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.

Updates galore

I'm in Brooklyn and tired! Here's what happened since I posted last:
I have a new article up at www.puremtgo.com! Holler at Magic!
The Mets fired Willie. I don't disagree with the move, but I do not like how it was handled. You could almost hear Omar Minaya saying "I didn't want to do this, but I had to." Lame!
I had another interview!

Life is moving...just it interesting directions!

The Waiting Hurt

This is one of the hardest times of my life.
I've graduated and am now waiting, impatiently, to hear back from prospective employers. I continue to look for new places to send my credentials and also continue to search for things to do.
You see, as of now, I don't have a job- my contract expires today. In the time until I do get a job, I am looking for stuff to occupy my time. Take, for example, blogging. I don't have the urge to do it in my apartment so instead I trudged my ass to a Starbucks to write this little thing...how cliche.
I want to write about PDC and Magic again, but as The Ferrett so eloquently put it, writing is the greatest expression of ego, and when you're not feeling so hot about yourself (no job, nothing to do), it follows that writing should not come so easy. It does not help that since the V3 update, few of my friends are on MTGO enough to get some serious playing in- I hope that changes soon.

Seriously, how good of an album is Losing Streak by Less Than Jake. It is so fucking good.

I really wish I could watch an episode of Lost and have fewer questions coming out than going in. That's not going to happen for a while.

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.

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:

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.

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.

Welcome to the New South, Part 4

The interviews today went extremely well. I'm very excited about the prospect of pursuing both positions (and the one I interviewed for yesterday). It is very reassuring to know that there are other people in this world who care about Student Affairs as much as, if not more, those I've already come into contact with. With each passing minute my career choice seems better and better.
I've also went to the gym the past two days, helping me to get back on that horse. After a week of being tired/sick/stressed, getting into a weight room felt good.
There was a marathon this morning-it made me think of Mom.

Welcome to the New South, Part 1

Well, I'm here in Atlanta. It's beautiful- I was able to walk around without a sweatshirt. True gloriousness.
The flight down was uneventful. I started (and have since finished) a pretty sweet book by Charlie Hudson about a zombie hunting vampire. Total nerdom wrapped into one tight crime novel package. I love it.
I am fighting a cold, but tons of sleep is helping to remedy that. My suits managed to arrive without any serious wrinkles. Right now it's really hurry up and wait, and fight the headaches.
This is proving to be a nice experience- I already have run into another Bearcat.

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 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.

New Day

I leave for NASPA tomorrow. I have two interviews and a long van ride with friends. Should be fun. I'll let you know how it goes.

Use your nose

So today a woman walks into my office, and she smelled like Jess. I don't mean to sound creepy, but it was the same shampoo or perfume or something. It wasn't a bad smell, but, I mean, the scent just brought back memories I keep trying to separate myself from. My sense memory with scent is very strong, so one whiff can bring back a whole mess of thoughts.
What happened today was especially disconcerting. One second I'm fine and doing work, and the next moment I'm holding back some tears just because the floodgates opened.
I know I'm going to have to get used to these things, but, dammit, I wish they wouldn't.

Kids of the Blackhole

This week has been long, but not in a bad way. We interviewed candidates for next year's program and they were all wonderful. I do no envy those who have to make the decisions about who gets in.
I've also come into possession of two Copyrights album (including Learn the Hard Way) bringing my count to all four of their albums. It boggles my mind how a band can put out four stellar albums in five years and yet some bands never put out one album that is as strong as any one of the Copyrights' offerings.
Carbon-Carbon-Carbondale!
Again, this is what music should be: fun and real. These are songs that could easily have happened to me or people I know. These are emotions I experience on a daily basis set to a beat that makes me forget all the bad stuff.
Anyway, I guess a mini-review of Learn the Hard Way is in order.
This album is amazing- under 30 minutes but you'd never guess, because if you're like me you're playing it two times at least, on loop.
The first track, "Second Hearse, Same as the First" is everything pop-punk should be: catchy melodies, driving beat, and great lyrics that you can scream at the top of you lungs. Hell, every song on this album fits that description, but they do not get repetitive or tiresome. Instead, every song has its own personality and face while still being eminently catchy and smile inducing.
My favorite track off of the album right now is "Out of Ideas," a veritable ode to the unmotivated. On days like today, it is the anthem you need to know that sometimes it's okay to do nothing and just "roll with the punch drunk love song."

I might be dying but I'm not dead yet

So this weekend happened.
But it didn't really.
As I'm driving to Eric's to get in his car and go down to Binghamton, he calls to tell me that the crew coming up from the city has been snowed off the roads and therefore would not be coming.
Jess would not be there.
Not that I was excited, but I sang loudly and talked copiously on the four hour drive down. Which, by the way, was awesome. We just rocked out and talked about old times, women and our inability to understand them, and about how awesome the weekend would be.
We get to Binghamton and the first thing out of Eric's mouth is "I fuckin' hate this place." We were home. We see Zack and Moshe right away. We catch up with Hagerbaumer and the Wongn8tor (aka Wong) and are just totally stoked to be at a concert and not have to work.
Once we get to the Events Center, it's a whirlwind of saying hi and catching up. All four production managers were in attendance, so there's an awesome picture out there. We basically bumped into Against Me! and Dave Grohl a few times; I even watched Serj from System of a Down walk in on some dude taking a leak while wearing a top hat. I never thought my college education would give me that experience.
We ate Nirchi's Pizza and were able to get back stage. I saw so many old friends and got to talk to some people about the open Late Nite coordinator position that I am applying for. I saw BSSL still alive and in capable hands (although I'm sure Moshe disagrees and would like to still be in control).
Eric and I went drinking with Wong and ended up at the Rat. No, I don't know why, because that place is a shit hole. Eric and I split from Wong and went to Pepe's for the best awful meatball subs of all time. It was vacation, so I housed on a meatball sub with nacho cheese. My body hates me still, but it was worth it for the total Binghamton experience.
he next day we were up early and on the road hopeful of hitting up the Bedouin Soundclash show in Buffalo that evening. Instead, it was sold out and we went to a bar to watch the end of the Rangers game (except I'm in Buffalo, so I had to pretend not to be happy when they beat the Sabres) where the tender was awesome and played some Flogging Molly. We then hit up another bar but by that time, I was beat. Next thing I know I'm in bed and it's Sunday morning.

I need more weekends like that.

Here's the score

So October 2006, during an already rough patch in my life, I get dumped over the phone. Sucks, I know. We continue to be friends, no matter how bad that always seems to work out in the movies and television. She ends up starting to see one of our mutual friends (who was pissed at me for a variety of reasons, and so we weren't speaking). After they start dating, he agrees to bury the hatchet.
Fast forward a year- I still am looking for a nice girl and haven't been speaking to either of them as much. Life is going okay and I finally do meet a woman, who I end up dumping two months later because she reminded me of me in a bad way.
Fast forward to this week, Eric and I decide to road trip to Binghamton for the Foo Fighters/Against Me! concert. There's another motive here for me, since I am thinking about applying for a job at Bing and a visit could give me an edge. Eric calls our friend who is coordinating while I speak to David, my mentor. As it turns out, Pat, our friend, is road tripping up. In tow will be the ex and our friend/person she may or may not be still dating.
I'm still going, but I'm wondering why life decided to take my vacation and add a side of ajida.

EDIT: Let it be known that these are my feelings on the matter, not necessarily the truth.