Finished Early

I had a good deal of homework this weekend, and when it took me about six hours to figure out a problem for Computer Science yesterday, I worried that I was significantly behind in my weekend plan, and that today would be long and busy.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to finish up the remainder of my work by 2 o'clock, therefore leaving me with an almost full day with which to play.

As usual, the weather looks absolutely beautiful from the comfort of my air conditioned room, so I decided to take a nice walk around some of the various campuses (Pitzer, Scripps, and Mudd) with my camera.  While there was not a whole lot going on of particular interest, I did manage to get some fun pictures.

I started out in Pitzer - this was kind of funny because I felt like an impostor, wandering around with my camera on the arts campus.  Pitzer is really interesting because of the art that has been painted all over the campus.  The general graffiti style seems to be encouraged, since every wall has some piece of art decorating it.

Located somewhere on Pitzer's campus of the Claremont Colleges

As I was wondering around, I found a cute little lizard.  These guys are running around all over Claremont, and they are absolutely adorable, and very skittish.  I see and hear all the time, but had not really paid a whole lot of attention to them.  As I was standing and watching this guy on the steps, it was fascinating how he could easily just hop up and down the steps, way to fast to see.  Every time I would try and get him, he would disappear from my lens in an instant.

A small lizard on Pitzer's campus.

I continued wandering around Pitzer for a while, just enjoying the art and (for a while) the sun.  Pitzer has a really fun fountain in the middle of the campus, which is just like a simple little geyser in a stone patio.  The mist felt wonderful, since it is so completely hot outside when in the sun.  I had a lot of fun taking pictures of this one - the water looked wonderful in the sun.

A fountain on Pitzer's campus.

The same fountain on Pitzer.

Next, I decided to visit Scripps because it is a gorgeous campus, with a lot of trees and comfortable shade.  I have probably spent the most time on Scripps since I had to go there for my language test and we spent a lot of time taking pictures there for a Orientation activity.  Everyone says that Scripps has the prettiest campus, and after walking around there for a while, they all seem to be right.  The architecture is attractive and the general landscaping is beautiful.  Not to mention the fact that Scripps has a lot of different statues and sculptures, adding to the overall feel.

One of my favorite sculptures on Scripps.

This sculptures is located by the "Wood Steps" on Scripps campus, which is where I went to meet with everyone for the language exam.  At the time I thought that this sculpture was very appealing, and I still think that it is a visually pleasing piece.  Scripps has so much art, that I spent a lot of time wandering around and photographing whatever seemed interesting.

This statue was located in a really cute little patio area, but I saw it first from the other side of a wall.

Besides the overwhelming heat that is ever present here in California, the foliage is also completely different, which really adds to the feeling that it is not only a different state, but also a different portion of the country.  It is kind of fun seeing tall palm trees everywhere along with the wide array of cacti.

The shadows seemed so cool and feathery.

As I was leaving Scripps campus to head back towards Mudd, I saw something that I have been looking for for a long time - a bunny!  It was really cute!  It hopped up the steps to exit through the archway, creating a great picture.  (It did return to the garden after spending a little bit of time under cars in the parking lot).  Unfortunately, I was never able to get particularly close for a better picture.

I think that this image has a great feel to it.

Finally, I returned to Mudd to take a few pictures of the various things of interest around my campus.  The main sculpture which I see every day is outside the Platt building, and seems fit for a science and engineering school.

This sculpture knows exactly where it belongs.

Now, to conclude this entry so that I can get ready for dinner.  I would like to point to a couple signs that I found on my walk: one from Mudd and one from Scripps.  It is easy to tell a lot about the school from the differences in conveying the same message.  Enjoy!  I sure did.

Remember, click to enlarge if necessary.