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Yesterday my brother had a doctor's appointment in Cambridge so he called me to join me for lunch. I literally spent the duration of my lunch hour on the phone with him trying to get him to the b-school. I don't drive, so I hadn't realized how many one ways there are (including JFK St. between the Square and Eliot St.). And then he had to find parking ('cause the HBS lot is $9). But he did finally make it and got to meet a bunch of the people I work with.
He was telling me about the "new Ivies" -- which he had heard about 'cause his school (RPI) is mentioned. We agreed that it's ridiculous. It's such a non-story. The opening says: A generation ago, elite schools were a clearly defined group: the eight schools in the Ivy League, along with such academic powerhouses as [list of 4]. Smaller liberal-arts colleges—like [list of 5]—were the destinations of choice for top students who preferred a more intimate campus. But in the past few decades, the number of college-bound students has skyrocketed, and so has the number of world-class schools. It continues: The bottom line: that one "perfect" school need not break a student's heart. The colleges on the following list—the "New Ivies"—are beneficiaries of the boom in top students. So despite positing their list as the "new Ivies," they're starting from an acknowledged premise that it was never just the Ivies. Plus, while I'm sure applications have skyrocketed (as they have everywhere; that college admissions are increasingly competitive is news to no one, right?) it's not like these are schools are hidden treasures or anything. The vast majority of them are well-known and have been for quite some time. I totally endorse teaching kids that the places held up as dream colleges are not necessarily the best fit for everyone and that you can get a stellar education lots of places, but the idea of "new Ivies" just seems to be buying into the same old idea of there being a small set of "worthy" Institutes of Higher Learning.
While I was waiting for Jonah outside Davis T Station last night, this guy (shepherding a bunch of college students to a barbecue, I think) was talking about a 100-mile run in Vermont (which he plans to do, despite not having run more than 42 miles at a stretch before). The women he was talking to pointed out that (1) that's like four marathons, (2) this is New England, so that's like an entire state (like Vermont, for example); he said it's a loop you do four times, and one of them joked that yeah, you just circle Rhode Island. I was telling Jonah about this, and the guy had mentioned it being 16 hours, and Jonah and I did the math and that's ~6mph, aka a consistent 10-minute mile (that thing I do on the treadmill and wanna die after a half an hour). I am comforted that the website posits this as a near record. Jonah also pointed out that that means running at least part of it not during daylight.
Anyway, we had dinner at Rudy's Cafe and Tequila Bar (about which the Internet says things like, "The only tequila bar with a children's menu"). It was nicer inside than I had expected, though noisy. The woman who seated us put us in a booth near the back despite the fact that there were two-person tables more in the center of the hub, for which I was grateful. I got a strawberry daiquiri and Jonah got a peach daiquiri, and we both agreed that mine was better :) I was meh on the food as I accidentally ordered not what I had intended to, but I ended up not being all that hungry, so it was okay. I also learned that "fried ice cream" is better than I would have expected.
Today's amusement was Eric stumbling over saying "smoke detector" and saying "firefuck."
My mom e-mailed me this Boston Globe article saying:
10:49min - 1mi
21:40min - 2mi
30min - 2.78mi
35min - 3.14mi
On Mad Money (this is my 27th time gymming it up at HBS, over the course of two months, and it only today occurred to me that yes, there's an obvious reason that the TVs are on channels like CNBC) today Cramer was talking about how eBay and Yahoo! should merge, and he suggested a couple names, but I can follow the bottom of the screen synopsis text better than I can the delayed closed-captioning, so what I saw were the name suggestions supposedly from the staff, which included "eBahoo" and "YaBa" (there was another one I can't remember).
I went to the weight room and did 4 sets of 12 reps of 8lbs. I feel like I should figure out some sort of more sustained strength-training program, but for now I'm content to just do this light thing following cardio.
On the radio was a catchy song I quite liked with the line "the gods are crazy," and Googling indicates this is a Paris Hilton song. I feel sulliedand unusual.
I made spinach&strawberry salad for dinner. I also tried the sundried tomato havarti I'd bought on a whim, which is kind of jarring in this context. May use it with crackers this Saturday, though. Y'all are invited to watch Monty Python's Life of Brian and possibly play games as well at my apartment this Saturday beginning at 7pm.
(Whee, Google alerts! -- thanks to Greenie for the pointer. ::is egotistical::)
Okay, bed at a sane time tonight.
Edit: Except, apparently I can't fall asleep? Unfair.
He was telling me about the "new Ivies" -- which he had heard about 'cause his school (RPI) is mentioned. We agreed that it's ridiculous. It's such a non-story. The opening says: A generation ago, elite schools were a clearly defined group: the eight schools in the Ivy League, along with such academic powerhouses as [list of 4]. Smaller liberal-arts colleges—like [list of 5]—were the destinations of choice for top students who preferred a more intimate campus. But in the past few decades, the number of college-bound students has skyrocketed, and so has the number of world-class schools. It continues: The bottom line: that one "perfect" school need not break a student's heart. The colleges on the following list—the "New Ivies"—are beneficiaries of the boom in top students. So despite positing their list as the "new Ivies," they're starting from an acknowledged premise that it was never just the Ivies. Plus, while I'm sure applications have skyrocketed (as they have everywhere; that college admissions are increasingly competitive is news to no one, right?) it's not like these are schools are hidden treasures or anything. The vast majority of them are well-known and have been for quite some time. I totally endorse teaching kids that the places held up as dream colleges are not necessarily the best fit for everyone and that you can get a stellar education lots of places, but the idea of "new Ivies" just seems to be buying into the same old idea of there being a small set of "worthy" Institutes of Higher Learning.
While I was waiting for Jonah outside Davis T Station last night, this guy (shepherding a bunch of college students to a barbecue, I think) was talking about a 100-mile run in Vermont (which he plans to do, despite not having run more than 42 miles at a stretch before). The women he was talking to pointed out that (1) that's like four marathons, (2) this is New England, so that's like an entire state (like Vermont, for example); he said it's a loop you do four times, and one of them joked that yeah, you just circle Rhode Island. I was telling Jonah about this, and the guy had mentioned it being 16 hours, and Jonah and I did the math and that's ~6mph, aka a consistent 10-minute mile (that thing I do on the treadmill and wanna die after a half an hour). I am comforted that the website posits this as a near record. Jonah also pointed out that that means running at least part of it not during daylight.
Anyway, we had dinner at Rudy's Cafe and Tequila Bar (about which the Internet says things like, "The only tequila bar with a children's menu"). It was nicer inside than I had expected, though noisy. The woman who seated us put us in a booth near the back despite the fact that there were two-person tables more in the center of the hub, for which I was grateful. I got a strawberry daiquiri and Jonah got a peach daiquiri, and we both agreed that mine was better :) I was meh on the food as I accidentally ordered not what I had intended to, but I ended up not being all that hungry, so it was okay. I also learned that "fried ice cream" is better than I would have expected.
Today's amusement was Eric stumbling over saying "smoke detector" and saying "firefuck."
My mom e-mailed me this Boston Globe article saying:
Thought of you.Despite not having been since Friday, the elliptical (interval program as per usual) actually felt fairly easy and indeed I made really good time.
You know, if graduate work terrifies (or bores) you – a librarian wouldn't be a bad job for someone who loves The Story.
On the other hand, HBS has better pay and benefits.
10:49min - 1mi
21:40min - 2mi
30min - 2.78mi
35min - 3.14mi
On Mad Money (this is my 27th time gymming it up at HBS, over the course of two months, and it only today occurred to me that yes, there's an obvious reason that the TVs are on channels like CNBC) today Cramer was talking about how eBay and Yahoo! should merge, and he suggested a couple names, but I can follow the bottom of the screen synopsis text better than I can the delayed closed-captioning, so what I saw were the name suggestions supposedly from the staff, which included "eBahoo" and "YaBa" (there was another one I can't remember).
I went to the weight room and did 4 sets of 12 reps of 8lbs. I feel like I should figure out some sort of more sustained strength-training program, but for now I'm content to just do this light thing following cardio.
On the radio was a catchy song I quite liked with the line "the gods are crazy," and Googling indicates this is a Paris Hilton song. I feel sullied
I made spinach&strawberry salad for dinner. I also tried the sundried tomato havarti I'd bought on a whim, which is kind of jarring in this context. May use it with crackers this Saturday, though. Y'all are invited to watch Monty Python's Life of Brian and possibly play games as well at my apartment this Saturday beginning at 7pm.
(Whee, Google alerts! -- thanks to Greenie for the pointer. ::is egotistical::)
Okay, bed at a sane time tonight.
Edit: Except, apparently I can't fall asleep? Unfair.