FREEDOM! says Aretha Franklin.
Oh, sweet day! Oh, Glorious day! Oh joyous, wondrous, blessed day!
That was Saturday afternoon.
It is now Monday evening, and we have only recently been left free from the grasp of "training." Or, as we like to call it, "innodation."
Let me begin at the beginning (a very good place to start):
Last week was finals, and let that serve as excuse enough for why I haven't posted in eons. An in-class essay in Humanities, then Calc (auuch), Chem (ONLY one I really concentrated on), and Physics (Hail to the Gods of Partial Credit!). So, naturally, since finals marked the end of all things and the last one was over at noon on Saturday, the exhaultation was tremendous. Big plans were made, excursions into Boston were taken, Shaymus and Bethany and I went on an ice cream quest, and Fun was Had overall. I even got a chance to visit my Aunt and Uncle who live in nearby Weston, since the time was nonexistant before (thanks again for the couscous and goodies!), and the miraculous day was topped off by a jovial game of Patrol. Sunday,
being sort of rainy and Bostonian, saw everyone mooching around the dorm, watching the Olympics, delving into the new books and hobbies they promised themselves for the Freedom Time (I've got a compilation of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a Rubik's Cube--two experiences NO student should be without). The Olympics, by the way, have been quite popular here, since we all have nothing else to do and everyone is from some country or another, so we all cheer for everyone. Except the French. The foundations of Next House shook when Michael Phelps and The Americans won the 4x100 Relay and showed just who was "smashing" whom. We spent the night reencating the "Phelps Roar." The Chinese Students' Club at MIT has been getting into it, even providing food at a screening of the opening ceremonies and singing along with their national anthem. I went; it was fun, and I got some tortelini from the Chinese club. Go figure.
Anyway, I digress, point being that the weekend was the first real bit of summer vacation we'd had thus far. We did the obvious thing and enjoyed ourselves and were lulled into a false sense of carefree-ity, thinking there was nothing malevolent hovering on the horizon. Oh, how wrong we were.On the overall schedule, an event was cryptically listed from the beginning only as "training" to follow finals. Earlier in the week we had been given surveys that were, to be blunt, bizarre. There were no questions, simply an order to "rank" certain phrases. The phrases ranged from "I like to be challenged" to "It's okay to torture a person to death." Macabre, right? But the kicker is this: we arrive bright and early today for this "training," and it turns out they had hired some motivational speaker who had interpretted our ranked feelings on torture, studying, bombing buildings, time management and the like (is there even a "like"?) to show whether we had enough self-esteem and practical thinking. The guy was an ex-NFL player, someone undoubtedly near and dear to the hearts of the football enthusiasts of MIT Interphase (*cough*). Not only did he offer NO scientific explanation for how ranking crop failure as worse than natural disasters realted to my work abilities, but he jumped into his whole speal about how YOU can be proactive and change YOUR lifestyle for SUCCESS, based on what the paper told you about the way you think. I called it as B.S. early on, but some people adopted the same mentality as circusgoers at the fortune-teller's booth: "Ooh, look! It says I don't empathize well with people. That's so true! I threw a rock at my brother once!" He then proceeded, this Dr. Phil of a football player, to pick students out of the audience and dissect their "profile," identifying them as perfectionists, hard workers, or self-driven people in turn. WELL, DUH. This might be news at a community college somewhere, but...YEAH! This chicanery lasted from NINE to THREE, with a break for lunch which we were begrudingly allowed. Innodation, I tell you.
So the end of my tirade is this: no matter how high you score, how well you perform, or how far you run, motivational speakers will follow you. Might as well give up now. I know we have to troop back out to play "physical team games" tomorrow, same time, same duration, and I'm sure same crock of nonsense. The only strength the motivationees have lies in the "feedback form." If I had written mine any hotter, it would need asbestos paper to convey the sentiment. Most people, however, are lazy, and in order to fend off the self-righteous motivation speaker, will glibly write, "Sure, yeah, changed my life, thank you much." Come on, people! Complaining is just as much fun on paper, you know!
Humph. Thanks for the vent through which I expunge the Bad Thoughts. Your patient virtual ears are not unappreciated...
In other news, well, yes, the Olypmics are exciting. I'm in love with a guy named Douglas Adams.
Unfortunately, he's dead, but not before they compiled a big volume of Hitchiker's. So long, and thanks for all the fish! Oh, I also have accompished a major goal in life: I'm going to see a band of rock gods before they all die! Although the glory that is Jethro Tull slipped by when they were in Boston during finals week, I have secured another: THE WHO! Well, the Who and Ringo Starr's son on drums! GASP! SHUTTER! DIE! I figured since I had some extra funds (the ones I've been living on had I not been in this program all summer), I could even go for the quasi-cheap seats, so I'm at the front of the balcony senction. Not close enough to catch a guitar shard, but still, THERE! And getting the ticket was half the fun; because they went on sale at 1000 sharp and I was quite anxious about them selling out (the tickets, not the Who. They've long since sold out...), I faked a coughing fit, ducked out of the "training," snuck up to the Athena Cluster, and logged on just as the clock hit 1000. Snuck back, and no one was the wiser. It was a rush. THE WHO!Well, now that this post is insanely lone, I still have dinner to get, errand to run, series to read, and Cubes to solve, and I'm sure you have supper to fetch, beavers to skin, tattos to select, iron to send through the Bessemer process, the meaning of life to discover, Python skits to memorize, Parapeligics to date, and tobacco to weed, I'll let you go. (50 points if you find the link of relevance between any two of those items. A fabulous vacation to the luxurious Loony Bin Resort if you followed it all.) Pip pip!
Last but not least, a funny:
Tee hee...
