Thursday, May 1st 2025 — one-day strike means dining halls weren't available. Snacked on some stuff throughout the day: ramen, a tin of sardines and plenty of crackers, Taco Bell. Lectures on Zoom went smoothly, if a bit dull. Spent some time re-reading some old notes from 2022 and 2023 in Obsidian with the excellent Smart Connections plugin, and tidying up my FSNotes/QOwnNotes/Markor notes for a similar Obsidian/Smart Connections/Omnisearch setup. Obsidian has gotten so fast in the past 5 years, and it's really incredible. Went into the city for some Taco Bell with Ava and Shruti. Third wheel feeling at Taco Bell and the drive/trek back up to dorm went crazy, though I did chat a little with Shruti about cogsci stuff. Talked to Mani a bit as well. Learned to tuck my shorter/smaller shirts. I can't believe I haven't done this earlier. I look nicely leggy. Simple as.
Friday, today, May 2nd 2025 — School's back to normal. Had some rough sleep last night on account of a bad stomachache. Woke up late around 10am. Had lunch at Porter (falafel), sat with Ally and their roommate(? friend?) after Sasha went back up. Stayed inside mostly, watched some videos about retro tech and re-read old notes and new notes. Did laundry. Had the foresight to split my load into two machines so it's all cleaned up and dried great. Spotted PorterChella a bit but didn't really attend. I want to say it's because I didn't have anyone to go with but when has going solo ever stopped me (Porter Open Mic nights, namely)? The lighting was great outside. Took advantage of the last bits of light when I got dinner at RCC around 6:10 with Richard. Talked a little bit about his housing search, WynnCraft, his stance on past/present/future hypotheticals, our experiences with the academic rigor of lack thereof (we can work at half effort and still get ahead of 75%, 80% of classmates — slacker school? or just people getting dumber?). Stopped by his lounge in the Kresge dorm building (the fact that Porter doesn't have any lounges is a serious miss) and the i-Lounge (much cleaner than the last time I was here) where he noodled on the piano again, introduced me to a couple indie rock tracks. Headed back home soon after (it was 9) and buoyed by the experience I rambled to Sasha who was in the middle of some 3D modeling. To be honest I do feel more open to them when they're preoccupied, simply because I can get all the words in. Central insight from that ramble: Social asymmetry (knowing more about other people than myself) paradoxically implies some social impairment as well. Knowledge of self goes hand in hand with knowledge of others.