Back to school

It's been one month since the start of the academic year. My classes are going really well, and I've found myself with a lot of extra free time because I've begun experimenting with a polyphasic sleep schedule where I sleep 4.5 hours each night with two 20 minute naps at 6 hour intervals. I haven't felt this inspired in a long time!

Here are two major things I want to do this semester:

1. Start a podcast where I invite someone who is affiliated with Harvard for a 30 minute conversational interview and put the recorded interview online. The first issue I want to interview people about are about class differences.
2. Start a wellness campaign where I spread awareness about polyphasic and segmented sleep schedules and the power of naps. Ultimately, I want to set up safe nap spaces around the yard where people can pop in and take a 20 minute nap.

If I can do these two things this semester, then I will consider my semester a success. Then I can start tackling the other projects that I have on my list, which are mostly coding projects or club related.

How many memoirs about Harvard are there?

So far, just two that I know of: "Penelope" by Rebecca Harrington and "That Book about Harvard" by Eric Kester. One of these books is more creatively titled than the other, though that doesn't say much considering "Penelope" is a book about a Harvard freshman named Penelope. Technically, "Penelope" isn't a memoir, but it is probably similar enough to Harrington's own freshman experiences that I'm going to consider it a memoir for the purposes of this post.

Interestingly, both authors graduated Harvard in 2008, both were involved in the Crimson, and both currently work for the Huffington Post. I'm sensing a conspiracy here.

Another fun fact about being a part of a publication at Harvard: Conan O'Brien '85 was president of the Lampoon and Jeff Zucker '86 was president of the Crimson (probably during the same years as each other). Fast forward about 25 years later: Jeff Zucker is CEO of NBC and Conan O'Brien is hosting a late night show on that same network.

Now, back to the books. I'm actually pretty interested to read these, seeing as my own freshman year was a roller coaster of emotions. My amazing academic and personal experiences were unfortunately counterbalanced by tons of social anxiety as I struggled to find my niche. I was just talking to my freshman year roommate about this last night, actually. We both came back from the summer with totally different perspectives on the upcoming year, but I'm losing my perspective a lot quicker than she is. It's only been two weeks, and I can already feel myself regressing to my freshman year mindset. Maybe these books will help me keep things in perspective.

Edit: And now a third. "A Darker Shade of Crimson: Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano" by Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Takeaways from living in Los Angeles

“I want to go places and see people. I want my mind to grow. I want to live where things happen on a big scale.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Ice Palace

Five things that helped me be happier:

1. Working out three times a week. Joining a gym with a tight community helped me get in shape and meet new people! Crossfit gyms are especially great because all the workouts are done in groups, and you generally see the same people coming to classes.

2. Going out at least twice a week. One of the best pieces of advice I read this summer is from Thought Catalog, and it goes like this: If you’re feeling depressed and you’re not sure why, there’s a 70% chance you just need to leave your apartment and be social.

3. Gaining a new skill. I wished I'd put more effort into learning how to code, but one fun cs project I did over the summer was the redesign of Harvard Fusion Magazine's website.

4. Talking to friends and family back home. It's easy to take them for granted, but they're the only people who will always be there for you when you're feeling down.

5. Reading self-help books and books written by comedians.

One website that might improve your LA experience: http://www.dailyiso.com/

One really important thing that I learned about myself:

I love living in the middle of a city. I love seeing the sides of skyscraper buildings glitter with lit office rooms. I love seeing a cluster of skyscrapers getting closer and growing bigger as I drive deeper into downtown. I love how the skyscrapers loom over me, making me feel so apart of the city yet so small in its history. I feel awe when I'm in a car going down the highway, and I see downtown rising before me. It's cheesy, I know, but I freaking feel like I'm going home.

One thing I wish I had done:

Stay as long as possible on the west coast. I went home on August 15th, which I now realize was horrible decision. I don't return to Boston until the 31st, which gives me almost a full three weeks at home. In that time, I could have couchsurfed through San Francisco or visited a friend in Seattle. I'm annoyed that I missed the chance to get more out of my west coast experience. From now on I will never spend more than a week and a half at home. I've realized that a week and a half is the perfect length of time to hang out with my family and friends while still being relieved to get out of the house at the end of my visit.

Three professions I would love to try some day

This post was inspired by the real life professions of three people in my Groundlings improv class. I've noticed that the people in my improv classes are not only really funny, but also have the coolest professions. Here are three I'd like to try some day:

1. Post-Production Editor for Playboy

Post production is the editing that takes place after a TV show, movie, or short film has finishing shooting. It involves cutting scenes, color correction, sound effects, and any other edits necessary to polish up the video.

The good part:

"I love my job," says Dawn, who works in post-production for Playboy, "I basically edit porn all day. And the people are so nice!"

The downside:

"My job is so boring!" complains Dawn. "I watch videos of naked women all day on a computer screen in a dark room. Nobody ever comes by. I'm practically starving for human interaction all day!"

I don't know what's true with her.

2. Production Assistant for Rupaul's Drag Race

Borges likes to think of himself as an old man. He owns a typewriter and wears a bathrobe at home. He has many seemingly random tattoos on his arms as a reminder of his younger days living with a tattoo artist and drinking a lot. I think he helps out on set. Lately, he's been editing the newest season.

His thoughts on his job: "You get really jaded. Now, whenever I see a hot woman walk by, I first assume she's a man. I've been burned too many times."

3. High Stakes Gambler
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Lily is one of the few Asian females who plays poker at these $150 buy-in poker games. She got into poker after her boyfriend took her to a few tournaments.

Her thoughts on her win-loss ratio: "I know it's bad to say, but I haven't really been keeping track of my wins or losses. My boyfriend does that for me. I think I'm in the green though."

If it's possible to have controlled reckless gambling, then she's got it, and there's something strangely compelling about it.

Takeaways from my internship

Advice for work:

1. At the beginning of the summer, make sure you set up the metrics of your internship with your supervisor. In other words, make sure you know what qualities will make you a good intern in the eyes of your boss. This will also help you think about the end product of the internship: what you get out of it, what you deliver to the company, and what standards work for you.

Important questions to ask include:

• What are the deliverables? What are some tangible things I will bring to the table at the end of the summer? For me, these would include a written strategic and operational plan, research on potential grant makers, and a letter of inquiry for several local banks.
• What is expected of me? This includes expectations for how quickly you turn in assignments, how you should approach asking for more responsibilities, and the expectations for coming into the office. I had really flexible hours and would often show up pretty late. My boss didn't say anything about it until the very last week, but by then it was already too late to change. 
• What am I being measured against? How do I exceed the legacies of past interns? What do I need to do so that you consider me a successful intern at the end of the summer? 

2. Don't leave the office without asking your co-workers if there is anything you can help them out with. My boss actually praised me about on this during the mid-internship review. 

3. Ask to learn the skills you want to gain. If you don't know what skills you want to gain, ask to learn the most marketable skills. That ways, you at least leave with something desirable. If you're at a nonprofit and don't know what skill you want to gain, ask to learn about development. Development is generally the fundraising side. I've learned that I don't care for development. However, knowing how to write successful grant proposals is a highly desirable skill. The program side of a nonprofit is also a good place to start.

4. Ask for a mid-internship review and an exit interview.

5. Write a personal mission statement. This is a good exercise to figure out what you want to purpose of your internship to be. Also, it's a chance to ask yourself, what must be true in order for me to be happy at this internship? Then, make sure those factors which are critical to your happiness exist at your internship.

6. Make sure your organization is ready for your arrival. For example, I didn't get a key until the last two weeks of my internship, so I almost never knew when I was coming in; it always depended on who was in the office that day. They ordered a key two weeks after I arrived and the order was lost, so it took even longer than usual to get me the key. Some places really will forget to prepare certain things for the intern. I should have asked about the key situation in the email I sent them a week before the internship started.

What I learned:

I found that working at my particular nonprofit was a nice ease into the the working lifestyle because my hours were flexible and my deadlines were nebulous. However, I also didn't find the work particularly challenging. I was doing a lot of research that I felt like anyone could do. I also didn't feel like the work I did actually impacted the organization. I liked working on the strategic and operational plan because it would really shape the organization, but I couldn't see the impact as much when I researched potential funders. One thing my boss suggested I work on during the mid-internship review was seeing how the smaller projects I worked on fit in the 'big picture'. However, I often found that difficult to do, especially with the really small projects I was assigned. I suppose that's why I need to work on it more. I will not return to the nonprofit sector in the near future.

What I do for fun

This is specific to Los Angeles.

I'm so used to watching good comedy that's it's weird to see somebody bomb on stage. I don't normally go to a lot of stand-up comedy shows in Kansas or Boston, but I've gone to a lot in Los Angeles. It started as an accident actually. The building next to my crossfit gym happened to be the Downtown Independent, a movie theater that hosts weekly free stand-up comedy shows. I kept hearing the name, so when I saw an event that piqued my interest, I finally visited the venue. The comedy show they host is called Holy Fuck Comedy. 

Here are three stand-up comedy venues that you simply must visit if you're into comedy:

1. Largo at the Coronet

Bo Burnham performed here last month! I didn't go to any shows, but clearly good people perform here.

2. Laugh Factory

Sarah Silverman will be doing a show here this month with a few other comedians. Too bad I'll already be out of town when she performs.

3. Holy Fuck Free Comedy 

Tuesdays at 9pm at the Downtown Independent. It's a weekly comedy show. And did I mention that's it's totally fucking free? 

4. Meltdown Comics

The Meltdown is hosted at Meltdown Comics on Sunset. I actually just got back from it tonight. David Spade dropped by, which was awesome. He was really scruffy and self-depreciating, his humbleness making his set extra fun to listen to. 

Here are three improv venues you simply must visit, period:

1. IO West

I took classes here! The bummer is that their mainstage is 21+ because it has an open bar, but sometimes the bouncer will let you in through the back if you say you're a student and just there for the show. Or if the bouncer is not checking ID's really closely. Aside from the Mainstage, there's the Del Close theater and the Loft, but the Mainstage has generally funnier acts. 

2. Groundlings

The all improv shows are at 8pm on Wed and Thurs nights. Wednesday is more long form improv. It starts off with three suggestions, each of them spawning three scenes. After the initial three scenes, new scenes are created through tag-outs. Thursday is all short form improv. Games and lots of audience suggestions create the scenes in this show. Personally, I love short form improv, so I really enjoy the Thursday show. 

3. UCB

I’ve gone to the OKCupid show, ASSSSCAT, some improv experiment form with famous plays, and DC Pierson’s stand-up night.

Three things you should do in LA

The first step to meeting a woman, reveals world famous pickup artist Mystery, is to get out of the house. "Getting out of your house is one of the most difficult things do to for a lot of men, and when they go out they go 'in field'," explains Mystery to an incredulous Conan O'Brien, who promptly lampoons him for the rather intuitive piece of advice. Despite the obviousness of this reasoning, we may often forget to leave the house once we settle into some sort of routine, and we may forget how well this advice applies to things outside of meeting new people. 
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After all, a night in is nice once in a while, but let's not forget that old song by Guy Lombardo in which he croons "enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!" in his song creatively titled Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think). If you're in LA for only a summer, you better being making the most of your time here. In fact, no matter where you are or for amount of time you're there, you should be taking advantage. It's always later than you think.
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I say we take things a step back. If getting out of the house is the first step to meeting a woman, the first step to getting out of the house is to get off the couch. This is an excellent blog I wish I had discovered earlier, but which I am paying much more attention to now: http://offthecouchla.blogspot.com. It's a list of fun places to visit in LA.

Aside from that, here are three things you should do in LA:

1. Be an extra for a movie! Actually, you should get involved with the industry in any way you can. I'm just suggesting being an extra because that's one of the easiest ways to get involved. Insider tip: some companies post their extras work on Craigslist. I met one person who was an extra for the Dark Knight Rises but found the job posting on Craigslist under the code name Magnum Rex.

2. Go clubbing! See the quintessential LA scene as portrayed in every Bret Easton Ellis novel. Experience sex, drugs, and apathy while searching for some sort of meaning in it all.

3. Combine both! Be an extra in a clubbing scene for a movie written by Bret Easton Ellis such as The Canyons.

Avalon in Hollywood. I really want to be there right now.