emlocke

emlocke logo with teal letter 'k'

  • computer fever

    it’s just insane for to attempt survival without my laptop for upwards of a week. but when the keyboard starts producing something like this: QwERtrTyYuuIioOoP each time you type one key, something needs to be done! so i shipped it off to hp and was left using the library computers any time i could drag myself up the hill from bundy. i used to rave about hp’s customer service and quality, and after this experience, i take it all back!

    so, i had an ok week, in spite of the significant lack of electronics in my room. thank goodness for my small video library of dr. quinn medicine woman reruns. i had a meeting with my jazz professor on monday and we (well, he) talked for 40 minutes and he gave me poems to read, which i took to be a positive thing, so i was happy and felt pretty honored, like he had thought me worthy of discussion.

    academic highlight of the week would have to be what went down in lit & environment on tuesday. i had written a one-page description about my african violet, which i bought b/c my mom has had one for years, and i love purple, and i love my mom, and i love the sentimentality of taking care of a plant for so long. so, i turned it in, really thinking that it was far too short and not at all what my professor, who is awesome, was looking for. on tuesday, he pulls out the stack of papers to return and decides to read a couple as demonstrations of “really superb writing and description and obervation.” and the first one he read was mine! even better, though, was when i picked up my paper after class and read the comments at the bottom: “this is spectacularly good writing, emily! (i love how he’s so grammatically correct with the punctuation there) i love the detail in your observation, but (i got a little worried here…) i love even more the poetic beauty of your sentences!” sweet. nice. cool.

    after reading aloud to the class, he said something about the way “the author” (he didn’t use my name) made a concious effort to thoughtfully choose each word. that was cool, b/c that really is the way i try to write. every word counts. every word is worth something.

    socially, eh. i have been going to these ropes course workshops, where we’ve been playing the same kind of games and initiatives that we use at camp, and eventually will be trained on the low and high elements in the hamilton ropes course. everyone is really nice and i feel pretty comfortable in that environment, but i don’t know how i’m ever going to really fit in. this weekend the outing club (hoc) is going camping.hiking in the adirondacks for what they call “46 peaks weekend.” i was a little hesitant about going out there with strangers and risking the revelation of my next-to-non-existant physical endurance, but i was starting to feel more confident about the benfits of going camping and meeting more people who are involved in hoc and who might seem more like my kind of group. turns out, you need a group of people to go with, and a way to get there, etc., and i guess i missed the boat on that one, b/c the person i was expecting to go with, well, she has already made other arrangements. oops.

    on the upside, i finally bought a refrigerator and microwave, and hung my posters up. i hope my disposition brightens as much as my room did.

    quote of the day: “i will wait until it all goes around. with you in sight, the lost are found” – dar williams

    love always, em locke

  • school girl

    Camp was awesome. summer was beautiful and, with the exception of a few medical mishaps (read: concussion, hypothermia, etc) I thoroughly enjoyed my 9th season in “the foothills of the Berkshires” really important and special memories:

    a) having Alicia at camp
    b) almost drowning the scarecrow and trail blazing to Ewok Village with Chelsea
    c) declining Vince’s offer to pray for me
    d) going to the ER with Karen
    e) going again with Katie page
    f) learning to dive
    g) beating every single guy (including my favorite Domer-Shank) at PS2 wrestling

    I arrived at Hamilton College one week ago tomorrow, and I’m having an awesome time. Important news flash: boys go to school here! I spoke with a really cute one today, too. I could get used to this. There is, however, the potential that I could start to really dislike the idea of a freshly laundered boy in wearing J.Crew and north face…oh no, wait. but I do miss some Mount Holyoke College stuff, like M&C’s, color coordinated a capella groups and the PVTA (I know, I never used it, but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I think it’s a really great thing) a little bit. And I miss some MHC people a whole lot. Shout outs to my dearest Holly, Rachel & Allegra!

    Classes started today, with computer science for non-concentrators at 10 and social psych at 11. Both were good, neither provided syllabi! That was very un-MHC, but I suppose that’s the whole point of becoming a transfer student.

    I had lunch with Addie, Arielle, Dan and Phil, watched As Told by Ginger, took a nap, then went to the mall with Quinn. She bought cleats for soccer (what’s that) and I bought a belt. I swear, some habits die hard. As soon as I leave home, I suddenly feel this need to provide for myself by purchasing completely unnecessary household items like sponges (I already have 2 and I rarely wash dishes anyway) and tools that I don’t know how to use. I think the phrase “oh, I could really use that” runs through my head about 16 times during every trip to Wal-Mart and/or Target. And Bed, Bath and Beyond is a terrible hazard for the homebody college student!

    Tomorrow I have History of Jazz at 9 and Literature and the Environment at 1 and on Wednesday I start swimming! I’m not ashamed! At least I passed the swim test, I’m taking this one by choice. Now that I can dive (sort of) I want to take a giant step backward and master jumping in feet first without holding my nose. It’s ambitious, I realize, but I’m tired of pausing to look at nose plugs in the sporting aisle at my favorite discount stores (see above).

    One thing that I’m annoyed with is the fact that, due to my own ignorance of policies and responsibilities and sheer laziness, Hamilton hasn’t received my spring semester grades yet, and therefore I’m listed as a second-semester frosh. They’re printing up the directories this week and I’m going to be listed under class of 2007, and they won’t change it, even though I’ll be official class of 2006 again by next week and the directory will last all year. I’m sorry if I find this a bit unreasonable, but it’s hard enough to walk around having everyone think you’re a frosh b/c they don’t recognize you. You’d think they would give me the benefit of the doubt and hook me up with some seniority (or sophomority, as the case may be). Boo to that.

    quote of the day: “all her dreams begin with lights on blue water” – Allegra’s cute book