the other side

After disappearing off the face of the internet for a good two weeks, I contemplated how to stage my return. I considered fanfare, an entourage of a thousand skinny white boys with short-in-the-back, long-in-the-front haircuts, and a caravan of albino elephants.

Barring that, I could either jump back into my normal rhythm of a post a day, or I could compose one massive summary post for the summer (aha! A summery post!). Since I want to reassess this blog and my reasons for blogging (again), I decided on a massive post. So here you go, 2.5 readers:

1. I have finished my summer classes. In typical Sam fashion, I celebrated by i) taking a long-ass shower, ii) crying, iii) buying myself clothes, and iv) buying myself new reading material. Our grades aren't in yet, but I've already resolved to not care what I get. As I said to George, my (amazeballs) lecturer, this has been the best and worst summer of my life. Gmail screencaps to summarize:
   



2. I'd like to apologize for failing to regularly photograph my outfits for the past eight weeks, but I don't think you guys would've appreciated seeing me wear combinations of 4 pairs of jeans × 12 t-shirts × 3 hoodies × 2 pairs of shoes over and over.
   


3. Recent acquisitions:
   
   
Above, aerie by American Eagle, from a split online order with Kim, because underwear shopping is how my apartment bonds.

Above, Equus and Ron Weasley t-shirts, courtesy of Alice. ♥

Above, a shit-ton of Tylenol, in addition to a shit-ton of prepared food and Vitamin C Monsters, because I haven't found time to cook at all.

Above, a new pair of Forever21 skinnies that are incredibly tight. I hope they're not secretly jeggings, but I can't really tell...

Above, Forever21 socks and royal blue tights.



4. I have another $60 giveaway from CSN coming up for you kids.
   


5. I wore this on July 4th to look like an alien as I ate In 'N' Out and watched fireworks with people I love:


6. I want to change the name of my blog to something I won't be embarrassed to tell people about. I'm thinking "grotescue" (as a gross misspelling of "grotesque," meaning "fantastically ugly"). But I don't want to change it until I have a clear idea of what exactly I want to put on my blog (only personal style? Things I want to buy? How I feel? Things I've written? A scheduled combination of those things?). I also want to change my layout. Again. Typical.
   


7. Things I Love, Summer 2010, Condensed Version
   


• (car (cons 'Stephanie 'Samantha))
  
• Tony, who has been, for lack of a better metaphor, like the point in the room that dancers spot when doing turns and spins
  
• Steven, who is unreasonably generous and kind, and who randomly brings me non-dairy food
  
• George, whom I wish the best of life, love, and luck as he moves to New York for the next chapter of his life, and who a) averages 1 set per game of Set, b) is incredibly considerate, c) cracks me up, d) is giant, e) humors undergrads with ambitious project proposals, and f) is a cruel, cruel taskmaster who teaches a superset of past 61A course material instead of a subset
  
• Eric, who is really good at Taboo and Pictionary and shares my love for the Alot


Above, the Alot from Hyperbole and a Half


• Jon, who has the best and worst puns I have ever heard, and who is just really, really good at teaching
  
• Sesh, who is so sweet and helpful, and who is a baby
  
• Carrie, not least of all for dancing lessons, organizing Operation Lambda Bang, and girl talk at 3 AM
  
• Ben, who knows pretty much every musical ever and isn't afraid to sing along, likes social dancing, and is interested in signal processing
  
• Jay, whose two biggest unrealistic aspirations are the exact same as mine (being paid for creative writing, and being able to sing)
  
• Set, the card game, and the surreal experience of watching Dan and Sylvan play (for them, recognizing a set is pretty much instant)
• Soda and Cory, two buildings I never thought I would develop any fondness for
  
• 2 AM donut runs
  
• crashing at Stephanie's place
• getting owned by George at Pictionary, and then being told, in reciprocity, to SUCK IT
  
• the collaborative nature of CS
• Stephanie and my modified version of the 2nd project, a text-based adventure game that we decided to dub Project Tang/Tang World in honor of our TA, the star of the game, and the fact that George wanted to release it for the rest of the class to play
  
• the staff singing a 61A version of "I Kissed A Girl" (recursion is so magical, recursion is so magical, recursion is so magical!)
  
• syncing to my lab partner
• elegant code
• Bobby, who came into office hours one day, forcefully planted a little ceramic pot on the table, and demanded, before he would gift his creation to his girlfriend, "WOMEN! I NEED AN OPINION!"
  
• Jaimie and Jessica!
  
• that saying things like "If the intersection of our available times is the empty set..." is normal again
  
• Will, Spenser, Lincoln, Jessie
• Inception, and the fact that "JGL is like Taylor Lautner for nerds"
  
• really good small talk with cashiers
• Steven's roommate, Ravi, who crash-tutored me in math before my midterm and whose baked goods are amazing
• people who catch me (literally, as in Stephanie during our trust fall, and figuratively, as in Stephanie and lots of other people this summer)


8. It actually hasn't even been hot in Berkeley yet (it's been chilly in the morning and pleasantly warm in the afternoons), so I haven't exactly debuted my idealized summer wardrobe. But by the second or third week of school, it should be unbearably warm. Fingers crossed! (Wow, I've never said that about warm weather before.)
   


9. I wore this to laugh at Will as he ate his own words about doing what you love and to quietly contemplate, full of worry, whether or not he was right:
   


10. I am currently...

Reading: The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, at Steven's recommendation
Eating: veggie chips, porridge, and sushi
Doing: concentrated mental vegetation
Thinking: I have no idea what to do with myself now that I have more than an hour of free time.
Wearing: the same thing I woke up wearing
Craving: white blouses, a dark gray zip-up hoodie, black skirts


11. Things that have been burrowing their way into my head lately:

I don't know why, but Darren Criss is insanely sexy in the above video.




I've decided that Bruno Mars is one of those singers whose voices I like so much I can't stand to listen to covers of his songs. Jason Mraz is another. I'm such a tool.


Because I like my lab partner's taste in music.




Courtesy of Carrie.