It's Been A While....

Wow...it's been a really long time since I last posted. I am very sorry about that. I am finally on spring break - IAW and Mock Trial were finished with a long time ago. I didn't get Freshman Counselor or a job in London (that's ok - everything that happens, it happens for the best). I am now starting to work on papers and reading - apply for more jobs in D.C. (I have a job interview tomorrow for the Center for American Progress). Life is good and bad at the same time - and I can't quite explain it. I have had a few interesting experiences to tell you about.

So...I have discovered Nintendo Wii - it's terrible for my studying habits - but I use it as a study break - so I turned its destructive qualities (i.e. waste of time) into a treat, and incentive if you please, to motivate me to study for longer periods of time. The thing is Wii is probably the only video game that I have ever and will ever know how to play. Most video games have complicated controlers - but the Wii - you just have to be able to move your hands - it's incredible technology. The funny thing is when I am old, my children are going to laugh at this technology and they won't believe that we played with stuff so ancient.

On to other news, for my "Race and Violence in the American City" seminar paper, I am doing research in the Manuscripts and Archives Library at Yale. I've been looking at the Cyrus R. Vance Papers - Cyrus Vance was the deputy Secretary of Defense during the 1967 Detroit Riots. First of all, what it takes to get in there is rather high security - you have to register and then sign in. You aren't allowed anything except a laptop - they provide you with pencil and paper if you need it. Then they take you to the items you've called up (in this case Cyrus Vance's papers) and you sit at a table in a dimly lit room and read over the documents you've requested. It's what historians do - and it felt sooo cool doing it. The manuscript and archive room is gorgeous and the people who were doing research in the room seemed like they had never seen the light (regular light and warm temperatures are bad for the documents they keep). They were probably history graduate students - looking at declassified FBI documents just like me. What was interesting was that there were portions of the documents that were taken out because they were "restricted", but I am fairly sure that you can find those documents online. Ooops....

I am leaving for home this Thursday - looking forward to being home with my parents! I will get to interview some witnesses of the Detroit riots while I am there, which will be enlighting to be sure. That's it for now - and until next time, here's a quote, to bring back an old tradition of mine.

Come out of the circle of time
And into the circle of love.
-Rumi