I was reading the latest issue of MacWorld and came across a very brief mention of witch, a utility that allows you to tab through the various windows you have open (including minimized ones). Donation-ware, this simple utility is not only extremely handy, but has just the right level of customizability to fit directly into your working habits. If you’ve been looking for anything like the window switcher built into Windows, except with a much nicer, translucent interface, look no further!
Please excuse me for today’s short post - it’s been a hectic day on campus with work, classes, meetings, and various other time commitments. Anyway, I stumbled across (via Boing Boing) a collection of Russian photographs taken between 1917 and 1945 by the Brooklyn art gallery during a break from reading Leo Tolstoy’s collection of short stories. For those whose history is rusty, this time period encompases the revolutions between the Reds and the Whites (that helped Finland gain its independence), as well as, World War II. It’s well worth flicking through the fifty or so photos as several of them are quite powerful and emotionally loaded. All are shot in black and white (oh how I love black and white photography) and for me, the most moving one is definitely ‘Stand till Death’ by Emanuil Evzerikhin taken in the 1940s.
Decisions. It’s that moment in the spring semester when time seems to speed up and every day, more and more decisions need to be made. Case in point: yesterday we were given our fall 2005 course catalogs. The pink covers, vibrantly enticing us to dream about the fall and the time when classes begin anew can be seen everywhere - on the dining hall tables in McEwen and Commons, on top of piles of papers on dorm room desks, and even in select bathrooms around campus to be used as light ‘reading material.’ Flipping through the catalog is always a pleasure. Even though well over seventy-five percent of the classes either don’t interest me or are unavailable to me because of prerequisites, it is the idea that in this one booklet, an infathomable amount knowledge can be learned through the simple act of picking courses.
Of course, even though I’m attending a liberal arts college and the only core requirements revolve around writing intensive classes and physical education requirements, I will be automatically selecting a couple of courses to continue my majors - the senior seminar in computer science and a 400 level economics class to use as a senior project (Financial Market Theory sounds quite interesting).
That leaves me, however, with two open slots. Do I take a history course? Or yet another comparative literature one? Or should I do something entirely new? At this point, I don’t know. I’ve looked through the course catalog and have come up with four different classes that definitely interest me in one way or another. They are in no particular order: CPLIT/HIST 207W Vietnam through Film, CPLIT/JAPN 239 Modern Life and War in Japanese Literature, EDUC 220 American Sign Language and Deaf Culture, and CPSCI 320 Computer Architecture. Each and everyone has their own pro’s and con’s. The computer architecture course is taught by my favorite professor at Hamilton (Prof. Bailey) and would be a lot of fun, but requires about 10 hours of work outside of class per week. The sign language course could be extremely interesting but might also be a lot of rote memorization. Finally, both comparative literature courses sound great, however, being literature based courses, there will be a lot of writing and reading that may interfere with my senior seminar.
At the same time, I’m also wondering whether I should be branching out in my final year. I’ve never taken a sociology course, nor anthropology, or even history. Granted, all but the computer science course could be counted as courses in departments I’ve never studied in, but I wonder if they are too close to my interests. I’m here at Hamilton to gain a broad, diverse education. So, should I be thinking more outside the box? I guess a lot of this will become clearer after I talk to my advisors but I’d be interested in hearing your opinion too - so feel free to post a comment or too.
To sum up the past week in a simple journal entry is impossible. Over the course of eight days, I strengthened several friendships, made new friends, met some wonderful West Virginians, and most importantly, was able to help out a depressed, poverty stricken community within the Appalachians where the median income is only $21,000.
The Complete ASB Group
(Front row, left to right) Max, Jess, Chris, Kellyn; (Back row, left to right) Kristina, Eileen, Wendy, Myself, Zach, John
All of us except for two (who we picked up on the drive down) gathered together on Saturday, March 19th to get to know one another and gather snacks for the 13-hour drive in the jitney. At the beginning of the trip, I knew only the three other upperclassmen, with Kellyn and John being EMTs and Chris a member of ITS’ Help@Night. During our first hours together, we made small talk, discussed the upcoming trip, ate pizza, and ended up watching a movie. As was to be expected, most of us were fairly introvert, knowing that the journey the next day would be the real ice-breaker. The evening passed quickly and most of us headed to bed early so that we’d be up for the 6.30 am departure.
The Ride Down
Sunday was a fairly laid back day. Chris and John (who were Jitney certified drivers) drove us down to Pipestem, WV in 13 hours. We headed to West Virginia by first going towards Binghamton, NY, then traversing through Pennsylvania, briefly entering Maryland and West Virginia, before finishing the majority of the driving in Virginia. We arrived in Hinton, WV around seven and immediately headed to the local grocery stores to purchase sandwich supplies and food for the five dinners that we would cook. In retrospect, it turned out that it was a good thing that Walmart was not to be found and that we were able to support the local stores instead of a conglomerate.
After shopping, we headed towards the Appalachian South Folklife Center where we would be staying for the next six nights. Although long, the ride down was surprisingly enjoyable and by the end of the trip, most of us knew a bit about each other that could be used to start and carry on conversations. Sunday ended much like all the rest of the nights, with the ten of us playing various games such as Mafia and just chillin’ in the main den of the folklife center.
I’ve posted about a third of the photos taken during my trip to West Virginia in the pictures section of the site. For a complete description of the trip, read about the adventures in the post ‘Alternative Spring Break ‘05‘.
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