Insamity

Lit Hum Skills Finally Put to Use

2012-02-05T21:35:00.007-05:00

We discovered the many layers of meaning you can peel off a single word long text message today at the Community Health House. A brief sampling of the textual analysis said text message was subjected to-

Koel: If he were excited, he'd say 'haha, sure' instead of just 'sure, fullstop', wouldn't he?
Dawn: Yeah but he didn't just say 'Okay' and leave it at that. That would be even worse.

I always hated IDs, but at least they were straightforward...

The Fat Lady Has Sung

2011-12-28T17:18:00.006-05:00

In what was quite possibly the worst night of my life, I finished up my Liberty and Empire paper, went to class and to bed, and chilled for the next week before my Music Hum and Arabic finals which I realized were actually NOT both scheduled for Tuesday on Sunday night, thanks to my dear comrades from Arabic II.

After a highly confused conversation involving reassurances that the other was wrong, we made a quick run to the nearest computer to confirm my fears; the Arabic final was indeed scheduled for the next day at 9 am. Prepping in a rush was a doozy. It was done. As was the exam by 11.30 the next morning. And Music Hum the following day.

In (perhaps highly inappropriate) sum:

2011-12-12T06:15:00.005-05:00

*Bangs head on table*

I have around two and a half hours to finish this paper.
The motivation for doing it well is incredible.
After this is handed in, the number of grade defining papers I'll have to write: zero.

That's right, in two hours and thirtyish minutes, I'm done for the term.
(Minus an exam I have on Tuesday and two exams next week. Oh and a paper for Music Hum tomorrow).

If I spend the next twoish hours the right way, I could have a good grade for the term. Come on SamButt. You can do it.

This should be a lot easier to do.
Why is this so hard?

*Bangs head on table*

Sigue, Bruce. Not too long, now.

Truth

2011-12-08T03:31:00.004-05:00

You're so much more pleasant when you're not writing papers

-Tehreem

Two down.
This piece is great.

Yes I know it's wedding music.

JK

2011-12-07T13:29:00.002-05:00

"So I don't think I can tell you what Jazz is... actually, that's a lie, I'm pretty sure I know what it is

One Eighty

2011-12-07T13:25:00.004-05:00

I hate everything
Everything sucks.

Round up -

1. paper proposal - done. handed in a whole day and a half late, but done.
2. AHUM paper - (don't ask me how, but) done.
3. Central Questions paper - almost done? I have to shape and edit and make sense of it. I haven't looked at it in three days and am almost terrified of what is waiting for me there *deep breaths*.

Just two more papers. Cannot drop the ball!!

It Makes Sense in My Head

2011-12-05T15:50:00.005-05:00

If I had a word for every time I copy-pasted the contents of my draft into wordcounttool.com just to see how much progress I'd made since the last time I put my draft into wordcounttool.com (I write my essays in draftpad, not Word), I still would not have enough words to be halfway through this paper.

That's obviously not a testament to my resilience and focus, but how much of this paper is left.

It's cool. I got this. I will get this, eventually. And when I do, I'll only have one more term paper to finish up for this week. And a thesis statement. And a response paper. And I'll only have to work on a final paper for Monday. And an exam the next day. And THEN I'll be able to breathe.

Life's looking up guys! It's the beginning of the end! This is a genuine proclamation of joy. The weeks of researching and scribbling "save for final paper" in my books are about over.

In a way that I promise is not sadistic, I almost miss it.

That Time of the Year

2011-12-04T14:53:00.002-05:00

Piecing the different parts of my essay together is a long painful process.
I've been doing less piecing and editing and more copy-pasting into word-counting applications, enjoying how far over the word limit I am, at the same time annoyed that it doesn't matter how many words I have if it's not coming together.

I hate everything.
Everything sucks.

Hurriya

2011-12-03T20:48:00.001-05:00

Should have seen it coming when the roses died
Should have seen the end of summer in your eyes
Should have listened when you said, "Goodnight"
You really meant goodbye

Work will never be over.

Aha! Caffeine Edition

2011-11-27T17:21:00.007-05:00

So first I thought that coffee was putting me to sleep because it was warm.
So I got iced coffee. And I'm still falling asleep.

I'm starting to think it has nothing to do with Starbucks. I should have realized sooner it's really Sharia's fault.

UPDATE: 7:16 pm

Definitely not sleepy anymore but I can't stop watching and giggling at the lyrics to my all time fav exam-time Disney song which I have had on repeat this afternoon.

This song is brilliant.

Iced Coffee Status: half full.

You're Kidding, Right? Contd

2011-11-26T15:39:00.004-05:00

Based on my experience with my Music Hum teacher who is self-confessedly technologically challenged, printing tickets could actually be a legitimate concern for the musical community.

But that doesn't make an email outlining six steps to successfully printing a piece of paper any less amusing.

You're Kidding, Right?

2011-11-26T14:17:00.003-05:00

In related news, New York Philharmonic this Tuesday night for my Music Hum concert report. Ironically, I'm going to have to miss Music Hum to make it on time to the concert, because apparently "In deference to the comfort and listening pleasure of the audience in the hall, latecomers will be seated only when appropriate breaks in the program allow. Patrons who leave the hall before or during a work will not be reseated until after the completion of the work."

Can't deny I'm super excited though.

Turkey Break

2011-11-23T09:57:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving break starts at 4 pm today.
If the weather holds out, we will go ice skating.
If not, apparently we're watching the new Edward Cullen movie.

My fate hangs precariously from the tips of your hands, Weather. Be nice.

Yes, But Not Really, So No.

2011-11-23T09:48:00.004-05:00

"You're both right. You're more right than her... well maybe not more right... actually, neither of you are really right..."
-Alex's response to suggestions about French Impressionism

Panic!

2011-11-20T23:12:00.004-05:00

Friend: Hey, I'm here till the 27th of November
Me: COOL let's meet up for dinner on like the twenty-four--- AGGHHH!

In the span of three hyphens, which my days at Bwog have taught me should really be an m-dash, my entire existence turned upside down as it finally hit me:

Me *in my head*: IT'S THE END OF NOVEMBER WHICH MEANS IT'S ALMOST DECEMBER AND I HAVE THREE GRADE-DEFINING PAPERS DUE.

Okay, okay, wait. Today's the 20th, which means hopefully 11 days till the end of the month...
what was that poem...
30 days has September, April, June and Novem-FFUCCKKKKKKKK!!!

TEN DAYS + SIX = 16 DAYS TILL MY FIRST PAPER IS DUE.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. GOODBYE FACEBOOK.

On Mobilizing Passions Atavistically

2011-11-12T18:57:00.008-05:00

"To describe Corry's pieces as insensate or semi-hysterical would not be an exaggeration. Mostly Corry accused Mazrui personally of 'ideological exclusions and emphases', for example, that he nowhere mentioned Israel (in a program about African history Israel may have appeared to Mazrui as not relevant), and that he vastly exaggerated the evils of Western colonialism."

Said, Culture and Imperialism

If it makes you laugh out loud for more than 10 seconds, it needs to be quoted. Or you need to get out of the library.

Never enough motivation.

2011-11-12T14:57:00.003-05:00

I've been at it for three hours. I need a break before I continue with the monstrosity of Feldman's sympathetic-Orientalist claims about the Islamic state. Since I don't have the luxury of taking a nap, I think I'm going to read some Arendt. Some light reading on the origins of Totalitarianism. Alternatively, I can read about Shari'a law in Pakistan and try to figure out how that mess there coincides with the rise of the state interfering with Shari'a.

I really wish I could be scared by finals right now and the prospects of having to hand in two papers in the same week. Each around 3500 words. For the same teacher, for my major. And another paper the next week, for my second major, for a class that I need an A in...

...surrounded by people who are diligently studying the oral cavity, reading The Prince, sippin their Joe/Starbucks/Diet Coke, scribbling, highlighting, tabbing, in their draft pads, on their notebooks, in margins of their books, as they have been for a few hours now .... AND THEY MUST HAVE TAKEN A NAP AT SOME POINT TO BE ABLE TO DO IT, DAMN IT.

No Particular Reason This Comes to Mind During AHUM Reading

2011-11-08T16:43:00.004-05:00

"So he decides to go to the Underworld--which takes some doing. You don't just wake up one day and say 'Hey, I think I'm gonna go to hell today'"

-Alex, on Orfeo in Music Hum,

Sigue, Bruce

2011-11-07T15:29:00.004-05:00

I have 13 more pages to the end of this chapter.

I really like reading about the classical Islamic state, I really really really do. But I just want to take a nap.

But I will trudge on and finish this ish so I can move on to more exciting things by Tocqueville.

Scholar=Philosopher?

2011-11-06T18:44:00.011-05:00

B.G. Weiss, The Spirit of Islamic Law

Emphasis on the last two sentences. Contrast with the following:

Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils — no, nor the human race, as I believe — and then only will this our State have a possibility of life and behold the light of day.

Plato, The Republic

Political greatness and some kind of knowledge outside the realm of politics together define the ideal leader. At first, the almost exact identicalness of the two compounds - if the similarity between 'Philosopher-King' and 'Scholar-Prince' doesn't strike you right away you need to go back to first semester of CC- isn't completely convincing that they're the same, because scholarship sounds like an entirely different discipline from philosophy. But if you kind of waste a little time on this pointless exercise thinking about the scholar in the Shari'a, they're not all that different.

A scholar is a specialist in any discipline, but the scholar of classical Shari'a has also studied theology, which is the study of God and religious belief, which is just another kind of philosophy (the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence) in itself. Know your vocab!!

So Plato's creepin into the Shari'a. Except that the scholar-prince is elected by the 'auxiliaries' and the concept of a social contract (mentioned later in Weiss) is anachronistic in a discussion on Plato.

Eid Mubarak, ya'all.

Oh the Awkward Places Conversations Will Go

2011-11-03T17:51:00.006-04:00

...when you wear a hijab in NYC.

Frank (at the office) on what I should wear to a Broadway show: Do you have any other colored scarves?
Me: Yeah but I don't really wear them...
Frank: Well maybe wear a nicer one.

Including the occasionally unintentionally semi obnoxious comment every now and then, Frank's cool.

On Political Theory in the Islamic World

2011-10-27T15:22:00.005-04:00

"They would give perhaps a single hoot about this, but not more than that"
Professor Hallaq

Errbody Dougie

2011-10-20T11:11:00.002-04:00

At tomorrows weekly massacre, I'll discover whether one can successfully use the following song in a lesson about community.

To quote Ron Weasley, "Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?"

Procrastination - Midterm Edition

2011-10-16T14:29:00.004-04:00

I wish I could be one of those people who could sit in one spot for five hours and write a paper.
I wish I didn't have to write this paper.
I want to curl up into a little ball under a comforter and take a nap.

Since Avery's wooden chairs are not conducive to that kind of procrastination, I settle for the third best kind (the first being Facebook, which I deactivated this morning till this the midterm nightmare is over; the second being eating crackers and drinking limo pani that I have no interest in, that have long since run out): coming back here and recounting all the cool things I'm going to be posting about soon.

Professor quotes - back and better than ever. The pressing administrative quandary of whether they should be called Folchisms after the great CC prof (Hallaqism isn't as mellifluous) or I should make a separate Professor Quotes tag is yet to be decided.

The thing I'm working on (lite) - can't get into everything, but the relevant ish to Insamity - trips over to the bronx, the stresses of trying to get Islamabadi businessmen to keep their word, figuring out ways to make this thing work while also trying to make this a career that doesn't necessarily mean consigning myself to a life of poverty.

Food - no meal plan this year! Which has been kinda fun actually.

At this point, anything I say would be bs. I'm pretty sure point three was bs too.

So I'm out. Peace, kids. Wish Bruce luck.

Tools at Your Disposal

2011-10-07T10:55:00.004-04:00

"People need to put this into some perspective," the official added. "The vaccination campaign was part of the hunt for the world's top terrorist, and nothing else. If the United States hadn't shown this kind of creativity, people would be scratching their heads asking why it hadn't used all the tools at its disposal to find bin Laden."

Sure. It's also why people in Pakistan will continue to be skeptical of US funded philanthropic efforts there.

Hi I'm back.

Bye, I'm off to the Bronx.

Should not, Cannot

2011-07-12T16:49:00.002-04:00

So lots has been up since the mental strappado (temporarily) ended back in May. While I debate the (de)merits of posting about the thing I'm working on this summer, I feel like I just need to throw something out there:

THE INTERNET IS RUNNING MY LIFE

I started off doing some mildly interesting work for said project this afternoon and somehow ended up spending three hours watching Cake Boss and going shopping for sausage and cream rolls. Not to eat together, but I'm positive Buddy's at least partially responsible for the half hour I spent buying dessert. Today, the Internet succeeded in guiding my non-internet perusal activities AND my diet.

And the funny thing is, I don't even want to be sitting here. I want very badly to get up, drag myself up the two flights of stairs to my room, take my lenses off and get to sleep.

But I
can't
shut
the
freaking
lid
to
my
computer

Whoa

2011-05-10T02:24:00.004-04:00

It's over : O

I'm sure it was awful getting here, but I can't remember any of it.

Last Red Bull of the season.
Now to drag myslef home.

In the Middle

2011-05-08T05:48:00.002-04:00

so many levels.

Grumble grumble finals edition

2011-05-06T07:39:00.004-04:00

In the off chance that I will miss CC (which, admittedly, is a little more than an off chance but not right now), I will think back to the moment a little while ago where I woke up, cold and shivering, curled up on a tiny, potentially bug infested couch and remember how every bit of me from the corners of my eyes to the insides of my knees screamed for sleep as I dragged myself up and back to the table to write one and a half more essays.

self indulgence over.

A little under five hours now.

WE GOT THIS.

Mission Accomplished

2011-05-03T04:10:00.006-04:00

I done it.
It spanned a whole night that lasted till 8 am, and an additional 7 hours the next night, six of which make up the longest hours of my life, involved an hour long nap on potentially bed bug infested butler couches, a semi-freak out on looking in the mirror the next afternoon and seeing a bump on my throat, and about the worst shoulder ache ever, the death of a small tree, and a mild case of hallucination, three cans of red bull, a gatorade and two boxes of lamb on rice, but
SAMEEA-2, FINALS WEEK - 0
Haven't done anything else yet, but I really think I deserve two points.

The ecological argument against assigning 15 page papers

I can do it

2011-05-02T04:15:00.003-04:00

I will do it if it is the last thing I do.

I will hit page ten before going to bed. That's only four pages of prose.

On another note, I am never doing this again.

that
is
all.

be back in an hour to report on the progress.

Whoops.

2011-04-22T05:17:00.005-04:00

It's really creepy being in Butler at 5 am on a Friday, i.e. when no one's in here.
It's kind of nice being able to play music as loud as I want without people throwing hissy fits.
Not that I have. I could though.

The spirit of Old Man Butler would judge me for it, but I'm doing it anyways.
Song of Choice:Beethoven: Symphony #7 In A, Op. 92 - 3. Scherzo

Not too much judgment.

Around two minutes in--I realize theres actually someone in here...and I think I woke him up.

Yikes. Off to bed.

Hegel will wait till 12.

On the recourse to war that's now become theory, not just practice.

2011-04-18T13:13:00.002-04:00

What we need to put in place is a universalist framework for comprehending and dealing with Saddam Hussein, as well as Sharon, the rulers of Myanmar, Syria, Turkey and a whole host of those countries where depredations are endured without sufficient resistance. Demolishing houses, torture, the denial of a right to education are to be opposed wherever they occur. I know no other way of re-creating or restoring the framework but through education, and the fostering of open discussion, exchanged and intellectual honesty that will have no truck with concealed special pleading or the jargons of war, religious extremism, and pre-emptive "defense".

Edward Said,Israel, Iraq and the US.

Reminder to Self, or What I'm Doing this Summer

2011-04-17T23:19:00.005-04:00

So I'm takin a break from trying to save my mind from implosion later this week. I happened across an interesting article about Pakistan's education, and reforming curricula which is cool beans.

The article bears great news about reforming curricula in Sindh, but the author makes an interesting claim:
Pakistani textbooks have preached falsehoods, hatred and bigotry. They have constructed most non-Muslims, especially Hindus, as evil and primordial enemies, glorified military dictatorships and omitted references to our great betrayal of the Bengali brothers and sisters who were the founders and owners of the Pakistan movement. It is time to correct these wrongs.

This is obviously being met with intense criticism from some angry folks in the comments.

Now I'm a huge fan of education reform rooted in critical thought (story of the last six months of my life), and I'm usually tempted to take the side that says "we're a bigoted bunch," and I do remember reading a story in sixth grade about a valiant Pakistani soldier that saved the life of an Indian on the battlefield and had him transferred to a hospital where his ailing body and hate-filled misconceptions of our benevolent nation were treated. A subsequent conversion to Islam might have followed which would make sense because I also remember an intense glorification of Islam everywhere.

But I struggle to remember anything bigoted, angry or hateful.

I have no doubt that our textbooks are filled with national myths and exaggerated tales of our valor but I reserve judgment on the heavy claim that they preach hatred...for now.

I'm adding a third thing to my to-do list this summer: buying all them Urdu text books that I studied as a student from primary to secondary school, developing some kind of (largely arbitrary, I imagine) scale of bigotry and placing the text books on some part of that scale. Plan pending revisions.

Motivation in fear

2011-04-16T21:04:00.002-04:00

This was supposed to be the weekend of productivity.
It is Saturday night and I feel like I got nothing done for the three papers due Thursday and Friday.

Armed with a quarter of a cup of milk, half a cupcake and five pieces of artificially flavored tropical remix gum, I'm about to start work on reading three articles. I will finish by midnight or eat a piece of paper.

Magical Weather Machine pleaze

2011-04-16T18:25:00.002-04:00

fifty degrees and miserable.

I'm going to curl up on a couch and take a nap.

Bradley on Finding Influences Where they Don't Exist

2011-04-13T22:54:00.001-04:00

"So Kant retroactively influenced Plato..."

Commercializing Darwin

2011-04-02T01:20:00.003-04:00

each lives by a struggle at some period of its life; that heavy destruction inevitably falls either on the young or old, during each generation or at recurrent intervals

If this line hasn't been picked up and abused by Grey's Anatomy for Meredith's little end-of-episode soliloquies, it will be by writers for some other lifestyles-of-the-glamorous-doctors/scientists genre of tv show

grumble grumble midterm edition

2011-03-10T10:36:00.005-05:00

Exam in ~30 minutes. or maybe twenty. yikes I should double check that. Yikes, 23 minutes.

It would be kind of horrible to fall asleep right now, and yet I think I actually might. Not that the hour and half of sleep I got while lounging on a couch in one of those tiny rooms in the ante chamber to the chamber of secrets wasn't spiffing.

Off for the last red bull of the season and to class.

Note to self: never make the mistake of looking in the mirror after 8 continuous hours at the butt and expecting the foundation from the previous morning to still be there.

Yuck.

Final Countdown

2011-03-10T00:08:00.008-05:00

12 hours till midterms are over.
16 till spring break starts.
At the 16th hour, i'm going home, doing my laundry and ~~going to bed~~ passing out.

till then, Arab Israeli conflict ftw.

BRUCE, BRUCE BRUCE, BRUCE.

From a conversation with my good friend Bradley.

Bradley (looking at a book in my hand about the Arab Israeli conflict) : So, who's gonna win?

Just for that, you get your own tag.

Story of My Life

2011-03-04T02:47:00.000-05:00

Folchismzzzz

2011-03-03T00:11:00.009-05:00

Professor: (on why everyone should do a humanities major) Why spend four years learning about how to be the tool you're going to be for the rest of your life?
Class: ...
Jon: He just called us all tools

'...before we veered onto the moral hypocrisy that is being a professor'
-getting back on topic

Prof: No me gusta. That's why.
-On Voltaire being stricken from the potential reading list

as always, thanks to the class.

Pilot Project - Story of my life

2011-03-02T21:25:00.002-05:00

Mostly Facebook statuses that sum my life up in 140 characters or less. Today's SOML:

I didn't spontaneously combust today. That's good.

Don't think it could be any other way before break. Two midterms next week, right before break.
Assassinated on day two of CU Assassins. Only thing that could make it worse than being killed ON DAY TWO is that someone from my CC class had to have ratted me out.
Vengeance will be mine, agent ..whatever your name was.

In Memoriam and Denial

2011-02-24T21:28:00.009-05:00

Here are some of his words, which will have to do until I find my own.

Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:54:04 +0400
Subject: So how is it going girl?

Now you're a big hotshot from Columbia and you forget about all us little people and how we helped put you there... not like I did anything but at least I can say I did cause no one checks these things.

Mahrukh says salam and Areej doesn't care that you are gone.

So tell me how it is, how is the real college life treating you? How is everyone in NY/NJ? Give my salam to all and above all else, remember that you are the first, others will look up to you, and I have high hopes that you will come out of this ahead of the game and not a brat/snob/dufus/retard with a big head, but be the same retard you were and just have a college degree to prove it. Congrads again and if you need anything let me know, I'd be happy to help out in any IT related courses. Btw, whats you major you butt-munch?

Give my salam to your old man.

Danyal out.

Riley says it better than I could.

I cannot say, and I will not say

That he is dead. He is just away.

With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand,

He has wandered into an unknown land.

And left us dreaming how very fair

It needs must be since he lingers there.

And you-O you, who the wildest yearn

For the old-time step and the glad return-

Think of him faring on, as dear

In the love of there as the love of here;

Think of him still as the same, I say;

He is not dead-he is just away!

Folchisms Miscellaneous

2011-02-21T23:25:00.004-05:00

'Intelligence is calories'

-After explaining that he needed to run up to his office during the break to eat a cookie because he needs energy to answer questions that he otherwise would not be able to.

'No, my knowledge of the world stops after around 400 AD'

-On being asked if he'd read a famous Italian book (whose name escapes me, sorry)

Careful What You Wish For

2011-02-15T18:03:00.005-05:00

It started off as a cough Saturday night.
It turned into a fever Sunday morning that impaired all cognitive functioning for all of that day, save listening to G6 on repeat.
That turned into a night and morning of fitful coughing and tossing and turning, and as an ultimate insult, my roommate pushing in earplugs as far as they'd go to block out the noise only to complain she could still hear me coughing.
That turned into a canceled Health Services visit followed by a random Urgent Care visit, followed by falling asleep in the doctor's chair hopefully waiting for a signed excuse for missing class that night
That turned into a walk home with masks, thermometers, hand sanitizer that's apparently haram, and a stern warning to maintain between 3 and 6 feet from every living being in my suite.

Yessir, I have the flu. I ache, my ears ring, my lips peel, my throat itches for more OJ, unappeased by the cartons I've mercilessly downed [more than I have the past 2 semesters combined] and the highlighter in my hand doodles mindlessly over my Iron Cage reading as I try not to think about how much I hate being quarantined in good weather.

To quote my roommate, who has now pushed her bed to the edge of the door, 'I hate everything. Everything sucks'.

Eclectic

2011-02-09T21:53:00.006-05:00

On his wardrobe at Plato Conferences:

"I wear blue and black. That is my color palette. It's an act of resistance. A refusal of the tweed.""

When I get tenure, I'll write a book about the Classicist world and I'll call it... 'Sexless Conference'

"You know why I forgot my notes? There were two grad students flirting in front of the copy machine. I was like, hurry the hell up(/grow up)"

On Division of Labor

2011-02-08T13:44:00.003-05:00

'I had a friend of mine once who--actually, he wasn't a friend. He was a teacher I despised...before he started teaching he had a job I think he shouldn't have left...',

which involved picking up nails from one conveyor belt and moving them to another, during which time,

'he would recite poetry to keep his mind occupied. This inspired him to study literature, and he became a middle school teacher and ruined everyone's lives'

Psssh.

2011-02-07T14:09:00.002-05:00

Metaphysics is synthetic a priori knowledge, gotcha gotcha.

Folchism on the French

2011-02-02T20:51:00.007-05:00

Responding to a question about footnotes being in French-

Professor: You all can read French.
Class:*stares blankly back*
Professor: French isn't a language, French is what they speak in France. Sanskrit is a language.
Student: And Latin?
Professor: Latin is the language

Folchism of the Day-- Chuck Norris Edition

2011-01-27T14:47:00.002-05:00

Student: have you seen wall-e?
Professor: No
Student: didn't make you cry?
Profesor: I never cry. I haven't cried since I was 9

Round Two--Rousseau

2011-01-25T18:34:00.002-05:00

Discourse on the Origin of Inequality.
RBC for Spring 2011: 2
Pages to read: 60.
Start time: 6.36 pm.
Go!

Channelling Rocky

2011-01-24T01:55:00.004-05:00

Its just forty more pages of reading. It is doable. All that I must remember is that staying awake is key.

3.28 am
30 pages left on the following resources:

Yes that is a can of red bull, a cheaper imitation and a bag of carrots, making possibly the most nauseating snack ever, second only to m&ms and gatorade for breakfast, the lowest of any nutritious lows i'd ever experienced. Keepin on.

Pilot Tag--Red Bull Count

2011-01-23T20:19:00.004-05:00

If an obituary weren't already in order, my skin will definitely need one now.

RBC for Spring 2011: 2

Too much stress for week 1

2011-01-20T21:30:00.003-05:00

Oh dreary Thursday nights spent under the romantic flickering glow of 301's chandeliers in disrepair,
Oh antsy students with dead creatures up their posterior, pensive nose pickers and late night red bull induced hysteria,
It's been too long.

First Day, Round 3

2011-01-18T22:51:00.004-05:00

So the bright side is, no more 9 am classes.
The flip side is this semester will be like having 5 CC classes.
Two political theory classes, two MDES classes [history of Pakistan + Arab-Israeli conflict] + of course CC itself.

Any more thoughts on the day besides that I already feel like I'm behind?
I'll get back to you on that, let me just finish this response for CC class 1 tomorrow.

"Way to be

2010-12-27T18:19:00.005-05:00

..an asshole on the last day of class"
--friend x

|WRITE YOUR NAME|
By process of elimination, I assume you are 'friend x'

Forecast!

2010-12-26T14:37:00.004-05:00

Fifteen inches of snow. About time to invest in gloves, I think.

So

2010-12-23T03:28:00.003-05:00

the idea was to go home and sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the last four pages of this son of a hernia. That was five hours ago. How is it 3.30 am? What is so hard about shutting the lid to this darn puter?

You can do it, Sammy

2010-12-22T21:40:00.003-05:00

You can do it ~~Bruce~~ Sam!

Almost on page 16 now.

I'm going to watch this video again.

home stretch.

2010-12-22T19:00:00.003-05:00

CC -- done
Arabic -- done
Human Rights-- pathetically but definitively done

one. last. paper
20 pages. 7 left.
Webster, Jefferson, Thomas-Henzell, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this come onnn Sambutttttt.
I could have done this before I took a break. Now I'm just sleepy.

Just to emphasize how madly screwed i am.

2010-12-19T01:09:00.001-05:00

I love you, but...

2010-12-19T00:51:00.004-05:00

I love Butler's Reference Room cause its the prettiest room in the library, probably on campus. It's the perfect place to do some intense paper writing if aesthetics make the difference for you.

Emphasis on intense.

I
n
t
e
n
s
e

everyone. in here. is intense.

Which is why it's so quiet in here. Which is why I can hear the guy next to me scribbling on paper. Which is why the sound of my typing is almost painful to my ears. Which is why I don't want to think about what people were thinking when I ripped open a bag of m and ms and indifferently chomped away at them morsels of wholesome nutty goodness.

That probably more than anything else is probably why the lady next to me muttered an angry 'Jesus Christ' when I opened a can of red bull.

Haven't taken a sip since.

how the mind wanders

2010-12-18T16:59:00.004-05:00

From Plato's Republic to thinking about The Dark Knight.

The role of the guardian is to administer justice. Justice like the vigilante defender of justice Batman.
Not a far stretch, I guess.

back to the lab. I'm watching the Dark Knight over break

It's not rocket science

2010-12-16T17:37:00.003-05:00

i dont' judge you for talking in the hallway of the library RIGHT outside the room. It is easy to forget that people inside can actually hear you even though you've taken a whole five steps away from where you were sitting amongst them a few minutes before. It happens.

What I judge you for stupidly continuing to stand there flirting with your boy toy, talking to your friend, talking on the phone etc after receiving several dirty looks from people inside said room. Which happens to be 303. Which is where i am. Trying to write an essay for a final tomorrow. Agitated.

ajlgwoeiagh;oiwsew;ofgaojgi;ehwfoiawejfai;wejflwefor;og.

the apocolypse

2010-12-16T12:55:00.003-05:00

the end is nigh! the cc exam is tomorrow. AHHH.
not the good kind of end. the 'agh im going to die tomorrow and still have to write 3 papers' kind of end.
i left augustine at home --six blocks from here....

Bad time to discover

2010-12-15T14:12:00.001-05:00

'Lost' on Netflix. s.i.g.h

high five to self

2010-12-15T05:32:00.004-05:00

CC for the past *counts* wow seven hours?

And it only took three red bulls to do it. i really like that stuff. i like cc. it is awesome stuff.

*passes out*

Not convinced its not a good idea

2010-12-15T03:33:00.005-05:00

High levels of caffeine can be dangerous for people with high blood pressure or anxiety disorders. Not much is known about taurine and glucuronolactone, but high levels of them could affect the body

Sorry, dood, not ominous enough.

Some of its positive benefits have been known to include acting as an antidepressant, stimulant, and helping in memory retention and concentration.

helllzzz yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

grumble grumble finals edition

2010-12-14T12:15:00.002-05:00

I know it's reading week but why the falooka is everyone up and at the library at 10?
DO YOU NOT HAVE ADDERALL TO BE HIDING?

Motivation in hope

2010-12-13T13:47:00.003-05:00

Every time I want to slump off into sleep and not write this critical response that's due in a few hours [that i have been working on since......] , I tear my eyes away from the guy in the snowflake sweater picking his nose and think: it's the 13th. 7 more days and I'll be done with most of my work. and then its just one paper to finish adn I'M DONE.

just.
one.
week.

That was a glorious moment of motivation. Someone needs to bottle or stopper that.
*flumps head on table*

signed, sealed

2010-12-13T13:05:00.002-05:00

Deactivation day 1!

Dilemma

2010-12-13T10:45:00.004-05:00

Deactivate, don't deactivate?

Hours are precious and I dont think I can afford to waste anymore brain warm up time. The obvious solution would seem to be to deactivate facebook. but is that really productive, or am I shooting myself in the foot by setting myself up to spend longer than usual amounts of time procrastinating looking for ways to mindlessly amuse myself?

the debate shall continue. Will get back to work now.

seven days, seven days.

Oh hey I never noticed that

2010-12-12T21:34:00.005-05:00

I need a 15 minute re-orientation period after dinner. This involves looking around at people and things on the walls. Here in 303, you'll find a Foulke [CC '69--that's 1869] sonnet on a plaque on the wall

In a Library
Whatever be thy fortune or thy state
The way to high companionship is free;
Here they all – the wise, the good, the great –
And their best thoughts they offer unto thee;
How canst thou give thy life to sordid things
While Milton’s strains in rhythmic numbers roll,
Or Shakespeare probes thy heart, or Homer sings,
Or rapt Isaiah wakes thy slumbering soul?
If these “King’s Treasuries” were scant and rare
How wouldst thou yearn for all that they contain!
But they are spread before thee free as air,
And shall their priceless jewels shine in vain?
The choice is thine, the fancies of a day,
Or the bright gems that shall endure for aye.

Paraphrase: GET THE EFF BACK TO WORK

To publish or not to publish?

2010-12-12T19:54:00.003-05:00

Almost on page 8 of 20.
I might get there faster if I could stop adding a sentence to my draft, copying the entire thing and pasting it in a word document to see how it spans out. That takes up a lot of time.

On another note, I love Red Bull. I don't know how I would study without it.

I wonder if I have a problem. Hmm.

I also wonder if I will look back on this draft in three years and say to myself 'ahhh, this is probably why XYZ wouldn't hire me'.

Future employer, I am a diligent worker. And to prove that to you, I'm going back to work.

Study Break

2010-12-12T18:15:00.004-05:00

Page 4 of 20 of my term paper.

It was a lot cooler then than it sounds just now.

The guy at the table ahead of me, back and computer screen to me, is watching 'House'. Turn it up or turn it off, homey.

Back to ... *tears eyes away from screen*...work

once this is over

2010-12-10T20:20:00.001-05:00

I will

1. Watch Hercules.

Folchism a day late

2010-12-09T12:33:00.004-05:00

The only one safe enough to post

On Monday, we'll be discussing 'Toleration'
sighs, raises eyes to the heavens
(mutters) overrated, overrated, overrated

You Know it's Really Exam Time When..

2010-12-08T16:07:00.002-05:00

...a student, walking into the reference room in Butler and spotting an empty, uncamped-at seat stops, does a double take and asks the person in the next spot if anyone is still sitting there.

Tis the season. I can't be made to feel bad about camping since early this afternoon, nor for continuing to camp after CC class.

'A wise blue fish once said...' Or, 'I will eventually have to find motivation to work in things other than Disney movies'

2010-12-08T11:53:00.005-05:00

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming, what do we do? We swim...

I am a fish for the next twelve days. This fish is going back to the Reference Room to finish reading for tonight's CC class/ work on a CC response.

More Folchisms

2010-12-07T00:34:00.004-05:00

'you all smell unusually clean today.'

Folchisms galore

2010-12-07T00:29:00.008-05:00

Professor was on a roll today because 'I'm tired, I'm angry, and I ate something this morning that made me sick'

'I stayed up until 6 am reading the huffington post' -- hence the tiredness...

‎"It doesn't matter that he's a conservative and I'm an anarchist. He's an asshole."

'He' being..

" Well, no he wasn't a friend from high school...I know him because I helped his sister run away from home."

300th post

2010-12-05T01:13:00.004-05:00

written from le butte's second floor computer lab only to write about how im in a computer lab and can't find it in me to get up and out of this chair and walk six blocks all the way home to bed.

and to note how i used to know how to write once.

and that a Miley Cyrus song is doing the rounds in my head, thanks to the dude who played it during halftime at today's basketball game against SUNY. which we won. which was nice. not nicer than getting paid to watch basketball games. ish.

not to note that it is decemeber fifth and therefore one day closer to finals and finals ending but really just having to sit down and WRITE THESE DARN PAPERS [inhale inhale exhale, that ratio is deliberate], but while i'm here i may as well.

sigh.

Sigh

2010-12-05T01:03:00.002-05:00

That is all.

Note to self

2010-12-04T02:38:00.003-05:00

--theres no point getting up early to work if youre too tired to think.

but then you shouldn't be tired after 8 hours of sleep, even if you spent 6 and a half hours running around in heels, followed by a trip around broadway barefoot and coatless.

that was a good night

That time of the week again

2010-12-01T22:44:00.006-05:00

Will use the relevant tag to indicate exactly what time of the week it is, cause Professor's name is on this page way more times than I am comfortable with. Also, classmates, feel free to edit anything I've gotten wrong.

Trying to find out whose birthday it is

Professor: You know, I have complete access to all your records, I could just find out myself

Student: You could find out our GPAs?

Professor: I have access to everything on record of yours from your first essays to Columbia to your transcripts... when a student isn't doing well in class, you want to take a look at their grades and see whether they're being presumptuous about their performance before you call them in to talk to them. Straight C students are easier to rip into. But for the straight A kids, you need to devise a more systematic method of---I'm kidding. I don't have access to anything

Sleeping aids

2010-12-01T13:29:00.001-05:00

helps you fall asleep: will take forever to kick in, and then make you too drowsy to concentrate on Hobbes the next day.

I need a nap.

A permanent relocation to Le Butte is imminent or Goodbye Facebook but obviously not really or Hello December

2010-11-30T12:32:00.006-05:00

Just to tally

2 CC essays
1 TCE essay
1 HRTs final
1 Arabic final + Interview

Pigment cells in hair follicles dying rapidly.

More Folchisms

2010-11-30T06:33:00.005-05:00

Just the one, actually

That's why I'm an anarchist, essentially'

Folchism of the Day

2010-11-30T00:20:00.006-05:00

Professor (Walks in, looks at the board) : Does that say anything?
Student: It says 'Good morning'
Professor: In what absurd language?
Student: Japanese
stunned laughter
Professor: No, no, I'm kidding ... (grins) 'How to Offend Everyone 101!'

Problem Solved

2010-11-26T23:28:00.005-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have been rested and restored by the end-of-term break, and that you are back and ready for the final push.

For Monday, you are to read a selection of Hobbes' Leviathan. As you will soon recognize, Hobbes is the most difficult author we will read this semester; he is the first English author in CC and our edition preserves his original spelling and compositional style. By contrast, the translations we have read thus far employ a modernized English. As a result, the English authors tend to be the most difficult on the list.

It will help, then, for you to spend time writing on Hobbes. To put it another way:

Everyone is required to write one Critical Assessment on Hobbes, either for Monday or Wednesday.

The question, again, is: what does Hobbes mean by the Right of Nature, the Laws of Nature, and the State of Nature.

See you Monday.

-MF

Our CC professor...he cares.

Bad Poetry Contest

2010-11-26T15:31:00.001-05:00

One of the few non-fails

Folchism of the Day

2010-11-23T13:32:00.001-05:00

'I would rather be reading the Spanish justification for enslaving my ancestors than reading these works.'

Just a thought

2010-11-21T16:20:00.004-05:00

Dear fellow Columbians in search of gold,

Let not the quietness of the library deceive you into believing no one's watching you pick your nose.
I promise you, you are still very visible.

Sincerely,
disgusted on the third floor of Butler

grumble grumble

2010-11-21T02:43:00.000-05:00

i hate sunday mornings. i hate sundays. stupid sundays. stupid mondays.

Pilot Project--Folchism of the day

2010-11-20T22:29:00.004-05:00

--sponsored by fellow classmate Luis Miguel Pizano so long as our CC professor's vast reservoir of witticisms lasts. A while, methinks.

'Just let me finish my scenario'

Rant En Route

2010-11-20T02:59:00.002-05:00

...islamabad to new york. just found this, and wow the memories.

All I need is to get on a damn plane. Any plane. Don't care where it's going, don't care it I land in China, don't care if I'm sitting next to a weird couple. Just. Get. Me. Out. Of. Here

Usually, the worst part about leaving is saying goodbye. This time I've been introduced to a whole new facet of the suckiness that comes with flying off: delays

Moment of silence designated to internal swearing. @!$%^&*¨ˆƒ§¶≈ç˜µ

I can't put my finger on what it is exactly that has me irked and exhausted before I've even set foot on my plane.

Is it that I went to the ole 'port on zero sleep and proceeded on with zero sleep--excepting the 2 minute long snippets of a nap I'd managd to snag, arms spread awkwardly over my hand and laptop case, hand carry left to fend for itself-- for the five hours that I waited for my plane to start boarding?

Or is it that i had to do that on a barely lined airport lounge seat surrounded by titchy screaming crying thigns that would make me agitated had they not reminded me of my niece?

Or the thought that I need not have endured this purgatorial ordeal--I kid you not; Dante apparently forgot many more torturous experiences in the air travel department than I'd initially thought--that I need not have gone home only at 11 am, 6 hours after my flight was due to leave, could have passed out last night an hour before I was due to leave home, slept on for 12 hours, and STILL have had time to shower, watch an episode of Pretty Little Liars before heading out.

Or that I had to say goodbye twice?

I don't know what part was the worst. All I know is that the cherry on top of this whole hoohah is that I arrived back the ole port at 5.25 pm a whole 10 minutes earlier than I'd been instructed, a whole 12 hours after my plane was due to leave, only to find I have to wait an entire hour for check in to begin.

So here I am, half an hour to go at 17.58, thoroughly regretting my comatose decision to forgo the mom-made tuna sandwich a few hours ago that had my name on it.

The slight consolation is having been able to see the titchy thing again to be able to go home and pass out for a few hours, being poked, having my hair pulled, having to semi-consciously protect my glasses from the grasp of ~~a two foot tall monster~~ my niece like the good ole days of summer 2010. Or maybe having her awake this time to say goodbye and drop me off to the airport this time, even if she was a little indifferent to my leaving, her attention fixed on getting her nu-num.

It's between that and having a last home-cooked meal before falling asleep. I'm wont to give the edge to the food only beacuse hardly a couple of hours time will lapse before the ~~shitfest~~ dining hall food begins.

Oh wait I know the best part, for real.

This morning [was it really this morning?] I'd remembered two things after i'd left home: one, that i should have brought a couple of things on my desk, and two, that I was wearing the same metal covered shirt that set of JFK security on me, frisking me for weapons.

Yep. I forgot the thread and nail clipper, and yes, I'm wearing the same shirt.

s.i.g.h.

I wish I'd written all this down

2010-11-18T18:17:00.005-05:00

One of those rare days when I'll have a thought that's not bemoaning the relentless trouble that I heave upon myself.

.........

All I'll say here is that people say the funniest, most awesome things when they're arguing.

Israelis and Palestinians arguing about border control

[
Israeli: --and Jews aren't allowed in Saudi Arabia!
Palestinian guy: F*CK Saudi Arabia
[cheers]
Person in the crowd:Dude nobody likes Saudi Arabia

'I'm against radical protests --I'm sorry, the button on your coat is falling off..'

a student tries to mediate in a debate

student: to translate what she's saying--
student in debate: I can speak for myself, I'm a grad student and can articulate my own thoughts, thank you

There'd be more if I had a pensieve.

Progress but not really

2010-11-13T00:00:00.003-05:00

OUTLINE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PAPER DONE.

So maybe I should have accomplished more by Friday night. And holy falooka its already saturday morning. Sigh.

Just a paper to put into writing, a paper proposal to get done, reading to do, paper to write on the reading, quiz to study for, reading to do for TCE, response to do for reading......

--_--

2010-11-11T12:22:00.003-05:00

'I encourage you to do the reading for Monday's class'

--_--

I do the reading, sir. Minus that one time for St Augie I DO THE READING!!