Lunch with Ben and Dan!!!

I remember last quarter Ben and Dan held a 'get to know us' lunch at North Commons, and subsequently, no one went. Probably because they were having the lunch at North Commons, which is gross unless it's a weekend brunch or pasta night. Well Natalie and I felt bad that no one went, so we decided to make a point of going to any meal they planned for the next quarter. Today was lunch with Ben and Dan, and we went to Fresh Express and then brought our food down into the basement to eat. They had never been to Fresh before today so we had to show them around and advise them on what to eat.
Lunch was delightful, everyone should come.

Inception

On January 26th I attended the screening of Inception in Royer Activity Center. Already having seen the movie, I knew what to expect. I really like Inception, and I feel as if every time you watch it you pick up on something new. The movie is mind blowing, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to watch a movie that is entertaining while making you think about the specific details at the same time. Only if we had machines that actually allowed us to dream on the levels that the characters in the movie do...

Franklin County Dog Shelter

Earlier today, some fellow humanities scholars and myself went to the Franklin County Dog Shelter. We started off by unfolding newspapers for the dogs' kennels. It was easy enough and left my hands black with ink. Then we went inside the actual shelter and walked some dogs. A lot of the dogs couldn't go outside because they had recently had surgery, but the ones who could be walked were so excited to go. I walked 3 dogs, Harvey, a beagle, Maddie, a pit bull mix?, and Lance, a doberman mix. All three were very happy to have someone walk them and play with them. I thought they would be more upset to go back inside their kennels, but they all behaved well and got treats. I love volunteering with animals, and I hope more people can go next time. It's a very rewarding experience because the dogs don't care who you are or what you look like, they are just incredibly loving and grateful for any attention they get. I thought I should note that while I'm typing this post, my bloodhound Jack is snoring next to me on the couch. I think the next trip is on February 19th, hope to see everyone there!

Taste of OSU

Last night my room mates and I went to Taste of OSU. We were really excited to go and try a bunch of crazy foods, but once we got there it was so crowded that you couldn't even get from booth to booth, and unless you were standing right next to the stage, you couldn't see any of the cultural performances. There were far too many people in the ballroom at one time, and I just felt really claustrophobic the whole time I was there. Because it was so tight packed, I only had the chance the try one food sample before I gave up on it. In the future, I think they should open up more the union for this event, or limit to it Ohio State students only.

Taste of OSU

The Union was most definitely "happenin" on Friday night. Taste of OSU took over the grand ballroom with student groups representing countries from all over the world. Admission was free, but each "taste" (2-4 bites of food) was one dollar. I tried food from poland, russia, vietnam, china, and germany; all of the food I tried was different from anything I'd ever had before, and I enjoyed most of it. My favorite was an apple tart dessert from Poland. The most interesting food I tried was some sort of pancake food from China. The entire union was packed with people of all ages and every ethnicity. There was entertainment at one end of the ballroom, but because of the vast number of people it was difficult to watch for longer than a couple of minutes. Overall, Taste of OSU was an interesting and fun experience.

Yule Ball

So last night was the Yule Ball hosted by Quidditch Club, and it turned out to be a huge success. I'm in the club so I had to work part of the night in the coat room and selling tickets at the front door, but we had about 800 people who came to the event (despite the bitter cold), and a fair amount of cans were donated as well. The decorations were pretty cool, we strung up blue and white lights everywhere, and we had a DJ for the event. The majority of people dressed in formal clothing; however, I did see a couple dressed as house elves, which was really funny. Overall, it was a successful Yule Ball, and we raised a lot of money for the club.

The American Dream: Myth or Reality?

This evening I attended the Unity sponsored Dinner and Dialogue Series. The speaker was Professor Rita Trimble from the Department of Comparative Studies. This discussion, accompanied by a taco bar, took us "beyond the melting pot". We began with a short brain storm on what should be included on a list of universal rights. This took an interesting turn and our discussion centered around assimilation, noting the fine line where individual expression differs from cultural identity. We touched on social norms, looking into both the good and bad connotations to maintaining a status quo. The conversation then diverged to questioning why so-called "non-elites" cooperate in upholding these social norms, and why those who are successfully assimilated be interested in change pointing towards social justice. Finally, we touched upon "identity politics", and how this can be good or bad. This event provided an engaging opportunity to look beyond my personal day to day life and receive a glimpse of the greater social injustices that plague society.

Post Secret

The "O.S.U. Post Secret" event yesterday evening was a fun social event. There were only a hand-full of people present, notably all were female. Everyone was very friendly and it was nice to meet and chat with upper-class older humanities scholars. Various old magazines were provided for inspiration and artistic application, along with lots of markers, scissors, and glue. Coming up with a good "secret" (one that will anonymously be shared with thousands of fellow students while displayed on the oval) was harder than I had anticipated. Consequently and rather ironically, the buzz phrase in the room seemed to be "What's your secret?" (anyone else reminded of the popular deodorant commercial of several years ago?)

Im excited to see all the "Post Secret" cards on display in the spring.

Cosi

So last Friday I went to the Cosi after dark thing and needless to say, it was really cool. Cosi is basically the one constant in my life. It hasn't changed since I was in 5th grade when I had the incredible experience of spending the night in the realm of awesomeness that is Cosi. I went to the ocean and played in the water, that was nice. I also went to space and experienced the tunnel of doom. How many people can go to the ocean and space in the same 3 hours? OSU students, that's who! I definitely recommend going to the Cosi after dark next year. FREE Cosi, what could be better!?!

COSI After Dark

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend COSI After Dark: an OSU exclusive event at the Center of Science and Industry. Since my friends from home don't go back to their semester schools for another week or so, a few of them decided to visit me for the weekend, so we all decided to go to COSI together on Friday. Even though they weren't Ohio State students, as there was no "check point" for id's, this was not a problem. The event included free transportation (yay busses!) and some free food with a buckid. When we finally arrived at COSI it was packed. There were so many people of every age everywhere, including some really adorable toddlers that were running around. We walked through all the exhibits, trying out whatever activities didn't have a line, which was difficult. There were so many people at COSI that I think it lessened the experience, however, it also therefore took us longer to get through the exhibits which was probably for the better because once you saw everything there wasn't much to do. Although COSI had many interesting exhibits, and was organized very well, I felt that it definitely had a slant towards young children. I'm originally from Cleveland, and I've been to the Cleveland Science Center numerous times and have never gotten bored or felt like I was to old for the exhibits or activities. However, COSI wasn't quite as engaging for me. If anyone is ever in the area I highly recommend going to the Cleveland Science Center. Overall, however, I had an enjoyable evening at COSI After Dark.