Dinner

Chili is what's for dinner. I just made 6 -8 servings. I'm 3 for 3 on bringing my lunch to work this week.

Welcome to 1965:

Welcome to 1998:

Welcome to the future:

Mr. T

I've had a long standing obsession with Mr. T. He consistently found his way in to school projects, stories, and just about anything else I could make. His legacy seemed to fade away despite the release of the A-team DVD's. I just witnessed Mr. T in a world of warcraft commercial where he claimed that he was good with computers and created his own character mohawk elf. I'm glad Mr. T is back. Maybe one day he'll be on Conan again.

Evaluation

As a young college student, I strove to figure it out. How do I write a good paper? Wait too fast. How do I start a writing a good paper? Well alright now that I tried, how do I revise a bad paper? My thoughts and ideas outpaced my ability to write, but that didn't discourage my optimism. A sporadic day after the assignment was due, the professor would rumble into the room juggling more than usual. The early morning murmurs would trail away as students eyes shifted to the door to catch a glimpse of a flustered professor fumbling one too many items. Attention was stead fast as the extra item - the fat stack of papers - slammed the barren desk. "I've finished grading your papers. You'll receive them at the end of class." A cacophony would ring out when a few members of the peanut gallery grumbled, came to terms with the beginning of class, shifted in their seats, plopped open their binders, and clicked their mechanical pencils. Cliffhangers were not popular amongst this bunch.

Largely, it would slip my mind until the last 5 minutes. I'm not going to wait after class to get this paper. This better wrap up soon I'd think. On occasion I'd softly pack my belongings and convince myself it was imperative that I leave on time. My eyes darted between the professor and clock. Get the hint, get the hint. Finally. "Thanks." I'd thumb through the paper catching the tone of the comments scribbled in the margins, survey the grade, slipped the paper in my bag, and stroll out a few minutes early.

One paper I received with clean margins had just two markings - "B please rewrite." There was nothing particularly bad about a B, and in fact B meant good; however it was class policy that the first paper less than a B+ had to be rewritten. I had 48 hours. Back in my room, I flipped on the cold lamp situated above my computer and rested my paper next to the keyboard in the dull yellow spotlight. What to change? There were no comments. Stupid rewrite. I ended up changing a bit here and there - sprucing up the language. The paper was nothing remarkable, but I remember it because of the questions I pondered with the blank B I received.

It was not about the B. I was not in college to figure out how to get B's and A's - a simple evaluation. I was there to think for myself; to be educated, not just evaluated. When I got over the evaluation I received, I was able to think for myself. For whatever reason there were no comments on that paper (probably because the paper was a B; it was just hard to say why), I took something from it. These four years are about my growth, not my scores.

We should focus our efforts on the methods and culture surrounding education, rather than the results. We need to eliminate the stigma of a kid with a book or doing math problems is nerdy.

O'Hare

1. Grievances
-Airlines have had trouble getting my flights off the ground on time. My past 6 flights have been delayed an hour or more. David Sedaris's reflections article about transcontinental air-travel kept me sane.
-Bookjackets are an infuriating invention. I don't like reading with them on the book. With each turn of the page the book wiggles a bit in an attempt to free itself from the loose confines of the jacket and its pretentious quotes. Removing the  jacket is a bold move, because me and my neurosis do not like to lose them. I can't get over the feeling of falling into a soft chair, wrapping a blanket over my legs, hearing the suttle click of the reading lamp the rifles through the silence, and feeling the cloth like binding and thick pages sandwiched between my thumb and index finger.

-What did they call the index finger before index cards? Wikipedia has no answer.

2. People at Airports

-Please don't wear velour jump suits; you're in public.

-Look where you are walking

-You do not need to wait for somebody to help you at the self-check-in.

3. Internet

-I laughed at the amount of online profiles someone had, only to realize I had more. This is out of hand - Google, Yahoo!, Start-Up, Google purchased start up(now two id's same profile), Start-Up, and so on. I need to consolidate. Web 2.0 is Web Out of Control. I'm looking forward to when the phrase web 2.o is left in 1995, or wherever it came from.

4. Things I'm waiting for

-A consulting firm that specializes in Facebook and OpenSocial apps.

-Another online profile

-To read the books I own

-When I learn to use punctuation properly or at all

The World

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but it's never come out right; however, this time I'm going to write it either way this time.

Last year as the leaves changed color and the snow fell, I found it aggravating that the phrase "entering the real world" found it's way into so many of my colleagues plans for the upcoming year. It would fall casually out at Downer, Senior Dinner, or at Graduation. College is not some play time phase of our lives where we study in the candy land forest and stroll down gum drop lane to class. My four years at Lawrence stand in stark contrast to what I'm currently doing, but I've never felt that the experiences I had, the growth I underwent, friends I made, challenges I overcame, and things I learned at Lawrence are not real. Lawrence was four years where I lived in a real bubble.

Soap

Only I didn't say fudge.

The Year 2007

The year 2007 is coming to a close and the best of lists are going to come flying of the press and rolling out of the blogs. Top ten albums, films, books, celebrities, homes, and anything else you could imagine. I don't have any top tens, and I don't feel a need to classify my thoughts, moments, and hobbies into a calendar year, because it's not during the moment when I exclaim "happy new years" that I get a new set of interests or trends. Forget that.

Fastidious. I like that word. Not for what is stands for or means, but for how it sounds. "Fastidious." There I said it.

Last week I ended up in a mall to purchase pants. I forgot it was christmas season; that's a mistake I'll never make again.

Like usual I need a haircut, and this post has lost it's direction.

The Year 2000

Until I dated my rent check December 4, 2007, I had completely overlooked the fact that it was December 2007. There were small clues lurking in the background these past four day; the morning I realized that I had forgotten to say "rabbit rabbit" or the light flurries that dusted the ground on my trek to work, but it sunk today: this is December. For me the year 2007 happened in the future, and I watched the milestones stampede past me - graduate, get a job or go to school, find some health care, move to a new place, pay loans, give up a car, learn how to cook. After some turbulence, things fell in place; I ended building a place to live out of duplo and lego - a bit of a mismatch but with a touch of finesse all the pieces fit. Now here I am in DC 6 months removed from graduation, 4 months removed from Chicago, and closing in on 2008. It's a year I've never thought about; probably because I was never really sure if it was possible. Here it comes, and I won't be surprised if I feel the same way in one year.

Here's a picture of my neighborhood.

Monday

I need a half day today in order to ease myself back into working.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I enjoy having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. For the most part it's candy for breakfast, and that's delicious.

Confused in October

My body is physically confused. The calendar says that October is coming to a close, but the leaves are still green, the barometer is still sitting over 80 degress, and I haven't started school yet. What happened to Fall?

Around Town; College Town

My building has the oddest elevators. It's ten floors total, and I live on the 9th floor; however, I never seem to ride the elevators with anyone. Up and down all day with out any company. Occasionally, in the morning it stops on the 7th floor to pick up the 14 year old who is on his way to school, but other than that it makes the building feel like a ghost town with empty carts oscillating between the floors. Anytime of day, I flow up and down with only the slight ding breaking the silence to remind me to exit.

This evening when I was riding back from a quick but urgent trip to McDonalds for french fires, and I found myself in the strange position of riding up the elevator with an older couple who, according to the elevator buttons, live one floor above me. They must have been over 80, and have lived in the building since it first opened.

She looked me up and down and inquired about my sweatshirt "Lawrence...is your name Lawrence?"

"No, I went to school there."

"Oh, have you heard of Miami University in Ohio, Oxford, Ohio? I went to Miami. Miami in Oxford, Ohio. I loved it, beautiful campus."

"Yeah, I have a friend who went there."

"Oh, wonderful! I loved Miami."

I wonder if I'll feel like that about Lawrence in 60 years. At this point I'm not sure.

Today

Today I don't have to work. Today I'm going to get a couch, and plants.

Storage Closet

I had to leave work today so I could make it home before the metro closed.

Work Life Balance

Work-Life Balance - one phrase I'll never be fooled by again.