I’m swamped with work.  And that’s even after I switched out of the basic freshmen Chem class down to an introductory one that is more appropriate to my level.  I’m in a math class that’s intended more for math majors, so it’s very theoretical and proof-based.  I like it, but it’s definitely my most difficult class.

I also don’t really like having huge lecture classes.  There are so many people in them who have so many interesting things to say, but I don’t get to here most of them.  It’s a bummer.  It’s also demoralizing, and a hard thing to pay attention to first thing in the morning because of how impersonal it is.

I’m adjusting to the whole experience in some ways, but in others I think my Western-MA, small-homey-school mentality that I’ve been operating within my whole life is pretty deeply embedded in me.  And I’m okay with that.  I find myself feeling lost in such a huge place as this.  Not to say that I don’t have friends or feel comfortable around people.  I just don’t like not knowing everyone.  It’s weird that I see people I don’t recognize every day.  In my dorm, even.  I feel like if you live in the same building as people, you should know them.  It’s weird.

I’m definitely learning a lot.  I do have one class that’s a small seminar, on Talmud, which is great.  I mean, all of my classes are, but this one’s just very personal, and the other people in it are really smart and talkative.  We’re going to cover various aspects of the Talmud, including historical background and context, legality, morality, ethics, and others.

Also, I am swing dancing weekly.

It’s going to be a good four years.  Tiring, but good.

The NMH tournament was awesome.  We got destroyed (we were 0 and 5), but we won the Spirit of the Game award, with an unprecedented-at-that-tournament perfect score of 50/50, receiving a 10/10 from each of the five teams we played.  We got a nice plaque, and everything.  After the tournament, me and some friends, including one from NMH, went for a quick dip in the river.

That night I went to a late show at the Iron Horse, Gokh-Bi System.  They are a sort of funk/hip-hop/fusion sort of band, with members from around here, and Senegal.  They were great.  They had three frontmen from Senegal, who would rap, sing, drum and also dance.  They also had this sort of designated dancer dude who would come up onto the stage at certain times and do incredible dances.  We danced a lot in the audience, and people were coming up on stage all the time to dance with the band, and throw money all over them.  It was fabulous.  I think I may buy some of their music from iTunes, now that it is DRM-free.

Sunday I went to see that same friend from NMH’s senior honors recital, which was also fabulous.  He played two pieces with piano accompaniment (on violin and viola), and played viola in the string quartet he wrote.  This was the first time that piece had been performed, and it was really good.  He wrote it mostly this winter, immediately following the unexpected death of a friend from leukemia.

Two other students played at the recital, one on drums, and one on piano.  Both were excellent, and after the show there was a reception with those sort of round wafers with chocolate filling in the middle, and strawberries.  Also there was confectioners’ sugar to dip the strawberries in, which I had never done before, but which was great.

I have been getting very little sleep in the past few nights because of mounds of homework, which will continue tonight.  With that in mind, I will say that Arlen Specter is a very brave soul.

RIP, Frankie Manning.  We will miss you.

Today I played an excellent game of Apples to Apples.  I won.  Here, then, is a list of my qualities, as expressed by the infallible and omnipotent logic of Apples to Apples:

1. Crazed
2. Masculine
3. Smooth
4. Influential
5. Misunderstood
6. Wild
7. Important
8. Offensive
9. Primitive
10. Hilarious
11. Nerdy
12. Frightening
13. Powerful

The Mock Trial team is entering an invitational tournament in New Jersey.  We got the case today.  It is negligence!

I am now able to moonwalk.

Last night was awesome.  We went to all kinds of shows, ending with Zoe Darrow, a fabulous local fiddle player, and the Gypsy Wranglers, a fabulous local folk/swing band.  There was much dancing.  Then we watched the ball raising (it goes up instead of down here for some reason), and walked home.  We stayed up for a while hanging out, and then went to bed.  I had to get up 6:30 to drive someone to the train station, so I got very little sleep.  But it was worth it; I was glad to spend some time with my friends and be in town a lot.

After having a long discussion with several friends about the continuing situation in Gaza, I have a lot to think about.  One of the issues we touched on was that for every settler who has actively usurped land from its rightful owner, there are those who have been born there, and have lived there all their life.  Do we have a right to take that land from them?  Ultimately, I think the answer is still yes, but there are complications.  What did that person do to deserve having their property confiscated?