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| March 2008 »
I just met the one and only E. Gordon Gee, in the same room where I met Bill Nye last spring, as a matter of fact. (For the record, President Gee is definitely friendlier than Bill Nye.) Bucket & Dipper arranged a Fireside Chat with Dr. Gee and graciously invited Chimes members to attend. I asked him what lesson he would ensure every Ohio State student learned before leaving, and he said, "The ability to write well, think creatively, and ask good questions." A man after my own heart.
We also asked what our chances were for a snow day. His answer: zero.
This is me working as a guest griller at BD's Mongolian Barbeque in Easton for our Chimes fundraiser tonight. We sold tickets for $20, of which we receive $5, and that bought all-you-can-eat stir-fry and beverages, which is really not that shabby a deal. We also raffled off some T-shirts, hats, and a football signed by twotimeHeismantrophywinnerArchieGriffen (yes, that is his legal name). Proceeds will go to the Beanie Drake scholarship fund. Grilling was fun, though slightly hazardous what with the 500-degree grill surface and all; I burnt a knuckle that will probably blister tomorrow, but it's not that bad. Plus wielding those swords was quite a workout! I did manage to get pretty good at cracking eggs with swords, though. Hi-yah.
I went to the Nonprofit Career Fair at the RPAC this morning, braving the third substantial snowfall in as many weeks, I might add. (No, seriously, I am sick of this.) I've been thinking lately that I never ended up doing research or studying abroad during college like I had originally envisioned, which is fine because I decided they weren't what I was looking for, but I would like to do something special, or at least meaningful, while I am here. I'm thinking that nonprofit work might be it. I am blessed by financial security in terms of my academic costs and much of my living expenses, so I figure I should give of my abundance. I can afford not to earn a paycheck this summer, so if I can spend the time helping others, why shouldn't I? I'm looking at positions with COSI, International Child Care, First Love, and a summer camp with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Will keep you posted on my summer plans...
We discussed "encoding" today in my Women in Science Fiction class. Basically there is an idea running through feminist literature that there is such thing as a feminine language, different from any languages that currently exist, that can express things in a uniquely female way. In Suzette Haden Elger's Native Tongue, the women are working on "encodings," or verbal ways of expressing something that has never been expressed before. Here's what we came up with in class:
cultural embizzlement: the appropriation of a minority group's identifying behavior by the majority, e.g. Snoop Dogg's "fo' shizzle" being co-opted by mainstream white American culture
squeedle: a high-pitched shriek
wannabe nonconformist: someone who, in an effort to "nonconform," ends up looking just like other "nonconformists," e.g. all "emo" kids wearing black nail polish and band t-shirts, etc.
bithermal: the condition of feeling two different temperature extremes in one's body, e.g. sweating head with cold feet. This also spun off into homothermal, heterothermal, and metrothermal, whatever that is.
This is why college is awesome.
A year ago last year OSU canceled school for a day and a half on account of the snow. Frankly, I think they should have canceled this morning, not just because I have a midterm this afternoon, but because it really is quite awful outside. It's supposed to change to freezing rain by lunchtime, which will just be severely unpleasant, especially for those who have to drive to class.
On the plus side, all this snow will erase the growing chalk wars. Spring quarter is usually high chalking season, when every organization on campus strives to cover the soles of my shoes in a fine pastel dust. With the upcoming election season, however, campus chalkers have gotten an early start. Given the polarization of the American political scene, it's disappointing but not surprising that I've seen a war of words playing out on the pavement. "Vote Hillary" slogans have been appended with "Back In the Kitchen" which pisses me off on multiple levels that I won't get into. Once USG campaign season starts in April, I suppose I will just have to walk around with plastic baggies on my feet instead of shoes. So I say, let it snow...
So I finally signed a lease today for a one-person studio apartment on South Campus, thus ending my faint hopes of not living somewhere different every year. Despite that, though, I have not racked up a terrible body count of roommates, which is surprising: 3 my freshman year, 1 last year, and 3 this year. I think Drew had something like 15-20 roommates in his history, but he's also been at OSU for six years (counting work and grad school). The studio is small but adequate for my needs. There was a bigger one off Woodruff that was a full apartment with a much bigger kitchen, but it was probably too far away from my biosci classes to be feasible. I am already kind of sick of rental living, but I suppose the next housing stage is still rather far ahead of me. At least I won't be living in a cardboard box next year, which is always good.
Have a few things to report from the bigger blog universe...
I'm currently writing for two blogs as part of my work with WOSU (see previous entry). One is OhioWarStories.org, which one of my co-workers tells me is gunning for an Emmy, which is absolutely ridiculous to think I am involved with it! The other is Columbus Social Media Cafe, which is WOSU's flagship social media project. (It might get a new moniker, though, since it doesn't seem to roll off the tongue very well.)
The CSMC had its third meeting on Thursday night at WOSU@COSI. You can read my round-up of that here. Today I got to attend the Columbus Metropolitan Club's forum on the future of public television, with Paula Kerger, President and CEO of PBS. Here's my entry for CSMC on that. What I've enjoyed the most about this project is being allowed to dabble in the "adult" world beyond OSU campus. At the cafe meet-up last week I betrayed myself by actually raising my hand to talk, before I realized that no one else was still stuck in grade school. Today at the Athletic Club where CMC holds its forums, the servers called me "Ma'am" without missing a beat (though I'm not sure if I am completely down with this or not). I think that as long as I am a student I will not consider myself quite grown-up, for whatever reason...only four quarters to go...
It didn't occur to me until this afternoon that today is Super Tuesday, when many presidential primaries are held around the country, though not in Ohio. I don't know if this is just my personal lack of interest in politics, but I feel like I'm in such a bubble here at OSU. Of course there are the occasional signature drives on campus, but I get the feeling that a lot of college students here really just don't care that much.
For me, at least, part of it is my complete lack of time to even watch the evening news, which was about the extent of my participation and knowledge in high school outside of AP Government. I'm often mildly oblivious to world events, which is unfortunate at a time in my life when I am supposed to be most aware of new things, etc. etc. I do have to say that, as my teacher predicted, I am at the peak of my liberality, which is not to say much since I used to be somewhere in the neighborhood of Rush Limbaugh. All the images I had in my head of college students protesting do not seem to have materialized, and honestly, I am a little grateful. But I can't decide which is worse, being so engrossed in your own studies that you pay no attention the bigger picture, or being so involved in campaigning for other people's business that you forget about your own obligations and spend seven years as an undergrad. (This is not a generalization about the politically active, only an extreme case.) Thoughts?
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