Love, actually...

Beloit on the weekends is an interesting time. I'm often thrown by the juxtaposition of the calm and focused days with the abundant energy of the nights. Events on campus this weekend included a scary story reading, a German polka dance, a staging of the Rocky Horror Picture show, battle of the bands at the on campus bar, a band at the on campus bar the next evening, and a halloween party, complete with costume contest (first prize went to a guy that fashioned an Optimus Prime costume out cardboard boses and intricate spray painting), thrown by Sigma Chi and Kappa Delta. As social chair of KD, I was one of the people in charge of this all-campus shindig, and I am extremely happy that it went as well as it did. There were some CRAZY costumes out there! I feel that Beloit may be one of the only places where Edward Scissorshands, an alein from Star Wars, a member of the blue man group, Spartans from 300, Anna Nicole Smith, a transformer, pirates, and 4 different stages of Britney Spears can be found in the same place. I could be wrong, though. Also, don't let anyone ever tell you that there's nothing to do at Beloit. If they say that, they clearly have not looked hard enough or are just not paying attention. I mean, that's quite the list for two days!

Really quickly I want to explain the title of my blog. Last night I slept over in my friend Liz and Emma's room (they are wonderful and let me keep my own toothbrush there), and when I walked into the room Emma had put on the movie Love, Actually. This movie will always remind me of my first year in college (I watched it who knows how many times first semester last year with my friends Rachael and Ally) and having it on last night took me back to those first few weeks when it felt breezy, confusing, delightful, challenging, and amusing all at the same time trying to figure out the whole college thing. This year I'm up to my ears in repsonsibility, constantly on my toes, and having the time of my life. My point is, it is so interesting to see how things have worked themselves out over the course of a year, and I wait excitedly to see what challenges, lessons, and stories the rest of my time here will bring. Like watching Love, Actually more than any other movie as a first year, and being delighted by it enough my second year to have trouble falling asleep after a night of constant action, distracted by the memories of using every excuse possible to watch it (bad day, good day, rainy day, homework break, etc) only a year before.

It's thoughts like these that make it all too clear why I'm a history major :)

So sweet, the fall!

Oh my goodness, College street on the residential side of campus is simply gorgeous right now! All of the leaves on the trees lining it have turned stunning and subtle shades of red and yellow. When I got back from break and saw the change that had taken place, I had to pause for a moment and appreciate life and being here at Beloit. Sometimes I think I don't live my life with enough gratitude, but I need to keep in mind how lucky I really am.

And speaking of gratitude, I am extremely grateful for the relaxing time of fall break! Beloit certainly does know how to split up a semester, and after being here for a couple of months it is nice to escape back home for a breather. Over break my friend Emma and I went on a roadtrip with stops in Plymouth Minnesota (where my parents live), Moorhead Minnesota (where a bunch of my close friends go to school), back to Plymouth, a night in Beloit, and finally to Champaign Illinois (to visit with Emma's extended family that were in town). There were some crazy adventures over the 9 days, too many to recount, so I will give you the top 5 moments of my fall break (you know, other than being happy to be home- also,with pictures to follow):

5. Emma and my photo shoot on my friend Sam's extra long couch, inspired by a rerun of America's Next Top Model
4. My friend Georgia stuffing 5 gumballs in her mouth after a halloween costume shopping trip at a store called Fantasies.
3. Every hour in the car that Emma humored me by letting me listening to musicals while claiming to be "expanding her horizons"
2. My parent's first reactions to the news that I'm planning to study abroad in Ghana (after Emma prefaced the conversation with our fake marriage, to soften them up): My dad immediately got onto Wikipedia and read the page about Ghana, and the first words out my mother's mouth were, "You're going to get malaria." (ok, not quite, but close- she warmed up to the idea over the next few days... it helped that her sister, a travel coordinator, is behind me 100 percent. I know she's reading this- Hi, mom!)
1. When Emma and I finally purchased Uggs (don't judge!) after a two day journey that involved Dick's sporting goods, two holds at different stores, Bubbly Betsy and Downer Dennis, and a lot of self-doubt, coercion, and pie

Ok, I will post again soon!
Good night, everyone!

Julie came in, here is her poem...

Julie and the Medical Condition



Oh, sweet Julie fair

with brown eyes and brown hair

Has a love that she longs to see

Each week she makes sure,

with a heart that's quite pure,

To find time for with them to be

It takes only an hour

for her joy to flower

On her face, a fine filigree

And when the time's up

it is awfully abrupt

And she knows she wants not to be free

For each night when she dreams

Each picture gleams

With what her life someday may be

And when she wakes to the day

the dreams prompts her to say:

"I love you, Grey's Anatomy."

Love you, Julie!

I hope everyone enjoys their next week! See you after break, world!

:)

Mentally checked-out!

Mentally checked out, and, therefore, not wanting to process anything else completely intellectual until after fall break.

And now, continuing with the poetry vein:

An Ode to Shanna Dell

(The Limerick!)

There once was a SOI we called Shanna

Who, unlike most girls, disliked fauna

One evening at work

She revelaed a small quirk

When she changed her whole name to Svetlana

Now there's a SOI named Svetlana

Who really is a prima donna

She's really forthright

(Her bark's worse than her bite)

One day she hopes to reach nirvana

Svetalana has twenty iguanas

Half of them are named after Madonna

She puts them in clothes

Then likes making them pose

In scenes full of Americana

(The traits discussed in this poem do NOT relfect nor are supported by Shanna Dell[TM], especially the final stanza)

When Julie comes in I'll write one about her, too...

:)

Haiku: The Challenge

Goal of this blog: to write about recent events in verse, specifically haikus. Aaaaaand, go!

Homecoming weekend
Beloit students past
One day we'll remember, too
The sweetness of youth

Oh, Kappa Delta
Alum whose stories rivet
Champion Osculate


Geology field trip on Sunday
Early in the morn'
Stumble to the science lab
Naptime in the vans

Baraboo, 'sconsin
In ancient times, folded rocks
Continents collide

Devil's Lake, cliffs, sun
Wade in at lunch, rocky sand
Hey! I skipped two rocks!


Midterms
Examinations
The exhuastion of the mind
Study. Sleep. Study.

Papers and research
Stacking mental layers with
Full concentration


Fall break
Freedom? Is that you?
Fling, float, fly, flap, flaunted rest
I had forgotten


Student Outreach Interns
Old and matronly
A little bit square, but cute
As Beloit is shared

While in Admissions
Things get creative and crazed
And sometimes Miss Seuss-

Miss Seuss says: What did
You do? Where did you go? Did
It rain? Did it snow?

Then I write in verse
Oh, aren't syllables funny?
Refridgerator.

Thanks, Krista, for the
Inspiring, accidental
Oh, my dear Miss Seuss


Have a nice night, friends!

And now, the things that keep Emily real real busy:

There are a LOT of things to do at Beloit. Here are the ones I am involved with:

Gold Key: This is the club that coordinates overnight, lunch, and evening visits for prospective students. I have a permanent tour spot on tuesdays at one (so look forward to that if you visit then!), but have not been able to host any students yet due to my slightly hectic schedule. Last semester, though, I was fourth overall in hosting prospies (the affectionate term for prospective students)... although, Shanna, another SOI, ran laps around the rest of us. She won a fridge. Touche.

Kappa Delta: I joined Kappa Delta last semester, and I live in the house this year. I never know what to say about being a sorority, because I never thought I would join one. I love the community and being part of something national is so cool. The opportunities for leadership and networking and philantrophy and sisterhood, etc., etc. are amazing. Being a part of something that promotes strong, intelligent women is a really positive thing to have in my life, and though some things have been a challenge, that's what I know is making it worthwhile. Also, I am having a ton of fun! If any KDs out there are reading this- AOT!

Theater for Social Action: This is a club one of my friends, Agnotti, started last year. All last year a group of us worked super, duper hard on figuring out how to get a forum theatre group, based off the work done by Augusto Boal, off the ground. We've done a few performances so far, the first called White People Talking About Race, and a reincarnation of that this year renamed Race in Your Face: A Reahearsal for Action. This semester we're working on a performance for November that is doubling as an assignment for one of our member's classes. I am really excited about this and always look forward to meetings. The people are amazing, and we do some really neat abstract theater-y things while exploring various issues in our society. The goal is to spark dialogue within communities about oppressive situations. It's pretty sweet.

This is a workshop that Augusto Boal ran on Theatre of the Oppressed(Agnotti went to one like this two summers ago). The guy in the back with the glasses and the nametag is Senor Boal himself.

Voodoo Barbie: This is the most recent addition to my repetoire of activites. It's an improv comedy group that's been around for a while. I saw them when I was a prospective student here, and now I'm a part of it! It's pretty crazy. At practice on monday we played a game that's basically an interview backwards, like a person give the answer to a question and then the interviewer has to say the question. Difficult, extrmely so, but pretty entertaining when it went well. This is something I look forward to digging into over the semester!

Oh, Google. I image search voodoo barbie, and this is what I get. Would you say that dog is looking at the camera suggestively?

In other news, I declared my major two days ago. Woohoo! I am now officially a history major. I know, try to contain your excitement. :)

Well, I believe that's all I have.
Cheerio!

Chicago, Land of Shiny Things!

Hello, all! Ok, so this weekend was super busy. I went down to Chicago to visit my friend Regina, who goes to Loyola, and to see my Dad who was there for a conference. After arriving on Friday, Regina, a couple of her friends, and I went to a sketch comedy show called Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. They do 30 plays in 60 minutes, and the audience chooses the order of the shows. About half of them were funny, while the other half were a little weird and very political. I had a good time, though, it was definitely an experience! Then on Saturday I met my Dad downtown and we had lunch in Millenium park by the giant shiny kidney bean (see above). Afterwards we went to an art gallery in the northern part of downtown that specializes in poster art from Europe. For instance, there was an origianl of this poster on display:

After we traveled by foot to the Newberry Library, a huge and widely respected research library. It was a big nerdy thing to do, and we had fun doing it. Not only did we learn the origin of Hot Crossed Buns, we also looked up a book written about my ancestors on my mom's side, the Lyford family. Steven Lyford came over in the 1600s, so that's pretty neat. Then we got some coffee underneath the Hancock building to kill some time before our dinner reservations at six. We ate at North Pond, this really swanky restaurant in the Lincoln Park area. The food was really, really delicious! I loved being able to spend some time with my Dad, especially since this weekend was family weekend at Beloit and wouldn't have been able to see any of my family otherwise.

Later that night I went to a party at Regina's boyfriend's house. There were a lot of people there I didn't know, but everyone was really nice and interesting. Most of them went to the University of Chicago, so it was a party in celebration of their first week of classes, which was this past week. That was really weird to me because I've been at Beloit since August 15, and tomorrow is October! I hear they get out in the middle of June, which makes since. I like getting out in early May, though. It certainly helps to beat the rush of college students looking for summer jobs!

I traveled back home this morning and had a Theater for Social Action meeting that I ran at four. I know I haven't talked about my club involvement yet, so look forward to that on Tuesday (unless something else exciting happens that I absolutely have to share)!

Have a chipper week!

-Emily