Missing Movies

So I haven't written a post in awhile, mostly because I've gotten caught up in midterms and whatnot (midterms month!). I will write more after some craziness has subsided, but here's a small snippet of what I've been doing lately:

• I went home last weekend and remembered what it was like to watch a great movie. For those of you who know me, I am a movie junkie. When living at home on Long Island, I used to go see a movie almost every weekend at my local cinema. My family is actually hugely into seeing movies together, and our tastes usually line up, so we go to the cinema quite a lot to see indie films. It's a nice family bonding experience. Living in the city has starved me of this experience, since I have neither the time nor money to go see movies regularly. This weekend, even amongst all of the midterm prep I had to do, I got the chance to go home and see two amazing movies (one for my brother's birthday, the other just for bonding time with my dad): Birdman and Gone Girl. Birdman was a crazy, surrealist, magical realist masterpiece. Really great performances all around, but especially Michael Keaton and Edward Norton. Gone Girl was another David Fincher thriller--again, amazing performances all-around. I've been meaning to read the book by Gillian Flynn. A lot of people are saying this is a misogynistic movie and I completely disagree. Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne kills it (no pun intended); there were a lot of moments where my (not so) inner feminist screamed with joy. A lot of passages are spot-on, but I'll save my inner glee for the book itself, which is unfortunately checked out of every single NYPL location and also every library in Suffolk County!
• I had two midterms this week. I cried a lot and my hands hurt from writing.
• After my intense day of midterms, I had two days off because two of my teachers cancelled classes. So I had a mini break/weekend in the middle of the week to relax and regain my strength (and feeling in my hands). I'm proud to say that I did absolutely zero work during this time.
• I went to see two of the exhibits at the FIT museum. One was a history of lingerie, the other of dance costumes. It was a gross and rainy day but I wanted to make it out of the dorm for some culture to reward myself for all my hard work. That night I went to the Open Mic at the Brookdale dorms. The first open mic was nearly 3 hours long because there were so many acts. Probably because the freshmen were excited about being part of the community. There was a noticeably smaller lineup this time, whittled down to just the dedicated handful of musicians and performers who weren't overwhelmed by midterms and work. It's always nice to see the talent of my classmates, and to just relax and listen to some music.
• It's always good to have passive interests in college because they give you things to do outside of school work. I love reading poetry as much as the next person, and academic interests are nice, but sometimes I just want to go to a concert, or read a non-academic book, or look at clothes for a couple of hours. These are the things that keep you sane, keep you from becoming your workload.

This will have to suffice for my post for now, since I have so much work to do. I'll leave you with part of a poem I read recently. I strongly suggest you look up the rest of the poem, since these parts really don't do it justice:

V

I do not know which to prefer,

The beauty of inflections

Or the beauty of innuendoes,

The blackbird whistling

Or just after.

...

XIII

It was evening all afternoon.

It was snowing

And it was going to snow.

The blackbird sat

In the cedar-limbs.

-Wallace Stevens, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"

Teach a man to fish...

Hey, everyone!

I spent last weekend writing up the first draft of my paper for my gene regulation class. It definitely required a lot of reading and patience to get through enough of the material to have a solid first draft. But I did it! Yay! haha.

Our second draft is due on the 25th so my plan is to actively work on the paper till then.

The same day that I handed in my draft also happened to be Election Day. After editing the draft in the morning, I voted and then headed to class. I know that many people choose not to vote because they feel like they can't make a difference, but they're wrong. If there are low voter turnouts, then politicians will feel like they don't need to campaign so widely and strategically. But if they see that voters are educated and that they will speak up, the politicians will step up to the plate as well. Basically, if we, as voters, become cynical and lazy about voting then politicians will think it's ok for them to be vague and do whatever they think is best instead of listening to their constituents. So what I'm really saying is "Get out there, and vote!" There are many people in the world who don't have the right to vote, and we should be grateful that we do. This country isn't perfect, but I like to think that we're progressing all the time.

We're currently studying Marianne Moore in my English class, and on Monday, we'll be reading some E.E. Cummings because Moore wrote an essay about his work.

Here is a Cummings poem that I love:

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
- the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for each other; then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

Today was great because I got to run some errands, and unlike the majority of the population, I LOVE running errands! For me, they always feel like an adventure.

Then, my friend and I headed to Central Park, and took some beautiful photos. It was definitely chilly outside, but the trees and water were beautiful. And that made walking through the cold wind worth it.

S.

Quote of the Week

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

~ Maimonides

My First Post!

Hello everyone!

My name is Katherine, and I am a freshman here at Macaulay Hunter. This is my first blog post here on the Macaulay Hunter Blog, and I’m glad to be here. I really love reading blogs, and I think the idea of the MacBlog for prospective freshmen is absolutely brilliant.

I apologize for not posting on this blog before now. It’s been a stressful first two months of college – but it’s better now (more about that in later posts!).

Anyway, I want to start off by introducing myself! 

Some random facts about me:

• I am from Queens, and went to a large private high school with a graduating class of 652 people.
• I’m most definitely a social media junkie. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat – you name it, I probably have it. However, I am notorious for deactivating accounts or deleting apps on my phone during midterms and finals – and definitely suggest to others on doing the same! You get so much more done.
• Eating, shopping, and running are all therapeutic to me.
• I love going to zoos and aquariums!
• I am currently an Undeclared major, but am considering majoring in Economics and minoring in Chemistry, or vice-versa.
•  My hobbies include trying new restaurants, listening to and going to Spoken Word poetry shows, doing makeup and spending endless hours watching YouTube beauty gurus, and reading blogs (Ironic, isn’t it?).

Like most other freshman in the Macaulay Hunter Class of 2018, I live in the Brookdale Residence Hall. It’s free for the first two years with your Macaulay scholarship, guys! I grew up in one of a suburban area of Queens bordering Long Island, so going from an area of green grass, tall trees, and gingerbread-like houses to living in Manhattan was quite a change. The first week of living at Brookdale was sleepless to say the least. No worries though; you get used it. Don’t let that scare you.

As mentioned before, each room here is a single -- and personally, I love that. I actually have more privacy here than I do in my house back in Queens! For me, having a single is awesome. You have the privacy of your own room to sleep in, study in, and take care of (No worrying about smelly or disorganized roommates!), but can easily text your friends who live in the same building as you to come to your room or meet in the dorm. It’s ridiculously convenient.

Here's a shot of my room:

I really enjoy living here. Because we at Macaulay Hunter have guaranteed dorms for the first two years, we have a great sense of community that other campuses may not have. Almost everyone here in our program knows each other. That’s rare, especially in a commuter school.

After my first two months being here, I am proud to say that I made the right college decision in choosing a program that challenges me, has a wonderful support system of advisors, and has a great community.

That’s all for now, and I’ll definitely be updating you all soon on what’s been going on with me! :) 

- Katherine