it’s the little things that count.

I’m not used to this much snow! Coming from Long Island up to Albany is a rude awakening during the winter. I’m not a fan of the cold- although I am a fan of snow. A summer of some good warm snow would be paradise for me. So far, however, the snow has no given me much to like about it.

Tonight I planned on heading downtown for the Brand New / Thrice / mewithoutyou show, which was postponed until February due to extreme weather conditions (might I say it is now almost 6 hours later and I have yet to see more than a dash of snowfall. Potentially the greatest disappointment of the semester, I’ve now sat around beating half the song list on Guitar Hero 2 and waiting for the neighbors to throw on ‘A Christmas Story,’ which by the way is the greatest holiday film of all time. And for those who don’t agree… navigate yourself away from this blog! If you haven’t seen it, you have yet to experience life.

I’m hoping the 3-hour trip home is a smooth one and that I don’t spend a month’s break accomplishing nothing. I would do anything not to return to the job I had prior to coming up to school, but as I haven’t found another job, it looks like I’ll be returning for a few weeks. That is, unless I want to slave at Dale and Thomas’ Popcorn or stand around at Hollister. We shall see.

Last night my suitemates and I saw ‘I Am Legend.’ Despite it’s abrupt ending, I’m a huge fan of Will Smith (along with Denzel Washington) and would recommend it to anybody. I found the CGI of NYC completely abandoned and consumed in overgrowth to be extremely impressive. It was crazy to see familiar places in the city in such a state; so, in that respect, the movie was very well done.

It seems that’s all for now. I’ll be headed home on Tuesday, maybe I’ll have some stories then!

finals week!

Took my first final yesterday- went well, but I usually jinx myself with that stuff, so I’m not making any assumptions. As my next test is on Monday the 17th, we were all a bit bored today and decided to mess with one of our suitemates (Ace). He went out to lunch around 2:00 and left his keys in the drawer below our T.V., so we went to work. First, his clothes came out of the closet and were hung on the shower curtain bar across out bathroom. We sat for a couple of minutes wondering where we were going to take this, and then took his 12 pairs of shoes (yeah- Ace brought 12 pairs of shoes to school) and lined with up underneath the sinks. And for the big finale we wanted to move his bed into the bathroom, but the frame was too large to get through the doorway. However, with my in-genius planning abilities, I suggested we just take the mattress and lay it over the sinks, and then over a chair or two that we would use to hold it up. Worked like a charm!

When Ace got back, he went to unlock his room (which we had locked back up), and nearly flipped when he saw his mattress and clothes were missing. Having thought this entire joke had backfired, as he was now mad, we all kind of brushed off responsibility. But a minute later, he stormed into the bathroom, saw all of his stuff and cracked up- at which point we were all relieved. I have no idea what he was initially thinking, to have gotten upset as he did, but at least it worked out for the better. Here are links to some of the pictures we uploaded to Facebook:

View as you walk in

How convenient!

He’ll never leave his room now.

Then we all caught a bus downtown, grabbed some Thai food, and strolled down Lark Street, checking out some of the holiday shops. It was freezing! And now I’m sitting here with nothing else to do. Story of my life.

poem: riot season.

bright colors of the season fade
as mass riots engulf the fields
i see the victims wave their last goodbyes

i watch as the wind stirs
a whirlwind of blood and fire
shuddering
in overwhelming fear of change

for change is merciless
and the rebels may suffocate
under a blanket
of blushing embers

and the nights grow longer
few survivors remain
the last of them
will soon fall in defeat

for the war is over
and i see the victims
they wave their last goodbyes

~ek

end of the semester!

I feel like just yesterday I was sprinting for my first philosophy class because I had yet to figure out how long it took to walk to class. It’s ridiculous how quickly a semester (as opposed to a high school year) passes. I’m still at school until the 18th, with one test on the 11th and a cumulative final on the 17th. I don’t quite know what I’m going to do with all of my time, it doesn’t seem there’s too much studying to get done. While I’m glad classes are over, I’m not sure I want to travel back home yet- I love being at school.

My birthday is tomorrow and for some reason I’m not too excited. I find myself forgetting it’s my birthday, haha. I’ll be 19- my last year as a teen, hoping to make it a good one.

I’ve recently discovered the art in Amazon.com! The bookstore here pays terribly for used textbooks, so I figured I would try my hand at online selling. Within three days, two of my books have sold for reasonable prices. Seems to be going well, as long as I’m profiting and not setting myself back with shipping charges. It seems I’ve forgotten there were 49 other states to ship to! But so far, so good.

And lastly, I still don’t quite know where this blog is going. I kind of intended to focus on topics and news in psychology, but I also don’t think I can do without a personal blog. Maybe I should just have two, but I don’t know if I’d be up for regularly updating each. Oh blogs…

PLUG: LDizzy!

all it takes is an idea!

When I read articles such as this, I wonder why I could not have come up with such an idea. The ideas that turn into green. Google. Facebook. WordPress! It’s just so easy to say “I could’ve thought of that!” and as soon as we sit down and take a moment to think of something to call our own, we draw a blank. While I plan on buying my own domain soon, I still do not have a sole purpose for it. Will I design some grand Web 2.0 site? Create a personal site? A psychology resource? As I will have to decide on an idea before I purchase the domain, I will need a bit of time to think. I don’t expect any of it to turn into some newsworthy story- I lack great coding skills and probably the necessary creativity. So who knows where my digital identity will take me in the next few years- stay tuned and find out!

P.S.- For those of you who own domains, feel free to post them in a comment, I’d love to check them out, see what else is out there.

make money blogging?

Recently I’ve been doing research into different ways to make money on the internet. As a college student, I’m looking to scrounge up any bit of money I can, especially if it’s doing something that I enjoy, like blogging. However, it seems that paid blog entries often become completely artificial, and I’m afraid to lose the genuine touch of a true blog. I’ve considered designing another blog for the sole purpose of writing paid posts, but I would need more initial traffic and recognition to be approved for such programs.

I could also throw some modest ads on my already running blogs, but I’m not quite sure how to incorporate such scripts into a WordPress blog. I post using the online function provided at WordPress.com. If anyone can be of help to me as to how to add PHP or other scripts onto this blog, please contact me! If anyone has experience blogging for money or advertising on their blogs, feel free to leave a comment about your experience or opinion of the matter, and I will probably be in touch. Thank you!

remembering doug hopkins (4/11/61-12/5/93).

Tomorrow marks the 14th anniversary of the death of Doug Hopkins, singer/songwriter. Hopkins was one of the
founders of 90’s rock group Gin Blossoms from Tempe, Arizona. Having rediscovered the Gin Blossoms as a teenager (after having heard their chart-topping songs on the radio as a kid), I had looked up some information on them and came to read one of the most depressing band biographies.

 

In some ironic way, the story inspired me and at the same time made me really feel for the things that Hopkins went through. He was a struggling alcoholic during his early years with the band and suffered from bouts of major depression. “When the band recorded ‘New Miserable Experience,’ it is reported that Hopkins was unable to stand during his recording sessions” (Wikipedia.org). His best-known pieces include “Hey, Jealousy” and “Found Out About You.” Following the recording of their album, Hopkins was fired from the band due to his drinking habits. The album was then released lacking any credit to Hopkins for his songwriting and vocal recordings. Unable to deal with the growing success of the Gin Blossoms, which was solely due to the music he had written, Hopkins took his own life at the age of 32.

 

Even today, I find it very difficult to listen to Hopkins’ music and not feel his pain. It’s hard not to wonder how such a talented individual could head in such a wrong direction. So for his music, his words, his life- remember Doug Hopkins.

 

 

top 5: holiday how-tos

Just in time for the holiday season, I’ve compiled a list of several holiday how-to instructional websites. Enjoy!

How to Choose a Christmas Tree

How to Make a Gift Box from Last Year’s Holiday Cards

How to Untangle Christmas Lights (haha)

How to Make Your Own Stocking

How to Make a 3-D Paper Snowflake

plug: 20 photos taken at exactly the right angle

I thought this was a must-see for anyone who appreciates photography:

20 Photographs Taken at Exactly the Right Angle

Credit: www.Sawse.com

product review: “rock band.”

SCORE: 4.5/5.0

My friend ran out and purchased this “game” right on its release date.  I put “game” in quotes because I hesitate to simply label “Rock Band” a game. It’s high level of interactivity and innovation interface are something never before seen in one box.  For a store price of around $170 (which some better deals for a lucky few) you can purchase the Xbox360 or PS3 versions of the game, complete with Guitar, Microphone, and Drum Set (or “pads,” rather).

This is where the first minor flaw is evident. With respect to money and efficiency, four drum pads were placed next to each other, rather than  in a more realistic and “drum-like” manner. However, with a snare, high-hat, tomtom, crash cymbal, and a bass pedal, it’s hard to complain. As for the guitar- most Guitar Hero fans will initially be disappointed with the feel of the guitar. The buttons don’t quite click the same, and the actual “strum switch” is completely different in structure and feel (rumor has it, this to allow playing with a guitar pick). Overall, with some getting used to, a typical “guitar hero” will adjust in no time. The Microphone adds a wonderful new element to this generation of “rock” games. While easy to fool by just humming rather than singing words, it measures your voice frequency and scores you accordingly. I was doubtful about the levels of difficulty on the mic, but with each level, the game truly gets harder. It seems the Microphone becomes more sensitive to your mistakes.

The format of the video game runs fairly smoothly. If you sync the game to your TV in Options, you can maximize the accuracy of your instruments, bypassing any potential lag. The game provides options to play both as a Group or head out on a Solo Tour with a computerized band to support you. Either way, the new soundtrack is great and can be found here on Wikipedia. Additionally, the game will continue to offer new song packs for download online, allowing it to grow bigger and wider every day, ‘Rock Band’ is a refreshing alternative to the ever-successful “Guitar Hero” series and I recommend it to anybody who is a fan of fully interactional and involved video games.