Huit jours

I feel like I should post--this past week has been crazy and feelings have been all over the place.

I just hope it doesn't fizzle out. There are so many fundamental issues that still need to be addressed, and I'm feeling like since it's not all around me and I'm not somewhere in the middle of it that it's going away when it's really not. Then I think about the people that have been advocating Nichol's renewal for a while now, and about the flyers "Should Michael Powell Be Renewed?" that were up months ago (there's still one on the trash can by Dupont). It's really something you have to keep yourself informed about and involved in. I wonder what will come of the Board of Visitors meetings this week?

Anyway classes were amazinggg last week even though it was a little awkward to be outside and cold and in such a public space. I think it helped that we were in a circle because it made it feel more together and intimate even though we had no walls.

So I went to the MAC Speaker Series today and the stuff we were talking about made me think about self-segregation. I don't think it's that bad here (I hear it's horrific at UVA and it was pretty bad even in my high school) but it happens and it makes me wonder why it happens. I wonder if it's the same reason why people who look the same tend to be friends: people with dyed hair and metal accessories and piercings together, people with vintage stylings together, people with heavy eye makeup and sculpted hair together... It reminds me of that time in middle school when people who were best friends in elementary school start to become distant. I feel like that happens to almost everyone in some capacity. And I feel like sometimes it results in identifying with one's racial group. One of my elementary friends and I became further apart in middle school, but she became close friends with my Filipino neighbor and her best friend was Chinese. But then another friend of mine would only hang out with the tight 'Asian crew' in my grade. There was this one girl I hardly knew but she wasn't hesitant in telling people how her best friend was becoming 'preppy,' so she was 'embarrassed' to be around her.

I bet there's something in some psychology book about unconsciously feeling comfortable with people that look like you. Vision is in fact the dominant sense in most people. I've always kind of admired those people who are so friendly and accepting of everyone they ever meet.

Anyway I can't wait for class tomorrow and to get back into the swing of things! That class seriously keeps me sane and balanced.