No...sleep...til Brooklyn! (Brooklyn!)

So I am back in Brooklyn for the foreseeable future...and boy am I tired and cramped. My parent's home was small when it was the family living one life, but not there are three lives here- that of my parents, that of my sister, and mine. In other words, three homes stuffed into one house. Bad beats.
My drive home was uneventful, but long as sin. Nine and a half hours of being packed into Obi-Wan and unable to reasonably check my blind spots. My passenger was a television covered in bedding.

But I made it, slept for, oh, five hours, and then was up and about to the Eventide Prerelease in Manhattan. I went 3-1 and got some brief interviews with Steven Sadin and Brian David-Marshall of general Magic fame. I entered a second flight, opened a mediocre pool of cards, and went 0-1 drop because I was falling asleep on my feet.

So I went home and watching my streaking Mets win their 8th in a row, and now, with that streak at 9, I am about as content as a fan can be. Just keep on playing tight baseball.

Sunday I drove to camp to help out with the selling of clothing on Visiting Day. It was a blast, except I was exhausted because I had slept maybe ten hours in the past two days, plus another half-day of driving had left me sapped.

Monday is an off day- I'm using today to come up with my presentation for an interview tomorrow. Tuesday, will be rough. Wake up before dawn to catch a train to Boston to interview to catch a train back home.

And there's no space in my house to work out.

Goodbye to Boston, part 8 and wrap up

I'm back in Buffalo. The trip is over and was largely a success. I saw the person who interviewed me for the school in Colorado this morning, who told me that I should be hearing from someone in their office soon. Good sign.
Conferences are both validating and motivating. I know I picked the proper line of work and that makes me feel good. But then I see the physiques on some people, and I get extremely motivated to continue working out. Validating and motivating; good things.
So now it's time for my ultimate Boston road trip play list. These are the songs that I feel really captured the feel of my trip in sum. These are songs I like, and therefore, do not apply to you.

Dropkick Murphy's: "I'm Shipping up to Boston", "Skinhead on the MBTA", "Boys on the Docks"
Three great songs that describe the trip to the city, getting around town, and the view of the Bay I had from the conference center. These songs represent some of the best aspects of the Murph's: aggressive rhythms and vocals, sing-along anthems, and catchy folk based tunes.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones: "A Jackknife to a Swan", "They Came to Boston"
What can I say about the Bosstones except that they totally kick ass. "Jackknife" is a great song about the working class of Boston and the lives the people live. Just a great heartfelt tribute song. "They Came" really describes how I felt as a tourist. Yeah, I belong in a city, but is Boston really a place for me? Great mellow beat that leads into an aggressive and subtle outro.

Big D and the Kids Table: "LAX", "I'm Yours Boston"
LAX goes without question. If you need to know why this is on the play list, you are reading the wrong blog.
"I'm Yours" is a whiny melodic tribute. This could have easily been the cover of "New England," but I felt that this song captures the feel of the city and the conference much better. Also, better driving song- this is a road trip after all.

The Flatliners: "This Respirator"
Just a flat out awesome song about life on the road. Short and punchy with a great hook and kick-ass lyrics, this song fits well on nearly every road trip.

The Fad: "Bright Lights"
A typical tour song, but with such emotion that I had to include it here. Hardcore punk mixed with tight ska jams and punchy vocals makes for an excellent anthem for the road.

The Gaslight Anthem: "Drive"
We all know I love this band, but seriously, this song is awesome. Another East Coast anthem about life on the road. Another must for any good road trip.

The Bouncing Souls: "East Coast, Fuck You"
It mentions Boston by name. It's by the Souls. It gets the check.

Smoke or Fire: "Goodbye to Boston"
Good enough to be the title for this opus of posts, there is something about this song that makes you want to sing it from the top of your lungs. I can think of no better song to be playing as I drive out of the city. I had to settle for playing it on my iPod. Good enough.

Goodbye to Boston, part 7

I'm sitting in the hotel lobby, all checked out (or so I think). This trip has been awesome and great fun (but now I'm ready to sleep for days). A couple of thoughts before I go, even though I'll probably summarize everything this evening.
Last night I decided to walk the streets looking for a place to eat. I decided on a Pizzeria Uno. The food was great, but I witnessed a group of youth pull the old "dine & dash." Seriously though, the way this place was set up (narrow walkways instead of the larger dining areas I was used to in such restaurants), it is no surprise that some people would try and pull that off.
It is really scary to think that in under two months, I will be starting all over, probably in a new state far away from everything I've become familiar with. I was talking with Trish about this last night; it's nice to know I'm not the only nervous one.
It's also weird, I keep telling people I want to be near an urban environment. Few people have figured out that this is code for "I want to be by Jews." Granted, I tend to be private in that sort of thing. But even so, use your head peoples.

Goodbye to Boston, part 6

This experience is turning out to be a fun one. I love Boston, I love the conference, I love the people in my profession. It is nice to know that down the line I will be happy with the career path I have chosen.
Everyone from UB has been incredibly supportive of my interview process (still on going). I is great to have people who I rarely have an opportunity to speak with ask me about my process. Again, I love this profession.
Side note from a city boy: the T runs under the convention center and growing up in NYC I'm used to the noises that vibrations that are associated with a subway traveling beneath my feet. Some of my colleagues, not so much. Makes for some interesting conversation.

Goodbye to Boston, part 5

I just went to a session on blogging and Facebooking as tools for developing student communities. About thirty minutes in, I realized that I was just wasting space because I had been to a similar session last year, and left.

What do you think? Is this blog a useful student affairs tool?

Goodbye to Boston, part 3

The interviews are over, and I am relieved. They were fun, informative, and basically what I expected. One went well, one did not.
The one that did not go well didn't go poorly. Rather, it was just a bad fit. It was a nice interview, but the philosophy of the institution and my own did not meet. I hope this school finds a candidate that will work in their motif, and wish them nothing but the best.
The other interview went very well. Not in the actual Placement location, I was able to relax. The woman interviewing me was kind and we seemed to really hit it off. We are currently trying to set up a secondary interview with her school's director of student life. So to me, that is a very very good thing.

PS, I'm still tired, even though I have a ton of sugar and caffeine coursing through my system.

Goodbye to Boston, part 2

So I'm sitting here in the candidate room, waiting patiently for ten AM to arrive. I really just hope my interviewer remembered to set his clock forward, or else I am going to be quite late.
I managed to get quite a bit of sleep last night, although I have no idea of the exact amount. I think I got into bed before ten, and woke up right before seven. Throw in the clock shift, and I think I got approximately 17 hours of sleep.

And then I cut myself shaving this morning.

I just had the realization that we ate at a tourist trap last night. I hate tourist traps (even if this one was a good one).

Goodbye to Boston, part 1

After sleeping one hour (from 3 to 4 am Saturday), it was time to get ready to sit in a van for seven hours on the way to Boston. Thankfully, the drive was relatively smooth and we were a step ahead of the worst weather. We made it to Trish's home for a wonderful "farm" breakfast that was more than I usually eat in a day. It was awesome.
I managed to sleep a few extra hours the van, but even as I type this, I'm pretty darn tuckered out.
Make it to the conference after getting lost on the streets of Boston for a little bit. Get my name badge but wasn't able to get my materials for Placement.
I head out with the First Year Cohort to this restaurant called Dick's Last Resort where the service is awesome, in that they insult you to your face all the time. It's a nice change of pace and makes for some very entertaining dinner time conversation. I want to write more, but I'm totally knackered. And on top of that, I just walked in the rain for far too long.