If you’re more familiar with words like “chiaroscuro” and “vorkapich montage” than ones like “Canadian egg roll” and “power play,” then ditch the lacrosse game this weekend and check out the 14th annual Maryland Film Festival. Well, you don’t actually need to skip the lacrosse game because the festival runs all weekend from May 3 to May 6.

May 3, 2012 Five out of five scientists agree: eating is delicious. What Hopkins students don’t always agree on however is where to eat. In fact, I’ve heard students complaining about there not being enough cool places to eat in Baltimore. Maybe you’ve explored the area a little bit — you’ve tried Carma’s, you’ve done Paper Moon — but you’re just looking for something more.

Last week alone, I went through 18 Zyrtecs, 24 Fluticasone nasal squirts and four rolls of Charmin Ultra Soft Mega Rolls (for my nose, that is). By these numbers, this can only mean one thing. It’s springtime in Baltimore. And in case you’re wondering, no, my sinuses are still not clear.

If you’re looking for a healthier way of living,  be sure to check out the 34th annual Baltimore Farmers’ Market and Bazaar, open from April 1 to December 23. Although it first opened at Market Place and then relocated to Pratt & President Streets, it is now conveniently located underneath the Jones Falls Expressway, and Hopkins students can get there simply by taking the #11 MTA bus from the stop outside Mattin Center,  getting off at Saratoga and walking east two blocks.

ark the 41st annual Spring Fair at Johns Hopkins, filled with all sorts of foods, arts & crafts vendors, rides and more. A tradition that the entire student body eagerly looks forward to from the first moment of the school year, Spring Fair hours are noon to 8 p.

Volunteering can really suck. There’s no curve to beat, no way to get an A+ to rub in your friends’ faces and no prestigious accolades to tack on your resume. Where’s the glory?   In high school, I dutifully logged the required National Honor Society hours while thinking of the praise I would get from colleges.

I recently had some family members visit me and in a shamefully uncreative act of desperation to entertain, I did what most Baltimoreans do when they have guests in town for an afternoon.   I took them to the Inner Harbor.   On the drive down, I took on my best Baltimore tour guide persona and tried to impress.

Saturday Night Live illustrator J.J. Sedelmaier will be screening his work in a lecture titled “J.J. Sedelmaier Productions: Hiding in Plain Sight” at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 16 in Room 101 of the Mattin Center. Sedelmaier is famous not only for his work on “The Ambiguously Gay Duo” on SNL, but also for work on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, and The Colbert Report.

The Hopkins Film Festival is an annual film festival sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Film Society highlighting exceptional independent, international, and student films along with feature presentations of important and influential films. The theme for this year is “Film’s Not Dead,” in order to declare that the art of filmmaking is still alive and thriving in today’s society.

The Johns Hopkins Barnstormers, the oldest and largest theatre group on campus, presents their spring mainstage musical this upcoming weekend. The Drowsy Chaperone is a show within a show: An agoraphobic  Broadway fan seeks to cure his sadness by listening to a recording of a (fictional) 1928 musical comedy.

Baltimore has always been a little bit like an insecure middle school kid. Like most of us at that age, it has an identity crisis. From the get go, Baltimore’s location just above the 39th parallel north makes it an ambiguous location. Is it a northeast city or a southeast city? At the onset of the Civil War, it seems that even its inhabitants couldn’t agree.

If you have ever ventured more than two blocks north, south, east or west from 33rd and Charles, you’ve seen the benches: “Baltimore — The Greatest City in America.” Now, it is true that this proclamation may be a bit egotistic, and many of us snicker at the irony, but Baltimore, Maryland is certainly no “Bodymore, Murderland” or “Mobtown” anymore.

Baltimore’s night sky makes it quite challenging to see the stars at night. Many more would light up the night sky were it not for the light pollution of the cityscape. However, stargazers in the Hopkins and Baltimore community do have a very convenient option to see the stars and the planets in greater detail, as the Morris W.

It’s never too late to step away from Homewood campus and immerse yourself in true Baltimorean cultu

If you’re like the average Hopkins student, you spend your weekdays sleeping (in class or out), your week nights gulping as much as caffeine as your dining dollars can buy, and your weekends volunteering at every hospital and soup kitchen that says they’ll write a letter of rec for you.

If you've been meaning to go to visit the National Aquarium or the Maryland Science Center, you should take advantage of the deal they are offering from now through the end of March. For this month only, prices for admission are lowered to $8 after 5 p.

In the mood for wraps? How about noodles? Or perhaps you're looking for something more desert-appropriate, such as frozen yogurt. Whatever healthy option you're looking for, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or desert, you can probably find it at Freshii.

The annual blooming of the cherry blossoms in D.C. will peak early this year

Winter is coming — or is it? On one hand it has been quite pleasant not to walk in between classes, to the supermarket or to anywhere around Baltimore when it's actually freezing. On the other hand, when it has been just on the colder side of "normal," then it feels like it's freezing.

Harvard professor to speak about positive psychology and the effects it could have on Hopkins studen

The Hopkins chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, presents "Happier," on March 6 at 4 p.m. in Shriver Hall. This is a talk by Tal Ben-Shahar on positive psychology, or in other words, the psychology of how to be happy. Ben-Shahar, a professor at Harvard University,  taught a course on this very subject, which went on to become the most popular course in the history of Harvard.

Electropunk and industrial rock group "Mindless Self Indulgence" (MSI) will be performing at Rams Head Live on March 6th after a three year hiatus. Originating from New York, their music lacked a definite genre, leading to be described as the self-coined term "Industrial Jungle Pussy Punk.

If you're at a loss for something to do over the weekend, why not check out the Baltimore Museum of Art? It's right down the road on Art Museum Drive, and admission is always free, so really, there's no excuse not to check it out. They offer a giant collection of art, from older pieces dating back to 15th century Europe to 20th century Native American art to a contemporary sculpture garden, which most of you have probably walked through, or at least seen at some point in your Hopkins career.

Instead of spending the whole weekend doing homework, space it all out and spend some time in B'more

It seems as though every weekend is a struggle between my desire to make plans — even if it is just to get food at some establishment I happen to be craving — and homework. Really, just a small excursion, even if it's to a nearby eatery, falls victim to whatever assignments that happen to eat up my time.

Raise your hand if you agree with this statement: Pluto is a planet. Aside from looking a little foolish for raising your hand in whatever public location you are currently situated in, you are probably wrong according to the organization, a.k.a. the people who decided that Pluto is not a planet.

This Saturday marks the third annual Mardi Gras Festival at Power Plant Live near the Inner Harbor. Beginning from 9 p.m. and running through midnight, there will be fire breathers, stilt walkers and beads up and down the street. But what exactly is Mardi Gras, apart from French for "Fat Tuesday" and something they do down in New Orleans? Where does it come from? Mardi Gras refers to the Carnival celebrations, which begin either on or after Epiphany and end the day before Ash Wednesday.

Valentine's Day is less than a week away, but you don't need a calendar to tell you that. Just turn on a computer, and you'll immediately be bombarded by posts on Facebook about people hating on Valentine's Day, or, even better, people complaining about people hating on Valentine's Day.

If you're looking for a good gift to get your significant other for Valentine's Day, look no further. Here are a couple of options on campus that you can take advantage of before that special day gets here on Tuesday. For a truly memorable Valentine's Day card, why not order them a Condom Gram? Once again, the JHU Center for Health Education and Wellness is sponsoring their very popular Condom Grams.

I will admit that at times, quite often really, I feel too lazy to make a trip anywhere outside of Charles Village on a given weekend, whether it's because of the weather or just a lack of motivation to go anywhere. Often, some of my friends share this laziness, generally we're too big of a group for us to play video games.

If you are looking to get involved with Greek Life here at Hopkins, head's up! The 2012 Formal Recruitment is about to begin. Each sorority or fraternity has a different recruitment schedule, all of which are posted on the Greek Life section of the JHU website, but here are a select few dates and events to put on your calendar: Formal Panhellenic Sorority Recruitment: Thursday,  Feb.