Josh Escobar/Staff

The clouds in they sky were giving way to sunshine when we saw a deer on a sidewalk on Northside. As you probably know, Northside blends into the Berkeley Hills. The trees — elm, pine, and liquid amber — are taller than most buildings. The experience of walking down some streets is like that of a forest.

We seemed more surprised by the encounter than the deer did. It turns out that he, like us, was just out for a midsummer’s stroll. We followed him for a little  bit to see what his business here was. He just ate the leaves and flowers of a squash plant growing in our neighbor’s garden. The whole time he seemed oblivious to how majestic he looked. After throwing us a few glances he posed for a few photos then pranced down the street. He probably never thought that he’d be famous.

Contact Josh Escobar at jescobar@dailycal.org.

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Good music often provides the perfect background songs for our ordinary daily activities. Music also allows us to relive a story narrated by lyrics in our imagination or allows us to escape to the beats and sounds of different instruments. By making some songs very personal to us, we often forget to acknowledge the inspiration that made it possible for these songs to exist. Here at the Clog, we’re taking the time to acknowledge the meaning and inspiration that went behind some of today’s popular songs:

John Mayer’s “Gravity:” Mayer’s “Come Back to Bed” was actually an early attempt at creating “Gravity.” It took some time for him to actually put the words and instrumentals into a cohesive and powerful song. In a concert in December 2005, Mayer explained that “Gravity” is a song so important to him that he could listen to it for the rest of his life. When addressing where the song came from, he stated, “I was in LA, and I was there for the summer, just writing tunes, and I was in the shower. And I don’t know where it came from, but it’s the damn truth you know, and I just sang, ‘gravity…is working against me.’” He also expressed that “Gravity” took on a more significant meaning; this was a song about “making sure you still love yourself … making sure you still have your head on”.

Jason Mraz’s “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry):” Mraz’s musical remedy would not have been created if it wasn’t for his friend Charlie Mingroni. Mingroni was a close friend of Mraz’s who had cancer. This significantly impacted Mraz. When facing your own personal battles, Mraz sings that “the tragedy is how you’re gonna spend the rest of your nights with the light on.” This song was made to relax the mind and soul even through one’s hardest times.

Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team:” This song was inspired by a gig Sheeran did at a homeless shelter at the age of 18. When listening to people’s stories, Sheeran was fascinated by the extreme struggles that many faced. This was especially the case when discussing substance abuse. Drugs like cocaine, a “Class A drug,” had been discussed and served as the direct inspiration for the song’s title. In an effort to mask addressing the serious issue of substance abuse, Sheeran successfully attempted to make the song upbeat.

These artists show us that by taking inspiration as it comes and transforming it into art is something very powerful. By sharing something you personally created, you can offer someone else an interesting set of lens to look through.

What inspired a work of art that you’re proud of? Share with us in the comments!

Image source: Kia Clay under Creative Commons 

Contact Karen Kwaning at kkwaning@dailycal.org.

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Contact Josh Escobar at jescobar@dailycal.org.

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Winter is coming. Well, not actually winter, but the end of summer break is quickly approaching, with its ominous threat of class looming in the distance. Not to worry — here are some friendly reminders (and some more here!) of why the end of summer and the start of school are far from the worst things that could happen to you.

1. August and September bring the summer heat — finally. Although May, June and July constitute most of our break from school and are therefore deemed “summer,” the beautiful weather that really should accompany summertime typically makes its appearance in Berkeley beginning in mid-August and lasts through October. While there are certainly warm parts to these earlier months, we’ve all noticed by now that the weather isn’t very sunny majority of the time. But come school time, the gorgeous and highly anticipated sun shall return.

2. School isn’t starting just yet. We understand that the start of August seems to bring with it the cloud of school and the air of urgency of the end of summer. Well, school doesn’t actually start until the very end of August, so there’s plenty of time left to fit in all those summer plans that haven’t quite become reality yet. It can be especially fun if you plan on coming back to Berkeley early and have missed all your favorite places.

3. New classes mean new opportunities. Going back to school doesn’t have to be all bad; it can also bring with it an array of new additions to your life. The start of the semester brings all new classes with some new professors and the possibilities of new friends. Class doesn’t have to be looked at as something that is taking away from the fun aspects of life; rather, they can be seen as something that can add fun opportunities as well.

4. Football! While we understand that not everyone loves football (or really even understands what’s going on), the Cal home games are pretty awesome. Whether it’s the collective excitement at the beginning of every game that results in enthusiastic cheers or the stellar halftime shows put on by the marching band, the games create a sense of school spirit and collective enjoyment that can be extremely hard to come by in a school with more than 35,000 students.

5. Midterms don’t start for a few weeks. Even once school has started again, the time to buckle down and cram before midterms doesn’t surface for at least a few weeks. The start of school can still be filled with exploration and social time after class and on the weekends. Take advantage of the slightly lighter schedule while it lasts.

So while school is drawing near and the end of summer can be seen on the horizon, it does not mean that bad things lie ahead. There is still plenty of summer to be filled and excitement of the new school year to anticipate. And, personally, we can’t wait to have a little more sun around these parts again.

Image Source: ~Wei~ under Creative Commons

Contact Mackenzie Bedford at mbedford@dailycal.org.

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If you go to Cal or went to Cal, there are definitely situations that you have experienced that grind your gears. When you try to explain these things to people who do not go to Cal, they may find your complaints to be very trivial. And although they are very trivial, when these irksome situations occurred, your thoughts were probably similar to something like, “10 out of 10, would punch someone in the face right now.” Here are a couple of things that might aggravate you if you are or were a Cal student:

1. When the Campanile just won’t stop … especially during midterms and finals weeks. We love the Campanile’s beautiful array of chimes and tunes, and we always love guessing which song it’s playing at the time. But when you have 24 hours until your next econ exam and your classical music study playlist is being overpowered by the sound of Katy Perry’s “Firework” in bell form, there’s a point when you have to say to the Campanile, “CAN YOU NOT?”

2. Studying on the weekends at night. This is especially troublesome for those living in the dorms and apartments on Southside. It’s a Saturday night, and you’ve got an exam on Monday. You told yourself you were going to be a responsible student this weekend and stay in on a Saturday night in order to finish answering all of those questions on that study guide. It’s 10 p.m., and you hear the stomping of the pregamers leaving down the hallway. You’re jealous that you aren’t one of them, but at least they’ll be gone for a solid couple of hours and leave you in peace. Three hours later, you’ve gotten a good amount of studying done, and after your third coffee, you’re ready to take on some more. It’s at that moment when you hear what sounds like the background noise of animals from “The Lion King” outside of your window and down the hallway. Nothing better than the sounds and smells of the intoxicated to get your brain waves going, are we right?!

3. Getting fliered at when you haven’t had your coffee yet. We all know the feeling. Especially if you have morning classes, the feeling of being the victim of active flier distribution on Sproul is essentially the same feeling you get when you see the person in your life who annoys the shit out of you the most. It’s really awful to think that, we know — and to those of you who pass out those fliers, please don’t take this personally — but we just can’t help it! The thought of having to force ourselves out of bed, crawl to our 9 a.m. classes and then be attacked by someone who is clearly on a much superior level of happiness than we are makes a person cynical.

4. Fliering at someone who hasn’t had his or her coffee yet. It works both ways, everyone. When you’re fliering for whichever organization you are a part of and you approach a random pedestrian with your flier, you may receive a look that suggests a phrase you might know: “Fuck off.” Your initial reaction might be “WHY DOESN’T ANYONE LIKE ME?” But please do not blame yourself, and please do not allow your self-esteem to go down just because someone ninja’d his or her way out of receiving your flier. It’s OK. It’ll all be OK.

5. There’s only one dude in the row, and he decided to take the seat on the very edge. Honestly, we’ve all probably done this. Of course, lefties are exempted from this category. But there’s always that one person who thinks that it’ll be a great idea to sit on the very edge and then get annoyed every time someone has to squeeze past him or her to get to a seat inside of the row. We have something to say to this person: “DUDE! YOU BROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF, OK? Stop rolling your eyes at me! And stop acting like my butt (rubbing against your desk and knocking over your papers) is Satan!”

What Cal pet peeves do you have? Let us know in the comments!

Image source: greg westfall. under Creative Commons

Contact Gabrielle Nguyen at gnguyen@dailycal.org.

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Cal is a school infamous for its stressors. We all are pretty competitive, and often we’re even competing against ourselves; we came to Cal to make ourselves better, didn’t we? In the quest for bettering ourselves, though, the basic necessities are neglected during the semester. Eating and workout habits go awry, sleeping patterns tend toward the nocturnal and relationships are strained.

But did you ever stop to consider that the weather could push us even further and make us take our stress out on other people in even worse ways? A recent study published in Science — for which two of the researchers are from UC Berkeley — found that hotter temperatures in weather really do make people more hot-headed. The study suggests that, historically, wars and other kinds of violence tended to occur during periods of extreme weather.

We think there has to be some truth to this research. We’ve done our own observations when it gets warm in Berkeley. Everyone feels a little groggier and crankier when we get an uncharacteristic “heat wave” of 80-something degrees. There’s no air conditioning in most Berkeley housing, so we don’t feel like doing anything in our puddles of sweat. When we don’t get anything done, we’re annoyed (mostly at ourselves). And then we take that annoyance out on the people surrounding us.

So though you may love the sun and complain of Berkeley’s “bipolar weather,” be grateful that you have one less stressor on you. Clouds and colder weather can make us sad, but a little chill may help you keep your own cool.

It’s not like we need any more reasons to sweat during that first exam of the semester.

Image source: Giulia Forsythe, under Creative Commons

Contact Jessica Rogness at jrogness@dailycal.org.

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As the days grow closer to a final summer sunset, maybe you’ve spent this vacation exploring, dating someone new or maybe just staying friends. But can a guy and a girl really just be friends and nothing more? It’s a timeless and popular question that Timothy Goodman and Jessica Walsh have set out to answer.

Jessica, a hopeless romantic, and Timothy, scared shitless of commitment, claimed to be amused by each other’s not-so-successful love lives. In an attempt to answer why relationships can suck so much, 40 Days of Dating was born.  In order to get the most out of their project, Goodman and Walsh set up rules for themselves. They were to:

1. See each other every day for 40 days.

2. Go on at least three dates a week.

3. See a couples’ therapist once a week.

4. Go on one weekend trip together.

5. Fill out their daily questionnaire and document, well, everything.

6. Not see, date, hook up or have sex with anyone else.

Okay, so we’ll leave it to you guys to judge whether this could be considered a legitimate experiment, but maybe this didn’t have to be so complicated. It’s a fun project to take on if you have nothing else better to do, but guys and girls can totally be friends! Now of course, this would be a little difficult if you think your friend is hot, is cute or just has the greatest personality. But if you don’t feel attracted to your friend, then there. Friends! However, when asked in a CNN interview whether Goodman thought whether men and women could be friends, he answered, “If you asked me a couple of months ago, I would’ve said yes. In one of his stand-ups, Chris Rock said every platonic friend that he had was someone he was trying to sleep with, but he made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the ‘friend zone.’ I think there’s truth in that. A man always has a motive.”

What do you think? Do men always have their motives, or is it totally possible for all of us to be, quite simply, friends (especially in college)? Let us know in the comments!

Image source: randomix under Creative Commons 

Contact Karen Kwaning at kkwaning@dailycal.org.

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This year, July marked the start of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and worship. Today is the last day of fasting in Berkeley, which means tomorrow will be Eid, the holiday that celebrates the end of Ramadan. With the end in sight, the Clog thinks there are things everyone can learn from the month, whether observing fasts or not.

The first thing most people will tell you about fasting is that it helps you learn to appreciate what you have. When you forgo food for 16 hours, you realize that there are people who go much longer without any simply because they have no other choice. This is something we could all benefit from remembering no matter what time of the year it is. We can count on having food and water without much struggle, even if it is through a ramen diet. We also have a roof over our heads. And let’s not forget attending the No. 1 public university in the country. That’s a whole lot of good to be thankful for, no?

That being said, it’s great to help out when you can. Charity and good deeds are especially encouraged during the holy month, but there’s no reason this can’t carry on into the rest of your year. You don’t have to compete for most spirited charity worker or donate all your money, but doing things for someone other than yourself once in a while can be really rewarding. It could be as small as offering to help a friend struggling with her paper or offering to pick up boxes if you see someone moving things nearby. Pitching in on bigger efforts once in a while is also something good to look into. Berkeley is constantly having events like this, one of the biggest being the annual Berkeley Project community service event.

Material things, as nice and shiny as they are, aren’t the only thing you can be thankful for and give back to the community. You can always spend more time with people you care about. Observing Ramadan is a very personal endeavor in many ways, but it’s also a time for a community to come together and make those personal efforts together. People come together at their local mosques, share food with one another at their homes and take time to discuss what the month means to them. It’s a great time to spend time with family and good friends, and this is something we can all do. Maybe you’ve always been meaning to grab lunch with someone and never got the chance. Or maybe your mother is always telling you to call her, but you can never spare more than five minutes at a time. Do something about all that and make more effort with your personal VIPs. You’ll probably regret it if you don’t, and going the extra mile might brighten someone’s day. Plus, maybe making your mom happy will get you more yummies when you’re home for the holidays.

Our last piece of advice is simply this: Be nice. Ramadan is the time to exercise extra patience and other pleasant virtues. This means you shouldn’t let your temper get the best of you, and you should be forgiving, helpful and whatever other basic qualities of a good person you can think of. We’re all human, and we’re not perfect, but we can try to be better. Smile at people more. Help your parents cut vegetables in the kitchen when you’re home. Keep your cool when someone annoying cuts in front of you in line at the GBC. People will probably like you more if you try to act like a nicer person, and you’ll probably be happier overall.

No matter what month it is and no matter what religion you consider yourself a follower of, these are all positive things to keep in mind to improve your perspective on life. We wish you a happy Eid ahead of time!

Image source: Uzair Ahmed under Creative Commons

Contact Erum Khan at ekhan@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter @erumjkhan.

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If you’re back at home for the summer, it’s probably been a little while since you’ve been back in good ol’ Berk. Being at home is nice and relaxing, and the break that you’ve had has probably given you enough time to recover from last semester’s stress. But for most, if not all, of us there is a point where we realize, “It would be really nice if I could just go back to Berkeley right now.” Here are a couple of reasons why:

1. We love our families, but … we’re ready to go back to being on our own again. If you’re back at home this summer, you’ve probably had the opportunity to spend time with your parents and your siblings, but the consistent clean-your-rooms and could-you-run-some-errands-for-me-todays are getting old. We love you, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, and don’t take this this the wrong way, but we need a little Berkeley break from you guys. And if we’re all being honest here, you probably need your break from us, too!

2. We miss our Berkeley buddies. At Berkeley, you get to share some of your best and worst moments with some of the coolest people around you. Yeah, every so often your best friend or roommate might leave her shoes on your side of the room, and you might kick them (literally) over to her side without telling anyone (and it might be one of your biggest pet peeves). But after a period of time without that in your life, you oddly begin to miss it. We love our high school friends and our hometown friends, but after a while, we need Berkeley bud(dies) back in our systems to make us feel in high spirits again.

3. FOOOOOOOOOOOOD. If there’s one thing that we can all probably agree on, it’s that the Berkeley cuisine is the dankest of the dank. We apologize for using two forms of the word “dank” in one sentence, but we really have no other way to accurately describe the foodgasms that you can achieve in Berkeley. We miss our CREAM, our Sliver, our Cheese Board and our so-easy-to-access Asian Ghetto. If you’re back in Berkeley already and are ready for some good eats, check out Eating Berkeley to get some ideas.

4. Our brains need some stimulation. And what better way to do that than take classes at Cal? We can’t think of any. For those of you who haven’t been taking any summer classes, taking online classes or working, your brains might feel a little bit … inactive. You’re probably ready for those inspiring lectures, those thought-provoking essays, those exams to get your gears going (or not). But after your mind’s been idle for so long, it’s probably best to get back in the game pretty soon. And we can guarantee you that taking classes at Cal will allow you to do so effectively!

Why do YOU want to go back to Berkeley so badly? Let us know in the comments!

Image source: eastscene under Creative Commons 

Contact Gabrielle Nguyen at gnguyen@dailycal.org.

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Team USA Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Missy Franklin (that’s an accomplished mouthful if we’ve ever heard one), is becoming a Golden Bear this fall! That’s old news, of course, but we thought with the school semester fast approaching (what, we have to do homework again?!) you could use an extra boost of inspiration from her arrival.

1) She was 17 when she won. The 2012 London Olympics were held while the new Team USA member was still in high school. She was planning her senior year while simultaneously nabbing four gold medals with world-class athletes left, right and center (although while in the pool, just left and right). She wasn’t even of legal age yet! How many people can say they’ve achieved that much so early in life? Instead of making you feel hopelessly unaccomplished, this should give you hope and push you to strive for more. You don’t have to be a Cal alum to accomplish great things! You can start right now and make a name for yourself before you’ve even donned a cap and gown. The fact that you got accepted here and made the extremely wise decision of attending means you’re already on the right track.

2) She’s friends with cool people. That’s putting it mildly. She wasn’t alone when she was taking the world by storm last year with her performance. Her name is alongside Dana Vollmer’s and Natalie Coughlin’s — fellow Olympic medalists — on the national team roster. She cheered on Michael Phelps as he broke his own record … and he cheered her on right back as she launched her career. She’s probably already grabbed frozen yogurt with Nathan Adrian at Yogurt Park while she was visiting Berkeley for a campus tour. You could just be jealous of all this and sit around whining. Or you could take it as proof that if you work hard you can live it up with big shots while BEING a big shot yourself. Maybe one day your name will be tossed around with the likes of Donald Trump or even Obama! Aim high. You go to UC Berkeley — it isn’t much of a stretch.

3) She’s humble. While we don’t know Missy personally and are unfortunately not actually on first name terms with her (though we wouldn’t mind if she changed that!), from what we have seen, she’s a sweetheart. We at the Clog were able to meet the athlete when she was still a maybe-freshman-Cal-bear and visiting the school last year. She sat in on an ordinary English discussion, and when everyone went around the room introducing herself she just said her name and that she was checking out the school on a recruiting tour. She didn’t drop the word “medal” or “Olympics” once. Someone even had to ask her which sport she was recruiting for! Not only is she ridiculously tall (we felt like dwarves when she stood up), she remembers she’s a person just like us. Keep that in mind for when you make it big one day. You may be cool and all, but that doesn’t mean everyone should know it every time you open your mouth. Being humble will actually make you cooler.

4) She’s into school. Watch this interview, and you’ll see she doesn’t say Cal is lucky to have her or that she’s there only for the swim program. She talks about getting a degree, something we almost forget about when talking about her swim career and whether she’s going collegiate or pro. She says that academics are important to her and that regardless of her status as an athlete, she’ll be graduating from Cal, which is an accomplishment in and of itself! Even amid all the Olympic chatter, she’s been able to keep her perspective on education, and we think that’s extremely important. We’re lucky to be going here! While swimming is one of the things that opened the door to Cal for Missy, Cal is going to be opening a lot of doors for us in the future. Making it through all the challenges it throws at us is something we’ll have in common with champions like her.

5) She’s still not done. We’ve mentioned her Olympic medals three times already, but those aren’t the only ones she’s won. She’s taking home six gold medals from the world championships in Barcelona, adding to her already incredible record. But is she calling it quits and going back to her mansion to lord over all that metal? (Note: We exaggerate and don’t know what type of house she lives in, but a mansion would be cool). No, she says there’s still things she can work to improve. She’s planning out the rest of her career. She’s won countless races and had a career in the last few years most people can only dream of … and she’s just getting started! We can all do that. Don’t settle for something if you know you can do better. Test your abilities and push yourself to your absolute limits. Don’t go off the deep end (swimming pun!), but don’t sit on your butt all day waiting for things to happen to you. Take it from our incoming Golden Bear, reach for the stars and keep reaching!

We hope this has helped show you that Missy’s entrance to Cal means more than just a chance to see someone famous. That being said, we can’t promise the Spieker Aquatics Center will be free of people who “just happened to be in the area.” Adrian stalkers, you now have friends to conspire with!

Image source: JD Lasica under Creative Commons. 

Contact Erum Khan at ekhan@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter @erumjkhan.

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