February 2008
Current Leisure Reading List
2007 was the Year In Which Lena Did Not Read. Besides school-assigned books, I literally read like two novels. So I’m trying to make up for that while drawing inspiration for my own writing To Read: 100 Days of Solitude (recommended by April) Angela’s Ashes Autobiography of a Face (recommended by Caroline) Being Dead (recommended by Spencer) The Bluest Eye Fear of Flying (recommended...
Hilarious Phone Exchange (via obscurelyfamous.com)
Phone guy: Hi, is this Daniel?
Me: (Groggy) Hi, yes.
Phone guy: What is your mailing address?
Me: Excuse me?
Phone guy: Are you the CEO of Disqus? I need your mailing address.
Me: I'm very confused. Who are you?
Phone guy: I'm from Accenture. We need your mailing address, please. We need to send you promotional material.
Me: I... no, thank you.
Phone guy: WHAT IS YOUR MAILING ADDRESS.
Atonement
Still need to watch this. Who wants to go? Am I going to be disappointed having already read the novel and loved it? Also, I’m trying to decide which Ian McEwan work to read next. Amsterdam or Enduring Love? Or something else? I’ve already read Saturday. Trying to go for something that isn’t/hasn’t been adapted to film, because then I’ll pretty much feel obligated to...
“A little flash for some flash!”
– my friend April on how I should get tech help
January 2008
“How did the pictures surface? Angry exbf? Angry gf of a guy you screwed? Lol...”
– text message from an insensitive male friend from home with a poor sense of humor, although in retrospect this message kind of sums up my love life
"Murky Depths of My Vag": Jenna B. is the new Lena... →
IvyGate prudishly covers my favorite college sex columnist (full disclosure: also a personal friend). She is amazing, very funny, and not at all gross in person, promise. Don’t guys say much grosser shit ALL THE TIME and not get labeled uncouth because they’re men?
Evidence I Have Learned Nothing From The Nude...
“As of now you have a standing offer for phone or webcam sex with me if you ever decide that that is appealing.” —a friend with benefits Might actually take him up on that. Wow, I should never be allowed to make my own decisions.
“hey! there are two small, hot, asian girls in 5 star hotels in greece looking...”
– what Ned is going to tell his Swiss rugby friends re: my spring break
Going to Greece!
It’s official. I’m going to Greece. Which might be cold as fuck in late March. But it’s still Greece, so whoo! I’m spending a week in Vouliagmeni, which is 20 km south of Athens, followed by two days in central Athens. Here’s where I’m staying: March 21-25: The Westin Athens Astir Palace Beach Resort in Vouliagmeni March 25-28: Arion Resort & Spa in...
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“What was I doing dating 20somethings through college and grad school? I was...”
– commenter noseriously on Jezebel. Love the imagery. (via miss-r)
Need input on Spring Break plans!
I’ve already done an informal poll of my friends. Here are my options: Trip #1: 4 days in Rome, 3 days in Venice, 2 days in the French Riviera or Italian countryside OR Trip #2: A week at an Athens beach resort, 2 days in Athens city center I need the perfect combination of sitting on my ass, touristy shit, and minimal travel while maintaining maximum interest in my surroundings.
"On Deadline"
“What are you doing? Writing.” “What’s up? Trying to write.” “Want to go out? I have to write tonight.” The above exchanges occur no less than four times daily. I hate being perpetually on deadline — or worse, over deadline — but this is going to be my life until the end of February (probably longer) so I better get used to it. Let me emphasize...
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“Uh, I don’t have any friends. I just mooch off yours.”
– my best friend Jason in response to my question, “Was there anyone you wanted to invite to dinner?”
“I fujKin llouve yoU!”
– text message from a boy at another Ivy
Christ, I need my coffee.
THANK YOU Evelina and Jenna for editing my draft. Approximately half of a column to go before I sleep ‘til noon (first Wednesday class starts then). Because of my lack of attention span — Swiss time is six hours ahead — I emailed the wrong person with the current column I’m writing about infidelity. Er, awkward. I don’t even know who I sent it to! In any case, I...
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“It can be like “our university is full of close-minded sacks of shit: 2...”
– Jenna, on the joint column we’re penning later this semester for the Cornell Daily Sun
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You Approved This Douche, Dan Savage?
Your guest columnist Eric needs to get a reality check.
I’m a 21-year-old female college student whose romantic (and social) life is slowly turning into shit and I need your advice. At the beginning of the fall semester, I signed on to write the sex column in my school’s daily, and I made the mistake of using my personal experiences to frame my advice (it’s not a Q&A...
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writer's block
I have to finish writing my draft but I can’t concentrate. This reads like crap. I’ve been writing this piece for ages, since like NOVEMBER, and I’ve been pitching it for far longer before that. I’m finally going to get to see it published but now I’m dragging my feet, because it doesn’t seem good enough. I’ve been working on it so long that it needs to be...
Classes I'm Shopping
Tomorrow (er, technically today) is the first day of shopping period at Harvard. Here are the courses I’m considering: English 156. Crime and Horror in Victorian Literature and Culture “The Victorian middle classes were both titillated and repelled by transgression and abnormality: from Jack the Ripper to the Elephant Man, from venereal disease to self-murder. In an era marked...
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Three Day To Do List
Stuff I have to get done before the weekend: Pay tuition and register for classes Finish first drafts of three columns (I’m done with two) Unpack and clean my room, which is still messy from finals Get my finances in order Talk to my mom about spring break in Italy. Book flight/hotel. Figure out whether or not I’m going to New York for Valentine’s weekend Start rewriting my...
WatchThis is the car ride to Interlaken. One of several videos from our trip to Switzerland.
“How do you spell “Switzerland”?”
– Tara, just now, after having spent a week in Switzerland
I still have a TON more photos from the trip, but the last one I posted pretty much sums up the entire vacation. Damn, I was a mess.
Would Carrie Bradshaw be a blogger? →
Interesting post to ponder, linked via juliaallison. Wrote this on the matter a long time ago.
Conflicting Geekfests!
So I just realized that the AAWIL Conference interferes with the second day of ROFLCon, which I’ve been psyched about for approximately a month and a half. I REALLY don’t want to miss any of the panels for either event, but I’ll work around it. Luckily, the former will be at the Kennedy School and the latter will be at Gutman so I’ll be running from one grad school to the...
2008 Asian American Women in Leadership Conference →
I’m a panelist at this in April. It’s being held at Harvard. Come!
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jessicagoldharalson
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SexandtheIvy strikes me as a constructed persona rather than a personal journal. That’s not *bad* — being a caricature can be a lot of fun! — but it’s probably easier for readers to relate to your day-to-day life than it is for them to respond to a caricature. Does that make sense?
I asked my friend Tara, “Do you think Sex and the Ivy is a...