Category: Undergrad Stories

laundry time beat me up yesterday. i pulled an assorted collection of muscles in my arm. no, not in the gym, and not with the pose during commercial breaks, but when i carried my laundry basket across the street yesterday afternoon. i was trying to be environmentally aware and conserve gas, and gas money, but it really wasn’t worth it. it hurts to pick up my bag, button my coat and pull blankets up around me in bed. ouch.

it’s not to late to start writing! there are still twenty-four more days in national novel writing month. i’m not so ambitious, but i applaud anyone who tries a chapter or two.

so, it turns out that metrosexual (thirty-one definitions, if one isn’t enough) is an official popular culture term. i first heard it on the one episode of miss match i’ve ever watched, which i really liked just b/c alicia silverstone’s character slept over at her new boyfriend’s apartment but that didn’t mean she slept with him. see, all the cool kids aren’t doing it! anyway, now there’s a ten o’clock news segment on the metrosexual phenomenon. i support the metrosexual, but i hope they don’t all become too confused and just dissolve into enigmasexuals.

while searching for the definition of metrosexual, i discovered urbandictionary.com, which is innovative, but i’m not really a fan of user submitted definitions. that’s how you end up with fifty-nine seperate definitions for the word dude. everybody’s got to get their word in! but i also discovered that classic dictionary.com has started witholding certain definitions exclusively for it’s premium members. that’s right, now you have to pay for words. well, not all the words, but the really special ones. can’t be giving those away for free. i’m so dissappointed that they fell into the trap.

quote of the day: “we are wise, wise women, we are giggling girls” – ani difranco

love always, em locke

i talked to corinne tonight for the first time since ripley’s party at the very beginning of the summer. she’s a dj at hopkins radio station every wednesday from 10-11. there’s a live broadcast stream and a studio web cam! her show does not have a title, which i think it should, b/c she’s obviously creative enough to come up with one. maybe she’s just holding out for inspiration. she played cemetery gates by the smiths which made me an automatic fan. also a plug for one of my favorite books, the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky.

hamilton college radio stations, whcl, is okay, i guess. i don’t listen that frequently, but they do have some interesting shows. sometimes i wish they had a show that just had no theme whatsoever. i hate committing to a genre for any extended period of time. maybe they do, i guess i wouldn’t know. but looking at the schedule, i am pretty impressed at how much air time is filled by student shows.

anything would have to be an improvement on wmhc, mount holyoke’s radio station. when i think about those shows, i just remember continuous foreign and/or bizarre music, interrupted very infrequently by dialogue. and when the djs did speak, they spoke like the had just woken up. some even sounded heavily sedated. maybe they were just waking up from an indie-music induced coma. there was a certain student manager of mine who played a gospel hour, and there were a couple of really big sir mix-a-lot fans. i did tune in when holly played rhcp and jewel during her brief wmhc airtime, but otherwise, i avoided the airwaves. ok, i should have listened more frequently, i don’t have enough experience to base such a strong opinion on. but i’m just telling you what i heard.

afterglow, sarah machlachlan’s first new album since 1997 came out yesterday. that’s just shocking. i was in 7th grade then. mirrorball was released in 1999, the summer that chelsea and i went to the third and final lilith fair. since then sarah had her first child, a daughter named india, but she says that she needs a lot of time to process stuff, so her motherhood material will be on the next album. hopefully that won’t actually be five or six years from now.

my psych professor’s left retina is detaching, so he has to have surgery on friday and cancel class for a week. the man is a professor, he practically reads for a living and he can’t read at all for the next week b/c the involuntary muscle contractions make the damage worse. i’m obviously appreciating the days off, but it’s hard to feel lucky when it comes at the expense of such bad fortune for someone else! i can’t imagine having to think about such substantial damage to my eyes before i’m 30. can surgery actually repair that entirely? i don’t even know. i hope so.

quote of the day: “three, two, one and the world’s not falling apart, the world’s not falling apart because of me” – dar williams

love always, em locke

when i have my own house, i want it to have a hardwood floored staircase and when i have parties i’m going to put all these white candles in different glass candle holders up along the edge of the stairs.

i need to organize and clean up my room and do laundry and vacuum and make sure everything looks the way it’s supposed to b/c my family is coming on friday! my brother is staying with me all weekend and we’re going out to dinner on saturday and my mom is bringing me a new blow dryer and my dad and i can go to the jazz concert together. maybe he’ll help me write my concert report.

i got the program book from the institute for study abroad at the university of butler. now that’s really scary. i want to go to europe b/c it’s new and beautiful and an adventure, but now that i have to conceptualize the idea of myself actually going there alone for an entire year, it feels more like a foreign solar system in a foreign dimension than a foreign country across the atlantic.

i wish i had some cookies. rainbow deluxe, or those nutter butters. or anything reminiscent of the popular M&C’s varieties. no, what i really want is for someone to make me cookies. peanut butter ones with the fork criss crosses on top.

quote of the day: “we tip-toed around each other like heartbreaking new friends” – jack kerouac

love always, em locke

and still, i got nothin’.

i asked my washington native friend jessica for her insights on orcas island and her response was:

peachyjessica: orcas island is PARADISE.

that was an excellent endorsement. jess was the first roommate i ever had. we lived together at olivet nazarene university when we went to chicago on a wider opprotunity for girl scouts. it was called press pass 2000!, and yes, you must include that exclamation point in every reference. anyway, we had such a great time. there were no hangers in our closets and we needed to hang up our uniforms (like those but worse) to prevent wrinkles, since we had to buy them, so we went to the cafeteria and “borrowed” some hangers from the coatracks. i hid them in my cardigan and we booked it back to our dorm, only to be intercepted by…someone. i forget who. but i do remember that they were not very observant (especially for a couple of aspiring reporters.) we stood there chatting for a few minutes before heading our seperate ways, and they never once mentioned or questioned the hangers protruding from my sweater. maybe they were just really accepting of our, well, differences.

i couldn’t have ever asked for a better first roommate experience than what i had with jess. on our first night together there was a thunderstorm over the horizon and we both opened up our windows and hung out as far as we could to see and hear and smell the storm. i remember talking in the dark for hours every night before we fell asleep. i also remember the first time i overslept for a class in a college dorm. jessica and i were both pretty shocked with ourselves. could that have been foreshadowing for my now customary lazy morning ritual? as i recall, jessica and i lived on the fourth floor. could that have been foreshadowing to my fourth floor prospect residency last year? at least prospect had an elevator! i have not yet been able to reunite with jess, but she goes to ithaca, so we should arrange that. or we could hang out on orcas island this summer.

press pass 2000! also led me to my dear friend ellen. ellen is an old soul. i love her penmanship. especially when she writes me one of her great letters. she always understands my dramatic losses of emotional control and always offers reliable advice. i wouldn’t even call it advice, ellen’s words are better than that. whenever i have a problem, she imparts this insightful message to my heart and everything is good again. oh, press pass 2000!. oh, my girls. they’re both studying journalism, by the way. so devoted.

this evening, i spent two hours watching a william baldwin hosted informational video about disaster response from the american red cross. and now i have an internationally recognized certification. it was almost too easy. done and done.

quote of the day: “everything i need is right here in my hands, right here in my hands, right here in my hands.” – melissa ferrick

love always, em locke

no, not the blackout that left all of the east coast without power this summer. the blackout that left the light side dark (ironic, we realize). half of hamilton was without power for 16 hours today. well, it turned out to be just over eight hours without power, and i was asleep for most of them, but still.

it was a pretty fun day, actually. once the morning chill wore off the breeze was so warm that i opened my windows to enjoy it. i woke up to discover that when hamilton promised “emergency lighting” from our generator, they actually meant that every single the emergency exit sign would be illuminated to its fullest extent. but that’s it! but the atmosphere in the hallway was actually kind of nice. it always annoys me that the lights stay on out there all night. they shine under my door and keep me awake. but the bathroom was a black hole of cold tile and porcelain. i could have trailblazed my way between sink and toilet and shower (although, there was no hot water, so what was the point) but i didn’t even try b/c the only real hazard were the other people who might be there! i felt like i had to announce myself to make sure i wouldn’t just run into someone. so, flashlight anyone? but not all the westers were interested in the offer. when cj ventured into the cave to brush his teeth, he said, “no, it’s fun in the dark.” suit yourself.

we went to eat lunch at the diner, b/c commons was closed, and got a kick out of the coincidence when we all ordered the same thing. when we got back around two (or was it one?) the lights were on! but no internet. so we headed out to target to get allegra for cj’s allergies and magnesium for nayomi’s twitching and chocolate for me in general. and boggle. we bought boggle. cj and i determined that we cannot own a house together b/c he admired this furniture style and we spent a substantial period of time in the air freshening product aisle. what does this say about us? and our living conditions? hmm. well, my room smells like “ocean” now.

so when we got back, the lights were still on and the internet had been restored. it was only four or so, almost six hours before the light side was expected to see the light again. blackout 2003 could have been a thousand times worse. but i’m glad it’s over!

quote of the day: “you’re the reason the stars always shine” – marry me jane

love always, em locke

i discovered nerds gumballs today in the giant wonka variety pack that my mom got for me at costco when i was home. they’re huge gumballs with a bunch of different flavored nerds in the middle. it’s really good bubble gum and promises lots of chewing, so i’m a big fan, but i can’t stop wondering, how do they get ’em in there??

this weekend was kind of dull. cj and nayomi were apparently going to make jello shots in honor of bill cosby’s visit, but they both looked very non-partying last night, so i’m thinking that didn’t happen. i guess a lot of frats had three day long fallcoming parties, and ari went out with this guy she’s been seeing, and said she had so much fun. so i was jealous, but at the same time, i know we have different ideas of fun! i was really disappointed that there weren’t more all-campus fallcoming events. but we all know what i really wanted to be doing this weekend.

i talked to holly tonight and she said, even though she made a small fortune, that las vegas night was a las vegas nightmare (no, she didn’t phrase it like that.) the bar was insane and people were insane and i guess a record number of people were taken to the emergency room. but if i know holly, she handled it all flawlessly and probably wouldn’t have wanted to participate in the festivities anyway. maybe she can put some of that cash toward a bus ticket to clinton, ny? she also said, “aren’t there any boys at hamilton that you like?” i know, i know. if only life made sense like that.

i had a really long talk with nayomi about boys and school and driving long distances. she totally welcomed me right into her room and insisted that i sit on her beanbag, which made me feel like she really wanted me there to chat with. she got a hamster! it’s adorable. but i can’t have a pet. all the leaves on my plants are yellow and my african violet has no violets.

i got an A on my lit paper! after my professor spent 15 minutes at the beginning of class going down his list of general comments on our papers, he made us wait until the very end of class to get them back. i was preparing myself to accept my given position in the grading hierarchy, of which the average was approximately a b-. i was open to constructive criticism and ready to edit and turn in an edited draft. but then i got an A. i practically wanted to take it back, tell him i didn’t deserve it and that i wanted to prove myself by improving the whole thing! but then i came to my senses and just walked down the stairs. but i was smiling.

i broke out the hummus today. even accidentally-frozen-then-thawed-out chive hummus is good.

my wonderful cousin marie, who is a senior and applying to her selection of very lucky colleges right now, and with whom i haven’t spoken for far, far too long, linked this site in her away message today. like i didn’t need something else to distract me from, oh i don’t know, homework! (thanks, marie!)

quote of the day: “regardless of purpose-money, sex, gustatory pleasure-people injested chocolate primarily in liquid form through the 19th century.” – chocolate’s dark history

love always, em locke

…me regarding the ever virtuous rachel and emily duo, as quoted in rachel’s profile.

last night i met emma in the “heated tent” for the matt nathanson concert. i’d never heard of him, but apparently he’s been on tour with john mayer, maroon 5, train, oar and is opening for howie day. he was pretty good, i liked his twelve string and the general style, but his dialogue was kind of crude. like i don’t hear enough college boy humor, right? that, and it’s hard to get into a concert if you have no idea what’s going on. the highlight was his “living on a prayer” bon jovi tribute at the end. and the fact that when i took a personal intermission to order chicken fingers at the diner, they gave me a bonus finger.

i discovered that even though i get three bars of service, way more than i ever get in my room, my cell phone refuses to dial anyone when i call from the hill. it works great at the bottom of the hill, which i guess is good, seeing as a live here and it would be so frustrating if i couldn’t dial from my room at all. but it doesn’t make any sense. since when do service bars still mean no service??

i met emma again for dinner in commons tonight, which was probably the highlight of my weekend. she is so nice. and when we discovered that there were no more cookies, she went for hot chocolate with me. and when the hot chocolate turned out to be lukewarm water, she was the first to suggest we substitute ice cream. that’s so my kind of girl! and she was upset to discover that the dining hall just throws out the stacks of pies that don’t get eaten every day. but not in a raging activist kind of way. just a normal concerned way. and she has the picture of us the night we went quad camping up on her wall! i can relate to her.

then i went to the jazz concert in the barn. it started at 9, so naturally i left west at 9:03, and i was glad i did b/c a car pulled aside right in front of the door and a girl asked if i could tell her where the events barn was. well, that depends, are you going to give me a ride there? 😉 so i hopped in back and the guy she was driving (boyfriend? i don’t know) immediately introduced himself and explained that they were from colgate coming to see the show for a class. and i introduced myself back and we chatted for a minute while the girl found a parking spot. and i was excited b/c a) i didn’t have to hike the hill again and b) now i had potential seating companions. the guy was really friendly and nice and suggested that we sit together, but the girl was so cold and stand-offish! which lead me to believe that he was her boyfriend and she was afraid that my natural charm would steal him away. a message to all my fellow ladies in the world: i may be cute, charming and dress pretty well, but i have no game, i’m not a threat, fear not, your significant others can sleep safely. the concert was okay, not the most exciting, but i stayed long enough to absorb about a page-long essay worth and then came back to bundy to watch the end of the game.

when i got back to my room, “court1190: i love u!” was the most recent message. aww! campers!

tried to make that phone call, but i got the answering machine and chickened out.

quote of the day: “we’ll give it a shot” – bon jovi

love always, em locke

in total chronological disarray but updated with more than 50 new photos, check out the photo gallery at emlocke*star!

i got out of the shower this afternoon and had just closed the door and was about to either get dressed or get in bed and take a nap. but i guess we’ll never know which, b/c two facilities guys showed up to fix my heater aka flip the secret mysterious hidden switch that magically releases heat from the earth’s core into my frosty dorm room! now i’m toasty and i’m so excited!

bill cosby was on campus on wednesday night to do stand-up, which included making fun of the new college president. he said, “you guys can’t fire her, she’s way to excited to be here, she’s having too much fun!” which, from what i’ve seen, is really very accurate! president stewart is enthusiastic – no, really, she’s extremely enthusiastic, and is a great speaker, too. she introduced him to more than 4,000 people without using any notes at all. i was impressed. anyway, bill cosby wore a hamilton sweatshirt and birks and spent a fair amount of time chilling on the floor of the stage and let the football team captain up on stage to sing the hamilton fight song while various football players in the audience stood up. if those boys can’t win any games, maybe they should start a boys’ choir! but it was a good night and i was so star struck.

later, or more like on thursday morning at 1:30, bundy west had a fire drill. i totally felt it coming with my finepoint sixth sense, but it scared me anyway! after 10 minutes in the cold, we all went back inside and i crawled back into bed and snuggled up and tried to recreate my interrupted sweet dream, and then it went off again! this time i just collected all the clothes on my floor and layered them on as i stumbled down the hall. and then i swear i heard the alarm ringing in east and i just wanted to throw myself at the mercy of campus safety and beg them just carry me out in my bed.

i went grocery shopping at tops, which is the most ghetto grocery store ever, but my fridge is stocked with yogurt and granola and hummus and hot pockets and ice cream and annie’s mac & cheese and peanut butter cookies. i love peanut butter. and chocolate. yeah, those must be two of my favorite things in the world. yum.

so, another weekend ensues. there’re jazz concerts tonight and tomorrow in the barn and i have to write paper on one of them, and all the presidential inauguration events tomorrow and sunday, but those all start pre-noon so i think i’ll pass. maybe i’ll go to the colby football game though, since hamilton did beat bowdoin over break. it was the first win all season. it was the first in two years! and it probably doesn’t matter that bowdoin hasn’t beaten anyone this season….go continentals!

quote of the day: “in the hour of adversity be not without hope / for crystal rain falls from black clouds” – persian poem

love always, em locke

I knew they could do it! I think that was the first baseball game I’ve ever actually sat through until the [sweet, very sweet] end. When I was little, my dad took me to a mets game. I still feel guilty for whining so much that we had to leave . . . maybe before the game actually started! Anyway, game seven was hot. My favorite part is always the end when all these grown men just freak out and throw themselves at each other and the ground and cry and laugh and it’s so cute. Like I said last week, I love joe torre, especially when he gets that proud father look in his teary eyes. Gamewinner Aaron Boone is a cutie and I’m glad Roger Clemens gets the chance to pitch again in the series and I love that Giambi walks up to the plate and just hits a homerun on the first pitch. I heart that New York City spirit.

Fall break was good. I spent the night at camp on Friday and saw Drew and Alicia and it smelled so good there. And then I went home to see my Maggie . . . and my family, too.

On the way home, I drove right under a rainbow, which was awesome. Then a huge wind storm attacked my car and shook it around and the 45 mph winds practically tore both my windshield wipers off! Good thing my headlights were working again. It turns out that they didn’t randomly short out and they didn’t burn out simultaneously. No really, the mechanic said so! He diagnosed that one went out and I didn’t notice, and when the other burned out it happened to catch my attention. Ohhhh.

Quote of the day: “Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.”-Aristotle

love always, em locke

in honor of the current rival matchup competition in the american league series, i felt it necessary to evaluate my team loyalties. i’ve always considered myself a yankees fan, inspired mainly, i suppose, by my 7th grade english teacher, nat recine, who lived for ny baseball and also had a golf club handle named excaliber which he occasionally wielded at unsuspecting students. even before that, i think i liked darryl strawberry b/c his name was easy to remember and reminded me of my favorite fruit. but the cocaine scandal in 1999 was a strike against him (pardon the pun) and i had to pick a new favorite player. i saw bernie williams help an opponent off the ground in a game a few years ago and ran with that.

the red sox are cool. and yeah, they’ve got some cute & charming guys, like pitcher tim wakefield who really did play well in game one of the alcs, and manny ramirez who is adorable in that fun, chill kind of way.

but i still like andy pettitte and, though he really isn’t my type, derek jeter, and i always feel like joe torre has a calming influence. he just seems like such a regular, unpretentious, grandfather figure guy. the yankees are a great team, they represent a great city, they have a great history. they’ve played the series five times in the last decade and taken four of them. yeah, i had to look that stat up.

so i did do a little research and considered my fan options, and while i think boston fans are wild and crazy and awesome and i really like the font on their uniforms, the yankees wear classic, all-american blue and white. there’s just something about root root rooting for the city’s home team. they can win it!

why wasn’t the world series held in 1994?

quote of the day: “the journey is the reward” – tao proverb

love always, em locke