Sunday, May 29, 2005
Onwards
I've somewhat unintentionally been keeping a low cyberprofile lately. I guess this is what usually happens to me once school's out. I just collapse after months of borrowing energy to keep my exhausted brain on top of school, work, family. The energy debt stops growing, and with no extra energy to keep things going my exhausted brain collapses into the slumber that it needs. Every once in a while I get a spurt of fascinating thoughts, but by the time I'm ready to jot them down they've dispersed into the background of my consciousness.
So what's up with my life? I'm back in Minnesota. It's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be home. I got home just in time for the planting season. On Saturday Mom and I went out to the farmer's market, bought baby plants and flowers and spent six hours making a garden and putting up a fence. Last year our garden was a disaster. Rabbits ravaged it. This year, I hope we get to enjoy some fruits and vegetables of our labor... It'll be a good summer if I'll be eating watermelons, peppers, onions, radishes, eggplants, and tomatoes out of the garden by late August.
Work. It's not like I don't work my ass hard enough during the school year. Two jobs and five classes sure mean I've been doing what I could. But after two years at an expensive private college I'm starting to feel the financial squeeze. The $$$s in my bank account are drying up (not that I ever had much to begin with), and the loans are plunging well into the five-digits (oh the gifts of an education; the gift of massive debt).
I need a summer job. Back in march I applied to three internships in book publishing. I was really excited. I love writing. I did my research about these internships, they sounded like a great glimpse into the magic of book-making. I spent hours writing up a tight resume and an appealing cover letter. But months and months went by and I didn't even hear back from anyone. Only one of the publishers had the decency to confirm my application. I probably could have been a better nagger, but it didn't feel right and I didn't have the time or nerve to devote to nagging. Anyway, whatever. It's history. Now I'm home and unemployed.
69 years and 363 days before my 20th birthday my grandma was born. She always jokes that I was her 50th birthday present. So being that I'm now free and unemployed, my grandma urged me to fly to Israel to celebrate our round birthdays together. So a few days ago I found decently priced tickets, and booked them. Exactly a week ago I was flying home from school. Tomorrow, I'll be hitting the airport again, just international-style this time.
I'll be gone for two weeks, and since I don't really have any plans for my two weeks there, I may well have time to write up a few updates. If not, I'll definitely be back in two weeks to whine about my joblessness or perhaps better things.
So what's up with my life? I'm back in Minnesota. It's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be home. I got home just in time for the planting season. On Saturday Mom and I went out to the farmer's market, bought baby plants and flowers and spent six hours making a garden and putting up a fence. Last year our garden was a disaster. Rabbits ravaged it. This year, I hope we get to enjoy some fruits and vegetables of our labor... It'll be a good summer if I'll be eating watermelons, peppers, onions, radishes, eggplants, and tomatoes out of the garden by late August.
Work. It's not like I don't work my ass hard enough during the school year. Two jobs and five classes sure mean I've been doing what I could. But after two years at an expensive private college I'm starting to feel the financial squeeze. The $$$s in my bank account are drying up (not that I ever had much to begin with), and the loans are plunging well into the five-digits (oh the gifts of an education; the gift of massive debt).
I need a summer job. Back in march I applied to three internships in book publishing. I was really excited. I love writing. I did my research about these internships, they sounded like a great glimpse into the magic of book-making. I spent hours writing up a tight resume and an appealing cover letter. But months and months went by and I didn't even hear back from anyone. Only one of the publishers had the decency to confirm my application. I probably could have been a better nagger, but it didn't feel right and I didn't have the time or nerve to devote to nagging. Anyway, whatever. It's history. Now I'm home and unemployed.
69 years and 363 days before my 20th birthday my grandma was born. She always jokes that I was her 50th birthday present. So being that I'm now free and unemployed, my grandma urged me to fly to Israel to celebrate our round birthdays together. So a few days ago I found decently priced tickets, and booked them. Exactly a week ago I was flying home from school. Tomorrow, I'll be hitting the airport again, just international-style this time.
I'll be gone for two weeks, and since I don't really have any plans for my two weeks there, I may well have time to write up a few updates. If not, I'll definitely be back in two weeks to whine about my joblessness or perhaps better things.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Not That Exciting...
A couple weeks ago I mentioned that Snoop Dogg and The Game would be performing at my school to celebrate the last day of classes. Now that I have some time on my hands, I thought I'd let you know how it went.
Like previous years, this was serious. And since I lived in a dorm looking up on the slope, I got a close view of it all unfolding. In the days leading up to the party they fenced off the whole slope. They shut down the road right in front of my dorm, and they set up a huge stage. They also brought in some trailers for the celebrities to chill in before and after their shows.
All right, so after I attended my morning class I was pretty excited to hit the slope. It's not just music and celebrities. It's also people-watching, freedom, and a cause for celebration. I got there with some friends of mine right when The Game took the stage. As we made our way to the slope, a guy with big muscles wearing a tight T-shirt with some Greek letters on it shouted at me, "The Game is on!"
"I know!" I smiled.
"He's rap's MVP!" He shouted again and stumbled closer to me. "He's not going no where!"
I smelled the heavy alcohol on his breath. He was walking so tipsy that I was surprised he hadn't smashed his head open on the concrete sidewalk yet.
We passed the ID check at the entrance and headed toward the stage. The closer we got, the louder the music became, and the more densely packed the crowd. My friend was eager to get up close to the stage. She tried to dress up hotter than Beyonce: sleek sunglasses, hair done up, and skimply classy clothes. We fought the crowd as we made our way to the first row so she could live out her dream of being spotted. With ever inch closer, the the people were sweatier and the squishing more intense. The smell of alcohol got stronger, the wiffs of pot-smoke more and more obvious.
We got about as close as ten rows away from the stage at which point we really couldn't fight our way closer. It was just too damn insane and too packed to squeeze between anymore people. So ten rows from the stage we tried to look cool, waiting for a good beat to bob our bodies to. But it's tough to look cool when you're sober and drunk and high people are bumbing into you and grinding each other like this was their last chance to have sex. From ten rows away we couldn't even see The Game! After five minutes in the ant pile I decided I had enough. I bid my friends goodbye and headed up the slope where there view was better and the people were less and calmer.
But that situation is pretty characteristic of all such celebrations. Nutty group behavior takes over, people let down their guard, too many lose control. But how was the music?
I was disappointed. The shows were so rehearsed, staged and a little too raw. There were the small things. When game was on stage at 2pm, him and his screw shouted things like, "How are y'all tonight?" Tonight?! Do you realize that the day has just begun for many college students who just woke up an hour ago?!?! And Snoop and The Game's crew shouted at us things like, "How's everyone in the building?" In da building?! Hello, it was an open-air concert. There was a stage and lots of people outside. There was no building! LOL, okay but that's all silly little stuff. I have no clue why they would have said it, but whatever.
Before getting into his song "Dreams" The Game gave a little introduction. The song is a well-intentioned song, a dedication to all the rappers and musicians who were murdered or died in the last decade or so. The Game gave props to Aaliyah, Left Eye, Biggie, and Tupac among others. But here's the thing. After shouting, "Who misses Tupac?" a slew of loud gun shot sounds went off. And then again after Biggie. I was shocked to hear those gun shots in and of themselves. But also, they went off after talking about two guys who were SHOT dead! Woha, some respect! And the gun shots were a motif for the rest of The Game's act... Dang, isn't that cutting-edge.
And Snoop. "Jump mothafucka, jump mothafucka, jump!" Everyone Snoop addressed us, it was "How are you mothafuckas?" So we pay how much to hear you call us mothafuckas all the time? Oh, it's just a figure of speech? Right...
I saw a Snoop video on TV yesterday and the contrast between that and the live show helped me understand my disappointed. The video was so polished. The beats were smooth and harmonious. It was clean, most of the profanities just somehow not there, and it didn't matter. Are these songs with catchy choruses what made Snoop so popular in the last few years? The live show was full of cussing. Almost every other word. The smooth choruses and catchy tunes just weren't really there. It was hard rapping. The show was stripped and I just couldn't get over the shock value.
Like previous years, this was serious. And since I lived in a dorm looking up on the slope, I got a close view of it all unfolding. In the days leading up to the party they fenced off the whole slope. They shut down the road right in front of my dorm, and they set up a huge stage. They also brought in some trailers for the celebrities to chill in before and after their shows.
All right, so after I attended my morning class I was pretty excited to hit the slope. It's not just music and celebrities. It's also people-watching, freedom, and a cause for celebration. I got there with some friends of mine right when The Game took the stage. As we made our way to the slope, a guy with big muscles wearing a tight T-shirt with some Greek letters on it shouted at me, "The Game is on!"
"I know!" I smiled.
"He's rap's MVP!" He shouted again and stumbled closer to me. "He's not going no where!"
I smelled the heavy alcohol on his breath. He was walking so tipsy that I was surprised he hadn't smashed his head open on the concrete sidewalk yet.
We passed the ID check at the entrance and headed toward the stage. The closer we got, the louder the music became, and the more densely packed the crowd. My friend was eager to get up close to the stage. She tried to dress up hotter than Beyonce: sleek sunglasses, hair done up, and skimply classy clothes. We fought the crowd as we made our way to the first row so she could live out her dream of being spotted. With ever inch closer, the the people were sweatier and the squishing more intense. The smell of alcohol got stronger, the wiffs of pot-smoke more and more obvious.
We got about as close as ten rows away from the stage at which point we really couldn't fight our way closer. It was just too damn insane and too packed to squeeze between anymore people. So ten rows from the stage we tried to look cool, waiting for a good beat to bob our bodies to. But it's tough to look cool when you're sober and drunk and high people are bumbing into you and grinding each other like this was their last chance to have sex. From ten rows away we couldn't even see The Game! After five minutes in the ant pile I decided I had enough. I bid my friends goodbye and headed up the slope where there view was better and the people were less and calmer.
But that situation is pretty characteristic of all such celebrations. Nutty group behavior takes over, people let down their guard, too many lose control. But how was the music?
I was disappointed. The shows were so rehearsed, staged and a little too raw. There were the small things. When game was on stage at 2pm, him and his screw shouted things like, "How are y'all tonight?" Tonight?! Do you realize that the day has just begun for many college students who just woke up an hour ago?!?! And Snoop and The Game's crew shouted at us things like, "How's everyone in the building?" In da building?! Hello, it was an open-air concert. There was a stage and lots of people outside. There was no building! LOL, okay but that's all silly little stuff. I have no clue why they would have said it, but whatever.
Before getting into his song "Dreams" The Game gave a little introduction. The song is a well-intentioned song, a dedication to all the rappers and musicians who were murdered or died in the last decade or so. The Game gave props to Aaliyah, Left Eye, Biggie, and Tupac among others. But here's the thing. After shouting, "Who misses Tupac?" a slew of loud gun shot sounds went off. And then again after Biggie. I was shocked to hear those gun shots in and of themselves. But also, they went off after talking about two guys who were SHOT dead! Woha, some respect! And the gun shots were a motif for the rest of The Game's act... Dang, isn't that cutting-edge.
And Snoop. "Jump mothafucka, jump mothafucka, jump!" Everyone Snoop addressed us, it was "How are you mothafuckas?" So we pay how much to hear you call us mothafuckas all the time? Oh, it's just a figure of speech? Right...
I saw a Snoop video on TV yesterday and the contrast between that and the live show helped me understand my disappointed. The video was so polished. The beats were smooth and harmonious. It was clean, most of the profanities just somehow not there, and it didn't matter. Are these songs with catchy choruses what made Snoop so popular in the last few years? The live show was full of cussing. Almost every other word. The smooth choruses and catchy tunes just weren't really there. It was hard rapping. The show was stripped and I just couldn't get over the shock value.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Yes, I'm Still Alive
Not that anyone around here seemed too concerned about that, LOL. So what happened since the day I was gearing up to see Snoop Dogg and The Game keep it real on my college lawn?
Well, there were maybe two days of total chillaxness. You know, the type when you get like 11 or 12 hours of sleep and you're blissfully tired all day long. Then it was back to stressing out over my three upcoming final exams and a 20 page final paper I had to write. So much work!
Don't worry. I took a quick break from the stressing in order to let myself turn 20 gracefully. That's it, goodbye teenagedom. But you know, once you hit the ground and start running, there's not too much time to stop and think. So yes, it feels weird to be 20, but the full processing will happen in a couple days once I get home and get rested up.
Then it was back to stressing and working and studying and paper-writing. Lordy, it felt like this set of finals would never end. They just draggged on and on and on. First it was astrophysics at 9am on the first day of finals. Then it was history on the second day of finals at 9am. Then I spent the whole weekend writing a 22 page final paper for my antrhopology class. Then at 9am this morning was psychology. I'm SO glad it's over.
Now excuse me while I pack up my life belongings. Tomorrow Momma's coming and we're outta this place! Two years of college DONE!
Well, there were maybe two days of total chillaxness. You know, the type when you get like 11 or 12 hours of sleep and you're blissfully tired all day long. Then it was back to stressing out over my three upcoming final exams and a 20 page final paper I had to write. So much work!
Don't worry. I took a quick break from the stressing in order to let myself turn 20 gracefully. That's it, goodbye teenagedom. But you know, once you hit the ground and start running, there's not too much time to stop and think. So yes, it feels weird to be 20, but the full processing will happen in a couple days once I get home and get rested up.
Then it was back to stressing and working and studying and paper-writing. Lordy, it felt like this set of finals would never end. They just draggged on and on and on. First it was astrophysics at 9am on the first day of finals. Then it was history on the second day of finals at 9am. Then I spent the whole weekend writing a 22 page final paper for my antrhopology class. Then at 9am this morning was psychology. I'm SO glad it's over.
Now excuse me while I pack up my life belongings. Tomorrow Momma's coming and we're outta this place! Two years of college DONE!
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Gangstas in College
So Snoop Dogg and The Game are performing at my school tomorrow... What do you think? What do I think? I don't know.
My school has this major tradition of throwing this wild party to mark the last day of classes. Forget that technically this is the last day of classes. Most of them get cancelled, and the few that don't probably don't rank high on attendance.
So a few thousand students along with a few more thousand guests hit the huge slope on campus. Years ago it used to be just to get drunk and party and go crazy. A couple of close calls with unconscious drunk students and the raising of the legal drinking age to 21 made the administration reconsider its hands-off policy. Now they try to take students' minds off the alcohol and nuttiness a bit by bringing big name performers to campus to entertain us in other ways. They also sell the alcohol now, gate off the slope, and think up other ways to seize more control.
But back to the music. Last year they brought Kanye West came to campus. I was there in the first few lines watching Kanye tear it up on stage. It was my first "real" concert by a big-time performer (yes, I'm a late bloomer). Something about it was kind of exciting, some celebrity scintillation, the excitement from the crowd, feeling the base vibrations reverbrate through my body...
It was nice, but as I stood there squished between crazy dancing students who smelled like alcohol and pot, something felt a bit weird. I mean, do you remember the name of the album Kanye was promoting last year? "The College Dropout." Yeah, so we're all paying over 40K per year and ripping our asses to go to college, and then our school brings a guy promoting "The College Dropout," to entertain with lyrics like, "I fucked the teacher." Uhm...
And this year it's Snoop and The Game. Yeah it's cool that even college can be down with the happening stuff, but... but, but, but... Something just seems wrong about this picture. I don't know, maybe it's the fact that I heard we're paying anywhere from 30K to 100K for these acts--(our tuition dollars hard at work). Or maybe it's because some of the lyrics they rap and some of the things they stand for completely contradict some of the lessons, morals, and values a higher education tries to instill in us (oh snap, he's pulling out the morals and values card!).
But I don't want to be the sour apple. There's something cool about this, too. Last year I saw Kanye, and unless I'm totally out of it, this year I'll be out there watching and listening to Snoop and The Game live. I won't even deny it, I might even enjoy some of their music. So I'm not all protesting about this one. It just leaves me wondering, are these the kind of experiences I came to college for? Are these the kinds of experiences I want college to provide me? Should Snoop and The Game be pimping big G's out of universities' piggy banks?
If it's exciting in a good or bad way, or if I get any marvelous insights, or if I'm otherwise in the mood to write I'll be sure to update.
My school has this major tradition of throwing this wild party to mark the last day of classes. Forget that technically this is the last day of classes. Most of them get cancelled, and the few that don't probably don't rank high on attendance.
So a few thousand students along with a few more thousand guests hit the huge slope on campus. Years ago it used to be just to get drunk and party and go crazy. A couple of close calls with unconscious drunk students and the raising of the legal drinking age to 21 made the administration reconsider its hands-off policy. Now they try to take students' minds off the alcohol and nuttiness a bit by bringing big name performers to campus to entertain us in other ways. They also sell the alcohol now, gate off the slope, and think up other ways to seize more control.
But back to the music. Last year they brought Kanye West came to campus. I was there in the first few lines watching Kanye tear it up on stage. It was my first "real" concert by a big-time performer (yes, I'm a late bloomer). Something about it was kind of exciting, some celebrity scintillation, the excitement from the crowd, feeling the base vibrations reverbrate through my body...
It was nice, but as I stood there squished between crazy dancing students who smelled like alcohol and pot, something felt a bit weird. I mean, do you remember the name of the album Kanye was promoting last year? "The College Dropout." Yeah, so we're all paying over 40K per year and ripping our asses to go to college, and then our school brings a guy promoting "The College Dropout," to entertain with lyrics like, "I fucked the teacher." Uhm...
And this year it's Snoop and The Game. Yeah it's cool that even college can be down with the happening stuff, but... but, but, but... Something just seems wrong about this picture. I don't know, maybe it's the fact that I heard we're paying anywhere from 30K to 100K for these acts--(our tuition dollars hard at work). Or maybe it's because some of the lyrics they rap and some of the things they stand for completely contradict some of the lessons, morals, and values a higher education tries to instill in us (oh snap, he's pulling out the morals and values card!).
But I don't want to be the sour apple. There's something cool about this, too. Last year I saw Kanye, and unless I'm totally out of it, this year I'll be out there watching and listening to Snoop and The Game live. I won't even deny it, I might even enjoy some of their music. So I'm not all protesting about this one. It just leaves me wondering, are these the kind of experiences I came to college for? Are these the kinds of experiences I want college to provide me? Should Snoop and The Game be pimping big G's out of universities' piggy banks?
If it's exciting in a good or bad way, or if I get any marvelous insights, or if I'm otherwise in the mood to write I'll be sure to update.
