Sick

Usually, winter needs to set in before I get sick, even though I have an unfortunate immune system that keeps me sick for a few weeks at a time.  This time, it seems I've gotten sick from my flu shot on Wednesday, a double misfortune as I am not allowed to take medication for fear of mutating the virus, if it is indeed the flu or a mild version of it.  Perhaps what kept me safe last year as the sheer energy with which I entered college, determined to succeed, since while there's still a desire to do well this year, I have slowed down to a trot.  But sitting at my desk with physics and wishes for soup, I look back at the events of the past few days without regrets.

Wednesday night was the LGBT-CRC's vigil for the recently publicized gay teen suicides, one of few gay teens who take their life when faced with extreme forms of bullying, yet are well situated in the public's mind due to intense media coverage, starting with college freshmen Tyler Clementi.  A couple of the LGBT organizations on campus, spear-headed by Stanford Students for Queer Liberation, organized a candle-lit vigil with speakers, performances and an open mic.  I had gotten my flu shot immediately before the event, and spent the chilly night striking matches.  My right arm ached for a few days afterward, making it difficult to do homework and lowering my immune system, but my pyromaniac self couldn't stay away from the candles.

"She's a pyro-technician.  You guys are just pyromaniacs." - EJL's father's friend

New Music

I realized that lately there's just been a wall of text on here, so here's some music I've been listening to lately. Can you believe I've never knew what Nelly Furtado looks like, or that she sings some of the songs I've been listening to for forever on the radio?

I'm such a fan of her facial structure o_o

Old People and Living Houses

I'm a fan of old people, and thereby old age, and I can name a few old folks who have been huge pillars of support for me.  I hope to grow to be like them.


Suse says... from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.
[from You Can't Be Serious!]



A House Awaiting Death
Sounds more morbid than it actually is.  The commissioner wanted a house where he could live his last 15 years, a house built to capture the sunrise.  He wanted his death to be a sunrise, an awakening as he sails into the unknown.

Finding Perspective and Rest

There's a student group on campus name Project Love that does little things each week to spread compassion on campus.  There's also been a recent increase in the number of live well and happiness articles circling the mailing list.  Here are some of my recent favorites, and I'm sure more will come.

From RRGFT
A letter to Stanford students
(after the cut)

How Will You Measure Your Life?
by Clayton M. Christensen
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=1kDK91zuhknyYAefBDNOfvrJt9XqBaqoL6qoGrHw634Aj0BOJnoCk1czoYE2g&hl=en
An outlook by an entrepreneur and religious man, based in Harvard Business School (? HBS).  Figuring out your life's purpose is something you'll use every day of your life.  Do it now, since life will only get more hectic later. "One characteristic of these humble people stood out: They had a high level of self-esteem.  They knew who they were, and they felt good about who they were".

The Stanford Daily
Looking Up: The Real Counterculture
An opinion by a Stanford student who does no work on Sundays.
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10/06/looking-up-the-real-counterculture/

Jump the cut for "A letter to Stanford students"

Lights in Lyon

Back in high school I was briefly a lighting designer, and for much longer than that I was a lighting technician.  It was not a poor man's game (though strangely enough, theatricality is a poor man's job), and I've always been so amazed at how much money it takes to put together a good lighting plot.  Even with the huge warehouse of supplies that my theatre had (the high school's newly built auditorium was sponsored by the city, in return for use in some of its public functions), I felt constrained and my lighting plots were never bright enough, as I've had to trade some intensity for variety.

But will Stanford's theatre budget be greater than what I worked with?  I hope so.  There are talks about creating a lighting design on some of the campus's buildings for Arts week in spring quarter.  The arts have been pretty alive this year, one of my favorite newness is the donated piano sitting in the middle of the quad for anyone to play.  It's so lovely to bike to and from class catching music in the air.  I hope this project goes through, because there are some amazing creative talents on campus who would be able to pull together something amazing.

More, after the cut!