We Can't Go Back

The interview went amazing. I really am looking forward to hearing back from Binghamton in a few weeks.
I also have to set up an interview with New Paltz. Exciting times.

My Binghamton road trip play-list...all aces (in order)
Bouncing Souls- "Live"
Set Your Goals- "Mutiny!"
The Loved Ones- "Build and Burn"
Streetlight Manifesto- "Somewhere in the Between"
The Gaslight Anthem- "Sink or Swim"
Teenage Bottlerocket- "Total"
The Copyrights- "Learn the Hard Way"
Big D and the Kids Table- "Strictly Rude"
Bomb the Music Industry!- "Get Warmer"
Less Than Jake- "Borders & Boundaries"
The Gaslight Anthem- "The Senor and the Queen"

There were a few other albums that I didn't get to play, but I can save those for another road trip.

Here We Go

So after four and a half hours on the road, including three stops (which consisted of three bathroom breaks, three stretch breaks, one food stop, and one phone interview), I am not sitting in my hotel room across the street from Binghamton University, where I got my undergraduate degree, awaiting the interview process to begin in earnest.

This is surreal.

History of a Boring Town

Am I really ready to move again? I want to start my social life again and start dating, but how likely is it that there will be a social scene for me where I end up working? It's been about a year and a half since I've had anything steady and serious, and I'm looking to settle down once more.
Things are going to be better, I can tell. I catch more glances from women now, but I want to do this right.

Oh well, what the hell.

Connect/Disconnect

It has been a long few days. I finished my Master's level coursework.
I'm done.
How fucking scary is that?
I'm setting up interviews that are going to help determine the rest of my life. The rest of my life? I never knew what I wanted to do after I finished college and now I'm getting ready to be a full fledged adult.
Well...it is me, so I'll just be a kid forever...but still.
It's been days of bad jokes and bad decisions. For the first time in a long time, a cute girl commented on the shirt I was wearing (Bouncing Souls skull and crossbones). We start talking...and I don't ask for the number.
To be fair, she was the cashier at Starbucks, and Trish believes she was jail bait. Still, it was the closest I've had to anything in a while.
What the fuck is up with Lost? I hate that show so much I love it. I really just want one episode to end with me having fewer questions than when the episode started.

Is this really happening? Am I really growing up? I still wake up and think I'm 17.

Hand puppets need to make a comeback.

This is a great song:

Really?

I'm done with my Masters classes. That means for the time being...meaning more than a summer vacation, I'm done with classes.

Freaky.

Something new

Magic Online is back, now in Version 3. It's not perfect, but I see the room for vast improvement over the old version 2.5. Am I happy? No, but I'm not upset either. Getting familiar with V3 will take some time, as I've been on the old interface for about five years. By comparison, I've had a total of two days to get used to V3.
Also, I don't get the bashing everyone is doing directed towards WotC. Instant gratification doesn't happen. Get used to it kiddies. I'm not trying to defend WotC here, but I mean, give them some time. I know we have had to be patient, and I also understand the anger at having to wait some more time. In all honesty though, I doubt it will kill any of us.

Me vs. The Mets: The First of Many

Don't get me wrong, I love the New York Mets. Ask my Mom and Dad- my emotions during the summer are eerily tied to the most recent performance of my favorite ball club. However, thy must be kicking themselves right now.
Last year they traded minor league starter Brian Bannister to the Kansas City Royals for Ambiorix Burgos, a reliever. Burgos was supposed to be a project for pitching coach Ric Petersen.
He did not pass the class, so to speak.
Bannister, on the other hand, was one of the best "rookie" pitchers last year (I quote because he had four awesome starts for the Mets in 2006), and this year is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA.
I'm usually not critical of the Mets front office- hell, at the time I thought the Kazmir trade was a good deal (yeah, I know, I was wrong). However, as soon as the Bannister trade hit the media, I knew it was a huge huge huge mistake.
Looks like I was right, at least for now. Bannister is starting and Burgos is hurt.
Awesome.

Ban the tube top!

This weekend has been rough. The Mets can't win, and I'm facing the vast void of uncertainty that is the rest of my life.
Also, I'm trying to figure out in which direction I should take this blog.
Because I want to be professional, but still opine on the world. For example, I recently went to an event for Jewish students at my school. It was nice and I had a nice time. Except some young women need to learn how to be appropriate. For example, one young woman sitting behind me obviously forgot a belt and did not seem to care that everyone at our table had an excellent view of the "underwear" she was wearing. I mean, is it so hard to ensure that we don't all see what it would look like if your were a plumber in a bad skin flick?
Also, shame goes out to the woman with the thick thighs who decided it would be a good idea to not cross her legs while wearing a short skirt. Now I'm all for a wide variety of body types, but please, be decent. If her legs were skinnier, then some people would have had an interesting show.
Making this all the worse, this was a Shabbat dinner. Not the holiest of days, but still a religious observance. Please, have some class women. Not only that, treat yourself with respect! You are wonderful creations on this Earth, don't demean yourself and your gender with acting like you would at a club during the course of a regular day.
And men, please stop encouraging this behavior. Sex and sexuality is a beautiful thing that should be expressed in certain environs; religious gatherings is not of of these places.

Bored

Does anyone out there read this that I do not already speak with? If that's the case, let me know!

Music and Summer

There's something about certain songs that make you think Spring and Summer. These are those songs that you want to sing out, no matter where you are. They're the ones that make people look at you strange as you walk down the side walk in a skank step; the ones you yell at the top of your lungs in the car, hoping someone hears you and rocks out with you. These are the songs that make you think about warm nights with cold beer and good friends. There are too many to name, but you know the songs I'm talking about.

Those are the best songs.

And a lot of them are ska songs. Nice.

But she doesn't get the jokes told by the late night talk show hosts...

I've been back from Atlanta for a week. The trip was a success, but I honestly didn't think of a good play list for the trip. Sorry, I'll try and do better the next time.
It is a tiring time right now. Between finishing school and trying to do my job search, I am simply knackered all the time. Not only that, but I've run out of interesting things to talk about.
The Mets: Please start playing like I know you can. You're a better team than the one you've been in the past week.
Magic: Wrote another article, but MTGO is shutting down for a week to update to V3. Looks like I'm heading back to WoW.
Dreams: Still absurd. Still no relief.
I'm just looking to that new job as a time where I can reestablish a life and settle down for a little bit. That'd be nice.

Welcome to the New South, Part 7

So it's official: I'm sick. Scratchy throat, stuffy nose, and general blechness. I know I should be out there "conferencing" but right now I'm just plain beat. Between Placement and working on the speakers committee, I am pooped. I've still made it to a number of sessions, but I need my energy to finish off the semester.

But hey, the mets won last night and that is a Good Thing.