Hyde Park News and Notes

1. Tommorow morning is the Calculus exam, and then orientation week and school can actually get started. I'm ready for classes to start - to figure out the routine of grad school. Tonight I went to a barbecue at Allie's house. She's a former habitat staffer in Guatemala, and the one person I knew in chicago when I got here. While the kickball game planned to precede the BBQ was rained out, the rest of the evening was a nice foray into the outside world. 2. What strange semi-conscious journeys are possible with a little imagination and a good dose of NyQuil...they can be scary, but an interesting glimpse into your own mind as well. 3. I spent all last night working with one other person on a "group presentation" of our Harris School scavenger hunt photos. Let's just say that I haven't exactly been enamored of the group dynamic we've got going. The process has gone something like: Meeting #1: 1. People present ideas 2. We agree on a good idea, (ok, it was mine, so I'm a little biased) 3. People proceed fiddle with the idea until it becomes very difficult to execute 3. Someone decides that the good idea is just too much work, ignoring the fact that it wasn't particualrly difficult in its original form 4. Another idea is offhandedly suggested 5. Others agree to it, because they want to go home Meeting #2: 1. People show up with surprisingly funny content for idea #2, I begin to think things are ok after all. 2. One person who ignored idea #2 altogether shows up with totally bizarre idea #3. 3. Anxious to get to a lunch event which is starting, people agree to scrap all their own work and go with number 3, but folks agree to give their input on improving it. 4. No one sends anything new in, and myself and one other group member are left to finish the whole thing for 6 hours by ourselves on a saturday night.