Cornell and Beyond

one rain cancellation that wasn’t so bad

April 25, 2008 at 6:51 pm | In This is it! Spring 08 | No Comments

As a senior at Cornell, one thing I realized is that there are a lot of things I don’t take advantage of. Thus, on Wednesday when our intramural softball game was canceled before the third inning had even started, instead of going home I followed my friends to Bailey Hall to see Post Secret creator Frank Warren.

OK, first of all: Bailey Hall. When I arrived at Cornell as a freshmen this building was undergoing renovation. Since the completion I never had a reason to venture inside. One word for my initial reaction: Wow. It’s basically a huge auditorium/theater that seats upwards of 1300 students and is absolutely beautiful. There is comfy seating, balconies, a reception area, and in general an air of “at least here I see where my money to Cornell is going towards.”

Apparently it opened up in 2006 -I guess I’m a little behind on the times…you can read the Cornell Chronicle article about it here:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept06/Bailey.Hall.html

Back to what this entry is really about. There are ALWAYS speakers, concerts, plays, and other random events going on at Cornell. ALWAYS. While this is great, sometimes the selection is so overwhelming I just end up doing nothing. But as a senior, I’ve realized I won’t always be getting these great, and often inexpensive, opportunities. So I decided to go with my friends to catch the tail-end part of Frank Warren’s talk in Bailey Hall.

Post Secret is an online and literary phenomenon, if you’re reading this blog you probably know what it is. In case you don’t, the Post Secret Website explains it all. In sum, people mail secrets on postcards to his house, he publishes some of these on his website and in his numerous books.

It was actually a great talk, and I was impressed by his dedication to both the integrity of his work and finding meaning it. He then gave it up to the Cornell audience to reveal their own secrets. Some were funny, some were sweet, some were disturbing and some were heartbreaking. I was really impressed by the courage displayed by all who went up to the microphones to speak.

And, in honor of what he talked about and particularly how underrepresented some of the most common secrets are in the media, here are a few links to some resources:

http://www.hopeline.com/

http://www.therapecrisiscenter.org/

http://www.healthyplace.com/

Thanks for reading this one.

in the 607, 66 is the new 86

April 16, 2008 at 5:00 pm | In This is it! Spring 08 | No Comments

People react to the abnormally warm weather in Ithaca (re: 66 degrees Fahrenheit) in two different ways:

1) There are those who have been preparing for days like these for months, with thermometers at their windows and summer apparel laid out by their bedside

and 

2) There are those who are unequivocally unprepared for temperatures in this range

You can identify the former by their distinctly summer apparel: Shorts, flip-flops, t-shirts and that breezy, upbeat attitude.  You might find these individuals lounging on the quad, sipping their iced coffees, or laying out in front of their houses in swimwear.   Warm weather is like a long lost treasure here in Ithaca, and people will take 300% advantage of it.

Then there are those still stuck in the arctic winter mentality: these Cornellians can be found in bubble jackets or long winter coats with scarves and boots to complete the “I’m ready for your weather Ithaca, so give me all you got” mentality.  Usually these people realize in the first few minutes of stepping outside the drastic change in their surroundings and immediately convert to a Type 1 individual, returning inside to switch their Uggs for their Birkenstocks. 

I would say 99% of Cornellians are the first type.  Most of those that appear as Type 2 probably  only forgot to check the weather report in the morning and were in too much of a rush to go back inside once they stepped out.

Where do I fall? Well, I wore a sweater this morning, sat on the Ag quad and had an iced latte for an hour, returned home and switched my sweater for a  t-shirt and sunglasses and swaggered back to campus in a joyful, endorphin pumping euphoria.  What do you think?

It looks like 66 degrees F is the new 86.