50 (First) Dates by Mitra L. '07
You and your significant other -- where to meet on campus, where to go out, where to break up
Here are some ideas from my limited experience to help you meet, seduce, and hopefully-not-but-maybe-because-people-sometimes-grow-apart-and-that’s-just-a-fact-of-life-okay? dump that special someone. Some people will carry out entire relationships over the course of doing problem sets together. That’s cool, but for the adventurous type, here are additional suggestions:
Meet and greet — spots on campus
18.03 recitation (but don’t date your TA until after grades are in)
Barker Reading Room
Campus Preview Weekend
Career Fair — alums come back and recruit for their employers; everyone looks better with a reversed brass rat and ironed shirt
Killian Court
Lecture Series Committee
MIT Museum — what’s more romantic than holography and free entry with MIT ID?
Music practice rooms — serenade your special someone in a locking (!) piano room
Steam Cafe — no, it’s not a sauna or spa
TechShuttle/SafeRide
Z Center — the only place in the winter where I’ve consistently found skimpily dressed people; if you know of others, do share
Let’s take this slow — first date places
Athena cluster — teach him/her about George Washington
Chilli Duck — “if it’s not working at Chilli Duck, it’s not going to work” says Sam ’07
Club Passim — live music
Grendel’s Den — the turkey & havarti sandwich just might change your life
Middle East Restaurant & Club
Senior Ball — pop quiz: which blogger inspired this one?
Star Market — if you can’t grocery shop with this person, you probably shouldn’t marry him/her… and that is exactly what you should be thinking about on your first date
Toscanini’s — because I have a free ice cream coupon that I need to use soon
Out in Boston
Bank of America Pavillion — I have been here exactly twice, junior year for a Clay Aiken concert and last Friday for a Keane concert; I am still deciding which rocked the house more
Black Ink in Beacon Hill — where we found greeting card gems like this and this
Boston Common & Public Gardens
Boston Public Library
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Red Sox game
Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library
Mike’s Pastry in the North End
Museum of Fine Arts
Wang Center — I took someone here to see Jon Stewart perform, and I have yet to top it
Yum yum — romantic dining
Aujourd’hui — at the top of my list (and not just because it’s alphabetical)
Enormous Room — small platters, lounge atmosphere
Flour bakery — high quality pastries, sandwiches are good too
L’Espalier — French food, wine Mondays & cheese Tuesdays
Lala Rokh — Persian food in Beacon Hill
Meritage — amazing seafood, views of the harbor
Teuscher — chocolates on Newbury
Top of the Hub — views of Cambridge and Boston (food is okay)
Tangierino — yes, hookah bar and belly dancer too
Go the distance — far, but worth the trip
Apple picking in Nashoba
Ben & Jerry’s factory in Vermont — the Cabot factory has unlimited cheese samples, but Ben & Jerry’s is easier to get to
Cape Cod — or so I hear, I’ve never been; ask me in a week =)
Coolidge Corner Theater — “the Boston area’s only non-profit independent movie house”
Franklin Park Zoo
MIT Outing Club Cabin
New York City
It’s not you, it’s me — best places to break up
Commencement — if not now, then when?
Duck Tour — all that quacking will drown out the sobs
Front desk of your dorm — it’s not so hard to find the way out from here
Park Street subway stop — at the crossroads of the red line, the green line, and your future together
The Tech — pop quiz: who did this? and are they back together? and if so, WHY???
TechTV video
(Of course, you can do many of these things by yourself, with friends, or with family)
LOL =) Thanks for this nice post! I’m especially curious to see the places in Boston! Hmm let’s see what freshman year will bring.
P heheh
MIT does believe in an ‘all round education’! :D
Lovely post.
The piano rooms don’t really lock to my knowledge, but I’d guess that if you just tapped a few notes every so often, people passing by would assume you were practicing and just leave you alone.
aww the duck tour… hahaha
Um, when I was writing this entry you told me they locked. Or at least prox card protected?
Hokay, so you need a prox card to get in to the practice suite in Building 4, but inside there are 8 individual rooms that do not lock. It’s sometimes kind of hard to tell whether there are people inside each room or not, because the shades always drawn. So when I go to practice, I usually just go by whether it sounds like there’s music coming out of the room or not. Just be careful!
I am so going to bookmark this post. Haha, just kidding! It is absolutely awesome, though! Thanks so much for writing this, Mitra.
What about an addendum — places to propose and be proposed to?
I mean, Adam proposed in Killian in front of an Asian tour group (very stereotypically MIT), and I know you had that friend who proposed in Lobby 7. There have to be some more good proposal places.
Hahaha, I am seriously impressed by anyone who comes all the way to New York City for a date. Just as long as the mode of transportation isn’t the wonderful Fung Wah Bus.
Hahaha, I am really impressed by anyone who actually comes all the way to New York City for a date! Just as long as the method of transportation isn’t the wonderful Fung Wah Bus.
oops, sorry!! :(
Romance… What a depressing subject.
Is MIT really a power of 2?
This is what puzzled me two days ago as I thought hard about it, after reading it from Sam’s blog. Although I was quick to recognize that it is really, but as a mathematician and a scientist, I need not believe things simply because somebody else said it no matter how noble or reputable the person is. (Remember what happened during Galiloe days when he said the world was flat and people believed him.) So I took it upon myself to prove that MIT is really a power of 2.
After 2 days, I was able to do it. And just 2 hours ago I started typing it. In the next 2 minutes, I would be 2ru with it and post it just 2 seconds to my alarm clock that is set to ring at 2. I’m beginning to write like Jess Kim.
http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/life/student_life_culture/power_of_suggestion.shtml
Proof 1: The “Comparison” proof
Let the word
MASSACHUSETTS which is 13 Letters = x;
INSTITUTE which is 9 Letters = y;
TECHNOLOGY which is 10 Letters = z
But MIT stands for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
And
M is the 13th letter of the alphabet
I is the 9th letter of the alphabet
And
T is the 20th letter of the alphabet.
The fact that Massachusetts Institute of Technology stands for MIT means
x * y * z = MIT
i.e.
(13letters) * (9 letters) * (10 letters) = 13th * 9th * 20th
Introducing P as the power to be determined,
(13letters) * (9 letters) * (10 letters)* P = 13th * 9th * 20th
Which means:
(13*9*10)letters *P = (13*9*20)th
P = 13*9*20(th)
13*9*10(letters)
P = 2 (th/letters)
Hence, MIT is the Power of 2.
Where th/letters is a constant or an SI unit to be named after..who?? no not Omorx. (It can’t be me). Sam of-course. It’s been his dream. His ultimate life goal.
“My ultimate life goal is to have an SI unit of measurement named after me.” That’s his words pulled out from his blog.
Proof 2: Add first proof
The word
MASSACHUSETTS has 13 Letters. So M = 13;
INSTITUTE has 9 Letters so I = 9; and
TECHNOLOGY has10 Letters, so T = 10
If
MIT = MvI*T
13v9*T
= 22 * T
= 22*10
If MIT should be a power of 2 and 1024 is a power of 2,
Then MIT should be = 1024 in someway which we should determine
So,
22*10 = 10*24
22*10(vP) = 10*24 (where P is the Power to be determine)
22vP = 10*24
10
22vP = 24
P = 24 – 22
= 2
Hence, MIT is the Power of 2
Assumptionis:
1.The operator v is +ve sign
2. 1024 agrees to be permuted only as 10*24 and not 10*2*4 for example.
Proof 3: Subtract first proof
The word
MASSACHUSETTS has 13 Letters. So M = 13;
INSTITUTE has 9 Letters so I = 9;
TECHNOLOGY has10 Letters, so T = 10
If
MIT = M^I*T
13^9*T
= 4 * T
= 22*10
If MIT should be a power of 2 and 1024 is a power of 2,
Then MIT should be = 1024 in someway which we should determine
So,
4*10 = 10*24
4*10*P = 10*24 (where P is the Power to be determine)
P = 10*2*4
4*10
P = 2 (since 10 up cancels 10 down and 4 up cancels 4 down)
This is if we assume that 1024 is permuted only as 10*2*4
If we decide to permute 1024 as 10*24,
Then
4*10*p = 10*24
i.e.
P = 10 * 24
4*10
P = 6
And since MIT is 3 letters,
6/3 = 2
So, MIT is a power of 2 in both instances
Assumptions:
1.The operator ^ is -ve
2. 1024 agrees to be permuted only as both 10*24 and 10*2*4 only.
Proof No 4: Logical Proof
3 proofs above have shown that MIT is the power of 2. Since MIT is 3 letters making 3 words of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and 3 proofs show that MIT is a power of 2, then MIT is really a power of 2.
right…
Omorx: whoa…
LOVE this. We’ll miss you, Mitra :(
I COMPLETELY disagree on not sleeping with your TA. Sleeping with your TA is the best thing you could possibly do for your grade, theoretically and hypothetically speaking.
Someone please help.
I’ve been trying for the past 5 hours, to access a post on one of the blogs by either Sam or Bryan (not Nance). I can’t remember exactly who posted it and the date of post. But the topic is one the number 1024, the power of 2, how to know an MIT or the formula to gain admission into MIT.
I was so busy thinking about how to prove it that I forgot to take note of whose blog it was, and the date of post. I do know however that it was posted long ago. Now, I’ve got the proofs and I need to refer to it.
Hrm. Senior ball? Would that be Bryan and Hanhan?
Timur, I think it may be against the rules for a TA to date his/her student, at least on the TA’s part. (I’ve heard they have to sign a contract or agreement.) Though I suppose you are not talking about “dating” specifically…
Omorx, It was Sam’s entry, here: http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/life/student_life_culture/power_of_suggestion.shtml
I went to Teuscher during CPW and loved it!!! Another great place for a first date is Finale, google it bc idk how to link to it -yea yea, get over it, I’m computer illiterate… there’s one in Boston and another one in Cambridge, and they make a super good creme brulee and it’s a nice fancy place to go to for dessert. I highly recommend it.
But seriously, all chocolate lovers must go to Teuscher. I still have a couple of bars left in my fridge.
Thanks Mitra.
You were so fast in getting it.
That is the power of MIT.
I hope not all of your recommendations come from personal experience.
What are you doing next year?
3 proofs above have shown that MIT is the power of 2. Since MIT is 3 letters making 3 words of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and 3 proofs show that MIT is a power of 2, then MIT is really a power of 2.
3 proofs above have shown that MIT is the power of 2. Since MIT is 3 letters making 3 words of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and 3 proofs show that MIT is a power of 2, then MIT is really a power of 2.
3 proofs above have shown that MIT is the power of 2. Since MIT is 3 letters making 3 words of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and 3 proofs show that MIT is a power of 2, then MIT is really a power of 2.
Mitra — I didn’t actually find these blogs until about halfway into this year, but I have loved reading your entries and the archives. Best of luck with all that you do!
PS This post was incredibly amusing. Thanks for your insight! (I disagree with the Red Sox suggestion, btw…lol )
Mom, don’t worry, not all of these recommendations come from personal experience; I have never been to a Red Sox game
I can’t believe that this post made it to the homepage. That being said, I must say that I do take Mitra to some nice places.
Correction: Mitra takes me to some nice places
Thank you mitrA for this wonderfull post
i am not from MIT but i love the place- i was a student in Boston for 2 years so kind of reminded me of nice memories. Hey but i don’t like the breakups- heart brokers which no MIT sciences can ever cure you know:-). But maybe we should find some math formula to reduce a little bit the impact of a break up coming from an MITean LOL (just kidding).
The power proof is really great- keep that work going. Truely nice blog. Good luck. MIT is truely a great institution and its students are truely one of the best indeed.
i am not from MIT but i love the place- i was a student in Boston for 2 years so kind of reminded me of nice memories. Hey but i don’t like the breakups- heart brokers which no MIT sciences can ever cure you know:-). But maybe we should find some math formula to reduce a little bit the impact of a break up coming from an MITean LOL (just kidding).
The power proof is really great- keep that work going. Truely nice blog. Good luck. MIT is truely a great institution and its students are truely one of the best indeed.