You know - for kids!

Congratulations to Mac for finishing her thesis - and a day early, at that! May you have much hucking, pouncing, data point collecting, or whatever strange phrase is going to land you some cute little bear cubs.


I am inwincible!!! The predatory ear always seems to perk up when I'm fooling around on the piano practicing for 51, but I can never identify which particular contemporary song or soundtrack tune I'm recognizing (alas, it's never one from the 'literature'). After 24 hours of agony I was forced to skim my movie database and saw Arachnaphobia, which --> John Goodman --> Big Lebowski --> Coen Brothers --> Hudsucker Proxy. Could it be? Yes it could! (even if it's not Bernstein, it's still 'fan-f***ing-tastic').

T-minus 3 days. Just like a cheese grater!

Drop him like a toilet seat, Tommy!

It's official! I've come back from a somewhat undeserved black belt those many years ago to one that I feel like I actually earned. It really is a shame that I only picked this up now, at the end, but how grateful am I that a certain captain of a certain men's team didn't sound all that encouraging when I asked about joining BRedline. I still pretty much got what I was looking for, with Season 1 with Dr. McDreamy, post-thesis euphoria, Quasar tag-alongs, and (maybe?) another Leverett Formal still to come.


A 7AM crew certification was painfully early. Still, it would have been easier with some of the old familiar faces. Salvesen, Johnnidis, where are you?

T-minus 6 days: Rum Swizzles at Coral Beach

Pack up all my cares and go, here I go, singin' low

Last week proceeded according to the "severe mental stress followed by reward" metric. I only had time to see Cristina once; can you believe the injustice? Lucky for me, my stomach didn't need the workout - it got plenty of exercise holding alcohol and supporting my breath this past weekend with the Kroks.

(most pictures credit to kang)

Even though the Sanders staff was more categorically anal than anything I've ever experienced, and we got kicked out of Annenberg at the stroke of midnight, the juju kept on flowing thanks to generous Krok alums (and honorary Kroks) and the Presidential Suite at the Charles. K'01 was reunited for the first time since 2002, and pianos at the H-Club allowed for endless repetitions of Buckley and U2, on top of the weekend's expected singing. Eeyore only made one or two appearances, and was quickly sent away with a dash of, "Dude. You're gonna step into the batter's box and start swingin'. And you're gonna strike out some. But you know what? 1 out of 3 is still gonna get you the grand slam and the Hall of Fame." Without a doubt, the best Krok reunion experience I've ever had.

This week? More papers and tests, my first real belt test, and the start of crew to kick my ass. But oh, the reward ... "sweet, just like cotton candy... ee."

I found out how to do it on the Internet!

What an amazingly stupid kid on Grey's Anatomy tonight! Although I have to admit, his ability to ignore pain is pretty admirable. When the scouts show up, you gotta give one up, I guess.


I actually enjoyed this movie, although I heard scattered rumors that Domino was not worth the time. I think what might have made the movie for me was seeing Jack Flack in a surprising role, even if he gets shot in the end.

In other news, Flat Patties is incredibly greasy, and I'm pretty sure the double cheeseburger plate at Charlie's is cheaper as well. Two things I've learned this year: 1) eating a super burrito immediately after consuming a double cheeseburger is not recommended. 2) eating one immediately after consuming a large cheeseburger sub is not such a good idea either.



Two more weeks, with a full weekend of Krok activity beforehand to add a nice wrench to the mix... the odd's aren't too good (but the goods aren't too odd, as somebody once told me...)

Back off, man. I'm a scientist.

The proverbial fecal coliform bacteria is starting to hit the fan, if you know what I mean. And if you're in my tutorial, you certainly do. Here's to hoping this weekend is a productive one. With the endless sources of madness that Harvard provides for distraction, I'm sure it will be no problem.

?=?

So far in my new pilates kick (and if USA Today says it's not just for women, well, that's good enough for me), the instructors have been relaxed and cautious, erring on the side of safety rather than risking anyone's back or neck. I came to assume they would all follow this pattern, playing soothing elevator music and encouraging personal breaks to whomever needed them. This all changed on Tuesday morning, though, with the pilates Drill Sergeant from hell - that is, Hemenway. With heavy beats and percussion blasting at 8:30AM, I heard, "Hey! You there - keep it up! Don't stop! Up! Up! Up!" and realized that it was the start of an incredibly crappy day. Give me Kymberlee, sun salutations, downward dog, and Cristina (sigh...) any morning.

1508 had another great week, with a fantastic speaker this afternoon and a totally inspiring video clip reinforcing Tal's Wednesday lecture. Nearly as awesome was learning my new favorite kick - the spinning jump back kick.

Good teenagers, take off your clothes

First of all, did they really ditch Grey's Anatomy in favor of the Oscars? Shameless. Just as I'm finally feeling okay with an addiction to a mediocre show with amazingly beautiful people, they leave me hanging for a week. Also, since when is Sandra Oh not that attractive "until she grows on you"? I don't get it.

Second, did I really just spend this entire weekend in A-41? Shameless. After opting out of the Redline festivities (yeah 2006!! ...sigh. I miss my class), Friday night turned into Mellow Time at the movies. It was my choice to watch Aladdin instead of Chinatown, which I've never seen... but then again, did I really have a choice in the matter? When you've got the hots for Jasmine, you've got the hots for Jasmine.

Oh, speaking of which. Apparently back when the movie was in the theater and on VHS there was some kind of sexual comment hidden in a scene with Aladdin, the princess, and a tiger. It was nowhere in the DVD edition, but it's nice to know that whoever started the Little Mermaid business is still busy finding sex in Disney movies. Brings me back to my days of social psychology, with Professor Epley playing "Another One Bites the Dust" backwards in class. This one's slightly more believable than that particular ditty, although after having watched four movies in a day, two of which were your not-another-teen-movie type of movie, you'll hear any sexual comment you want to hear.

Other than that, the weekend was pretty much defined by playing Frustration in A-41 (is that a pun?), napping on Futons along with Friends, nursing my injured Foot, and lots of other F-words. Or, maybe not so much.

As an avid popular music enthusiast of bygone eras, I happen to prefer most songs in their original formats to the better-known covers of today. Extreme, Elvis, Dylan, Diamond, etc... I pay these people homage and stick to them loyally. But is it because I heard these songs first, or because I believe the older guys had it right? It's hard to deny that Hendrix does something amazing with "All Along the Watchtower," even Dylan didn't try to object when it came out. But how do I defend the stance? A noted friend revealed their preference for Rufus Wainwright's version of "Hallelujah" to the one I have placed on a pedestal since I first heard it. I'm not sure if I can live with that dichotomy of taste; I value hers quite a bit. What do you think?

It's good to catch up with old friends.

Are you Russian, Chinese, Greek, or Dutch?

FINALLY! Professor Stewart played the song I've been waiting for since I first heard about Music 51. It's status is legendary amongst the Kroks who took that course, even if they've never heard of "More Than Words" before. On a whim I asked the class how many of them were familiar with it; a paltry third raised their hands. I don't know if their ignorance is more or less excusable than Guard's; even if it's not their era, I blame them as part of the generation that is letting the genre of "the power ballad" wither and die.

I feel pretty awesome to be a peer and friend to so many talented people. I've known for quite some time that Uzo wrote a short novel for his senior thesis, and it's been getting a lot of press. Today I was pointed to www.barnesandnoble.com, where he's got front page. Congrats, Uzo!!


Oasis, Mid-Ocean, Winsor Beach, Chari's Brownies, Dark & Stormy's, a Talking Bird, Boat Races, The Infamous Goggles... am I really going back?

From the lake, from the hills, from the sky

You know, you can be chilling out at North Rock in a canoe, and you can think you haven't yet decided where you want to go. You can go bother the sailboats in the middle, or you can wade through one of the coves, you can see what the Wellness Camp is doing, or you can even be adventurous and play chicken with the ski boats. But the one thing you have to do is choose. Otherwise, before you know it you'll end up hanging off the cliff on the southern end.



I still almost can't believe I'm going back there! Hopefully I can put all my newly cultivated leadership skills to good use while having the best time of my life. I don't think that will be terribly difficult.



In honor of Joanie Hubble, who originally taught me the song while we were trying to get Kyle and Andreea a ride so we could pick up a raincoat that never ended up being useful ("Needham? What are you doing in Needham!?"), I wrote my canon for Music 51 in a style I think most FOP'ers and sleep-away campers will recognize.

Mark off one more extremely satisfying tkd practie, sans stressing out my hamstring tendon. I just need to learn how to kiyop without losing my voice (and what's left of my range).