Silver Sharpie and Love

I don't know why I titled this entry that way....I just was looking for something cool and alternative. Anyhoo, I am supposed to be studying for my Arabic test, but I realized that at a certain point there isn't much studying can do for you. I'll know why I didn't get the greatest score, and that's because I didn't study enough (or I just don't get Arabic; I would prefer the former because at least that can be fixed.)

So the reason I write today, is because I came many realizations all to have them crash and burn. But from the ashes of my former realizations arose the idea that maybe I do like my life at Yale. Despite all the bitching and moaning I did last semester, that I still liked my time here. Don't get me wrong, I was in a definite sophomore slump, and I think I have gotten out of it (knock on wood for me). But I generally enjoy my time here, with my sister, my friends, my classes. Actually, to go on a tangent, my seminar last week went wonderfully; the kid that usually talks to much didn't, so it made for a fruitful discussion. And my TA for Con. Law, the calmest and chillest person at the Law School and probably the only person who can relate the 1st amendment to tube tops.

Now on to the juicy stuff...about my mock trial team. Oh how things get mixed up...so everything is working out on the regional side. The other team that wanted to go to Bristol is going to go, and Yale is sending three teams there now. The new business that has me reeling (and it shouldn't, because I totally knew it) was that one of the girls on the team, who is friend as well, has a CRUSH on my coach. I KNOW.....crazy, and now we have to have a tissues and issues night to talk about all this. To be honest, I thought she was being obvious about her feelings, because I sort of thought she had a thing for him, but still, it is all a little shocking. I mean, my coach is a very nice guy, but I thought the dipping (chewing tobacco) would have turned her off. But I think her's is a visceral kind of crush; one where you just want to grab the person and make out (her words, not mine). I, of course, have no idea what she means, because I am strange, but I can understand that kind of reaction. But to my mock trial coach, it's a little bit sketchy.

Peggy Bundy - "Tell me you love me, Al."
Al Bundy - "I love football, I love beer, let's not cheapen the meaning of the word."
- From Married with Children

Short Entry....Long Entry for Later

So...as it's is almost time for me to go to class...I am going to write....bullet point summary of what's up...

1. Mock Trial: had a meeting everyday this week. Woo hoo!
2. Suitelife: Wonderful....no complaints, though some housing issues have come up for next year.
3. Classes: Great; my seminar was great, Constitutional Law+ section= great, other classes are really good (though one is boring and the other is hard).
4. Friends: They are good (I think), little trivialities here and there.
5. Apathy: tons (on Yale's campus that is). There was a really poor showing at the divestment rally to protest the genocide in Darfur.

That's all for now! I'll blog later tonight!

Taking Over My Life

So, today I have another mock trial meeting which is our first scrimmage against another Yale team. We've been trying really hard to get a meeting with them, but they've always had something to do. That's not dedication; I tell you now, that mock trial has taken over my life. It will take over my life for the next few weeks, until the regional. And hopefully if we do well at the regional, it will take over my life until Spring Break, and during Spring Break. That's right, I never will have a normal college student spring break. Clearly there are a plethora of other reasons (i.e. I don't like the whole going to Cancun or something equivalent crap so I can be on Girls Gone Wild, because that stuff is just disgusting), but mock trial is probably going to be one of them.

Last night, the MSA had their Eid-al-Adha dinner. While chaos ensued the first part of the dinner, and everyone came up for seconds before everyone had had firsts, it went well over all. I have a ton of pictures (sorry, I haven't uploaded them yet...but I will, promise). Muslim people can be strange sometimes, but I like being around them most of the time. There was someone at the dinner, who I had recognized from somewhere. Then it dawned on me that he was the asshole sitting in front of me in the airport shuttle from Grand Central to LaGuardia who gave the ticket collector a hard time. I mean he was being an ass and that is not an understatement. What the heck was he doing at the Eid-al-Adha dinner? And then I realized that he was friends with a grad student in the forestry school, and suddenly my respect for this grad student dropped tremendously. The whole point of this rant, was to say that last night, MSA took over my life. I was with these people from 2 until 12. Setting up, cleaning up, hanging out, and watching RENT again, which was showing at the YMSFS.

The other part that is taking over is my friend, who has become rather clingy. Eat every meal with him or her, have classes together, among other things. If I gave too many specifics, you'd know who I was talking about. But trust me, the relationship has become a clingy one, and I am trying to get him or her to branch out and have other friends. But maybe that doesn't seem possible.

Life is a mystery, not a problem to be solved - Albert Einstein

Soreness

So yesterday, I had a two hour workout. It gave me an amazing endorphin high, a wonderful, but productive study break, and a sore body 24 hours later. I mean I did weight lift, so it would make sense that you would be sore (otherwise, you aren't doing something right or enough). We played basketball for an hour, where I showed that my skills were lacking in...well...skills. It was fun nonetheless, but it left me with a huge amount work left to be done. Here I am...procrastinating on this blog, refusing to get to my seminar readings.

By the way, my petition to take the overlapping classes was approved, (I think I talked about it before) even though I wouldn't know why it wouldn't have been approved. The only reason I doubted it at all was because my very effective dean, who is supposed to be my academic advisor, shot it down completely. Well...I showed him didn't I.

I know I haven't posted the pictures yet, but I will as soon as I go to Providence tomorrow and have great pictures from there. So MLK Jr. Day is one of the few days that Yale observes. They don't ever want to be seen as racially insensitive or politically incorrect, so all the better for me. So a few friends and I are going to take advantage of this Monday off by piling into my suitemate's new car (a Honda Pilot) and take a road trip to Providence, RI. Brown University is there. So is my cousin and some crazy kids from my high school that I don't want to see ever again, but because of my luck I will see them tomorrow (thank you God for that one). They have canals that gondolas run through; it's crazy, I know. I am looking forward to it, because road trips are always fun and I've never been to Providence before. New experiences are necessary for any growth of personality, wisdom and effective procrastinatory techniques.

Crap...not that I am feeling bad or anything...

...in fact I feel wonderful and relaxed. I am reading trashy magazines, listening to Simon and Garfunkle, and going to watch Wedding Crashers. But I just realized that I am going to have to do that much more work when I finally get the books I ordered from Barnes and Noble. Not to be cliche, but, frankly, I don't give a damn. It still sounds good...doesn't it?

Not much to update on...got my petition approved. YAY for that. Classes are getting starting; and I won't have this kind of free time for a while. So...this isn't easy for me to say....but I will be cheating on this blog.

Someone has asked me to do another blog, mainly TheU.com, which a while back asked me to be the official blogger for Yale on their website. I don't know when that is going to get started (I've been waiting since the beginning of this school year!), but they said they'll have their blogging website up and running soon. The requirements is three posts a week...hefty, huh? Last semester, I sometimes didn't make an entry for months. We'll see if I can keep up...what's the worst they can do? Fire me...they aren't even paying me for it.

Well...that's all for now...

Excited....I can literally feel it!

I am suffering from a weird sensation. I think I am excited, but about what I do not know. We are playing Assassins in my residential college -- and my target knows I am after him. I have know idea who is my assassin, but they probably don't know who I am, because no one has tried to attack me yet. Maybe that's why I feel like everything is moving really fast. Did I have too much caffeine...I think that might be it.

God, I can't even think straight. Here's the update. I have to wait to hear from the Committee of Honors and Academic Standings, because my classes overlap, so I had to petition them to switch my Arabic sections for a day. It's a simple solution, and if they don't approve it, they are stupid. But if they do approve it, I am going to take:

• Global Environmental Change (geology course; who'd have thought I would be taking a geology course).
• Constitutional Law (will probably be the best course I take at Yale...yes that's how amazing it is. Prof. Amar was mentioned on The West Wing. Yes...that's how sick he is. A deity among mortals...)
• Arabic (which will kick my ass again, but it's getting better)
• Religion and Politics in South Asia (a seminar, so I have to be on top of my game for this one)

I will still have a lot of work, because my classes (except for GEC) are all work intensive.

Even after all that typing...I still have the weird excited, nervous feeling in my arms. Maybe this exacerbating it...

I won't be able to sleep tonight...like I said....I can literally feel it!

Unhappy and I Don't Know Why!!!

Here are the only words that I can use to describe what I am thinking, and they are someone else's.

“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russian Novelist and Writer, 1821-1881)

Back in the Have

I have been back in New Haven for about a day and a half. I have moved out completely from my single, though not completely into the double. My suitemate...who is still asleep at 1:42 in the afternoon...still hasn't moved all her stuff out. And plus, I have more stuff then can fit in the sardine-can-closet that I have now. I'll figure it out though. The common room looks a whole lot better than it used to. Now there isn't this eyesore in the corner.

I am a little homesick. I miss my mom's cooking, and with Eid-al-Adha coming up, I miss home even more. I didn't feel this way last year, but I don't know. My dad gave me a huge speech about how he loved to go to school; he was always excited about coming back from breaks. They must brainwash you really well back in Bangladesh, because I did not feel that love at Yale. Hopefully, this semester will be different.

Everything exists in limited quantity - especially happiness. - Picasso

Last Day at Home

Sooooo....this is my last day at home, and it has been the worst one yet. Not just because I really don't want to go back to school, with all the stresses, but also because there hasn't been an ounce of sunshine in Ann Arbor since December 19th. That's right, it's been cloudy and miserable for the past 3 weeks now. I feel bad for my parents who I'll be leaving behind in this weather. Who am I kidding? New Haven weather is certainly not going to be any better.

Now you are thinking, what has she been doing with her time inside? Well, I have this internship application due tomorrow, that has two essays. The essays have, catch this, character limits. That means that I have to make sure that one of my essays has to be 3000 letters, numbers, and spaces. Thank GOD for Microsoft Word, which does the counting for you, but imagine if that was the case and I had to handwrite the essay. Oh lord! Anyway, these essays have given me one hell of an ulcer - as most essays do. Not that they are hard; one asks for a personal statement as to why you are qualified to work with the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the other asks what book should every college student be required to read before graduating (I think I mentioned this before). I decided to go with On Liberty by J.S. Mill. It's a pretty neutral book, with a very important message. Frankly, I haven't read enough earth-shattering books in my life; so the choice was either go for and old dead white guy from the Enlightenment or never apply for the internship.

Otherwise, I have been reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (like I said, not the earth-shattering kind of girl), which has been a wonderful adult book about magic. Until now, I have had to venture into the children's and young adult's section of the bookstore for a good fantasy book. Yet, this book, it was in the literature section; which means its for big people like me! And of course, plugging away at those MSA scrapbooks, which sadly, I will not have done before the break is over, but I have made a lot of progress. I really hope the board will like them. Next time I write...I'll be in the Have!

"Parting is such sweet sorrow." - William Shakespeare.

Been A Long Time...

It's been two and half weeks since I got home, and I haven't written an entry. I just haven't been up for it really; but I thought, I should write one entry about my break. It hasn't been eventful or anything; I did go see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, which was a really good movie, despite its Christian underpinnings (which don't disturb me nearly as much as the Christian lobby behind the promotion of this movie as an evangelical front equal to that The Passion of the Christ, as I read in a recent article). Otherwise, I have been reading quite a bit - I finished the first book of The Bartemius Trilogy, and got really excited when I saw the third book in the bookstore, only to realize that I still have to read the second installment. I also read The Argumentative Indian, which I had to write a book review for a student publication. I'll post my review of it later on...I can finally have something intellectual on this blog. Anyways, now I am reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which is sort of an adult fantasy novel, which I am also thoroughly enjoying. So far, no bad reading. One of my friends borrowed Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and finished it over break - she says she can't wait to discuss it with me. At my high school, I had no one to discuss these kinds of books with, but Yale has completely changed that for me. Diversity...a beautiful thing. I also managed to finish the latest installment of "The Boondocks" collection; which was hilarious. So..all books to read, including C.S. Lewis, even if you aren't a child.

Other things to happen - watched many movies, a lot of new ones among them - like the Iranian film The Color of Paradise and Whale Rider, a film about the Maori tribes in New Zealand, and of course March of the Penguins. I also watched The Remains of the Day, which was about the secret rapport that developed between the Nazis and British aristocrats prior to WWII, and Madagascar, which was funnier than the reviews allowed it to be. All very interesting or fun movies; I would recommend them all. There are so many movies I still want to see...I guess I will have to wait until they are on DVD. Hopefully, the Yale Medical School Film Society will show some of them!

I have barely been able to get the work I had set aside for winter break done; I am not nearly as finished as I want to be with the scrapbooks, but they are coming along quite nicely. Pictures will be coming soon (the internet connection is a little-bit slower at home)! And the essays are non-existent for the NEH internship I am applying for. But I have a few more days, so they will done. I was looking at the NEH website to see what their mission was (not a very detailed one I might add) to help with the essay question about experience and academic interest helping me with an internship at the NEH. It's a long shot for me to get the internship, but I might as well try...right? Their second essay is about what book should every college student read before graduating college. I had to think a while about this, but as of right now, I am leaning towards Mill's On Liberty (I would say Said's Orientalism, too bad I haven't read it...), because it is always relevant and speaks to many of the issues we deal with today in America (I asked my sister if I could assume I was dealing with American college students, and she said it would be), like the wire-tapping without a search warrant that the President is having to talk about today.

I have pictures from my trips around Ann Arbor coming too...but until then....I'll see you in New Haven.