Hey guys! So last night I went to an opera! It was actually pretty cool.

I learned about it because one of my friends was in it, and we wanted to go support her. Let me tell you about the events leading up to actually watching the opera. So we printed out directions and had to drive downtown to Broadway Ave in Cleveland. The directions we had said “merge,” but we had the choice of going left or right. So we go left. And end up in the middle of downtown Cleveland. Even though we wanted to go to a theater, we definitely went the wrong direction. But it was nice to see downtown in the swing of things on a Friday night. Pretty awesome. Luckily, my mom used to work downtown, and my dad still does, so I have a vague understanding of where to go.

Needless to say, we got there. It was put on by the Opera Circle and Baldwin Wallace. A lot of the cast members were from BW, moslty Vocal Performance majors, and I have to say that they did excellent! I thoroughly enjoyed the show. It was technically an operetta, so it was a little more modern and definitely had it’s funny moments. It was a wonderful experience, and I’m so glad I went!

Brava, BW Vocal Performance majors!

Brooke goes Iceskating, I go broomballing? Is that even a word?

Last Night’s Midnight Madness event consisted of rented out strongsville’s hooverland Ice arena and having free skate and broomball. I opted for the latter and played broomball.

Broomball is a game that is played very similar to hockey. Except no skates, there’s no puck, and there’s no hockey sticks. Instead you have a long handled stick with a wedge on the end (looks like a sawed off broom). It’s played with a medium sized ball that you need to get into the opposing net. I thought to myself, “Man, this game is going to be easy.” WRONG!!!! It’s amazing how much traction you can get to run, but when you need to stop, not so much traction. So for a game, it was filled with falls, spills, and utter wipeouts. I got a couple of bruises on my shins and my elbows are still sore from last night. But it was awesome. My team ended up playing twice and winning both matches.

I really hope the school decides to put on a broomball tournament.

As always. Some pictars. Enjoy

-David

So I haven’t been to a Midnight Madness in a while. I have to wake up at 7:20 every morning to go to work at the MCS computer lab, so even if I get a day off, I still have to work. It stinks, but it’s work. Okay. Anyway, I decided that since I hadn’t gone in so long, I might as well go.

And last night was pretty awesome. We went to a skating rink not too far away in Strongsville. It was freezing outside waiting to go inside, but once we hit the floor and ice, it really wasn’t too bad. Mostly because there were so many people running around. It generated a lot heat. And ice skating is a pretty good work out. There was one girl last night who was actually skating around the rink in just her jeans and a tank top. CRAZY!!!! There I am with my hoodie and gloves, and then she goes whizzing by. Lol.

Aside from that, it was really a lot of fun once I got back into the rhythm of things. I haven’t skated since my freshman year of high school. So I was a little nervous. But after taking a couple of laps around holding my friends’ hands, I was good to go. I think the biggest challenge of last night was navigating around those who were a little slower, avoiding the zooming fast people and the bumps in the ice. It looked like we were skating on snow because there were so many people on the ice.

But overall, it was an awesome night. After a stop at Taco Bell at 12:45 for fourth meal.

If any of you have had the distinct pleasure of seeing me of late, I might be the last person who you would think could help children adjust. Well, whatever. I can, and I do. Just started this new job for BW that’s outside of the school. Takes place at the Brookpark Library. From 4-630 Tuesday, wednesday, and thursday I tutor kids from the ages of 5-9 on their math, science, social studies, and what-have-you. The job is great if you like children and like explaining things (being an English major, yes, that’s what I like to do). I suggest for all, very deeply, this type of work. You give something to the children (help/friendship/experience) and they give you those right back. Nothing is more rewarding than working and giving more of yourself to others. Sure I get paid. But I’d definitely do this for free.
-SL

There’s something I tend to overlook when I’m at school. That is taking a nice break. Being back at school these past few weeks have left me extremely overwhelmed. I have my classes, work, my position on IFC as V.P. of programming, and my own involvement in my fraternity. I’ve been so buried with work, I thought my brain was going to explode. Finally today, I blocked out a few hours to do work and get some paperwork done. I got my work done, napped, and then watched the history channel’s Pawn Stars. It’s a show where people bring in random stuff to sell to a pawn shop in Las Vegas.

It was a good, productive day.
-David

Let me just say, if you did not attend the Enduring Questions event where speaker Dr. Cornel West raised his voice, you missed out.
He came up to the podium after the gospel choir graced the audience with three spiritually uplifting tunes, opened his mouth, and the first 5 minutes of speaking contained nothing but thanks and praise to the people in the audience for attending. He proceeded to enlighten us with words that resonated with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Ghandi, himself (An eye for an eye will leave us blind). Some of us wished he would have went into more detail on the grounds in which he bases his philosophical ideals, but altogether, WOW.
-SL

2 weeks down! I can already tell you that it’s been a shock to the system to have legit homework again, but it also no longer feel like I’m wasting a semester. Anyway, I’ve been pretty busy (and sick) the last two weeks and I thought I’d give y’all an update!
This semester I have a pretty fabulous schedule - which just goes to show the lovely breadth of optional classes available at BW. I’m in Dr. Oldrieve’s Celtic Myths and Legends class, yes, that’s right, Celtic myths and legends. We’re currently reading the Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel and Bricriu’s Feast. Dr. O and Dr. E (Evans, from the History department) are well known for their love of England and Ireland, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that alongside the class I’m in, there is also an honors class called “Violence in N. Ireland and S. Africa” that has a required faculty-led spring break trip to N. Ireland where students get to volunteer in reconciliation organizations and meet local academics.
Sadly, I couldn’t afford that one, BUT next year there is also a class in the Spring with a trip to England and Ireland. This one can give you 4 credits of English OR of History, which helps to fulfill core requirements, and it is only a minimester. The plus side of how that one is set up is that you don’t actually travel abroad until after the semester ends (and you have longer than the honors class there, about two weeks) and you can take all the other classes you would want to take that semester with no problem.
Just a background on the two profs in charge: Dr. O is in the English department with a focus on Pre-Conquest/Medieval/Early Modern British Lit while Dr. E is in the History department with a focus on Tudor and Stuart England and forward, but both love to include experiential learning in their classes for participation credit - aka, you can go to an irish music concert, write a summary on it about what you learned, and get credit for class.
Well, that’s it for now. If you’re interested in different types of programs or classes, I would say check those trips or two professors out.

Since I am part of the LAS 200 class (yes, you will take it, readers, it is required for the whole school) and since we are discussing human nature in the class, the school had us research and then attend a lecture by the renowned scholar, Cornell West. Upon first introduction, I was a little turned off by the idea. We did a little project on him, and while I did agree with some of what he was saying, I found his views to be a little extreme in some ways for my tastes, and somewhat overly idealistic and dramatized. Not that I did not respect this man’s intelligence, anyone who can off-the-cuff craft phrases such as “opt for the seductions and temptations of the wine of the world and be satisfied with the felicities of bourgeois existence” certainly deserves that nod, I simply intellectually disagreed with him on some points.

But on Friday, I got to see him speak in real life, and I was impressed not only by the readiness and eloquence of his answers to students and faculty’s questions, but by how grounded and realistic he seemed. The speech I had researched had contained some ideas I wasn’t so sure about, but every time he spoke in the Q&A session I couldn’t help but agree as he voiced so many things I had pondered myself. It just goes to show how different things are in real life as opposed to in research.

So today I got up at the crack of dawn to play some racquetball at the MERC (Mid Eastern Racquetball Conference) tournament hosted here at B-W. It was crazy though, not just because of the racquetball, but because apparently everyone else had something going on today in our rec center as well. Basketball had a game, there was a multiple school track meet, a dance recital, and a swim meet… It was pure madness.

Today was the first time I saw a track meet and a swim meet. It was quite awesome. A few friends of mine were participated in the track event and another was swimming. It was just great to see so many talented individuals competing in so many different sports. Awwww JACKETS!!!!

-David

So because I’m taking LAS, I had to attend the speaker Cornel West last night, who is a teacher in African American Studies at Princeton. At first I thought that it would be dumb or just some boring old guy, but it actually turned out to be a good experience.

When you take LAS, you’ll learn that the class is questioning human nature and how we related to each other and nature. Mr. West was an excellent speaker, and he spoke of Martin Luther King Jr, and the legacy that he left behind is one that we have to rise up to and fulfill. Cornel West definitely gave me some things to think about, but, as with anyone you may listen to, I didn’t exactly agree with everything he said, but I think that is to be expected.

Overall, I had a good time listening to his energetic and beautiful prose. And jokes. Like one about Lil Wayne. XD Good stuff. But I think I’m looking forward to the next speaker I have to go to because I enjoyed this one. Until next time, happy examining! Because the unexamined life is not worth living.