because we all like to hear about what’s going on in other people’s lives at Columbia…

CU roommate 1: You can’t recycle used tissues.
CU roommate 2: Oh, you found those?

Prof. o’ Logic: .. object of interest. Object of our desire. Wow. I don’t know where that came from. (pause) I feel really weird now.

Announcer on 1 train: Stay clear of the closing doors, thank you. [pause] I said STAY CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS. DO I HAVE TO CALL THE POLICE?! GET IN OUR GET OUT, SIR!

CU Grad Student: Gossip Girls? I’ve never heard of that.
CU Sophomore: It is only the greatest show in television.
CU Sophomore 2: I hate that show.
CU Soph 1: You only say that because you hate America.
CU Soph 2: No I don’t. I love our country.
CU Soph 1: But Gossip Girls IS the American culture.

CU Student: No, she can’t come out with us. It’s after sundown.
CU Student 2: Wait, can “jew people” have sex?
CU Student 1: I’m not going to answer that question.

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I’m considering a move to San Francisco or Portland after graduation–planning ahead pretty far in advance, seeing as I’m just wrapping up my sophomore year. After thinking about this for a while, the thought of living that far away from New York seems suddenly terrifying. I’ve never lived more than four hours from the city–that was during my boarding school years. And although I lived outside Boston, I made frequent sojourns to the soul of the world on breaks and braved the Fung Wah to escape some weekends.

So I wonder: what is it about East Coast Living that has me so scared to leave? I was nearly jumping for joy as I prepared to break from my New England roots and move to New York, but I almost cried when I realized I would likely never experience a full New England autumn again. Turns out I am an East Coast woman, through and through.

A brief interlude before I begin my diatribe on the importance of geographical origins: singer/songwriter and Boston native Jonathan Richman has an apt tribute to the little five states that could. Listen to it here. Actually, I would encourage all my readers to listen to the song whilst reading the rest of this column.
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[Much has been written recently on the topic of consumer waste--and with good reason, seeing that we live in a society that discarded a Manhattan-like acerage of aluminum cans in the past ten minutes alone. Luckily, the Internet is here to solve like, every problem ever, and Commentariat contributor Corydon Shea is here to explain one particularly novel take on recycling.]

Why spend money when you can get the same stuff for free? A few years ago I was playing around on the web when I came across a website called freecycle. Freecycle launched on May 1st, 2003, and it allows people to give away their still-usable stuff to other people instead of throwing it away. This is good for two reasons: it allows people to get rid of stuff without it going in a landfill and it keeps someone else from having to buy something new.

At first, I was a little skeptical about what kind of stuff I would be able to get for free. However, after getting my first few things, I was sold. In the past year, I have gotten an espresso machine, a designer leather brief case, and a space heater (in perfect condition). I have also given away a number of things including a TV, a first generation iPod, and some furniture which I wasn’t getting much use of. The downside to this process is that sometimes people flake on you, although, in my experience, that is rare occurrence. What makes it worthwhile it is every once in a while you’ll come to own something really good for the mere cost of public transport and momentarily being nice to the person giving it to you. It gives yet another method of for putting off working on that paper that’s due tomorrow.

Enjoy the last 24 hours of vacation, young Columbians … Happy napping, and happy easter. Have a laugh with (or at … or near) this excerpt from Jim Gaffigan’s comedy routine on easter (and other holiday traditions) while you procrastinate away your last remaining hours of freedom.

Another good reason to go to the women’s basketball games (despite the fact that the last one was Saturday night). Just in case the game, the cheerleaders, and the dance team aren’t entertaining enough, the band is now offering a post-game show: tuba racing.

I know I’m intrigued.

They’ve now been spotted at Levien several times, as well as on one memorable occasion at the Dodge track. Very impressive, band, very impressive.

I mean, it’s got everything. Barack Obama, Harlem, references to Columbia… and it’s in the almighty New York Review of Books, that smarming intellectual rag to beat all smarming intellectual rags. Tough to read while listening to JTS prof Seth Schwartz lecture on the Great Revolt, but on the off chance you’re sitting in a really pointless class (anybody in Critical Reading, Critical Writing right now?)–read it.