can't escape it

Living in condo-land in Steamboat Springs, I got pretty used to construction. Every year a new project was going up and the sound of hammers and circ saws was just another part of the atmosphere. Coming to school at the Big Green, I expected a sort of reprieve from all the clamor. Lo and behold I just can't escape. Right out of my window, a Fraternity is being torn down to make room for a new Sorority. At least there is one good part of the story: girls rule!

Poster time

At home there has always been one rule: nothing on the walls unless it has a frame. Freed from that restriction, I am ready to go all out with the posters! Here is generation one!

Its Official

Just like everything else official, commencement had its share of boringness. Actually, it was mostly boringness, that is until our special guest speaker took the stage. Our speaker was a representative for UNICEF and hailed from a village in India that wasn't considered rural. When he first came to Dartmouth to study (class of 81'), he couldn't imagine how Hanover was considered rural. After all there was a bus 15 min from the school. In India, in order to be considered rural, your town needs to be more than a seven day's walk to a bus stop! After graduating Dartmouth, he founded UNICEF and made sure that a new bus stop was built near his town. His story wasn't more than a ten minute break in the drone of officialism, but it certainly made everyone sing the alma mader with a bit more pride at the end.

Kinda like the ski swap...

I got up early and waited in the huge line of college students. Apparently 30min early just isn't early enough for the very front of the line, even though it was 7AM at a college campus! I was waiting eagerly, not at the ski swap for a new pair of powder boards, but a fridge, since this was the sustainable move in sale at Dartmouth. Every year kids throw away fridges, lamps, shelving and even lined paper as summer comes around and the sustainable office collects the surplus, cleans it up and sell it back to freshman. Sounds funny, but the savings are serious. I, for one got a really nice fridge for 25 bucks! Even if I donate it back next year, it was a really cheap one year rental!

Birthday bash

My parents had planned to leave on the 9th. Then the 10th. Then, after watching Serena dispatch Wozniaki too swiftly, they decided to stay in my dorm (no joke, but don't tell my roomate!) before heading out, so the morning of my birthday, I had breakfast with my parents and some good friends that happened to be up for a wedding. After that, enjoyed some orientation festivities and some impromptu tennis. Just as I was ready to take a break, some of my new buddies urged me to come to dinner. I didn't even know that they knew it was my birthday, so when everyone started singing happy birthday, it was a pretty good surprise. On top of that, the waiter was a pretty epic laugh!

S&S

While in Steamboat it is generally OK to leave you firearm in your car during school, I figured I didn't want to cause headlines, so I brought my bow down to safety and security. So much for live free or die!

Movin'... IN!

Sorry Billy Joel, but I'm pretty content where I am. With three days of hypothermia jet lag, my mom and I moved all the stuff into my dorm, only dropping a box once. I don't know if this is going to be a tradition or not, but I am actually bringing the wicker trunk that my mom took to college with me! Unlike most everyone else I have seen setting up their room, my room is stuffed full of sporting equipment with three mini shelves of clothes. Some may think I have it backwards, but the joke is definitely on them!

Along with all the furnishings, college comes with waiting in line for a debit card in town, waiting in line for computer help and just some more waiting in line. Did I mention that I wrote this while waiting in line?

Take me to the river

For orientation and bonding, Dartmouth does pre-orientation camping trips. My trip was the whitewater kayaking trip, so I came prepared to do some swimming (If any of you remember my last attempt at learning how to whitewater kayak). I arrived on campus, did a little bit of boogying, tried unsuccessfully to learn the names of 150 people and met my twelve trippies.

Before we were allowed to embark on our journey, out leaders warned us that we needed to stay awake through a safety talk. We entered the crowded room, waited for the talk to start but instead some serious singing ensued! All topic were covered from woods-pooping anxiety to a pretty hilarious song about leave no trace set to 'My milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard.'

After that, I didn't know whether the next day we would wake up just to have more dance lessons, but (thank god for my two left feet), we settled into our kayaks in the beautiful Dartmouth second college grant. Eight miles and one portage later we arrived at camp, fully soaked and freezing. The rain didn't help much either. Pulling a typical Lorin, my lips started turning blue and while everyone set up the tarp that they expected us to cuddle under, I went off in search of a dry outhouse to change out of my soaking wetsuit. In a moment of luck, I walked upon a cabin and in my state of complete frozenness, I knocked on the door, only to find that Doug, the owner had deep connections with the college and would rather us sleep in his kayak school's changing rooms rather than in the rain. Who knew that my first bit of Dartmouth networking would be with a bluegrass listening mountain man!


The rest of the trip passed in one of those moments where you can remember the cold, but not that it was bad but rather a really good catalyst for conversations and secret sharing. By the time we arrived at the lodge, our final destination, I felt as if I knew my trippies for much longer than a week.
In a last final bout of fate, My trippies and I ended up staying at the lodge for a few extra hours because our bus rolled off the road a bit. Sounds crazy and it was a bit, but now I have a "never have I ever" conversation starter!
Now that camp is over, (and the trip leaders gave me back my watch!) I think I might be ready to settle into this amazing school.

School dance lessons

Didn't your college have a school-wide official dance? Well, Dartmouth sure does! A little boogie does a great job at breaking the ice with awkward freshman... especially when the leading 'H Crew' is decked out in neon tutus!

College bound

Once again, my room has been reduced to mounds of clothes! After laying everything out, I bet my dad that I could have it all packed up in an hour. I ended up losing the bet, but two hours flat isn't bad.

chef Lorin...

Almost.

Since I am working out the finalities for a cookbook, I am dabbling in some food photography. Below is my watermelon gazpacho.

Yum Yum

A nice day for a play

And an unconventional one at that! I had the pleasure (it really was, I promise) of seeing Prescilla, Queen of the Desert, a comedy about Australian drag queens. After watching crossdressing men sing and dance for two hours, we went out for dinner and in the middle of a conversation were interrupted by the table beside us. They had overheard us talking about the great muscles and were wondering what restaurant we were talking about. After some confusion and a few laughs, my mom showed her the playbill.

Its Magic!

Since it is the only event where you can sit in two hours of traffic both ways and still enjoy it and want to return, it must be! As I mentioned, the drives were rough, but sitting ten feet away from the hardest hitters and the up and comers of the tennis world was worth every minute of the sore-a** car ride.

I don't think I'l get the T-Shirt

Despite all the hype and hooplah, Hurricane Irene ended up being just a whole lot of water (look at my neighbors wall below). After pulling in all the outdoor furniture, glass table and all, the winds never reached above 50MPH! Even though it was a bit of a flop, as far as doomsday is concerned, there is another storm brewing off the coast, just to keep us on our toes! One thing is for sure, after carrying all the furniture back out, I don't think I am too eager to carry it all back inside.