Books with Legs

Posted on June 12, 2012 by eschyberg

Another week of research done, this one incorporating visits to three presses and one library. The presses: Iota Press, in Sebastopol; Peter Koch, Printers, in Berkeley; and Flying Fish Press, also in Berkeley. The library: The Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. All three presses were vastly different from each other, and especially from the Arion Press, my first visit. I discovered that the Arion Press is somewhat in a class of its own, that an $11,750 book is not necessarily the norm in fine printing, even if the edition does include additional portfolio prints.

Iota Press, in classic Sonoma County form, is located behind a beekeeping store, and is run by Eric Johnson and a co-op of about 10 others. Together they publish and print everything from original poetry chapbooks to experimental letterpress posters. Comparing his products to modern technology like ipads, Mr. Johnson declared, “We want to be left in the dust.” He explained that in his view, advances like e-books and e-readers make it possible for him to create his art in peace, left alone because he is so far behind what’s current. Asked why he is so dedicated to creating a literary and graphic blend in his art, he said he likes people to be surprised visually: he wants things to happen while people read.

A couple of the co-op members were in the studio while I was talking to Mr. Johnson, and one of them, Judi, gave her opinion about the relation between what she does and e-books. She was intensely passionate about wanting physical books to be handled, touched, even smudged with ketchup if it means they’re being read. To her, e-books take away the important connection of tactility and reading. Interestingly enough though, she did say that if e-books were created with the goal of making them the highest possible quality, they would be better because then they would at least have more significance artistically.

A week later, I ventured into Berkeley (I only got lost twice!), first to Peter Koch’s studio.  

This man is a Bay Area printing legend, especially because of his creation of Codex, one of the largest handmade book fairs in the world. He has been printing for more than 40 years, and looking at any of his creations it’s obvious that he knows how to produce exceptional art without taking himself too seriously. Although he freely acknowledges that he is an elitist and doesn’t think his books are for the average person, his ‘tagline’ under his name is “Real Kick-Ass Books”. It is this blend of tongue in cheek and quality of products that make his work so accessible and fascinating. He said that the sophistication necessary for people to appreciate his books exists only at the most rarefied air (he boasted that “our books have legs”), but he also recognized that the fact that someone as average as myself is interested in what he does means that young people realize the importance of artisanship in the future of books.

Finally, I made it to Julie Chen’s Flying Fish Press, the smallest of all the places I’ve visited yet, which is surprising given how intricate and large most of her creations are. Her work is purely in the category of book arts, meaning that the physical object itself is as important a feature of the content as the text. To this end, her pieces are incredibly detailed and interactive, and are meant to be an experience. As an educator at the Mills College Book Arts program, Ms. Chen has a unique view on what she does. She realizes that it is essential to be able to defend her artistic choices, allowing her to recognize so many different approaches to the book as an art form than many others in her field. Therefore, she said that while she sees the obvious value in letterpress printing, she also wants to leave room for digitally-created book arts, because “not having a press available shouldn’t disqualify you from making meaningful artwork”.

So many divergent views on the subject of printing and books is exactly what I hoped to get from this research experience…and I’m sure there are only more to come as I continue!

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Greetings from Arizona!

Posted on June 4, 2012 by awallace

Hello again!  I’m sorry for the long delay of this post; I’ve been in Arizona for two and half weeks now and haven’t updated!  This is because a) I’ve been keeping extremely busy, almost entirely outdoors, and b) the internet here is just AWFUL.  It’s a chore to do anything with it, seriously.  But I’m having an AMAZING time! I figured I’d cover all the basics concerning my trip for family, friends, and any other interested readers right off the bat, and I’ll be sure to post more details later.  Without further ado…

1)  Where I am.

I’m conducting my work at the Southwestern Research Station (SWRS, which we pronounce “swers”), which is an extension of the American Museum of Natural History.  The station is located several miles outside of the tiny town of Portal, AZ at 5,400 feet in the Chiricahua Mountains.  Contrary to everyone’s convictions, I am NOT in the desert!  Portal’s biotic community (known here as “the flats”) is considered semidesert grassland, but here it is Madrean evergreen forest, meaning lots and lots of green trees and shrubs that are absolutely beautiful.  It is, however, very hot and very dry – the monsoon season will come in July.  Daytime temperatures range from about 85 – 105 degrees, and it can get down to the 40’s at night.

The station and the mountain backdrop.

Driving up to the station grounds!

There are three main groups of people here at the station:  researchers, volunteers, and classes, the latter being college or high school classes that come here for about a week as part of their curriculum.  There are also some campers and hunters that are in the area, but they aren’t at the station.  Overall, human population levels are quite low.  To put some things in perspective: we’re about a 3 hour drive from Tucson, 1.5 hours away from the nearest hospital, and about an hour away from any cell phone reception.

2)  Why I’m here.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m here for summer research.  I wrote a grant proposal for my project and it was accepted by the school, who offered me a generous grant and stipend.  I’m working under my mentor, Stacey Weiss, a biology professor at UPS.  She teaches Ecology (she was actually my prof) and Animal Behavior, and her major field of study is, well, behavioral ecology.  She’s been coming to this station for over 20 years and thus really knows all the people and her way around, which is great for her students 🙂

As for why I chose to do this, there are several reasons.  The number one is simply because I love biology and know I want to go into research for my career, so the earlier I start the better.  This is also the single best thing I can do to prepare for grad school, which is definitely in my future.  Plus, I was really interested in Stacey’s projects and extremely excited to go someplace completely new and have a chance to explore nature.  I’m here with two other UPS students doing research, Tony and Jay, rising seniors who are both awesome.  I’ll most likely reference them in future posts.

A male virgatus, paint coded as part of our census work.

3)  What I’m doing.

The broad area of research I’m doing falls into two main fields: behavioral ecology and chemical ecology.  Wikipedia, the handiest of resources, defines behavioral ecology as “the study of the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior, and the roles of behavior in enabling an animal to adapt to its environment”, and chemical ecology as “the study of the chemicals involved in the interactions of living organisms.”  Reptiles are particularly relevant for study in chemical ecology because they utilize chemical cues in so many facets of their lives, everything from feeding to defense to mating.  Stacey’s study organism is Sceloporus virgatus, aka the striped plateau lizard, so this is the lizard that I’m researching as well.  Put broadly, I’m looking at how this species utilizes chemical cues in their communication with each other.  More specifically, I’m determining whether the skin lipids (a specific type of chemical cue) are used in a mating context, as well as attempting to determine the type of information they contain.

4)  My typical day.

I’ll be honest, it was a rough adjustment.  I went from spending 8 hours on my butt in the library to 8 hours on my feet in the field every day.  Stacey works us (and herself, I might add) hard while we’re here; we don’t get days off, ever, unless for injury/sickness or if the research unexpectedly leaves us some free time.  And, if we  want to eat, we don’t get to sleep in, either.  Meals are served three times a day, and the kitchen is only open during that time.  The great news, though?  The food is delicious. Here’s a typical day for me:

7:30 am – breakfast is served
9:00 am – arrive at the field site, a couple of miles from the station
Noon – take a break from work for lunch (at the station, this is when lunch is served, but we’re typically gone all day, so we bring sack lunches)
5:30 pm – leave field site
6:00 pm – dinner is served
7:00 pm – shower (I look forward to this all day – we get absolutely filthy in the field)
7:30 pm onwards – data entry

There are other things going on after dinner too, whether it’s a formal presentation by the researchers here, or a friendly game of horseshoes between the labs (I’m not joking).  We also watch movies, play board games, go on hikes, or just hang out together over a couple drinks (for those over 21 of course).  And when I say we, I mean the community here – we’re kind of like a big family.

By 10:30 pm, I’m usually exhausted, and crash in bed to start all over again.

Overall – it’s been wonderful, one of the best times of my life.  I’ll post more details later, but for now, you all finally know the basis of what I’ve been up to.  ‘Til next time!

Posted in Alisa Wallace '14 | Comments Off on Greetings from Arizona!

Eschewing e-books

Posted on June 4, 2012 by eschyberg

My mom likes to tell me that I’m a minimalist, except when it comes to one thing: books. So fittingly, my 2012 summer research project is about the physical book, specifically the intersection between digital publishing (read: e-books) and fine press editions of books. I am using fine printing presses to conduct this research because

“fine printing distinguishes itself from average printing through the quality of its materials and the integrity of its processes” (Arion Press).

Although the advent of e-books has caused some to declare outright that “Print is dead“, looking at the future of the physical book in light of fine press editions shows that these books, as works of art, have the potential to give permanence to print. Fine press editions are inherently beautiful as an object, as they are often made using handmade paper and ink, are hand-bound, and represent hundreds of hours of work by not only the author but the publisher, artist, and printers.

In order to conduct this research, not only am I reading as many books and articles about the subject as possible, I am also visiting individual fine presses in Northern California and England. I had my first press visit on Thursday, at the Arion Press in the Presidio of San Francisco. The publisher, Andrew Hoyem, has been running the press for 51 years. The Arion Press stands out from most other presses for two reasons: they have a full-time staff of 12 people, while most presses have 3-4 at the most; and they are one of the only manufacturers in the US of metal type.      

My visit to the press started with a tour by the publisher himself. He pointed out a few of the company’s more outstanding editions, and he explained the processes of a few collaborations between local artists with the press. He then took us downstairs to the combined composing room and pressroom, where the text for the projects are set by hand and then sent to the various letterpresses (there are more than 10 presses down there, another rarity). This is, in theory, what the presses look like, although this is a decorative 19th century version:    

Next we went around the corner to the type foundry, M&H, where rows of loud little machines churn out metal blocks with letters on them, otherwise known as type. In recent years the press has been able to incorporate computers into the process, making the work significantly less labor-intensive. As a souvenir of the visit, each guest on the tour got to pick a piece of type, a letter or an ornament, to keep. I took a shiny letter E. This is one of the type-making machines:    

Finally, we went down the other corner to the book bindery, where two women were in the process of sewing together pages of an upcoming book and pasting the collected pages to the cloth binding. This seemed the calmest part of the overall process, as there was only one strange machine in the room, the rest being done by hand. One of the best parts of the building, in my opinion, was the corridor between the back rooms filled floor to ceiling with ‘typecases’, flat wooden drawers containing a full set of a certain type, like Times New Roman 14 pt. The building houses over 4,000 typecases.

After the tour was over, I had the privilege of meeting with the publisher, Andrew Hoyem, for a short interview relating to my research. He gave me a brief history of his involvement with fine printing, and his opinion of technology in relation to his work. He also explained how the work of the Arion Press, as a historic San Francisco establishment, has significant cultural impact in a way that another smaller. more individualistic press, could not have. He has noticed, during the decades of not only making books but selling them, that recently people have expressed interest in the Arion Press as a relief from e-books, as a way to maintain their love of books.     

Overall, the visit was enlightening and inspiring. Tomorrow I go to the Iota Press, in Sebastopol, which will most likely be as opposite as possible from the Arion Press, as it is run by only one man with two presses. But no doubt I will learn just as much as I did from the Arion Press about the place of the book in the digital age.

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Passing the Torch

Posted on May 23, 2012 by rmallon

Its impossible to believe that my four-year undergraduate experience is coming to a close. I know it sounds cliché, but those four years went way too fast.

My beautiful wonderful team!

Each department has a reception to honor graduates and their families, and I ran into my freshman year roommate. Seeing her brought back so many memories from freshman year, and how we’ve evolved into the (hypothetically) more mature and educated people we are today. It was inspiring to see all of my friends receive awards for their efforts in the weeks preceding graduation and eventually walk across the stage under sunny skies to receive their diploma.

The graduation ceremony itself was a bit of a surreal experience. Basking in the sun in Baker stadium, I thought that someone was going to shake me and say, “Don’t worry Rachael, you’re only dreaming! You still have a few more months!” But oddly, nobody work me from my dream, and I did receive my diploma. The busy and much too short weekend was enjoyed spending time with friends and family.

The Fam!

After all of the graduation parties had been attended, families had gone home, it was time for me to buckle down again. Immediately following graduation, the women’s crew team trained for a week at Lake Samish in Bellingham, WA. The UPS Women’s Crew team is, for it’s 10th consecutive year, headed to the NCAA National Championships!! This year, Nationals are in Camden, New Jersey (We’re flying over Montana as I write this). We were disappointed to find that we only got an ‘at-large’ bid, that allows us to bring one boat of eight rowers instead of a full bid (two boats and the majority of our team). This only fired up our team to push ourselves even harder this summer in order to receive the full bid next year.

1st practice at Nationals... Just a little rain.

This will be my fourth time at the National Championships and is another poignant moment for reflection. My participation as an NCAA athlete has been one of the most influential throughout my college experience. Over the years, the Crew team has been my family, helping each other through tears, pain, joy, lots of sweat, but more than anything, laughter and love. Every year is different: seniors graduate, freshmen join the team, people step into leadership roles, and coaches come and go. We learn to roll with the punches, work hard, support and be supported to represent our team and Logger athletics.

My amazing research advisor, Peter Wimberger. Thanks for everything!

In the hectic few days between training in Bellingham and jumping on a plane to New Jersey, I spent some time back in my lab, passing down knowledge to Karina, my research buddy from last summer. I felt accomplished knowing that I was able to teach a peer lab protocols I had honed over my time researching. I’m going to be in Karina’s shoes soon as I head to the University of Wyoming for a summer position as a field assistant. I’m going to be working under one advisor, but on many different projects for multiple grad students. My work will range from Short-horned toad population dynamics in Wyoming to alpine plants Silene acaulis and Polygonum viviparium populations in Colorado and Alaska.

To watch the Women’s Crew team race at Nationals, directions should be at this link in a few days: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/rowing/d3

Or follow the Women’s crew team through our National Champs experience through our blog at: http://www.loggerathletics.com/landing/index

Posted in Rachael Mallon '12 | Comments Off on Passing the Torch

Thank You

Posted on May 19, 2012 by marcus luther

[this is my last blog for this site; if you want to contact me or just follow my journey with TFA, please check out marcusluther.tumblr.com or e-mail me at marcus.luther@gmail.com–best wishes all.]


Graduation, like many transitional moments in an individual’s life, begs for reflection.

When we approach such moments, more often than not, we consider the path that led to them, its twists and turns, its doors opened and closed, and most importantly the people who entered, stayed and left, and who walked alongside us for either a segment or the duration.

Yet sometimes, when we reflect upon the path we took—in this case, the four years of college culminating in Commencement—we have a way of giving ourselves most of the credit. Amongst all the award ceremonies, colored regalia and back-patting, such a result is not surprising.

This is not to say that we ought to completely forgo acknowledging our own accomplishments. The typical Puget Sound graduate has done more than a few things worthy of recognition, spanning academia to athletics to a cornucopia of extracurricular endeavors. I know there are numerous accomplishments that I am proud of over the past four years.

A hug from Mary Thomas before taking the stage

However, alongside the pride in our accomplishments ought to be a profound sense of humility and gratitude in our knowledge of how fortunate we have been to travel the path leading to the Commencement stage. None of us, speaking for my class of recent graduates, got to this point in our lives without the help of others. And no amount of accomplishments and individual achievement should prevent us from recognizing and thanking those who helped us get to where we are.

On my final night at Puget Sound before leaving—first to the Oregon Coast and then to Mississippi a couple weeks later—I found a window of time to take a stroll, backwards, along Commencement Walk. With DMB’s “You and Me” playing subtly in my earphones, I strolled under the dusk-laden sky and peeking stars towards the Walk’s beginning at the Collins Memorial Library.

Along my stroll, I thought of how without a call from the university’s baseball coach, Brian Billings, I would never have even considered attending Puget Sound. Of how my laptop getting stolen freshmen year led to a conversation with Kelly Amendolia—then a Resident Director in Todd/Phibbs Hall—that ended with her encouraging me to apply to be an RA. Of how Dan Miller appointed me to a faculty committee as a student representative to kick off my junior year, which gave me a glimpse of the governance system at Puget Sound. Of how I happened to take a course on William Blake led by George Erving, an experience that opened my eyes to the struggles and resulting potential that academics held. Of how Garner Lanier asked me to run for the ASUPS with him—after asking a couple others—and inadvertently changed the course of my senior year.

Professor Erving and I

Beyond anything I did on my own, my entire experience was shaped by others and the doors they opened for me—and believe me, the anaphora-filled paragraph above contains only a sampling of the individuals who altered my path. So many individuals, and really Puget Sound itself, molded my experience and, in doing so, molded me. While I too contributed to this process, I spent my last walk across campus overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for what others did for me.

I know my story echoes so many others, perhaps not in its specific chronological path but more so in its unexpected twists and turns, and its numerous opened doors. As graduates, we ought to take pride in our willingness to adjust to the meandering path we took, and our ability to ambitiously step through the doors that were opened for us. But that pride should walk hand-in-hand with humility, an awareness of just how fortunate we have been to walk these paths, to live these experiences.

We can never say thank you enough. I spent all weekend doing my best to, yet I still felt as if there were so many people I failed to thank. Friends, professors, staff, family, administrators. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you.

And beyond individuals, a further, collective thank you is owed to Puget Sound. I could not imagine a more fulfilling, transformative experience than the one I just completed. Thankfully, I do not look at these past four years as distinct from those that came before, and neither from those about to soon follow.

Caret initio et fine

It lacks a beginning and an end.

It is easy to draw lines between different stages of our lives. Pre-college from college, college from post-college. Separate stages. Yet my experience at Puget Sound was greatly influenced by those experiences prior to my arrival in Tacoma, and I hope with relentless conviction that I will be able to take my lessons and growth at Puget Sound and apply them all my experiences going forward.

Caret initio et fine.

Words cannot describe how thankful I am for that.

[this is my last blog for this site; if you want to contact me or just follow my journey with TFA, please check out marcusluther.tumblr.com or e-mail me at marcus.luther@gmail.com–best wishes all.]

Posted in Marcus Luther '12 | Comments Off on Thank You

Summer is here!

Posted on May 12, 2012 by awallace

Hello everyone!  This is my first post for Voices, so I thought I’d give a short introduction.  I’m Alisa Wallace, and I just finished my sophomore year here at University of Puget Sound (and what a year it’s been!).  I’m a biology major and I’m most likely going to end up with a minor in chemistry.  I’m really passionate about what I study and plan on attending graduate school, getting a doctorate, and doing research for my career (there’s still quite a few details in there that need to be fleshed out).  Which brings me to the most exciting part of this summer: I’ll be doing research for the first time!  I got a research grant from the school and will be heading to Portal, Arizona for six weeks with my professor Stacey Weiss.  Stacey’s area of study is in ecology and animal behavior, so while I’m there I’ll be investigating how the striped plateau lizard utilizes skin pheromones in its mating behaviors.  I am beyond excited for this opportunity, and I leave on May 16!  I’ll be sure to update more on my adventures and shenanigans in the Arizona wilderness.

But for the moment:  summer is finally here!  I can honestly say I’ve never been so relieved for the break.  Even if I have six weeks of hard work ahead of me, the change will be welcome.  I came across this video that summarizes the struggle that is finals week (with “Nessun Dorma” as the soundtrack), which you can see here.  I’m still in that last stage of sinking back onto the bed in relief.  Besides, it’s been absolutely gorgeous here.  This campus in the spring is a whole new level of beauty.

I need to get back to packing now, but I look forward to sharing my summer research experience as it unfolds!

Posted in Alisa Wallace '14 | Comments Off on Summer is here!

Together for a cause: UPS Greeks support a Sister during Relay for Life.

Posted on May 9, 2012 by brendan witt

On the night of Saturday, April 28th, hundreds of Puget Sound students and community members filled the track at Baker Stadium for the University’s annual Relay for Life. An event that originated on that very track in 1985, when Tacoma surgeon Dr. Gordon Klatt decided to walk for twenty four hours to raise funds for the American cancer society; the event is now international and chapters routinely raise hundred of thousands of dollars. The event is a hallmark of the year for Puget Sound students, and is the largest philanthropic fundraiser on campus.

Cara and her tally of laps for Relay 2012

This past event, one Puget Sound student went above and beyond to support survivors and raise awareness. While most students may aim to walk the miles of their age, or to spend all 24 hours on the track, Senior Cara Gillespie dedicated herself to marking down two marathons in distance. Accomplishing 208 laps, Cara completed 52 plus miles and was herself the event’s largest fund raiser, brining in $1,635 for the American Cancer Society.

With her every step of the way, Cara was constantly in the company of her sisters. Cara is a proud sister of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, and the women of her chapter came together to support Cara. Supporting Relay is nothing new for the women of Gphi, who every year have a sign up to make sure that there is a member on the track every hour of the event from start to finish. But when Cara told them her goal for the year, they made sure to have a sister with her each lap she ran or walked (yes, she ran). ” I put a shirt out a few weeks before, and had people sign it with names;” this shirt can be seen on Cara in the picture above. After completing the first marathon’s distance, Cara realized half night still remained, and set her new goal of completing two marathons before the events conclusion. When Cara hit a wall with almost 18 laps to go, her sisters pulled through. Showing up together early sunday morning, a group of ladies form Gphi joined Cara for the final push to her goal.

Such support is far from uncommon in the greek community at the University. While Cara’s effort stands out on campus, each year every house in the community is represented on the track through the night. Greek teams are constantly some of the largest groups participating in the event. Two of the top three fundraising teams this year were greek houses, as were all three of last year’s top fundraising teams. Additionally, this year’s top three individual fundraisers were all members of greek houses.

Each year, when Relay comes around late in the spring, the Puget Sound community will come out in force to support the event. And every year, you will see hundreds of students, like Cara, proudly wearing their letters and walking together with each other to support the fight against cancer.

*Cara also wanted it to be known that two of her good friends and track team mates Becca Adams and Sarah Stillman stayed on the track with her all night and walked with her into the early hours of the morning, though they are not Greek.

Posted in Brendan Witt '13 | Comments Off on Together for a cause: UPS Greeks support a Sister during Relay for Life.

Theatre at Puget Sound!

Posted on April 30, 2012 by brathje

Photo Credit: UPS website

I realize that while I have blogged about theatre in the Pacific Northwest, I have not yet blogged at all about theatre here on campus at the University of Puget Sound. After seeing a series of excellent Senior Theatre Festival plays, I must certainly take this opportunity to discuss various opportunities for participating in theatre at the University of Puget Sound. I thought that I would elaborate a bit on various opportunities for performance, directing, and design in the Theatre Department and with Puget Sound’s Student Theatre Productions club.

The Puget Sound Theatre Department offers four theatre productions per year – two faculty-directed productions and two student-run productions. This year’s faculty-directed productions were As You Like It in the Fall and Metamorphoses in the Spring. (Also, the Music Department produces an opera or operetta every year; this year’s was Pirates of Penzance. The Music Department collaborates with the Theatre Department every four years to produce a full musical)

In addition to the two faculty-directed productions, the Theatre Department also produces the Directing Class One-Acts in the Winter and the Senior Theatre Festival in the Spring. Both are student-directed festivals, the One-Acts festival featuring short plays and the Senior Theatre Festival featuring full-length productions that Seniors direct, design, and/or act in for their undergraduate thesis project in Theatre. The One-Act festival is the culmination of a semester of preparation both in and out of the Theatre Department’s acting class, while the Senior Thesis Festival is the result of a year (if not more) of work in class as well as the product of four years of experience in the Theatre Department. Of course, both festivals provide ample opportunity for students not involved directly in either class to design and act in student-directed productions, and both festivals provide an excellent opportunity to be involved in entirely student-run theatre projects.

While the Theatre Department offers multiple opportunities to be involved in student-run theatre, the club Student Theatre Productions also provides opportunities for the development and performance of student-written theatre.

Student Theatre Productions produces two entirely student-run theatre festivals. The first one is the fall Town-Crier festival of short plays (10-15 minutes), then Infinite Monkeys, and then a collection of various independent projects that students apply to produce with Student Theatre’s support. Town-Crier is entirely student produced, directed, acted, and written, and allows for new and experienced directors and writers alike to try their hands at crafting and developing short plays. Infinite Monkeys is a festival of two or three 30-40 minute one-act plays that takes place every year featuring entirely student-written, directed, produced, and acted shows. It’s name is inspired by the Infinite Monkeys theory, which says that a monkey randomly typing on a typewriter would type Shakespeare’s Complete Works verbatim given an infinite amount of time.

Student Theatre Productions also allows students to produce independent theatre projects. Independent projects can encompass many types of theatre, to performances student-written pieces, readings or workshop performances of published full-length plays, and the occasional performance of a musical.

Lastly, I thought I should mention that the Theatre Department offers scholarships for a variety of different theatre activities, from dramaturgy, to research, to technical design, to coaching acting classes. These are not only provide scholarship funding, but also provide invaluable opportunities to preform significant work in the Puget Sound Theatre Department. More information about the scholarships can be found here: http://www.pugetsound.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/undergraduate/theatre-arts/forms–policies/

That’s all for now. I cannot believe that this is my final blog post before finals week! Reading period starts this Thursday, and end-of-term papers and tests are already looming. It’s amazing how fast this year has gone by, and also to think that summer is just around the corner. Check back next week for my final blog post of the year (pun intended – in fact, it will probably be about finals!). Until next time!

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15 Days

Posted on April 28, 2012 by marcus luther

15 days.

[forgive me while I stare at that number for a few moments]

In 15 days, I will graduate from the University of Puget Sound, barring some unforeseen catastrophe. In 15 days, I will have to say goodbye to a place that has been home for the better part of the past four years, to people who I have learned to love and respect, to an experience that a thousand blog posts would not come close to describing in full.

In 15 days, the following things will become part of the “past”:

Walking through the grove of trees on the way to the S.U.B.

Grilling outside with my housemates [even when it’s fifty degrees and drizzling].

Library-cramming the night before a long paper is due.

End-of-the-year celebrations with friends.

Cribbage matches in the ASUPS office in the late afternoon when the paperwork is finished.

Four years ago, the weeks leading up to my high school graduation were a blur. Between a state championship baseball run, senior skip day, an untimely arrest (it was a mistake, and got taken care of, no worries) and preparing for a Valedictorian speech, I can hardly remember those weeks except for the fact that I know they happened and were exciting.

For the next 15 days, I am taking a different approach. As much as possible, I’m slowing down and appreciating things as they happen rather than post facto. I’m literally walking slower, especially through the fir grove on my walks to the S.U.B. Unlike high school, I know how much these last few weeks will mean when I look back at my college experience, how they will serve as the final brush strokes on the incredible, intricate canvas of my college experience.

In 15 days, I’ll walk across the stage and officially graduate. Until that final handshake with Ron Thom, I plan on walking as slowly as possible. I’m excited about what’s ahead (more on that in my next post), and I am not going to spend my last two weeks + one day taking part in any melancholic nostalgia. However, that doesn’t mean I am going to rush to the finish line; there is too much to appreciate and be thankful for between now and then.

15 days.

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Spring, Social Sciences, and Summing-Up

Posted on April 23, 2012 by hshears

So much has happened since my last post! I blinked and the second half of senior year has FLOWN by. Only a week and a half of class left. Only three weeks left in total at Puget Sound.

A few things of note happened recently.

I finished the first draft of my thesis. I shut myself away for fifty hours during spring break and wrote and and wrote and wrote. After that, I made the words readable.  Upon turning it in and receiving mostly positive feedback, I congratulated myself by not thinking about Anne Boleyn or King Henry VIII for two whole weeks. I know. It was amazing.

I also got into graduate school! I am henceforth saved from a life spent on my parent’s couch, as I had no other potential plan. This morning, I officially accepted the University of Chicago’s offer of admission to their MAPSS program, or the Masters of Arts Program in Social Sciences, which is a one-year program of study for a Masters degree in Social Sciences. My summer plans are to go home to CA and enjoy sun and the outdoors and being able to read a book the whole way through. History majors read a ton, but we never read books all the way through: we read the beginning, the end, and the most relevant parts in between. Anyway, so I’m looking forward to reading my entire personal library from start to finish.

Finally, and perhaps the most important thing of all, the sun finally came out! It was over seventy degrees this weekend, and it was glorious. Not conducive to getting anything done, of course. I took a nap in the sun and did some reading half-heartedly. No one gets anything done on the first true day of spring. It’s impossible to focus on anything. The sunshine is almost too bright, and you feel restless and like you want to rip off your stiff wintery skin and put on a new fresh, soft one. Needless to say, not ideal weather for doing anything except taking cat-naps and being outside.

Now that graduation is so close, everything seems kind of surreal. Like, oh my gosh, what if this is the LAST TIME I buy a latte from Diversions? What if this the last time I sit with my friends at this table? Ahhhhhhh. *cue existential crisis* Now the memories are starting to bombard me everywhere I go. This is where my friend and I sat in the sun that one time. This is my favorite spot in the library. If I think too hard, I start to panic about time and life changes and leaving all this behind. Did it mean enough? Did I do enough? My experiences here have changed me so much, and I’m so thankful for what I learned, for the opportunities I was given, for what Puget Sound offered.

At the same time, it’s time to leave. SORRY, sorry for the cliché, but it’s true. Time for a new city, a new school, a new challenge. But first: I need to finish my final papers…

Posted in Helen Shears '12 | Comments Off on Spring, Social Sciences, and Summing-Up