I have no idea what I’m going to take with me to Edinburgh. I’ll be buying all the basics there, cooking with the pots and pans that come with the kitchen, sleeping on new sheets of the standard bedding pack that comes with the room. Everything will be new and basic and standard.
Maybe my room will reflect how I adjust to Edinburgh. Every knick knack I add to the room will be an expression of my own sparkling personality! Or not. It’s really a coin toss of how my awkwardness manifests itself… whether I get shy or whether I get cheeky, and I’m kind of looking forward to it. Well, right now, I’m curious mostly but I’m sure that by the time I get there, I’ll just be scared silly of it all.
He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation.”
— John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
I was on the plane, heading back to school in San Diego at the end of Spring Break.
I woke up halfway through, put my earphones in, and started listening to whatever was on shuffle. The guy next me had pulled out his laptop and was rummaging through his iTunes. When he finally settled on a song and leaned back in his chair, I took a daring sideways glance and saw from that the album cover that he’d picked a song by Phoenix from their Wolfgang Amadeus album. I silently commended him on his good choice.
I’d just started getting into Phoenix about a month ago and I was actually really tempted to strike up a conversation since they’d been in San Diego just last winter. I had just opened my mouth to say something that hopefully came out casual-crowded-place-small-talk and not awkward-stalker-on-an-airplane-ramble, when I glanced over again at his iTunes list. Then, I saw his Aaron Carter playlist.
The story pretty much ends here because I was so disappointed in his music taste that I just sighed, turned my music up, and went back to sleep.
Coming home for Spring Break, I now remember that…
1. the suburban life is filled with trips to the grocery store and utensils that all have working parts. compared to college life, where the grocery store is far and my spoon and fork look like they’re about 90 years old.
[bling out your dining ware like you’re livin in the Byzantine]
A tree with branches that are roots and roots that are branches
UC San Diego
thoughts of the day
I learnt a song this weekend and I like the chords but it’s too racy for me to play in front of other people.
P.S. Some phrases that I like to use:
“the bee’s knees,” “the cat’s pajamas,” “what the bucket”
It sounds weird now but soon we’re going to run out of swear words, so, really, I’m just going to be way ahead of the curve.
The same ambition can destroy or save,
And makes a patriot as it makes a knave”
— Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Man”
A reserve somewhere in San Diego: a parasol is absolutely necessary.
You don’t fool love.”
— S.C.
eyes on the prize
eyes on the prize: the goal.
This weekend, I will:
-collect all my notes into something resembling a study guide for Language in Society
-learn to play a happy song on the guitar
-glance at my notes for Gender and Sexuality in Society
