Stop - It's Hammertime! (only with bindis and dupattas)

    When I'm not doing micromarketing or calculating inventory, I prance about like a Bollywood star in MBA talent shows. This seems to astound and impress the Indian students, who think that no American would ever be caught dead shaking her groove thing in front of 110 people to "Desi Girl" or "Mauja Hi Mauja". In your face, dubious Indian students! You're not the only cool, dancing-type people to hang out in business schools! So there.



P.S. The Rockettes we ain't, but we still brought the house down. This was quite possibly one of the most awesome experiences I've ever had, at least since that one time I was duct-taped to a wall.

"Sneakers" and Astrid-kicking, not necessarily in that order

    Despite my original plan, I never did devote this blog to the ups, downs, and sideways (sidewayses?) of business school. This is because it took me only 24 hours of orientation in September to realize that I could never, ever write anything about the UC Irvine faculty, administration, or my peers without everyone immediately finding it and hating me for my lack of discretion.

    And so I channeled my energies into kooky things, like studying. And wearing blazers with pearl earrings. And discussing things like "incentivizing". Amazingly enough, I've learned a lot and met lots of great folks and have generally been having a fab time, sometimes even with nachos and beer -- which is why it IRKS ME TO NO END that I can't write about it! Well, I could, but then people would kick me.

    So, with all the potential Astrid-kicking floating around, I kept my mouth shut for several months, but TODAY IS THE DAY I BREAK DOWN AND START BLOGGING AGAIN. This probably won't last long, since I'm still swamped with work and trying to balance that with a social life, but you know what? I really miss writing.

    And here's how I'm kicking off my return to blogging: Artists of the Film "Sneakers".

    For those of you who've seen the film "Sneakers" and love it as much as I do, you'll understand completely why I'm writing about this ever-important topic. It's a very stylish film, and it features some rather bizarre art. Even more interesting, I hadn't realized until last night (after re-watching for the tenth time or so) that all the artists in the movie are listed in the credits! Holy cow! So, here they are:

    Jonathan Borofsky


    This sculpture is in Venice, California, and it always creeped me out, and I had had no idea that its creator had his work featured in "Sneakers". I have no idea what work of his was in the film (maybe this?); so if you DO know, then please let me know. You know?

    Robbie Conal


    I'm just as clueless about Conal in "Sneakers". Again, post any leads if you've got 'em.

    Sonia Delaunay


    Clueless.

    Helen Frankenthaler


    Really clueless.

    Robert Mapplethorpe and an Artsy page about Mapplethorpe


    LOVE his work -- but still don't recall any of it in "Sneakers". Huh.

    Dan McCleary


    Judging by what I can find online, I think he did the prints of flower vases in Liz's loft.

    Tatsuo Miyajima


    I think he did the LED wall art in Cosmo's PlayTronics office.

    Mark Stock


    No clue about his "Sneakers" connection.

    Donald Sultan


    Still clueless.

    And here's the ultimate question: who did those awesome zeppelin prints in Cosmo's office?

business poetry: orientation, the first three days

    certain Powerpoints were caused to occur:
    Harvard -- the Merage of the East! (or so the dean says
    and he seems like he knows)


    I love the smell of new laptop
    endless parade of faculty and staff
    bursting with faith in us
    bonfires
    pizza
    beer and naps when we needed them most
    a ropes course when I needed it least
    sunburnsunburn hey, pain au chocolat sunburnsunburn
    so many boys in crisp blue shirts
    and iPhone cameras to document them
    anxieties trumped by good cheer and caffeine
    unlike USC film school, we are handed an alumni database, complete
    with pictures
    and telephone numbers


    !


    As I said: faith
    in us
    enough to move our local mountains
    but I may need a little more
    to make it through statistics
    yikes
    I am but a filmmaker
    with star stickers on her nametag
    and a head full of errands
    but
    I have finished reading our brick of a course reader
    just in time for tomorrow
    and I took lots of good notes in my best cursive
    because I am neurotic
    My group members strike me as reliable
    and quick
    and forgiving
    and we might not kill each other for a while yet.


    I have faith.

d-day, h-hour, o-orientation

    It's amazing how difficult it is to post when you have tons of reading, and projects to work on, and film screenings to attend, and fabulous people to hang out with. Yihal.

    But no matter: onward and upward to orientation, which starts this morning! I suspect this may be the last time this year that I will ever wear eyeshadow. In the meantime, I will try not to panic that my new, required laptop hasn't arrived yet; the entire admin has assured me that Neolithic-era notetaking equipment (paper, pen, absence of Twitter) will be perfectly A-OK for the next two weeks of orientation.

    Breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth.

    Bonus: free breakfast!

I must be deranged III: tea and Archie

    I finished our MBA personal pre-work a week ago, where we had to write about our accomplishments, take a Myers-Briggs test, etc. Turns out that I love novelty (shock!), but to the point where I hate having to stick with an idea and follow through with its daily maintenance. I'm fine at maintenance generally, but I just hate doing it. Bleh. Isn't this what assistants are for? If I had my choice, I'd simply brainstorm fun ideas all day, and then have minions do the nitty gritty for me as I drink iced mint tea on a veranda whilst reading Archie comics.

    I refuse to feel like a terrible person for saying this.