Hello everyone! Time to catch you up on my life. These will be in no particular order and some will have more to them than others, but here we go:
- I met my cousin at the art museum and we spent a couple hours looking at the pieces. I was pretty surprised at how much I’ve learned in this class, as I found out when I could explain half the pieces to my cousin. My professor was showing around some other students at times, but made sure to show me a few pieces. There was a piece that we studied, an urn from 2nd century China, that he brought me to. He pointed out a few things that we couldn’t see in pictures, like some hash marks around the side, as well as a replaced edge. My cousin and I walked around and got lunch after and said our goodbyes. One of my goals for the year was to go to Seattle by public transportation; done.
Seattle Asian Art Museum
- So in August I got an email from President Thomas’s office asking if I would like to go to a luncheon in Seattle. The luncheon, it said, was the Judge Learned Hand award, an award for a judge who upholds the law to the highest degree etc., hosted by the American Jewish Council. So the story goes that Gail Weyerhauser had purchased a table at this luncheon and asked President Thomas to invite a couple students. Well, he asked my friend Meggie and myself, so last week we went. Did I mention that one of the speakers was Bill Gates Sr. and Bill Neukom, Managing General Partner and CEO of the San Francisco Giants? Also; the man who received the award was a UPS alumni. He served on the board for the school as well as the Seattle Symphony, the Washington Bar association, and the glass museum, among many others that I don’t remember.
- So we went to the luncheon, (in my full suit, bowtie and all) and had an incredible afternoon. At our table were a few alumnus, President Thomas and his wife, as well as Gail Weyerhauser. I’ve never been to a fireside dinner at President Thomas’s house (he has them monthly), but it seems like he’d be good company. He’s a nice guy, and a smart one at that. Anyway, our table was three feet from the stage so we had perfect seats in a room full of a couple hundred lawyers. It was also really cool and encouraging meet a lot of alumni (we met about six or seven) who are doing awesome things. One is a partner at a law firm in Seattle, another owns a couples therapy clinic and others are lawyers in their respective fields (it makes sense that we would meet a concentration of lawyers, due to the nature of the event). So that was cool.
- Another thing I’ve been working on is Minnesota Club! Last year I was talking with some friends, Laura Richardson and Sean Tyree, and we came up with the idea for the club. So this year, we did. We’ve gone through the entire ASUPS process, of finding an advisor (David Andresen, in the psychology department), getting chartering members, an exec board and a full ASUPS senate hearing. Amidst this, we also drafted a constitution, filled out lots of paperwork and made Minnesota shaped cookies. The intent of the club is to provide Minnesotans and allies of Minnesota an outlet for their love of lakes, loons and hot dish. The way we see it, there are two functions of it: one, to hang out with people from Minnesota and have awesome activities/events that are Minnesota related, and two, to provide a community and maybe support system for people who may be feeling a little home sick. And to spread Minnesota nice. Our planned activities include: watching Fargo, snowshoeing, making hot dish, making blueberry muffins (the state muffin of Minnesota), drinking milk (the official drink of Minnesota), cut out snow flakes, drink Caribou coffee, have a butter carving competition (with sticks of butter), listen to The Current, play hockey, and apple picking (among MANY others that we brainstormed). So when you take a tour and the guide says that you can start any club you want, it’s true. We’re an official club now and will be tabling for three days next week in the SUB, with a meeting (next Thursday at 6:30) and an apple picking trip planned (October 21, in conjunction with Puget Sound Outdoors).
This is getting long, so the rest of these will be really short bullet points, just to get you up to date on my life and share some interesting goings on.
- His last week Hillel celebrated Rosh Hashanah (shana tova) and celebrated a nice new year, as well has had a minyan, Shabbat and challah baking (soon).
- A few weeks back I was walk downstairs in Smith (my dorm) and saw my friend Sohan cooking with his friend Vikram. Long story short, I and lots of others, got home cooked Indian food. Win. Thought it was worth mentioning.
- I accidentally rushed this week. I went through rush last year and had a great time, but decided that I didn’t have time for a fraternity. Which is the attitude I held until this year, when I realized that I was good friends with a lot of guys in one of the fraternities (Sigma Alpha Epsilon). I got a bid and have not made a decision yet, but will keep you posted. Stay tuned…
- This summer I had an internship in the newsroom of Minnesota Public Radio, with Midmorning (I warned you I would jump around). It was awesome and I learned more than I had ever imagined. I’m also getting school credit for it, once I turn in my paper to my advisor. Which should be tonight.
- I, along with four of my friends, have started a Jazz Combo! We practice every week and are having a performance in November. Here are pictures of our greatness:
With Lev Nachman on guitar, Kyle Dybdal on bass, Andrew Friedman on bari-sax (or tenor?) and Brady McCowan on alto, as well as me on drums.
- A few weeks ago we had Rabbi Steven Greenberg, the first openly gay orthodox rabbi, on campus for our semesterly Swope lecture. He was a phenomenal speaker and I had the pleasure and honor of having lunch and dinner with him.
I’m sure there’s more, but in the mean time I’m sitting in the second floor of the library looking out at the gorgeous rain and I need to do work now. My posts will hopefully be more coherent and consistent now.
As you can see by this picture from my dorm room, the leaves are beginning to change and fall is upon us, here at Puget Sound.
