Senior journalism major Ellen Fishel is a typical college student — except she lives with five boys.
It’s finals week, so naturally the roommates and I have been in a state of blurry, cracked out, post-all-nighter shambles for the past few days that will continue for about a week longer.
But while we’re studying hard into the wee hours of the morning (or rather, catching up on the semester’s worth of work we’ve put off until the last two weeks), there’s been one constant that’s kept us sane: Buckyballs.
For those who may not be familiar, Buckyballs are a little magnetic spheres that come in bulk. They also come in cubes, bars and giant-sized (Buckycubes, Buckybars and Buckybigs, respectively), and you better believe we own them all.
The Buckeyballs website terms them a desk toy, essentially something to distract you from work. Distracting from work? Say no more — the guys and I are on it.
The boys have spent hours upon hours making the most intricate Buckyball structures. In fact, when Mark picked me up from work the other night, I was greeted with a proud: “We finished the dodecahedron!” Tim and I even invented a multiplayer Buckyball game one especially creative night.
While Buckeyballs’ existence has probably sucked immeasurable amounts from our productivity, they really do keep the house relaxed. It’s therapeutic, almost. Think about it: In contrast with a daunting research paper or frustrating equation set, putting together a giant magnetic cube is a satisfyingly simple, straightforward task.
If this sounds appealing to you whatsoever, you better act fast. To the dismay of procrastinators everywhere, Buckyballs are being discontinued after a lawsuit from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Apparently you’re not supposed to swallow these things.
Luckily, Brad’s on their email listserv and was able to take advantage of coupon codes such as “SuckitCPSC” and “BuckYeah.” A new shipment of 500 was delivered to the house last week.
So thankfully, a little bit of the house finals week sanity remains safe. We might snap at each other a little more often in our sleep deprived states, but we still have Buckyballs to bring us together.
