Frohe Weihnachten

For some reason I have had remarkably little Christmas spirit this year - which is why I am surprised that the usually-mundane task of wrapping presents granted me such fulfillment. Here is a photograph I took of the armada of gifts I wrapped Tuesday morning, arranged seductively atop one another:



I know you're unimpressed, so let me assure you that if you had witnessed the skill with which I usually wrap presents, you would agree these five are a triumph.

The festivities reminded me of earlier festivities which I neglected to write about, namely All-Hill Halloween. In early October we were suckered into attending our first (and hopefully our last) floor government meeting, where a vote was held to select our floor's theme. Disney movies won a marginal victory over Pokémon - not exactly frightening, but we all began to envision some nice decorations. Consequently, we were unprepared for this:



It's Halloween indeed when once-lovable Disney characters are suddenly so decrepit.

Cats and Dogs

I realize that a post about rain is redundant at this point, but there is something fascinating about unusual weather here in Southern California that I find impossible to ignore.

Monday morning I woke up and it was raining, which is decidedly the best way to wake up. Recently I was reminded of the phrase "raining cats and dogs", which I never quite understood - but I do know that it can accurately describe Monday morning, with a little augmentation. So I will say this: it was raining jaguars and rabid coyotes. Or so it seemed to someone who has been living in Southern California for the entirety of his life.

Naturally I was in a good mood, and naturally the 3rd Law of Everything had to shatter that. I went on MyUCLA to check grades, which I have a propensity to do the week following finals. I clicked on Math 61 and saw a big, hairy C-, the alluring symmetry of the 3rd letter of the alphabet a stark foil to my inadequacy. Hmm, I didn't think I did that poorly on the final. Then I realized I had no grade listed for the final exam, and calculated my grade with a 0 on the final: sure enough, a C-. Emailing the professor confirmed the error; he informed me that I should have received an A- and that he had already requested that the grade be changed. What a guy.

I had a whole bunch of Butlerisms which I would share with you, more for my sake than for yours, because I think he is hilarious. Unfortunately I wrote them down in my notebook, which I left at UCLA, so here are a few I can recall from memory:

• After making an error on the chalkboard: "Luckily we have such modern technology here." He erases it with his hands: "Touch screen!"
• Discussing the chromatic number of a graph, the amount of colors required to color each vertex such that no two adjacent vertices have the same color: "This is denoted by the greek letter χ [chi, pronounced as the first part in the word kite]. If you ever forget what letter we use, just remember, chi, as in chi-loring!
• While writing a set X and its subset x on the board: "That's the disadvantage of using X to denote sets - the uppercase and lowercase look the same!" Someone suggests using a curly x to make the lowercase more obvious. "Well, you're assuming I know cursive!"
  

USC Game

The alleged "best band in the history of the universe" played Tribute to Troy and Fight On a total of 45 times today (we counted), the former considerably more than the latter. It's also difficult to respect any band who refuses to march backwards or slide (I'm looking at you too, Cal.)

Oh, and the football part - good beginning, band ending. Like a lot of things lately.

First final, Fall 2008

I just got back from the Geography 5 final, which took about 20 minutes to complete. I was halfway to Haines Hall when I realized I had turned in my exam to the form 2 spot when I had form 1. So I went back to Dodd and told the professor.

He leaned over to me and said quietly: "I gotta tell you - the exams are exactly the same. You're golden. Have a great break."

The Vandal Strikes Back

Monday morning the vandal struck again - this time on the front of the Physics & Astronomy building. Unfortunately by the time we got out of History of Rock the graffiti had been hosed off so I was unable to photograph it (It's interesting how much longer chalk stays on Humanities than on the PAB - but I digress). Instead my vivid description will suffice: orange chalk, written vigorously but legibly, the following: Gravity cannot be held accountable for two people falling in love! Naturally I assumed it was some crestfallen soul struggling to cope with an abrupt and traumatic breakup, sparked by the sudden discovery of the infidelity of his former lover. But then I realized it was on the Physics and Astronomy building - so it must have just been some guy who was mad at gravity.

In the dining halls there are always three kinds of pizza: pepperoni, cheese, and funky. I always like to eat funky pizza to escape the monotony of my existence. While usually a common flavor like Alfredo, spinach, chorizo, or the lovely margherita pizza - the funky has on occassion assumed more adventurous flavors such as Caesar salad and PB&J. Wednesday in Covel was a pizza whose most spectacular component was its name - Egyptian Pizza. Think to yourself for a moment what ingredients Egyptian pizza should have - I guess at first you have to somehow convince yourself that pizza can in any way be Egyptian - but at least make an effort.

If you guessed anything Egyptian, you are wrong - it had peppers and onions. Maybe those are sort of Egyptian, maybe. But I was completely unprepared for the final ingredient:

Hot dogs. Take a good look at that picture. One good look. Now take a look at Egypt:

I think a strong argument can be made that hot dogs are probably the least Egyptian thing on this Earth.

Such a striking juxtaposition.

Humanities

Outside of Humanities A51 - where our Math 33B lecture is held - some letters have been missing for as long as we can remember. But today there was a slight change, a desperate appeal for justice scribbled in chalk, boldly exposing the edifice for the confinement it imposes:

Winter weather

After what seemed like an eternity of relentlessly hot weather in September and October we have finally been granted some relief. I am glad that temperatures have finally dropped enough to warrant pants.

Last Saturday there was a beautiful moment: A brief cloudburst around 3 PM - while I just happened to be listening to Jonathan Newman's As the scent of spring rain...

Today was an eerily clear day for Los Angeles: Walking down the hill from Hedrick we had a clear view of downtown LA. I didn't know that ever happened.