Thanks for the Thankless

What am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? Today, I'm going to step past the parents/friends/significant other/pets stock answers (though I'm obviously beyond thankful for all of these) and thank the small things that we so take for granted. Here's to the thankless things in my life that I don't remember to appreciate on a daily basis (in a very abridged list). THIS IS FOR YOU. I take these things for granted, but they deserve my love (and yours), so here it is.

Trusted by crunchy people everywhere
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1. L.L.Bean Wicked Good Slippers: I'll almost always pick generic over brand name, but I'm willing to pay extra so that my feet can be caressed by these tan, woolly clouds. My feet have walked around in the blissful cush of these slippers and they will never consent to cheap slippers again. Kiss my butt, Dearfoams.

Because I need a constant stream of stimuli
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2. Free Wireless Internet: Like any other angsty college student who expects that the internet should cater to my ADD whims at all times (because I need pictures of cats like, now), I get all pouty and whiny when a webpage takes more than five seconds to load, but I never remember to appreciate the fact that WiFi makes me happy approximately 95% of the time that I need it to (I'm also thankful for arbitrary and unfounded statistics). Wireless Internet allows me to use my laptop or phone basically anywhere and content myself with news articles, email, facebook, or pictures of cats (derp). Remember how much dial up internet sucked? Because I do, and that makes me appreciate the crap out of WiFi.

I have them in this exact color because they remind me of ducks on a pond
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3. Rainboots (L.L.Bean Wellies): Okay, I might be a brand whore for L.L.Bean, but when it comes to waterproof boots, if they're good enough for Maine lobstermen, I'm not going to argue. There's nothing I hate more than sitting in class with wet, cold ankles. Seriously, it's uncomfortable, it sucks, and it'll about ruin your whole day. Tell me you don't hate wet feet.

Even dogs like fleece. And Booties.
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4. Fleece: It's so versatile. Socks, sweatshirts, robes, PONCHOS, pants, vests. It's so versatile, so fluffy, and so cuddly. Wearing fleece is like wearing a kitten, but without the animal cruelty factor, and that's why I love this fabric.

Not in college, and not when it involves showers
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5. In Suite Bathrooms and/or Single Gender Bathrooms: Yale's gender-neutral bathrooms rather skeeve me out. Especially since the towel hook is outside of the shower, meaning that one must open the door to reach out and retrieve it. I don't want to have to perform ninja style undressing/towel-grabbing actions early in the morn and risk having my nakey time interrupted by an equally awkward and uncomfortable male figure. Also, it's harder to avoid boy cooties when you're sharing a bathroom with them. Yale, you have the money and the resources. Build bathrooms.

Marvelous
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6. Pillows: No, I won't be afraid to state the obvious. Because sleeping with your head sagging all over onto your bed, or cutting off the circulation in your arm trying to use it as a pillow just sucks. I love pillows. I love pillow fights. I love foam, feather, and memory foam (but not for fighting). I would even give up my bed if I could sleep in a massive pile of pillows. Also, they're direct money wires to the tooth fairy. $$$


Okay, technically it's not Thanksgiving anymore, but I don't care. Happy Holiday Season! This is when I begin to listen to the Holiday music station (I'm also thankful for Christmas music, BTW), which I won't turn off until the day after Christmas. Maybe two days after Christmas.

Life in Cambridge: Part 3

I am a summer survivor. Still with no computer of my own, I've learned how to survive in Cambridge even though I'm under age 21. Granted, this includes a lot of reading, even more napping, and quite a bit of wandering around Harvard Square, but I've learned some important lessons.

1. Heat waves suck. One-hundred degree weather with 50+% humidity rather feels like you're living in the Everglades/drowning in your own sweat. Solutions:

1. Talcom powder. Lots of it. I know I'm not 6 months old, but I am suffering. Don't judge me.
2. Soak a shirt, lay it on bare skin, and point a fan directly at it. Homemade air conditioner! Granted, you might end up with a shredded immune system, but it's totally worth it.
3. Borrow a movie and watch it in Lamont. Libraries are air conditioned and contain feature films that you do not have to pay for. I'm watching Mean Girls as I type. I am so fetch.

2. I'm way too attached to the internet. And with my laptop in the technological ICU, I've been suffering. I don't even have a phone with internet. Or a radio. So many grievances upon my tattered soul. Solutions:

1. Libraries - air conditioned and free computers.
2. Science Center - air conditioned, free computers, and fewer high schoolers freaking about their summer school classes.
3. Read a book/take a walk. Not at the same time. 

3. People in Cambridge skeeve me out. Like the homeless guy who told me my dress was "adorable" the other day, or the grunge kid who keeps three city rats as pets in a hamster cage.

Or this guy. You work out. Congrats. Is that even a shirt?

Solutions:

1. No walking alone after dark. There are real city rats on the street after dark.
2. Look no one in the eye. You never know who'll try to put a hex on you.
3. Walk with a purpose. If you don't, you might get roped into taking some old man's Bible quiz.

Winklevoss: it's over. Let it go.

Reading my way through the New York Times online, I found this gem:

Twins’ Facebook Fight Rages On

I urge everyone to read this article, knowing that the Winklevoss twins are NOT indicative of the Harvard norm. I think it's about time for them to give up on this fight against Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook fight is over and they haven't even lost. Here are a few reasons why it's time for them to give it up:

1. They've already won $20 million in cash and $45 million in Facebook shares. You're rich. Congratulations.

I will never make this much money in my entire life.

2. The Winklevoss name is irreversibly attached to Facebook. The Social Network has made sure of that. They're known for the website *almost* as much as Mark is.

But not without a few enemies.

3. They're independently successful...even without Facebook:

• Harvard graduates
• Independently wealthy
• Olympic athletes
• They're attractive - girls aren't rejecting them because of the Facebook scandal.

They're doing something right, anyway.

It's time for the Winklevoss twins to give it up before people start to think that they're petty and only concerned about money.... imagine that. They've gotten a lot out of this court settlement and, personally, I don't think that they're going to get much more, no matter how long they drag out this ordeal. 

Yeah, it's the biggest thing on the interwebs. NBD.

I'm sure that this settlement is not the most important case that our courts could be spending their time on. There are bigger and meaner baddies out there than Mark Zuckerberg. Let's take care of them first.