missing english

i used to be an english major. so i'd hoard as many english classes as i could. there was this one class where i attempted to analyze everything. and it all came back to sex! if a character chose to walk into the woods, that was sexual. if the character wanted to eat some cake, that was sexual. almost everything and anything was traced back to our reproductive organs and the feral sport it engages in. i still see it. whenever i read a book or hear some joke. "thats sexual innuendo" is all i say in my head. with an english accent, of course. just to make the people in my head sound distinguished.

one-upping the boats.

i was just at the roth regatta, an event where groups/clubs race cardboard/duct taped/painted boats across a pond, and i was completely mesmerized by a gorilla and a banana.

no, they weren't boats. they were two people dressed as a banana and a gorilla! guess who was chasing who across the pond?

SPECTACULAR! is all i can say. i eye-stalked them the entire time. and the final consensus? the banana got away. phew!

aside from that, i saw three male bumblebees dancing with their tighty-whities around a band's stage. they were as attracting as honey! its also a plus that they made the band's lead singer laugh while they were playing green day's "basket case."

if only campus were this fun daily. even weekly would be acceptable.

american soldiers are just like you and me.

have you guys seen this? i'm trying to find videos for the background of our performance and then...i found this gem. i don't know what to do with it. i love it!

i think the media puts this illusionistic distance between the soldiers fighting and us here at home. in reality...they are twenty somethings making you tube videos to horrible rave songs just like that guy that lip sinc-ed to that numa numa song. this made our soldiers seem like everyday folks. which is easily forgotten.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8rm56hTDDs

Honoring Soldiers

i'm still working on a quick piece to honor the fallen soldiers. i'm not sure how i'll do it, but i've compiled photots, names, ages, hometowns, reason of death, and the date they died. it's quite a depressing task.

i found a website that sorts all the soldiers into the months that they passed. there were probably more than i could count, but i chose to arbitrarily filter 11 from each month. but i still think its not doing enough to honor them.

i brough the pictures into photoshop, to add the soldiers' names in, and expanded the image size so that when it's projected, it won't be as puny.

i'm planning to compile it into video with all the pictures. plus, i'll add some audio too. just to add more information to each picture.

Final Piece for Film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayMWQ-DIM4U

^ link to the documentary/fictional film I did for the THR 216 class. I plan on showing this in addition to the documentary film I made earlier this year at The Tank. Hope you all enjoy it!

I love Hugh

Did I ever mention to you guys that I love Hugh Jackman. He has honest loving eyes. What a man! My favorite movie that he has made was the illusionist. Great

Ranting Blog

Have you ever noticed how history repeats itself? Why is this so? I think people are really stupid when it comes to the government. No one in politics cares about what is going on in the real world. They need to stop being so greedy and actual help people out. I need results. I need change now! I wanted Hillary to be the president, and although she would have probably have been in the same boat that Obama is in now, I would have felt more safe. I feel that Obama has a plan and it could work but the results are not going to happen in 4 or 8 years. This plan is going to take more than a decade. I feel that people were excited about the first black president and that is why Obama was chosen. But Obama is a white man’s tool. He is so into his image and he is forgetting the real reason why people chose him. I need change and I wish I was smart enough to be the president because I am filled with so many ideas that could work if only I had everyone’s cooperation. First and for most, I want the education system needs to change. In the city this winter 19 schools were closed because they couldn’t meet the required grades. So what I don’t understand is if these children can’t meet the grades, why is the solution to close down schools so that these “stupid” children could crowd other schools and then everyone has hard times learning. WTF? I think they are trying to make everyone inadequate so that people could be easier to control. I admit it, I have a writing problem. I need to expand my vocabulary. I talk to my friends and they learned so many things that I did not in school. I wonder if it’s because I went to a crappy school in the Bronx or was it because girls in these schools were not as encouraged to do well in school as much as boys. I noticed this when I was in the first grade. I won a spelling bee in my class. I was up against a boy named Evert, and because Evert lost two teachers said “Oh I wonder if Evert had his breakfast today? Something must be wrong with him.” I told my teacher that I just so happen to be smarter than him and she thought I was being rude. Now I know I was smarter than him because he is currently busy being a loser. I never had support while growing up. Yeah people encouraged me to do well in school so that I won’t become a problem child, but it wasn’t an encouragement of support. I was doing work in class to pass, not to nurture my future. Sometimes I did not do the work, but kissed up to the teacher and they still let me pass. I wasted so much time in school when I should have been looking for a brighter future. I could have been something important, but I wasted time. I was encouraged to be silent in class, while the boys answered all the questions. I was rewarded for my good behavior and punished for being too chatty. I would talk to the boys because the popular girls did not accept me. The boys were never called chatty. I am glad that I am where I am today, but sometimes I wonder how great my education would have been if someone encouraged me to be great. My mother tells me to do well in school. She never buys my books, or sends me care packages at SB; she doesn’t give me money for lunch or transportation. She sends me to do chores and to take care of my siblings when I have work to do. If he wants me to do well in school, then why make my life impossible when I am at home trying to do work. It makes no sense. Right now I am staying with Kyle, but when I move back home in a couple of months, things are going to change. I want my mother to be more active in my life. Wow that was a rant rather than a blog... LOL.

Nurse Jackie

I totally love Nurse Jackie. I believe the actress is incredible. For those of you who do not watch this show, you suck. This show is about a super smart nurse who has an addiction problem to all kinds of pills. During the show we see how she dodges getting caught, cheat on her husband with a pharmacist, and take care of her children. She is like a super woman, but she does have many faults. I wonder how the show is going to end. Her husband is going to find out that she has been having an affair and a drug problem, and he has every right to divorce her. He is such a sweet guy though so he might forgive her. I also love the other characters in this show. Some are funny and others are so interesting. Her best friend is a top notch doctor, who is rich, funny and a lesbian. She is my favorite character besides Nurse Jackie. Not because she is a lesbian, but because she is so funny. The whole show is a cross over between House, E.R. and Weeds. How can they lose?

Just thinking

I just realized how lucky I am. My life could have been worst. I was raised in the Bronx, in the Jackson projects. Every time I go back there to visit, I always bump into someone I knew. Usually they are up to nothing good in their lives. No school, no work or if they do work it’s a dead end job. Almost all of my old friends have children, and are struggling. I always promised myself not to have children I can’t afford. Everyone is always asking me when I will have children. I keep telling them in about 10 years because I am not ready. I am sick of hearing these questions. When are you getting married? When are you having a baby? When are you getting engaged? People I don’t know! Why is society putting so much pressure on me? I think it is worst on me because I am Latina. I am doing well though. I am on my way to graduating and pretty soon getting a job for about a year. Then I could start looking for grad schools for early education. Thank goodness I decided last minute to go to college. I never really have a set plan, and it’s sad. I never know what I’m about to do because I really don’t think ahead. I don’t know how to. I know people that have a 5 year plan, and they tell me I going to college was the most important decision I have ever made. Before SB I did not talk to different kinds of people. I was just used to black and Spanish people because that is all I knew. Now I have friends from all over the world and I thank this to living in dorms. I would have never tried different kinds of foods, like sushi or Indian. I would have missed out on so much. I am trying to influence my family into trying new things like I do, but it is hard to change set ways. Oh well, if I can change, anything is possible.

Decisions

Great news for me. I was talking at work about possibly wanting to work for the Children’s Aid Society and a friend told me she has friends who work there, that I should give them my resume. I have to fix up my resume because it’s a mess. It should be done by this week and I’ll drop it off to her or e-mail it to her. Hopefully they pay me a good salary because I am sick of getting paid crap here at the NYSC. Oh, by the way, I just got a raise for 25 cents. Wahoo! I want to get paid at least $15 that is all I need. I am not settling for less than that, unless I really like the company. Now that graduation is in a couple of weeks or so, I am panicking because there are so many things I could see myself doing and I don’t know which one to pick. I wanted to be an actress, but my acting skills aren’t all there. I wanted to be a child psychologist, but the evil zebra lady told me that I shouldn’t waist my time. I was thinking about being an elementary bilingual school teacher, but they have a big freeze in the city. I know that I have a better chance because I am bilingual. So that stays on the back burner. I was thinking of becoming a theatre technician for an off –Broadway show but I don’t have enough experience working on professional shows. I was also thinking of becoming a police officer, this is my plan C if all else fails. I give myself a year to decide if I am going to grad school, and if so, which one. Decisions, decisions, decisions….

if the mushroom cloud is...

Set Design

War Footage 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojd272r5XPE

^ Another link. Same goes for this one too.

War Footage 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buDxywd0lWU

^ Link to a short vid that I made with some people from the THR 216 class. I hope to add it in to the documentary/fictional film that I am working on for that class.

They're gettin' funky... clean.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html?ref=todayspaper

Forget the toga parties, Sadaam Hussein leads a "Baath Party!" WOOOOOOOOOO.
Second paragraph, please and thank you!

“Being in the W.T.U. is worse than being in Iraq.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/health/25warrior.html?ref=todayspaper

this article profiles a soldier, who was sent for mental treatment after attempting to commit suicide. it shows the sad side of war, aside from the monkey-stupid "Mission Accomplished!" picture of delusional Bush. it doesn't give you hope. but more remorse.

Harry is Mean to Twi's

two of the best movies combined! :D

Dead End Job

currently, i work at the president's office at SBU. and it's atrocious. i sit there the majority of my time. pick up grunt work. and make copies. staple. file. and occasionally i walk around the building hoping for unicorns to carry me away to Hogwarts.

at first, i thought "hey! it's the presidents office! i should be gaining some experience here." but the only experience i learned is how to answer phones properly. not something really applicable to real life, no? or at least something that's not already programmed in us.

to remedy this problem, i'm considering quitting and finding a different job. it's quite isolated where i work and the only contact i get from the outside world is with incoming phone calls or my boss barking across the room. i feel like that's a one-way ticket to a mental asylum.

so i've applied to 6 different jobs for the summer/fall. i'd even settle for working at Staples than the office. at least there would be people i could talk to. other than these cranky women who do the nine-to-five stints.

in the words of The Police: "I don't want no dead end job. I don't wanna be no number"

Let's just ball it up and throw it out the window...

almost everyone i speak to has a definite, concrete view of their future. on the contrary, my view is as wronger as my grammar. i don't know exactly what i would do with the degree that i'm pursuing in journalism and digital arts. if it were up to me, i'd shoot to the magazines and start taking over their concepts. in particular, it would be spin or rolling stone. perhaps elle, too. and tiger beat!... NOT.

i'm just floating through college as of now. taking all my unnecessarily required classes that are supposedly insightful. but i've learned nothing except how to skim to keep my readin' slim. maybe i should become a rap star!

as of may 7, i've hit the halfway mark and i'm almost on my way out! the pursuit of knowledge is priceless. but the pursuit of a college degree is MAD EXPENSIVE. maybe i should write greeting cards!

my fear is being unable to support myself. mentally, financially and knowledgeable-y. something on my bucket list is to learn something new everyday. regardless of its impracticality. and i want to keep sane, too. i don't want to warble at my wall at night in a cold asylum. and who doesn't want to have a stable income?! that's pretty self-explanatory.

but i hope one day, i'll sit on a toilet and have the greatest epiphany in my life. greater than the one where i understood how 12 and 12 can make a bunny.

An attempt to impress.

these were some pics i took of the wang center and spruced up. not that the wang center needs any sprucing; it's beautiful as it is. but i wanted to put my own touch on it. one of the pics, i tried to go for a comic-book feel because i think a graphic, sharp, and in-your-face harshness can catch anyone off-guard. another one, i went a bit kitschy with it. i used a spotlight-y effect that came out kinda corny, but still cool!

SBU B-Ball

Student Death

About a week ago a Stony Brook student was crossing the road near the south entrance of campus at 9:00 P.M. when he was suddenly struck and killed by three cars. The student was a male, 20 years of age, and was just beginning his college education after arriving in the United States from China. I could not believe that something like this could happen and feel sorry for the boy’s parents who have to fly in from China to bury their son. It always saddens me to read stories like these when an individual is killed at such an early age. I realize that the road is somewhat to blame for this student’s death. As we all know there are no streetlights on Nichols Road when there should be since it is a heavily trafficked road. I think the university kept this hush-hush in order to not cause any more controversy after having to shut down their other campuses. Shame on them.

Watchmen

So I just finished watching this movie, Watchmen, and thought that it was great. I enjoyed the whole aspect of having real life superheroes with ordinary abilities. It was really interesting to see how history was altered because of their presence. It also makes you think if we really need superheroes to watch over us and protect us. The film also alluded to just how messed up society has become over the years. I also thought the ending was rather unexpected. The decision by a former superhero to kill millions in order to save billions is a decision that no one should ever have to face. I suppose it was the right decision in the end in order to prevent nuclear war. Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie.

Earthstock

So as many SBU students already know this entire week was Earthstock – a celebration of Earth Day. Today (4/23/10) was the final big event where a number of exhibitors come to SBU to educate the public about environment friendly methods. I was taking part in the event as a volunteer with a few of my friends. I took part in this same event last year, and was so impressed that I signed up for a 2nd year. Our duties today consisted of helping the exhibitors set up their stands, distributing balloons throughout the Academic Mall, and helping anyone who was lost or confused. I really had a lot of fun and I cannot wait to sign up again next year.

Sports Pics

Daily Pics

on youtube!

finally got around to uploading my fictional film onto youtube. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oV3D-lDhLk

Sounds like something out of a Bond movie

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/world/europe/23strike.html?ref=todayspaper

this article discusses some new fancy schmancy weapon. that can pin-point a target in "any corner of the earth" before American Idol is over. crazy, no? i'm a skeptic. but then again, when regarding the government. who isn't?!

unlucky

I found my camera on Sunday and finished my scary movie on Monday. It took it the whole day to edit it and it was great. Since I don't know how to save imovie, I totally lost my movie. Now all I have are the separate video clips of it that are not edited. I lost the voice overs and the adjustments too. I am so mad that I can't do it again, so I am going with Elaine's style of movie. I am so unlucky. I can't believe it is really gone. I'll show you a clip of it tomorrow in class, but I hope that my new movie is satisfying. Boooo to me. I am bringing Kyle's laptop into class tomorrow because I don't know how to save this movie and I don't want to erase my work. If for some reason this movie is erased, I will probably kill myself. I have to admit I have a love/hate relationship with technology. something has got to give and I hope it's not me. I am tired of not mastering the saving process on a mac. Why can't I get it? I think macs are out to mess up my day. : (

Teens

i have a 15 year old sister. and she's a total *ahemahem* (is there another appropriate word for "slut"?). i've seen the slightest of the slightest generation gap change so dramatically. when i was 15, my priority was learning how to do those weird little braids. today, i've seen 15 year olds that can pass for 20-somethings but still harbor the mentality of an 8 year old.

when i pick my sister up from practice, i've seen her circle of friends. they're these little girls who think they're adults. but i can bet their lifelong goal is to pucker their lips and throw up peace signs in hopes of getting the perfect Facebook picture.

when i see my sister, all i see are her stuffed boobz. yeah, she stuffs them with push-up bras. maybe some tissues and a chocolate bar, just in case she gets hungry later on? i dunno what to say when i see her do that. but inside, all i do is laugh. real hard.

she's one of the high school girls that can balance two boyfriends at once. maybe three if there was no such thing as school. it's a bit off, and really cruel, but anything i say to her gets filtered through one ear. she's also one of those people that find technology as their priority means of communication. what happened to the telephone? she's on aim, constantly, and uses it as a vessel to communicate to others. textual communication ain't that fun, hon.

Final Fictional Film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3R0lb0bLJo

^ Follow above link for extended version of my awesome fictional film...

Soldier Repsonse

Here is the reply back message I got from my buddy in the army. I think we might have trouble with the internet connection so we have to be very careful how we plan this.

I've been home from Iraq for a few months now and everyone I know is pretty much back home now too. Most soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan don't have easy access to internet especially high bandwith programs like Skype and if they do they probably are not on the front lines. when I was over there it was like once every few weeks and we would use those few hours we got on the internet to talk to loved ones before we had to go back out on missions. Is your class sending any care packages to the soldiers who you're asking for help from because we were always in need of socks, and food that wasn't awful and fresh batteries for our laser sites on our rifles and night vision goggles. Ask your professor about that and best of luck with your project I hope it all goes well.

Thanks,
Chris ****

Double Crossers

I get really pissed by people who are double crossers. As you get older, you get to understand people more and the more you understand them, the more you realize their true side. Why try to be nice, when you don't care? Why the hell are you so fake. Listen, just say it! Say I don't give a crap, I'm jealous, who cares! If you don't say it then don't act fake about it, because I know what you are doing and it makes me want to slap you. Say to you, it's okay if you feel that way, because I don't care either. I don't need you for sustenance. Honestly, don't be fake. Thats some real talk. Plus I just feel like ranting today!

Hermit.

It's a thursday night. and i'm doing the hermit-thing tonight. why? because i think jd salinger would totally dig it.

after getting my fix on the thursday night line-ups on nbc. and a scary episode of Ghost Hunters before that. [i swear i can't watch scary things before dark or i'll never make it to bed]. i'm settling in to do my homework.

essays and essays and essays... three more weeks til its all over! today, i got my sociology paper back that i wrote about House [the tv character] and his male gender role. guess who has two thumbs and got an A? Me! Yaaaaayyy. if only college were that consistently amazing.

another interesting thought today. i was in my law class and we discussed pornography and its obscenity. out of nowhere, i blank. and start thinking about High School Musical. i felt like a creep. where did HSM and porn overlap their networks? i had no idea. but i wish i did.

another awesome event today. in my sociology class, i lost interest. it's almost the weekend and not everyone wants to attend class. so my professor has this tendency of saying "right?" after almost every phrase. and no, i'm not being dramatic. so today i led a little tally going on to count every "right?" he said between 9:50am and 11:10am. Total: 57. let's see if he can beat that score next class.

til then, auf wiedersehen!

Craigslist

So I was on Craigslist awhile back posting an ad for our final project. I hoped that the site would grab someone’s attention, but I did not have any luck in doing so. After posting the ad I went back to the homepage and found a section that I had never seen before: Adult Services. I sort of figured out what it might be hinting at, but was not certain because that type of “stuff” is illegal In America. It only took one ad for me to realize that it was exactly what I thought it was. I immediately clicked out and was left wondering how is it legal to post something like that. I also wondered why anyone would want to degrade themselves by selling their bodies for sex. Guess this site goes on my creepy sites list along with Chatroulette.

My favorite TV shows

I am watching World's Dumbest on tru tv and I love it. People come up with the craziest things to hurt themselves with. I saw a man going down a snowy mountain backwards. Guess what happened, he fell really hard. I don't understand why people do these things and then complain when they get hurt. I Also love the show Everybody loves Raymond. It's funny. I really like Deb. I am also into my show Lost. There are only 3 or 4 episodes left. Lately I have been so busy, I have no time to watch it. In the weekend I guess I will catch up with my shows after I find my camera. Elaine had a great idea with her film because she used the camera of her laptop. Maybe I could do that too.

I have so many ideas for my film. I started to film something but it was not that great. Thank goodness I lost my camera so that I could start alllllll overrrr. LOL That was a joke!

Korean War

I finally finished my documentary film about my grandfather's experience in Korea.

Here is a link to the film via Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWW99dOqOOE

Hope you enjoy it!

Soldier Buddy

Here is a copy of the message that I sent to a guy that I went to elementary school/junior high/high school with. I know that he enlisted in the army and served overseas. I am not sure what he is doing now, but he is my only link to the two wars. Hopefully he will reply and let me know about his status and whether or not he will help us out.

Hey Chris it’s Matthew Cohen from WMHS. How are you? I know it’s been a while since we last spoke, but I was wondering if you would like to participate in a school project. My THR 216 and THR 403 class at Stony Brook University will be performing at a media venue in the city next month. My professor is trying to get a number of active military personal who are currently stationed in Afghanistan or Iraq to take part in this production. He hopes to connect soldiers via Skype so they can act out a few parts from the following plays (which all deal with some aspect of war):

Sophocles: Philoktetes
Shakespheare: Richard 3
Kleist: Penthesileia
Brecht: Mother Courage
Miller: All My Sons

Please just let me know if you are interested or if you know someone currently stationed in Afghanistan or Iraq who would be interested in participating. I know this is kinda sudden, but I would appreciate your input on this project. Below you will also find a link detailing the actual event. If you have any questions for me or my professor just send me a message via FB or email me at ****.

Thank You,
Matthew Cohen

HOME (semi-fictional short film)

So here's my Semi-Fictional Short film.....I'm at home sick right now so I couldn't make into class; didn't want to infect everyone !

I noticed that the blog cuts off about a third of the screen. So if you'd like to take a look at my film then you can just follow this link here and watch it on my channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EnTvvJPFsY

Cheers !

Youtube War Links

I was watching some vids online and thought these really helped to summarize what's going on in Afghanistan/Iraq:

1.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvvYpI4Oy6Y&feature=related

2.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a0XHQ2Oqko

3.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1hIjTUh2u4&feature=related

4.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2ICLx1GYhc&feature=related

The Tank Space

After looking at the Google SketchUp rendering of The Tank I am having a difficult time coming up with a legitimate idea for what we can do to alter the space. The only idea I could come up with is a fog machine in the middle of the stage with audio playing from the battlefield. This will help to make it feel as if the audience is actually in Afghanistan or Iraq. It would also be cool to get the audience to participate so it is less likely that they will get bored watching the presentation. Engaging the audience will be important in making this project successful. In addition, the only other idea I had was to use the three projectors that Professor Baldwin will be bringing and having them project in different areas (i.e. the wall, ceiling, longue area, etc.). This will only help to add to our presentation. Other than those ideas I really don’t have anything else. I hope everyone else is having an easier time than I am.

Plays

So after reading a quick synopsis on Mother Courage and Her Children as well as Woyzeck, I think that both plays really help to capture what we’re trying to accomplish. Just in quick summary Mother Courage and Her Children was a play about a mother during the Thirty Years’ War who sells off her children. One by one each of her kids die and she is left to continue on by herself. We should probably focus on the part where Mother Courage is discussing with Chaplain when the war will end because this is also a question that many are asking about our current wars.

On the other hand, Woyzeck, is about a soldier who signs up to assist a doctor with medical experiments. Unfortunately, while he is doing this his wife cheats on him, gets raped, and is killed by her husband who drowns while getting rid of the evidence. Here we should focus on the psychological aspect of what makes this guy snap. Maybe we should choose a scene where he is having one of his visions to help symbolize post traumatic stress disorder that many vets have to deal with.

In addition, both plays will help us to address the economic and social conditions that worn torn countries are left to deal with.

RIDIKILUS!

signing up for classes shouldn't be this complicated.

enrollment time: t-minus 27ish hours and some classes i already need are filling up like a bathtub.

i feel like this is a conspiracy. stony brook is obviously financially retarded, right? so why not cut some classes! omit a few professors. that'll save some money.

translation: LESS CLASSES=MORE STUDENTS COMING BACK DURING WINTER/SUMMER/FALL/SPRING. AKA "THE MAN" WON'T BE AS LONELY ANYMORE.

because who can be so high up with any "friends" around?

after halfheartedly severing SBS (and manhattan?) why should the school be penny-pinching on courses? we're not talking about 1 or 2. but i'd use the same numbers, just multiply them by 100.

"why you throwin gang signs in tha airr?!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHrvpgA9XtI&feature=channel

deff worth the time :D
the seranader's sequel!

"she's gona make hearts with her hands"

random guy on chat roulette who serandes strangers.
THANKYOUFORNOTJERKINGOFF.AMERICAAPPRECIATES.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTwJetox_tU&feature=PlayList&p=C555C2E7D5AC313F&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=23

scoobymagic!

i had my heart set on making a stop-motion animation film for my fictional film. after taking hundreds of pictures to be developed into a mere less-than-a-minute worth of film time, i... WON'T GIVE IN!

here i was just experimenting with two random toys that i had laying around. and yeah, i still have toys around.

editing wasn't as anal raping... its just a simple upload, drag and click, and simply shrinking the time frame per picture. there's not fancy graphics or wooshy noises. no sparkles and glamour. just a camera, toys, and me.

but the preparation was definitely anal raping... moving things 0.000001mm at a time was a bit frustrating. especially since i was sitting on my floor working on this til 1am. and wishing i had a third hand to help me!

but the end result was pretty cool. it was making the inanimate animate. like chuckie? that crazy redhead? and no, i'm not talking about Finster.

hope you enjoy! :)

Time OUT

As the evening nears, I can look out of my third floor window and picture the sun beginning to settle onto its horizon behind the new growth on the oak and poplar trees near to my apartment. A ladybug craws across my windowsill; a Blue Jay caws.

The last week and a half have been rather crazy, and, yes, more so than usual. As a result, I assume, I've developed this intolerable virus that has me sounding like a drunken motorboat while making my head feel as if it were being ransacked, from the inside, by a team of bludgeon bearing terrorists. I feel dreadful, true.

All of a sudden I can't be going a bajillion miles an hour, yes that's an exact estimate, and need to take it easy for a few days - literally, I feel sort of dead inside; I'm not going to lie. But it's a good thing, I've suddenly realized how busy I am; not to boast or seem conceited or anything, I mean we are blogging after all, but truly - there's busy, there's crazy busy, and then there's "oh, my god I'm going to the doctor's because I'm sick" busy; and yes, I'm at the third stage.

By the end of this semester I'll already have completed 47 credits towards graduating from Stony Brook; it's my second semester (19 credits last semester, 6 over winter break, and 22 this semester). Burn out, anyone ??

We thrive in a society of overachieving, of goal setting, of meeting that goal, forgetting about it, and pushing forward. "The faster I meet this goal, I can get on to the next, and the next, and the next." Or is it really: "The faster I get my bachelors, I can get my masters, and then a six figure job and then work my entire young adult life until I reach 45, be a millionaire, sort out a few random love triangles I got involved in, move to the South of France and and spend the remaining 25 years sipping expensive red wine alone with my Swiss-Bank-Safe-Cash until I expire at 70"???

By no means, please don't think me bitter. Practical, realistic, yes! Bitter, no. Well, maybe no.

Yes, I'm feeling burnt out; my body agreeing with me apparently. I had this sordid impress of university being a place to flourish and grow and achieve. But I find myself, once again, attempting to acquiesce to the minutia of academia; achieving "the grade" for "the man" - thank you Prof. Baldwin.....

But when is it my time to achieve? As a creative person, I find it suffocating that I rarely have enough time to jot down a few notes as I am here; let alone write a short story or that novel I've outlined a hundred times in my head, finish scoring the quartet I started or begin writing the musical I so desire to write. I have so many ideas that I know I could be successful at.

When is it my time? Or does that sound selfish? Conceited?

When I came to Stony Brook I was so intent on double majoring in Business and Music; a practical major combined with a stupid, useless one. Stupid, useless? Well, two semesters in to my college "career", as I guess we call it, and I'm dropping the practical major, sticking with the useless major and trying to graduate a year early. (Did I hear someone say overachiever?)

Anyway, I'm ranting......even when you're sick and can't make it to class the work goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on....

*took this picture over spring break on a day trip to Cape Cod

Around the East Side: Providence, take 5

Two of the local establishments near where my parents live in the East Side of Providence, RI. I took these pictures because I thought they looked so charming from the outside, but it got me thinking: Will tiny little establishments like these survive ? Or will we be running to Borders and Panera ?? I won't be, for sure.

Around the East Side: Providence, take 4

Cool decrepit house for sale near the river in the East Side of Providence....love the period colors that have weathered nicely as well as the statues.....great feel....could be quite the house as well for the right buyer.....

Around the East Side: Providence, take 3

Still up and around the river....

Around the East Side: Providence, take 2

Charming little store called "Pleasures" up near the river in the East Side of Providence, RI. Rather warm interior really clashes with its empty, cold lot behind the building. Just love the dichotomies of both its charm and veil of intense vacancy.

Around the East Side: Providence, take 1

East Side of Providence, RI....around the river checking out the record flooding that occurred. Nothing too noticeable since the city of Providence is on a hill. But certainly a grey, grey day...