use the colorful phrase, shit out of luck. Oh well. Every end is a new beginning.

So, great news. I’ve finally broken out of my B+ funk by getting an A- on my last sosc paper! After 4 quarters, I am immensely pleased that I have finally achieved some improvement as a writer. Amusingly, the TA gave me an A, and the professor lowered it to an A-. No worries, though – I can’t even begin to describe how happy I was to get an A-. Now, I can’t get my hopes up too high; maybe this was just a crazy fluke and I had a moment of genius. But I can dream.

Econ hilarity

Yesterday, it was my mom’s birthday, so I called her, but she didn’t pick up. My grandmother later called me to say that my mom was too busy preparing the lesson plan for her class the next day. What kind of behavior is that? Why would you not want to talk to you son on, of all days, your birthday?

Today in econ, I was sitting with the people that I usually sit with, Charlotte and Janet. Now, it’s pretty hard to stay awake in my econ class – the professor just isn’t very good at teaching his subject in an exciting manner. Charlotte was falling asleep in the slow fashion that a college student falls asleep in class in – her eyes slowly closing, her head nodding up and down, coming closer and closer to the desk with each nod. On her last nod, she almost hit the desk, but managed to jerk herself awake in time. Janet and I, who were watching her nod off, start laughing really hard, although not very loud – we manage to restrain ourselves. But we simply couldn’t stop laughing. Janet had to bite her hand and I tried to engross myself in my textbook to get my mind off of the hilarity. Good times, good times.

Alright, ye olde blog

So, Thanksgiving was pretty fun. I stayed up all night on Wednesday so that I wouldn’t miss my flight Thursday morning. This turned out to be a very bad idea. Staying up was not difficult in the least; I’m used to staying up very late. Indeed, I managed to pack everything (and not forget anything, quite different from being able to pack everything) and get to my gate an hour before my flight left. The problem arose when I decided, since I had half an hour, to take a nap at the gate. So, I close my eyes and fall asleep. When I open them, the gate area is devoid of people and my plane, which had been faithfully standing at the end of the walkway, was nowhere to be found. That’s right – after getting to the airport and checking my bags and everything, I managed to miss my flight by twenty minutes. Fortunately, I was able to take a later flight.

It was wonderful to see my family after a year. Dinner was, of course, delicious; various Russian dishes, fine wine, and of course, vodka. In fact, I tried four different kinds. However, I have to admit that vodka starts tasting the same to me after I take the first shot. I mean, there are various degrees of burn, but it all tastes nasty. Of course, as not to get drunk, we only took half shots at the table, but two and a half shots is still enough to make one tipsy.

My parents also got me a new suitcase that I won’t have to check-in while flying on short trips. I am immensely pleased, since it is very small and mobile. The duffel bag I have now is huge – it can fit everything I need for a week without trouble, and I’m a pretty lousy packer. This new suitcase is absolutely perfect for small trips such as Thanksgiving, secret missions to the Russia, or consulting work for McKinsey. I mean, I’m a pretty busy guy.

Happy Thanksgiving

Tomorrow, I’m flying to Virginia for my annual visit to see my step-mom’s family. This is very cool. The only downside is that my flight leaves at 10:00 am from O’Hare tomorrow. This is not cool because I’m going to have to leave my dorm at 7:00 am, which means that I have to get up at 6:00 am. Basically, what I’m trying to say here is that I hate getting up early.

Also on the very cool side is that I might be meeting up with my friend Yang in DC. She’s going to celebrate Thanksgiving with her roommate’s family, who conveniently lives in DC. I haven’t seen her for one and a half years, so this is fairly exciting. The only problem is transportation – I don’t have a car there and I don’t know if she does, either. But I’m sure we’ll sort it out somehow.

Just a heads up – I probably won’t have internet access while I’m in Virginia so don’t expect any updates until Monday.

I bought beer!

I bought beer for the first time on Sunday – Jamaican Red Stripe and Mexican Corona Extra. The Co-op is an amazing place that doesn’t card. And Red Stripe tastes delicious. What a rite of passage. We also cleaned the room – washing dishes, vacuuming, and everything. It looks amazing.

Dinner was cancelled by the girl, but we had coffee on Monday. I don’t really know what to think. Some of the things she does make me think that she’s really disinterested in me – i.e. canceling two of our planned dates. However, she did reschedule them right after canceling the dates. Anyway, I’m getting slightly frustrated at being the one who has to plan things to do. It’s not a leader / follower thing (besides, I’m a leader), it’s just that it’s difficult to do when I feel no encouragement from her. But hey, maybe I’m just horrible at reading people.

Quantum physics and randomness

A lot of my friends went to a party on Saturday night but Bryant and I stayed home. I think we were taking it easy because we went to a party on Friday. Anyway, I ended up watching Matrix Revolutions with my friend Pam. Bryant and Shuaib stopped by and we discussed stupid Matrix philosophy – are all of our actions already pre-decided? Bryant gave the counter-argument of quantum physics and how it proves randomness. I doubt either of us made very much sense. And Pam just laughed, because that’s what she always does.

This is how it’s going to be

I like updating my blog, I really do. At the same time, I’ve noticed that over the last few weeks, I have been less than stellar at updating my blog daily. So, as a compromise to myself, I think that I will stop updating my blog on the weekend and try to update it Monday through Friday. Besides, you don’t want to be reading my blog on the weekend anyway. Go to a party or something.

I was wrong about the girl. She’s doing something with her house tonight. We’re going to dinner tomorrow. I am in a fantastically good mood.

Dark and difficult times lie ahead, Harry

Saw a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night. It was fantastic – by far the best of the four movies. I also learned a new lesson: never ever get those deals where you get a large popcorn and two large drinks. My bladder cannot physically contain what is in a large drink. I guess I should have learned this lesson when I saw Proof, but what can I say, I’m a slow learner.

I got an interesting text message yesterday. Interesting in that the girl who I’ve sort of gone on two dates on might be canceling our date tomorrow. All of my friends are coming up with excuses – maybe she’s sick, maybe she has homework, etc. But come on, I’m realistic. Canceling a date is never a good sign.

Alexander is a pretty bad movie

But for some reason, we watched it in history class. I’m not even sure why it was so bad – it just wasn’t a good movie. The battles were pretty cool (big battles with lots of close-ups and blood and stuff are always awesome) but I remember the ones in Gladiator were a lot better.

People dying gruesome deaths is always good. Dust that obstructs aforementioned deaths lacks coolness. I realize that battles in the desert are supposed to raise up a lot of sand, since, after all, people are moving around on sand. That doesn’t matter. It’s a movie. We’re supposed to see the exciting parts.

Let the relaxation begin

I got a grand total of two hours of sleep last night because I was writing my Sosc paper that was due today. Mission accomplished – six pages comparing and contrasting Marx and Smith are currently in the possession of my professor. Unfortunately, the two hours of sleep made me somewhat less than completely charming for my coffee date today. Fortunately, it was a coffee date, so I managed to wake up after drinking some coffee. And now I have a date on Saturday, although what it will be has yet to be decided. Dinner? Movie? A cruise? The possibilities are endless.

Happiness

So. Saturday night I went on a date with a girl who is simply amazing. The date was really good, too. The plan was to go to Little Italy. Now, I’ve been to Little Italy a few times last year, so I figured that I knew my way around. We get there on the train, exit the platform, and turn left. However, little did I know that the platform actually had two exits, and if you get off on the wrong exit, turning left takes you away from Little Italy. I took the wrong exit and we ended up walking a few blocks the wrong way. And, when I finally figured out how to get to Little Italy, the restaurant that I was planning to go to was closed. This was a pity, but fortunately we found another place that was just as good. We also got rained on a lot, which lacked coolness. And even with getting lost and the rain, she still likes me (I think). I couldn’t be happier.

Now, on Tuesday, we’re going to go get coffee at some coffee place that neither of us has been to. I’m super excited.

Wicked!

I saw Wicked yesterday. It is a simply fantastic musical, although the ending was a little too happy for my tastes. Is it wrong to enjoy a good death or two? They did do a superb job of setting up the scene for the Wizard of Oz. I actually haven’t seen a musical since I saw Rent my junior year. I guess my family isn’t very musically cultured (ha, ha).

I saw my Sosc professor today and talked to him about writing papers. Or, perhaps that’s what he thought I was talking to him about. Really, I was subtly probing his brain for ideas on writing my paper. My professor gives out As to papers which he feels are a close and nuanced reading of the text with some creative interpretation. However, his interpretation of a close and nuanced reading is not the same as mine, and I feel that guessing at what he will consider close, nuanced, and creative is an unreasonable demand on my time. Now, I have plenty of awesome ideas which I will be sure to incorporate into my paper. And I feel… wicked.

Okay, so maybe it’s time to update my blog

Lots of really awesome stuff has been happening. Well, maybe one really awesome thing, which is that I have a date on Saturday. I played phone tag with this girl for a few days (I call her, leave a message, she calls me, leaves a message, I call her, leave a message) and then today I saw her waiting for the bus. So, we both got on the bus and had a pleasant conversation on the way back to my dorm (where she also lives – a stunning coincidence, I know). Then, I asked her to dinner and she said yes! Dude, so exciting.

Today, Bryant, Charles, and I went shopping at the Co-op, our neighborhood grocery store. We buy one hundred dollars worth of groceries and we decide to simply take the cart back to our dorm and return it later. So, we’re walking down to our dorm (it’s only two blocks away) and suddenly, this guy who has been walking in front of us turns around and says, “I hope you guys are planning to return that shopping cart. I’m a member of the Co-op and stolen carts are a serious problem.” We immediately assure him that we’re planning to give it back (true) and that we’re members ourselves (also true). We continued walking and he followed us ALL the way back to our dorm! Then, we walk in and the security desk stops him. He shouts after us, “You’re not even supposed to take that out of the parking lot! You better give it back!” We assure him (“okay dude,” “all right,” “see you later,” etc.) that we will and go into the elevator and away from him. The security guard, a very nice lady, later told me that he demanded to see the “people in charge,” and left his email and phone number. She said that she just told him what he wanted to hear. I don’t even want to bring the cart back anymore. I love living here.

Lots of crazy stuff going on

Where do I even begin? Apparently a few first years in my building loathe me because – get this – one of them had a crush on the girl that I hooked up with last Saturday. I mean, really. There’s nothing like blaming other people for your inadequacies. I would be upset, too, but at myself, not other people. I am the architect of my inadequacies.

Speaking of which, I had my presentation on Marx today. It didn’t go badly – the only point to mention is that my professor told me to slow down during my presentation. Stupid, useless policy debate skills.

On Friday night, we had two first years in our room and one of them wanted to go to the bathroom. Now, the path to the bathroom is through the bedroom. The bedroom door was locked because my roommate was having sex. So, what does the first year do? He runs up to the door and kicks it open. The lock immediately breaks, flinging the door open and exposing my roommate. I don’t know who was more embarrassed.

Fuck telemarketers

Telemarketer: Hello, maybe I please speak to Serge?

Me: Dude. Dude, I told you not to call me. I told you to put me on your do not call list.

Her: Sir, do you know who this is?

Me: Who?

Her: I’m calling from US Bank Visa Card and we’re calling all college students today.

Me: Jesus Christ. Take me off of your calling list and never call me again.

Her: Okay sir, but it’ll take up to thirty days to remove your name from the mailing list.

Me: Whatever.

I hang up, and FIVE SECONDS LATER the phone rings again.

Same telemarketer: Hello, may I please speak to Bryant?

Me: Dude! What the fuck? You JUST CALLED HERE!

Her: Sir, I didn’t call anywhere.

Me: You liar! Let me speak to your supervisor right now!

Her: Bye. *click*

No free lunch

Last year, I ordered a Bible from the Mormon Church. I’ve always wanted to read the Bible – I accept the fact that the vast majority of our culture is religious and that the Bible influences many things in our lives, from public policy to literature. It was free. I should have known better.

Now, every six months or so, some poor guy from the Church of Mormon calls me up and tells me about how there are some Mormons in my area who want to talk to me about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Now, I have to say, I haven’t even read the Bible yet. I’ve read half of the first page before it got boring. And I don’t really want to talk to some Mormons about religion. That isn’t my idea of a fun time. If I want to debate theology, I can do it at my school. However, I still feel kind of bad turning him down because he’s so well meaning. Maybe there’s something good in me after all. Or maybe I’m just poor.

Chill out, man

Before I begin this story, let me say something about my Legal Reasoning professor. He is a big guy. I’d say that he was easily two hundred fifty pounds. The story: I’m sitting in my Legal Reasoning class and we’re talking about Booth v. Maryland. It’s a pretty interesting death penalty case about the victim impact statement introduced by the prosecution for the sentencing of the defendant… but no matter. Now, the class that is in the classroom before ours is a math class and apparently, the math graduate student who teaches the class forgot to pick up his class’ homework. So, he comes in with about ten minutes left in the class, interrupts the professor and says, “I’m sorry, I forgot to pick up the homework from my class, can I get it?” My professor SLAMS the podium with his fist, turns away from the math graduate student, walks away for a few steps, then turns around and yells, “I’M SORRY TOO! I’M SORRY YOU INTERRUPTED MY CLASS! I’M TRYING TO TEACH!” Picture it – this huge guy yelling at this scrawny little math dude. The math guy was scared shitless, grabbed the homework, and basically ran out of the classroom. I’ve never seen a professor get so angry.

I had my econ midterm today. It was pretty damn hard. Hopefully I did well, but we’ll see.

I am a failure as a student

Okay, so maybe that was a little exaggeration. But I am seriously disappointed in myself. I cannot possibly, under any circumstances, receive a grade better or worse than B+ on any paper I write. This is proven from results in my Hume class, my Sosc class, and my Legal Reasoning class. I have tested in under a variety of conditions. I’ve written papers by pulling an all-nighter the night before they’re due and by writing them on the day they get assigned, after which I take them to writing tutors, the teaching assistant, and the professor. Everything leads to the same result. It’s amazing. I’m like a B+ idiot savant.

Also, I went to the Resident Master’s dinner with Laura Letinsky. The food was amazing and Laura is an amazing photographer. Photography is my favorite artistic medium – I feel that the images are very real, which is probably why my favorite artist is Vermeer, since his paintings are so… perfect. Now I’m inspired to become a photographer. This reminds me of last year, when I went to a faculty dinner with Steven Levitt and was inspired to be an economist. Maybe I’ll take a photography class sometime.

Bras are amazing

If dressing up as a woman has taught me a single thing, it’s that bras are the universal pocket. And they’re so easily accessible! I could fit a sock, a piece of paper, and twenty dollars into one side and another sock, a watch, and a pen in the other side. In addition, I could hold my lipstick in the middle. You can’t walk around with socks in your pockets; you’d look funny. But bras? Anytime.

I wish I actually knew people who were from Chicago. The bad part about going to college is that there are very few people there who are actually from the place where the college is…