• Photo by Karen Houle / Used with Permission

Guys and Dolls is a fun musical set in 1930s’ New York City in the 1930s and is about gamblers, strippers, lying, and love, featuring hit numbers such as “Luck Be a Lady Tonight” and “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.”  It was particularly fun to listen all the references to New York, since we had been getting to know the city for the past few days; for example, every time a character mentioned the subway or there was a sound cue of a rumbling train, I laughed and remembered taking the wrong train and getting lost earlier that day.  My mom originally chose this play, instead of the dozens of other Broadway shows, because of the fact that Lauren Graham, star of the television show Gilmore Girls, was performing as Miss Adelaide, a leading role.  As both my mom and I are huge fans of Graham and Gilmore Girls, this was the cherry on our Broadway sundae.  However, luck was not a lady for us because that night, Graham’s understudy stepped up to play the role.  Although we were disappointed, we only remained so until the show started; the understudy, Lorin Latarro, graduated from Juliard.  On Broadway, even the actor with the smallest part is largely talented.

The performances were without fault—the dancing in particular was impeccable—although, on Broadway, I would not expect anything less.  As I said before, even the ensemble embodied their characters and hit every note.  I have noticed that once the acting performances are at such a high level, the audience no longer has to evaluate or critique the performances and can instead lose themselves in the story.  Although, since I have become intimate with the other production aspects of a play,  I instead began to pay attention to things like lighting, sound, and costumes.

Most of what you pay for when seeing a Broadway show does not go to the actors—they are called starving artists for a reason—but to the technical aspects.  The lighting on Guys and Dolls was exciting and vibrant; the stage utilized giant neon signs to represent Broadway and a moving background on a cyclorama screen in the back.  I was also especially impressed by the sound, which included a full orchestra on stage behind the screen.  In one scene, a group of dancing mobsters are playing in a craps game, but no dice are rolled; the effect of dice is portrayed all through the actors’ physicality and a sound cues.  The timing of the entire effect or music, dancing, and sound had me forgetting that the dice were not there.  I wanted to high-five the stage manager calling the cues so precisely that I was believing without seeing.  Another cool effect was a surround-sound plane taking, a combination of a moving image on the screen and a moving roar overhead.

Guys and Dolls was a memorable example of why I will always get dolled up to go see plays.  The enjoyment experienced and quality of the performance are why people are continually willing to shell out hundreds of dollars to see plays in a time when disposable income is hard to obtain.  I loved Guys and Dolls and I hope I have the opportunity to see many more shows like it.

• Photo by Xiaming / Used with Permission

• Photo by / Used with Permission

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Of the three universities I visited, McKenna had the best academic program by far. Unlike other major universities, McKenna allows students to start major/minor work during the freshman year. Actually, majors are organized in a completely different structure. Most majors are, in fact, dual majors. The majority of listed majors involve international relations, economics, or government, but not all. A few listed majors:

• Biology-legal studies
• Economics-psychology
• Government– French
• International relations– history

One of the most popular majors is known as PPE (philosophy, politics, and economics). The majors listed above are not double majors, they are dual majors. McKenna allows students to combine subjects and thus lower the amount of required courses. The average class size (for all four years) is 20 students to every professor– definitely a plus.

During the Junior year, students are encouraged to study abroad. In fact, 50% of every class studies abroad as a Junior. In a pamphlet, the dean of the faculty wrote, “In a world of increasing interconnections, CMC students, as future leaders, need to experience directly the diverse world that surrounds us: its cultural perspective, its languages, its politics, and its educational customs”. Because so many students study abroad, the curriculum is designed to accommodate. I guess the classes missed while abroad junior year are completed freshman and sophomore year.

The downside to an excellent academic program is the size of the campus. McKenna only has 1,211 students and only about 320 students are admitted each year. The campus is fairly small and you don’t exactly feel like you’re in a very vibrant, happening place. I don’t exactly sense the stereotypical busy college atmosphere from McKenna. This is a big downside. I recommend visiting the school, even for a short time. You can quickly gain a sense of the lifestyle and atmosphere.

McKenna appeals to me because of its comprehensive academics. Students who leave the school feel they are ready to “take on the world”. The school, and faculty, can set students up with a variety of jobs, internships, and connections in the real world. Leaving McKenna, students are truly prepared. Being an international relations, politics, and economics enthusiast, I am intrigued quite a bit by the curriculum– but it’s not for everyone.

• Photo by Dcrowley10 / Used with Permission

• Photo by / Used with Permission

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The first campus we visited was UCLA. Of the three colleges we ended up visiting, UCLA had the best campus. I am a fan of the classical architecture of the Greeks and Romans. My favorite campuses, The Ivy League schools, have an aura of grandeur about them. UCLA emulated the architecture of a different era– the Spanish renaissance. A couple buildings appeared influenced by gothic architecture; a few in the newer medical facilities were a bit more modern in design. Most grandiose buildings, including the library, were built of rusty brick. Many students sat on the sprawling green lawns. According to a student, the campus is never hit by smog or smoldering heat because of its proximity to the coast. The UCLA campus truly reminded me of eminent institutions back East. The campus and weather was probably my favorite aspect of UCLA.

In terms of academics, UCLA has a highly competitive and rigorous program. For the first two years, most students are simply placed in huge lecture halls with 200–400 students. Students rarely speak with professors; instead, they are assigned to TAs for weekly group meetings. Most classes progress on a 10 week schedule (the school year is divided into quarters), with a midterm or two followed by a final exam. Homework is virtually worth null. The campus is divided into two sections: the North (humanities) and South (math and science) areas. I’m unfamiliar with the academic workload Junior and Senior years.

Of the schools I visited, UCLA felt the most alive and vibrant. Walking down corridors and paths, student advocates and club members could be easily spotted. I gained the sense that students at UCLA are extremely involved with various clubs and student organizations. A student source at the school recommended focusing on academics for the first few quarters, then branch out to extracurricular activities and other involvements once you become acquainted with the workload. I definitely enjoyed being on campus at UCLA quite a bit. Just off campus is a vibrant social scene in the Village as well. Only a couple bus stops from the beach, UCLA is ideally located at the center of ambition and opportunity.

My only complaints of UCLA are of the size — both the student population and in the classroom. I have heard that students often feel like a number. Rarely, in freshman or sophomore year, will you receive personal attention from professors. Class sizes are abominably large, and thought of simply being tended to by a TA is not comforting. The mere size of the campus and student population is a bit overwhelming. However, with many of the UCs, students say, “It’s what you make of it”.

• Photo by Genemoo / Used with Permission

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Roquentin’s peculiar problem with nausea, the physical symptoms of Sartre’s anguish, rings true especially due to my and my friends’ age: situated precisely on the precipice of being endowed full responsibility for being. We must soon seize the reins absolutely; before, we have had only the tails protruding behind the fists of our keepers. That impending responsibility coupled with physical development serves as impetus for all the, so-called, ups and downs of the teenage years. This book, Nausea, could provide a modicum of guidance to my fellows who might be floundering: it will show that one cannot help but flounder in the sweet sickness of existence, but that from simple existence one must construct themselves and lend their life a meaning – or an essence.

If I am to recommend this novel to a person who, for whatever reason, is not interested in the aforementioned philosophizing; the plot of Nausea shines brightly even separate of ontological overtones. Antoine Roquentin’s story seems to defy classification: it is not an action novel, not particularly a romance nor historical fiction though the main character is an historian. The events, relayed through a diary, are simply a fictional account of Roquentin’s experience of the phenomenon ‘nausea,’ but it’s not a horror story; it is the account of an existence – and from that, its appeal appears. Since the novel is so consummately focused on an existence, albeit often an ‘absurd’ one, nearly all can relate to it. And sometimes, that is enough for an enjoyable read: one does not always need a fantastical account of great deeds, only a sense of solidarity with and understanding of the protagonist’s plight.

All the appeals of the plot and of the philosophy are nothing if the novel is not accessible. War & Peace is an excellent example of great literature left unread due to its supreme girth and lengthy, but beautiful, prose. Nausea, thankfully for those to which it is recommended, is accessible – but not simple. It is of an average length, running about 175 pages dependent on the printing, and the exposition is approaching economical though, coalesced with the substance of the story, it proffers that challenge which is indispensable to reading.

No novel has ever attained a ubiquitous appeal, so I must consider that particular of my friends may hold convictions or have preferences contrary to those evinced in Nausea. Of course, it is relatively safe to assume that friends to which I would recommend a text, from their definition as friends, share the same general spectrum of interests as I do – so smoothing some contentious grounds; but, one particular place at which I foresee certain of said-friends taking issue is the denial, or absence, of God. The novel’s concept could properly be seen to base itself on Dostoevsky’s “if God doesn’t exist then everything is permitted,” and if the reader is to believe in God then it is logical that they would be put off by such a structure. Yet, I would still recommend it: exposing oneself to varying opinions and assertions is key to establishing a solid belief in what one does believe, or the opportunity to modify one’s precepts on fresh information; ignorance must never be the excuse for one’s principles.

I recommend Jean-Paul Sartre’s Nausea above other like works, because, whether one accepts or rejects the assumptions upon which it is based, it is not too great of an ordeal to read nor does it consume time excessive to the enjoyment garnered; the subject matter is intriguing – from detachment if one disagrees, and from the depths if one agrees; and, perhaps with primacy over the rest of the criterion, the story evokes compassion and involves the reader despite their position on the subject matter. I have, actually, recommended this book to certain of my fellows before, and one, now, is in the process of reading it – so far, she has reported favorably though I know her beliefs to be opposed to Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialism. Thus, my decision to recommend Nausea has been vindicated; if my constant suggestion of books to my friends is enough to induce in but a few people an agreeable literary experience then I will persevere.

• Photo by Librairie Mollat Bordeaux / Used with Permission

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Sedaris reaches out to his audience through his humor. He tells a story that most people would have sympathy for – had he written it like other authors in this world. Instead, he incorporates short stories that make the reader laugh along with him at his memories.

Rather than droning on and on about his monotonous guitar lessons, Sedaris writes about his very little guitar teacher. Rants about his terrible students transforms into sarcastic comments he wishes he could make, and pitiful train rides turn into dreams of calling an American tourist out.

Trying to find his place in this world, David experiments with his creative side. Failing to make it as a glorified artist in his eyes, he takes a job offered to him as a writing teacher. Still, David does not give a full effort:

Because I was the writing teacher, it was automatically assumed that I had read every leather-bound volume in the Library of Classics. The truth was that I had read none of those books, nor did I intend to… I learned it was easier to simply reply with a question, saying, ‘I know what Flaubert means to me, but what do you think of her?’ (86)

David basically BS’s everything he does in his early adult life. He tries to get by using the simplest solutions without really thinking of the future consequences. Instead of investing his time in useful matter for both him and his students, David turns to useless drug and alcohol use. Eventually, he sinks so low that his clever idea for an assignment involved episodes of One Life to Live – a soap opera filled with endless twists. Sadly, but at the same time amusingly, David half-asses almost all that he does.

Gay and misunderstood in Raleigh, North Carolina, David journeys to France with his boyfriend Hugh. In France, he encounters all sorts of people from all walks of life as he tries to learn the oh-so beautiful French language. “My only comfort was the knowledge that I was not alone. Huddled in the hallways and making the most of our pathetic French, my fellow students and I engaged in the sort of conversation commonly overheard in refugee camps” (172). Throughout the second part of the book, David focuses on his French – a language he is really not good at. He and his fellow classmates talk about their evil teacher and her insulting ways, all in broken French, which makes for a good laugh. Sedaris plays off his trouble with the language by easily making fun of himself and by revealing some of the more interesting conversations.

The story really reaches its pinnacle when David and his classmates try to explain to a Moroccan student what Easter is – all in dreadful French. “‘It is,’ said one, ‘a party for the little boy of God who call his self Jesus and … oh, shit.’” At this point, reading the book near a strict librarian might not be the best idea.

Filled with at least seventeen anecdotes that leaves its reader trying to catch their breath from all the laughs, Me Talk Pretty One Day is definitely a book to pick up at the library or bookstore. Sedaris’ way of recalling his memorable past makes the reader want to feel bad for him but as he makes fun of himself, one can’t help but laugh along with him. So, please, if you given the time, could read this book you?

ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY
By David Sedaris
272 pp. Little, Brown and Company.

• Photo by Subliminalpudding / Used with Permission

• Photo by / Used with Permission

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