You know you're in middle school...

...When you write in your journal every day about what a certain person said to you that afternoon and what could it mean and you are devastated when you realize they're on Facebook but they've not friended you and you don't want to watch Hugh Laurie (for example) on the television because that person will probably be there and they've already seen you today.

If there were such a thing as Facebook for middle schoolers, which there isn't. And if middle schoolers liked Hugh Laurie, which they probably mostly don't.

I love my professors

Subject: Your R letter
Dear Aimei,

Your Recommendation Letter is placed in my mailbox and waiting for you to pick up!
Good luck for your application. You are the best, they better accept you.

Love,
Zhao laoshi

*

Subject: This is an outrage!
Math 111 Students,

I hope that some of you share my disgust at the president's decision not to hold Mountain Day on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. To compensate for this injustice, class will begin at 8:40am for the rest of the semester, starting tomorrow. (I might, however, ask you to show up *once* at 8:00am in November, depending on the format of the second test.)

Chr*s H*rdin

Mountain Day Mountain Day Happy Mountain Day!

Tuesday night a bunch of Green Street residents (my money's on Tyler- it's the sort of thing they'd do) charged onto the quad demanding a Mountain Day riot. Mountain Day riot is a thing I kind of disapprove of but I suppose the Quadlings must have their fun. For about a week in advance they hoard food from meals, and then one night when they want Mountain Day they all charge over to Carol Christ's house screaming and yelling and throwing food at each other. The Quad is really quite disgusting for a long time after the riot. In theory, they're supposed to clean up afterwards, but as one girl in my Calc class remarked, "How do you get sausage out of grass?"

Because of the (in my view rather pathetic) Green Street Riot, we all kind of expected Mountain Day to be Wednesday, but I for one was relieved when it wasn't. Wednesdays are busy for me- I have Calc, Chinese, my Logic section which I have to attend and sort of help direct, and Philosophy of Language, which only meets once a week and so to miss one would be a disaster. Because I am a tool.

Carol Christ left this morning for Madrid, so we figured we wouldn't be able to have Mountain Day until after fall break, when she returns, but this morning I woke from a dream of Sherlock Holmes to the sound of bells. "It's Mountain Day," I thought hazily, and set my alarm clock forward ten minutes. Livin' la Vida Loca, I am.

Generally on Mountain Day the people who are up early run through the house pounding on doors and shouting "Mountain Day Mountain Day Happy Mountain Day!" but today this did not happen, and so I eventually decided I'd imagined the bells and got up to go to the gym. While I was brushing my teeth, I ran into a couple of people who said it wasn't Mountain Day, and I imagine they spent their mornings sitting around sadly in empty classrooms. It was Mountain Day, however, and so after the gym (I cut my workout short because I wanted to have energy for fun) I lingered over a muffin outside and read Hugh Laurie, then spent TWO HOURS working on my comic! It was amazing! I know you're supposed to be outdoorsy on Mtn Day but the prospect of guilt-free drawing time was too good to pass up. I joined my house for a picnic by the dock, and then Kep and Sarah and I hiked up to the Dangerous and Condemned State Mental Hospital, which you can no longer wander freely around. Then we split up and I went to the river for a swim and it was lovely. Cold, and a little crowded, but highly refreshing. Then I had a nap, because all that sunlight and fun and exercise really takes it out of you.

Tonight I have a Habitat meeting and our Head Resident is having a Suite Warming Party, where I might put in an appearance. I'm awfully sleepy, but it's been a lovely day.

Alternative career choice?

This is my second year as Washburn House Librarian, and I really enjoy it. Only I could turn such a thing into an opportunity for violence and rage. First there was my very embarrassing campaign speech last spring, in which I shouted and punched my hand for emphasis and scared everybody else out of running, and things have not gotten any better.

Every year the house is allowed to order about a dozen books through the Tyler book fund. We don't pay for them, they just show up, like magic, and it's wonderful and we are so lucky to have it. Last year I ordered a whole bunch of lovely new books, and was pleased to see them vanish from the shelves. "Oh good," I thought. "People are using the wonderful house library."

Unfortunately, many of the books were never returned. On Sunday, at our house meeting, I delivered an empassioned address to the house, waving around an empty box from our Harry Potter box set for emphasis. "There's a signup list on my board for new house library books, and please add your suggestions, and they'll come and they'll be great and they'll have bookplates in them, which is what will distinguish them from books that belong to you!" I cried, my voice growing higher and higher and faster and faster.

So far there are only three suggestions, which worries me a little. I could certainly fill it up myself if need be, but if all we end up with is, say, Wittgenstein and P.G. Wodehouse, it's going to be a boo-hoo Christmas for a lot of people.

First week of classes- done!

Classes started yesterday, but I don't really feel as though I've begun. It hasn't hit me yet. (Even though I've already finished two homework assignments.) Yesterday my only class was Computer Science, which seems all right. I think I should be able to handle it. Our homework was a little silly, but I suppose that as someone who contributed to Sweet Reason, I can't complain. I actually received my TA copy of S.R. the other day, and it is beautiful. It's huge and shiny and delightful and I want to carry it around and show it off. I'm so bringing it home when I'm in Buffalo next weekend.

Today I had Calculus and Chinese, as well as Logic 100, which I sat in on. My calculus professor reminds me of Chris Potenza, which is not a terrible thing. I just finished the homework, which was not incredibly easy but at least it didn't reduce me to tears. Chinese was fun, of course, and I like the new teacher, Wu laoshi, but the high points of the day were definitely sitting in on Logic 100, the most fun course taught at Smith, and chatting with K.M. afterwards. Because that never fails to make me happy.

I picked up an application for the Beijing program this afternoon, but it turns out to be last year's. No matter, I can probably print one out in the computer lab later on. Also last night I attended a meeting for students interested in applying for fellowships. I think I'm going to apply for one this year. M*rgaret Br*zelius says it's a good thing to do even if you don't think you'll get it, so why not? But don't let's tell my mum; she might start thinking I listen to her nudging.

Delayed Gratification

I like to draw, but like a lot of things I like doing and ought to do, it's hard for me to get going. I like to run, but man, I hate to tie my running shoes on. There are two things I do to overcome my inertia in these matters: routine and bribery. The only way I can ever make it to the gym is if I put myself on a specific schedule, to which I must then adhere. The beauty is that if I'm supposed to run on the treadmill for half an hour on Thursdays, I will be consumed with a sense of wrongness if I don't. I have an almost obsessive-compulsive need to stick to schedules.

For drawing, I've been using bribery. Every time I finish a page of my comic, I am permitted to go to Forbes and borrow an episode of Jeeves & Wooster. (This has the added benefit of preventing me from plowing through the entire series too quickly.) Once I start drawing, I enjoy it, but sometimes it takes that extra incentive for me to begin.

I finished a page of my comic Sunday night, but yesterday was Labor Day so the library was closed, and today is Tuesday, so it doesn't open until 1. I hate having to wait all this extra time to reap my just reward. To tide me over, I'm listening to my era soundtrack, which includes "Sunny Disposish," "Minnie the Moocher," "47 Ginger-Headed Sailors," and a number of other things. Very nice.

Why I Should Have Learned to Drive

Jay called me up the other day with an offer- he has to dash off to Rome - lala, dashing off to Rome- and he needed someone to stay with his daughter, who is, I believe, fifteen or sixteen, for the duration. Pick her up at soccer practice, hang around with her in the evenings, etc. Of course, I had to turn him down, because I can't drive. I could hardly carry the girl home from soccer on the handlebars of my bicycle. I'm very disappointed by this and I'm not sure why- babysitting someone so close to my age would be awkward (I prefer the two to six range), and spending a week living in Amherst would be inconvenient in the extreme. I don't think I'm merely being avaricious, although I daresay there's a bit of that. I think my disappointment is mainly due to my habit of saying yes to everything. Being forced to say no is a wrench, even when there is literally nothing to be done about it.

On the bright side, however, I guess Jay must hold me in pretty high esteem if he wants me to stay in his house and shuttle his daughter around, so that's nice.

Also very nice- today I was assisting at Conversations, which is when the professors all stand around in the ITT and talk to incoming students about their departments. During a lull, Jim asked me what I was taking this semester, and I told him, and said I was a bit nervous about calculus.

"Well, please feel free to stop by my office and talk to me about it any time," he said gravely. "I feel somewhat responsible for you." I don't even have him for Calc! That's pure milk of human kindness, that is. He went on to talk about how even people without strong math backgrounds can go on to become successful set theorists and so on, which was very encouraging. Set theorists, I'm given to understand, don't have to know how to drive.

Still Katrina

Smith College Offers Fall Classes to Local Students Affected by Hurricane Katrina

In support of colleges and universities stricken by Hurricane Katrina, Smith College will offer undergraduates from western Massachusetts the opportunity to take fall semester classes at Smith on a space-available basis, President Carol T. Christ announced Friday.

Local women and men enrolled in one of the colleges or universities affected by the disaster along the Gulf Coast will not be charged for the courses.

*We offer our sympathy to everyone affected by Hurricane Katrina,* said Christ. *By opening our classrooms, we hope to lessen disruption in the lives of displaced students.*

Campus housing is full, so Smith is unable to offer housing to the additional students. The expectation is that the emergency program will serve students within commuting distance.

At the end of the fall semester, Smith will give students transcripts for the courses they complete. Each student will be asked to speak with a class dean before selecting courses to structure a plan that is tailored to their needs.

Katrina

I'm always prepared to be proud of Americans when we do things right, so I'm gratified to see that people throughout the country are offering space in their houses to victims of the hurricane. It's very unfortunate that there's no effective way to communicate with the victims, who obviously don't have internet access at the moment, but I very much hope that word gets around and people are matched with places to stay. I think it's incredibly scary how the hurricane is inciting people to behave monstrously. Snipers preventing hospital evacuation! Children being raped and killed! Armed mobs roaming the streets! It's terrifying. But at least there are good people working hard to make things safer again. Good luck to them.

The campus is filling up

Ran into J*m H*nle last evening. He's leading what sounds like an excellent new preorientation- Intellectual Inquiry. There's a painting in the gallery of Northampton a long time ago, before Paradise Pond was even there, I think, and they're going to look at it under an electron microscope and discuss it and go up in a hot air balloon to see what the valley looks like now. Trouble is, it's poured rain every day this week (presumably my fault for forgetting my rain coat) and so they haven't been able to go up in the balloon.

"Any breeze at all is too much breeze," Jim explained to me.

"Well, you might risk it. Maybe you'd be blown away like in The Twenty One Balloons," I suggested.

"I don't know that one," he said.

"Oh, you'd like it. It's this guy who's blown off course in his hot air balloon and winds up on an island that's built on a diamond mine where everybody has restaurants."

"Restaurants?"

"Yes," I said, warming to the theme. "They have so much money because their whole island is full of diamonds so they devote their lives to being excellent cooks and having fabulous houses and they all go round to a different person's restaurant every day."

"Sort of a modern fable," said Jim.

"Yes," I said.

There was a silence.

"Okay, well, see you later!"

"Goodbye!"

I wish they'd had that preorientation when I was a firstyear. Mine was fun, too, though- we canoed along the Connecticut River and camped out. Immediately afterwards virtually everyone I met there was vaporized- I haven't seen them since. So it wasn't a completely successful attempt at making new friends, but at least I learned how to paddle a canoe.