Booksthatmakeyoudumb

Booksthatmakeyoudumb is an interesting study of the correlation between SAT scores and favorite books listed on facebook. Virgil Griffith created it and posted it online. Interestingly enough, the books I most enjoy fell near the higher end of SAT scores, and books I really despise fell toward the lower end. The data is quite intriguing to peruse, but I do have some problems with it. First, the data is collected through the favorite books at a specific institution where the mean SAT score is reported, so my relative 'smartness' is filtered through Shippensburg's SAT scores which are actually a heck of a lot lower than my personal scores. Second, the books you list as your favorite books may just be what feel like you have to write down for social and/or other reasons. For example, indicating you like a certain classic could make you appear more well-read simply because it is popular, but you really think it is crap. Also, I love how listing "The Holy Bible" is akin to being dumber than the people who list "I don't Read."

Anyways, just go visitBooksthatmakeyoudumb an decide for yourself.

On a related note, I just read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez this past Christmas vacation. It is full of poetic writing, style, and a fast paced, uniquely thought-out action. I had meant to read it for the longest time, because I heard it was so good, and I was not disappointed. I loved it, although I have not added it to my favorites in my facebook profile yet. Now I'm glad to know I enjoy books that do not make me dumb, but rather smart, very very smart. One Hundred Years of Solitude was the second 'smartest' book in the booksthatmakeyou dumb study. Yay me.

PS. I don't honestly believe that reading books of any type or caliber can make you dumb. In fact, if you feel dumber after reading a book, it means that you got smarter because you learned more about yourself, about writing in general, and about how to craft a story better than that moron's that you just read.

Panera

A Panera Bread just opened up on the Walker Road Exit in Chambersburg. Before, the closest one to Shippensburg was in Carlisle. Mmmmm, I love their food. It's so tasty, although a carbohydrate attack. I like their brand too; their crisp, clean, retro, cafe italiano image. The same company that did Starbuck's logo also did Panera's.

Should you be making a stop at your local Panera, might I recommend their frontega chicken panini with a side whole grain baguette?? Delish.

Shakira's Hay Amores Translation

I decided to post my Spanish to English translation of the song, Hay Amores, from Love in the Time of Cholera by Shakira as well. Translating is like doing a puzzle. In general, translations aren't completely literal and that is what makes doing them such fun...but on the other hand, difficult. Everytime you work through a passage to translate you can't but help improve your knowledge and appreciation of the complexity of language.

Hay Amores

Ay mi bien,
¿qué no haría yo por ti?
¿Por tenerte un segundo,
Alejados del mundo
Y cerquita de mí?

Ay mi bien,
Como el río Magdalena,
Que se funde en la arena del mar,
Quiero fundirme yo en ti.

*Hay amores que se vuelven resistentes a los daños,
Como el vino que mejora con los años,
Asi crece lo que siento yo por ti.

Hay amores que se esperan al invierno y florecen
Y en las noches del otoño reverdecen
Tal como el amor que siento yo por ti. *

Ay mi bien,
No te olvides del mar
Que en las noches me ha visto llorar
Tantos recuerdos de ti.

Ay mi bien,
No te olvides del día
Que separó en tu vida,
De la pobre vida que me tocó vivir.

(Repite seccion entre las *)
Yo por ti...por ti...como el amor que siento yo por ti.

And now my Englsih translation (WordReference is a great help for those stickler words or phrases that could mean one thing or another, like "me tocó vivir"):

There Are Loves

Oh, my well-loved
What wouldn’t I do for you?
To have you a second,
Far away from the world
And close to me?

Oh, my well-loved
Like the Magdalena River,
That melts in the sand of the sea,
I want you to melt into me.

*There are loves that that remain resistant to damage,
Like wine that gets better through the years,
So grows how I feel for you.

There are loves that wait until the winter and flower
And in the night of autumn sprout again
Just like the love I feel for you.*

Oh my well-loved,
Don’t forget the sea
That has seen me cry in the nights
So many memories of you.

Oh my well-loved,
Don’t forget the day
That separated your life,
From the poor life that I had to live.

(Repeat section between the *)
And for you…for you…like the love I have for you.

Here's a link to my translation of La Despedida as well.

Let Me Look Into My Crystal Ball

I submitted my NYU Steinhardt application today! This makes it 3 graduate schools down, 1 more to go. Wouldn't it be amazing to live in New York City for a couple of years? Imagine the scene. Imagine the learning. Imagine the experience.

Imagine the cost of living.

All these applications make me excited--that is a nervous, scared, silly, happy, sad, anxious, elated, tentative, ready for it, roller coaster kind of excited.

Being completely unsure of the future is an interesting place to be in. I am graduating from college in a matter of months. Who knows what I'll be doing next year at this time or where that unknown will be? I am at that point in my life when it really counts, when my entire future is really decided, when I am not really in control of my own destiny. This moment, this chunk of time, is both wildly freeing and decidedly enervating.

Where will I end up?

Tyson's Corner

Yesterday, a group of friends and I went to Tyson's Corner in McLean, Virginia to shop since we didn't have any classes in celebration of Martin Luther King Day! I think that was the biggest mall I have ever been in. It is soooo huge--the biggest shopping center in the Washington DC metroplex. I can't believe I had never been there before when it is only an hour and a half drive away. The stores are nice; it is more upscale than the good ole' Chambersburg Mall. They have H&M, my fav. (even though I purchased nothing there). I showed self-restrait, yes I did.

You Sunk My Battleship

I had a strange urge to play Battleship this week. You know, that Milton Bradley game you played when you were nine. I don't know why I had to play this game after years and years. And I don't know why I remembered it existed. It was strange.

In the classic Battleship, you arrange your naval war ships in a grid and try to take out your opponent's ships before they take out yours. When your ship is full of red plastic you make a hideous bombing noise and say, "You sunk my battleship."

Wikipedia's history of the game is actually interesting. Excerpt:

In The Dillinger Days, historian John Toland writes that prisoners in solitary confinement in the Indiana State Penitentiary played a version of Battleship during the 1920s, marking squares on their cell floors and calling out attacks from cell to cell. "For years the more obtuse guards wondered what was being plotted when they heard men calling: 'B-7.' 'Miss.' 'C-8.' 'Destroyer sunk!'"

If you have the unexplained desire to play too and can't challege or um, bribe someone into playing a game with you, you can always use the not as fun computer version.

Strike...or more likely one pin left

I went bowling for the first time in about 4 years last night. Why does bowling always get such a bad rap? I actually had a lot of fun. I broke 100, and exceeded my goal of 80 in all games. We went to Licoln Lanes in Chambersburg first, but it was too full, so we went to Nellie Fox that only had one lane open, but that is all we needed. We even had to got to wear the sexy bowling shoes. Bow, chicka, wow, wow.

Denver and Mile High Orchestra

I got my parents tickets to see Denver and Mile High Orchestra this past Christmas. The concert is tonight in Camp Hill, and I am thinking this might be the first present that actually turns out right. (Perhaps some of you remember my past post on the unfortunate and even creepy presents I have gotten my parents) Although...this year, my dad was going to buy the tickets so he asked me the day before Christmas to put them on my credit card so Mom wouldn't find out. I held my tongue and agreed to do so. He was shocked when he opened them up the next morning, because there was no way they could have been mailed to our house so fast. At least I know I got them something that they definitely wanted.

DMHO performed their way into the top three bands on The Next Great American Band on Fox. Their sound is a brassy big band one, only revitalized into much more hip style.

I completed my University of Maryland application today! Two grad schools down, two more to go. I'm checking things off my to-do list like Santa Claus at Christmas time. Gee, I'm hoping I get in to these schools.