Thursday, February 3, 2011

The final countdown (cue dramatics)

Way back in September, my freshman-year RA (holla holla, Rachel Fus!) sent me and all my former floormates a guide to having a highly productive and memorable senior year. I remember wanting to print out the whole thing and tack it to my wall because when something's not in my immediate vision, I tend to forget it exists. Lo and behold, my brain dispelled the information a week later and allowed the incredibly thoughtful message to be sucked into the black hole that is my Facebook inbox. Luckily, I was reminded this week by a friend of all the awesome and useful tips that Rachel had gone to great lengths to give us, her Brockway babies, and I anxiously went to retrieve them. Her advice spanned four categories: social, academic, prep for the future, and graduation. I'm going to copy-paste the "social" part here so I'll have it on hand to check things off of and hopefully anyone who stumbles upon this won't despair for the seemingly-void-of-culture-and-life that Syracuse is sometimes (unjustly!) misunderstood to be. I'm even willing to sacrifice a most sacred activity in my life -- deep, precious sleep -- to fulfill a majority of these before I graduate. That's dedication, ya'll.

"Take a minute to reflect on your last three years at SU. What were you thinking that first day when you walked in the B*Rock? What were expectations? What were goals? What have you loved doing?

You’ve got one year left, I’m betting you’ve still got a lot of things you want to accomplish. Keep track. Make a bucket list (if only because it’s SO much fun to check off those little boxes) Here are a few suggestions:

  • • Go to Senior Sunday at Faegan’s (especially the last one)
  • • Commit to finishing beer tour early in the year
  • • Go to sh*t (you think you’ll have insane lecturers and free concerts and expensive art galleries at your fingertips next year – yeah, try again)
  • • Eat the free apps at Rachel’s (in the Sheraton) at Friday Happy Hour
  • • Learn the Alma Mater
  • • Belt it out at Singers karaoke night
  • • Ride the mechanical bull at Daisy Dukes
  • • Go to the New York State fair for all the agriculture/livestock/funnel-cake kitschy good times you could ask for (also, rockin’ concerts!) http://www.nysfair.org/
  • • Take advantage of the trips to lake placid and white water rafting, you’ll never be able to do them again for so cheap & with a chauffeur
  • • Dinosaur BBQ (need I say more)
  • • Go on the best Spring Break you can afford (unless you’re becoming a teacher, you’ll never get “spring break” again)
  • • Document the year: take pictures, start a journal ( I have a collection of tickets and programs, etc spanning back to my first day. I doubt anyone is as much of a pack rat as me but I love looking back at it)
  • • Play golf or tennis at Drumlins (it’s free!)
  • • Eat some tasty food during Restaurant Week
  • • Explore the Wescott neighborhood east of campus, Armory and Clinton Squares downtown, or, if it’s your thing, the Everson Museum of Art.
  • •See the shows: Danceworks, A Capella After Hours, First Year Players
  • host a party! (your friends will thank you)
  • • Take a fun elective like Human Sex or Beer & Wine Appreciation
  • • Show Jimmy Boeheim your appreciation
  • • Go to a lacrosse game (we hold the record for most National Championships)
  • • Play in the snow (snow football, sledding on dinging hall trays, build a snowman – odds are you won’t have this much snow in your front yard ever again)
  • • There’s a whole big world outside of campus. See some of it:
  • • Smell the roses in Thorden Park (just don’t do it after dark)
  • • Get a slice at Cosmo’s when you’re heading home after the bars
  • • Treat yourself to a leisurely brunch at the All-Night Eggplant (which is neither open all night nor does it serve eggplant, go figure) off Erie."
Time to get crackin' -- let's make it worthwhile?

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Anatomy of a coffee shop


I took this photo this weekend at 2nd Story on Westcott Street, where my roommate and I lounged around in slow-motion for four hours. (Though we carried our conversation itself in rapid-fire fashion and earned some reproachful glances from the silent patrons around us.) I've decided that I'm going to build a cafe for my own personal use adjacent to my future house. Impractical? Perhaps. Necessary? Definitely not. Still going to exert valuable brainpower in imagining its floor plan and furniture and extensive pastry selection? Fo'shiz.