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(11/02/12 4:03am)
I have been dressed for this occasion for two days straight: ironic muted flannel, jeans skinnier than Nicole Richie, blister-inducing Chuck Taylor kicks, a trapper hat straight out of Northern Michigan, and of course, imitation Ray Bans. But don’t worry, unlike like most people afraid to be stamped a “hipster,” they have lenses to accommodate my 20-80 excuse for vision.
(11/02/12 1:03am)
Senator Mark Warner and democratic Senate candidate Tim Kaine spoke at a rally Thursday afternoon at the Obama headquarters on the downtown mall.
(10/31/12 11:55pm)
Hey everyone!!
(10/29/12 4:19pm)
Meteorologists predict Charlottesville will experience 30-35 mph winds with 60-70 mph wind gusts.
-Kaz Komolafe, 12:18 p.m.
(10/25/12 12:28am)
A new poll from the University and George Mason University shows Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama are effectively tied in Virginia in the final weeks of the Presidential contest.
(10/24/12 7:13pm)
Whoever came up with the idea of the “Things to Do Before We Graduate” list needs to be given a hug.
(10/23/12 10:11pm)
I came to UVA from a relatively small all-girls private school. There were ninety-something girls in my graduating class and a quarter of us were 7-year-survivors who’d been there since the 6th grade. As a result of being surrounded by the same people every day, I got to know everyone pretty well. Even with someone who wasn’t my best friend, I could tell you who they were dating, their signature Starbucks drink and how many pairs of sweatpants they had—this last one was the easiest to figure out.
(10/23/12 12:56am)
Romney should be answering just the question about Libya. That’s a really strong Republican talking point. Instead, he tried to force Iran, Syria, and Libya all into one answer. It’s an hour and half debate – he’ll get time to answer each of these in detail. -Sam Novack 9:07 p.m.
(10/22/12 11:26pm)
The Virginia club tennis team cruised through the USTA Tennis On Campus Invitational until a familiar foe waited in the finals – Duke. The defending champion Cavaliers lost 26-23 in the tournament’s championship round, falling to the same Blue Devil team they topped in last year’s finals.
(10/21/12 9:36pm)
There’s something about this time of year that makes me want to start belting out Christmas carols.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love putting up tacky blow- up ghosts and trying to figure out that never- ending spider web stuff as much as anyone. I can’t wait for candy corn and plastic vampire teeth to find themselves in discount bins in the front of stores. But there’s just something about the leaves falling to the ground that screams how near winter is.
I blame this on the commercial society. Halloween is celebrated by stores starting in August, and near the end of October, things immediately switch to Christmas. I can’t be expected to just ignore an upcoming holiday when there are so many things screaming out trying to get me to start celebrating! Poor Thanksgiving goes unnoticed continually… one can imagine some lonely box of stuffed turkeys or autumnal ceramics shoved in a corner, crying softly to themselves as they are forgotten for another year.
But Christmastime! It isn’t the holiday itself that holds me; it’s the time of year. It’s the inordinate excitement over an early snow of half an inch, leading people to stock up on canned soup and bottled water and talk about how “This one’s gonna be a doozy.” It’s the horrible sweaters with jingle bells hanging off. It’s the excuse to microwave my socks to make them extra toasty. It’s the best excuse for making (and eating) way too many cookies.
My over-excitement about the season has pushed me into trying to behave as if it’s already time for Christmas cheer. I find myself sweating bullets on the way to class because it is 70 degrees and I’m wearing the equivalent of a suit of armor. You know, in case it decides to blizzard in mid- October. I’m using the coming winter as an excuse to eat more, likening myself to a bear fattening itself up to sleep for months. Gotta be prepared, right?
It won’t be long now until I show up, huffing and puffing in a parka, pulling along a tree I cut down from the back yard because Christmas trees are never sold early enough for my liking.
So far, I’m attempting to stave off this mania by cramming my brain full of so many fall- related things that there isn’t room for anything else. I eat pumpkin pie at least once a week, generally with a side serving of cocoa or cider. It takes me hours to walk anywhere now, because I have to stop so many times along the way and take blurry close- up cell phone pictures of leaves. I spent one crazed weekend making apple pie after apple pie with fruit I picked at Carter’s Mountain. But one thing can’t be subdued: the carols.
I really, really can’t help this one. Again, it’s not even the holiday that the carols are associated with. It is just a simple fact that songs shouldn’t be so catchy and wonderfully snuggly- sounding if you’re only expected to sing them for one month of the year. So, really, my terrible howling of them is really just a form of social protest (aha, I have changed myself from “that” person to an activist!).
And though a few of my friends put up with me, smiling horribly through pained expressions as I attempt to lead everyone in another round of “When We Went a- Wassailing,” many don’t. These are the people that turn away and make faces that say, “I have no idea who she is,” to sympathetic passerby.
Honestly, though, I see nothing wrong with being a little enthusiastic sometimes. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to make a pan of fudge and maybe download “Greatest Hits of the Holidays.” For some reason, the house is strangely empty this morning… no one is around to join in on “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” with me!
(10/17/12 1:00am)
It’s so cool that they started with a college student’s question. I doubt Romney’s claim that he will make college more affordable, since he previously said that he would cut funding for Pell Grants by over half. Romney agreed with the kid that there was a problem (“too much debt, not enough jobs”), and kept saying, “I’m going to fix that.” But how? What is his plan? I liked Barack’s sly dig, “We need to build jobs in THIS COUNTRY.” I won’t be too partisan, but Barack actually laid out a concrete plan, so I respect that. -Ashley Spinks 9:08 p.m.
(10/11/12 1:30am)
Poor Biden is already behind. Ryan was more than correct! He and Romney understand how the Obama Administration represents America: as an apologetic country that’s afraid to take a stand against terrorism. It’s one thing to brag about getting Bin Laden, but another thing to call out a new terrorist attack when Obama’s in the driver’s seat. He’d rather say it’s America’s fault for a YouTube video, than call out what, from the beginning, was clearly a terrorist attack. -Sam Novack 9:13 p.m.
(10/08/12 4:18am)
This afternoon I had the exquisite experience of accompanying my parents and boyfriend to a wine tasting event in my area. When my mom suggested it to me, I surprised myself by not being overcome by any of my usual cynicism. Maybe it could be fun, I mused. Even though I am too young to drink anything, I could still hang out outside, catch up with the parents, meet some nice local residents and vendors… sounds great!
And, as always, comes the usual line in my columns: Oh, how very wrong I was.
The day was just cold enough to be uncomfortable. The clouds loomed and rain began to sprinkle down as we drove, and they all chortled to themselves, joking about how a little wine would keep them toasty. I just gritted my teeth and pretended to laugh along.
Immediately upon entering the fair, I was assaulted by the lady checking in. She clearly had already partaken in a few beverages herself, because she doubled over laughing at the sheer prospect of me just following my parents and boyfriend around. “You aren’t even gonna drink a little? Not a bit?” she giggled, making the cop behind her glare accusingly at me. She made a show of not letting me have a wristband and then sent me off, raising her glass at my tensed back.
Generally when I think of a wine tasting, I think of one or two tables with three or four kinds of wine on each. Unless I’m very much mistaken, this tasting was an exception. Nine wineries were represented, each showing around ten types of wine. My group eagerly dived in as I followed, feet dragging in the mud.
It came out within moments at the first booth that I was just there to hang out and eventually be the designated driver. Many bad jokes of all assembled ensued, to which my parents laughed louder and louder the further down the wine list they went.
They cheerfully meandered to the next booth, where we all sat through the same jokes again. I learned there to remove myself from under the tarp and stand in the rain, trying to look busy. What this resulted to was Googling hairstyles and hot drink recipes on my phone.
Each time I looked up, I saw my mom explaining my presence to the vineyard employees, who generally burst out laughing immediately. If not, they looked on me with a mix of distain and pity and soon turned away, shaking their heads as they reached to their glasses, no doubt thinking about how lucky they were.
Other than those working the fair, it was remarkable how many highly intoxicated individuals showed up outside on such a rainy afternoon. One woman in particular caught my notice; she was easily the most interesting character in the whole event. Not only was she particularly inebriated, but she was also about 70.
As we followed the same path as her around the fair, we got to watch her scream at every wine merchant that “Grandma like to drink!” and “You can’t get nothin’ past Grandma while she still standin’!” Frankly, she put my crowd to shame. We watched in awe as she swilled whatever was put in front of her, only to slam her glass down, panting and shouting about how foul it was, only to ask for seconds. “Whatcha got that ain’t… [insert ancient Southern insults]?” she would demand. It was fine, entertaining even, to follow and watch her, until my dad decided, no doubt aided by the product he had sampled, that it was his job to harass this woman. They bantered back and forth for an embarrassingly long time, until it was so awkward that I begged him to move on.
Just when we thought we were free, my dad decided to try one last tasting on the way out. We entered a tent that only had one other taster present, thinking that at last we were in for a break. That is, until a question passed his lips: “Is this wine aged in American or foreign oak?”
This spent my boyfriend and parents into a tailspin, as they barely held on to their laughter long enough to sample the wines. They did quickly, in order, it seemed to me, that we could sooner get back into the car so that barrage of insults could begin to fly. And as I sat listening to them, I, for the first time that day, began to actually and for real laugh along.
With that, I decided that really, in the end, good stories make up for any amount of silly situations and people I could ever run into, even if it meant I had to stand in the chilling rain all day while watching my favorite people slowly becoming sillier and warmer, to get it.
(10/05/12 12:45am)
Kathleen Merrigan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s deputy secretary, spoke Thursday in Garrett Hall about why community members should buy more foods locally and support area farmers.
(10/04/12 5:51am)
Romney’s central argument is that reelecting Obama will be letting the same problems he’s had during his first term fester: namely, the deficit will balloon; money will be spent on wasteful alternative energy projects like Solyndra; the middle class will be crippled by decreasing incomes and increasing prices. The federal gov’t should step back, he says, and let the free market take care of problems like health care reform and education reform, opting to give vouchers for people to use in private markets instead of gov’t programs.
(10/04/12 12:53am)
President Obama – using his two minutes to wish happy anniversary. Swell guy? Or no answer? Hmm… – Sam Novack 9:05 p.m.
(10/02/12 8:15pm)
Virginia coach Mike London hinted on his weekly radio show Monday that sophomore quarterback Philip Sims will receive snaps with the first team this week and earn his first start Saturday against Duke—provided he recovers from a lower leg injury suffered in last week’s 44-38 loss to Louisiana Tech.
(09/26/12 1:21pm)
Until two weeks ago, I had been a vegetarian for about six years. Beyond that, I had never eaten seafood — not even before I became a vegetarian.
(09/22/12 3:19pm)
On one of those nearly- fall days that are so beautiful that you have to resist the temptation to break into jolly show tunes, my family drove up and took my boyfriend and I to Carter Mountain to get those beginning- of- the- season fruits.
Though this journey is a Charlottesville tradition, I had only been once before, and was dying to go back. The cool air on your face, the slightly vinegar-y smell of those fallen apples, the ability to see for miles in every direction… not a time or place to be missed.
The last time that I went was near the end of apple picking season, and fruit was scarce. I still managed to partially fill a bag, but it was after many hours of work and sending people (who were probably too large to be doing this sort of thing) to the tops of trees to gather the lonely remainders.
So, this year, as we drove up that dusty, windy path to the Apple Barn, I warned everyone that it was possible that we wouldn’t find enough apples to sate us.
Good grief, but I was wrong.
The smell of apples hit us in the face the moment we stepped out of the car. We gathered our bags and meandered down a generally deserted row, but not more than three minutes had passed until we were so thickly surrounded by apples that I felt like we were under siege.
Apples hung at eye level, drooped to the ground, and crowded high branches like they were climbing over each other to touch the sun. It was like being in a buffet: we stuffed our bags until we realized that we could be choosy. We then started a “Find the Biggest Apple” contest, until we had so many that I couldn’t easily carry my spoils.
Feeling triumphant, we returned home that night, swooning at our accomplishment and happily munching down the sweet fruit. I felt rich with the amount we had. We were going to be so healthy, we said. And so full! We could eat for weeks on this!
The next night was particularly insomniatic, but when I woke up at four a.m., instead of bemoaning my fate, I sprung up, elated. I could start cooking some apples now!
I fancied myself a regular housewife, imagined presenting a beautifully fluted pie to my roommates when they came back from school.
Actually, what my roommates probably noticed was the clattering and banging in the kitchen before the sun was up.
As always, these ideas never work out exactly as planned. Peeling and cutting and coring and chopping apples took up easily an hour, by which time I was unable to keep the stupid goofy smile on my face. I put some in the Crock Pot to make applesauce, then turned to the greatly reduced pile. Time for pie.
I opened the fridge to retrieve crusts, only to realize that not only did I only have one crust and limited ingredients, but the grocery wouldn’t open for another two or three hours.
No matter, I convinced myself. Open faced pie! That’s a thing, right?
Sadly, he pie came out of the oven blackened on top, everything boiled down and burnt because of its lack of protective covering. I tried to cut it up and it just all ran together, making a mushy mess of cinnamon juice and burnt apples. To hide my shame I had to eat most of it right there.
When the six hours were up for the applesauce, I re-kindled my excitement. The applesauce had been filling the house with such good smells all day. My fantasies started back up again: sitting around with my friends, laughing merrily in tacky sweaters as we scarfed down loads of sweet homemade applesauce…
I opened the lid, expecting the pot to be filled… and it wasn’t. Not even close. The ten apples that I put in it had reduced to less than two servings. It tasted and smelled amazing, but I had to quickly package it away, in order to save it to show people before I ate all of that, too.
After that, I called it quits on the apples. As a rule, I lose hope too easily, especially when food is on the line. The problem now is, I still have two bags of apples in my room, and no idea what to do with them. Also, my friends are talking about all of us going to Carter Mountain sometime soon… they hear the apples are great this year.
(09/21/12 2:34am)
Timothy Snyder, a Yale University history professor and author, gave a lecture Thursday in Ruffner Hall about his book “Bloodlands.” The novel focuses on the Holocaust and other political mass killings in Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eastern Russia.