Coming back to Harvard after a couple weeks with your family, you notice--

--how utterly repulsive Harvard Square actually is. Jeebus. I guess we get inured to it, but JFK Street seen through clear eyes is a hellscape of fashion boutiques, redundant banks, overpriced restaurants with names like "Z-Square", and all the other hideous blight that comes from living with pretentious wealthy people. You can't walk down those sidewalks without bumping into either a douchebag or a hipster, usually both, and you can't buy a cheap hamburger to save your life. This is supposed to be a college town! What the hell?

I think I would have liked Harvard Square better when it looked like this:

or at least this:

(Dig the tiny snowplow in front of the bus there. That was really the best they could do?) (Both these pictures are from the Cambridge Historical Commission, by the way, and their history of Harvard Square is worth reading if you're bored.)

That's all I have to say. How was your vacation?

Intersession Roundup - Yes, You ARE That Bored

Anyone ever stay on campus during intersession? I highly recommend it. This place is different when school's not running; what few people remain are always calm and peaceful, happy to sit around and watch TV or whatever it is they like to do. And I think the vibe spreads, even to the Square, which is usually a nails-on-chalkboard place full of urban frustration and overpriced coffee; today it was nice, the CVS clerk was friendly, even the homeless people were almost smiling.

Peculiar thing happened to me on the way back, too; I was coming down Memorial Drive like I usually do, 'cause it's prettier by the River and there's never anybody on that sidewalk, when Alice's Restaurant came up on my CD player. And I wanted to listen to all 18 minutes of it before I got back to Mather House, so I went over to the river and sat down on a bench where I could see the sunset. And I swear to God, as I sat there for eighteen minutes listening to Arlo Guthrie sing, the clouds parted overtop of me. There were clouds on either side, clouds off in the distance, the sun was about to duck down behind a cloud -- but right above me, all of a sudden, this humongous swath of clear blue sky. Absolutely stunning.

You should listen to it as well; it's intersession, surely you have eighteen minutes. I find that nice things tend to happen while that song is playing. Anyway. Here's some more diversions for you:

--While we're on the topic of folk music, R.I.P. Denny Doherty. He sang for the Mamas and the Papas, one of the most important bands of the 60s, and later hosted a Canadian public-TV kids' show I used to like. More people should be aware of the Mamas and the Papas; they didn't record much, but what they did was beautiful. In case you didn't want to listen to Alice's Restaurant, here's one of my favorite songs of theirs:

--And speaking of clouds, this is much better than the actual State of the Union, which would have been intolerable had it not been for the great work of Kevin, Rob and Matt putting together our study break. Thanks, guys. Also take a look at this excellent play-by-play of Dick Cheney's performance last night. ("11:21 - possible chewing...")

--A very warm welcome back to Red Ivy, now revived and relocated outside the CampusTap garden. In a sure sign of fun times to come, their second post compares Hillary Clinton to Satan. I love these guys.

--Meanwhile IvyGate, much like President Bush, does not understand political humor. I'm saddened that these philistines failed to grasp the satiric genius of... uh... of a giant apple... throwing... smaller apples... um... You know what? It was exam period. Fuck off.

--If you want to be an IOP liaison for Ned Lamont, Carl Cannon, or any of this season's fellows, the applications are due by Tuesday. I strongly encourage freshmen, especially, to apply; I was a liaison last year, most Dems were at some point, it's a great time. Form is here.

--I fully expect that within 8-10 months we will all hate every Democratic presidential candidate with a passion (except possibly Mike Gravel). But it's always nice to see Republicans well ahead of us on that front -- RedState puts it well:

They all suck. Let's just admit it. Every one of the thus far announced Republican candidates for President sucks.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ahhhh.

--There is a huge and intense discussion in the comments section of Sahil Mahtani's latest Crimson column, on that Princeton-racist-joke-column-controversy thing. It's worth a look, if only to give you some idea of the intensity of feeling among Harvard' students on the topic. (However, none of it beats the appearance of Adam Goldenberg's mother in comments for one of his columns; I feel your pain, Adam, but you have to admit. That was pretty badass.)

And that's all I got. Enjoy the holiday and I hope you all come back in one piece. This is an open thread.