Friday, May 16, 2008

The social optimum

There is a lot on my to do list and I'm kind of fake stressed because I would like to do this all by 12:30, which is when my FIRST final is, which I have literally studied 0% for. I'm starting to think that maybe I should ... but here's my to do list for those who are interested:

- Watch yesterday's episodes of The Office, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost
- Complete packing up my stuff
- Study Ch 9 and 10 of economics
- Watch next movie for film studies
- Maybe study for the physics and music final
- Finish making Angelica's gift
- Move my stuff into next year's apartment

So yesterday, I blogged a bit. Did I mention how hot it was? BECAUSE IT WAS FREAKING HOT. So hot that everyone in the lounge did absolutely zero work. It was so hot Paulo brought his little fan out. It was so hot that we would take the elevator just because it was cooler in there. It was so hot that we'd throw ourselves against the questionably dirty metal walls of the elevator, to feel cooler. It was so hot that Eric took a chair into the tiled bathroom, where it was 10 degrees cooler than the lounge. It was so hot that when we walked by the entrance of our building, the mist made by the blowing wind and the water that was leaking from our bathroom pipes off the balcony was really refreshing to me. It was so hot I went downstairs to Bear Market with about four different people in hour, just because it was cooler downstairs. It was so hot that when we finally couldn't take it anymore, we made a floor trip to Strawberry Canyon pool.

SO. FUN. Christine and Caroline had planned on going swimming in the morning, and most of us were like "I'm probably not going, but if I am, I'm not swimming." Well, by the time it was 3:00 we were all like "FUCK STUDYING WE'RE SWIMMING." We hadn't been studying at all anyway, we had actually been doing tetris competitions. (To which I say, I can't believe people can't do Level 10. It makes me wonder what has happened to my brain.) So we all ended up dressing in swimsuits, and walked to Strawberry Canyon which is all the way up by the stadium.

HAHA So it was this giant group of like 9 people walking around a place that looked more fit for some beach school and not the ghetto streets of Berkeley. I was wearing my swimshorts, which are INCREDIBLY short. We made it up to Bowditch adn Bancroft, when the Perimeter bus came and Paulo and Christa who were further ahead, made it on. Then, the bus left. We had expected them to hold it for us, so when we saw the bus moving we were all like OMG!!! Hilarious though: the perimeter bus was actually going the opposite way and in the end, it only dropped them off at Evans and they had to walk just about the same amount anyway. Also, they switched bus drivers and for five minutes Christa and Paulo were sitting on a non-moving bus that had taken them right back to the front of our dorm, thinking "omg ... do we have to walk back?"

Well the walk up was fun. All of us were basically going "OMG WTF ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING CAROLINE" because we were going up steep hills. BUT then we hit the glorious pool. OH GLORIOUS POOL! Strawberry Canyon is like ... the secret home of fraternities and sororites. I'm not even lying, I was probably in the top five fattest people there. It was just filled with 1/2 EXTREMELY fit white people, and 1/2 children with their parents. And being Berkeley, all the parents were insanely fit and thin as well. Definitely not a place to go if you're having a fat day.

But FUN! So we had a little pool party. Thankfully we had gone at a time when a part of the pool was shaded so I was not in danger of getting even darker. We were in the pool for about two hours, and my skin was getting super pruny. I had rescued Paulo's glasses from the bottom of an incredibly murky pool (DISGUSTING. I had kind of forgotten how gross public pools are since Spieker pool is kept incredibly clean). Eric took pictures and then we walked back and ended up eating at Crossroads. Then went back and I finished my pillow letters.

But also, Paulo, Eric and I (then later Caroline) were discussing the "Social Optimum" of groups. So, I don't knwo if everyone realizes this - maybe because I'm the planner so I always do, but no matter what group you are in, there's always a socially optimal arrangement that creates the most fun. We started discussing this because our dinner had been abnormally quiet, mainly because we had all thrown towels down on the chairs to claim seats, so no one could really judge who they were sitting next to. Also, the girl none of us like who had tagged along had chosen to sit in the middle -__- so that really threw off our balance.

Anyway, Eric opened up paint and we started moving names around. Then he started planning how he wanted people to sit at his birthday. I was like "ok Eric ... I think about this too but about two minutes before it happens, not a week before." But, it's still really interesting to think about. Apparently Eric and I have to be in the middle, because we're the loudest. Caroline and Jason always have to sit with each other, I prefer sitting next to Caroline but Paulo and Eric both want to sit next to me. Then we also ranked people by how much we like them:

1: God please don't speak to me
2: Fine I'll begrudginly speak to you
3: I don't mind speaking to you
4: I enjoy speaking to you but I won't seek you out
5: I love your company

Anyway, yesterday was a great day for socializing. Terrible day for studying. I feel like I've already peaked in studying. I just don't want to do it anymore.

This is an ongoing list but:

Reasons I freaking love my floormates:
1. We think about things like "the social optimum"
2. We already asked about each other's likes and dislikes in the opposite sex, how far everyone's gone, the "who's going to marry first" game, the "fuck marry kill" game, and we are always completely honest and even though sometimes I scream "OMFG TMI" I love it all.
3. People like me! And want to sit next to me! And think I'm the center of the group. HEHE
4. People always offer to take group pictures that include me
5. Eric also take pictures (although I actually really like being photographer because a lot of times I'm standing there thinking AGH we should be taking a picture of that)
6. Usually, no one refuses to take a picture
7. We gossip. A lot.
8. We do pretty active things like playing frisbee, tennis, swimming, volleyball
9. At the same time, they love to watch my tv shows
10. According to Chrystal, peoople would constantly knock on the door asking for me and then their faces would fall when she said I wasn't there. AWWWW!!!
An ongoing list...

OMG It's 10:20. Crap. CRAP! But :)

2 comments:

coonie said...

i feel like there should be something between 4-5 on how much you like speaking to someone! it seems so extreme. O_O

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you titled your post "The social optimum."

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