Posts Tagged ‘one eleven’
A reflective 1:11
It’s late. You’re up. And you’re probably stressing about finals. I know I am. Or maybe in your free time you’re thinking about institutional racism, or cheating (either at Columbia or Barnard), or this. I know I was pretty pissed off that the section I did perfectly on in my Lit Hum final was dropped.
I think it’s sad that our year had to end on so many sour notes; you would hope that at least at the end of the semester, where we say good bye to our friends who are outgoing seniors, that we should be celebrating.
Instead, we get bogged down by the stresses of work, or we are bothered by the actions of others in our community that put us all in a bad light. And, as countless people have pointed out, it seems like we can never reach the end of a semester without hitting a rough patch that throws us into loud discussions on comment threads.
And let’s not even talk about how time flies. I don’t remember my first year here as having passed so quick. I missed so many opportunities to see and do things I didn’t do last year. I’ve never been to a Varsity Show. I can count on one hand the times I’ve been below 110th and above 120th. I could have structured my time more effectively to catch some more downtime with friends, and watch all my favorite TV shows I missed this year. I could have found more time to hang out with old friends, or make new ones.
I know I’m not alone in this; I’ve talked to so many people lately about angst around these lines. About how we keep getting told “this is the best years of our lives” and such (Aside: I’ve never actually heard somebody say earnestly, it’s always sarcastically, or at least second-hand).
The little-known origins of famous events
It’s late. You’re up. And you’re wondering, why am I on Spectrum at 1:11 at night when I should be studying for tests, or, better yet, sleeping? Well, it’s obviously because I’m an amazing writer. Obviously.
Anyways, what I wanted to talk about tonight is about those events that happen around this time of year that you or I don’t know that much about the actual history.
While those of you of Mexican descent, or Hispanophiles (not sure if a word), might know about the history of this celebration, many of us (or just me) have no idea about this party. I always thought it was something in between the 4th of July, Halloween, and President’s Day.
The day commemorates an important victory in Mexican history in 1862, when an invading force of the French were looking to have some sort of tributary government in the Americas. Obviously, they would have none of that, and the victory became something comparable to the Alamo, besides the fact that they won.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
It is comparable to the Alamo in the sense that, while pro-freedom Mexicans won this battle, it was mainly symbolic, as the French would go on to take over Mexico City and instate a puppet Emperor for the next three years. After which, from some pressure from the newly unified States of America, France left Mexico.
MASH
It’s late. You’re up. This is the last weekend to have fun before finals. If you have nothing better to do, then why not play a juvenile game from our childhood: MASH.
I used to love this game. My friends and I would pick the worst possible categories instead of the typical “boy you’ll marry,” “car you’ll drive,” and “the fabulous job you’ll have.” We had stuff like “the gruesome way you’re gonna die,” “who you’re gonna marry out of the worst of the cootie-riddled, nose-picking, booger-eating boys in class,” and “which fast food restaurant you’re gonna work at after you drop out of school.” We had a strange sense of humour.
I guess I’m feeling nostalgic, especially since exams are coming up. Remember when the hardest thing you could imagine was having to choosing whether to watch “Digimon” or “Pokémon” on Saturday mornings? (Unpopular opinion: The choice is “Digimon.” Clearly the superior plot-wise.) Now it’s whether I should skip calculus for my mechanics problem set even though I should go to the lecture because I suck at math, but if I don’t hand this problem set in, that’s like 5% off my final grade. #collegestrugs
Hence, why I made a Columbia version of MASH. If you don’t know how to play, here are the instructions.
Claire Ding
Trip down memory lane
It’s late. You’re up.
May definitely stepped up and delivered some of that long-promised spring weather, but it’s possible that you found yourself sequestered indoors like yours truly, slogging away on a mountain of “to-write” pages. Hopefully that wasn’t the case, and if it was… I hope you had the good sense to leave for an hour or two to sit out and bask in the sunlight.
In light of last week’s Gawker/personal statement incident, I embraced the opportunity to procrastinate and to go back and glance over my Columbia application. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasn’t quite as embarrassing as I remember myself being—but it could also just be that I’ve gotten a lot nicer. I did also learn a few things; I’d love to hear what you all may find if you glance back over yours.
A Brief List of Things I Forgot About Myself at 17 and Subsequent Resolutions.
1. I really loved to read.
This is a little contrived, because I didn’t quite forget how much I loved to read… I just pretty much stopped reading for fun for most of the calendar year. Which, is apparently kind of shocking because I read a lot. Remember those lists of the books we’d read in the last year that I had to put down? I remember running out of characters on there, and agonizing over which books to actually pick. Looking back, I realize this also made me the type of person who kept lists of books she had read. I have decided to forgive myself for this extremely nerdy practice, and resolve to try and get back to that place this summer. Maybe I’ll institute a Netflix ban?
Early morning, April 4
If anyone watched the most recent episode of Mad Men it can be recalled that there were real-world events that prompted characters to look at their lives and the unfortunate choices they’ve made over the past few years. So the same events that prompted Pete Campbell to get super-into social justice inspired super-hip band U2 to make a super-accurate song, and I wanted to see what the Spectator Archives could say about these events in lieu of dealing with the deadlines and reality happening right now.
Willfully ignoring reality is an example of a not-great study practice, but a catalog of poor study practices is a subject for another 1:11.
In this 1:11 we will examine the 9 April, 1968, issue of The Columbia Daily Spectator. Er, spoilers, history ahead?
Getting easily distract- oh look a 1:11!
It’s late. You’re up. And, with any luck, you’re on the last leg of your assignments. Yes, I know your reading is dense, or that physics is not making any sense, but in yourself you must have some reliance.
More specifically, reliance that you won’t be distracted. Because I know that the number one killer of my homework is doing other things instead.
I find that binge watching GoT or reading Cracked is dangerous to my health (from both the GPA and the physical standpoints). Because I find that my mind gets wracked with crazy ideas when it is practically the twelfth day in a row I have not had a good night’s sleep.
I find myself writing 1:11s about ways to stay up without messing up your joints, instead of writing about how I used my nights effectively — asleep.
One recent example is that I watched Rope at 4 am this past Sunday morning for no reason. (It was a great movie, by the way.) Sometimes I feel like there is no hope for me, especially in the upcoming finals season.
But, this is what I’ve been meaning to say: that it is easy for us to get distracted because we don’t really know where our priorities are. I know I’ve put in much more time than I should in some of my club extra-curriculars, never mind the incessant cat videos and going on Archer binges (literally a season a day!).
Classes I wish my high school had offered
Being an adult sucks. I wish I could reach back in time to my fourteen-year-old self who wished she could grow up faster and slap her. Then maybe send her to a Home Ec class so her twenty-year-old self wouldn’t screw up making toast.
Tumblr
Being old is rough as hell. Trying to figure out taxes (yes I’m still doing taxes. I’m an international student. I have two sets to do.), summer jobs, where to live, how to find money so I can eat in the summer, etc., is completely overwhelming, not mention the normal classes and extracurricular stuff that I have. Why weren’t there classes in high school to teach us how to deal with this? I mean, instead of Careers, the class where I took Myers-Briggs personality tests and it matched me up with the job most suited to me (hydrologist), I could learn how to actually find a job. How about in Intro Business, instead of learning to type and make shitty websites, we learned about resumes and interviews—you know, stuff that will actually help me in the future. Here’s a list of classes I wish my school had offered:
1. Sophomore Slump, or How Not to Fuck Up Your Second Year
Class description: You will learn how to beat the second-year blues. Classes include: How to beat apathy! Say No to Reddit and Facebook, Sleeping/Texting in Class, Drinking before 9 a.m., and Other Bad Coping Tactics. How to Smart Sparknote and Make It Look like You Read the Book.
How to burn midnight oil
It’s late. You’re up. And you’re super stressed about the literal ton of work at your desk. You’re even thinking about pulling an all-nighter because of it.
So to pull an all-nighter you’re going to have to try to find a way to keep yourself awake. I have therefore tested out various methods of staying conscious overnight and submit them here for your consideration:
Straight-edge
This is iron-man style working; just using your willpower to stay awake as you fight to write your essay. You can do this (I’ve done it once or twice), but in the morning you feel like a vegetable that can make sounds come from its face-hole. And those sounds occasionally will sound like words. Rating: 2/10
Java jiving
ckschleg / flickr
General caffeine intake. If you’re not a fan of coffee (like me), you can always try to grow wings. Rating: 7/10 caffeines drunk
1:11 is Poké time!
It’s late. You’re up. And you’re probably sitting there, staring at a computer screen and wondering what classes you should take. I know I should be. Instead I’m just staring at my computer screen.
But this 1:11 will not be about fun or funny classes you should take. No, I’ve seen too many of those; this 1:11 will be about a cultural phenomenon that I feel has recently been making an unappreciated comeback.
A cultural phenomenon that I happily didn’t take part in, because ANIMAL CRUELTY IS WRONG.
Yes, I’m talking about Pokémon.
You might have seen Charizard, or Charmeleon or whatever (I don’t care), crowd-surfing at the Bacchanal; I know I did:
Seems like Charmelon crashed @CUBacchanal. Someone ask for his CUID
— Adam Hadar (@adamhadar) April 13, 2013
So there’s that. But even CULPA’s latest update in the Underwater Basketweaving section is about how great Professor Oake is as a teacher.
And… More »
Bacchanal from the other side
What do you and the Flosstradamus guys have in common? You both really enjoyed bacchanal!
“TODAY WAS AMAZING! THX COLUMBIA UNIV :)”
-@flosstradamus / instagram
They went into it with enthusiasm:
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LETS TURN UP!!!
— FLOSSTRADAMUS (@FLOSSTRADAMUS) April 13, 2013
Their only other comment really rung true:
AWAKE… BOUT TO PLAY THE EARLIEST SET I THINK WE’VE EVER DONE
— FLOSSTRADAMUS (@FLOSSTRADAMUS) April 13, 2013
Macklemore, a slightly less effusive fellow, still basked in Bacchanal glory… More »