In my continuing story of finding tasper clones I found out who Olga was in a past life. I was sitting in Feminist Art 1800-Present when one of the slides showed an artist Sonia Delaunay with her husband Robert- 1924ish. I said outloud, much to the surprise of several students sitting near me: "it's Olga!" And so it was. Somehow Olga has managed to look exactly like an early 20th century modernist artist. I searched and searched the web to find the photo, but it's pretty obscure. I did find a painting by her though: here. I'll see what I can do about borrowing that slide and scanning it on.

"Tasper" is now "taxpayer" or so says the spellcheck. And so we are.

posted by john owens-ream   [11:17 PM]

Hey, does anyone know how to script the page so that you don't have to tile the background, but have one full-screen-sized background image that doesn't move as you scroll down the page?

My apologies. If I don't figure this out I'll change the background back to a solid color, as much as we love Matt's grin.

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [1:41 PM]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARA!

(have a lovely dinner)

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [11:55 AM]

Bryan, don't do this to me, I have completely cut myself off from numbers this sem. Is it 1530? And I still need your fas.harvard.edu email address and your phone number.

TASPers I've talked to this weekend: Kelsey, Tara, Adam, [Alex Y, on AIM, which I've officially sworn off of, so I have no idea how I managed that], Monica, in that order. Life is good in the miserable rat hole.

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [8:53 PM]

tasp kicks ass

posted by Bryan Lee   [5:19 PM]

1830

posted by Bryan Lee   [5:19 PM]

sigh... fine... so here it is... only because I forgot about Tae-Yeoun and the blog and she was trying to get me the entire time... but in my harvardian spirit, i shall attempt to bless tae-yeoun with the answer she seeks in the miserable rat-hole of a college that she's in. Ahem, so there's a little riddle (only because my suite-mates and I write riddles on the bathroom mirror and we try to solve them).

For Tae-Yeoun (who ought to be here... so she wouldn't have to ask...)

The secret four numbers are

the first natural number
the first prime number to the second prime number
the letter "E" in net-lingo
the first whole number

posted by Bryan Lee   [5:19 PM]

The article you might be talking about Alex is this one written by John Zogby. I had not watched polls closely until this year, but Zogby seems to be by far the guy to trust. His article I linked above, as well as his "explanation of polling" article on the sight, should be required reading for politically-inclined people.

I don't even a little bit believe the New Jersey thing. The problem with polling "likely voters" which even Zogby does cause there's no better way to do it, is that you don't get any youth at all. Not one person under 30 has been called by any major pollster in the United States, because not one of us has been able to vote for enough elections to become a likely voter. And yet, with Kerry leading Bush 4 to 1 among 18-24 year olds.... If no one turns out to vote then it's a mute point I guess, but I have a candle of hope that this will be the year where youth finally makes good on the promise of the 27th Amendment.

posted by john owens-ream   [3:39 PM]

Wow. New Jersey is a swing state.

posted by Matthew Schmitz   [11:28 AM]

Susan, Olga, Bryan, and I had our first mini tasp reunion yesterday in harvard square. Susan proposes that all of us wear our beautiful texas shirts every month, on the first monday. Coincidentially, I was wearing mine yesterday, and I had the great luck of finally meeting two people from the cornell tasp. (It was the shirt's work, really--"Whoa, you did tasp 03? TASP 03!") Isa and Adam (Lesnikowski, not Giangkowksi) say hello.

posted by Eunice   [9:57 AM]

Cat Stevens Deported? Thought I'd share this with you all:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-09-21-jet-diverted_x.htm
does anyone have any idea where they get off thinking the writer of "Peace Train" is a dangerous guy? Who's next, Ringo?

posted by john owens-ream   [12:55 PM]

I'm really really far behind on the posts, so I've got a lot of reading to do, but I wanted to tell you all about a newly formed alliance between the Cornel and the Austin. I joined an A Capella called the Society of Opheus and Bacchus, and one of my co-Neophites is Greg Korb, from I think the Cornel II program. Anyway, the SOB's now have the highest concentration of Taspers of any of the A Capellas. On a sadder note, he and I will not be able to attend the October 2 event in New York because there is also a function for the A Capella which leaves before school on the 1st.

Hope school is going well for everyone.

posted by Adrian   [5:49 AM]

Huge recommendation: Green Day's Newest album, American Idiot. First CD that I've bought on my own in at least 12 months. David Letterman even called them: single handedly keeping rock and roll alive. It's a perfect blend of punk-rock and rebellion, like a 50 cotton and a 50 poly blend, which wraps you in emotion, while still having the durability of rock and roll I can tell will not fade the spin cycle of pop culture. Or something.

which high school did she go to Matt? (there are a million people in Omaha- but as Alex showed, stranger things have happened)

posted by john owens-ream   [11:36 PM]

Congratulations Adrian for being a SOB*!


(*SOB= Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, an a capella group with an intentional acronym problem.)

(I miss you too, Susan! All the Harvardians except Bryan-who-chooses-to-shun-me.)

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [6:52 PM]

WOOOO I finally got a cell phone... WOOOOO 413-627-9315. Not much to say about those jerks at harvard :p I still haven't seen them. Thinks are crazy. I got a keyboard for my dorm. It's part of my plan to really annoy my roommate. He's really cool and we're having a jolly old time. My entire floor is really cool. It lacks taspers, however

posted by Adam   [7:24 PM]

My nickname here at Princeton is "Nebraska" even though there is a girl here from Omaha (do you know someone named Gabriella, John?). People also say, "Do you live near Omaha? That's where all the good bands are from." I auditioned, unsuccessfully, for one of Princeton's hallowed acapella groups. I live next to a guy from Stuyvesant named Jeff Hamilton and I tell him you are brilliant, Olga.
I'm also studying the Eastern Orthodox tradition of iconography, a tradition they consider more valuable for transmitting the gospel than preaching --mysterious, creative, fascinating stuff, the painting of truth. Iconographic esthetics anyone?
It is not quite TASP; there are too many capitalists, too few pirates.

Love,
Matthew

posted by Matthew Schmitz   [6:31 PM]

Alex- which dorm do you live in? (I lived mere blocks away from Uof C for 14 years remember)- I recommend getting involved in Doc films, they do good stuff. Medici's on 57th is great food and still open after even the latest Doc films get out. It's across the street from Ray School which is where I spent 7 grade school years. There's also several used book stores in 59th you'd like, including an antiquarian. Oh, and matt, yeah. He's a good kid, a cool kid too- loves phish and jam bands. Was in a band named Nextweus and even (i think) considered staying near Omaha to keep going with it; he plays bass like nobodies business, also saxophone or something, all around great musician. But his girlfriend dumped him like sophomore year, and then I ended up dating her for a long time just prior to Tasp, so I'm pretty sure he still hates my guts. But, se la vi, still a cool kid.

The spell checher, bless it's cold machine-smelling heart, want's to turn Tasp into "teacup"

posted by john owens-ream   [5:25 PM]

things that suck: people not posting. harvardians (what are y'all, anyway...the reds, or something?), y'all are there, are you not...details, details! what classes are you taking, what ridiculous escapades have you gotten yourselves into, how weird are your roommates? (cause believe me, mine's a doozy.)

things that don't suck: watching harold and maude last night, with at least one tasper. and no one thinking it was sappy or corny.

(if you want to sing out sing out...)

posted by Kelsey   [11:27 AM]

Thank you!
Ahhhh I just wrote a paper on Phaedo this morning!!!

I forgot to mention, Alex, that we DID run into Greg Korb on the way to Liz Tulis' house but he wanted to avoid the formal introduction cause he was crossing the street.

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [5:43 PM]

I have Jamie's cell phone number- its the same as at tasp: 512.797.8878 I'll try to pester him tomorrow for an address.

Meanwhile I will spend my friday night enjoying greek life.

(I have Phaedo reading)

posted by aimee   [5:20 PM]

Yearbook housekeeping:

If any of you have the contact info for the following people, please email them to me:

JAMIE MAY
BRYAN LEE (darn you, Bryan)
MATTHEW SCHMITZ
JARED FRYER

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [12:28 PM]

It took me a little while to find something more important to me than this election coming up: but I've found it. For the last few years I've been trying to explain to family and friends why I'm so disturbed by what's going on in Russia these days. The seperatisist Chechen movement is a perpetual and never endable "war" that Russia is fighting- are war with hazy parameters and which inspires fervent patriotism everywhere else in Russia. Putin's "United Russia" party as well as the "Motherland" party (a sort of fake opposition which backs Putin) tap into that patriotism and turn it into the idea that questioning either the party or it's leaders, is unpatriotic. In the presidential elections, the most powerful opposition figures to Putin all either "dissapeared," died mysteriously, or were arrested on seemingly random charges... then after spending time in seclusion unmonitored by outside sources in Russia, came on national telivision and apologized for standing in opposition to "progress" and "unity."

The same followed true for leading economic figures: sort of like if Kerry, Edwards, Dean, and the rest, all just disapeared out of the political landscape, no one ran any opposition to Bush this November, following which the supreme court was outlawed, and Bill Gates and Warren Buffett were arested and jailed and all their possessions were confiscated. Except worse.

The reason I'm posting is because up until today I'd felt just sort of like a conspiricy theorist (in fact, I hoped that's all it was). I'm Certainly not an expert in Russian politics or anything- but todays NYTimes really shook me up: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/international/europe/13CND-RUSS.html?hp

Something is going on in Russia right now, and it's not good, and it's not safe, and it's much more dangerous than Iraq or "Terrorism." I'm not sure what posting this here does, except alert incredibly smart people to a big problem. But it's better than feeling totally helpless to News reports. Bush and Kerry has pretty much equally bad appeasment views of Putin ("He's our brother in Fighting Terrorism") but Bush has closer ties to Russian oil, and seems slighlty more likely to ignore what's going on over there. Still, this should be a bipartisan thing, when the 2nd most powerful nation in the world starts a blatent march towards dictatorship, everyone should care.

These in just the last month or two:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10C13FA38590C728CDDA10894DC404482

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40C16F73E590C748EDDAE0894DC404482


http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60712F9395E0C7B8DDDAE0894DC404482

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70710FC3B5F0C738DDDAE0894DC404482

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20717FD3D5F0C768CDDAE0894DC404482

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10814FD3F5D0C738EDDAF0894DC404482

posted by john owens-ream   [5:41 PM]

The term "lame prize" refers to a comment at a house meeting. We were discussing some kind of reward for cleaning or something. Alex said "that's a lame prize" to whom Jamie said "you're a lame prize, yablon." Incredible.

I really should do some work bye

posted by Adam   [9:54 AM]

okay so I'm putting off my reading and viewing Tex-men! And it just occurred to me I'd forgotten something: where does the phrase "lame prize" come from? What did Jamie call a lame prize?

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [4:58 PM]

Pictures from the inter-TASP reunion that happened in Liz Tulis' apartment about fifteen minutes ago:


(left to right:) someone, Elise (Cornell), Lauren (Michigan), Dustin (whatever it says on his shirt)


Dustin again, Haruko (Cornell), Bennett (Michigan)


sorry these are blurry:

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [11:39 AM]

Even when away from Nebraska, I find it, this time in Ted Kooser.

Pasture Trees

Generations of cows, long gone to market
fat and forlorn, once lipped the lowest leaves
and nibbled the lower limbs until these old

box elder trees are level as thunderheads
across their bases, showering shadows
into the long, lush grass, a rain of absence

pattering flat on the hard-packed cow path
turning toward home, toward the hilltop barn
that fell away, that followed the cattle

lowing into the past, its creaking slats
sore-sided as a rack of wet alfalfa
from laboring under the weight of weather;

that steamy barn that hid the rising sun
as the cows walked slowly out into the world
every morning like widows leaning on air;

that stark, black silhouette that for a moment
each evening held the galvanized pail
of the moon tipped under the bony elbow

of an eave--a dented moon that slowly filled
with milk for the many who lived here then:
happy, unhappy: young people and old

who borrowed bitterly to own those creatures
who danced all day on their back legs, stretching
to eat the very trees that gave them shade.

posted by Matthew Schmitz   [2:55 PM]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KELSEY!

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [11:02 PM]

off to go camping(Ecohouse dorm camping trip)!
As if we weren't hippie enough- we just had a house debate about how much nudity should be allowed because technically anywhere men can take off their shirts, women can be legally topless. It's wonderful! Many of the girls/women/what are we? in the house are capable of being nonchalantly nude, with all sorts of ideas about healthful nakedness/openness/comfort. Its very interesting- and the upshot of the conversation: a budding nudist colony. Hahaha yay female progressivism.
I went to a non-partisan political discussion group today- the topic anchor was the separation of church and state, but the discussion was WONDERFUL!! The first good tasp-quality debate i've had in a while, mostly by the [student] facilitator's ease at directing the discussion, playing devil's advocate with an endless supply of wonderful conundrums.
mwah.

posted by aimee   [9:17 PM]

changed my screenname...it's now "giant head of i.m. pei" (no punctuation though, of course.)

posted by Kelsey   [8:18 PM]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MONICA!

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [11:23 AM]

I wanted to have a forum where I could post poems to friends and have them post back to me. The answer? Of course a blog. (the answer to global warming? Global warming blogs!)

http://poemblog.blogspot.com/ - is where I set it up, and it is in it's very early infancy. Like most 3rd world blogs it has a high infant mortality rate (blogs started from Iraq tend to flourish with new flexes of free speech and appreciation... blogs in America atrophy from neglect).

One sure thing to help it live to to join in, post a poem you wrote every once and a while. Anyone who wants an invite should email me and request one. It may be my main method of procrastination this semester- so I have high hopes for it.

(and yes, I know, we already have a tasper poetry page thanks to wonderful taspers we all know (also becuase of them- and the general coolness of everyone in Austin- we have the most kick-ass tasper community ever)- but I wouldn't want to give out editing power to the geocities site to any non-taspers, and yet wanted somewhere others could post as well.)

question: is anyone else attending vigils tonight to pray and share feelings about the death of the 1000th US soldier?

posted by john owens-ream   [9:27 AM]

i turned in a paper today that i started literally two hours before it was due (y'all would be proud.) it was an existential analysis of a comic strip featuring a toddler in diapers. i titled it, of course, "peeing and nothingness." beat that guys.

posted by Kelsey   [9:45 PM]

Hey everybody. It's been kinda crazy what with moving in and first classes and such. i actually don't even have my computer yet because those idiots at university computers haven't don't have it yet. i'm using my roommates computer right now. He's from ohio and he's really cool. But yeah that's why I haven't really been blogging. Also, I know Eunice in Cambrige, hiding somwhere :p Nah it's kinda hard for me to contact anyone since i don't have my computer or my phone yet. Computer will be in tomorrow or I will smash things, the phone I should be getting sometime next week.

posted by Adam   [2:09 PM]

Monica sent me this article from the New York Times, saying it "made her think back to tasp." It looks as though our buddy Dana Gioia will never leave us alone.

I also ran into a guy named Eric sporting a Deep Springs T-shirt. He knows Jacob. :)

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [1:47 PM]

I was out hunting for breakfast this morning when someone just stopped me on the street and asked if I happened to be Tae-Yeoun.
Turns out I had run into Liz Tulis, who's at Yale [again] and is willing to coordinate a TASP celebration in New Haven! Once we have everything fine-tuned, we'll send out invitations even though attendance should be mandatory.

Secondly, OOH! SEAMUS HEANEY POEM!
Here's a poem I've shared with Olga already that I love so much because it's so tacky in such an endearing way.


Twice Shy

Her scarf a la Bardot,
In suede flats for the walk,
She came with me one evening
For air and friendly talk.
We crossed the quiet river,
Took the embankment walk.

Traffic holding its breath,
Sky a tense diaphragm:
Dusk hung like a backcloth
That shook where a swan swam,
Tremulous as a hawk
Hanging deadly, calm.

A vacuum of need
Collapsed each hunting heart
But tremulously we held
As hawk and prey apart,
Preserved classic decorum,
Deployed our talk with art.

Our Juvenilia
Had taught us both to wait,
Not to publish feeling
And regret it all too late -
Mushroom loves already
Had puffed and burst in hate.

So, chary and excited,
As a thrush linked on a hawk,
We thrilled to the March twilight
With nervous childish talk:
Still waters running deep
Along the embankment walk.

- Seamus Heaney


And, CONGRATULATIONS ALEX B for getting a part (I forgot it alreay; forgive me) in Rhinoceros.

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [3:34 PM]

I got to meet Elizabeth Edwards Today! She was amazingly and suprisingly full of poise, strength, and whip-smart spark. I didn't like her so much before, but she was truly awe-inspiringly insperational.

posted by john owens-ream   [3:09 PM]

Oh, no Olga. I just read the saw your post; it would have been fantastic to meet up.
Princeton is treating me well so far. I'll be taking a seminar on the Brothers Karamazov and the double-credit supercourse Humanistic Studies on both of which I plan to unleash my weapons of TASP discussion. Okay, so my political rhetoric is weakening.

My new cell is 402 340-2910; do call if any of you are in town.

posted by Matthew Schmitz   [6:40 PM]

Hey everybody-

This post is coming to you from far away KCMO (Kansas City)- which probably doesn't mean a lot to you all- but it feals pretty far away since I've been stuck in Omaha and Soiux Falls, SD for going on 9 months now. (plus a beautiful interlude of one night I drove out to visit Eunice in Minn.)

My dad convinced me to road trip with him out here under the auspices of working in the John Kerry office out here since it's a much more big-league operation and presumablyI'd learn a lot about the campaign. The office I'm typing to you from is an old converted PayLess shoe store...it's a beehive of people running around and making phone calls; it's great here. I hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend- a classic liberal holiday, I might add.

But apart from partisan things, the main purpose of this post is to let Aimee know that she too has a twin, who lives here in KC. And her twin- gasp- has non-chalantly decided not to shave her legs anymore - and when I first saw her she was wearing a cowboy hat! Now that was hard to believe-

question: I need to figure out all the states that people live in as of their college residence: ie, Eunice should keep her registration in MN cause it's more of a battlground- Bryan and Brian should do the same- but Alex Y and Alex B. might both want to change theirs (Alex Y. just so he can vote for the wonderful Barak Obama) - which also leads me to a recomendation: downloading Obama's convention speach here at audible .com

posted by john owens-ream   [3:46 PM]

"Why can't the computers boil water in Florida?"
(asked by lady on the sidewalk adjacent to Harvard Square--this reminded me of the "you smell like robots." Perhaps it is a sign that TASPish revelations appear here too.) I am in dorm crew, meeting and greeting wonderul, friendly people. Tomorrow I begin scrubbing toilets and sweeping hallways for a delicious 10.45 an hour. Life is good.

posted by Eunice   [8:39 AM]

Does anyone know what mock trial is? Being silly and very good at getting myself into interesting scenarios, I am "trying out" for it tomorrow, and have very little notion as to what this entails.

afternote (that is in fact longer than my post): Yesterday the ecology house had a movie night featuring, yes, Harolde & Maude!!! Kelsey, Jacob, Alex, in your place i sat in the back and sang along to imbue a new generation with love for funerals, daisies, and Cat Stevens.

posted by aimee   [12:40 PM]

I would like to make a public announcement that JACOB IS NOW OFFICIALLY THE ONLY TASPER LEFT OUT OF THE SEQUEL TO THE YEARBOOK as Natashia has turned in her questionnaire and contact info. :) Yay Natashia!

I forgot to recount (well it's still ongoing but you know what I mean) the three-way reunion at Yale that officially began when Alex finally joined us after getting killed on stage and then taking apart the stage for a few more nights into the freshmen orientation. We arranged to have lunch together Tuesday, spent eternity trying to figure out where to go (Adrian suggested one of the college dining halls, I whined without providing solutions, Alex being Alex was okay with everything), and when we finally agreed to walk down the street to pick out promising places, was stopped by a homeless lady Adrian ended up buying lunch for. And then we had lunch, during the duration of which we got to look through Adrian's slides, talk about weird aspects of college life, share summer stories, try to remember the fourth line of The Second Coming, and more.

That's it for now. Miss you lots. All of you, even the ones here.

(thank you, Eunice; I forgot that I no longer had the time difference advantage and instinctively assumed I could wait till evening to put up the birthday greetings... one more thing: please remember what I emailed you about a few weeks ago regarding the international spy network and Bryan Lee.)

OH! Speaking of Bryan Lee, I met the Bryan-Lee-at-Yale my friend mentioned and whose mentioning of him I mentioned a few months ago!

posted by Tae-Yeoun Keum   [6:24 PM]

Hmm I'm kinda curious as to how I"m gonna meet up with all of you. At the moment I do not know how you're gonna be able to contact me by phone, because sadly, I won't be getting a cell phone til like october T_T. I'll see if I can't set up an account for my dorm or something til then. Anyway I'll probably be online all the time so keep me informed.

posted by Adam   [5:48 PM]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. RANDALL!!!

posted by Eunice   [1:04 PM]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!!

posted by Eunice   [12:57 PM]

yay brian! when do you start school btw?
and a petite movie recommendation- last night I saw a movie called "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, " with Jim Carey in one of his serious roles :o-K

posted by aimee   [10:00 AM]

aiight all yall harvardians got to give up your cell or room numbers to me... this is because i can't stand having to walk around wondering just when and how i might meet up with all yalls. so this is the brillant solution
mine is
uh
cell - (617)417-6483
if any of you taspers decide to call me
pls make it past 7 MY time... (mountain time or eastern when i get to boston on the 10th) because as much as i love you all, im still a cheapskate. or free on the weekends. it's all good

lastly, im beginning to become afraid of this talk of clones of me walking around other schools as well as some international spy network...

post lastly, john, colorado's already been hashed up with its damn jerry-mandering. as liberal as it is among the MIDWEST (ahem- that's right MIDWEST), it's still staunchly republican. i guess every vote counts tho...

posted by Bryan Lee   [10:50 PM]

mmm....
i guess i really ought to post my contact info...
but what better way to have my tasp friends hunt me down to get it?

ah well... the true story is... i'm just really lazy and it's upstairs somewhere (and I'm on wi-fi so you can imagine how lazy i really am). anyhow... i just wanted to say to you all that you all kick butt and sadly enough, even though i thought that the movie was horrible and disgusting, it has great memories with you all and makes me love you all even more (especially with that song running through my head...)... and i really need to get jamie's contact info because i owe him $20... (sigh, i feel guilty).

wow... this is the most i've said...
in a long time
to all of you
WHICH MEANS I BETTER START SEEING SOME OTHER ANTI-SOCIAL FREAKS RESPONDING...soon... or not... just don't shoot me... lol...i'm trying to out-grow my savagery but is it really possible?

posted by Bryan Lee   [10:50 PM]

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