mystery solved

Hey, ladies and gents and nonbinary anarchistic patriarchybusters. I suppose there's no real reason for the 308 to be on hiatus anymore, as Christina and I have returned to our respective home states for winter break and thus have no finals to study for. Then again, it's harder to coordinate interesting posts when we're thousands of miles apart. *the sound of marie shedding a single, pearlescent tear*

In any case, I don't really feel like posting any New Year's resolutions, mainly because I tend to think they are silly! Let's just say that I'd like to get better at things I'm merely okay at and do more stuff I find worthwhile. That should cover all the bases!

I have changed one thing for 2012, though--I have returned to the twitter account I first made in 2008 in order to rock the world with my insightful observations and scathing wit. Well, okay, mostly it's just a wasteland of self-congratulatory sarcasm, but that's practically the same thing. Come follow me! I'm so lonely.

Interesting content to follow as events warrant.

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.

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

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.

My adventures in linguistic determinism, or, why I am the equivalent of a Spanish ten-year-old.

(This chunk of whatever is from last year and cross-posted from my other, secret, shitty blog. I still like it, though. It has been mildly edited, mostly because I wrote it at like 2AM on a Wednesday night)

There’s one concept we went over in Psych class this year that really stuck with me: linguistic determinism, or the theory that (loosely worded) the language one speaks affects one’s thoughts. I guess this concept fascinates me so much because most of the things we learned about in Psych were interesting, but so obvious and observable as to be pointless—after all, it’s plain to see that people help those who help them first, or that people will continue behavior that they receive rewards for. However, linguistic determinism is the kind of thing I never would have been able to put into words previous to Psych, despite seeing its effects firsthand.

I’m in a strange place, linguistically speaking. English has been my first language for seventeen years, and I don’t take that as a casual circumstance—throughout my entire life, I’ve been more or less obsessed with the English language, and I’ve never once struggled with the concepts and rules that have always seemed to plague my peers. Speaking and writing and reading in English come as easily to me as breathing, and at this point in my life I’ve grown incapable of understanding the difficulties that others have with these things, simply because not knowing how to employ English seems to me like not knowing how to use one’s limbs.

However, I’ve also been a student of Spanish for six years, and in that time, I’ve become more fluent in the language than is generally expected of a painfully white high-schooler. I can communicate my ideas efficiently, I can read and analyze Spanish literature from pretty much every era, and all in all I would say that I am very capable in the realm of the Spanish language, although my vocabulary sometimes suffers due to not speaking Spanish outside of a classroom environment.

I have one problem that a dictionary cannot really solve, though. I find that in class, when I am assigned an essay or analytic questions for a piece of literature, I struggle with the assignment much more than I would in my regular English class (the coursework of which is basically equivalent to my AP Spanish class).

But this makes sense, you say (possibly)! It’s only natural that I find the assignment more difficult—after all, I am undeniably a more accomplished speaker of English, and that aforementioned dearth of useful vocabulary is surely harmful! Indeed, this accounts for any mechanical difficulties I may experience while writing. I am not focusing on these particular problems, though, which can be overcome quite simply with a tiny dictionary and a cool head.*

The trouble is this: when I am planning out an essay or trying to answer a challenging thematic question, I struggle with the concepts themselves, a difficulty I almost never have in my native language. In English, I am the undisputed master of essay-writing and analysis—in Spanish, I produce work that the English-speaking me would raise an eyebrow at.

It seems to me that my thought processes grow, if not actually simplistic, then certainly more muddled when I am thinking and writing in Spanish. I am so used to having a plethora of very specific, meaningful English words at my disposal when writing essays that when I set pen to paper in Spanish class, the ideas that I connotate with those words might as well have vanished into thin air. I have so many more limits in Spanish, because the thoughts that race through my brain when I am writing in English can only break through that language barrier to a certain extent.

I do wonder if this is the heart of linguistic determinism, or if this is a peculiarity specific to me and any others at my levels of fluency in two separate languages. I deeply suspect that even if I attained perfect fluency in Spanish, I would still encounter similar mental roadblocks. I also suspect that I would start to run up against them in English as well, though—a phenomenon that I can already start to see when I read very capable English translations of my favorite Spanish stories and am left cold.

At the risk of verging on the depressingly obvious, the world is full of different languages because each language is different. If there were one universal language where the thoughts and ideas of every culture could be perfectly conveyed, then we would almost certainly be using that language.

However, there is no such thing, because the little differences in structures and tenses and pronouns have, I think, a vast psychological effect on the individual. There are phrases in Spanish which I can understand perfectly in context but could not translate into English for the life of me, and vice-versa. What does this indicate?

Well, I’m sure it indicates a bunch of different things to a bunch of different people, but to me, this suggests that fluency is not just a matter of understanding a languages, but living it—I can speak Spanish until my throat dries up, but I won’t know Spanish until it, like English, comes as easily to me as breathing.

*and it's a well-known fact that nothing is cooler than a tiny dictionary

Things that I hate for little to no reason: part 1

The 308 is back in business--and apparently, it's up to me to end our brief hiatus with a post!! Oh man!

It was suggested that I post about some of the irrational hatreds that have earned me a strange sort of fame. So, without further ado, enjoy a brief sampling of the long, long list of things I inexplicably loathe!

1. Foosball
2. Popcorn
3. Fingernails/toenails/bellybuttons
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Sandals of any variety

I would post a truly comprehensive list, but I might down a server or something.

The 308 is back, you guys. Tell your friends.

Oh no! An entire day without a post!

I know that this member of the 308, at least, is currently embroiled in the thrilling intricacies of Thanksgiving break. I hope you've all had a lovely day eating with your families or watching football or writing angry tumblr posts about the genocide of the Native Americans.

Business as usual will resume whenever we feel like it.

In the meantime, how about lulling yourself into a turkey-fueled slumber with some Warren Zevon?

The OTHER 308

Yes, people. For those who have already found out, I will re-confirm it.
There is ANOTHER 308 blog.


I now pronounce them our unofficial sister blog (unofficial cause they don't know).
The (other) 308 has provided the world with such scintillating quotes as:

"OH GOD I JUST HAD A RAMPANT FART"

and

"I want to do shrooms, they’re cute!"

The few. the proud.

-The 308

3:24 AM Post

Give us more testimonials so that we may seem popular and rule the world. They can be good, bad, off-topic, on-topic, ironic, stupid, whatever.

COME AT ME BRO

p.s. you should listen to the 5-song playlist in the first post. It's still awesome.