Joel and I are headed to Mercer County, Pennsylvania Monday until late Tuesday afternoon. One of the higher-ups at Senator Obama's office there is a Geneseo alum, and he offered the invite to any and all Geneseo students to come volunteer during the last few days before the election.
Neither of us could find any reason to turn the invite down, and discovered instead there was every reason to find a ride for the three-hour drive and go.
The two of us are at a point in our lives where we have the freedom and the ability to go out and do good work for something we both believe in at a very deep level. This is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime chance that will not come around again any time soon. Are we going to remember the time we sat around and watched President Obama's (and damn, doesn't that sound good?) closing arguments, or the time we hopped in a car and got ourselves to a battleground state to, in effect, become foot soliders for the man we believe in, making phone calls and knocking on voter's doors? The day we talked about why an Obama presidency would restore the American image, or the time we became part of that image?
So, we're off to Battleground Pennsylvania. Expect pictures, video, stories, tales, and possibly even some songs and poems. And when President Obama becomes a reality, we'll be able to tell our children and grandchildren that we were a part of the movement that saved America.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Colin Powell on Race and Religion in America
Yesterday morning, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced his support for Sen. Obama's candidacy. The story has been receiving it's due coverage, but I'd like to discuss a very specific part of his Meet the Press interview. During the discourse, Mr. Powell brought up race.
He didn't talk about African-Americans. Not at length, at least.
What he did talk about was the anti-Muslim undertones brought to light during this election season. There's been discussion at great length about the earlier rumors brought about regarding Senator Obama's religious beliefs. His campaign said what they had to - that Obama was and has always been a Christain - and the rumors are now believed by only those that are ignorant to the point of blind hatred, and no amount of rumor disillusionment is going to get through that kind of mental block.
This may have been the "right" strategy to fix any confusion regarding the democratic candidate's background. However, until Mr. Powell's interview yesterday morning, nobody of any particular importance discussed what should, ideally, have been the answer - that Barack Obama's - or any politician's - religious background should be a non-issue in America.
Here's what Mr. Powell had to say.
I am very much hoping that this part of the interview gets picked up on by the major media outlets and discussed at the levels of repetition we are so used to from our CNNs and MSNBCs. I find it absolutely disgusting that being of Muslim faith is seen as an instant disqualifier for running for public office in these United States.
I understand the reality behind this racism. As much as it makes me physically sick, I do understand it. But that does not mean I have to tolerate it or keep silent about how very wrong and how very anti-American it is to say, "No, you are an Arab, and we don't trust you in our Legislature or our White House or our Court."
Both campaigns run the risk of seeming anti-American at a crucial time by saying what Mr. Powell has said and what I'm saying here, now. But it has to be said. It has to be questioned. And racism must not be allowed to continue. As a nation that is founded on principles of inclusiveness, we can't be silent about this undertide of racist thought. It needs to be addressed, en masse.
So thank you, Mr. Powell, for sparking the conversation. Now it's our job, as American citizens, to continue the discussion and start the process of shedding this modern breed of racist dogma, and embracing all Americans as just that - Americans. This process has no end, no finish - it is a constant path to be walked every day. But the lack of an end does not imply a fruitless endeavor - for walking this path creates a more just, more equitable, more fundamentally strong America.
I'll leave you on this Monday afternoon with a quote.
He didn't talk about African-Americans. Not at length, at least.
What he did talk about was the anti-Muslim undertones brought to light during this election season. There's been discussion at great length about the earlier rumors brought about regarding Senator Obama's religious beliefs. His campaign said what they had to - that Obama was and has always been a Christain - and the rumors are now believed by only those that are ignorant to the point of blind hatred, and no amount of rumor disillusionment is going to get through that kind of mental block.
This may have been the "right" strategy to fix any confusion regarding the democratic candidate's background. However, until Mr. Powell's interview yesterday morning, nobody of any particular importance discussed what should, ideally, have been the answer - that Barack Obama's - or any politician's - religious background should be a non-issue in America.
Here's what Mr. Powell had to say.
"I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated (with) terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America."
I am very much hoping that this part of the interview gets picked up on by the major media outlets and discussed at the levels of repetition we are so used to from our CNNs and MSNBCs. I find it absolutely disgusting that being of Muslim faith is seen as an instant disqualifier for running for public office in these United States.
I understand the reality behind this racism. As much as it makes me physically sick, I do understand it. But that does not mean I have to tolerate it or keep silent about how very wrong and how very anti-American it is to say, "No, you are an Arab, and we don't trust you in our Legislature or our White House or our Court."
Both campaigns run the risk of seeming anti-American at a crucial time by saying what Mr. Powell has said and what I'm saying here, now. But it has to be said. It has to be questioned. And racism must not be allowed to continue. As a nation that is founded on principles of inclusiveness, we can't be silent about this undertide of racist thought. It needs to be addressed, en masse.
So thank you, Mr. Powell, for sparking the conversation. Now it's our job, as American citizens, to continue the discussion and start the process of shedding this modern breed of racist dogma, and embracing all Americans as just that - Americans. This process has no end, no finish - it is a constant path to be walked every day. But the lack of an end does not imply a fruitless endeavor - for walking this path creates a more just, more equitable, more fundamentally strong America.
I'll leave you on this Monday afternoon with a quote.
"The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen - is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."
-Sen. Barack Obama
Thursday, October 16, 2008
On Dr. Juan Cole, and Disease Winnebagos
Yesterday, a Dr. Juan Cole (www.juancole.com) gave a guest lecture on Iraq and Iran. He brought up two points that stuck in my mind.
Firstly, he claimed that a chemical attack on New York City wouldn't be terribly effective. If you've ever caroused around the city, you've seen the heat exhaust vents that have their roots in the city's subway system. Dr. Cole insisted that any chemicals which would be dispersed in the city would be pushed up and away from the ground by these heat vents, rendering a chemical attack nearly worthless. He cited an attack on the Tokyo subway system as evidence, which resulted in only 12 deaths and a few thousand hospitalizations, according to him.
I have to say I'd never thought of that and it's certainly something to consider.
Secondly, and in much more entertaining fashion, he brought up the "mobile chemical weapons labs" that were cited as reasons to why the Bush Administration could not locate any chemlabs in Iraq - they, according to the reports, were moving around. Dr. Cole encouraged us to think about this logically for a moment, and so I've been doing that all day. The point he brought up - and I believe he's spot on - is that chemical weapons labs are sensitive, intricate operations that require a great deal of strict operational procedures and equipment.
Clean Rooms, for one. Which are not going to be part of any Death Winnebago.
So what I've taken out of Dr. Cole's lecture is this - the Free Press is something to be revered, but never completely and blindly trusted, especially when reporters aren't on the ground and are relying on information being fed to them from government sources. You can't pick up a copy of Newsweek, or read NYTimes.com, or be a dedicated listener to a weekly podcast, and let your mind turn off while you sit back and absorb the words of reporters. Newsreading must be an interactive process - you need to read an article or watch a report, then think about what you've just been told.
Can a Germ Warfare Winnebago be a feasible weapon of war? Or is that an absolutely rediculous concept invented to spread fear?
Is all African violence based around ancient tribal feuding? Or is that a method of thought wrought with ignorance and racism, encouraged by shoddy, lazy, or incomplete reporting which fails to mention, say, the political or economic reasons behind what may appear to be ethic strife?
And so on.
Firstly, he claimed that a chemical attack on New York City wouldn't be terribly effective. If you've ever caroused around the city, you've seen the heat exhaust vents that have their roots in the city's subway system. Dr. Cole insisted that any chemicals which would be dispersed in the city would be pushed up and away from the ground by these heat vents, rendering a chemical attack nearly worthless. He cited an attack on the Tokyo subway system as evidence, which resulted in only 12 deaths and a few thousand hospitalizations, according to him.
I have to say I'd never thought of that and it's certainly something to consider.
Secondly, and in much more entertaining fashion, he brought up the "mobile chemical weapons labs" that were cited as reasons to why the Bush Administration could not locate any chemlabs in Iraq - they, according to the reports, were moving around. Dr. Cole encouraged us to think about this logically for a moment, and so I've been doing that all day. The point he brought up - and I believe he's spot on - is that chemical weapons labs are sensitive, intricate operations that require a great deal of strict operational procedures and equipment.
Clean Rooms, for one. Which are not going to be part of any Death Winnebago.
So what I've taken out of Dr. Cole's lecture is this - the Free Press is something to be revered, but never completely and blindly trusted, especially when reporters aren't on the ground and are relying on information being fed to them from government sources. You can't pick up a copy of Newsweek, or read NYTimes.com, or be a dedicated listener to a weekly podcast, and let your mind turn off while you sit back and absorb the words of reporters. Newsreading must be an interactive process - you need to read an article or watch a report, then think about what you've just been told.
Can a Germ Warfare Winnebago be a feasible weapon of war? Or is that an absolutely rediculous concept invented to spread fear?
Is all African violence based around ancient tribal feuding? Or is that a method of thought wrought with ignorance and racism, encouraged by shoddy, lazy, or incomplete reporting which fails to mention, say, the political or economic reasons behind what may appear to be ethic strife?
And so on.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
It's the Courts, Stupid
So I feel the need to blog again. Deal with it and I'll send cookies.
There's a pretty big issue in regards to the American election that it seems like nobody's talking about. The Courts. Namely the big, important one - the Supreme Court of the United States. SCOTUS for short, SCROTUM for hilarity.
Here's the basic lowdown: Justices are nominated by the President with the "advise and consent" of the Senate. Once Justices are appointed and pass congressional muster, they're on the Court until they submit their resignation or shrug off the mortal coil.
Here's the issue:
The ideological alignment of the current Justices generally result in many of the more important or controversial SCOTUS decisions being 5-4 or 4-5 decisions, where the firmly liberal or firmly conservative judges have to "convince" the "swing Justices" such as Kennedy to join their side to form a majority opinion. Justice John Paul Stevens (No relation to John Paul Jones but he's probably a pretty excellent bassist anyway), who generally casts his votes on the liberal side of most issues, is eighty-eight years old.
Dude's not gonna make it much longer. I don't mean he's going to pass away any time soon, but I don't believe that he can last another four years without relinquishing his post.
Here's the scenario that scares me. John McCain is voted President of the United States and gets to replace Stevens with a conservative, strict-interpretationalist Justice. The balance of power in the Supreme Court would be changed, putting the Conservative Justices in a position of control and major influence on decisions. I fear this would result in a massive roadblock on the road to social progress in America.
Gay marriage, the Right to Privacy, Universal Health Care and Education are all at stake.
So many of these issues are so very prevalent right now, and to see a Conservative Supreme Court stand in the way of America's progress as a nation would sadden and anger me deeply.
Let me add that I have no desire to see a Liberal-dominated court, either. I feel that, given the immense power the Court has to influence social policy, there needs to be a balance of influence between the two sides in order to prevent either a Conservative court maintaining a backwards social policy or a heavily Liberal court promoting change too radically and too quickly. But, given the chance that Conservatives may be about to have to hijack the SCOTUS, I need to scream and scream and scream because nobody else seems to be worried about this.
If you don't vote for anything else this election season, vote to maintain the integrity of the Court, protect the social progress we've seen in the United States since the end of World War II, and maintain an open window for social improvements that have yet to be made. Do not allow a Conservative takeover of America's vehicle for social progress, because they'll be shifting into reverse and flooring it.
There's a pretty big issue in regards to the American election that it seems like nobody's talking about. The Courts. Namely the big, important one - the Supreme Court of the United States. SCOTUS for short, SCROTUM for hilarity.
Here's the basic lowdown: Justices are nominated by the President with the "advise and consent" of the Senate. Once Justices are appointed and pass congressional muster, they're on the Court until they submit their resignation or shrug off the mortal coil.
Here's the issue:
The ideological alignment of the current Justices generally result in many of the more important or controversial SCOTUS decisions being 5-4 or 4-5 decisions, where the firmly liberal or firmly conservative judges have to "convince" the "swing Justices" such as Kennedy to join their side to form a majority opinion. Justice John Paul Stevens (No relation to John Paul Jones but he's probably a pretty excellent bassist anyway), who generally casts his votes on the liberal side of most issues, is eighty-eight years old.
Dude's not gonna make it much longer. I don't mean he's going to pass away any time soon, but I don't believe that he can last another four years without relinquishing his post.
Here's the scenario that scares me. John McCain is voted President of the United States and gets to replace Stevens with a conservative, strict-interpretationalist Justice. The balance of power in the Supreme Court would be changed, putting the Conservative Justices in a position of control and major influence on decisions. I fear this would result in a massive roadblock on the road to social progress in America.
Gay marriage, the Right to Privacy, Universal Health Care and Education are all at stake.
So many of these issues are so very prevalent right now, and to see a Conservative Supreme Court stand in the way of America's progress as a nation would sadden and anger me deeply.
Let me add that I have no desire to see a Liberal-dominated court, either. I feel that, given the immense power the Court has to influence social policy, there needs to be a balance of influence between the two sides in order to prevent either a Conservative court maintaining a backwards social policy or a heavily Liberal court promoting change too radically and too quickly. But, given the chance that Conservatives may be about to have to hijack the SCOTUS, I need to scream and scream and scream because nobody else seems to be worried about this.
If you don't vote for anything else this election season, vote to maintain the integrity of the Court, protect the social progress we've seen in the United States since the end of World War II, and maintain an open window for social improvements that have yet to be made. Do not allow a Conservative takeover of America's vehicle for social progress, because they'll be shifting into reverse and flooring it.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
The Fin-Al Count-Down! (Ba-na-na-nahhhh....Dun-Dun-Da-Nahhhh!)
Thanksgiving break was a really good recharge session. I had food that for the first time in a long time wasn't attacked by my immune system as a foreign invader. I hung out with dudes that are brothers to me. I got to fly a Cessna 172 around Manhattan, and that was a life experience I don't think I'll ever let slip from memory. I learned why Phillies Blunts are $3 for a pack of five, and I'm still trying to get the paper out of my teeth. And Tim reminded me that if a manhole cover looks loose, it probably is.
I'm in the final stretch of the semester, here. I've got two papers and a shit-ton of research to get done by the end of the week. Luckily, my Friday classes are over at 10:30, so I've got all day to slave over a hot keyboard in the library. I'm looking forward to getting these classes over with and moving on to the next half-year. Next semester, I've got plenty of interesting classes lined up, plus I'll be working as a writing tutor if everything goes according to plan. I'll actually be getting paid to yell at kids and tell them their writing makes baby Jesus cry, as opposed to just doing it as a general hobby and way to kill a Thursday afternoon.
Monroe HXC Broomball is up 2-1-0 and we're headed for the playoffs. It's going to be an intense experience. If our offense stays strong and I stay the absolute brick wall I was for the last game, we've got a definite shot at winning this thing. I don't know about anybody else on the team, but I want those championship t-shirts.
fig. 1 - A Brick Wall.
I've got to find some work for when I head back home this winter. I've got Joe looking around the airport for me, but I also got a call from the local Apple Store a few weeks ago offering a job. I swore off retail a long time ago, but I'll be willing to bite the bullet if it means I'll be getting some coin to show the common folk the light that is Apple Computers.
I'm in the final stretch of the semester, here. I've got two papers and a shit-ton of research to get done by the end of the week. Luckily, my Friday classes are over at 10:30, so I've got all day to slave over a hot keyboard in the library. I'm looking forward to getting these classes over with and moving on to the next half-year. Next semester, I've got plenty of interesting classes lined up, plus I'll be working as a writing tutor if everything goes according to plan. I'll actually be getting paid to yell at kids and tell them their writing makes baby Jesus cry, as opposed to just doing it as a general hobby and way to kill a Thursday afternoon.
Monroe HXC Broomball is up 2-1-0 and we're headed for the playoffs. It's going to be an intense experience. If our offense stays strong and I stay the absolute brick wall I was for the last game, we've got a definite shot at winning this thing. I don't know about anybody else on the team, but I want those championship t-shirts.
fig. 1 - A Brick Wall.
I've got to find some work for when I head back home this winter. I've got Joe looking around the airport for me, but I also got a call from the local Apple Store a few weeks ago offering a job. I swore off retail a long time ago, but I'll be willing to bite the bullet if it means I'll be getting some coin to show the common folk the light that is Apple Computers.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Boston Chronicles
After surviving Fall Break and the three class days that followed, I was more than ready for a little adventure, something that came in great abundance. Kaity Davie and I had been planning a roadtrip to visit Malika in Boston for months, and it was finally going to happen.
Friday immediately after my Meteorology lecture let out, Kaity and I loaded a weekend's worth of clothes, good-smelling supplies, and dirty magazines into her Little SUV That Could and we headed for Boston. We stopped at Wegman's, a place which I consider to the the ultimate grocery experience, to get lunch and snacks for the ride. Later, we would decide it would've been a brilliant idea to purchase a road atlas as well, but we did not have the foresight necessary: we knew we had to go East-Southleftish and we would make it.
Enroute!
The drive was about seven hours, and not terrible at all. Katie and I made sarcastic comments about nearly everything, and we also Saw What You Did There. Combined, our two iPods summed up the greater musical lexicon of our generation and there was plenty to listen to. Once we got out of upstate New York, the clouds cleared out, likely in fear of our awesomeitude ability to road trip at will. Metaphorical Meteorology?
Around the one-hour-to-Boston mark, Malika called.
We navigated the city a bit, found Emerson College where Malika studies Journalism, Theatre, and Hippie Guys, and tucked the truck away in a parking garage for the weekend. We couldn't figure out what the rate would be for a full three days of parking, but I had a credit card and that is empowerment to make irrational decisions in plastic and magnets.
Once we got to Emerson, we were re-united with Malika, a person I treasure over quite a number of other things.
We spent some time in her dorm, then went for dinner and out to explore the North End with a group of Mali's friends from Emerson. We were trying our best to get to a famous bakery there, but found it closed. For some reason, Boston seems to largely shut down at 1am. Even the T-Line, the subway of the city, stops running at 12:30ish. It's almost as if there's a level in the mayor's office with options "Awesome" and "Not Awesome," and right when 12:30 strikes, that lever flings to Not Awesome with awe-inspiring consistency.
We did, however, find ourselves a 24-hour bakery and I indulged in an apple turnover while we walked back towards Emerson. Later that night, we explored the Boston Commons against the advice of the locals. We found ourselves no trouble but some very comfortable grass to lay in and solve the universe's problems.
I fell asleep on Malika's floor back at her dorm and we were jostled out of bed by a 7 A.M. fire alarm. The alarm took a place in my dream as a submarine "dive, dive" horn and I woke up screaming something about the Red October in a Scottish accent. Malika had absolutely no idea what was going on. We managed to get down to the city block in safety and watch the Boston FD do it's work. I'm pretty sure I made a Triangle Fire joke on the way out.
After a few more hours' sleep, Malika, Kaity and I explored the city a bit. The girls wanted to go shopping, so I tagged along and made fun of them for an hour or two. I decided that Urban Outfitters is effectively sabotaging the principal of economic competition, and I found a working Centipede machine which devored about a buck-fifty worth of quarters I had burning a hole in my pocket from the subway ticket change.
After the ladies had done their lady-shopping, we realized we were in a stone's throw of Cambridge so we spent some time exploring the Harvard campus. I was wearing my Geneseo hoodie, and somebody gave me a high-five for it. Go state colleges!
Mali and I at Harvard
I wandered into the library, picked up a Sociology textbook, and proceeded to read it's contents for a few minutes. So, as far as I'm concerned, I've studied at Harvard and you can't tell me otherwise. The campus was, all joking aside, astonishingly beautiful. It's given me the inspiration I need to keep my grades way, way the hell up there, because if I don't wind up pursuing a career in aviation, I'm headed to law school. If I really, really work at it, I don't think Harvard Law is outside of my reach.
For lunch, we ate at an "improvisational grill" called Fire & Ice. If you ever get the chance, eat here. For ten bucks, they give you a bowl and let you loose at all the raw meat, vegetables, and sauces you can fit in that bowl. Personally, I went with a "precarious tower of steak" technique, counting on a balancing act to avoid winding up with a floor-sirloin. Once you've got yourself the raw food, you head up to this circle-girll manned by a crew of three, and they throw your meats, veggies, and sauce on the grill, a device which looks as if it's been airlifted straight from Stonehenge. Once your food is cooked, they put it on a plate and you go back to your own table and enjoy.
All three bowls I had were delicious and I'm headed back there every time I visit Boston.
After all that, I hopped on the T-Line and met my arch-nemesis Jackie, who's attending school at Northeastern. We wandered the city a bit and got some coffee. I've never been to Fenway Park, and Saturday night was a playoff game, so I wanted to check it out. We met up and headed to Fenway. The crowd was absolutely off it's rocker, and it was awesome. I don't think I've ever felt that much energy at a game before, and it was truly a great thing to be a part of. I bought myself a Red Sox hat, watched the rest of the game from outside the park, and I've been cheering for them ever since. Purely by coincidence, they are now getting their asses absolutely handed to them by the Cleavland Indians.
Damn.
Myself and Jackie in front of...well, duh.
I spent the better part of the rest of the night hanging with Jackie, talking about what we're doing with our lives and other "deep" things that are on the minds of college freshman. Turns out I miss her a little bit, but don't let her know that. Around 1:30am, Kaity and I managed to hail a cab (I credit my Manhattan-bred hailing skills and the Red Sox hat I was now wearing) to get us back to Emerson.
See, because the subway shuts down at 12:30am, the entire city of Boston is looking for a cab at this point. Ever see Hotel Rwanda? That was the only way I can explain the feelings this cab ride brought on. It was like we were the American tourists, getting on a UN bus while the natives were left to be tortured, raped, and made dead. City-dwellers looked at us through the windows as if we were Satan's children, and one dude walked into the road in front of the cab to try to get it to stop and pick him up.
We didn't.
Back at Emerson, I slept on Mali's floor till about 9:30am on Sunday. I woke up, cleaned my face and grill, and went out to meet my friend Lorie for breakfast. She goes to BU, so it was another ride on the T-Line for me. We had breakfast sandwhiches and she gave me a tour of her campus. Fenway was right out her dorm building's window, and she told me all about Freedom Day in Boston. It sounds like one hell of a party, so I intend on coming back for that and having an absolute blast. Lorie and I parted ways, and it was back on the T-Line for Emerson.
With our last few hours in Boston, Kaity, Malika and myself decided to get ourselves to Newberry street, mostly to spend time in Newberry Comics. We also checked out this place called Johnny Cupcakes, a store for really overpriced shirts that come in cupcake containers.
Whooooo!
The comic shop did, as expected, own a whole bunch of face. They had Serenity action figures! After walking up and down the street, though, it was pretty much time to leave for western New York. Kaity and I packed our bags, washed up, and said our goodbyes. We found the parking garage, I hopped in the driver's seat, and it was back on the Mass Pike headed west.
The drive back consisted of listening the hell out of the Across the Universe soundtrack and talking about our past and our perspective on life, the universe, and everything. A few gas & food stops were necessary, during which I found the absolute cheeriest girl to work at a Dunkin Donuts ever. By the last leg of our 8-hour journey from Boston back to Geneseo, I was running on a mixture of caffeine, adrenaline, and willpower. I power-slid into a parking spot outside my building, unloaded, and split ways with Katie - she still had another 2 hours to go to get back to her dorm at Fredonia.
Now that I've had a little time to think about the trip, I realize how much I needed to get off campus and explore a new city. Everything about this trip - the city, the friends, the adventure - recharged me and improved my overall mood tenfold. Seeing the Harvard campus was the inspiration I needed to keep focused on my work here at Geneseo, spending time with good people was the inspiration I needed to make an effort to find even more people I can trust and enjoy just as much. I can't spend as much time as I have been worrying about where I'm going to wind up in life - if I work hard and keep focused, good things will come. Meanwhile, I'm in college, and I should be making an effort to enjoy these four years as much as possible.
On Boston - I'll be back real soon.
Immense respect goes to Kaity for dealing with my shenanigans for +-16 hours in a tiny SUV this past weekend. I don't think I could've done it.
Friday immediately after my Meteorology lecture let out, Kaity and I loaded a weekend's worth of clothes, good-smelling supplies, and dirty magazines into her Little SUV That Could and we headed for Boston. We stopped at Wegman's, a place which I consider to the the ultimate grocery experience, to get lunch and snacks for the ride. Later, we would decide it would've been a brilliant idea to purchase a road atlas as well, but we did not have the foresight necessary: we knew we had to go East-Southleftish and we would make it.
Enroute!The drive was about seven hours, and not terrible at all. Katie and I made sarcastic comments about nearly everything, and we also Saw What You Did There. Combined, our two iPods summed up the greater musical lexicon of our generation and there was plenty to listen to. Once we got out of upstate New York, the clouds cleared out, likely in fear of our awesomeitude ability to road trip at will. Metaphorical Meteorology?
Around the one-hour-to-Boston mark, Malika called.
"Hey, you guys? There's this comedian playing tonight here, I think his name is Lewis Black, or something. Tickets are fifteen bucks 'cause we're college kids. Wanna go?"I responded not verbally, but instead through action: I absolutely kicked the gas pedal through the aluminum frame of Kaity's truck. When we finally arrived in Boston on the Mass Pike, I lowered my driver's side window, stuck my head out, and exclaimed "LEWIS BLACK IS COMING! LEWIS BLACK IS COMING!" Suffice to say I was excited.
We navigated the city a bit, found Emerson College where Malika studies Journalism, Theatre, and Hippie Guys, and tucked the truck away in a parking garage for the weekend. We couldn't figure out what the rate would be for a full three days of parking, but I had a credit card and that is empowerment to make irrational decisions in plastic and magnets.
Once we got to Emerson, we were re-united with Malika, a person I treasure over quite a number of other things.
We spent some time in her dorm, then went for dinner and out to explore the North End with a group of Mali's friends from Emerson. We were trying our best to get to a famous bakery there, but found it closed. For some reason, Boston seems to largely shut down at 1am. Even the T-Line, the subway of the city, stops running at 12:30ish. It's almost as if there's a level in the mayor's office with options "Awesome" and "Not Awesome," and right when 12:30 strikes, that lever flings to Not Awesome with awe-inspiring consistency.
We did, however, find ourselves a 24-hour bakery and I indulged in an apple turnover while we walked back towards Emerson. Later that night, we explored the Boston Commons against the advice of the locals. We found ourselves no trouble but some very comfortable grass to lay in and solve the universe's problems.
I fell asleep on Malika's floor back at her dorm and we were jostled out of bed by a 7 A.M. fire alarm. The alarm took a place in my dream as a submarine "dive, dive" horn and I woke up screaming something about the Red October in a Scottish accent. Malika had absolutely no idea what was going on. We managed to get down to the city block in safety and watch the Boston FD do it's work. I'm pretty sure I made a Triangle Fire joke on the way out.
After a few more hours' sleep, Malika, Kaity and I explored the city a bit. The girls wanted to go shopping, so I tagged along and made fun of them for an hour or two. I decided that Urban Outfitters is effectively sabotaging the principal of economic competition, and I found a working Centipede machine which devored about a buck-fifty worth of quarters I had burning a hole in my pocket from the subway ticket change.
After the ladies had done their lady-shopping, we realized we were in a stone's throw of Cambridge so we spent some time exploring the Harvard campus. I was wearing my Geneseo hoodie, and somebody gave me a high-five for it. Go state colleges!
Mali and I at Harvard
I wandered into the library, picked up a Sociology textbook, and proceeded to read it's contents for a few minutes. So, as far as I'm concerned, I've studied at Harvard and you can't tell me otherwise. The campus was, all joking aside, astonishingly beautiful. It's given me the inspiration I need to keep my grades way, way the hell up there, because if I don't wind up pursuing a career in aviation, I'm headed to law school. If I really, really work at it, I don't think Harvard Law is outside of my reach.
For lunch, we ate at an "improvisational grill" called Fire & Ice. If you ever get the chance, eat here. For ten bucks, they give you a bowl and let you loose at all the raw meat, vegetables, and sauces you can fit in that bowl. Personally, I went with a "precarious tower of steak" technique, counting on a balancing act to avoid winding up with a floor-sirloin. Once you've got yourself the raw food, you head up to this circle-girll manned by a crew of three, and they throw your meats, veggies, and sauce on the grill, a device which looks as if it's been airlifted straight from Stonehenge. Once your food is cooked, they put it on a plate and you go back to your own table and enjoy.
All three bowls I had were delicious and I'm headed back there every time I visit Boston.
After all that, I hopped on the T-Line and met my arch-nemesis Jackie, who's attending school at Northeastern. We wandered the city a bit and got some coffee. I've never been to Fenway Park, and Saturday night was a playoff game, so I wanted to check it out. We met up and headed to Fenway. The crowd was absolutely off it's rocker, and it was awesome. I don't think I've ever felt that much energy at a game before, and it was truly a great thing to be a part of. I bought myself a Red Sox hat, watched the rest of the game from outside the park, and I've been cheering for them ever since. Purely by coincidence, they are now getting their asses absolutely handed to them by the Cleavland Indians.
Damn.
Myself and Jackie in front of...well, duh.I spent the better part of the rest of the night hanging with Jackie, talking about what we're doing with our lives and other "deep" things that are on the minds of college freshman. Turns out I miss her a little bit, but don't let her know that. Around 1:30am, Kaity and I managed to hail a cab (I credit my Manhattan-bred hailing skills and the Red Sox hat I was now wearing) to get us back to Emerson.
See, because the subway shuts down at 12:30am, the entire city of Boston is looking for a cab at this point. Ever see Hotel Rwanda? That was the only way I can explain the feelings this cab ride brought on. It was like we were the American tourists, getting on a UN bus while the natives were left to be tortured, raped, and made dead. City-dwellers looked at us through the windows as if we were Satan's children, and one dude walked into the road in front of the cab to try to get it to stop and pick him up.
We didn't.
Back at Emerson, I slept on Mali's floor till about 9:30am on Sunday. I woke up, cleaned my face and grill, and went out to meet my friend Lorie for breakfast. She goes to BU, so it was another ride on the T-Line for me. We had breakfast sandwhiches and she gave me a tour of her campus. Fenway was right out her dorm building's window, and she told me all about Freedom Day in Boston. It sounds like one hell of a party, so I intend on coming back for that and having an absolute blast. Lorie and I parted ways, and it was back on the T-Line for Emerson.
With our last few hours in Boston, Kaity, Malika and myself decided to get ourselves to Newberry street, mostly to spend time in Newberry Comics. We also checked out this place called Johnny Cupcakes, a store for really overpriced shirts that come in cupcake containers.
Whooooo!
The comic shop did, as expected, own a whole bunch of face. They had Serenity action figures! After walking up and down the street, though, it was pretty much time to leave for western New York. Kaity and I packed our bags, washed up, and said our goodbyes. We found the parking garage, I hopped in the driver's seat, and it was back on the Mass Pike headed west.
The drive back consisted of listening the hell out of the Across the Universe soundtrack and talking about our past and our perspective on life, the universe, and everything. A few gas & food stops were necessary, during which I found the absolute cheeriest girl to work at a Dunkin Donuts ever. By the last leg of our 8-hour journey from Boston back to Geneseo, I was running on a mixture of caffeine, adrenaline, and willpower. I power-slid into a parking spot outside my building, unloaded, and split ways with Katie - she still had another 2 hours to go to get back to her dorm at Fredonia.
Now that I've had a little time to think about the trip, I realize how much I needed to get off campus and explore a new city. Everything about this trip - the city, the friends, the adventure - recharged me and improved my overall mood tenfold. Seeing the Harvard campus was the inspiration I needed to keep focused on my work here at Geneseo, spending time with good people was the inspiration I needed to make an effort to find even more people I can trust and enjoy just as much. I can't spend as much time as I have been worrying about where I'm going to wind up in life - if I work hard and keep focused, good things will come. Meanwhile, I'm in college, and I should be making an effort to enjoy these four years as much as possible.
On Boston - I'll be back real soon.
Immense respect goes to Kaity for dealing with my shenanigans for +-16 hours in a tiny SUV this past weekend. I don't think I could've done it.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
I wonder how Columbus took care of boredom
So, I'm here at Geneseo on Colombus Day weekend. There are...oh, I'd say six or seven other kids in my building right now. I didn't get any bus tickets home or anything because I figured, hey, my parents are coming up in two weeks anyway, I'd take the weekend and the two extra days off to read, write, and relax.
Hoooo boy am I bored out of my skull. The campus is absolutely dead. There's one dining hall open, and I'm fairly sure they're recycling Friday night's meal over and over, cleverly disguising it as a slightly different type of meat and vegatable each time, perhaps with spray paint. I'm on to them.
I've been pretty stressed lately, mostly because I have no idea what I should do with myself after college. I don't want a desk job, I can't be tied down like that. I want to explore, try out a bunch of different kinds of work, fall in with interesting people from all over who've all got stories. I don't really need to be financially successful, but I would love to own an airplane, if only as a means to be able to go on said adventures.
It's a confusing situation.
For now, though, I'm a college freshman. I'm going to take courses in fields that are interesting, like Anthropology, Sociology, and Political Science. For my couple thousand bucks, I want a quality education, not simply a piece of paper that says "Hire Me." However, I'm worried that I've positioned myself, geographically, away from a lot of really great opportunities. I'm very much out here in the sticks of Western New York, and I can't help but feel like I'm missing out on things like part-time jobs, internships and the like that, say, a kid in New York City could be landing.
And, I know I've bitched about it before, but I can't help but feel like I've been feeling this way only because I haven't been flying. When I'm up there, everything is clear and I'm in this state where I'm fully alert, yet fully relaxed. I can't find anything else that causes the same sensation, because there isn't anything. I posted on my local glider club's message boards that I'm looking for weekly rides to the field in exchange for gas money. Hopefully, some other pilot drives through Geneseo before making it to Dansville.
Aside from all that, college has been going remarkably well. I haven't been arrested, I don't have any STDs, and I can clearly remember each night I've spent here so far.
Almost.
The schoolwork hasn't been bad, and I'm learning about subjects I've never really considered in great detail before. I'm trying my best to get a spot in Livingston Cares, a group of students that shove off to Mississippi for a week over winter break to help rebuild houses. If I can get the financial aid, I'm planning on studying abroad in Amsterdam this summer.
The radio show is going most excellently. I decided, instead of treating it as professionally as possible, it's a whole hell of a lot more fun to say, "Hey, this is college radio, let's be idiots and have a good time!" So far, we've discussed my lackluster dancing abilities, Ellen's tendency to run out of the studio should a tiny spider appear next to the microphone, and my personal belief that the communications building is haunted by a malevolent specter who feasts on human souls.
He also hangs out in the Men's room, which serves a double-whammy of making it so I can't prove it's existence to Ellen, my co-host, and it becomes very uncomfortable to relieve oneself while undead breath creeps along your neck and down your mortal spine.
So, I've been mostly entertaining myself by going out on photoshoots, freewriting, and studying the art and science of flying sailplanes. Tonight a few of us that are actually here are going to see The Kingdom and get some Wendy's, my first fast-food run since I've been here. I'm feeling a #2 combo is in my immediate future.
Next weekend, Katie Davey and I invade Boston, which will serve not one, not two, but three purposes.
I) I get to hang with Malika, JackieBosco, and Tiny Asian Lorie, which will result in good times.
II) I get to travel to a city I've never been to before.
III) I get to see exactly what I'm missing out on by not living in a cultural hub.
I'm looking forward to it. I have a feeling I may wind up in Boston for quite some time at some point.
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