R-2010 headed this way!

The first week of classes is like getting hit by a train. You probably won't feel much even though you're moving forward at 100 mph.
Despite all my readings and preparation for upcoming papers I have been able to witness and partake in various activities around campus that are just soooo Smith.
Every morning I wake up around 6 to take a walk along Paradise pond and back into the quiet neighborhoods where the houses are adorned with gay pride and buddhist prayer flags, the driveways sport hybrid vehicles, and everyone's lawn is immaculate. I take the time to do this because I know that soon it will be too cold to even look outside and if my mother and my grandmother do it than they must be on to something. Besides, it's one of my favorite things about our campus.
My next favorite thing about Smith are the Smith women. For example- the other day, several students had set up a table on Chapin lawn at the center of campus and were advertising free smoothies. I overheard them explaining to a passer-by that all that was required was to pedal the bike they had set up in order to power the blender. Now I don't know if they were members of a class or a campus organization but the point is HOW COOL IS THAT?! I feel like everyday I am witness to the multitude of active and creative minds here at Smith and the fact that we share our passions in some many ways with one another is freakin' awesome.
I had another chance to see an exhibit put on by Smith students in the Botanical Gardens. Each student chose a flower, photographed it and "analyzed its spatial character in terms of certain organizational principles." The idea was that they would recognize a "visual language" and go on to design and build cardboard models of a theoretical pavilion for flower display next to Paradise Pond. I will try to post some photos later because the ones on the website are impossible to see.
Finally, I attended the Constitution Day lecture given by a Smith Alumna on the School to Prison Pipeline. First of all, how many other people know that we now have a Constitution Day to reaffirm our national identity as Americans? I'm sure everyone but me but hey...crazy stuff.
Anyway, her focus was on several "stops" that students make on this imagined pipeline that include the over use of suspension/expulsion as a method of punishment that she described as "zero tolerance"policies, the handing over of administrative responsibilities to police forces and the tendency for juvenille court systems to provide little resources for young criminals to transition back into academic or, for that matter, social life. The Neilsen Browsing Room in the library hosts many wonderful lectures and I already have marked on my calendar the next one that will discuss the 2012 Mayan prediction.

As for the weekend, I'm going to a faculty rock band concert tonight, The Distractions, and tomorrow is the Connecticut Kayaking trip with the Smith Outdoors Club. YIPPPEEE!

wishes for a funky friday filled with fortune for all!
e