...no Alexander the Great...

two things - the closest i'll ever come to being published

Mon, 14 May 2007 17:04:26 GMT

first -

An Ode to NYU*

the mother of exiles stood at the mouth,
said, so it goes, and so it went
she said send me your wealthy,
noon-rising sons and daughters,
your well-dressed masses yearning to spend free,
the creme de la creme of a nation's bourgeoisie,
send them to me, the brazen giant of greek fame said,
the well fed, angsty youth, we must be paid! they yelled

ancient lands of storied pomp called thence,
and the fortunate sons and daughters,
of finer things dense,
went afar because they still sought her,
and the mother of exiles stood silent still,
and said, so it goes, and so it went

the lamp lifted beside the golden door was lifted,
brought to washington, cleaned, called a torch
the golden door was replicated, a price tag added,
and a gee for two hundred square feet's a bargain
the mother of exiles cries with silent lips, so it goes,
and so it went

*this poem is inspired by "The New Colossus" , the poem on the statue of liberty

second-

Socialist Studies

it's seven and there's thirty
then it's nine and zero
and there's ninety till twenty
then there's still two before one,
and then another four

parallel tracks seen in parallax,
partition the people, divide the indivisible,
silently we slide together, and seek the invisible,
futility to search the flora, fauna and florescence
for the one.
two o'clock rock, five six,
and there's still three and two
between one and one

this alien nation has got me feeling alienated,
step aside, let the sick through
thickly stepping stumble by
afflicted by a poison with no prescription
selflessly helping themselves
to ten to the six,
to left side zeroes
and yet still some walk
while everyone runs

it's january then it's may
it's junejuly and november,
august what it's december?
it's one to thirty-one,
it's two then it's fifty-two,
it's five then it's three-sixty-five

first was the fight for ten,
then the fight for eight
first the fight for sixty,
then the fight for forty
first was the fight for six,
then the fight for five

brother sees brother in true light for the first time
each looks at the other, knows what is right
sister sees sister and suddenly sees a mirror
smiles slightly when she sees herself,
they took the numbers out,
and there was only one

on becoming a teacher

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 01:52:25 GMT

"holy shit," i thought.
then my heart took a breather while my stomach jumped to the ceiling.
"i got the job."
it was sort of a sublime moment, on my seventh day of vacation in California, finding out that somehow I had stumbled into responsibility.
my brain, taking the cue of my heart and stomach, called it a day and walked away in separate directions.
"are you serious?"
For the most part, everyone is really happy and supportive when I tell them. Most people give me the crazy eye though, the, "Teaching? WTF is wrong with you?" look. Like, somehow, I'm letting them down or something. Like, he must not know what he wants to do.
I don't know. I remember thinking I wanted to be a teacher when I was asked in the fifth grade. I didn't say that though, because teachers were girls (and I wasn't) and furthermore, they were the enemy. But I couldn't ignore it: my first reaction to the question was, "I want to be a teacher." If the space between my brain and my mouth weren't so large I would have said it out loud, but I made something else up, something cool. But after that day, I spent all of my time in intermediate and high school sort of "knowing" that I wanted to be a teacher.
Who really "knows" anything in intermediate school?
So I made up this plan in high school.
When I got my bachelor's degree, I would go straight into teaching. I would have the Board of Ed pay for my master's degree. Since I was staying in New York, as soon as I got into the NYC Board of Ed, it wouldn't matter what boro I taught in, I'd be putting years towards my pension and my (eventual) retirement.
So I got into NYU. I didn't know I wanted to go there until I got in. Probably could have made that choice a bit better, but what the hell, it's worked out not-so-bad. I've no regrets. (tangent: people say regret is a useless feeling, that you shouldn't be regretful of things you've done. that's all bullshit. i used to think that too. then i realized, hey, i've done shit i regret doing. it's not useless. it's how we grow.) I got a(nother) girlfriend. I went to NYU. I lived in the city, I traveled abroad, I met more douchebags than cool people, pretty standard fair. I didn't really forget about the ultimate plan, but it faded into the background for a while. I took an education minor junior year. I regret that shit.
And now, holy shit, I'm a fucking teacher. I went on the website, clicked on "apply", filled it out. They told me to come talk to them, I did, they sent me an e-mail five weeks later, on my seventh day of vacation in California, and told me I was hired.
It's usually the case that the "older you" looks with humor on it's younger self, at how naive and ignorant it was. I think that, but I also surprised myself with my seriousness. I set into motion a plan that has finally come to fruition, and I feel like I didn't even have to do much of anything. (there were books...yes, I remember, and written words, too...)
I'll tell you the truth. I was feeling sort of down in January. And December, etc. Well, I wasn't really feeling down, but I'm so high up these days that January looks pretty low. It's like I'm waking up from a dream, and I'm a teacher, with an honest-to-goodness salary and shit.
It feels pretty good.
(on the other hand, a part of me, a part that is being smacked across the mouth and told to shush, realizes following the life plan of a high schooler may not be the best idea, doesn't want to have a career and a salary, would rather have a job and a paycheck...the grass is always greener...but at least it's always green?)

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:50:42 GMT

zomg livejournal. (((echo)))

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 20:54:23 GMT

hippoflatomus

Transit Strike

Sat, 24 Dec 2005 09:29:03 GMT

I know a lot of people have been angry at the striking transit workers. I would ask you to pause, however, and consider the situation from their point of view. Many have complained of the inconvenience caused to them by the strike, or the unfairness of the TWU's demands. I would like to address both, the latter first.

I have heard people saying that the TWU workers should be happy with what they have. They have decent salaries, and they do not have a copayment for their health insurance. "They should be grateful," we say, "for what they have." When I hear that statement uttered by unhappy commuters, what I really hear is, "They should be glad they don't get as screwed as I do." It seems unfair to me to decry the transit worker's demands as "greedy." Has our society reached a point where health insurance is considered greed? What about their salary increases, you ask. Why should they not be paid more? Why should the people who do our most important work - our fire fighters, our teachers and policemen, sanitation workers and transit workers - get paid the least? Do we not agree that your salary should be commensurate to your job? And if we do agree to that, are not the people who transport us around this great city some of our most important workers (it would seem a 'yes' to the latter question, as the strike has recently shown)?

"You wouldn't say that if you paid taxes," one might say, "then you'd feel differently." Well, no, I wouldn't. If I knew my income taxes were being spent to give workers health care and living wages, then I would more happily give up my earnings than if I thought they were being wasted, on, say, discounted public transportation rides.

As for the inconvenience caused by the strike, I would ask that people step outside of their own interests and view the strike in a more social context. Labor unions are an important part of the way democracy has formed in our country. They are integral to whatever benefits we receive today: no corporation has ever willingly gave its workers what was not demanded. Who do you think is looking out for you in the end, the MTA or the workers? If you think the MTA ever thought of you as anything more than money, you have a lot to learn about the way society functions. The history of democracy is in part a history of labor unions: workers did not have rights until they demanded them, and so it goes until today. To frame the problem more clearly, you will be hard pressed to find democracy in non-industrialized countries or industrialized countries that have successfully prevented the workers from organizing. The rich people in this country are dependent upon other people to maintain and increase their wealth, therefore it is in their benefit that they (the workers) be included in the government. In countries where the rich are not dependent upon workers for the maintenance and reproduction of their wealth (rent-based economies), the people do not have a voice in the government. African-Americans were completely freed from slavery by 1875. They were enfranchised not long after. It was not the vote or freedom that gave them their rights, however, but from their organization and their demand for equal rights. Women got the right to vote in 1922, but "equality" did not begin until women were forced into the workplace in the 1970's to maintain the standard of living for their household (recession created the need for two-wage earners in the house to maintain standard of living).

Is not our modern democracy weakened by the absence of strong labor unions? The emergence of white collar, non-union jobs that is a peculiarly 1990's transformation has lead to the decline in the strength of the unions. Do we not see the growing rise in power of the corporations in our nation? Who do you think bends the politicians ear more, the corporation or the citizen? Does the government act for the citizen or for the corporation? The government will always act in the favor of those who keep it in power, and those who keep it in power are those who control the wealth of the country. Ask yourself, who is my enemy? Is it my fellow workers, the transit employees, who serve me every work day, or is it the state corporation, whose heads are staffed by the wealthy?

I guess what I'm trying to say Rage Against the Machine put more eloquently: "Know your enemy." It's not the workers. "Take the power back," because if you think your single vote is influencing political decisions, I envy your bliss.

you'll never take away my lj

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 01:46:39 GMT

Perhaps that is why it is really best, as Bucephalus has done, to immerse oneself in law books. Free, his flanks unhampered by the rider's loins, at a peaceful lap, far from the tumult of Alexander's battle, he reads and turns the pages of our ancient books.

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 06:05:16 GMT

if i do this once every 6 months, they'll keep my italy entries archived indefinitely.

keeping my journal active

Tue, 03 May 2005 02:25:55 GMT

Your Birthdate: June 28

Your birth on the 28th day of the month (1 energy) adds a tone of independence and extra energy to your Life Path.

The number 1 energy suggest more executive ability and leadership qualities than you path may have indicated.

A birthday on the 28th of any month gives greater will power and self-confidence, and very often a rather original approach.

Unlike much of the other 1 energy, this birthday is one that endow with the ability to start a job and continue on until it is finished.

You may prefer to use the broad brush, but you can handle details as well.

You are sensitive, but your feeling stay somewhat repressed.

You have a compelling manner that can be dominating in many situations.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 20:05:27 GMT

"When we were coming home from Iraq, before we boarded the most beautiful airplane I have ever been on in my life, we received a briefing from an Air Force sergeant. "Federal regulations prohibit you from carrying certain dangerous items onto the aircraft. You may not transport knives or other cutting instruments, firearms, or explosives. Of course, this does not include your assault rifles, pistols or bayonets." I stood and watched while a kid who was carrying an M-249 squad automatic weapon (a light machine gun) and a 9mm pistol put his pocketknife in a box. Let's think about this for a minute. If one of us were to hijack the plane, how would that have gone?
"Take this plane to America right now and no one gets hurt!"
"But we're already going to America."
"All right, then."

-From todays issue of The Village Voice, The Essay, by Craig A. McNeil, army reservist.

Mon, 10 Jan 2005 19:57:15 GMT

fuck parking tickets.

More complaining about finals

Sun, 12 Dec 2004 23:48:13 GMT

That's right, and consequently, avoiding doing them. It's just it's my last weekend in Italy, and I stayed inside all weekend doing all of this stupid work for class. However, let me tell you about my last gastronomic entreaties into Italy.

On Thursday, I went to a restaurant called "I Latini." It was possibly the most hedonistic experience of my life. First of all, the place is fixed price, and since I went with my friends art class, the price was 30 euro. We got a discount, because NYU subsidized part of it, and because their art teacher teaches in the same building, so he's friends with the chef's and stuff, so we got really good service.
First off, there are 2 liter bottles of the excellent house wine on the tables to consume at your leisure, along with 1 liter bottles of water: frizzante and naturale.
Then, they bring you out the antipasti. Prosciutto crudo, slices of Tuscan salami, mozzarella and tomato salad, garlic bread, and crostini (toasted bread with a liver pate).
After you eat as much as that as you can, they bring you out the primi piatti, which is really where it starts to get ridiculous. There were 6 courses to eat from. They just bring out a couple of huge plates of food, and you can scoop as much as you want onto your plate. Our primi piatti were: thick noodles with a wild boar meat sauce, penne with a meat sauce (al ragu), ravioli (molto bueno), ribollita (Florentine special vegetable soup), pappa al pomodoro (Tuscan special tomato soup with mushed up bread), and a bean and barley soup. After you've eaten all of that, they bring out the secondi.
The secondi piatti consistes of one giant tray piled high with meat. There were these huge pieces of steak, chicken, and and what we think was rabbit and duck. These come with contorni, side dishes, of beans and grilled vegetables. After you've eaten your fill of meat, you're ready for dessert.
Even dessert comes in two courses. First come the biscotti and vin sant, and sweet wine to dip the biscotti in. After you've had that, they brought out a tort, covered in raspberries and blackberries, along with the dessert wine, spumanti, a slightly carbonated white wine, but much lighter.
We sat down at 9.30, and didn't get out until about midnight. It was ridiculous.

Last night, we went to Aqua al Due, which is another delicious place. I got penne al vodka, which, if I might say so, was perfect. After that, I got the blueberry steak, which was a chunk of steak covered in a think blueberry sauce, which was so so delicious, I was so happy. The real way to be hedonistic here, though, would have been to get the Assaggio di Primi, which is an assortment of the pastas. They give you a plate, and you get 5 different types of pasta, chosen at random. Then you could get the Assaggio di Secondi, which was a piece of the Balsamic Steak (it looked like chocolate cake, the sauce was so thick), and then two other pieces of meat. That, and the house wine there was very, very good.

Anyways, I wrote one 7-page paper in a record 2 hours between class on Friday, then I researched a paper on Saturday at the library, I woke up this morning at 11.40, and wrote a 9 page paper in a bout 2.5 hours before I did anything, then I went on to do research for another paper, due on Tuesday. I should finish that paper tomorrow, then I have to study for a test on Tuesday morning. After that, I'm home free, with only my Italian final on Thursday to not worry about. I can't wait to get home and see you guys, I've got some goodies for y'all.

Blueberry:

and Balsamic:

Party in the Ghe-tto

Sun, 12 Dec 2004 10:33:57 GMT

You know you know the song.

w00t w00t.

Last set of pictures, so you don't have to learn how to read.

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 21:32:04 GMT

So, there are a lot of pictures here, so I'll keep the introductions short. This is Nate and Tripp at the bottom of the Stechelberg funicular, pointing at the oh-so-warm -1 degrees Celsius.

This is us looking very happy inside of the funicular...

...and this is the ridiculous view outside of the funicular. We went up through the clouds, which you will see later on, in the funicular.

This is a panoramic view from the city of Gimmelwald, where the funicular drops you off and from where our hike started. The next picture shows where we hiked to, with a nifty little arrow.

This is approximately the point at which we hiked to.

We started to walk down to the stream, and we started off with this nifty little sign. 3 hours from this sign to the top.

This is a picture of the stream that we walked down to, this is really where the start of the hike began.

I had Nate take a 180 degree panorama from the bridge, and this is it. Straight ahead is the path which we walked up, and this is standing on the bridge. The funny thing about this picture? In actuality, it is 173 inches long and 24 inches high. That's 14 ft long by 2 ft tall. That's a-one big-a picture.

Onward, lusty gentleman!

This is some of the awesome stuff that we saw on the way up. These beautiful icicles led to...

...a frozen waterfall. This is the bottom of it, where it met the ground.

And this is the cave under which we walked. Where we are standing is basically solid ice, it was a little dangerous, because by this time we were looking at a pretty nasty trip straight down. I liked to call the way off the side of the mountain the 'express' train down, whereas we took the more conservative 'local' path down.

This is me standing, waiting to take a picture of the rest of those bums underneath the waterfall.

This is a picture of the town of Muren, which is slightly higher than Gimmelwald, from about the same height as the waterfall.

This is Nate and Me on the mountain. Notice that I haven't died yet.

Here is where I start to die. This is me clearing a space to sit down in the middle of a steep incline because I can't push my legs any further.

I managed to push myself up to this point, at which I collapsed and sat for a good 5-7 minutes before I could walk again. I eventually did catch up to them, but it was only after a while.

This is me bringin' up the rear, leaning on Dan as I gasped for breath. Notice the increasing amount of snow on the ground, making it increasingly more difficult to walk.

See? Snow. Lots of it. That's because we're almost at the top...

...and here we are! That's me, standing triumphantly at the top, with my stomach full, but still pretty tired.

This is us pigging out at the top of the mountain. Notice how I'm only wearing my long sleeve shirt at the top. Besides being really hot at the top after walking for three hours to get there, the sun was pretty intense too, but it was glorious.

This is the view from the top. The clouds down below are the clouds that we came up through on the funicular.

Ah-ha! The top was not the end of the trip! This is our triumphant return at the bottom of the mountain. Notice how beautifully green the ground is around us, it's all moss. It's also not covered in snow, which was nice.

Us posing on the bridge from which the panorama shot was taken. We then started walking back to Stechelberg, along the stream and then over the foot of the mountain.

A mountain emerges from amongst the clouds! This shot looks like something out of a fantasy illustrations book.

On the way back, we ended up being pretty much even with the cloud cover. It's pretty cool how thin the clouds were.

We saw this tree on the way back, it's a pretty crazy formation for a tree, especially considering how thick the tree was. But don't worry, I put the tree back to the same position it was in when I found it.

Barbwire to keep the cows in line, but covered in very pretty crystallized snow.

The snow tasted so good, Tripp just couldn't help himself. Luckily, he wasn't eating this snow...

...thank you Nate, for taking this wonderful picture of me leaving a bit of myself behind on the mountain top.

This is not really related, but it's a pretty big panorama of the mountain range across from Gimmelwald. It's purty.

That's an awful lot of purty for y'all to digest. Hope you enjoyed them, as the next pictures I post here will be me coming home! I can't wait.

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 20:04:43 GMT

</td></tr>

My LiveJournal 12 Days
My True Love gave to me...
12 street_geekzs a-squeezing.
11 virgin_martys a-clucking.
10 philly_rabbits a-sniffing.
9 themontyloves a-dancing.
8 onceiwasmes a-calling.
7 thelungfishs a-yodeling.
6 f0rg1vene5ss a-smiling.
5 dark blue leolapyres.
4 winking xxxfredxxxs.
3 Herzegovinian spunkypunkchicas.
2 dog furious_george_s.
And a basefeenroyale in a peach tree.
Get gifts! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

Herzegovinian: A person from Herzegonia, as in Bosnia-Herzegonia.

More Pictures, Because You Still Haven't Learned How To Read

Thu, 09 Dec 2004 15:02:19 GMT

This is Dan and me before we dived. Anxious a bit, excited a bit. Dan was the red Tron guy, I was the blue Tron guy.

We watched the guy pack the chutes with the utmost curiousity, seeing as these would be the chutes that would save our asses as we plummet to the ground.

This is me all suited up, getting ready to go into the helicopter. The older gentleman standing next to me, giving me a slightly quizzical look, is Beat, the guy who was strapped to my back. He had completed his 4,000th jump that day.

And this is the helicopter that we were jumping out of. It was nice. Being in the helicopter made me much more relaxed the next day when we were hiking, because after being in the helicopter, I had the utmost confidence in them being able to find us if we were stranded on the side of a mountain somewhere.

This is the view from the helicopter. My camera had run out of batteries on Friday, so all of the pictures are from Dan's perspective. Notice how I am sitting near the open door though, as I was the first one jumping.

This is the view from the helicopter out of Dan's window. It's purty, and we got much higher than we were in that picture.

The helicopter controls looked slightly complicated, but pretty awesome. We had really experienced pilots, so he did some cool stuff for us with the copter, it was pretty awesome. Since I was on the window, I could imagine looking out with a machine gun, because I've played too many video games.

This is a picture from the ground once the parachute deployed, notice everything is still pretty tiny.

This is the panoramic view of the Alps you got on the way down. Since I was allowed to steer on the way down, I just rotated slowly and looked at all the mountains.

This is Dan and me floating down, Dan is on the left side of the picture and I'm on the right.

That's me, giving the good ol' thumbs up towards the ground as we landed.

This is Dan and me, in true cyclical fashion, but this one is post-dive.

These are pics of the city of Interlaken all lit up for the Christmas fair.

It's Santa and his donkey, who walk around and give out free nuts and chocolates to everyone.

This is the sign showing where Junfrau is, and in which direction Tennesse and Milwaukee are. We determined by the angle of the Milwaukee and Tennesse signs that if you were to follow them in a straight line, you'd end up somewhere in southern Texas and Minnesota.

For all you alcoholics, check out the room of empty Jack bottles.

And, for the coup d'etat, a short video that Dan took in the helicopter. I took some artistic license with it, but I think it's only for the better. Right-click and "save-as" if you don't feel like streaming it.

Pictures, Because You Can't Read

Wed, 08 Dec 2004 23:07:47 GMT

This is the waterfall that is over Lauterbrunnen.

This is a glacier that is on the top of a mountain on the walk between Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg.

This is ice that froze over the water on a stream on the walk.

Sheep! Gimmelwald is a farming community. The farmers here have their cows insured for up to 8,000 swiss francs. The helicopter company is in charge of going to rescue the cows if they get stuck on a ledge or something.

Swiss Alp One.

Sunset Alp Two.

Me in front of one of the waterfalls.

Silver dollar tree. Weird and cool.

A picture of us on the Funicular up from Stechelberg to Gimmelwald. The girls are girls that Dan and Chris met on the bus, they walked with us on the first day.

Me in Gimmelwald, with the scenic Alps behind me.

Dan getting icicles off the mountain. He's so happy.

Dan and Chris with their icicles. They sucked on these before they got rid of them because they were afraid of slipping and falling with them in their mouths. This was when we started to walk down the frozen ice path.

The town view from the night path. Notice that it is far away.

The town view from the night path. 45 minutes later. Notice that it is still far away.

Sono andato in Svizzera

Tue, 07 Dec 2004 17:23:58 GMT

3.12.04
Friday was such a ridiculous day. We took the train to a little town. Lauterbrunnen. We walked a good mile, at least, between Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg, the town where the funicular is (I just like using that word, but gondola is probably better known). We took the funicular straight up to Gimmelwald, which had amazing, amazing views. We then walked up, pretty steeply, too, I might add, to Muren. We wandered around Muren for a little bit, bought some souvenirs, went to the grocery store to buy lunch. Got this cheese that was spreadable, a loaf of bread, and yogurt. We eat so well here, and it's so easy, affordable, and delicious to do so. We then walked from Muren down to pretty much above Lauterbrunnen, we were still at the height the funicular took us. We came to a crossroads at about 4.30, 5.00, and the sun was just about to set. One hour walking down hill to Lauterbrunnen, or 30 minutes walking to the funicular. We chose to walk. Now, there have been plenty of times where I've been out of my comfort zone here, but this weekend that comfort zone was completely shattered. This road was not only covered in snow and ice, but about 20 minutes into the hike it was completely dark and we couldn't see anything. We were slipping and sliding down this mountain side in the dark and quiet of the Swiss night, and it was more than a little scary. It hurts so much to walk downhill on ice, you have to use so much energy just to keep standing up straight. Everyone slipped and fell at least once, and my hand and up into my forearm is still sore from where I fell on it. It took us a good two hours to get to the bottom, and towards the end I was starting to get really upset. Everytime we turned around a cutback and we could see the town, it didn't seem to be getting any closer. It just felt really desperate. But it was a lot of fun, despite and inspite of the darkness and ice and danger. We ended up having to run the last couple of feet in order to catch the 7.05 train back home. I understand what panic is after going down that hill. It was very dark, we didn't know how long it was going to take to get down, every-time we saw the lights of the town from above they didn't seem to get any closer. It must have taken us about 2 or 2.5 hours to get down that hill, but it seemed more like an eternity. We were walking in the dark, sliding on ice, no guides, no clue where we were, just going straight down trying to follow the road because it was the only way to go. Very weird. It was awesome anyways, and a lot of fun. It all wrapped up very nicely with a delicous cheeseburger at the hostel, covered with cheese, mayo, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, and pickles. That, with french fries and a beer, made a very satisfying dinner. Since our bus to Interlaken hadn't gotten in until 3am the night before, and we were up for the free breakfast at 9am (bread, jam, butter, coffee and tea), we were pretty tired (read: exhausted). We went to bed at like 11.30 or midnight.
4.12.04
This day started early, at like 1.30 am, when Tripp and Nate arrived on their bus. They woke us up banging on the door, and we (or more precisely, Dan, because he was the one who got up to get the door) told them to go away because we were sleeping. We woke up at 9am again to get our free breakfast, where we discussed what we were doing for the day. Chris, Dan, and Tripp already knew that they were going to go skydiving, which was supposed to start an noon, which left me and Nate to figure out what we were doing. We were going to go bike riding, and then the guy at the hostel told us that there weren't going to be any bikes to rent. So Nate ran to catch the train, so I decided to go skydiving. That's right, a half an hour before they were to leave, I decided to go skydiving. It was ridunkulous. It was so intense. We had to wait until about 3.30, 4 o'clock to jump, but the wait was well worth it. The sun was setting, and we could see Italy and France from the air. Once we got to 21000 ft, the point at which we were jumping, I was told to move to the edge to go. So I slide to the edge, and put my feet on the rail outside the helicopter, and I took one look down, and I remember thinking, "Really?" The next thing I knew I was falling, and I saw the horizon turn around, and the next thing I knew we had flipped around and I was watching the helicopter fall away from me. After the 45-second free-fall, where the wind is slapping your face and your cheeks are doing that rubbery thing, the parachute deploys and you can relax. The straps that were around your butt can be moved down to your knees, and then you can just float down, and take in all of the amazing views. The guy who was strapped to my back, Beat, asked me if I wanted to steer. I was like, what? Really? So he gave me the straps to the parachute, and I was able to guide myself down for a while. It was amazing, you can just sit up in the air, and rotate around and get a 360 degree view of the Alps. He of course took the reigns away from me when we were about to land, which was pretty easy. The helicopter ride, however, was almost worth the ride in and ofitself. It's so amazing to be in the helicopter, it's such a smooth ride, I was just thinking to myself, what an amazing invention. The door was open for the whole trip, we could stare out, and the pilot did some cool stuff for us, like come up over the mountain real fast, and then do that dip where the tail sticks up in the air and you go forward really fast. It was so awesome.
That night, we went into the town of Interlaken (we were staying in the suburbs), and there was this amazing Christmas fair going on. There were all sorts of fabulous foods out, and I got myself a bratwurst with mustard, and this crazy split pea soup with pork (hot dog) in it. It was in this big iron cauldron that was cooking over a wood fire. I also got a glass of mulled wine, which was also cooking in a big cauldron over a wooden fire. That night, we went to bed early...
5.12.04
...because we woke up at 6.45am to attempt a hike to the top of a mountain nearby. We caught the 7.40 train to Lauterbrunnen, then the 8.12 bus to Stechelberg, where we took the 8.30 funicular up to Gimmelwald, arriving at 8.35. We started the hike at approximately 0900 with a sign that read, "Closed for Winter." We had to go down into the valley a bit to a stream and a bridge before we started up this epic hike. On the way up, we saw amazing forests, frozen waterfalls, gorgeous views (of course), and a lot of snow and ice. It was about an hour and a half into the hike when I died. Do you know that feeling where your legs turn to jelly after working out a lot? That happened to me, and I couldn't push my body any further, and I stopped and sat down, and told them to keep going. Have you ever seen in the movies when someone falls down and can't get up? It is a very weakening, humbling experience. I've never been lower then I was on that mountain. There were parts where I would slip in the snow going up, and I wouldn't be able to immediately stand up. I was really at the end of my physical abilities, and it sucked. I managed to somehow push myself, for an hour and a half after I was exhausted, to the top of the mountain. It was an intense, intense experience, but so worth it. At the top we were able to rest, we reached the top at noon or so, and had our lunch (granola, bread, cheese, and nuts). We had to keep moving though, because we had to be back at the hostel by 5pm, because that's when the bus was leaving, with or without us. It only took us an hour to go down the mountain, because for half of it, we were basically just skiing in our shoes. There was about a foot of snow at the top of the mountain, and it gradually decreased as you went lower, but we spent a little bit less than half the time in snow. However, where there was snow, there was little friction, so we just slid down with all speed. At the bottom, instead of walking back up to Gimmelwald, we decided to walk down to Stechelberg (where the funicular left from), which was an hour away from the bottom. It was an amazing walk. It followed along the stream for a while, then cut across and up for a bit the foot of the mountain we just climbed, and then a fairly rapid descent into the valley, where we walked to the town and took the 2.46 bus to the 3.05 train, which we took and got back at about 0400, changed out of our nasty, nasty clothes, and the bus left at 0500. However, when we approached one of the many tunnels, this one being the longest in the world (17Km), it was closed for two hours, and we just sat, from 7 to 9, on the bus in traffic. We watched The Big Lebowski, Top Gun, and Goodfellas on the way home, by the way. And on the way there, we watched Cocktail and some other movie which I do not currently remember. Instead of arriving at 1 am, we arrived at 3 am in Florence. That's right, 10 hour bus ride, Instead of 8, that is.

The first day, we walked along the red trail (line) from Lauterbrunnen (lower right) to "Talstation Schilthornbahn" (lower left), where we took the funicular up to Gimmelwald. Then we followed the trail from Gimmelwald to Murren, then straight across (parallel to the train) to Grotschalp (where the train goes straight up from Lauterbrunnen), then we took that dotted path straight down into Lauterbrunnen. The path goes off to the side a bit more, but you get the idea of the path. That was the one we took in the dark, covered in ice.

On Sunday, we took the bus to the Talstation from Lauterbrunnen, then up to Gimmelwald again, except this time we walked straight back (on the map, to the upper left), down to where the dotted line crosses the river and goes up the mountain. We stopped where I placed that nice red dot, at about 1,970 meters, 6,463 feet, or 1.2 miles. We took the same path going down, except at the bridge, we turned south towards Stechelberg, and followed the path along the river, and turned down where the path turns into that dotted line that heads pretty much straight down into Stechelberg, where we walked to the Talstation to catch the bus back to Lauterbrunnen. Intense.

Thanksgiving.

Thu, 25 Nov 2004 14:17:03 GMT

It sort of sucks to be in Italy for thanksgiving, it's really such a great holiday. Even the Italians have a sort of fascination with it, a holiday to give thanks for anything. It's pretty cool.

Being away from everyone for this amount of time has certainly made me appreciate it that much more. No one else has friends like we have friends, no one's known and been friends with people for 15 years, for 12, 13, years, for more than a decade, for more than five years even. To say that my family consists of only people related to me by blood or marriage would be a gross and outright lie.
That being said, I'm glad for my family, and how easily we get along (most of the time). But like I said, I really can not differentiate much between "family and friends", they've really become one in the same. "Friemily"? "Famends"? Whatever you call it, I'd be nothing without them. They are the foundation upon which I am built, I'd be nothing without my friends, without my family.
I used to tell myself that I would never regret anything that I did, because if I did it, I would have to live with it. In other words, if I was going to regret doing it, then I shouldn't do it at all. But I've realized that regrets are what make us human, and I do have some regrets. However, acknowledging my regrets, I only feel more, and that's all for the better. We all can't be perfect, and I'm making it right now.
Like Liam was saying, existentialism can be either life-affirming or life-denieing. I am the former, though I shouldn't have to tell all of you, my friends, because you already know that I'm an optimist. With only this life to live, however harrowing that may be, what else is there but enjoying yourself? It's not that nothing matters, it's that everything matters, because you've only got one chance to do it right. I've never been more happy than when I've been surrounded by my closest friends, closest family. Even sitting in absolute silence, I've never been more comfortable. The world could come down around our ears, and all I'd have was my smiles.
Now I'm going to go and eat with my friends here, where we will all feel like we're having a great time, and indeed, perhaps we will be. But I know something is missing, that warm house full of family, eating slowly and well, watching football on TV although no one really follows it. But hey, it's all about making the best out of everything, and this is certainly better than doing nothing, eating in a resteraunt, whatever. Because although I've only known them for a little more than 2 months, they're still my friends, and I don't really differentiate among my friends. 15 years, two months, it's all the same to me in terms of loyalty. All or none, what can I say? I can't understand actions motivated by feeling alone, I can only understand them through a rational process, I have no tolerance for stupidity, I am friendly with everyone because if ever I need something, I know I can use them. But I'm loyal to a fault, I trust everyone immidiately, and trust them completely, I'd lie down in traffic for my friends without asking questions, and I'll defend unequivocally people who I'd only recognize from school, as though I owe them allegiance. I would never, ever betray your trust, and I'll help you in any way possible, and if I can't help you, I know a bunch of people who probably can, and I'll make sure what you need gets done.
But most of all, I'm thankful for Kimberly, and not just for loving me and being generally wonderful, but for the sort of indirect effects she has had on me. I've been able to reconnect with my friends, with my family, and with myself. She's made me happy in a way that I've never been.

You don't realize how much of yourself you don't know until you're taken out of your comfortable settings, and put in a strange place, where you can't even communicate. Imagine not even being able to read the ingredients on a package of food when you went food shopping. You get to spend a lot of time with yourself.

Enjoy yourself, and be thankful for what you've got there in your comfortable homes, and pour one out for your homies not home.

Happy Birthday Liam

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:57:15 GMT

Stuff

Mon, 15 Nov 2004 15:54:51 GMT

First off, this is awesome: The Rise of the Generation of Gamers. As we all know, this year marks the 30th anniversary of Dundgeons and Dragons, that oh-so-pivotal creation of the 70's. This article was pretty awesome.

Anyways, I've been doing a crapload of work. I've got papers, research, blah-blah-blah, whatever, it's stressful because I haven't done any work all semester. On the other hand, we're planning our trip to gay old Paris for Dec. 3-5, so that sounds pretty cool. Um, I bought new head phones today too, so that's also good news.

I got locked out of my apartment for 11 hours yesterday, it was not cool. I had started to cook my minestrone, and completely forgot about my clothes in the washing machine down the street. I rushed out to make sure they weren't stolen, locking my keys in the room in the process. My roommate was in Prague for the weekend, and didn't get back until 3 am. I got locked out around 4 or so. It wasn't entirely bad, I was kept away from the entropy that is the internet, I read about a third of "The Russian Debutant's Handbook", and I cooked a pretty mean minestrone. The book is really good, only it's making me really homesick because it's set in New York, but like specific places in the city, places I know and can visualize, which is rough. It also makes fun of all the tragic hipster-intellectuals, which also makes me homesick in a sick way.

I didn't get to do the shitload of work that I planned to do yesterday for the presentation that I have tomorrow at 9 am on the future of NATO in my US-EU relations class, but since my second class was cancelled today because we had two trips this weekend, I've got some time to cram.

I registered for my classes today, and I'm looking forward to them a lot. I'm taking my Cultural Foundations Seminar with Prof. Squillace, who I had both semesters last term. The course is called "Kid Culture."

"This course will examine the origins and transformations of kid culture from it's 19th century roots to its current position as a leading cultural industry. We will pay particular heed to the issue of what kid cultrue reveals anout children's cultural needs and, conversely, what it suggest about the image in which adults desire culturally to form children."

Cool, huh? I'm taking Intermediate Italian 1, Life Science, and the two jewels in the crown of my semester: a history course entitled "WW2", whom everyone I've talked to about raves about the professor, and a course that is only 2 credits and only meets for half the semester called "Plato's Republic." My schedule looks like this:

Mondays: 9.30 to 1.45
Tuesdays: 9.30 to 12.15, straight, 620-9, 1/18 to 3/1 (plato class)
Wednesdays: 9.30 to 1.45
Thursdays: 9.30 to 12.15

So, it looks pretty comfortable. 620 to 9 pm is a little uncomfortable, but it's only for half the semester. And it's on Plato's Republic, so I'll deal. I'm taking pretty much all of my classes with people I've met here too, so I should have someone to make snide comments to during the class. Since everyone else seems to have died, according to the frequency at which they update, I hope everyone's still alive and well. Only a month left before I'm home for good, I can't wait, I miss you guys and New York so much.

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:14:30 GMT

The most fun I've had on the internet in a long time.

Fri, 29 Oct 2004 20:33:58 GMT

Love will find out the Way
Ballads and Songs By Unknown Authors. 17th Cent.

OVER the mountains
  And over the waves,
Under the fountains
  And under the graves;
Under floods that are deepest,
  Which Neptune obey,
Over rocks that are steepest,
  Love will find out the way.

When there is no place
  For the glow-worm to lie,
When there is no space
  For receipt of a fly;
When the midge dares not venture
  Lest herself fast she lay,
If Love come, he will enter
  And will find out the way.

You may esteem him
  A child for his might;
Or you may deem him
  A coward for his flight;
But if she whom Love doth honour
  Be conceal'd from the day--
Set a thousand guards upon her,
  Love will find out the way.

Some think to lose him
  By having him confined;
And some do suppose him,
  Poor heart! to be blind;
But if ne'er so close ye wall him,
  Do the best that ye may,
Blind Love, if so ye call him,
  He will find out his way.

You may train the eagle
  To stoop to your fist;
Or you may inveigle
  The Phoenix of the east;
The lioness, you may move her
  To give over her prey;
But you'll ne'er stop a lover--
  He will find out the way.

If the earth it should part him,
  He would gallop it o'er;
If the seas should o'erthwart him,
  He would swim to the shore;
Should his Love become a swallow,
  Through the air to stray,
Love will lend wings to follow,
  And will find out the way.

There is no striving
  To cross his intent;
There is no contriving
  His plots to prevent;
But if once the message greet him
  That his True Love doth stay,
If Death should come and meet him,
  Love will find out the way!

Amsterdam

Fri, 29 Oct 2004 17:55:08 GMT

10.05am tomorrow morning.

Ho Finito!

Tue, 26 Oct 2004 19:45:53 GMT

I have finally finished, technically, with this half of the semester, and wait only two more days until I'm officially on break, then only two more days after that until I get to see Kimberly in Amsterdam! I'm literally bursting at the seams, it's all I've thought about for the last week or so.
Anyways, I've got five pictures from Perugia, where I went to the chocolate festival this last saturday. It was pretty cool, I mean, it was packed, there were literally thousands of people there.

As many of you know, especially those of you who are inclinced to have more estrogen than others, Perugia is basically the chocolate capitol of Italy, where they produce the infamous Baci candies. I didn't buy any Baci candies, but I bought some other good stuff that I'm not telling you about, because it'll be a tasty surprise when I get home. This is a picture of what the outside chocolate vendors looked like, and this is a small portion of what it was. The entire city was filled with people.

As the picture shows, and if you squint, you can see that the entire street, stretching all the way down, is filled, nay, packed, with people. Those white tents are chocolate vendors. Those old ladies are all over the city. I thought Aunt Angie would have loved this.

Alright, that's all the pictures I took of the festival, but there were other castles filled with chocolate vendors, and there was just a bunch of stuff of which I actually did about 5% of. The train there was packed, it was crazy. However, what's important here is that this is the outside food stand:

And this is a picture of the guy cooking sausage in the back. Too bad you can't see the giant grill filled with onions and peppers in the middle of the tent.

And this is my lunch, a sausage and pepper sandwhich. It was, surprisingly, very, very good. But the chocolate was ok too.

Yeah, that's it. Sorry.

Click here for boredom + imovie - internet

Thu, 21 Oct 2004 08:34:06 GMT

that was one of the most depressing things i've ever seen.

i went to bed at 6 am last night, fell asleep at 7 am, woke up at 10 am, have an italian midterm at noon, and am coming home to sleep again.

i'm not much a of a yankees fan, but to see boston pull such a humiliating defeat in my home town is just depressing. we had at least 40 people here last night, in two rooms, watching the game. there's a sick amount of boston fans here. it was awesome.