Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have an awkward amount of time in my schedule. From 9:55 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. (12:20 p.m. on Fridays), I have nothing to do. It’s too much time for a leisurely breakfast at Temple of Zeus, because even after I’ve finished my chocolate-hazelnut croissant and cup of coffee, I still have at least half an hour which I can only really spend Facebook stalking (though thoroughly entertaining, it does get old after a while).The studious amongst you will scoff at this and say I should be using this precious 75 minutes to get ahead on my schoolwork. As a lifelong procrastinator, this is a difficult concept for me to grasp. The very idea of doing something before the day it is due, is one that baffles me and is something I only do when there is literally nothing else I can be doing. I suppose I could get some reading out of the way,or begin to think about what I should write in a paper due later in the week, but 75 minutes isn’t really enough time to make any real headway on the mountain of homework I carry around with me in my backpack.But what I’ve discovered recently is that 75 minutes is the perfect amount of time to watch television. Within those 75 minutes, I can fit two half-hour shows or one hour-long program and still have enough time for some Facebook stalking.What’s even more perfect about this is that I can enjoy a leisurely breakfast whilst enjoying my favorite shows. Mondays during this time I curl up to watch the previous weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live (though I usually have to skip over the musical performances in order to get through the parts I care more about don’t worry, I watch them later). On Wednesday, I watch Tuesday night’s Daily Show and The Colbert Report and Friday, with a slightly longer amount of free time, I can watch all four of my shows on the NBC Thursday lineup (Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Up All Night and The Office). As a side note, yes I do still watch The Office partially out of loyalty, and partially because I thoroughly enjoy seeing John Krasinski’s face every week.The only problem with my perfect solution for how to fill the amount of time I like to call, “The Awkward Hour”, is that there is no good place in which to curl up and watch my shows. 75 minutes isn’t enough time for me to go all the way back to North Campus and laugh out loud (because I am incapable of doing otherwise) in the privacy of my dorm room. And though I suppose I would technically be in the right if I were to audibly cackle in Libe, Temple of Zeus or Green Dragon, I feel as though my fellow latté-drinkers will think I’m a crazy person (about which they may not be wrong this is, after all, a dilemma in which only a crazy person could find herself).Even if I were capable of finding something funny and not laughing audibly, in any of the aforementioned cafés I still feel as though the prying eyes of my peers will be judging me for being so slackerly in their precious study spaces. Maybe things might be better if I wore an Ithaca College sweatshirt? On second thought, I feel like that would make people even angrier. I don’t know why I think my fellow students might be so judgmental. It’s probably my own conscience telling me that the excuses I have fornot doing work are silly ones, but that’s besides the point.Maybe I fear the judgment of those around me. Maybe I don’t want to face up to the fact that I probably shouldn’t be watching Jon Stewart, I avoid those crowded spots and instead head for the most isolated, lonely corners of the libraries where it is unlikely that I will see another person, let alone be seen. So, if you are ever in one of those more neglected areas of one of Cornell’s many libraries (I’m not going to tell you all about my lovely secret spots) and ig you hear someone laughing, don’t worry. It’s not a crazed serial killer. It’s just me, weirdly laughing at Liz Lemon or Leslie Knope during my awkward hour. Mom, if you’re reading this, this whole column has been a lie. I never watch TV and am extremely productive always.
Original Author: Julia Moser