Incredibly Beautiful

I came across this video on Facebook and it's truly beautiful:




According to YouTube: "Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII."

Enjoy!

Blast From the Past

A nice couple of guys from the 1989 Vassarion:

Tee hee!

Most Important Lesson for Freshmen

Hey everyone!  Hope your breaks are going great!  This is for all the freshmen who don't know what a hipster is:




Sort of taken from Monty Python's Upper Class Twit of the Year...yay!

Break It Up Now.

Break! Finally!

It's such a relief. I have to say I was getting a little overwhelmed with everything (and anything).

But unfortunately all the bloggers seem to have disappeared because they off doing interesting break activities. I, on the other hand, have all the time in the world, as I am indeed from the West Coast and staying on campus all week (except perhaps a quick foray into NYC).

Common Sense 101: How to Save Money

Hey Vassarians! Tired of seeing the faculty wearing red and protesting? Wish all the economic crisis would go away? Me too! And so would the rest of the college! It's so awful that so many people are losing their jobs. Vassar's backbone of operation are the librarians, the people who clean the dorms, DC workers, and everyone else on the sidelines making our education possible. How many times a day do you rely on them? And in comparison, how many times a day do you rely on a Dean? Or an administrator? Or Cappy? Yes, yes, the college is run by those people. But on a daily, individual basis, your paper gets printed by the guy from CIS who fixes the VPrinter. Or the damn light in your dorm room stops blinking when the people from B&G come to fix it. And the college is repaying them by cutting their jobs. I know a librarian, 2 years away from retirement and paying off her car, who just lost her job. Or another librarian who is losing their home. The buyout isn't quite as nice as it sounds: with all the taxes, a lot of their buyout amounts are less than a year's salary. So here is my advice to Vassar on how to save some money:

Sell the Vatican, Feed the World

Here's a nice video from Sarah Silverman:




She's so right..and so pretty! <3 Sarah Silverman

WOAH

This is so true and so scary.  Make sure you scroll over the picture to get the rest of the text!

I <3 xkcd

Life Crisis

Oh woe is me, the poor college student.  I want so so many things and just don't have the money for it.  And I've suddenly realized that it's going to be like this for a while.  I mean, it's going to take a really long time for me to make it famous and rich..if I ever do.  Financial stress is such a bitch.

And I want to travel.  SO. BADLY.  And I can't!  Because it's all so damn expensive!  I had plans to go to Montreal for most of October Break and then my textbooks ended up costing almost $700.  So now I'm going home.  Which is fine: I love my parents, love my pets at home, can't wait to visit my friends at their state colleges, etc.  But come on.  I'm 20 years old.  I speak French.  And I should be traveling.  Instead I'm getting an education so that I can make money later.  So that I can travel and have fun later once I've made money.  Basically, I'm just putting off living for later.  I'm in the prime of my life NOW and I want to experience the world NOW.

At the same time, I'm so not ready for the real world.  My parents expect me to go to grad school right after I graduate from Vassar.   But I'm not going to have the pre-reqs for the programs I want.  So it seems like a good idea to go to a state school part time for a semester or two and then get into a big program.  Well..there's the little thing that I won't have health insurance under my parent's plan unless I'm a full time student.  Shit.  Can't even take time off to figure out my life!  And as mature as I try to be and as ready as I am to move away from home, I'm not ready.  My home is the only home I've ever known (along with Vassar).  I'd love to go to grad school out in the NorthWest but will I really be ready to be on my own in less than 2 years?

Anyone else in this situation?  It sucks.  And then my existentialist voice in my head tells me nothing matters anyway.  Sigh...

Well, This is Creepy

Speaking of Halloween...

Taken just moments ago...

Halloween Update

The holiday is certainly sizing up to be THE event to match this year.

Not only is the senior class throwing their usual soiree in the Villard Room from 11 to 2, but as previously mentioned other activities will accompany it this year.

We have exclusive insight into just what those activities might be.

Apparently, several dorms are participating in a campus trick-or-treating event. Chris Roellke, Dean of the College, will once again be contributing money to the residential houses to go towards buying pizza for their inhabitants. Just confirmed is an outdoor BONFIRE on Joss Beach. There will be a film screening in the college center of some spooky movie(s), as well as a costume contest (previously mentioned).

In addition to all the effort the senior class is doing, other orgs are going to be putting on some fun activities as well that weekend:

The TAs will be hosting their own outdoor Halloween party, sans alcohol, that night with baked goods, candy, and music provided by Vassar Teknowledgy. Furthermore, Raymond will of course be hosting their legendary haunted house.

I. CANNOT. WAIT. FOR. HALLOWEEN!

Oh Caribou...

I've just tried the Caribou Coffee drink from the vending machine- normally I am caffeine tolerant, but now I am just weirdly shaky and anxious and feel a little like my internal organs are shivering. Hmm.

Well on a more important note, COCKROACHES have been found in Jewett. Not great amounts apparently, just one or two. People seem, frighteningly enough, relatively unconcerned, but I personally feel that one cockroach is too many cockroaches to ever have to deal with.

WOAH

I KNOW this is beyond the scope of things relating to "student issues" or "Vassar" in general, but hear me out.

I'm sure that most of us either have a love of Disney or of video games, or (hopefully, like me) both. GameInformer just released their November issue, and the cover is simply epic:

Appropriately, the project is tentatively titled "Epic Mickey" and is slated for an exclusive Wii release sometime in 2010. Color me ridiculously intrigued - I'm surprised Disney's allowing such a dark take on an otherwise happy-go-lucky cartoon character, much less their company mascot. I can't wait to hear/read more about it!

Click on the image to see it bigger, and to read the article that accompanies it, click HERE.

xoxo

spire

What ARE They Talking About?

“Look at me. LOOK AT ME!”

“Jake, shut up, you’re making a scene!”
“I don’t give a fuck! Why won’t you look at me?!”

“Please, PLEASE just keep your voice down, ok?”

“Ok. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I think we should talk about the other night.”

Claustrophobia

Have you ever gotten the feeling that at just over 2400 people, this campus is just way too small?

Like, I love the fact that I recognize a ton of people on campus, that I can go to the Retreat or the DC at dinnertime (or the library at any time, for that matter) and find people I know that I can sit with.

However, this also makes things a lot harder when it comes to romance. I'm not just talking about the ability to hook up with someone here; that's a whole other bucket of worms. When trysts go wrong - when they're broken up on a bad note - the effects can be wide-reaching, and often unforeseeable. In the past few days, I've seen a former hookup and some of his friends around and said hi to them; they just smile and keep walking. Ouch.

We're all connected here by what I'm sure is fewer than six degrees of separation, and what you say and do can be heard around campus ridiculously quickly.

Who needs Gossip Girl? All you need is a small residential liberal arts college.

Sorry

It's been one hellofa weekend - Dormal Formal, THs, great times and better memories with friends, and today the Harvest Festival!

I apologize for my lack of posting, but I plan on getting back in on the action soon!

Hope you had a lovely weekend, too!
xoxo
spire

Quick Intro and Updates

Alright, so I've been slacking, but here I am! So, it's a bit late, but school ALWAYS comes 1st! I'm Dyamond Phillips, a junior from Brooklyn... I realize if I say too much it becomes so EASY to pinpoint me if it already hasn't :). Sorry if you were expecting more from my intro... But this is better than nothing!

Updates:... Angela Davis speaks today... Middle School Mug Nite and Dormal Formal are tonight... And I'm dreading homework that I have due Monday and Tuesday, along with the obscene amount of midterms I have slowly but surely approaching.

Something that calms me down I will share with you guys. Enjoy the weekend!

Wow.

Some stunning concept art for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released today, including my favorite, this piece of Dumbledore's funeral, a scene that never made it into the film:

Amazing.

Open Mic Tonight

John Wojcik '11 has emailed us with a request for publicity. We humbly oblige:

After Hours Open Mic is from 8-10pm in the Mug tonight, and performers (of all types) can start signing up at 7:45 pm in the mug for slots.

Guess that leaves out anyone who watches Grey's, huh? ;)