Happy Birthday to Me!

Although it's been foggy and misty out all day, I've had one of my better days. I got good grades on my first two physics assignments, and well wishes all day. Why, you ask? Because it's my birthday!

I'm at my grandparents again for my actual birthday. They treated me to an amazing dinner of steak and baked potatoes, and finished it off with a mini tiramisu. They gave me a game called "Banana Gram" and a check, as I am now a starving college student (minus the starving). My parents sent up a box of presents too. I took some pictures of the things they sent me.

Of course, to thoroughly understand the awesomeness of these gifts, you have to realize that I have the best parents ever! No, seriously, I do. They can practically read my mind. Some people have actually told me that they think it's weird that I get along with my parents so well. My question is, why wouldn't I?

Hope you all have a fun Friday night!

Nighttime Happenings

Hello all. Please excuse the lateness of this post, but there are currently multiple people in my room watching YouTube videos, and I am waiting for them to leave so I can go to bed.

Anyways, tonight there was a "Bazar" to raise awareness for the flood victims in Pakistan. I went with some of my friends, and we got to learn some Arabic calligraphy. I wrote my name, but it not good enough to show here. There were also pretty good henna artists, so I got one on my wrist. Here it is:

The girl was really talented. I basically sat down, she asked me what I wanted, and I told her something with a vine. This is what she came up with! It's pretty light right now, but in a few days it will be pretty dark. Maybe I'll take pictures to show the progression. Don't you love henna? It's the joy of having a tattoo, without having to live with it when you get old and wrinkly!

There was Middle Eastern food there as well. Best part, though? After a short presentation about helping to end illiteracy in Pakistan, there was a dance group that performed. I tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out too good.

Well, with that note, until next time!

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone is having a good Friday. Partying still seems to be the popular thing to do and, quite frankly, I don't think it will go out of style any time soon (hello, this is college). I actually witnessed my first in dorm drinking today, and I have to admit, I wasn't that impressed. I have been, however, branching out to try and find out what there is to do besides partying.

Today after classes, some friends and I met at Golden Gate Park in the AIDS Memorial Garden. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and there were two guys with guitars who played for a while. I admit it; we studied on a Friday afternoon! But it was so quiet and peaceful that we relaxed and read for a little while before packing up and going off to explore Haight Street. Of course, not before I got to take some pictures of the absolutely gorgeous park!

On the way out of the park, we came across some chalk art on the side walk, and I couldn't resist! This was only the beginning of what Haight had to offer.

This man's pants were the first thing to catch our attention. Well, that and the fact that he was suspending himself upside down over this fire hydrant. He was very nice when we asked him if we could take a picture with him, and introduced himself as the hip Dali Lama.

This cute little dog was sitting just inside the doorway of a salon we passed by. He was also very friendly and relaxed, and was just as eager as the man in the neon pants to pose for some pictures.

We stopped for pizza and took a look in the discount army store. On the way back to campus, we saw this band playing on someone's front steps and stopped for half of a song. If you like bluesy-folk music, they weren't half bad and had attracted a decent sized crowd.

Once we got back to campus, we threw in a few loads of laundry and played video games with some of the guys on our floor. Most everyone has left for parties by now, but my friends Scott, Justine, and I are planning on watching a movie in a little bit. So, I would call this a major victory over stay-in-friday-syndrome, which typically manifests itself in melancholy feelings and random bursts of loneliness. I had a great time today, no alcohol needed!

Random Happenings and Serious Questions

Looking back on all the posts so far, I've realized that this is almost becoming a photo journal. So, in keeping with theme, here are some more pictures!

We had another glorious day of sun! I started the day with a little housekeeping: laundry, cleaning our microwave and refrigerator, and changing my sheets. Afterwards, I decided to walk to the local Boudin Bakery for some lunch. Although I love pretty much everything about their sourdough bread, their turkey sandwiches are heavenly! From there I made a quick trip to Trader Joe's.

On the way to Trader Joe's, the first weird thing of the year happened to me. I was waiting for the light and glanced over my shoulder. Unfortunately, that caused me to look directly at a rather old man wearing a lime green valor sweatsuit, and a semi-bowler hat. He was also riding a scooter. When he came to a stop by the light, he turned to me, gave a big grin, and said "Hello there!" Thankfully, I had my cell phone in my hand and quickly started dialing while completely ignoring him. I wanted him to think that either I was calling the police or that whoever was on the other line would miss me if he tried anything sketchy. It must have worked, because he scootered off as soon as the light changed without another glance in my direction.

Ah, the people you meet in the city.

After returning with my precious groceries, I decided to go sit out on the grass and study. While I did get stuff done, I think I also reburned the arm that I burned on Sunday. I have some really random tan lines!

And now for my "serious questions." One of the first things that happened when I arrived back on campus was that my friends filled me in on what I had missed. I mentioned in my last post the night of in-the-dorm-drinking, vomiting and sleeping with random people. I forgot to mention that they then went out the next night and, failing to find a party to go to, went back to their rooms and got drunk, again.

So this leads me to ask: why do we go to college? Society and the media portrays college years as full of parties and promiscuous sex. Unfortunately, I think there are people who go into college expecting that experience.  Personally, I don't think the point of college is to go out partying every night. Heck, you could get drunk at home without having to pay all the tuition money. Call me old fashioned or naive, but I always thought of college as a place where people who are truly passionate about learning and pursuing knowledge come together. I was looking forward to random, spontaneous intellectual conversations! So far, I've only really had one.

Am I hanging out with the wrong people? I am not so ignorant to think that I am the only person on campus who would rather stay in on a weekend night and read a book or watch a movie. I can't be the only one who doesn't want to drink. Frankly, I don't see the logic of it. If it smells that nasty, it must taste atrocious! As for the stupid things alcohol can make you do... well, I'm surprised that anyone drinks at all!

Thankfully, I haven't been pressured into going to anything that I didn't want to. So I guess you could say that I must have found at least a decent group of people. But I still don't understand why you would pay to come to college (and an expensive private school at that) and spend most of the week completely wasted or hung over. Where's the appeal?

I have a feeling this will be something that I'll be trying to figure out all year.