Building 17? Nyet.

In the past two days I have been stopped three times by people looking for directions to various buildings at MIT. The curious thing is that they were all Russian. Which leads me to wonder why of all people on crowded Mass Ave, are they approaching me? I'm obviously older than the undergrads, no backpack, etc. I don't appear to be a student. Yet they make a bee-line for me, ignoring the stodgy old professor and the young Asian guy with the new wave haircut locking up his bike, and the girl jogging by with an MIT sweatshirt, and ask me where building 17 is.

I so don't know where building 17 is.

Dereck and Joelle totally know where building 17 is, I'm sure. Jo has a map. I know, because we poured over it at lunch last week and drew a little star on my work location so she can always find me. Her building has a number too, but my brain doesn't remember that stuff. All I know is that I go down that street where that hotel is that used to be a fire station or something.

Dereck totally knows where building 17 is, because 1) he pretty much knows everything to begin with, 2) has a tendency to "explore" (ok, trespass) around MIT at all hours of the night, and 3) he's totally an honorary member of the Asian breakdancing posse at MIT. Yep. The boy just jumped right in one day after passing by so many times and showed some skillz and was accepted immediately. At least he thinks so. He's not quite sure because nobody talks at the breakdancing posse. Not one peep. It's just music and poplocking every afternoon. It's all interpretive dancelike and such. In reality they could have been majorly resentful that he was stepping into the circle, but apparently he interpreted their body language as welcoming - something about a lot of nods and the leader stepping in and doing some dance-off type thing with him. I imagine it looked like a scene out of Electric Boogaloo except with a bunch of Asian molecular biologists and one 6'2" whiteboy from corn country.

My God, I love that man.

Oh, and just in case you didn't know, all the MIT buildings are numbered. But not in any consecutive way that anyone can figure out. They're probably numbered by when they were built. And I've yet to see an actual sign on a building displaying its number. Half the buildings in this neighborhood are part of MIT, yet the only thing I've noticed (and I'm so going to take a photo of it next time I have my camera) is that there's a parking spot on Mass Ave specifically reserved for the Falafel Truck.

This is how I've categorized some of the MIT buildings in my head:

-The big domey building

-The building where I can make a deposit and get some lunch

-The Stata Center (this building is so cool. Check it out!)

-The Dr. Frankenstein building (High Voltage Research Lab)

So it makes me wonder: do I look like an approachable person who might happen to speak Russian, or are Russians, though brilliant (they are attending MIT after all), bad with directions?

I think it is the latter, because in two instances they took off in the wrong direction.

A great man has passed away

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/arts/music/08toure.html

Ali Farka Toure. If you haven't heard his music, you should. Get Talking Timbuktu and understand the connection - Mali to Memphis. You won't be disappointed.

Chocolate Covered Twinkies???

The assistant here in the office has a sweet tooth. One day at lunch a discussion began about all the desserts everyone loved as kids: Hostess Cup Cakes, Devil Dogs, Watchamacallit bars, Chips Ahoy!, Twinkies, et cetera.

The assistant's eyes glazed over as she recalled one of her favorites that was only on the market for a short time: Twinkies with a chocolate coating. Not having a sweet tooth and not being allowed to have most of that stuff in my house growing up, I had never heard of it. In fact, most of us hadn't, but the assistant insisted they existed and was willing to prove it.

Moral of the story: never google "chocolate covered twinkies" while on a work computer.

Cory Burnell is a hypocrite

I admit: when it comes to politics and American History, I don't in any way claim to be an expert. Like most Americans, I'm lacking. Chalk it up to my preference for reading fiction and some crappy schooling - it was extra credit in third grade to memorize all the states; only Chris Kelly actually did it. Give me a few minutes and a piece of paper and I'd get them all but, I don't have that rote memorization or that silly Fifty Nifty United States song down. I can't name all the presidents either and I'm terrible with dates. Shoot me. I've read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and understand the checks and balances of the federal government, but I don't remember how many departments there are and I can't name every "Secretary of." I'm left handed. I learn better when things are put into context and connected. I'm not one of those people who feels all smug in her ability to list off this or that or the other thing.

OK, maybe I'm jealous.

Anyway, that's my preamble on my sad level of Civics knowledge. But I bet you, even if you asked the most inbred, insulated, dingaling why America was founded, you'd get the answer "Freedom." And if you talked to his cousin who once drove into the city by himself, you might hear "freedom from religious persecution" or "separation of church and state." OK maybe not. But for crying out loud, if I learned that it is one of the basic foundations of our country, why is it that so many people seem to have forgotten?

Can't one infer the importance of this idea? I mean, it's the FIRST Amendment. Which is why I find that specific American breed of crazy Christianity so appalling when they become politically active. Hasn't anyone realized how hypocritical they are? The right-wing Christians are the first people to be anti-anything Middle Eastern and "support our troops" etc. etc. because those people over there are nuts and hate America and all of that. Well, those people over there are living under a THEOCRACY (ok, not necessarily, but kinda - I told you I'm not up on these things) and the majority of their problems stem from it and that's why there's no reasoning going on and people are blowing themselves up. So why do these same Americans want to move toward that type of politics? Don't they see the connection? For all the flag-waving and claims they make of being red-blooded American, they are the MOST un-American people around. Truly.

Like this guy.

Cory Burnell wants to move all of his like-minded Christians to South Carolina to form a voting block because he feels his and his like-minded religious conservatives' votes are being diluted. He himself lives in California and hasn't moved to S.C. yet because, well, he's "been busy." Way to set the example Cory. At least you're hypocritical in all aspects of your thinking.