Thursday, May 20, 2010

Day 2: The F words

Jump to: Day 1: Of Youth and Life

Given the set topics for each day, you've probably figured out that the title of this post isn't as titillating as it might appear to be - we're taking friends and family here. I'm pretty sure that few of my friends and family members would appreciate being talked about in a public space, and I'm not comfortable doing it myself - so I won't. The things I can talk about without being overly identifying, though, are what we do, and why we do it.

Along with most of my friends, I'd take a night in with boardgames and books rather than a night out with beer and dancing. Late night sessions discussing the merits of Neil Gaiman and the atrocities of Stephanie Meyer are right up my alley; I'd leave ice cream socials after five minutes.

Talking in stairways for hours about organisms dead for millions of years and certain vigilantes: check.

Arguing over the changes Peter Jackson made to Tolkien's masterpiece: check.

Downing some Coors Light and smashing ping pong balls into cups: nope.

I don't think we've ever consciously made the decision to go this way because it would make us stand out; we merely observe the fact after we've gone and done it (while weirding out other denizens of the hostel by floating parachutes off the fifth floor past midnight).

Along the same line of thought, we don't categorize ourselves and then try to live up to what the category 'demands'. I really don't see why someone would want to be associated with all the good and bad sides of a stereotype by identifying with it. Our identities, really, are our identities, not overarching terms someone else made up.

Right now, I'm going to call it a night and head out before the rowdy, alcohol-fueled party going on next door gets too noisy. Perhaps I'll hole up in the library. They have really comfy couches.



Charis Loke is a rising sophomore at Brown, concentrating in Biochemistry. Her interests include art and illustration, Tolkien, and procrastination.

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