Yes, an update. Which also means yes, I am in fact still alive. As some of you already know, I am back in Philly now for my third year at Drexel, which I’m now already more than half way through Spring term at – although there are still plenty of days here that don’t even remotely feel like spring. On the upside, that means it’s not outrageously hot here yet either, which the city certainly likes to become in the summer. Surprisingly, we haven’t had a whole lot of rain either, but that’s fine by me. Right now the weather is rather good for taking a walk in, which is perfect with everything that has been going on.
Even as a write this, I still can’t believe it’s week six of the term already. As usually, time has been flying by here at Drexel, no doubt helped by the fact the past four – maybe actually five – weekends in a row there’s been an event of some kind going on, such as the annual cherry blossom festival, the Philadelphia Science Festival, Philadelphia Tech Week, and the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, just to name a few. Needless to say, I sure as hell am happy to be back in Philly as my renewal of memberships to eZseatU and the Philadelphia Art Museum no doubt show. Summer looks like it should be plenty busy too; I already have my tickets for the return of Symphony of the Goddesses (by the way, yes, Second Quest is stopping in Philly at the Mann Center, in case you missed it).
As for going-ons at Drexel, construction on both Chestnut Square and the new Lebow Building are progressing very nicely. They’ve come a very long way from how they looked when I left Drexel for co-op six+ months ago. Apparently, we’re also renovating part of Curtis Hall to put a new data center in, which means there is finally an elevator going in as well. Speaking of elevators, sadly, the oldest elevator on campus – and my personal favorite – was recently replaced as part of the renovations being done to Stratton Hall. I can’t remember if it will be another one of the School of Public Health’s buildings – as Nesbitt is becoming now that CoMAD has moved into the beautiful new URBN Center – or if the Psychology department is getting it. I think it is the latter. Thankfully, KONE did the modernization to it so it hopefully won’t become like the epic pieces of crap Disque has (Westinghouses modernized by ThyssenCrap-err ThyssenKrupp). But enough about elevators since I’m willing to bet not many of you give as much of a damn as I do. Moving along with recent discoveries, starting tomorrow, the Hans (full name Handschumacher Dining Center) will be getting a new entrance as the current atrium is going to be replaced as part of the Chestnut Square project. In its place will be – and I am really not kidding about this – a new entrance almost identical to the Apple Store Shanghai (see for yourself here). As a result, it looks like seating space is going to be cut back quite a bit, including my favorite table next to the stairs. So yes, I am a third year and I do still go to the Hans, but not nearly as much now. The new Market 16 & Noodle Bar that went in over the fall may well be the best Sodexho-owned place on campus right now. While the food won’t blow you away, it’s far from terrible and I sure as hell welcome more international options to campus – especially Japanese food options.
Speaking of food, how can I forget to mention Food Truck Mecca (aka the new name for 33rd and Arch)? While there are plenty of familiar faces – Street Food Philly (now also with their new truck, Taco Mondo), Rival Bros, and Spot – we’ve had a couple new trucks added as well, such as Mac Mart, Farm Truck, and Local 215 (and for carts, Kami and Philladilla). Needless to say, there are plenty of awesome places to eat on campus now just a block away from me. As for good restaurants, it looks like Chestnut Square is going to be trying to fix that. I for one welcome Shake Shack to campus. We’re apparently getting some coffee store from New York as well (I think it was called Joe, hardly original in my opinion), which as a coffeeholic I’ll check out at least once, but my coffee cabinet is still full of Rival Bros and Elixr as I’ve yet to find anyone better (Rook, you’re pretty good, but I’m afraid you aren’t my favorite).
So… what else is there to talk about? Well, for one, this site turns two on Thursday, which has been a good reminder that I really need to update here more often. I think I may well have to do a post about this anime season as it’s truly impossible for me to pick a favorite for this season. Simply put, both Oreimo and Gargantia are beyond fantastic. That said, I guess that’s about all there is to be said. If you’re interested in what I’m up to on a day-to-day basis, Twitter and Instagram are two good places to look. If you’d like to see photos of my walks around Philly and various events, Google+ (which really needs personal URLs already) is the place to look (or if you have me on Facebook, there too).
