wet snow new camera

We sort of had some snowfall last night, except it got warmer this morning so the snow is very wet and drippy. Made for a slushy day. Luckily, I wore my rain boots with wool socks. A good combination. I took some wet snowy pictures on my walk from the E-Quad back to the GC with my new point-and-shoot digital camera. Now, if you are my parents, you might be thinking something like, "What! Why? What is wrong with your totally awesome and cool digital SLR camera?" Fear not. There is nothing wrong. This was just phase 2 in my quest to own cameras. You see, digital SLR is by far totally awesome and cool, especially because I like photography and try to be an amateur photographer, however, it is not so convenient to slip into your pocket if you're going to NYC for the evening for dinner and drinks. Hence the pocket-size point-and-shoot. It is the smallest camera I could find (depth of only 0.7") and fits quite nicely in my pocket. So there you have it.

There are new pictures in winter snapshots and I also added some pictures of my new room (well, two rooms). You can see those in the princeton 2007 album.

hope

Spring is on the way. I can feel it. Flowers smell nice in the late winter. That being said, this past week was a crazy busy week. I am exhausted just thinking about how crazy it was. Here is a day by day breakdown:

• Monday - watched the men's broomball game which started at 12:30 AM!!!
• Tuesday - organized and ran "Critical Points", a departmental social hour, with Bob
• Wednesday - visited Justin in the hospital (he's home now and doing ok)
• Thursday - went to NYC with mom to see the Broadway musical Tarzan
• Friday - visited the new D-Bar (bar in the basement of my building) for a bit before falling asleep far too early on a Friday night
• Saturday - went to a dance performance and then again stopped by the D-Bar but left rather early on account of the tiredness

It's ok though, I'm feeling good now. Got up early, believe it or not (well, early for me). Over and out.

best game ever

So everyone has been on me for a while to post the pictures I took at our inaugural broomball game. Before I get into that, you may be asking what "broomball" is. Well, simply put, it is one of the best games ever invented. It is an intramural sport here at Princeton and our illustrious master's student, Dave, put together a team (both co-ed and mens). Here is how the game is played:

• It's like hockey ... but with sneakers (yes, it's still on an ice rink)
• ... and instead of sticks, you use brooms (well, short sticks with triangle wedges at the base, but originally it was a broom)
• Helmets are a must ... since falling is more common than coordination
• Ball is slightly smaller than a size 3 soccer ball

So basically, it's tons of fun. That being said, the men had a game last Monday and won it with 3 unanswered goals in the final half. Here is Dave's rendition of the game for your reading pleasure:

The first half of the game was well played but the inexperience showed and we let up three goals in quick succession. However, one of the keys to broomball is believing in yourself and each other and I think we've got better team spirit than anyone out there - it showed in this game, when after falling down 3-1 in the first half, the men's team really opened it up and scored not 1, not 2, but THREE unanswered goals to win the match 4-3!!! The second half consisted of sharp passing, great communication, timely shooting and most of all a ton of heart! We outworked the team and whether it was Luc taking it in and beating the goalie 1-on-1 (twice), pan making several incredible sprawling saves, bob controlling the flow of the game and feeding us beautiful passes (all while talking trash and throwing 'bows), or D-2 (Dave) out hustling everyone to the ball and giving up his body like a hooker with a bad crack habit, it was a game won on heart. Game ball goes to Pan who played keep the entire second half and didn't give up a single goal, despite much heavy pressure. Nice job, Pan. In a post-game interview, when asked how he did it, Pan replied "It's easy, I'm short" :) Congratulations again guys and what a thrilling way to start the season!

I cheered them on at that game and took close to 300 photos. Don't worry. About 90% of them were garbage so I weeded it down to a few good ones and posted them in the princeton album. The following night (Tuesday), the co-ed team made their appearance. Here is Laura's synopsis of the match

Basically, everyone played incredibly well, and it was great to see how we came together as a team after only ONE game together - can't wait to see what the coming weeks bring as we hone our skillz. Already looking forward to Peter's pre-funk fiesta, where we can discuss strategies and make plays! :) game ball goes to...drum roll please....more drumming.... THE TEAM. It was truly a great effort by everyone, and the passing, talking, falling, sliding, and scoring were on point! Congrats on a job well done . . . the other teams are already jealous of our sponsorship, and now we'll have to keep the momentum and make them jealous of our amazing skills. Granted not all the games will be that easy, but what a way to start the season!

Oh, and let me just mention a few more things ... (1) we are sponsored by a local sub place (Hoagie Haven) just for fun. It's awesome. They gave us T-shirts. (2) A special thanks goes out to Trash Talking Tom for his efforts in discouraging other teams before they hit the ice.

valentine's day can be not so bad

Amidst all the "singles awareness" events that took place yesterday, I discovered once again that Valentine's Day can be a day to celebrate simple friendships and acknowledge the people in your life that make it worth living.

Case in point: I entered the grad lounge after my first class yesterday to discover that there were a myriad of flowers in some of the mailboxes. I initially thought, "Aw, how nice. Someone took the effort make someone's day. I wish one of those mailboxes were mine." And lo and behold, one was. Apparently on Monday night the guys in my class (1st year ChE class) decided to put together cards and flowers for all the girls in the class. How nice and thoughtful. The cards were wonderful too, everyone's was personalized. Here is what mine said:

Dear Meghan,

Where would we be if there was not a person like you to laugh at our jokes, point out our stupidity, and partake in our high jinks. You add to the group in so many ways, from Victoria's Secret fashion shows, to DDR tournaments, Naruto lunch boxes, googly eyed socks and of course those crazy boots. Meg, you'll always be a winner in our book!

Love, Ashwin "the submachine gun" Subramani, Santiago "the Mexican psycho" Romero, Justin "I am obnoxious as hell" Spaeth, Varun "the V-dawg" Kumar, Yoosik "I've got office hours" Kim, Bob "I miss my frat" Batten, Tom "I know my Wikipedia" Eyster, and Dave "I can power a small village" Franco

Isn't that so nice?? I thought so. Anyway, my class is great. Couldn't have asked for a better one. Oh, and I took some pictures because it snowed so there are two updated albums. Check them out.

new place

Just a quick little blurb to let everyone know that I have moved. Fear not, my mailing address is the same (for those of you who send me mail). My room number at the GC has simply changed. Instead of 168 it is now 128. Want to know the best part? It's a two-room single. That's right. I have a single ... and two rooms: a study and a bedroom. I bought a full size bed at Ikea yesterday, I was so excited.

Oh, and my study has a fireplace. It's awesome. More info and pictures will follow next week, when it's all set up to my liking.