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

फॉर अल ऑफ़ यू व्हो स्पाक हिंदी आउट तेरे...

हेल्लो! If you can read Hindi, that title is for you. Enjoy!

Hey there again! I hope everyone's weekend was grand (I know we've almost hit the hump day, and another weekend is quickly approaching, but stick with me), I know mine was. A fair amount of work, but enough play to make up for it. My weeks are starting to have a common theme, which is- "If I can live through Wednesday, I know I'll make it. Just live until 4 on Wednesday."

This week is no different. Well it's a little different because, and I'm warning you that some of you may think less of me for this, new TV starts this week. And I am TV junkie. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that TV can be the devil... but I just cannot live through my week without the Office. I've recently decided that every other show could cease to exist, but so long as the Office is on, I am one happy, ecstatic camper. I know my love for the Office can be overwehlming, but it starts in two days so I'm a little preoccupied at the moment.

Ok, all. I'm excited for my post tomorrow!
Until then, stay dry (it's raining here a bit),
Emily

Summer in five pictures or less

The challenge: Provide an overview of my summer using only five picutres to do it. And use five sentences to describe each photo, no more, no less.
Here goes!


My friend Michelle came to visit me in June. She had only been to Minnesota once before, and only went to the Mall of America at that. We went to the cherry and spoon sculpture, simply because no one can resist. Plus, it was an excuse to be downtown at night. I should make a public apology to Michelle right now for getting lost at least 9 times that day- I'm sorry, Michelle, I really should pay more attention to road signs.


This is from a media event my summer job held about renemable energy. It's at the Minnesota state capitol, and each pinwheel represented one of the windmills it would take to power the entire twin cities, minneapolis and st. paul, on wind power. There were 421 pinwheels, and the event was with U.S. PIRG. They were trying to pass a national renewable elctricity standard this summer, and I know it did go through the House of Representatives, but I don't think the Senate has voted yet. In case you were wondering.


I like this one a whole lot. This is Laura. She is neat. We went to high school together. We met each other in ninth grade when a mutual friend sent me a singing tellagram at lunch via Laura.


This is my good friend Sam. We also went to high school together. This summer we took a trip to New York we'd been talking about for quite some time (yay five musicals in three days over the 7th Harry Potter book release!). Here he is in our tiny hotel room. Mind you, he's a giant, but the room really was that small.


This was taken at my friend Kevin's cabin where 12 of us went for a weekend this summer. I just thought it was a bit creepy, so I put it up. That's Laura with me behind her and then Regina. I did not go to high school with Regina, but, oddly enough, met her through the same mutual friend through whom I met Laura. Regina goes to school at Loyola, which is in Chicago and therfore only an hour and a half away, and I'm going to visit her next weekend- yay!

Ok, one more, if only because I love it oh so much:

This is Sam, Megen, Andy, and Laura at the Zoo. We went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 3-D. We had a hard time figuring out that the 3-D glasses are only used for one part of it, so we might have worn them the entire film (don't judge). Then, on our way out, we pretended we were going to zoo camp! Aren't they precious?

Well, that was basically my summer. Lots of play, good friends, and a bit of work. Plus, let's face it, a good amount of Harry Potter. It was a grand ol' time, but I am happy to be back at Beloit. One can only keep one's summer brain for so long before it is time to start thinking again.
Enjoy your day!
-Emily

Ok, people.

I know that I've left you in suspense for a few days now, but it's going to have to wait at least one or two more. I just really wanted to explore the font options on this blog and thought I'd share the expereince with you. By the end of this I hope that you will have experienced at least part of the joy of curiosity I'm feeling right now. No lie. See? Isn't this fun?

Let's see. What are some ispirational words?

Motivation

Beauty

Truth

Honor

Perseverance

Oooo! What an uplifting array of vocabulary!
Expect an update tomorrow, world.

Until then, stay sharp.
-Emily

Sunday, Sunday...

Sundays are always interesting days on the Beloit campus. It's quiet and subdued, a stark contrast to the frenzy of Saturday nights; a deep breath before the academic plunge of the week. For me, it's the last line of defense between me and my homework, for I am a terrible procrastinator. Even now, as I write this blog, I am participating in my natural resistance to just get things done. I've been doing really well this year, though, waking up early instead of staying up late. I hope this will help me in the long run with my intellectual pursuits, especially since I'm taking a few reading heavy courses this semester. Which brings me to my classes: History Workshop (Hist 190), History of Education in Southern Africa (Hist 150), Principles of Geology (Geo 100), and an interdisciplinary course being co-taught by Amy Sarno, a theatre director here, and a Fulbright Scholar from Ireland called Do You See What I'm Saying. It's about community based theatre, particularly in the greater town of Beloit, and our goal for the semester is to create a play based off of oral histories we're going to obtain from community members. It's a bit more complicated than that, but it's really an exciting and interesting class.
Anywho, life is amazing. Next time expect information about my club involvement and/or summer!

The suspense is simply dreadful, isn't it?

Emily: The Five Minute Guide

Beginnings can be awkward. Especially for people, such as myself, who feel fairly secure greeting people in the real world, but are never quite sure how to present themselves online without sounding like a carefully worded personal add. So, being a big fan of various ice breakers, I decided to do a mini tutorial centered mainly on a few of my favorite things (partly because I like thinking of favorite things, and also because I love musicals and puns). Starting with a list I made during a pause in Geology today-

Favorite words:
-Lollipop
-Snafu
-Tetrahedron

Favorite baby animals:
-Squirrels
-Sloths
-Wookies (I know they are fictional, but I'm pretty sure that is irrelevant in this case... sometimes I make executive decisions about these things)

Favorite Antagonists (fictional and historical):
-Miss Trunchbull from Matilda
-Rasputin
-Napoleon

Favorite Beloit facts:
-The school got sued for having the same mascot symbol as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
-The "Wall" is a handicap access ramp
-Oscar Meyer of Oscar Meyer wieners was on the board of trustees
-Pearson's Hall was designed by Burnham and Root, the architectural firm in the book the Devil in the White City

Ok, I think that's a fairly accurate introduction to me. I hope it wasn't too awkward, but I'm pretty sure the wookies saved me from the personal add trap.
Have a good day!
Emily