Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sleep Train Derailed Long Ago

I definitely need to sleep more. The heat has taken its toll on me and I think today I finally had to pay it. I’ve been staying hydrated, but in terms of rest, my repayment has only just begun. For example, I came in from playing Frisbee with Andrew and Jordan about forty-five minutes ago so I could begin this blog. I turned on my computer, picked an iPod playlist I wanted to listen to, and opened Blogger. I began trying to think of my title and closed my eyes to think. The next time I opened them, my iPod had played about eight songs, half-an-hour had passed and I had no more doubt concerning my title. Needless to say, I think I’ll be turning in earlier tonight.

Today we covered women’s rights in class. This was pretty simple stuff, since in the present a lot of what De Gouges and Wollstonecraft wanted for women’s rights are all second nature to us now. This made our session with Simon much easier. We were assigned to work with our partners from yesterday and one other pair of people. Sunny and I worked with Andrew and Phoebe. Our task was to answer five questions concerning De Gouges’ and Wollstonecraft’s opinions about certain aspects of women’s rights and find quotes to back up our answers. We worked as a cohesive unit and quickly finished the assignment.

After our TA session, the seven ILC Cornellians were scheduled to have lunch with Ms. Kaplan and Ms. Abbey Eller (the Summer College Coordinator). Unfortunately the only seats left at the table by the time I got there were two seats at the far end of the table. I sat next to Dyana and strained to hear the conversation at the other side of the table, where Ms. Eller was sitting. I couldn’t hear any part of what they were saying. I would have been able to hear had Trillium not been filled with the din of chatty summer college students and faculty. When the Hotellies left, I was able to scoot over one seat and finally speak with Ms. Eller. Apparently they had been discussing the upcoming talent show and Andrew Gonzales suggested (as a joke) that Andrew Woo and I enter because we have been singing “screechy renditions” (to quote Andrew Woo) of pop songs for fun during our long walks and car rides. I’m guessing nobody told her that neither of us were any good at singing (at least I’m not) because the first thing she said was “So I hear you’re a singer.” I jokingly replied that I did it purely recreationally, but I don’t think I conveyed my message clearly.

She went on to ask me about my summer college experience so far and what parts of it I was enjoying most. I told her that I enjoyed meeting new people, but I really can’t decide what part I like the best about my experience. I would say that it is a tie between seeing the beautifully serene side of New York state, making new acquaintances (from the US and abroad) and the food at Appel (ha ha). Overall this has been a very rewarding experience because I’m getting a small taste of college life, I’m taking a class with people that are on (and for some far above) my level of intellect and I feel like I’m gaining a little bit of independence. I could keep going, but then I’d be typing much longer than I need to be, so I’m moving on.

Our guest lecture today was very technical. Allan Mitman, a retired lawyer, came to talk to us about economic freedom and the law. The main theme of the lecture was “intellectual property.” Intellectual property is basically anything that someone creates with their mind (such as a poem, song, etc.). There were a lot of complicated rules behind the whole system. He discussed a case in which he was prosecuting an ice cream company whose name and style was too similar to Häagen Dazs (which as it turns out doesn’t even mean anything). The packaging of the ice cream was similar, the name sounded like it was of Scandinavian origin and the wording in the list of ingredients was exactly the same. Ultimately, the opposing brand won the case. They were bought out by Kraft foods farther down the road and never heard from again though, so I guess it all worked out.

I’m going to cut off my blog here because that unintentional half-an-hour nap really cut into my study time and I need to get my reading done fast. I have twenty-five pages of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty to read for tomorrow. Good bye for now because I’m signing off.

PS- Don’t EVER put cans Pepsi in the freezer. I learned the hard way that they explode if you leave them in there long enough. Let me tell you, that is something that you do not want to have to clean…

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