Binghamton

So, my college career at Binghamton University has finally come to a close. *Sob* It’s a bit bittersweet to know that most of us will be leaving this place forever (sweet that we never have to come back, but bitter because we’re all going to separate corners of the globe!) Good luck to everyone!!

Last Friday we hosted a scandalous party here in Building 7 G01. Let’s play a little game: I’ll provide the pictures and you guess the theme….

This weekend Joe and I spent some quality time together–did some camping and whatnot. The spot we stayed at (before the Tornado hit) was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!! It was decidedly the best camping spot I’ve ever seen and the most fun and enjoyable camping trip I think I’ve ever been on. Due to the extensive audience we’re witholding the name of our camping area for fear that, as a result of this free publicity, the site will be over-run with tourists and avid campers. We can tell you that it was on a lake in the Adirondacks–if you want to know more you’ll have to do some serious blackmailing.

On Monday and Tuesday we (Da Girls) travelled to Caitlin Larabee’s getaway house–which is also located in the Adirondacks. Because of its status as “One of our Last Big Flings Together” we gave ourselves up to a night of ultimate bonding experiences (as is evidenced in the photos, we hold nothing back).

Tommorrow is the traditional Senior Bar Crawl. During this historical event, all graduates take their mugs and their friends and follow an Official Bar Crawl Map in a tour of every bar in Binghamton. I believe it Officially starts around 4pm and lasts until about 6am. We purchased special attire for the event (in the form of neon colored fake hair pieces and glitter hair spray). Should be lots of fun!

P.S. Didn’t quite have time to make pretty websites for these photos yet, which they definitely need because they can easily be misconstrued, but if you want to just see the pics and can wait a while for the beautiful display, here are the pictures from the (You-guess-the-theme) party and here are the pics from our trip to the Adirondaks.

Finally back in Binghamton for the last few days of school. Man, this semester went fast! I’ll be officially done with all papers, exams and classes on May 8th–only five days away!! AIEEEE! Speaking of official, I was officially accepted to the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and will officially be starting classes for the Baking and Pastry Program on August 25th. Can you imagine my excitement?!!! The Wine Spectator Restaurant at the school recently won the “Best Fine Dining Wine List” award. Hotness! I can’t wait to check it out in person! Ding!

After recent (and constant) berating about my less-than-desirable math skills, I would just like to take this opportunity to remind you that I am a Recovering Patriarchal Woman. As said member of patriarchal society, I now realize that I have been socially programmed by teachers, parents and friends from the very beginning of my mathematical career! (Specifically by those in Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 5th & 6th grades (we’re talking extensive discrimination here), 7th grade Algebra, and 12th grade Calculus). Through their body language, tone of voice and facial expressions, these people conned me into believing that I am not capable of “mathing it up” very well. In fact, these patriarchs and products-of-patriarchs assumed that since I was a girl and therefore couldn’t do math, they wouldn’t even bother to call on me much in class! And furthermore, they rewarded me for failing with coddling, sympathy and other debilitating (though perhaps enticing) payoffs for being feminine. How on earth do you propose I improve my skills when I’m up against AGES of feminine mathematical prejudice! I ask you! (Hmmph!) Now that I’m aware of this extensive discriminatory behavior, I am determined to break away! Just call me “Shira The-math-practicing-machine Crane” from now on, because there will be NO MORE female-math-bashing in my life! (Thanks to Lois Tyson of Critical Theory Today).

In other news, one of my Spanish classes (Spanish 581T: 20th Century Latin American Literature )recently held a performance of El Se�or Presidente. I took pictures of most of the scenes that I wasn’t in and compiled a brief documentation of them here. The light was bad, so the picture quality isn’t very good, and the program I used to generate the pages doesn’t support spanish characters, so the grammar also is less-than-perfect. Buuut, if you didn’t get to see it at all, you might be interested in checking it out–if you’re in that class.

This was a rough week: the first week I actually had real schoolwork to do every single day! Plus, I took the entrance exam for the Culinary School that I’m desperately hoping to get into. So, I got to study 8th grade math all week too, which was really a nice change since I haven’t done math since senior year of high school!

(Want a taste? Here’s a SIMPLIFIED problem for you: The cost of food sold at the Seascape Inn amounted to $347,991. The food sales totaled $1,853,234. What is the food cost percent of the Seascape? The real catch is that you’re NOT ALLOWED TO USE A CALCULATOR)

To celebrate the end of all this hectic stressfulness (and because we like to have fun as much as possible), Caitlin L. held a potluck dinner last night. She made pork tenderloin soaked in a vinegar marinade for two days–yummo! We also had corn, rice, two different kinds of chicken, and wine. Then for dessert Jen made a tasty fruit shortcake and I made a buttermilk chocolate cake with chocolate sour cream frosting. The cake was an experiment that I don’t recommend anyone try, so I won’t post the recipe. But the frosting was good!

In the process of doling out the whipped cream for these tasty treats, a whipped cream war ensued; then Luis got out the chocolate syrup. Oh boy. Can we say HUGE MESS? I think we can. By the end of the whole thing just about everyone was COVERED from head to foot in whipped cream and chocolate. And then Caitlin K. decided it would be hilarious to incorporate the entire dessert onto our bodies so she started throwing cake crumbs. Faces were the main targets, so you can just imagine the fun we all had washing our hair last night. AIEE! It was great fun!

Jen and co. are going to have better pictures on their sites soon–these are just a few to give you an idea of the situation. 😉
Joe is coming to visit today!