Seventy five degrees today. Seventy five. Amazing for early April. Absolutely gorgeous. It’s the kind of day that you have a hard time feeling stressed during - the kind of day people stay in Minnesota for. Fresh air, everyone outside lounging and studying in the sunshine. The leaves aren’t on the trees quite yet, so indeed it is not as green as could be, but that fresh ground thawing smell is all around and spring fever has hit almost as hard as everyone’s hay fever.
Some days you just have to change it up a little bit. You see, no cafeteria can supply edible food every day, and the Binz Refectory at the University of St. Thomas is no exception. I believe it was some sort of quesadilla that was being served (beef or cheese, please), and they were so flat they looked like somebody took a rolling pin to them before serving. Not that that is a bad thing - taste trumps appearance any day - but goodness, I simply had to say ‘no’ to grease-soaked tortilla, ‘no’ to the desserts (which develop a hard outer casing after a few days of being set out each dining period), and ‘no’ to everything else … except one thing.
Being at college is great. We get exposed to all of these cultural experiences … you know the kind that seem so fake and trite in other contexts - they really take on a meaning when on a university campus. People might be majoring in the study of the language of the country, might have lived there for a semester, or may have a professor from there. Furthermore, these experiences helps break up our [sadly] homogeneous group of campus residents. Mykala invited me to come hear ‘Taiko.’
While my titles could be improved, this one is undeniably accurate, especially on closer inspection of the following material. First off, since I always miss it or can never remember it, today was the first day the grass looked green and there were visible buds on the trees. Yes, this means spring, or at least it’s flowery foundations, is (are?) firmly upon us. Looks like Monday the 18th (with a projected high of 71) will be our top day in the next 10. I will be rollerblading on that day, yes I will (and hope for company).
The idea was not to grow out my hair. Seven months ago (during my last haircut), I did not think it would be spring before I cut the locks springing from my skull. That said, fall gave way to winter, which began to yield to spring, and during that time my hair continued to grow, unaccosted by the barber’s shears/scissors. The resulting forest/afro of hair got rather curly in the end.
Dayle is an interesting character. Resident of fifth floor since my first year here, he is an institution around Cretin Hall. While I can’t fully disclose the many facets of his personality, I believe he is from Jamaica or somewhere geographically close - he has this really cool accent. I also learned the sport of cricket from him one early Saturday morning last year. I played with people still slightly tipsy from the night before, marveling the whole time at the subtleties of such a simple game. Dayle has always surprised me, intially from his accent, to his smoking, to his position as a senior contributing writer on our school’s newspaper.
Despite all the tests, quizzes, labs, papers, and final preparations that you are going through right now, there will not be another time in your life like this. You will not live so close to so many friends, sharing such a unique living space again. You will not change and grow so much as an individual in such a short space of time again. You will not find new interests, or have the time to pursue them, in the same way you do now.
Best study name ever - In our class called animal behavior, we study the journal Animal Behaviour. One of the primary source titles I found from research for a lab report: “Mate choice in a hermaphrodite: you won’t score with a spermatophore.” I didn’t bother to link the other one: “Absence of female conspecifics induces homosexual behaviour in male guppies.”
