This is what happens when we dont do work

This is what happens when we don’t do work Im long overdue for a blog update. To dispel your mental image of me as a faceless recluse, I havent been posting because of a drought of excitement. Actually, theres been too much excitement for me to find the time to blog. Heres a quick summary of my last two-and-a-bit weeks to prove it. CPW I spent most of CPW punting psets in order to gorge myself on free food, wander around campus terrifying prefrosh, and brew gallons of bubble tea for my caffeine event (note: never hold a confusingly named event on the fifth floor). I only wish Id had more time to spend at my first Meet The Bloggers, which was a pretty fun, low-key event. Apologies to Rohan15 for this gem of a conversation Im about to share: Rohan: Youre pretty chill! I was expecting you to bemorewell me: NERDY AND AWKWARD??? Is that it? Rohan: I didnt want to say it, but yes. Although I am arguably nerdy and awkward, MIT students are generally not the variety of nerd that seems to stick in societys collective subconscious. CPW, while certainly not farfetched, is a heavily time-compressed exaggeration of MIT. We dont stay up until 4am speaking in rapid-fire Math-ese or building wall-climbing robots every night, only some nights. If you think thats weird, every once in a while, my (course 12) GRT will burst excitedly into the kitchen to talk about rock striations. The daily grind About a year ago, in a flash of inspiration, my neighbor Ale bought a secondhand trumpet. For months, my ears were barraged with brassy wails reminiscent of a dying porpoise. Now, hes good enough that hes more comfortable using the trumpet than the piano to help him compose for jazz class. Now, ever since I was a wee Asian nailed to a piano bench, Id wished I could play the violin. This sentiment persisted through college, although I always thought, eh, Ill never have time or eh, Ill do it later. Then Stephan started learning the viola under Julias tutelage, and also got a piano, and Harry and Sam came into possession of ukuleles, and Ale found a tenor saxophone on Ebay, so Angela decided to get an accordion, and everyone else felt comfortable enough to dust off their high school instruments again, and I felt comfortable enough to have the following revelation: I pictured myself, 30 years old and alone in a dingy apartment, clad in a bathrobe, surrounded by takeout dinners and bills, with coding as my only hobby other than breathing, mumbling, Eh, Ill do it later. So I dumped the remainder of my IAP paycheck into a violin and an alto sax. At first, I was terrible, but now I am merely bad. On the other hand, life is good. Except for the part where I need to start three final projects. Woe. I turned 21 Finally. and the arts In addition to being the time when the semester really grinds down on us, this is also the time when student groups begin to unveil the performances theyve been working on all semester. Last Saturday, I hit up Grains Of Rice, an annual AAA (Asian American Association) event where tons of Asians from MIT, BU, Harvard, etc, and a professional guest group get together and perform. Grains Of Rice showcases many traditional varieties of entertainment, like taiko drumming, lion dancing, Chinese yoyoing, and cultural dances, but fellow course 6-ers Andrew12 and Jeff12 broke the mold and opened with a rap about Asian-American stereotypes. I dont have a recording of it, but I just so happen to have filmed a music video for them which you can view and share with all your friends (hint, hint) below! Warning: may be extremely offensive to Asians; may be extremely unamusing to non-Asians. This years guest was Kaba Modern, whom you may know from Americas Best Dance Crew, but I missed out because I had to run off to Resonances epic 10th anniversary concert. Okay, there was some quality a cappella, too. Fortunately for a cappella lovers, there are a few more concerts left in the year. This semester, the Chorallaries decided to observe MITs 150th anniversary on their spring concert posters by costuming themselves in styles from different decades, and I got to shoot for them! It turns out theyre as skillful at modeling as they are at keeping four-part harmonies. So if you happened to see a group of barefoot, tie-dyed tree huggers sprawling in front of 77 Mass Ave, or a few dashing gentlemen holding stiff Napoleonesque poses for a daguerreotype, that was just us. MIT hasnt invented time machines yet. (^ click to see the rest of our photoshoot!) Because I hate to end a post without a vague sense of coherency, let me leave you with a general observation: MIT is home to some insanely fun and well-rounded people. via squishable.com And mixing all those people together on the same campus is the perfect recipe for a pretty lively college experience. Where else are you going to make music videos with your complexity theory pset partners while gawking tourists are herded by?