things that changed my brain chemistry this summer
list of events stuck in my mind
Seeing people still mix up em-dashes and hyphens, which makes me sad, but it makes for a fun discussion.
[TW: self-harm language] Getting asked by Person A, who is in his 30s, if “I’m unaliv*d” meant the same thing as saying “I’m dead!” Needless to say, it does not, at all.
Spilling matcha lattes. There are these certain elevator doors that close very abruptly and don't stop in time when a limb is caught between them. One time, these doors slammed into my arm, which in turn was holding a matcha latte, which in turn ended up on the floor. I couldn’t even clean up my mess because the elevator had left when I returned with napkins.
Coordinating runs to Arsicault Bakery—which has extremely high-quality croissants—at every possible moment with my friend.
Running with my roommate to vintage shops in Haight-Ashbury and feeling extremely underdressed. Not unlike how I feel on Newbury Street.
Feeling out of my element—this is my first summer out somewhere, ever, due to COVID and other things.
Finding my element? San Francisco was so cool.
Trekking up and down the hills of, well, Potrero Hill, with the self-titled Potrero Hill Group™. The ice cream and pasta will not be forgotten.
Resisting the urge to skate or scooter down said hills. Simply not a good idea.
Wandering alone and not feeling weird, in the same way that people are “supposed” to feel weird ordering alone in a restaurant. Why is that a thing? Let me follow a bug algorithm around town (well, city) in peace.
Realizing the MUNI bus system is lowkey not bad.
Meeting some people who are chronic exaggerators (in a bad, not silly, way.)
Playing poker. With a poker set, and not online with PokerNow! Thanks to my roommate.
Meeting tech and tech-adjacent people outside the MIT bubble—really needed that.
Trying to run up Potrero Hill. I wasn’t ready for this. I almost fell downhill…
Being compelled by my friends to join a running club. I did it for a day. It was ROUGH. They had runners with boomboxes strapped on their back to motivate everyone. Each of these “pacers” went at a different speed, helping spread out the ~100 people and preventing traffic jams. The first mile was fine. Then we took a break. Then I realized I had to do 4 more miles. Needless to say, by the end, my glasses were slipping off my sweaty face, and I lightly scraped both my knees. But I…did it!?!
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Playing ______, but dipping early with a lame excuse because _____ was ruining the vibes and I didn’t want to play with him.
Sorry, that’s all you get.
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Meeting people from SF who did cool things (buildspace, cool research, etc.) that I got to meet again at HackMIT! I often feel skeptical about whether summer friendships with people from different colleges will last into the fall and beyond, but I’m happily being proven wrong.
I did Hack! Our team’s project didn’t win anything, but it was so fun to build out.
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Getting obscene amounts of bingsu (Korean shaved ice dessert) with a friend.
Mutual friend, exasperated: “All Alor and _____ do is get food!”
She wasn’t wrong.
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Introducing our friends who liked transit (trains, airplanes, etc.) to each other.
One dude went to a ceremony celebrating the electrification of the first train on the Caltrain.
The other dude works at the SFO airport.
The first dude sometimes visits the airports—for fun!—just to watch jets take off and land.
Needless to say, they hit it off, and they continued to yap even after lunch.
Playing Dress to Impress (a Roblox mini-game) with friends. Except it was 11 pm. And we were far from any of our homes. So we went to a nearby 24/7 workspace. I myself had tap access to the whole building, but it was way too late to bring in guests. So, we instead played in the lobby. I think we were the only ones in the entire building, and we certainly weren’t doing work.
Spilling tea with _____ and _____, particularly about _____ and __________, respectively.
Realizing that being misled can still hurt, even if it’s not malicious and just a genuine mistake by a Real Adult™.
Recognizing that the ________ _____ situation would end once I left SF, which was great.
Recognizing that the ____ situation would end once I left SF, which was bad.
Redacting random bits of _______ because ____ is kind of on an if-you-know-you-know basis. I can do this because this is my column! It’s really __ __ fun!
Learning so, so much, mostly about…me?