Winter Wonderland

Written today at 2:30 pm...

If I haven't said it already on this blog, welcome to Boulder... home of the freakish snowstorms that hit before Halloween. CU Students, I hope you all are enjoying your partial snow day and *fingers crossed* we'll have a lovely day off tomorrow.

I'm sitting here in my room, being slowly trapped in the building by several feet of snow, cranking up the Christmas music (I know, I know, it's early for that, but I couldn't resist), sipping hot tea... and, yeah, it's only the end of October. This storm has managed to surprise me quite a bit - there have been many years where we have had snow storms before November, but I don't remember any with quite the umph that this one has.

Anyway, I thought I'd take a moment to talk a bit about weather survival tips at CU, an in Boulder in general:

1. Never underestimate the weirdness of our weather. I have personally seen it go from 60 degrees and sunny to 25 degrees and blizzard-ing in a few HOURS, let alone a few days.

2. Always carry an umbrella. Getting soaked is the worst, particularly if you have to sit in class with damp jeans and dripping hair. There's just no need; buy a small pocket or travel umbrella and keep it around when you go out.

3. Buy and USE gloves and a hat. This might sound motherly, but people who complain about being cold and don't dress properly kind of annoy me. Cold hands and ears are awful, so buy a fuzzy set and bundle up. You'll be glad you have them.

4. Get shoes with good soles. Whatever works for you is fine, but it often rains before it snows, which - voila! - means lots of ice. No one wants to deal with a broken bone, and though you think you have a sturdy step, it only takes one patch of black ice for you to hit the pavement.

5. And don't forget the marshmallows... It's that hot chocolate/ tea / hot drink time of year, stock up!

Anyone have any fun snow or snow day related stories to share?

Stay warm, Boulderites! :)

This blog is sponsored by the CU Book Store.

Relatability

More and more since I started college, I've been noticing a really wonderful trend: the topics in my classes have actually been relating to each other and to everyday life.

For example, the discussion of woman's role in religion and how Christianity plays into that, which started in my Ways of Knowing class was continued in the discussion of Paradise Lost in my Masterpieces of British Literature and then showed up in the book I'm reading for fun, Mists of Avalon. There are many other examples crossing across my five classes and many interests.

This may be highly specific to the classes I'm taking this semester -- Biology might not have as many crossovers, for example -- but it's really been adding to the whole college experience. The moment of recognition when you hear something in conversation that you were just talking about yesterday in class, that's a really cool feeling.

Anyway, I don't have much more to say on this topic (or as Forrest Gump would say: "That's all I have to say about that") but I wanted to see if anyone out there in the blogosphere knows what I'm talking about. Feel free to comment as comments are always appreciated.

I'll be writing soon on class registration - right now all I can tell you is that it's coming up and I'm excited! I figured out what my ideal schedule would be, but I'm not sure if it will happen. Fingers crossed, I guess.

Cheers :)

This blog is sponsored by the CU Book Store.

Do We Wanna Grow Up?

Sometimes it's the little things... moments that make you step back and think, quite simply, whoa, college is cool.

These moments have been happening on a weekly basis since my discovery of my dorm's Disney Movie Night. In the past few weeks, I've seen Hercules, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and now Pocahontas. These are the movie of my generation's childhood, the movies we will never grow out of, even, as it seems, by the time we are in college. And as I'm sitting here, surrounded by students in their PJs, with their homework, semi-sleep deprived -- and yet totally enthralled by animated characters in a story they probably know by heart. They're almost always singing along, completely knowledgeable of every single tune and, well, it's in these moments when I can't help but think that I really do love being at CU.

These weekly movie nights have taught me something: that the most important part of college is shared experiences, both experiences we create while in college, and those from our past, that can bring us together. I feel it's pretty safe to say that most of us saw and loved these films when we were little, and there are clearly many students who feel similar to myself... I think Disney movies are incredibly creative, fun, beautiful works of art, and were great entertainment to grow up with. Now, I could have been feeling stressed one weekend and decided to treat myself to a Lion King night, but it wouldn't have been the same as sitting in this room with a group of students, and doing so on a weekly basis.

As a film student, I can't help but think about these movies in a larger context - as I find my mind working about numerous topics since I've started college. (More on this in a future post.) What is it about these films that is so timeless? I will argue with my last breath that kids who grow up on movies like Shrek are missing out. These films merely make fun of the classic fairy tales, they aren't made of wonder and magic like the older films were. Classic Disney is the way to go, and when you have a room full of 18+ year olds LOUDLY laughing out loud, I think this point is proven beyond doubt.

So, this is totally unrelated to college, but I'm going to ask that timeless question: Favorite Disney movie? Or top three favorites? (I know I can't choose just one).

Anyway, that's it for now... Cheers! :)

This blog is sponsored by the CU Book Store.