Events and Thoughts

I haven't posted in a while again...and I probably shouldn't be wasting my time posting now, because I have so much work to do. But what does it matter...I'll always have a ton of work to do. So a lot has happened to me by way of events, and a lot of thoughts have occured to me along the way. I have actually started a tally, a book, where I write my thoughts down that I think would be interesting for my blog. So here goes; events and thoughts:

• We are into the last ten nights of Ramadan, and I have been trying to be as observant as I can, but I always feel like I can do more. Unfortunately, this annoying thing called school keeps getting in my way. I have been going to Tarawih on the odd nights, hopefully I will catch Lailatul Qadr during that time. So as I have been praying, I have noticed that there are runs on the rugs, and they are in the shapes of hands. As soon as I can, I will definitely get a picture up on here, so you can see what I see as peoples's refusal to raise from sujud. It's quite amazing.
• I have been chosen to be the official Yale blogger for The U website, whatever that is supposed to mean. But what I have to do is write an entry every week for this website about college life. What is scary is that high school students are going to think that my life is what real life at Yale is like. God...what a turn off! Hopefully I can entertain...probably not with my stories, but with others. You know the drama of others people lives; it becomes my own.
• Fall is coming...well it's already here, and it is beautiful. I will definitely be taking pictures of Yale in the fall, just like I did in the spring. There is one tree near Sterling Memorial Library that I love; it turns this violent blood red color. It's quite spectacular.
• I have two consecutive friend's birthdays in a row. One of my friends is turning 20 today. She's a big fan of That 70's Show and the Batman series, so we bought those for her. My other friend turns 24 tomorrow (she's a Halloween baby). We got her an amazing bracelet that she had been oogling over in the mall a couple of weeks before.

Well...I need to get to class...otherwise I would give more thoughts...but I should be responsible...really!

Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be. - H.D.
Thoreau

A Day of Judgement...kind of!

May God not strike me down for heresey or blasphemy, but today was a day of judgement...kind of! I was supposed to get three of the four midterms I took already back; therefore I would know where I stand in all my classes. If, by the very slim chance, I was doing badly in one of my classes (I don't say that to be cocky, but merely representative of Yale's wonderful grade inflation, present in every Ivy) I could drop the class by the God-given gift of the drop/add deadline. So at Yale, if you drop a class by this date, the class will not show up on your transcript at all...as if you had never taken the class. Pretty good way to keep your grades looking sharp; but anyway, I got only two of my midterms back. The TAs are still grading the midterms for my Brain and Thought class. So, my grades for my two other classes, Crime and Punishment...(*drum roll*)... A... (*yay!*)... and for History of Modern South Asia....(*drum roll*)...B...(*boo!*). So yeah, not too bad, right? I have one more midterm, in Arabic; I am not expecting much out of that one. My standing in my classes is respectable.

Wouldn't that be great though, if God, gave you a midterm progress report in life. I wonder what the drop/add deadline would be?

All Done and Relaxed...sort of

I was looking at a previous post of mine, where I told myself that I would enter a post everyday. Well I failed at that...but I'll try again, now that I am not as busy, starting today. So some new things that happened to me:

1. I am all done with midterms...finally!
2. I entered a blogging contest, where they are trying to collect the best college bloggers, and they will give you a site, where you have to go and write a post every week, if you get selected. We'll see how that works out!
3. I am now the ECAASU (East Coast Asian American Student Union) Bid Team co-chair. ECAASU has a conference each year, and colleges have to bid each year to get the conference at their college next year. I am one of a few South Asians, so it is weird, as you know.
4. I have finally been placed on a Mock Trial team and it is....(drum roll)...the Bulldog team. I am on the team with one of my very good friends, and some very chill freshman. It looks like it will be a fun year!
   
5. I am finally getting Arabic. I never thought it would happen, but it did!

This past weekend, I went to see Batman Begins, at last. All summer I wanted to see it, and I finally was able to see it at the Medical School Film Society with a few friends. It was awesome. As one of my friends always says, you can't go wrong with tons of cool gadgets and an hot superhero in a movie.
Christian Bale was a good Batman too (isn't that such a great picture of him?), and the end of the movie left room for a sequel with the villan being the Joker instead of Raz-al-Ghul. And it also didn't hurt that it had Morgan Freeman!

Despite watching the movie, my weekend was stressed because I had my final midterm and an Arabic test yesterday, which I spent the rest of the weekend studying for. And midterm week always leaves you behind in your work. So while I am not stressed, I am not completely relaxed. But when are you ever truly relaxed in college. There is always something to do...

Whew....

3 down, 1 more to go.  And an Arabic exam.  This week has been hell for me.  I hate midterms, and I just want to take a break.  But it’s not coming until Thanksgiving, and you know Yale professors are going to assign homework over the break.  Just like in high school…only harder.  I have a busy…and hungry weekend ahead of me.  




Pray for the victims of the earthquake and donate to relief funds.

Night to Take a Break

Tonight I saw Bride and Prejudice again at the Yale Medical School Film Society with my sister and a mutual friend.
I was supposed to go see it with a couple of other friends, but they pseudo-ditched me to see another movie in someone's suite. It would have normally hurt a little, but I need this break so badly that I didn't even care. I love this movie; it is so fun and cheesy. A lot of people I know don't like it, but that's because they don't see for the satire that it is.

Favorite line: "Some of the girls there have even become the lesbian." - Mr. Kholi

First Day of Ramadan

Ramadan for me is usually an exciting time for me. I love my mother's cooking with wonderful dishes for iftaar and then the ridculously full feeling I have afterwards. I then proceed to sit with my father and talk about my day and the world news. Last year, my first Ramadan away from home, I was quite content with the way the holiday went. I had found an almost family in the Muslim community at Yale, and the food was so much better than eating in the dining hall. Unfortunately, this year I wasn't quite as excited for Ramadan. First of all, it's so early in the year, so hit me like a train. And second, I have so much more work for some reason, so I can't have the leisurly iftaars that I usually had last year. I can't go to Taraweeh prayers, because of work. I mean, today, I had Arabic homework and it took 3 freakin' hours!!! That's just not right! I am going to try to buck up...really!

I am just homesick and want to be home for Ramadan!

They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. - Andy Warhol

Lyrics That Fit

Where is the moment we need at the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces everytime
And I don't need no carryin' on

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on

You had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day

(Oh.. Holiday..)

Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong

So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

The Droll Pattern of Everyday Life

I haven't posted in a while and that's because (and I hate to give this as a reason) I have so busy. The work never seems to stop and it never seems to get a little lighter in the load. It only seems to get heavier and take longer. I have gotten into this habit of thinking "I am going to post today" and then 2 AM strolls around and I am too beat to even type. So I post right before I go to dinner, just so I can rant about how life is getting really sucky these days. I don't know why, but I have been depressed. My sister is worried, because depression runs in the family. But she doesn't think it's hit me fully yet (she wants to be a psychiatrist, so she knows what the symptoms are), but she tells me to take it easy. I don't think I can...and then she mentions the most preposterous idea. "It's probably all the stress. Have you ever thought about dropping one of your classes?" God...no...I mean, what the heck? One of my friends is taking 6.5 credits, I should be able to take 5.5 credits, right? And I know that I shouldn't compare myself to others, but I don't think it's my workload that's causing me to be stressed out. It's me. I am just unhappy with the way my life is turning out. I haven't found a groove to this year, and it's going to be disrupted by Ramadan. Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to Ramadan, but I will have to break the small pattern of life that I do have for it. And on top of it I won't be eating. Hopefully, God's blessing will make me feel better...at least that's what I am praying for.

Ramadan Mubarak to everyone!