Purple Bubbles, Dragon Parks, and Party Chains
As finals loom in the very near future, many of my friends seem to be headed towards the Cliffs of Insanity (Princess Bride anyone?). However, my good friend Mary Kate and I have found a simple solution to the finals stress conundrum: taking breaks to do ridiculous things. You might be sitting there thinking, “I do silly things on occasion,” but I’m afraid you haven’t reached our caliber of silliness. Let me show you how it’s done, Samantha-and-Mary-Kate-take-Vanderbilt style.
1. Go to Ben and Jerry’s on 21st St. near Commons and CVS on Free Cone Day (April 3, 2012) and get in line as many times as you can. There’s apparently no limit! Skip lunch if you have to, like we did. Accumulate ice cream until the ice cream count is Samantha: 3, Mary Kate: 5. Try flavors ranging from “Milk and Cookies”, “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough”, “Mint Chocolate Chunk”, “Rocky Roadish”, and “Berry Berry Extraordinary Sorbet”. Don’t feel sick afterwards, feel victorious. Take many pictures, including jumping pictures, and tell the story of free ice cream day to all of your friends until they tell you that they need to study, so go away. Pat yourself on the back!
2. Clear off your entire desk and start a 1000 piece Moulin Rouge puzzle. Put in at least one piece before bed each night to feel accomplished and intelligent. Leave your roommate puzzled (GET IT?)
3. Make the most of any care packages that your friends receive. If Mary Kate receives a box of homemade fortune cookies, don’t feel guilty about eating them because the awesome Napoleon Dynamite quotes inside make it worth it. Blow purple bubbles outside of the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) and ignore the fact that they stain clothes! Encourage your friends Monica and Mary Kate to eat the bubbles and watch while they do. Hey, if they’re made for children, they must be safe to ingest, right? Blow up the colorful punch-balloons (is that the name for them?) from Mary Kate’s mom and walk through Rand during busy lunch hours, furiously punching the air.
4. Eat at Zumi Sushi in Hillsboro Village (on the Card!) and engage in a wasabi-eating contest with a graduating senior. Even though you’ve never tasted wasabi before. Win.
5. Eat at Pancake Pantry on a Saturday morning and wait in the line that wraps around the famous Nashville restaurant. Panic as you get closer to the front of the line and half of the group is still browsing in Bookman Bookwoman across the street because the whole party must be present to be seated. Eat delicious Pigs in a Blanket (pancake-wrapped sausages) and laugh at Mary Kate for ordering 15 tiny pancakes. Following the breakfast adventure, mosey on down to the Dragon Park a few blocks away and swing on swings meant for children. Take pictures of a man doing Tai-Chi on the playground, very creepily.
6. Create a “party chain” out of colorful paper, pom-poms, stickers, and string one night until 1:00 in the morning in your dorm with Mary Kate. Hang it up in the BCM by sitting on a very tall person’s shoulders (A.K.A. the shoulders of Inside ‘Dores Blogger Victoria Barner). Declare that anything that occurs under the Party Chain, including studying, is an instant party!
7. Pretend to be in North House when they have a pig roast that lasts 20 hours, and show up to eat delicious pork and engage in conversation about types of wood with the BBQ man.
8. Attend the Black and Gold Spring Football game in the football stadium and cheer on your friends: Whitney on the dance team and Josh on the football team. Take very creepy pictures of them constantly and sit right behind the Spirit of Gold marching band to sing along to the fight song and the Hey song. Constantly make jokes along the lines of, “I wonder who’s going to win! I hope we do!”
9. Coordinate your outfit to Mary Kate’s outfit from head to toe: baseball hat, braids, white shirt, black Nike shorts, and flip flops. Get 2 yellow popsicles from the Munchie Mart and walk around campus eating them, pretending to be oblivious to the fact that you look like the same person. Rope other people into dressing like you throughout the day. Twinsies!
10. Take a break from all of the fun you’re having to crochet scarves while watching “Holy Musical Batman” on Youtube (from the creators of “A Very Potter Musical”). Sing along to the songs, regardless of the fact that you don’t know them yet.
11. Invite many of your friends up to Murray 4 for an exciting night of children’s bedtimes stories that you checked out from Peabody Library. Wear a giant, blue onesie with cows on it and invite everyone to try it on. Put everyone to sleep with your well-rehearsed 1st grade teacher voice.
And there you have it, a comprehensive list of all the ways you can avoid finals stress and add a little fun to your day at good old Vandy Landy. I’ll get back to studying, mom, I promise!