i love

robert sean leonard.

much faster pass the years by

Sadly none of my fellow blog-mates kept up the blogging during college, which is what all this was intended for.

Latest Harvard news: Harvard extends financial aid to families making up to $180,000. From $60K to $120K families will pay up to 10% of their yearly income in tuition, then 10% up to 180K. Tuition will remain free for families making under 60 grand a year. Of course, as does any story involving Harvard College, it makes the top-emailed article from the NYT website.

Oh Harvard, of course you were the most affordable college for me to attend. Thank you...

Some people criticized the move, saying it would free up income for families to buy extra SUV's or down payments on summer homes. Really? I haven't explored the median income of Harvard families, or even what constitutes "high-income" anymore these days, nor am I sure that SUV's are the first place that liberal suburbanites would look-- I mean, aren't they the most educated about global warming?

But I digress. The NYT article did raise an interesting point: more affluent Harvard students can afford to take unpaid internships with professors since mom and dad will cover your housing for the semester. But when I went to the Center for Public Interest Careers info session, housing is only covered by one of their summer programs (and in NYC, $3500 as a stipend....) Plus the length of the program makes it impossible to get a summer job after it ends, and doesn't seem as thought you could get a part-time job during the internship either.

So, what if I wanted to do another one of their programs?

Well, they give you a flier on housing "resources". But a staff member told me that generally what happens to students not in the NYC program is that they take internships in places where they have family members or can commute from home.

In light of things like this, the job as secretary for the Harvard Summer School Program ($11/hr, free room and board) looks like a piece of cake. But what do you learn how to do? File stuff, answer phones, and make labels for the important people, the people that your more affluent peers are learning how to be like.

Bitches.

Sometimes, I seriously think I am going to end up as the world's best administrative assistant. I'll be known as the "Harvard" secretary, and my diploma will be up on the wall in my cubicle. I'll supplement my paycheck from the office by selling vegan treats in the break room, until my boss nags me to start my own business with the things. But, since I never went to Harvard Business, I won't know how to have a profit margin, I tell him, and I'm afraid to lose an initial investment.

So I continue selling cupcakes and expanding waistlines till my retirement.

Sounds like a plan...

Colder grow the days

Oh, back at the old Harvard grind. Also known as working for 5 hours at the library and reading three pages of the fifty plus pages I am supposed to read for tomorrow.

Disclaimer

I don't really know how you feel. The jury is out on caring.

Although Virgos apparently have intuitive feelings about other people, and are able to sense a divine presence within themselves. This is what I learned from the horoscope man at work. Staff members get free readings, so I went on my break to see what was up. Apparently, Pluto is in my ascending. And plans to be for quite some time. Meaning that I'm going through intense transformations. Of course, this could be the whole 18-21 year old phase. And I never said I'd believe in astrology. But, it was amusing. More amusing than church, I promise you.

I have spent a good deal of time reading some interesting blogs about evil, stupid customers at Starbucks, south Florida japanese restaurants, and classy bistros in NYC. All very amusing, all harping on that unfortunate class of person known as the entitled yuppie, SUV driving soccer mom or senile old person who enjoys yelling at foodservice employees over their own daunting stupidity.

Seriously, I wonder if the offenders ever read about themselves on a blog, or realize that there is life behind the counter; yes, that is a living, breathing person with feelings, no, they don't want to remake your triple americano with nonfat/soy foam for the fourth time, and they are handling your food, why are you being a bitch to them?

I mean, the worst thing I had happen to me since I got back from vacation was this old guy who spilled a cup of coffee in front of the bakery case, and then was mad when I charged him for the coffee and the coffee cake, since he had apparently paid for the coffee already. But I hadn't remembered ringing him up.

Apparently there's this one lady who will make you cry if you get her smoothie wrong; too much cranberry juice and it has no flavor, and you are therefore the scum of the earth. She's one of the sandal-with-sock, bad makeup, two-piece cardigan with matching pants and string purse type ladies, hat optional. Bitchiness, imminent.

There is also a woman who decided to take it upon herself to come in a few times a week and organize our half-used coupon books into a little box, with each coupon neatly cut out and organized by item. She has somehow gotten my supervisor to give her a free vegetable drink for doing this...and has befriended another string-purse and sandal woman. Together, they camp out in front of the hot bar until 8 pm, sampling everything so they know what to get for half price. Then, they bitch about us throwing away what's left at 8:15. They stay in the cafe forever, as I'm trying to put up tables. The other night, they were talking about their first dates, or boyfriends....it was not a topic I wanted to hear while scraping unidentified food objects off the vinyl seats.