St John's College
October 21, 2005
Roxanne-O-Gram #6

Wow, we're really getting on! The days go by so fast here. So what exciting stuff has happened since we last wrote?
Well, getting home late Friday night I was sort of hoping just to fall asleep. But there was a dorm party in my room so I went next door to chill with my friends there. But they were gone. So I felt disconsolate and went downstairs to sit in the hall. Which brought me past Randall Two...and their gladiator fight.

Excerpt from log written immediately after this historic event:
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"The RAs all had Russian accents, and the combatants were shirtless or clad in attractive towel-based chitons. Fueled by beer, testosterone and loud music, egged on by comrades in arms, they fought bravely, loudly and happily...until one engaged in the painful art of wrestling slashed his eybrow during the bout and then we had to take the couches down to the common room.
But, not until the event had been immortalized on many, many cameras and cameraphones, the contents of which were soon to make their presence known beyond the small borders of Randall's very, very first gladiator arena..."
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And that was pretty much it. For half an hour, there was a huge gladiator bash happening between two couches placed across the hall of the second floor of Randall. A bunch of guys got some boffers (foam-wrapped melee weapons), took off their shirts, and started hitting each other. The RAs (resident...somethings [Resident Assistants]. Hall moms and dads) were speaking Russian and Russian-accented English, and there was music, beer and cheering. Then blood was drawn and the bout was over. But for the lucky Randall residents, it produced some very sweet memories. Thanks to the miracle of technology, these memories can be shared digitally on the website. Check it out!

click here for Randall Hall's Gladiator Arena boffing pix

Some other cool stuff that happened this week. For example, the house on State Circle (i.e. the Governor's Mansion) is, like, totally decked out for Halloween! There's a huge air-filled jack o'lantern on the lawn, an inflatable trio (witch, cat and mummy) around a fountain, ghost- and eyeball- shaped lights in a flowerbed, and a small graveyard rigged with motion detectors that activates moaning noises and strobe lights if you walk past (which I do every day.) I love it so...Also, Chez Randall now has a stylish Halloween garland draped around its hanging lantern (see last pics for visual aid), which looks very spooky and colonial now.

Another neat fall happening was the first SJC FireCiders group! This is where the security guards light a fire in the coffeeshop fireplace, the dining hall produces some tasty popcorn and hot cider and everyone comes in to warm up and talk and stuff. This was extra cool for me, because I thought I'd have to miss it for work, but I said to myself "I've got ten minutes before I need to leave, I'll just get a little cider to go." So I went, and sat down and had a cup of cider and popcorn, and ten happy firecider-y minutes later I walked out and it was fine! So that was A Success.

Speaking of success, I've taken (and passed) both the Algebra and Music exams given to the freshman here.

Now let's talk about this. These are the only two exams (I believe,) administered at any time here at St. John's. They are not, though, sources of stress. In fact they are rather laid back. To do the curriculum, you need to know both algebra and musical notation. Okay, they say. We give a test. You take it, you pass, it's over. You don't pass, we set you up with a class so you pass next time. End of Story.

Talking about this on the phone, I described one review class as having this approach to math:
"Algebra is Fun. Algebra is Easy.
"We're going to show you how to do it, and it's not going to be a problem."

How great is that? Look at these two mysterious difficult esoteric things that people think about as being inaccessible, math and music. Here, they're *fun* and *easy*. People love them! People talk about them! (People understand them!) People want *you* to love and talk about and understand them! They'll do anything to help you love, talk about and understand things. The Great Books. Philosophy. Astronomy.

These are not things for other people, smarter people, or  people in expensive graduate research programs to do. These are things for *you* to do! Yes, you!

Go out and buy Euclid! Or oil pastels ! Or a Spanish language course!
Because you can.
And because learning stuff is awesome, and teaching it is even awesomer.
So if you know someone who says that learning cool things isn't for just anybody, hit them! Or send them to me. I've got boffers, and I'm learning how to use them.

See you next week, everyone! Roxanne