Check these out:

1) My former astrophysics lab partner Kei Hotoda has some nice UChicago-in-Paris coverage, over at the Kei Pop Nation. Pictures, witty commentary, and more from someone who helped me survive the physci requirement.

2) The Village Voice, which I usually just read for Michael Musto's column, has recently written up two of my favorite foods: feta and natto. I suppose this makes Nina Lalli, the author of these two articles, the Voice's official fermented-foods columnist, a job I would gladly accept if she ever tires of it. Natto (Japanese fermented soybean) is one of those foods that a person who finds cream cheese too icky ought not to like, but I like it all the same. As for feta, Lalli's article suggests its uses go above and beyond being sprinkled over a Greek salad, but as far as I'm concerned, they begin and end there, and there's no need to try to make feta do things it's not meant to do (say, make an appearance in a Bartlett omelet).

3) Something called the "Baccalaureate Committee" sent an email out to seniors asking us to send them our memories from our time at Chicago. Some of their suggestions of possible memories are reasonable; others more or less necessitate confessing to illegal/incriminating activities: "First time I skipped class"; "I never thought I’d be doing ____ in college"; "First apartment party [second year]"; "The funniest thing I did at the Pointe [sic.]". I suppose there could be wholesome explanations for all of these ("I skipped class to go volunteer with a South Side community organization"; "I never thought I'd be taking this many wonderful math classes in college"; "My first apartment party second year was dry but lovely"; "The funniest thing I did at the Point was barbeque a veggie burger") but that's not what this Committee is going to get. Then, there are suggestions which suggest a perky, "yay, Chicago!" attitude which even those of us who love this school are unlikely to exhibit: "First frat party"; "Saying Hello to Max P, Bartlett, and the Bart Mart"; "Whom I sat with at the Faculty Roundtables"; "Memories from second year night at the Hot House"; "Memorable moment from Taking the Next Step"; "My last home game, MUN conference, cultural show, UT play"; "Favorite Fall Formal moment", and so on. Cultural shows, frat parties, class-wide activities, and similar may exist at Chicago, but hearing some kid's wonder at the sight of all that cheap beer during Orientation Week is unlikely to make most graduating seniors feel warm, fuzzy, and generous towards their alma mater.