Fantastical Sushi Friday

I am utterly stoked. Tonight a large group of friends and I are heading off campus to enjoy a sushi dinner. I've no doubt it will be highly Americanized and nothing like my usual sushi back in Taiwan, but I will grin and bear it. Enjoy it. Savor. Dear lord I'm hungry.

Dormitory

Like any good child of the nineties, I read Harry Potter. Like any devotee of the Wizarding world, I wanted nothing more than to live in a dorm. I'm not going to lie, the fact that my new school is a boarding school (WITH DORMS) was a definitive factor in my own choice to go. Now that I'm here, I will tell you some interesting anecdotal truths about dorm life. 1. A good roommate is everything: fortunately, I have the best roommate anyone could ask for. She is neat, punctual, solicitous, has no odd/noisy habits, does not play a musical instrument, does not talk incessantly, does not blast loud music, does not decorate her side of the room with Disney channel stars and starlets. It helps that we don't see each other at all during the day, so going "home" at night and just chatting with her is really fun and relaxing. And she's got a very dry sense of humor. Always a good thing to posses, in my book. 2. Wear flip-flops in the shower: because you just don't know who was in there before you washing with what. Granted, us B***** H*** girls are one the whole a hygienic bunch, it guards from foot fungus. Oh yes...To the girl who leaves hair and random pairs of underwear in the showers: STOP DOING IT! Please. Thank you. 3. Don't let anyone cut your hair: amazingly, one girl let another girl do this, and it turned out fine, but the prospect of another high school student, as artsy as we all are, is terrifying! 4. Study hour is anything but, at least outside our room. Study hour is this great little implementation stating that between the hours of 9 and 10 PM, all students must be in their rooms studying or reading silently. Music must be listened to with headphones, and visitors are not allowed. That being said, why, last night was Kanye West spluttering from the room across from us? I sound like the biggest prude ever, but reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles isn't fun when I've to wade through crappy lyrics. 5. Don't eat the cake sitting in plain sight in the communal refrigerator: Just because the Cheese Cake Factory box is sitting cruely open and all the chocolatey/peanutbuttery goodness is eeking from the doggy back, doesn't mean you can eat it. Food is a very big issue around here. Apparently that was a big issue last year; people taking each other's food and not reimbursing them...that sort of thing. All things said, dorm life is hilarious and good fun, even when people blast music and run up and down the hallways. It's like living with forty-odd sisters. It's great. It's crazy.

Leda and the Swan

As I sit at my computer listening to the Indigo Girls and reveling in the fact that my writing studio homework is done, I have to ponder a certain poem. Aforesaid poem is Leda and the Swan, by William Butler Yeats.

I first read this poem in English nine honors amidst contorted faces and gasps as the swan had its way with poor Leda. We knew it was Zeus and somehow that made it more accessible, but I remember the prospect of him being in the form of a swan was absolutely disturbing to some people. In all honesty, I was incredibly irked that most of the class was hung up on the inherent sexual nature of the poem. So we spent the rest of our time with the poem discussing the weirdness of Zeus and his libido. Not to mention poor Hera. Anyways, today in Writing Studio, I got a second chance with the poem.

Let me tell you, going back to a good poem or book is like going back to a favorite movie. All of a sudden it all made sense. Helen of Troy, Leda's expectations and shock when Zeus drops her like a used rag, the stark portrayal of commandeering gods. It all fell into place. I thank my amazing verse teacher, who not only made us all bust a gut (I believe his exact phrase was, "Zeus's feathered glory"), he helped us appreciate the poem for its structure and its meaning. But I won't go off on a poetry tangent. I worry I've already lost you, reader, so I won't preach to the choir.

Oh yes, yesterday I met the 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction. You know, Paul Harding? Tinkers? Ring any bells? Even if it doesn't (I would've had no idea had I not been required to read his book for summer reading), this guy was amazing. Having done a very close out-loud reading of his book tinkers in class for the first two weeks of school, it was that much more wonderful to be able to discuss the work with its creator. he was insightful, obscure, and spoke mostly in metaphors. And he appreciated that I read his book in the boondox of the Alaskan wilderness. What a wonderful place I'm in.

City Venture

Behold...The Gypsy Children!

Yesterday the majority of the Writing & Publishing studio broke out from the school bubble (or plastic hamster ball, as it is slightly more difficult to penetrate than a bubble...I'm sorry, I'm making no sense) and went into the city. We walked for six hours, took subways, ate cake and lunch, drank coffee, shopped, discussed, sweat, and then went back to school.

The city, unbeknown to the blogosphere, is beautiful. It's bustling and hot (at the end of summer, obviously), sprawling and dense, and packed with cafes for us hipsters to sip beverages at.

My friend got carrot cake, I indulged in a slab of pumpkin spice cake. We split them. 'Twas amazing.

Shortly after this we braved the city subway to get to the Garment District, where I proceeded to buy pounds of vintage clothing and, wait for it...a pair of perfectly functional Birkenstocks for not fifty, not twenty, not ten bucks...but 30 CENTS! Yes, you read it correctly. Aside from us all being tired, hot and grouchy by the time we finally made it back to school, it was a highly satisfactory day.

Some gems from my day.

"And then the squirrel people invaded Europe!"

-My History teacher

"Feed the homonculus. She's hungry."

-Daniel Bosch (my Verse teacher)

"Because I don't have enough talent,

I depend on reality."

-Poet Takamura Kotara

"To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit."

-William Blake

"Do you like sloths?"

-Luke Smithers

"Do you like babies?"

-Luke Smithers

Willow reeds and acorns.

It's hard to believe that it is already Friday. It's also hard to believe I haven't done a Fantastical Friday post for awhile. Because all Fridays are fantastical, especially this one, thus far. It's seven twenty in the morning here, ten minutes before I'll migrate to the dining hall. An hour ago I was trekking and exploring the early morning on campus. I've been running/ellipticaling every morning this week, and decided that my energy wanted to change it up.

Much to my roommate's probable dismay, I set my alarm for 5:45 (I only let it ring once) and then dressed for the trees. It was wonderful. The fog had yet to lift off the ground by the time I was out there (around six) and continued to rise ephemerally until 6:45, at which time I finally returned to my dorm to get ready. If one had seen me flitting around in the trees in the dead early day, they would've thought me rather crazy. I was talking to the trees as well, which adds to the potentially precieved nutsness. Speaking of nuts. There are acorns EVERYWHERE. And I mean everywhere. And they are beautiful. I found myself meditating for a long time under the willow tree, which will supply plenty of good willow reeds for Mabon (Autumn Equinox festival I plan to celebrate this year).

A very fantastical Friday morning indeed. Though, I must divulge, I wouldn't mind crawling back into bed for a few hours.

Sweating Tea

I don't know if it comes with a passion for writing, but the entire writing studio(myself included!) drinks tea like the apocalypse in imminent. In on of the corners of the room, by the wall of windows looking out onto the field, we have a cabinet. In this cabinet, we have cups and bowls and an oddity of utensils. Upon the cabinet is a microwave, should we want to genetically modify our foods' cells (but that's a different story). On top of the microwave is a black wicker basket. In said basket, is tea. Bags, and bags, and splenda, and bags of tea. And it's wonderful. We also have espresso roast, but thus far we've all been too lazy to make a pot. Aside from the fact that I have to pee every fifteen minutes, it's lovely. It's relaxing, and I can only hope all this green tea is bolstering my immune system and not just squeezing my bladder every quarter of an hour.

In fact, I am writing this from a Writing Studio laptop with a steaming mug of organic herbal tea. Good fun.