A Few Things I've Learned From Living in The Point

So as a result of moving, my life has pretty much taken on somewhat of a shift. Every new situation requires some kind of adaptation. Here are a few things I've learned from my first couple months living the dream in the infamous Point in Salem:

• Children ride tricycles till 3am.
• Mary Jane Park mostly stays true to it's name.
• The only white people live on the third floor of #35 with myself.
• Become well versed in Seinfeld, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and humor of that nature. Without the aforementioned knowledge, life will make very little sense.
• Learn to make a snapping noise by waving your right hand in the air.
• Don't pee off the balcony.
• Know the location of Holden's Oil, and it's purpose in life.
• Buy food at some point from Plum tomatoes.
• If possible, become employed by one of the aforementioned companies.
• Keep Working on that snapping noise.
• Understand and appreciate the inner workings of "SPC".
• Learn to play as many games with ping pong balls as you possibly can.
• People who drop objects of value while visiting endure a leave of absence before returning.
• Don't pee off the balcony.
• Parking on a certain side of the road on certain tuesdays can earn you a ticket.
• Practice the snapping noise again.
• Learn the definition of the verb "To Snap" and all of it's conjugations.
• 15 year old neighbors drop out of school early, and visit regularly.
• Hairstyles change, but N*Sync is forever.
• Police only respond to actual emergencies, ie. loud music or peeing outside. Burglaries, drug trafficking and street fights are unimportant.
• Don't pee off the balcony.
• The downstairs neighbor will be blasting Reggae and chugging Heineken by 8am.
• Don't say good night when going to bed. Don't say goodbye when talking on the phone.
• People will often fall asleep on your couches. Once in a while they will migrate to your bed if you aren't using it.
• "La Cocina" is the best place to by rotten fruit and strange beverages. Congress Street is run by asians and is the best place to buy anything else.
• Electricians creep around and live in the basement.
• Can you make that snapping noise yet?
• Festivus occurs once a year.

As one can probably tell, it takes some getting used to. But I think I might be slowly learning.

Blog Fiend

So it seems like I might be updating my blog moreso than anyone else.

AS much as I would love to keep posting for those reading, I know that alot of people will be playing catch up once they DO start reading.

And by the way, only one blog that I follow has updated at all. Thanks Vanessa, for giving me something to read at work. :)

Shouts Into The Abyss

It's strange really. Most of the time you can't get me to shut up about myself.

One would think I have exhausted all outlets of communication. I meet new people. I hold them hostage telling them about myself. I talk on the phone. I write expressive music. I sing. I play piano.

But I saw that a few people I knew were blogging. The whole idea seemed interesting, but I looked at it from afar. I knew that no one would be interested in anything I had to say, and that people who didn't know me wouldn't bother to read. As of now I do have a few off and on followers, but for the most part the subtitle is correct.

Shouting into the abyss is a phrase I have always found interesting. Something that is so vain, and yet, we do it anyways. I realize that by writing this blog I am in fact, the proverbial tree that falls in the forest. If no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

And yet for me, in the blog posts I write, in the songs I compose, it is more often than not I am trying, in some way, to strike some silent interior chord. In a sense, I blog to converse with my readers. If they exist. But in another sense, I am conversing with myself. No, not in a creepy introverted "I have no friends" sort of way, but if only because more often than not, I am the one talking.

I think it is a wise thing to listen. Not only to others, but to yourself as well.

A Blast From The Past.

I will add a an actual post after this, but I dug up this story from a facebook note, before I started this blog, and couldn't help but post it.

This took place my first semester of college.

8 AM Classes are fun!!!

So here's how my day goes today:

6:30AM: Wake up, realize that no matter how fast I move, there is no way I can get dressed, shower and beat the traffic to get a parking spot.

7:00AM: Throw on some clean clothes and a hat so that people can't tell I didn't wash my hair... run to the car.

7:10AM: Sit in traffic.

7:30AM: Sit in traffic. Adjust the radio station, sit in traffic

7:45AM: Finally find a spot at the O'Keefe Center on the other side of the world. See a bus, approach it, and have the driver close the door in my face. Thanks.

7:45-8:15AM: RUN to the upper-south campus, which is nowhere near the main campus OR the O'Keefe Building, but rather about 5 or 6 miles away in some residential neighborhood in the woods. (wtf??)

8:15AM: Arrive at Upper South Campus, only to approach the "Commuter Appreciation" booth and find that they are taking away the free coffee. Damn you, resident students, damn you.

8:20AM: ARRIVE at class 20min. late.By this time one would expect the class to be present or that I would be interrupting something. NOPE! The teacher has apparently let the class go 45 MINUTES EARLY and left the syllabus on a desk at the door.
NEXT: Take the syllabus, get on the bus, buy some books, and flip off the residents one more time as I head back home.I may just find an unsuspecting resident and knock them out for their parking sticker.

Happy Commuter Appreciation Day!

Strange Connections

I'm at a weird crossroads in my life... it's an intersection that apparently quite a few people have passed through. Every day. Literally everyday, I am finding out that people in my lives have strange connections to eachother.

One of the managers at the hotel waterpark has known my roommate since he was four. This is not an isolated incident, many people in my life have started to connect to eachother in strange ways.

As people expand their social circles, it's almost mind blowing how many connections are made. I am a firm believer in the fact that between any two people, there is a chain of associations that can be made between them.

I've started looking through some of my friend's facebook profiles, and clicking on the "mutual friends" tab. I am almost always surprised to see a face that I had no idea would be there. Try it out yourself... you may be surprised.

Brian's Blog.... AKA "Breen's Blawg"

We pressured my roommate to start a blog.

It promises to be delightfully mundane and forced.

Just read it.

School Days, School Days, Good Old Golden Rule Days

And so I realize that I am definitely not too cool for school. So yesterday, I went to sort out the whole re-admission thing that had been holding me back.

As you might remember from this post, I was dismissed as a student for "failing to maintain an adequate GPA". Well. I wrote a letter that same day, mailed it in, called several times, remailed the letter, and waited to hear back.

May.
June.
July.
August.

And still no word from the school. So i decided it was time to head down in person and settle a few scores.

Now I have learned from working in the hotel industry that if you feel that you are right, and you are angry enough about it, you will come to find that most people don't value their job enough to say no, and that most will give in to your harassment. So armed with this knowledge and the support of my friends, (okay well, actually, my roommate bet against my persuasive abilities but that's fine) I marched down to Salem State to have a few words with the registrar. Except I actually drove. But you get the metaphor right? Good.

So into the college I marched. Except, in reality, I walked at a leisurely pace through the door. I told the registrar my issues, how many times I had called, the letters I had sent, and all the difficulty that Salem State College had caused me, and how it ruined my summer vacation and that because of this I now had to have an ulcer removed. Except i didn't say I had to get an ulcer removed, only because I didn't have an ulcer removed.

The registrar told me that I was readmitted in late June.

Late. June.
LATE JUNE!!

At which point I happily tell her how great it would have been to be notified, to not have my online account locked out and delted, and to not have debt collectors calling about my student loans.

Thank You Salem State!

And so I registered, leaving me with just today before classes begin... but I'm not worried. I always go into things at the last minute and ill prepared, and my intuition hasn't failed me just yet.