Reading Period

Right now, we're having something called "Reading Period" on campus. This happens during the last week or so of each semester, and it means that the people partying outside my door are supposed to be quiet, at least 23 hours a day (10-11pm is "respectful hours," not "quiet hours").

Yes, reader, I find this amusing as well. No, I did not create it. Yes, we barely read during this time.

Just because the dorm needs to be quiet, though, doesn't mean this blog should be. So what's been up? Aside from writing - what is it, seven new essays, at this point? - I've been up to a few fun things. Here's the run-down:

Tuftonia's Day
The carnival atmosphere was fun and all, as was the free food, but truly the fireworks made it all worthwhile. I've seen a good share of fireworks shows so far, and I keep finding better and better ones - this was definitely one of the best. It helped we were sitting extremely close...close enough to get occasionally pelted by debris. The show started with fire fountains, so to speak, sparkling at ground level, and escalated to the point of machine-gun-like deployment and as much dramatic sound variation as light. If you missed it, be there next year.

Mime Show
I hadn't been to a mime show before; I kept missing them. Our mimes are really good! The entire thing was novel for me - walking in place as the scenery-actors moved past, replacing dialogue with action - it was all new for me. Specifically, I went to see Hillary Asare's senior thesis, "Contact: A Mimed Imagining of Orpheus and Eurydice." For those unfamiliar with the story, like myself, nothing at all was lost with the removal of spoken word. Even the essential rules of the final test were made clear as day by puppet actors, rather than words. Moral of the story: go see mimes.

Directing II One-Acts
"New World Order" was spookily performed, as intended. The act before ours was comedic, so some people laughed during our more tense moments. That was...interesting.

Tufts Mock Trial
We held elections, which took forever. I was elected to External Affairs (read: Director of Tryouts and Recruitment) after a heated four-way contest. They then decided, on the spot, to fold Public Relations into ExAf. So I ended up with both. I'm also Webmaster. This is fun. Soon after, I attended a joint dinner with TMT, Tufts Pre-Law Society and Tufts Lawyers Association. Hooray for networking, or collaboration, or whatever it is we ended up doing. Hooray for pizza.

Dream Roles
Pen, Paint, and Pretzels, more commonly known as the 3Ps, holds a talent night each year called Senior Dream Roles. Each graduating member, actor or technician, gets the opportunity to show off in any sort of performance they want. There was electric guitar, musical numbers, one-man Romeo and Juliet, and even Star Wars in five-minutes (it came too soon; they missed May 4). Now I can't stop thinking about what I would want to do, if given the chance. Suggestions?

There you have it: Reading Week. Oh, I mean, I read stuff, too. A bit. Maybe. Does xkcd count?