LIVEBLOG: Dean's Date 2010

UPDATE ON THE AFTERMATH:Number of minutes late I ended up turning my French paper: ~35Number of minutes I spent blogging in the Nation's Service and in the Service of All Nations, all through the wee hours of Dean's Date: significantly greater than 35Do I have any regrets? No!...well, maybe. --GN5:00 p.m. -- Your roomCongratulations everyone! Dean's Date 2010 is "officially" over. But now the party begins. Just ask '90s R&B star Montell Jordan. (We all know South Central Princeton does it like nobody does, so go ahead and bust out the lyrics.)Go ahead, kick back and relax. You've earned it. Unless you're still working, in which case, what the hell are you waiting for?-- WAS4:55 p.m. -- En route to your destinationBecause it's getting to be that time.-- WAS4:38 p.m. -- Overheard in Green Hall"Wait, so when we hand our papers in at McCosh, is it, like, a dance party?"-ASG4:06 p.m. -- Princeton, generallyCrunch time. For those of you still working (and a tendency for dramatic flair that may just express itself in sprinting across McCosh Walk), a soundtrack:-- WAS2:40 p.m. -- Rumor-villeUm... Never have I ever... been stuck in an elevator? Check out this recent post on PrincetonFML:

Someone is stuck in the elevator in Lewis Library. Dean’s Date, 1:50 pm. They’ve been in there for 15 minutes already, probably. FTL

That would suck, if it were true. Can anyone verify? Or know who it is? --BKN1:46 p.m. -- The InternetsYou've probably been using Google a lot in the past few hours. AutoComplete's bomb, right? Also predictably hilarious:(via MarginalRevolution) -- WAS1:23 p.m. -- WitherspoonThis kid or Ukelele Boy? It's so hard to decide.--AW1:03 p.m. -- My Whitman dorm roomShoutout on Princeton FML. Low blow, but I'll take the publicity:I still gave it the ol' +1 for the shameless plug.(Note to whichever Press Club member submitted this: well done.)--GN12:41 p.m. -- Frist, stillThought: Most college students become fat/malnourished and generally unhealthy because of too much fun and too much partying. We get fat/malnourished and become generally unhealthy because of homework. --BKN12:22 p.m. -- FirestoneI take a moment to thank the gods of Dean's Date for finally deigning to inspire me with a thesis and organizational structure. --MG12:15 p.m.-- ForbesThe status update. Perhaps the most telling form of communication on January 12th. Here are some highlights. --ECS11:55 a.m. -- BrownMartin: born June 7, 1917, died December 25, 1995Acheson: born April 11, 1893, died October 12, 1971Cain: born July 31, 1966James: born February 8, 1931, died September 30, 1955Howard: born November 17, 1948Paula: born January 19, 1947PAULA!-- DCW11:30 a.m. -- FristFor those of us still awake (I had something called "breakfast" a couple hours ago for the first time), just repeat after me: PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING YOUR BODY. --BKN10:53 a.m. -- East PyneI'll level with you, MG--I also was blasphemously asleep for over 7 hours last night. (let the stoning commence...I know I deserve it). However, as I approach the hellishness that are my waking hours of work , I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the sheer brilliance that was the Dean's Date Dragline last night; people who were lucky enough to see it know what I mean. For the uninitiated, our lovely Triangle lads went from library to library last night struttin' their stuff to break the Dean's Date tension, clad in fairy wings, stilettos, and a truly admirable assortment of hair pieces. This is the stuff college memories are made of, my friends.Crank out those papers, Inkblots! Yes we CAN!--JMB9:49 a.m. -- FirestoneI did the unthinkable last night. I actually went to bed and got a full night's sleep. I have now eaten breakfast and sit poised above my laptop in Firestone's Trustee Reading Room. With a full stomach and a well-rested brain, I am ready to crank out my last paper. But I am starting to doubt my intelligence. Can I really write and edit 10 pages before 5:00 p.m.? The countdown begins!--MG9:11 a.m. --Revising and Reviving the PapersDuring these deep stages of my sleep-deprived editing process, my nemesis—the passive voice—rears his ugly head again. If you, like me, are fighting to order and control those clunky, windy, passive sentences, here are some grammar girl "quick and dirty" tips:[audio: http://c2.libsyn.com/media/273/grammar046-active.mp3?nvb=20100112135928&nva=20100113140928&t=063d08365eeaf6937a478.mp3](from Grammar Girl)--SJP6:22 a.m. --FristOverheard a minute ago:"F*ck it! We'll do it live."--frustrated studentHow close to 5pm must one be in order to "do it live"?--SJP5:29 a.m. --My BedLet's hope that the words of E.B. White will prove of some truth during our final push:"This morning I suffer from the lightheadedness that comes from no sleep--a sort of drunkenness, very good for writing because all sense of responsibility for what the words say is gone."--SJP5:19 a.m. -- MSNBC.com"CHICAGO - A new study has found that five times as many high school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues as youth of the same age who were studied in the Great Depression era."-- DCW5:08 a.m. --The Dark Recesses of My Mind[audio: http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c68932/Colouring%20of%20Pigeons.mp3](from the Music Ninja)This is how weird it's gotten. "The Colouring of Pigeons" by The Knife. Enjoy! --AW4:31 a.m. --The Press Club listservThe current topic of debate: to sleep or not to sleep? Do you just keep on working until you're done, or should you take naps? Thoughts?One UPC member's take: "Keep going until you're done!! If you take a 3-hour nap you have to wake up to that sleep-deprived realization that you--and all the work you produce--are exceptionally and irrevocably mediocre."--AW4:13 a.m. -- WilsonDean's Date mantra: "If everything is terrible... then nothing is."Speaking of everything being terrible: Everything Is Terrible! One of my favorite video blogs.-- DCW3:40 a.m. -- WilsonThe New Yorker on Red Bull -- from a November article on the food chemists who build all of our favorite natural and artificial flavors:

Hagen told me that her favorite white-space flavor -- the one she wished she had created -- was Red Bull, because it succeeded in getting consumers to embrace the surreal. The co-founder of Red Bull, Dietrich Matescitsz, acknowledges that the company went out of its way to develop a flavor that was unorthodox. ("Some people say medicine never tastes good, he told me. "You can translate this into our taste philosophy.") Other flavorists were perplexed by Red Bull, which was created in 1987."Have you ever tasted such a crazy flavor?" Hagen said. "What is it? There is nothing like it, and every once in a while you come across a flavor that is not especially balanced but for some reason it takes off." Today, it is virtually impossible to market an energy drink that does not have the same unbalanced characteristics that Red Bull has. "It scores terribly when you put it in front of consumers who don't think it is an energy drink," a salesman for one of the top flavor houses told me. "But the spiky note in there now defines 'energy.' So when I build energy flavors with our client it has got to taste bad. If you give the consumer a great-tasting orange flavor for an energy drink, their liking drops way down, because it doesn't have that 'energy note' they expect.

-- DCW3:31 a.m. --WitherspoonIf you just need a song to pull you through...I'm right there with you.--AW3:06 a.m. -- TwitterverseA couple amusing tweets from another senior:

In 20 years they'll discover that you can develop eyeball cancer from looking at computers for too long. And we will ALL have it. #deansdate

It's 5 o'clock somewhere. Just not here yet.

--BKN2:38 a.m. -- U-STOREWalking up to random people and asking them questions!HEY GIRL WITH QUIRKY GLASSES! How's your Dean's Date going? "Terribly." Whatcha buyin'? "Dried snap peas." Why? "It's like a vegetable and a chip in one snack." Multi-tasking -- so important on Dean's Date! "Yes."HEY GIRL WITH FUZZY PINK SCARF! How much work left? "Half a paper." Whatcha buyin'? "Frozen peas" Why? [Girl with fuzzy pink scarf walks away.]HEY DAILY PRINCE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JACK ACKERMAN! I see you're buying vodka rigatoni. Why? "No comment." Hostile!HEY GIRL NAMED MARIA! How much work you got? "Just a few pages left. But you know what? Work sorta expands to fill the time. Like, this month last year I had 55 pages. This year I have 15 pages. But it doesn't matter! I'm still staying up the night before." Why are you buying Cheez-Its? "Because it makes me happy. They're close to the utter bliss of cheese puffs, without the guilt. I don't deserve to really indulge myself after procrastinating for two and a half weeks."HEY GUY IN SWEATPANTS! How's your Dean's Date? "Terrifying. I have one full paper to write." At what time do you think the awfulness will peak? "7:45."HEY EMPLOYEE AT THE CHECKOUT COUNTER! Has tonight seemed any different to you? "Not really. Well... there's no drunk people tonight, which is good."-- DCW2:36 a.m. -- Whitman Common RoomThe first time I tried Monster energy drink, I think I experienced what some might term "heart palpitations." Still, I'm going for it-- Mega Monster, no less. The key, I've discovered: pace yourself.--GN2:23 a.m. -- Frist GalleryJust returned from the Frist Gallery, where they had put out some late night snacks--nachos, to be exact (UPDATE: Or, as a junior put it, "recession snacks"). The only way I can describe the scene would be to evoke the Plagues of Egypt from the book of Exodus in the Holy Bible. Specifically, the locusts:

They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now. (Exodus 10:3-6)

Which is why, when I arrived, there were no more nachos. Thanks a lot, fellow peers! --BKN2:19 a.m. -- Outside Butler's Studio '34Among the many PrincetonFML posts regarding our obscene amount of work, is this sobering depiction of Dean’s Date:

“I went downstairs to get my roomie coffee from Studio ‘34 because she’s pulling an all-nighter. When I got to the register, the cashier looks at me and says, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sober before.” FML

--SJP2:16 a.m. -- Mathey dining hall is chillyBut there's still pie, so I'm staying. --SKG 2:15 a.m. -- The insides of your eyelidsIt's getting to be that time. You know, for another cup of coffee. Trek on down to the Wa for some Joe and, while you're there, might want to grab yourself some breakfast for the coming morning. It's here earlier than you'd think.And while you're entering into that weird twilight, here's an accompanying video that makes more sense the less rational you are. In other words, it's on your current wavelength: spaced the hell out.-- WAS1:46 a.m. --Holder BasementIt is balmy in the computer lab of Holder Hall. Also, in the spirit of procrastination: Techno Jeep. You're welcome. --AW1:45 a.m. -- FristPulling an all-nighter in Frist (what's new?). BUT WHY IS IT SO COLD INSIDE? In the USG office on the second floor. It must literally be 60 degrees in here. Anyone else experiencing finger cramps? --BKN1:36 a.m. -- TwitterverseFrom the Twitterverse, a senior reports sighting of the Dean's Date fairies in Firestone "bringing lots of candy for working girls and boys." A picture of the scene here. --BKN12:50 a.m. -- Off campusOh, hello there. You're up late. We here at the Ink have taken it upon ourselves to "liveblog" Dean's Date 2010, the first of the decade. While it probably means our papers will suffer as a result, it's a great way to procrastinate - and hopefully help others procrastinate as well. Won't you join us for this once-in-a-lifetime event?But I, dear readers, have a confession to make: I'm not on campus right now... nor am I writing papers, feverishly, as you all are. (Study abroad, y'all - it's got its perks.) So unfortunately I'll be contributing from home, in New Orleans.However, I can say I've been watching the campus (albeit from a distance) descend slowly into its current fit of a peculiar brew of anxiety and insanity. As Dean's Date has approached, the texts get less coherent. IMs are more crazed, panicky, and distressed. Calls sound delirious. Also, people never sleep.Press on, though. There're only a few hours left, a couple pages more. Stay tuned here for some regular updates. (Your sanity may depend on it.) --WAS10:58 p.m. -- WilsonFour students dressed in drag—Zach Zimmerman an unconfirmed participant—traverse the Wilson commons saying “Happy Dean’s Date.” --SJP