April 20
Derek Willis, a computer-aided political reporter currently with the Washington Post is in town for a MySQL conference. He drives down and takes me out to dinner. We end up at the Peninsula Diner, which isn’t bad, and Derek regales me with excellent stories about journalism and Washington politics.
Back at the dorm, my bunkmate has filled the room with his toxic cologne which makes it impossible to breathe. Holding my breath, I run in, grab my comforter off my bed, run out and shut the door.
I’ve long been sensitive to toxic smells. My brothers used to have endless fun cruelly spraying my room with Lysol so I’d have to go someplace else.
I clear off space on the ledge by the window in the common room and wrap myself in the comforter. I sleep surprisingly peacefully.
April 21
I end up waking up early, I guess because the windowshades are thinner outside here. I head over to my class at the history building. Afterwards, I have some time to kill so I wander around the history building a bit. I find a little deck hidden down a hallway. It’s incredibly bright and gives a beautiful view of the campus. Empty beer bottles lie neatly in a trash can. I sit down to read The Polysyllabic Spree.
I ask my professor about the beer bottles later. ‘e says that when ‘e spent a semester one of those think-big-thoughts institutions they started breaking out the beer at 3pm. It’s unclear, however, whether the beer is a reward for thinking big thoughts or an ingredient for genius.
posted April 26, 2005 09:56 PM (Education) (0 comments) #