There Goes the Sun

Tonight was the last night of the 124th Editorial Board of the Sun. Here's a link to Editor-in-Chief Erica Fink's last "From the Editor:"

http://cornellsun.com/node/21821

PS: Sorry for the lack of updates!

The End of Semester Post

So today's December 7, exactly one week before I close the book on semester three here and head home for the winter. Ithaca seems finally to have remembered its geographical limitations and the weather is finally behaving properly: presently it is 14 degrees Fahrenheit and a heavy snow earlier today blanketed the hill in a glistening white blanket.

Now, I'm not one to complain about good weather; God knows I like a 65-degree day in late November as much as anyone else. But honestly, there's something that I find innately good about Winter, especially here in the frozen north. Ithaca is remarkably beautiful in the snow, and all one needs to do to enjoy it is to bundle up and go outside. I wish I had a better camera with me here, but I feel that these are some of the fondest memories that I will take away from this college on a hill.

Finals have been going well; as well as can be expected from Cornell at any rate. My most difficult finals, International Relations and Greek were concluded this week. At the cost of three separate all-night study sessions, I now can put them in the past with a certain peace of mind, and concentrate on the two more tests I have coming up, Astronomy and Computer Science.

Overall, it has been a semester of ups and downs. I have had to take time to totally reconsider my plans for the future, which was a deeply challenging thing to do. At the same time, however, despite all the Big Red Tape and the sleep deprivation, I think this is the first semester at Cornell that I've really enjoyed. For all its problems, Collegetown is a good place to live (not necessarily to sleep); I feel much more connected to campus now that I'm not in the next town over (i.e. North Campus). Much of this I have to attribute to my fantastic friends here. I don't know if any of them will ever read this (I suspect they might, if I've managed to get Facebook to import my blog properly), but if they do, I send my greatest thanks for putting up with me and making life a little bit easier.

Next semester is going to be awesome. I'm compet'ing for the web editor position at the Sun, and academically I'm really excited about my schedule of classes. It'll be great to be home for Christmas, as it always is. But it's also very nice to have something to look forward to upon returning to Ithaca. I close with this quote from Kavafis, which I've posted on my Facebook profile because I think it's fantastic:

Κι αν πτωχική την βρεις, η Ιθάκη δε σε γέλασε.
Έτσι σοφός που έγινες, με τόση πείρα,
ήδη θα το κατάλαβες οι Ιθάκες τι σημαίνουν.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean

Have a great break, everyone! See you in 2007!

NASA Makes Plans for Permanent Moon Base

NASA is moving along in pushing humanity to the stars with its plans for a new moon base.

Scott Horowitz, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration, said crews of four astronauts would make weeklong missions to the Moon starting around 2020. As more equipment was set up, human stays would eventually grow to 180 days, permanent staffing by 2024. By 2027, officials said, a pressurized roving vehicle on the surface would take people on expeditions far from the base.

This is cool stuff-- in our lifetimes, there will be what amounts to a small city on the moon. Sign me up, I'd like to go!

New One-Dollar Coins Unveiled

The U.S. Mint revealed the designs today for the first four new presidential one-dollar coins (featuring, of course, Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison).

Looks cool. I'm sure LIRR will be stocking up on them for their ticket machines.

Wii Are Waiting

I went to the movies with some friends to see Casino Royale (awesome movie by the way.... highly recommended) tonight, and while there we passed by Target and Best Buy. Lines were forming in front of both stores in anticipation of tomrorow's release of the Nintendo Wii.

Those are the dedicated folks.... it was pretty damn cold and drizzling (perhaps snowing a bit too), so I guess they deserve to be amongst the lucky few who get to have Nintendo's new console. My search ended when Amazon held a secret pre-order and sold out, so I guess I'll be waiting for after Christmas.

My hat is off to those people on the line... best of luck!

The Million-Dollar PS3

Well, it's launch weekend for the latter two-thirds of the next console generation. Some of us who weren't lucky/insane enough to get either a PS3 or a Wii might get a kick out of this PS3 selling on eBay for over $23,000 $120,000 $9,000,000 $99,999,999.

Now, you'll have to excuse me while I go look for a GCN copy of Twilight Princess so I can play it now without have to wait three months for stores to restock or to trade two arms and half a leg to get a Wii now.

Cornell's Commandments

Great opinion piece in The Sun today by Associate Editor Carlos Maycotte. I was laughing very hard, but only because it's so true...

The Democratic House (Congress?)

So it's looking like the Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, and at this hour the Senate seems to still be up for grabs, dependent on the results out of Montana, Missouri and, most importantly, Virginia.

All I can say is: about damn time! The New York Times says it more eloquently than I do, but honestly, it's about time that America has waken up to the dangers of the unilateral foreign policy and irresponsible domestic policy that the GOP has pursued. My hopes for the Democratic House/Senate are high, but as the Times points out:

The House Democrats will have to shift from the role of tactical opposition to shadow government. They will have to pass bills — bills that might not make it into law, but that would provide a clear idea of what their party would do if it were really in control.

And while they are trying to build a new majority, the Democrats need to remember what happens when a party in power loses its way.

So, congratulations Democrats, but remember to govern responsibly and in the best interests of America.