WOLVERINES!

Fear not, my dear and faithful readers! I am, in fact, alive. MIT and the usual things that just come up in life have kept me from blogging. Exams, papers, p-sets, resumes and applications for government jobs that probably don't actually exist because of budget cuts (thanks a lot, NRCS), helping run MIT's debate tournament, and Spring Break have basically made life incredibly busy. Well, saying that Spring Break is making my life busy is kind of a lie - I'm spending Spring Break here in Boston, with very little to actually do. I guess I've been exploring the city, using my camera, and reading, instead of blogging. On the upside, I finally saw Watchmen.

(Funny story - I went and saw it by myself in the afternoon a couple of days ago at the AMC Loews (a.k.a. professional wallet rapists - $8.75 for a matinee? REALLY? and $8.50 for a small popcorn and a small soda? REALLY?) in Boston Commons, and looking around the theater, I noticed something. Everyone there was there by themselves. Yep, I saw Watchmen with all of the other single, loser comic book (... I mean, "graphic novel") fans, most of whom were probably seeing it for the fifty bajillionth time. Needless to say, I walked out of that theater with a little less dignity than I walked in there with. Oh, and my verdict on the movie: it was awesome! I don't care that the ending was different, I was completely happy with the movie all the way through.)

I was also pretty excited to get my hands on a copy of the new Decemberists album, The Hazards of Love. Reason #1340974519384 why I love being a member of WMBR: I was listening to The Hazards of Love last Saturday. It came out this past Tuesday. I didn't have to pay for a thing. Promotional copies are fantastic. This new album is the first of their full-lengths to not get a score of at least 8 from Pitchfork, and for once I agree (Pitchfork and I are usually not the best of pals - Pitchfork doesn't know this of course, but I tend to disagree with most of their scores, and their reviewers... but what do I know, right?). While this album clearly has the usual hallmarks of a Decemberists album, it lacks a few elements that make a Decemberists album truly great. This album is much darker than their previous works (yes, it is possible - gone are the days of songs of vindictive sea-faring orphans - they've moved on to talk of killing babies), and the songs are clearly intended to be listened to in order. The single, "The Rake's Song" can only be truly appreciated in context with the other songs on the album, which present the listener with a very detailed and intricate plot line that can occasionally be difficult to follow without the liner notes (which they've generously provided on their website). I once told a friend of mine that of all the musical groups I listen to and love, the only two that I feel can do no wrong are Spoon and the Decemberists. I still feel this way, and will continue to unconditionally love the Decemberists despite The Hazards of Love. I mean, I like it, but I think I'm going to go back to listening to The Crane Wife and Castaways and Cutouts.

There's no rest for MIT students, though. Well, I suppose I could have not done any work over break, but I would have payed dearly for it next week. So interspersed between all the exploring of Boston and photography and literature binges, I've been working on my 14-page museum exhibit design proposal for my writing class. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that bad. Maybe it's because I love writing, or maybe it's because there's not really any pressure right now. No clue. Regardless, I'm certainly not complaining. We also had a requirement to critique a speech or presentation for my writing class, which I'm knocking out tonight by going to a forum on food locavorism, which should be interesting. I'm interested to see how they portray agriculture and family farms.

And finally, the reason behind the blog title: wolverines are BACK! Those things are vicious, and I hope I never come across one while camping or hiking. I think I'd probably hyperventilate. Or have an asthma attack while running away. Actually, the asthma attack is probably more likely.

[Congrats to the MIT Class of 2013! Can't wait to meet you all at CPW and in the fall!]