08/12/24 22:15

Hey all, get ready for long-form content.

I made it to finals week. There will be one exam on Thursday and one on Friday, and a presentation on Thursday.

The last problem set of the year was submitted on Friday, for which my experiences were coloured positively as I found myself amongst friends with whom I could commiserate, collaborate, and collude with.

As a feature of the human condition, things must come to an end, or as it goes in Chinese, there is no banquet that does not end (天下没有不散的宴席). Leti will only be here for another two weeks or so until she is homeward bound to Vienna. Just earlier, I found out that my flatmate will be back in Lithuania starting in December all the way until May. All the routines that I’ve built up this quarter will inevitably get destroyed through a new set of classes, which I suspect will be similarly painful.

I think whenever I am challenged by my environment, I feel the need to act out against it and find flaws within it — while concurrently seeking escape and romanticizing alternative realities. A tale as old as time. As such, one thing I do think is true about the UChicago environment is that it genuinely harbours insecurity within people. I have definitely fallen victim to this, but what is surprising is that many share similar sentiments about themselves, even though they are the ones that I admire, and often are the source of my own insecurities. It is extremely motivating in that no one will ever feel like they’re doing enough.

Otherwise, even through all the turmoil that was this quarter, I can still set aside a part of myself to enjoy the impressive concentration of intellectual activity that UChicago also definitely harbours. There is a single-minded endeavour towards succeeding academically, and you can feel that everyone is in the exact same boat.

I made pasta for dinner and it was so mid. It was gnocchi with mushrooms, peas, pancetta, and parsley. I forgot to buy cheese, but I don’t think that’s even the real issue. The real problem is just that I’m really really bad at making pasta and I should give up as time has proven again and again.

Today I’ve managed to get minimal work done and maximal yapping done. I’m very sick and I will be savouring my second serving of Lemsip.

As always, hope you are all keeping well and staying warm. Maybe I’ll throw a question out to the crowd and ask what your go to pasta recipe is.

Also as a note, you don’t have to reply all in the email and change the recipient to just me, that way you don’t have to face the shame of the collective absolutely shitting on your pasta recipe.

Thank you, Coco

Alex Benitez

The secret to good pasta is take any tomato-based recipe, triple the onion content, and learn how to dice onions very finely from a funny frenchman on youtube.

Enviado desde Outlook para Android

Julien Jeagal

it is a gift of the human condition that those you raise up and admire will feel the same insecurities as everyone else.

I am not big on tomato pastas personally, but lots of garlic and some acid does wonders - lemon zest might complement the pancetta and give your pasta some kick without strong-arming the other flavours.

My go-to pasta is cacio e Pepe which is useful if you ever have cheese

Lucas Hui

pasta recipe

farfalle water

instruction

soak farfalle in cold water for 3 days

drink and live on to fight another day