Tick...tick...tick...

Insomnia.

Isn't it the worst? Tossing and turning, wide awake. You look at the clock...1:00 AM. And you do the math in your head... "If I go to sleep right now I will get 5 hours of sleep."...You look at the clock again 1:10 AM..."If I go to sleep right now I will get 4 hours and 50 minutes of sleep."

I shouldn't have had that large cup of coffee at Rao's at 9:30 PM....but, I needed a little jolt. I was tired! What was I thinking?!?!

So what is a girl to do at 1:15 AM? Let's check out the CampusCam!


What is this, you ask? A picture of a crowded club? Well...yes and no. If you have ever been in downtown Amherst when the bars let out, you know what I am talking about. It's Amherst's own unofficial after-party known as "Club Sidewalk." This photo is taken from a masslive survelliance camera perched above the sidewalk outside of Antonio's Pizza on North Pleasant Street in downtown Amherst. At anytime, you can go to www.masslive.com and watch a minute-by-minute 24-hour photo or video-feed of this very spot.

Speaking of Club Sidewalk, there is a new UMASS Online Magazine by the same name, www.clubsidewalk.com, launched this fall by recent UMASS grads. Check it out.


Well, it is 2:10 AM, and I'm finally starting to get sleepy (maybe I'm boring myself!). As you can see from the photo above, even the partiers have gone home for the night.

If I fall asleep in the next 5 minutes, I'll be able to get 3 hours and 50 minutes of sleep.

Tomorrow is going to be a looonng day....


photo at top by olibrius

Does your "dorm" have maid service?

Isn't staying in a hotel great? You never have to make your own bed, you always have fresh towels, and you never run out of hot water in the shower...

Wait...before you answer that question, maybe we should ask the 59 UMASS students who have been staying at the HoJo's on Route 9 since the beginning of the semester. According to today's Daily Collegian, a housing shortage means that these students will be living in the hotel until December.

Imagine this: You plan for your first semester at college. You look forward to campus life--meeting your roommate and all the people on your dorm floor. You go shopping at Target for all the dorm room must-haves. You can't wait!

But there is a catch. There is no room for you. When you get to Amherst, you move into a hotel off-campus. Any day now a room will open up, and you will move in. You keep your bags packed. It's only going to be a few days after all...

It looks like it's time to unpack. You are going to be there a while.

To add insult to injury...

Yesterday, USA Today published its survey of over 60 flagship state schools around the country. Did you know that UMASS-Amherst is one of the top ten most expensive state schools in the nation for in-state students? With an increase of over 40% since 2002, it costs over $9,000 to attend.

For the kid's at Hojo's, that's really gotta smart...

Any Takers?

I guess this guy has never heard of eharmony.com.....

www.foundmagazine.com

Chewing Gum Nation

Too many chewing gums to choose from and too little time. Wrigley's has nearly 40 choices of chewing gum. Can you believe that?? And that is just one company! I'm almost paralyzed with indecision whenever I try to choose a pack of gum at the local CVS!

I never considered myself a follower or particularly susceptible to consumer marketing. But my new gum "habit" has me rethinking that. I never used to be a gum chewer. It started innocently enough. First it was just a piece of gum every now and then when a friend offered me one. Then I would buy a pack whenever I was in the checkout line at the supermarket. Now I have gum everywhere--in my office desk, my purse, my gymbag, the glove compartment of my car....

There has been a virtual explosion of chewing gum flavors. I think it has to do with the fact that the U.S. has become a country obsessed with white teeth and fresh breathe. Also with smoking banned in so many public places and companies even refusing to hire smokers, more and more people are choosing to pop a piece of gum in their mouth rather than light up.

We are becoming a gum-chewing nation.

...now I'm craving a piece of gum. Excuse me while I enjoy a mouthful of Dentyne Ice Arctic Chill...

photo by angstidentprone

August Wilson (1945 - 2005)

I woke up to the news this morning that Pulizter Prize-winning playwright August Wilson has died at the age of 60. He succumbed to liver cancer. Charles Isherwood has written a thorough and very thoughtful obituary for the NY Times. Chris Rawson has also written a noteworthy obituary for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rawson's piece shares recent conversations with the playwright, as well as with his sister, Frieda, who still lives in August's hometown of Pittsburgh, the city that serves as the backdop for 9 of his 10 plays.

I had the distinct pleasure of working with August for a short time in 1996. Although I do not have the words right now to adequately communicate my thoughts about August as a person and as an artist, I would like to share his words with you.

He gave me a children's book as a gift. It was actually my favorite book as a child. I had shared that tidbit with him during one of our numerous afternoons together. The book was entitled Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.

In the book, Alexander is having a very bad day. It all starts when he wakes up with gum in his hair, and the whole day goes from bad to worse. So many of the childhood calamities that we stress about as elementary school children befall this little boy all in one day (getting in trouble in school, falling out of favor with his best friend, going to the dentist...and on and on). He keeps threathening to move to Australia. But his mother tells him that "some days are just like that...even in Australia."

August said to me that, just like Alexander, the character of Youngblood in his play Jitney is also having a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" where no matter how much he tries, everything goes wrong, and he feels terribly misunderstood. A few weeks after that conversation, I came into work, and the book was sitting on my desk. I was very touched that he had given me my very own copy of my favorite book from my childhood. On the inside cover, he had written an inscription:

May all your days be awesome, adventurous, exciting and very blessed--August Wilson

You affected countless people with the plays you wrote, August. You chronicled a century of African-American experience, and you made it our experience. Thank you for an awesome, exciting, and very blessed adventure in the theatre.

Equal Rights for All

Have you seen the new TV ad for the Sony Bravia? It is a new flat screen television. The ad calls the Bravia the "world's first television for men AND women"....??!!!! Equal rights for all! What a relief...I've always felt like a second class citizen when it came to media equipment. Now my life is complete.