A day in the Mission District

Day and Night

Hanover sunset

I spent Sunday night holed up studying for two midterms the following day; I would never have noticed the gorgeous sunset right outside my dorm if my friend hadn't called me and told me to grab my camera.

Birthday girl

For Zana's birthday a week ago, we had a girls night in. Baking cupcakes, wearing tiaras, painting our nails - it was a good time.

Happy 18th, Zanzan!

Snail mail appreciation

Being in the middle of a New Hampshire forest, I'm always excited to receive mail from the outside world. Recently, I've been getting quite a bit! Halloween decorations, various goodies for upcoming friends' birthdays, and tissues because I'm sick ... thanks for the love, guys =)

Yesterday, I was thrilled to find the latest copy of my high school newspaper, The Winged Post, in my mailbox. They did a such a great job! You can see some of the articles online here.

This morning, I was so excited to pick up a package from a wonderful friend who mailed me a real pumpkin and Halloween candy!

In this age of email and online chatting, do you still send things by snail mail? What's the best bit of mail you've received lately?

Autumn leaves

Changing colors, crunchy leaves, brisk mornings ... fall in Hanover is beautiful.

Seasons on the East Coast are so different: I love it! What's your favorite time of the year?

Rugby

So sorry it's been a while! I need to be better about uploading photos regularly. A few days ago, I went to see my first rugby match. I thought playing water polo was tough, but these athletes are intense. Two of the Princeton guys suffered concussions during the game, and one of the Dartmouth players limped off the field partway through. Our boys ended up beating Princeton 81-3, but our girls lost to West Point.

Only in Hanover can the trees and landscape around the rugby pitch look this beautiful!

PS. I'm now working as a photographer for the Aegis, Dartmouth's yearbook.

Ben's birthday bash

Today was Ben's birthday, so our floor decided a party was in order. Some 'funfetti' cake mix, chocolate frosting, almond M&M's, and a bag of jelly beans, and we were good to go.

Doesn't Clare make the cutest Martha Stewart?

Our cake, fresh out of the oven and smelling delicious!

More birthday essentials: yummy frosting and a card.

Turning the big 1-8.

We used the M&M's to write "18" and kept the jelly beans to use as a border around the cake.

Ben doing the honors.

Yummm! Hardly anything was left.

Happy 18th, Ben!

P.S. Just got my new lens in the mail: the 50 mm f/1.8D. It's great for portrait shots - my favorite! Yay!

The Cords

With an outdoor pre-orientation hiking trip (so much fun!), a solid week of orientation, and classes starting yesterday, it's been pretty crazy lately. But the other day, I had some time to take photos of the Dartmouth Cords, an a cappella group on campus. Not only are they a great group of guys, but they're also super talented! Check out their songs on Youtube and their latest CD, No Size Fits All.

DIY: photo frame

When I saw this post a few months ago, I tried to think of a good opportunity to try the same idea. And then at the beginning of summer, it hit me! What a better way to say 'goodbye' and 'thank you for the past 18 years' to my parents than to give them this distressed window with photos stuck behind the panes of glass? It's both practical and personal, something they can hang in the house and something with sentimental value.

I picked up the this old window at Whole House Building Supply & Salvage: the place is fantastic if you're searching for DIY supplies. Doors, mirrors, marble slabs - you name it, they've got it.

Mom started getting all mushy just looking at it ...oh, parents =)

So yes, life at home wrapped up rather quickly at the end of the summer. One 6 hour plane flight and a 3 hour bus ride later, I am now at Dartmouth College! I leave for a pre-orientation hiking trip tomorrow, but I promise to return in a few days with yet another DIY post - this time about dorm room decorations!

Reunion with a wonderful friend

He stood at the end of the hallway, hands folded, deep in thought. I took a deep breath.

"Are you Father Schall? I think I'm signed up to sit in on your next class."

And thus was born our friendship. It was my junior year of high school, and I was visiting colleges. It was his forty-third year of teaching, and he was waiting for his next class to begin.

James V. Schall isn't just one of the most prolific Catholic writers in the country. He's a Jesuit priest with an award named after him. He's both wonderfully optimistic and hilariously cynical. He knows sports, literature, and political theory like the back of his hand. He is on a lifelong search for the perfect croissant. He's a favorite professor of Georgetown students.

But of course I had no clue I was introducing myself to one of Georgetown's legends. Heck, I was sure I had this college visitation thing down pat: attend the info session, go on a campus tour, and (time permitting), sit in on a class.

Fr. Schall arched an eyebrow as I explained my trip back east. "So you fly out here, maybe visit one school a day? How do you know if you like it or not?" I confidently explained my theory about getting a 'vibe' from the people at each place and getting to know the student body.

"So you meet one person you like and you decide you'll apply to the school. You meet one person you don't like and the school's out?" He began to smile. "Seems like a waste of your parents' money."

We talked for the next fifteen minutes or so before class started: it turned out he had grown up in the Bay Area as well, and my parents had attended his alma mater.

I sent him an email a few days later thanking him for letting me attend his class - I think I wrote that something he said had reminded me of Huxley's Brave New World. Fr. Schall jumped all over the reference and wrote back asking me for my opinion on various literary themes. And so we quickly became pen pals.

When he told me he would be in the Bay Area to attend a bash at Santa Clara University this summer, I insisted we meet up for lunch. Fr. Schall is such a fascinating person. Seeing him again was wonderful!

What mentors or teachers have shaped your life?