A Break from Finals

Ugly Dancers....



Via Genesis Be

emerging from hiatus for a modest proposal

Christina and I were just exposed to this delightful video thanks to facebook.

As you can see, this is a middle school girl's guide to getting a boyfriend. In middle school. Now, this may seem silly, but this prepubescent child has exactly one more boyfriend than either myself or Christina can currently stake a claim to. We are choosing to blame this on NYU.

It seems like this girl has the right idea. She does say "if you're in high school, you probably shouldn't be watching this," but we're not in high school! Fuck! We're in college! This obviously applies to us!!!

We are contemplating setting a challenge for ourselves: follow the advice in this sage video down to the letter. Would it net us a sexy college man (not a middle-schooler)? We're desperate to know.

During our hiatus, one or both of us may act in accordance with the instructions set forth in this video. Maybe not. But if we do, we will write a follow-up post letting you know just how that went. Who knows, maybe we and the other straight females of NYU could profit off of this.

I know that I, being a consummate coward, have never really told someone that I like (LIKE-like, to use middle school parlance) them! There is in fact a good chance that this middle-school chick has balls of steel in comparison to me. As for Christina, well, she's allergic to love. And relationships. Just in general.

What do you think? Should we go for it? This could be the beginning of a new and beautiful era. Let us know what you think.

The 308 will be undergoing a hiatus on Marie's part as well

I should at least pretend to be studying for finals. See you after the worst has passed, kids.

THE 308 (at least by Christina)
WILL BE ON HIATUS UNTIL THE
FROSH-FINAL-POCALYPSE HAS PASSED OVER

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
except for Kwanzaa because, according to Marie, it's "not a real holiday"

What to do when you're bored-Christina

What do you do online when you're bored? Usually I go to youtube or Facebook. Sometimes, when no one's looking, I might take a peek at fanfiction.net. Recently, though, I've been browsing around Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is an amazing way for smaller businesses and people in general to gather funding for any sort of project. You put up your campaign (very simple) and people can pledge a certain amount of money. People often give out prizes for certain donations (ex. a pony if you donate $10 or more, a jackal if you donate $20 or more, etc.) The best part is that you only actually pay if the project reaches its full funding. That means that you won't donate $10 just to find out that the guy never reached the minimum and used the money for a burger. There is a certain amount of accessibility and accountability that makes Kickstarter amazing for people who want to support great ideas.

I'm thinking about posting Kickstarter projects I find interesting every now and then. Hope you enjoy and hope you support.

Further Holiday gifts for...-Marie

Your boo

Whether it be your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your friends-with-benefits, or a prostitute with a heart of gold, you might be obligated to buy something for the person you're gettin' it on with this holiday season. Unless your relationship is already repellently sweet, avoid gifts that are way too personal, way too expensive, or both (such as a noble bust of your partner cast in gold). Get them something that relates to one or more of their interests, whether those interests include pop culture, clothes, or getting wildly drunk. If they have no interests, check for a pulse.

Bitter single friends

If one or more of your friends has ended up single as the holidays approach (female NYU students, pay close attention), then you may want to handle them with some measure of care.

Do: invite them out for something fun (and not as a third wheel either, unless this category happens to overlap with "people you secretly hate")

Don't: set them up on a blind date with your "nice" friend who will probably get that hygiene thing nailed down any...day..now...

People you secretly hate

Unfortunately, there's probably at least one person you absolutely despise on your gift list. I recommend either passive aggression or shower gel.

People you're secretly in love with

Nothing too creepy. Come on, dude, pull yourself together.

Besties

Well fine, Christina, I see how it is

WHATEVER

Holiday gifts for...-Christina

People you only kinda know

Amazing greeting cards from The Oatmeal with dead Rudolphs and guys crapping out butterflies. I usually hate most greeting cards. Especially the ones that sing. WTF? Crappy. super crappy. fun to take apart though. The Oatmeal greeting cards, however, will horrify people and endear yourself to their immediate enemies. Just kidding, they're hilarious and cute and extremely offensive.

Super feminine pampering people

Something cute and smelly from Lush, the purveyor of all goodcutesmelly things. Just ask Marie. Since buying some Lush shampoo she asks me to smell her hair all the time. Seriously though, get this person a bath bomb or a soap or maybe a massage bar if your friendfriends.

"Geeks" who you're jealous of cause they're super cool :D

Cute T-shirt from Tee Fury, a poster from The Oatmeal or XKCD. How can you resist these designs? And they're so nicely priced! And they help artists who are sad and alone during the holidays because their families have disowned them! It's a winwinwinwinwinwinslightlosewin

Hipster friends

Anything you've heard of they've heard of first. Anything that comes from a rundown store. Vinyl. A poster from Molly Crabapple. Maybe something cool from Kickstarter. The latest Coilhouse is always good (and rare). Handmade gifts are always a good option because they've definitely never seen your Bffl-Blaster (patent-pending) before.

Besties

Nothing. You've wasted all your time and $$ on everyone else. But hey, that's family ;)

Places we enjoy in New York City

1. Pommes Frites
Christina-Amazing delicious heaven god allah yahweh sauces with a lil-crispy chunky belgium fries in a cute cone.
Marie--Let's not beat around the bush here. Some places are popular for a reason. Pommes Frites is pretty consistently packed, and that is because it's really fucking delicious. Get the black truffle mayo or mix the mango and chili sauces. Nnnf.

2. The Strand
Christina-So many books. NO CHAIRS. find a book then go downstairs to the law or criminal section (oddly close...) and sit down and read semi-guilt-free.
Marie--A chair, a chair, my kingdom for a chair. But it's no biggie, because the Strand is pretty dang rad and you can find all of the esoteric and out-of-date history books you'd ever need there, as well as a fine selection of everything else (unless you're looking for a very specific book, for some reason. Then you're screwed)

3. Search and Destroy
Christina-Everything is too expensive but it's nice to be stroll around amidst the porn and leather.
Marie--the prices aren't TOO bad and most things are great. This is the only place I've ever been too that plays Oi! on the sound system, though, so I might be biased in their favor.

4. Caracas
Christina-Yummy arepas full of the best meat and freshest food. A bit pricey but their flan is sweeter than your mama (that is now a phrase).
Marie--Get an arepa. Oh my god. The best. You should also buy a can of Colita, which tastes a little like bubblegum but mostly like falling in love.

5. Veselka
Christina-Pierogi. 24/7. And a surprisingly delicious Beet Salad. The sausages are also deliciously tender and come from the butcher shop across the way. They also have a cookbook!
Marie--Pierogies.

6. Landmark Sunshine Cinema
Christina-This tiny-but-tall theater has all the artsy farts films as well as classics. Tickets are a bit much ($13), but you where else are you gonna get your almadovar fix?
Marie--This place is so cool and I want to make out with it oh my god. Um. They play some incredible classics (term used loosely to encompass every film I enjoy) at midnight, and you should absolutely check those out. They also show new-but-slightly-obscure stuff, if you're into that kinda thing (I am).

7. Housing Works
Christina-It's a great artistic community and location for events. There's a cafe and fashion section as well! It's volunteer-run and goes towards supporting AIDs victims and family.
Marie--Housing Works is really just fantastic. Even if you're not looking for something to read, the events of theirs that I've attended have been insanely great. As Christina mentioned, they promote some insanely good causes, so don't feel bad about blowing all of your money there.

Guilt

So, yes, I haven't posted in a while. This happens a lot in my life. For the first few days I'm like LETS GO LETS DO THIS SUPER AWESOME TIMES FOR EVERYONE and about a week later I avoid all of your text messages about our Bunny World Domination plan and never speak to you again. But I swear The 308 won't be like my previous relationships. Mostly because I live with Marie and her physical being is a constant reminder of my failure to follow through.

So hheeerrreeee IIIIII ammmmmmmm

Another habit I have is that I buy too many books. Powerwalking by the plastic, too-rickety-for-comfort tables full of books on 4th St., I can never resist pausing for a moment (or at least reading the covers as I keep powerwalking). I have two 3-foot long bookshelves at my NYU-provided desk (which is decent if a bit cramped). One is full of my CDs (to sell, I'm not that narcissistic) and tea, the other full of books I haven't read. The books I have read are few and are under my bed (I really can't give you an answer to why). It's a habit I always remember having. I just buy books. I can even research which books to buy through reviews and wikipedia and awards and I'll buy them but rarely do I actually read them. Actually, when I'm looking for something to keep me warm and intelligent all through the night I often just buy another book and read it instead of going back to the BOOKSHELF OF GUILT.

I like to think I buy books to give myself some semblance of intelligence. "Look at all the books I intend to read. I'm so wanna-be-intellectual." But does that count? If you want to get knowledge, by buying books or signing up for classes, does that show the same perseverance as someone who follows through on a few of them?

I'm just wondering, if I get 10 books that I don't read but I know the basics about and one day want to read, does that equal actually reading one book?

I really hope so.
____________________________________________________________

Before watching Treme, the only jazz I truly enjoyed was Charles Mingus. And only Black Saint and Sinner Lady. And really only Track A and Track B. But if I could only listen to a few songs for the rest of my life, those songs would be on the list.

I am tempted to go on a paragraph-long spiel that details the amazing journey of these songs, but I realize that 1) I sound like a douche and 2) it wouldn't do justice to the songs.

Instead, just buy the CD and listen to it, you heathens.

-Christina

p.s. If anyone knows anything about turntables, can you comment some advice? Marie and I are looking to buy one. Our budget is about $50 to $75 total. :D