Sweet summer night and I'm stripped to my sheets

Exactly one week ago, I (unofficially) became a graduate of Purchase College. I moved back into my family's home; my old room, my old bed. I haven't spent a very long time at home in quite some time--usually it's just during winter break, but even then it felt (and was) temporary, about four weeks at most.
Now, most of my belongings are here, many of these things having been acquired over the past four years. A lot of things I own don't feel pertinent here, specifically my collection of posters from over the years. A large majority of them were for shows at the Stood or other Purchase-related events. They don't feel like home decorations anymore, rather they are relics, collector's items, I suppose. Things are very different here.

The actual graduation ceremony was kind of joyless. Although it was sunny for the first time in approximately seven years, the ground was still soupy. In fact, I really didn't see my graduation; I only heard what was going on thanks to a P.A. system because my chair sank so much that all I could see were the mortar boards in the rows in front of me. Our speakers had a common theme: everything pretty much sucks, but it's going to get better...right? This theme has permeated my day-to-day life as of recently--I spend much of my time on Craigslist hoping to be one of the 20% of college seniors who will have a job.

Pat King had a fantastic way of describing graduation and the process of moving away from Purchase--"We're leaving this place, not each other." In the past week, this has remained thankfully true. I spent a night at Purchase seeing friends and then just had a very enjoyable night out with others in the real world. As much as being unemployed and living with your parents can suck (being unemployed and having to make rent is much worse, I know), it's comforting to know that there's still the opportunity to see friends and make new memories, not just reminisce about old ones.

Star Trek

J.J. Abrams' treatment of Star Trek is a lot of things. Entertaining? Yes. Action-packed? You bet. Audience-friendly? Totally. But there's one thing it's not that really keeps the film from being a top-notch film: Suspense.

With Star Trek, Abrams and his Bad Robot team establish themselves clearly as auteurs. If you've followed Lost, the entire film will feel very familiar. Abrams' execution of color, set design, writing and sound design, including the score, is fantastic. In my experience, the film passed the major test of any "re-boot" film; it satisfied the die-hards and kept the novices in the loop. Sitting next to a friend of mine who wasn't familiar with Star Trek past "Beam me up, Scottie," was a great testament to the success of this film. "I can't wait for the sequal," he said.

Therein lies the problem, I suppose. This isn't to fault Abrams, the writers or the cast, but instead the nature of the "origin"-type film. This film was the first of its kind that, on a few occasions, had me thinking "Oh no, what's going to happen?" immedately followed by, "Oh wait, this is Kirk and Spock we're talking about...they can't die." So, while I was enthralled by the nature of spectatorship, my mind kept correcting itself; not only is this a movie, but it's a movie where the good guys can't die. This isn't to say that they can't lose, though, becuase there's always going to be a sequel. The Dark Knight is a prime example; Batman unfoils the plans of Two-Face and the Joker, but the film ends with a slew of questions. Is Two-Face dead? What happens to the Joker? What will Batman do? Star Trek ends on a similar note, but the questions that will be answered in future installments probably only come from those familiar with Star Trek, not casual viewers like my dear friend. While these people might be wondering what they'll do next time, Trekkies are already pondering when Khan will make an appearance.

All in all, I really can't blame Star Trek for what has become an industry fault. Abrams has crafted a perfect summer movie that will, without a doubt, enlighten a new generation of viewers and make dump-truck-loads of money. Just remember to suspend your disbelief at the door.

Home Stretch

Yesterday at 8am, I began moving out of K-1-1, my home on campus for two years. I've always said to people, "If these walls could talk, they'd scream." The things this place has seen...ah the mammories.

If you hadn't noticed already, I have my Flickr & YouTube feeds on the right side of my page. I doubt there's much traffic going to those videos from here, but I'll just throw that out there. My Un-Offical Tour of SUNY Purchase almost has 450 views which is 1) really surprising and 2) really awesome. A lot of the videos on that account are from this year, specifically from this semester as assignments from Unigo.com (which you should all check out!), but I'm proud of...most of them.

Anyway, the past few days have been rainy and kind of cold which is typical New-York-in-April-weather, but esepecially after being graced by the gods with a beautiful, warm Culture Shock weekend, it seems cruel to have to make you way through the week with such awful weather.

Culture Shock

This past weekend was my last Culture Shock as a SUNY Purchase student. The bands/performers weren't spectacular (save Menya and Hood Internet, but they were after-parties in the Stood), but seeing all (well, most) of my good friends having a good time, drinking in the beer tent or just outside enjoying the weather made this year's Culture Shock the best I've ever had, really.

So now the countdown to graduation is no longer in "months" category. I've got about...3 weeks left.

brains.

Had an AWESOME last Zombie Prom at Purchase.

Video soon!

weird

Today, my last.fm account is exactly three years and in that time I have listened to approximately 55,540 songs on my iTunes. That's approximately 50 songs a day for three years, not including things that aren't scrobbled onto last.fm.

THAT'S. CRAZY.

I often never think of my "music consumption," and to be fair, there are times that my iTunes is playing something without me in earshot of my computer, but

also:

I kind of wish this were true. Stranger things have happened, though, right? The conversation didn't go very well, to tell you the truth.

fml.

Newtown Creek

Today, St. Patrick's Day, I took a trip out to Greenpoint, Brooklyn to work on a project I'm working on for my documentary class. My job today was to take still photos while other crew took b-roll footage of the Newtown Creek for our eventual documentary. Why did we go to Newtown Creek? Well, it's the site of the worst underground oil spill in history. Between 17-30 million gallons of petroleum seeped into the riverbed over the course of 100 years and only in 1979 did clean up begin.

There are scores of differing reports as to whether or not residents of Greenpoint are subject to vapors coming from the spill. Results differ from department to department at the state and federal level. Residents have filed suit against major oil companies while some residents refuse to have their homes tested for vapors in fear that their property value would tank and Greenpoint would become gentrified.

this weekend consisted of sleeping, laundry, talking about the holocaust/wwII and good food. Success!

thank you, screen capture

The following are two images that pretty much sum up my life.

1) My Netflix recommendations


2) A recent facebook chat with an obviously clueless freshman


_____________________________________________

Anyhow, I think I'm going to start using this blog primarily, mainly because livejournal has that angsty high school air about it that just simply isn't appealing any longer.

Thinking about life after college is 2 parts excitement and 6 parts anxiety. Shake well, serve over ice, garnish with lime.

The first few days of 2009 have been a mixed bag, to say the least.

New Year's Eve was uneventful due to inclement weather and a general feeling of winter malaise. I haven't been sleeping very well at night which results in wasted days and anxious nights. On Friday night (the 2nd?) I met with a few Purchase friends in the city. At a friend's apartment, I saw what a Pulitzer Prize in Photography looks like (it's really unimpressive, sadly; just a baseball-sized crystal statuette) and spent some time catching up with people I haven't seen in a few weeks. It was a very strange night because the group of people I was with, on paper, should all be fantastic friends, yet there was an undercurrent of contempt amongst most of them. Later on in the night, both "sides" (literally boys vs. girls) would air their distaste for the other to me, leaving me in a very strange position. I like all of these people and I feel like the only common link between them, the only thing they can agree on. I'm sure I'm dedicating more than the necessary amount of thought to this, but it was a very sobering experience.

On Saturday night, my sister (who is 14) spent the night at a friend's house. It's probably the first time my parents have had the house to themselves in...over a decade. Times have been rough with my family, and as in the case with some of my friends, my mom and dad air their grievances with the other at me. I've become accustomed to it as it's been going on for years. I had to wonder what Saturday night would be like; for the past year or so, they've been at each others throats mainly because of my sister.

My sister has a lot of issues, all of which are being aired out in therapy as of recently, and it puts a lot of strain on my mom, especially. She's the type who is mainly concerned with school;for her, good grades make a good person, so I've always been the apple of my mother's eye (with a few exceptions, of course). My dad values education but is much more pragmatic about it; for him, memorizing something isn't learning and that's exactly what my sister does when she actually decides to do her schoolwork. My sister throws both of them into a shitstorm because she doesn't do her schoolwork, fails tests and lies about it. This has been going on for years and all that time my mom has spent countless hours tutoring her and doing work with/for her. It's been established that my sister has learning disabilites, amongst other things, but my mom is too proud to enroll her in special education programs. The constant strain of having to literally teach my sister ever night has made her completely untolerable and my dad becomes even worse.

That said, Saturday night was wonderful. Dinner was quiet and we were able to have a civilized conversation. My mom and dad even kind of smiled with each other, something that I haven't witnessed in a while. It was a quiet night at home--my mom took down Christmas decorations, my dad watched a movie and I read upstairs. I actually heard my mom and dad having a conversation that wasn't a screaming match. It was totally enjoyable.

On Sunday at 3pm, sress walked in the door. The decible level quickly returned to normal and so did the amount of tension. I don't know what to suggest to my parents at this point.

------------------------------------

This morning when I woke up, I had a Facebook message from my manager at the bookstore. I knew it couldn't be good because it said "Check your Purchase email ASAP." Usually when it involves my schedule, she just asks me to send her my classes. This was different. When I checked my email, there was a new message in my Inbox titled "Bookstore." I knew right off the bat that I had worked my last day at the bookstore. She regretted she had to let me go after 3 years of not only working there but knowing her on a personal level, but money is money and they don't have enough hours to give. Besides the obvious (being fired via email is fucking cold!), I was kind of upset for another reason; I wanted to quit anyway and I will never have the satisfaction of simply quitting that job. The handwriting was on the wall for a while as my hours kept getting cut and my responsibilites became fewer and fewer. By the end, all I was doing was working the cash register for eight hours a week. So now, I'll need to find a new job, which at Purchase, especially in January, is hard to begin with, regardless of our worldwide economic depression. I'm not ENTIRELY worried about getting a new job because I have a good chunk of money saved away that will get me through a few months, but I'd have prefered to kept that as rainy day money, but I guess it just started drizzling?

2008 was like a box of chocolates. I ate the ones I liked and hoped someone else ate the others.

I really can't list a lot of things like I did in years past because so many things kind of melt together and I really can't remember when exactly they happened. The winter was full of going to the city to intern, working on my senior project and generally being an asshole to people. Something had to give, and it did during and soon after Culture Shock.

That next month leading up to the summer was just a TASTE of what the summer had in store. Topless nights in Armonk? Check. Staying up to all hours drunk with Cole and Kelly? Check. Generally having an amazing time? Check.

The summer got off to a bumpy start with the death of a friend that I wasn't very close to, but her passing affected many of the people living around me that summer. It brought all of us together and really set the stage for the summer in a strange way; really shitty lows, totally amazing highs, sometimes happening at the same time. The friendships I built this past summer were incredible--no words can really describe how wonderful these people are.

Really, all of the friendships I have right now are really fantastic and I really admire and love the people in my life. I think 2008 was the year of building/changing relationships for me more than anything else. I guess that really characterizes the year, also since the relationships we have with people are always changing, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, sometimes because they have to.

It's hard to imagine what next year will be like. I really have very few scholastic responsibilities left as my senior project is finished and submitted. Who knows where all of my friends will be? Who knows where I'll be this time next year? All I can hope for is my health and some moderate prosperity.

more

The last few days.

Lost, much?

July, July

The last time I came close to updating this blog was during Orientation. Obviously, that post was never made.

Orientation was, by far, the best job I've ever had. Essentially, I got paid (and paid well) to hang out. Sure, there was about a week and a half of training and doing prep work, but once freshmen started moving in, I was having a great, great time. I'd applied to be an OL after my freshman year, but didn't get picked. The people who'd got the job that year were all fantastic, dynamic people, so I didn't feel bad.

Last summer I regretted not applying because I was working a job that was a) longer (5 weeks vs. 2 1/2 weeks) and b) paid the same amount. It had potential for being a cool job--working with kids from 7-18 in different art mediums (photo, video, visual arts, drama, etc). However, I was chosen to work in the office which was beyond terrible. Basically I answered phones, updated the database, did awkward deliveries, made awkward phone calls ("Oh, hello, you haven't paid your bill yet so you can't bring your son here," or "Hello, according to attendance today you daughter didn't show up, is she home? She drives here....obviously not.") and give out ice packs and band aids. My living situation on campus sucked because I was living in 1/2 a bedroom in an apartment. Two of the guys living there had been there a month before I even moved in and had pretty much taken up the whole place with tons of shit. Plus they were pretty gross to live with.

Anyhow, after I found out that a particular staff member wasn't heading up Orientation anymore, I decided to apply. I made it to the very last round of things and got Waitlisted. It was pretty much being in Job Purgatory because I wanted to work Orientation, but if it fell through I'd need another job. But if I got a full time job, which could've likely happened, I'd have to take 3 weeks off for Orientation if someone dropped out and I was offered the job. Things were tricky.

In May, I'm hanging out in Jersey one night and I get a phone call from Rob. He says that Jay, my supervisor with ResLife and coordinator of Orientation, had called the apartment looking for me. I call Jay at his office, thinking I forgot to do something with Res Life and was getting fired, and instead he tells me someone dropped out and that I had the position if I wanted it. Of course, I thought it over. At that moment, I'd pretty much forgotten about Orientation and kind of doubted my readiness to deal with a billion freshmen and be a face for Purchase. That night I thought it over and figured it'd be a great opportunity. It was.

It was great to connect with a good group of Purchase kids as an OL. My co-workers were fantastic. Not as wild as in the past, which is when it was best, but this group was friendly, helpful, supportive and got shit done. Meeting the freshmen was a great opportunity because it was so fantastic to hear how excited they were to start college and do their thing. After you're at Purchase for a while, you get surrounded with negative thoughts about everything and hearing something positive for once was great.

After Orientation, I went up to Maine with a few close friends. Cole has a cabin by the beach and for about 4 days we just relaxed. No phone, no internet, some running water, a beach and great people. Awesome.

In a few weeks I'm going to Hawai'i with my family. The more time I spend with them the more I realize how a) I kind of miss my family, but b) can never really be "in it" like I used to. I'm a much different person in a lot of ways and I think my time out of the house for the past three years has put a great distance between me and my family. It's good and bad, but was bound to happen. Sure, they're supportive and loving and I reciprocate those feelings, but this isn't a place I call home anymore, really. It's my family's house in Queens.

So yeah that was July.

A Night at the Toilet Bowl in Flushing

Tonight, my mom, my sister and I went to what will probably be our final Met game at Shea Stadium. For my mom, it was actually her first ever live baseball game. Funny part is, none of us are actually Met fans. Shea is just convenient and we usually come across free tickets.

It was actually a really great night out because I rarely spend time with my mom doing things because she's always working. It was actually nice to be out with her doing something again.

Tonight, after a day full of grocery shopping and eating, Cole, Casey and I took a trip down to the Astoria Beer Garden at Bohemian Hall. I'd only heard of this place before tonight from many people who frequent this heavenly establishment. Picture this: A walled-in New York City park with about a hundred picnic tables and hundreds of people drinking pitchers of beer, smoking cigarettes and having a good time. We had pitchers of Spaten Oktoberfest, Stella Artois, this great Czech beer that none of us know the name of and the unholiest of unholy beers, Hoegaarden. Cole compared it to drinking "cinnamon flavored hot dog water." It was terrible.

As the night progressed, Phil, Steve and Adrian met up with us and Casey won a flip-cup game against "Jim from Connecticut." Then, for some reason, a bunch of drunk, fat, neo-nazi's started fighting in the garden. It all started when one of them said, "You should've been burned in an oven." That's about the point where I sobered up.

Good night.

If you haven't already, download the new Girl Talk album. It is so fantastic. And you know I wouldn't steer you wrong.

Saying good-bye is harder when you're drunk. Or maybe not?

Last night, after making a few phone calls and boiling some pasta, a bunch of us at Purchase had a small going-away party for our good friend Mike. He's going to be in Hawaii working for John's Hopkins as a Resident Assistant Coordinator, what we call an RC around the Purch. Everyone is fairly jealous of his job because a) it pays pretty well and b) IT'S IN HAWAII!! Funny thing is though, Hawaii was Mike's last choice of sites to work at and has been resentful of it ever since he found out he was going. Mainly because he doesnt like oceans, islands or heat and it was going to be super expensive to get there--planes aren't cheap you know!

Anyhow, we got together, ate some food, watched Hairspray and then decided to get nostalgic and put on last year's RA-Vue. While the quality of the DVD wasn't spectacular, we were all in a riot watching the GLBTU Dance, the LARPer Battle and Brand New Day. I have a feeling that (and the beer) is what got Cole all riled up for later on. STAY TUNED!

At about midnight, I was up the block talking to Tim about today's video shoot for the Orientation Videos when I hear Cole yelling, "Al, where the hell are you...we're going to White Plains!" In my mind, I pictured us going to Stop&Shop to pick up some food and, more than likely, some beer. Instead, Cole blew my mind with this once. "We're going out to a bar to drink with Juli and Bro-Bunk next door." Juli is a pseudo-boss of ours who is leaving Purchase today. Twenty-Six, short, spunky, athletic and knows how to drink. Bro-Bunk is the apartment next to ours which is occupied by three baseball players living in a single bedroom. Every inch of wall space is a clash between Yankees and Braves memorabilia.

I'm understandably hesitant at this proposition. Cole's already had a few drinks earlier in the night and was antsy, Steve was practically comatose on the couch, Kyle, a neighbor from across the street and persistent guest was twenty and I had work at 8:30 in the morning. Here's how we got around all that! Steve drank some iced tea, gave Kyle a fake ID and decided he'd drive. That and I'm horrible with peer pressure, especially when the pressure is coming from Cole sitting on my chest yelling at me to be his friend.

We get into the bar without a problem. It's your typical sports bar--nothing flashy, a bunch of tv's hanging on the walls, old regulars looking at the new breed of boozers that will undoubtedly call this place "The Bar" at some point in their lives. All the girls were orange and all the guys had gel in their hair and smoked menthol cigarettes. You know this place. You've been here hundreds of times.

Juli and Bro-Bunk are already pretty forgone at this point--easily a few pitchers of beer in. So what to do in this situation? Play catch up. Cole slapped down his debit card and within SECONDS we were two pitchers of Bud Light richer. Juli kept the supply of light beer coming and before we knew it, Cole was getting hit on by an Ogre. That's when we knew to call it a night. This is at 2:30.

The ride home was fine--Steve was pretty much completely sober but having Cole in the passenger seat was a mistake we didn't see until it was too late.

Just as we get onto campus, Cole gets a phone call and Steve pulls around and BACK TO WHITE PLAINS TO PICK UP JULI & BRO-BUNK. But first, Cole had to pee, so we did what any good group of friends would do--drop him off in the woods and turn the car so that the headlights are facing right at him and start honking.

We needed to get gas before making the run, so we stopped at a Mobil where we found out that Juli & Bro-Bunk had somehow made it to Hubba's in Port Chester (which is about 15 minutes away from White Plains). For those unaware, Hubba's is literally a hole-in-the-wall with two entrances--one in the front and one in the back. They cook up greasy, fatty, wonderful food served on paper trays with a Styrofoam cup of Hubba Water. It's basically tap water with a drop of fruit-punch added to it. They dry their french fries in a cardboard box when they're fresh out of the fryer. Cole swears he caught his meningitis from there.

It's already 3am at this point and I need to go to sleep, so on the way to Po-Cho, Steve drops me and Kyle off. As Steve speeds away, we both pray we see both of them again.

About 40 minutes later, I'm half asleep and hear honking and yelling. It's Steve and Cole, Hubba's cups in hand.