The Day Hobbyist

Ah! The third week of summer! Not to tout my liberty over my many friends still struggling under the yolk of that heartless slave driver, finals, but I have reached a point in my summer where most truly productive endeavors have already been done. Whilst I slacked in my blogging (my deepest apologies), I have renewed my passport, vacuumed under my bed, finished Downton Abbey, had a family reunion, and even baked three batches of cupcakes! Faced with the threat of a listless existence, wholly dependent on Netflix's availability of tolerable entertainment, I have determined to pick up a hobby! Upon further consideration, however, many hobbies are lifetime or at least summer-consuming pursuits. Consider the classics, like playing guitar, golf, or painting - lifetimes have been absorbed! No, I daresay that a modern student like myself would do well to choose a hobby befitting the fast pace of the modern world, that is, a day-hobby. Such a hobby would not only occupy said student in a pseudo-meaningful way, but would arm them with a plethora of interesting tidbits and witty quips to impress their various followers or mitigate the awkwardness of chitchat.
Hence, over the next few posts, I will be delving into a few day-hobbies which piqued my curiosity.

Water Connoisseur for a day.
Typically, one becomes a connoisseur only after years of dedicating superfluous amounts of time and energy caring about what few people truly care about. Their subject ranges from wine to soda, maple syrup to salt, they have their own language, sense of humor, circle of friends, and style of hat. For instance, your wine connoisseur (or at its height, 'sommelier') would wear a beret, while your maple syrup connoisseur might wear a knit beanie because he is from Vermont. While comprehending all the nuances of wine or breaking into the salt gang of friends is daunting, especially when one is too young to partake in such appreciation, armed with the right terminology and hat one could easily become a connoisseur for a day. I suggest approaching ordinary things, like water or soda, from a new angle. That way, when your date walks in with crisp Fiji waterbottle, you can whip out something like, "Oh, so you're a Fiji person? I find I prefer ethos, for its more balanced feel and superior mineral content." Or something along those lines. I recommend hosting a fine water tasting, inevitably involving a trip to whole foods, to appreciate the finer points of water; be careful, however, to wash water tasting goblets with distilled {pure and flavorless} water so as to keep from tainting future tastings. 
Insightful Resources:
The Water Connoisseur blog 
Fine Waters
Continue reading for further enlightenment on dihydrogen monoxide {H₂O}

How not to get sick:

zombie student captured here oogiboogi

You may have noticed this phenomena- picture a zombie, dragging around a slow-drop coffee IV, dark cirlces under their eyes, an ever so slight crack in their scull, and a voracious interest in books rather than flesh eating- keep this image in your mind and give it red hair. You just met this weeks version of me. To add insult to injury, the zombie is now coughing and sniffling in addition to ripping her hair out. As grotesque as this may sound, it isn't alltogether uncommon. I have run into many of my friends at the IV refill station (the Sacred Order of St. Arbucks) in a similar state. Yet why must our bodies suffer for the ailment of our minds? I think the time has come to support the body whilst exhausting the mind. I have taken it upon myself to figure out.... how not to get sick! Aside from the bioflavenoids and other flavins, there is a reason I am not a biochem major, I need a plan, maybe even five easy steps, to avoid getting sick, again.
1. Sleep. The Mayo Clinic says that sleeping allows infection-fighting cells, like cytokines, to mulitply. Also, [shocker] sleeping improves your memory, helps reduce stress, cuts down your dependancy on coffee, and makes you an overall better human being!
2. Go Orange. Apparently, oranges and other citrus are more than just the staple for your 'get pumped for summer' smoothy kick and staving off scurvy (basically a pirate's disease). Everywhere I look, very smart, healthy looking people in labcoats are telling me to eat citruses because of their vitamin C content.
3. Eat Garlic. I love garlic, I want to blame that on being italian, but I'm not. Nonetheless, I think garlic is fantastic! Apparently, in addition to being the root off all tastiness, for savory dishes at least, garlic helps your body replicate those ninja cells, it is antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antioxidant... so you don't have to worry about getting cancer while you overcome your cold! It is also rumored to protect againt vampires, thus you will also be safe at the midnight Dark Shadows premier.

More after the break