Crime and Punishment

I finally have an answer to that age old question “What is your favorite book?” I finished C&P about a week ago, and seriously have never read anything else as good. (The Bible being an exception, but for me the Bible stands by itself in a unique category)
I’ve read most of Brothers Karamazov, so I even have another work by Dostoevsky to compare it with, and it was interesting to see that some of the themes were the same. But in this case, both the situation and the characters were far more compelling, far more gripping, than in Brothers K. This story is also more tightly focused in terms of structure, which I like.
It would be difficult for me to talk about all the things I like about this book without having this entry turn into a short novel of its own. Fundamentally for me, it was about the characters, major and minor, who truly lived inside my mind, of the power of the writing to put you in the scenes and settings he creates, to make you FEEL what it is the characters are feeling, his way with words and creating conversations through his writing, in the potent, almost violent intersection of Christ and the Bible among the poverty and ruins of these desperate people’s lives and the way that these characters wrestle and do battle with him, to the book’s final, extremely satisfying conclusion, that may be the best ending to a story I’ve ever read, at least in terms of my own personal taste.
No one should leave college without reading this book. If you’re out of college and haven’t read it, read it. If you have read it, read it again. Done.

Carnegie Hall

It really is all about who you know. A good friend of mine called me up and said that he had $10 discounted student rush tickets to Carnegie Hall for a Bach performance, and it didn’t take me long to say yes. The performance was great, and the concert hall was a nice venue. We were up on the highest level, which honestly I didn’t mind at all. The seats had restricted legroom (they were behind a banister) which was tough with my friend and I being tall, but we managed. Surprisingly, the ushers didn’t make an issue out of people taking pictures, so I got to take several until I found a shot I was happy with.
The performer, whose name escapes me, did a great job, he was playing “The Well-Tempered Clavier, Part I”, so it was interesting hearing a collection of short pieces. It’s kind of crazy, given how complex the music was, to consider that Bach wrote these pieces as trainers.
The really interesting thing to note was that about half the people in the audience had their eyes closed while listening, and the other half were watching the performer. (I was among the later) Not that the sound quality was bad, but to me, given that this was a solo performance, watching the performer play was a very important part of the live experience. I can go home and listed to the piece on MP3. It was interesting too that people held their coughs, chair shuffles, and movements between breaks in the pieces; the performer would play for 5-10 minutes, then take a 1-2 minute pause before continuing, and the whole room would cough, move about, etc. It was quite amusing.
Unlike the Metropolitan Opera, this performance I really did enjoy, and would welcome and opportunity to go back again with friends.

Mayor Bloomberg

Had a chance a few weeks ago to hear one of the last few speakers I’d been eager to hear before I graduate: Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Mayor Bloomberg is a great speaker. He came to the school to speak as part of a panel on democratic governance in a diverse city/society. He said a few things during his speech I thought were interesting. He talked about immigration & immigrant communities as being one of the real strengths both of America in general, and of NYC in particular. He said that security was of paramount importance, but that one of the best ways to achieve this is to include people in the social systems through the use of something like a national ID, a hard plastic Social Security card. He noted that many of the problems in immigrant communities have to do with their being undocumented, and so they’re not willing to come forward to report crimes or enroll their children in school for fear of discovery. But he also made note that statistically these communities have low crime; that these people are here to work hard, and that as long as they “play by the rules”, they should have the same opportunities as anyone else.
He also made a very frank statement that he publicly supported Israel, but he did it in a very smooth way; he came right out and said it, but the way it fit into his speech I don’t think anyone would have found it offensive, though I was almost surprised he came out and said it so directly.
It’s also interesting that in hearing him talk about certain reports that his administration set up that rolled up to the mayor’s office weekly or monthly, it was clear that he came from the business world (which I approve of).
His style of delivery was excellent, he kept eye contact with the crowd almost the entire time, and only looked at his notes very briefly. His delivery was clear, he knew what he was saying, and was in clear but comfortable command of the podium the entire time. And he kept his speech to time, which is something I always notice and appreciate.

RREEEENNTT!! On BROAD-WAY!!

Had a chance last night to do something really fun in New York: I went to my first Broadway show.
A friend of mine called me up in the middle of the day to tell me that she’d been given orchestra section tickets to Rent for that night by one of her housemates, who’d won them in a raffle but couldn’t attend, and would I like to come with her as her guest? I had to think it over for all of half a second.
We went out to dinner beforehand and had a good time chatting before the show. The line to see the show was insane, it was wrapped around the block, which is really saying something because city blocks here in NYC are huge. Both of us were quite surprised, especially since the theater doesn’t look that big from the outside. But we got in fine once the line got moving, and our seats really were pretty good, floor level, right hand side, fourth or fifth row back, and on the aisle which is always a huge plus for me since I have long legs.
The show was a bit late getting started, and to be honest took me a little bit to get into. I often find that with musicals, it’s like Shakespeare, for the first little while the language bugs me until I get into the groove of it. This was the same, but by the first half hour I was enjoying it, and by the end I was really quite into it. I actually kept wishing time would move faster during the intermission so we could get back to the show.
The performers were all great, good voices, some of them very good dancers and physical performers, all of them looking as though they were having a lot of fun. The story was predictable in some places, but I can say I wasn’t sure exactly how it would end and was pleasantly surprised.
I did some reading afterwards about the whole bohemian subculture as it existed down in the East Village and Alphabet City before the gentrification, and was able to appreciate the play more that way in retrospect. At the time I didn’t understand many of the references and the social situations the play was alluding to. I told Amanda that I’d decided to go into it blind, not having read anything about the play beforehand, and I’m glad I did. It was fun and interesting to experience with no preconceptions. But I was able to reflect and enjoy it more once I understood some of the background and surrounding context to the show. It was a great introduction to Broadway though, one thing I didn’t know beforehand or expect is that the music is all played live too, by a small group of musicians up onstage, tucked away from the main sets but still visible.
It was extremely generous of Amanda to think of me when she got the tickets, and I really did have a good time seeing it with her and chatting about it afterwards. I’ll certainly have to take in one or two other shows while I’m here in the city.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

On the bus ride back from DC I read the book in question, which I’d received as a gift from Sarah’s family. And it was, in a word, awesome. It’s quite short, only 140 pages or so, I read it in just a few hours. Although the writing and the story itself are interesting in terms of the way it’s structured, and the writing is good, the real power of the book comes in the final chapter with Jekyll’s “discoveries” and musings about the nature of man. It has been a long time since I have read and enjoyed something so insightful, and so true.
I’ve been reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky too, and Ivan is actually one of my favorite characters there because of his honesty. As someone who isn’t a believer, he is willing to be honest enough to push certain ideas to their logical end. Thus he is able to come to the honest conclusions that “if God doesn’t exist, then everything is permitted”, and “it isn’t that I don’t believe in God, I just respectfully return the ticket.” Stevenson’s writing achieves this same kind of honesty.
In some ways, this book might be considered early science fiction. It’s using a fantastic plot device (the potion) to explore a profound moral question about the nature of man. It also reminded me of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which I enjoyed immensely too. It’s interesting to see that in her book, the fantastic plot device (being able to animate a body) is also present, but she doesn’t try to get into details about the process, and Stevenson also does not tell us exactly what’s in the potion or how it is derived, because in neither case is it material. What’s important is not the “technology”, but the question that the scenario created allows us to explore.
I really am finding more and more how much I enjoy a lot of classic literature. Between my Lit Hum class and my own reading pursuits myself, I've realized that many of these books truly are timeless in the questions about being human that they explore and the eloquence and relevance with which they still speak.

Christmas in Virginia

A good friend of mine invited me down to spend Christmas with her family in Virginia, and I had a fantastic time down there. I won’t try and hit everything, but here are some of the highlights.
So much food, and so good! Sarah has a large family that has lived in the area for quite some time, so the gatherings were big, the parties were fun, and the food just kept coming. I really got to eat some fantastic stuff while I was there.
Her family was extremely generous with me. Sarah had warned me a few times that her family was a strongly loving, closely knit, and highly opinionated bunch, and that I might have to put up with some ribbing. But honestly everyone there seemed to accept me just fine, including her mom, dad, & brother. I went around on one afternoon with her Dad for awhile, and even the neighbors that we ran into were hospitable and gracious. It’s nice to see that southern-style hospitality is alive & well down in ‘ole Virginia.
Much of the time we spent just relaxing. Slept in late, drove around her county, got to see some beautiful country. Sarah took time to show me the area, places where her friends & family lived, where she grew up, etc. Much of the area there in New Kent County is extremely beautiful, and I remarked more than once how I could see why some of the first settlers just decided to stay there after they got off the boat.
We also watched some movies, among them Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. Which was, I would have to say … weird. Saw part of the earlier version of Casino Royale and I’m not a huge fan of Peter Sellers, though I respect his abilities. But the movie itself felt very strange, especially the oddly abrupt ending. I felt I couldn’t get a good sense of exactly what the director was trying to say, other than perhaps a theatre of the absurd type of thing. Sarah told me his other films also tend to be kind of weird and have abrupt endings, so though I’m glad I saw this one, I don’t think I’m going to make an effort to see any of his other films.
We made our way back on the Weds after Christmas, on a bus that went between the Chinatown in DC and the Chinatown in NYC. (We’d driven up to DC from Richmond with a friend of Sarah’s) Sarah told me when we left that her mother had given me a standing invite to come back again, which was sincerely meant and no small thing, and I appreciate it fully.
It was a great time and I was glad for the chance to do it. Most of all I want to thank my friend Sarah for extending the invitation to me and for the great time I had getting to hang out together. All in all, a great Christmas.

( Additional Note: I was originally planning to do another entry on New Year’s Eve, but honestly it was a bit of a let down. I wasn’t planning to go down to the ball drop in Times Square, and so I met with some friends at a party up here around the campus. But I wasn’t feeling well that night and came home to go to bed early. So that part of things was pretty tame.
I did end up staying up late and calling a friend back in Seattle who had to work that night and wasn’t able to go out; that turned into a fun and slightly silly conversation given how late it was, and that we were both tired. Sometimes the simple joys in life far outshine any amount of excitement in Times Square. )

( Second Additional Note: This picture doesn’t totally capture the the essense of either the warm holiday spirit or the beautiful countryside that I found down there, but it was just too cool to not post up, mainly because they have an aviation museum with an SR-71 parked outside. I mean come on, how cool is that? )

Finals (Fall '06)

Once again, finals have come and gone. And once again, somehow, everything got done.
It really is amazing to me, every semester I hit this point usually during the reading week that I feel like I’m going to flunk or throw myself out of my apartment window. But every time, it all gets done. This semester was no exception. And now, there’s just one semester left.
Anyways, here’s the rundown this time around.
Chinese:
I’ve never had a Chinese semester that I felt totally good about, and I think that’s something I’m just going to have to reconcile myself to. This semester was interesting because our teacher, who is from the Summer Program in Beijing, doesn’t really speak English. So we got to learn immersion style. Which started out terribly for the first few days, but then somewhere in there turned out ok, and I actually feel I learned more than I had the previous year, which was good. And our teacher was very reasonable in terms of her expectations of us, so it ended up working out.
The only downside was the final grade for this class, which was a B. I did poorly on the last regular test during the semester, but I did some work to make up some of the points, and thought that I did ok on the final. I did well on my oral final, so honestly I’m surprised I didn’t get a B+. This hurts too because this is a five point class, where most classes are three. I’m trying to edge my overall GPA up to 3.6, so the lower grade than I was expecting didn’t help matters any. But, all in all I can say that I gave it my best effort, guess I’ll just have to let it go.
Lit Hum:
This class was awesome, easily the best class of the semester, and quite possibly the best class I’ll have taken at Columbia. It’s a year long class, so I’m taking the second half in the spring, and really looking forward to it. The texts that we covered in it were pretty good, but the real thing that makes this class so great are the students, and our instructor, Professor Jill Muller.
I knew half the students in the class on the first day, so it really was like taking a class with my friends, which was very important to me to do at least once while here at Columbia. And the rest of the class bonded up pretty well, so we all had a good time together.
But the other factor that made this class work was our teacher. Prof. Muller is/was herself a GS student and had two young children when she was working through her degree, so she understands exactly how we all feel. And she herself said that she sees her job, and primary strength here at the school not as research, but as teaching, which she truly is gifted at. She was always fair and even-handed in guiding the class, willing to listen to & consider almost any reasonably articulated argument or perspective, and brought a tremendous amount of insight and wisdom to our group. A fantastic experience, not without its challenges, but the one class I knew I would be able to get an A in, which I did.
Economics of Money & Banking:
This too was a very interesting course, and easily the best economics course I’ve taken here. This course focused on understanding how banking actually works in considering the balance sheets of banks, and the idea that every asset (except for gold) is someone else’s liability. Which means that it helped us think about and understand a number of complex financial transactions, and who would be on the other side of those deals, which were important and interesting topics to consider. I feel like I learned a ton, and the professor did a great job of delivering the lectures, it is clear that he has an excellent mastery of his subject. I’d highly recommend this course to anyone who really wants to understand conceptually how banking works, and how it has changed in the last 15 years or so. And I recommending taking it with Mehrling, as his approach to the course and his material is quite unique.
I did well on all the homework, got a very good score on the midterm, and feel I did very well on the final. I was pleased & gratified to find I had gotten an A.
Oil and the Macroeconomy (Senior Seminar):
Seniors at Columbia in the Econ department are not required to write a senior thesis, that’s optional for the honors program, and really only make sense if one plans to go on and do grad work in economics, which I don’t. But they are required to take a senior seminar, which is a single semester, and write the seminar paper, which is about half the length of a thesis. The broad topic of my seminar was oil and the macroeconomy, and I chose to do my paper specifically on Brazil. Without going in to too much detail, Brazil has been cutting their foreign oil imports steadily since the late 70’s and replacing that consumption with ethanol, which they make from sugar cane. I decided to try and simulate what would have happened to their economy if they hadn’t taken that step, and kept importing the same quantities of oil. It turned out to be a fairly interesting paper.
The seminar classes are small, ours was 14 people, and they only meet once per week. Our class director was a visiting professor from Baruch College, but I very much enjoyed working with him. He helped direct our research, and encouraged us to take our ideas seriously. Some of the papers he’s suggested further work on so that they could be published in journals, which I think is great.
My paper turned out pretty well, and my presentation I think was good too. These were our only deliverables in class, so given that I feel I did well on both of them, and so once again the A was within reach, and achieved.
So overall, this was a pretty good semester, certainly my best one academically. Now I plan to enjoy the time off between now and spring, and be ready to plunge back in one more time for the final semester.