Being Home vs. Being At School

11/21/07

Why is it that right before you are leaving to go home for a vacation, you cant wait to get the hell out of school and remind yourself how great sleeping in your own bed is?

At the same time, at least for me, after two nights, maybe three at most- I'm ready to get back to school faster than you say Turkey and Stuffing.

Being at home and being at school both have their pros and cons, so I figured it could be fun to actually sit down (which I am doing at this moment) and analyze them, being as though I am home, and have absolutely nothing to do all day. So here goes...

Being at School- Pros

• You can eat anything you want, at anytime of the day or night, no questions asked.
• Wegmans (if you have ever been there, you understand)
• You don't have to rely on AIM for human contact after 10:30 at night
• Getting home at 2 in the morning is perfectly acceptable
• You can leave your room as big a shithole as you want to without hearing a word about it
• NBA league pass- probably not appealing to most of you...buts getting almost every NBA game gives you something to watch every night
  

Being at School- Cons

• Doing your own laundry
• Folding your own laundry
• Putting away your own laundry (ok, so my mom still babies me...deal with it)
• Cleaning your own bathroom
• Cooking (once again, my mom loves me)
• The Pizza, Bagels and Chinese food make you consider giving up all 3
• Drunken neighbors throwing up outside your door (never actually happened, but I imagine it has to somebody)
• Mary-the lovely spanish speaking maid my mother employs- cant make the 5 hour drive every week to clean my suite

Being at Home- Pros

• Laundry gets cleaned, folded and put away for me- and I'm not ashamed to admit it
• Home cooked dinners at least once a week- and heating up a frozen pizza in the micro (while delicious)- doesn't count.
• The bagels, pizza and chinese food make me consider never actually eating those home cooked meals
• Not getting emails alerting me of an assault which took place 2 blocks away from where I live (oh Syracuse)
• Roosevelt Field Mall- nothing beats it (sorry Carousel)
• Going into the City and spending the day doing nothing but going from store to store realizing you cant afford anything you see
• Getting to see all the people from home you otherwise don't get to see

Being at Home- Cons

• For all the things my mother does while I'm home, the nagging I receive pretty much negates it
• Old neighbors who blasting their televisions allowing them to hear the public access channels they live for
• The Pizza, Bagels and Chinese food aren't encouraging me to eat healthier
• Dominos and Pizza hut arent open late during the week
• My only roommates are in their 50's, and have no interest in going out after 8 oclock
• Getting to see all the people from home you otherwise don't get to see

Now I know I probably left out a ton of stuff for all 4 categories, but you seem to get the general idea of where I'm coming from.

Being Home and being at School both have plenty to offer and plenty to make you countdown the days until you can return to the other.

I guess there really is no place like home.

Unless of course you're away at school.

School Breaks (Thanksgiving Edition)

11/20/07

For three years now, the Thanksgiving break has become somewhat of an event. Not because I happen to look forward to Thanksgiving itself, but because there are a number of different elements which all seem to come into play right around this time of year, specifically as a college student.

This break in particular is a strange break, because it begins in the middle of the week, plus you lose a day of "do-nothingness" to spend with your family. Throw into the equation that I'm one of the few Americans who despises Turkey and all the other fixings we find on our Thanksgiving tables. Thats why I'm proud to say I'm one of the few people who enjoys Baked Ziti and left over Chinese food as part of his feast.

So the Thanksgiving break doesn't really have a whole lot of appeal for me personally, esepcially since it creates an awkward situation where you have all these friends to see and spend some time with, exchanging the necessary "I missed you sooo much" and "so how is school going" only to say good bye and see them all again 3 weeks later when the semester finally comes to end.

But while the awkwardness is one of the downsides of the Thanksgiving break, the big plus is that it does in fact signal the coming to the end of another semester of college.

For this guy, that would be 5 semesters in the books, and 3 more to go. Kinda scary when you think about it. After 12 weeks, I'm almost half-way through my Junior year, and this break is just the signaling that time is slowly starting to run out. Running out on both the semester and my college career.

But the Thanksgiving break in itself is pretty awkward, because it really just doesnt last long enough to give you that feeling like you were away from school long enough to matter. Youre only given these handful of days where among the things you can do include going to the mall- a bad idea considering these are the busiest days the mall sees- going to the movies- also a bad idea considering we are still about a month away from the Holiday rush of half-decent films leaving us with the very missable shit such as Fred Claus and the Mist.

I lucked out because Syracuse is playing an early season tournament at Madison Square Garden, which means I'll get a chance to watch my current favorite basketball team play in the home of my current least favorite basketball team (no, not the Nets).

But other than that, I'll be spending this all-too short vacation trying to squeeze in visits with friends, watching some basketball, not eating on Thursday and pretending to act like I have work to do before I go back, while my backpack remains unopened until I return (I think I should get some credit for at least bringing it home)

So- I now have 5 days (really only 4 if you take out Thursday, plus nobody does much Sunday when you have to go back making it 3) to try and recharge the batteries for the finals few weeks of another college semester which is ready to be put in the books.

The real treat to look forward to is the Winter break of a college student, which for me sits about another 3 and half to 4 weeks away.

Until then, enjoy your Turkey, and enjoy the time off.

Hopefully I'll figure out a way to do so myself.

Alexander The (not so) Great

11/18/07


When last we spoke, things in Yankeeland weren't looking all that certain. Jorge Posada had just resigned for an absolutely outrageously overpaid price tag of 4 years, 52 million dollars.

A good signing considering Posada's value to the team, and there aren't many other catchers out there to be had. Just ask Omar Minaya.

Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer in the history of the sport, was offered 3 years and 45 million dollars to continue and finish his career as a Yankee, yet felt disrepsetced by the fact he was no offered a 4th year, and has decided wait and see if the Yankees are willing to do so. (reports have since come out saying Rivera will accept the offer at 3 years).


So Posada was brought back, which filled one hole, and Rivera will in all likelyhood be following suit. However the one spot which may have been hardest to fill was third base. The guy who played there last season was pretty good, and you probably know who I'm talking about. No- its not Wilson Betemit. Its Alexander the Great of course. And with Alex opting out, who would be replacing him?


World Series MVP and Red Sox enemy Mike Lowell? Marlins young slugger Miguel Cabrera? Washed up Cards third basemen Scott Rolen? Sadly overpaid and underachieving Mariners hot corner guy Adrian Beltre?

Some appealing names, but none would have been able to fully replace the production that Alex gave them.

But then out of nowhere, as if divine intervention stepped in, Alex Rodriguez (supposedly at the advice of mega-billionaire Warren Buffet) went out of his way to contact the Yankees without his puppeteer of an agent, Scott Boras.

Now Scott Boras for those of you unfamiliar with the name, is the Ari Gold of baseball agents. He is shrewd and at times unethical, yet at the end of the day he gets his clients more money than they deserve while taking his own chunk of change along the way.

Boras is the agent who orchestrated the record breaking 10 year, $252 million A-Rod signed back in 2000 with the hapless Rangers. But Boras was up to his old tricks this year, deciding that even though Alex was playing in the World Series, he would still be part of it.

Before the Red Sox went on to win their 2nd championship in the last 4 years, Boras made it a point to announce to the free world that his superstar client would be opting out of the final 3 years of his deal, making him a free-agent, and giving up the 81 million dollars still owed to him in an effort to make more.

And upon making that decision, the Yankees came out and said that they would refuse to negotiate with Alex should he decide to opt out, and they seemed to stand pretty firm in that belief. The names were flying around as to who would be at third base next year, whlie the potential suitors for A-Rod were hard to find. The Angles, Dodgers, Mets and Giants seemed interested but coming up with the money to pay for King Alex was going to be tough.

Not having the Yankees as an option wasn't going to help Alex get the 300+ million Boras was seeking for him. And so it seemed Alex would surely would be wearing a different uniform next season, without that interlocking NY.

But this is the New York Yankees, an organization that while they havn't wont a championship since 2000, seems to always get lucky and always catch the right break at the right time. And this was no different. Alex Rodriguez, as you all know by now, will be calling the Bronx home beyond the next two Presidential terms.

And how did this happen? Because (reportedly) Alex Rodriguez went directly to Yankee management and requested the chance to talk about finishing his career as a Yankee.

And it worked. because 10 years and 275 million dollars later, Alex Rodriguez will surpass his own record contract by signing the most lucrative sports deal in history. And the best part?

Alex comes off looking like the hero. The Yankee fans not only get A-Rod back in Pinstripes, but they get him back because he made the effort. There was no pressuring by his agent and no strings being pulled over his head. This was all A-Rod.

Or was it?

Now this is entirely my opinion, but to think that Scott Boras, the most powerful man in baseball no associated with the sport itself, played no role in this is ludicrous. Boras may be a scum bag, but hes good at what he does. He knew the Yankees wanted no part of him when negotiating, so he stepped back when needed. He did what he had to- not only to get Alex the contract he was looking for, but he did so and made Alex come out looking the good guy!

Now from the point of the view of somebody not really interested in sports or baseball, there is still plenty of intrigue in all of this.

Here is a person, not yet 33 years of age, about sign a contract which will guarantee him a collection of over 250 million dollars- FOR THE SECOND TIME IN HIS CAREER. And what does he do? He plays a game. He happens to be very good at the game he plays, but when analyzing the game he plays, success is ultimately measured by the jewelry on your fingers, not the number of zeros on your paycheck.

So if thats the case, Alex Rodriguez is no more a success story in baseball than Rob Schneider is in acting. (Rob, for all his comedic talents, has yet to come close to sniffing an Acedemy Award nomination).

Yet here is Alex Rodriguez, who puts up terrific stats, whether it be home runs, runs batted in, strike outs with runners on third and less than 2 outs- take your pick. But the truth of the matter is, the man gets paid more than any other professional athlete has or ever will, despite the fact he has yet to achieve the ulitmate success sports has to offer.

However if you were Alex whether or not that bothers him, he would probably tell you how passionate he is about winning and trying to help his team get a World Series championship.

And if that isnt enough to convince you what his true intentions are, I'm sure there are others we just dont know about.

About 275 million of them.

Return of the Newsfeed

11/12/07

A few weeks ago, on a Facebook profile not so far away....


By now many of you are aware of the problems I have had with my Facebook newsfeed. For those of you who don't, my newsfeed stopped giving me updates about 2 weeks ago. The only items I would see on my newsfeed were wall posts on only my wall and these advertisements about what the most popular books (Harry Potter) and movies (Anchorman) were in my networks.

But Adam- Its just your stupid Facebook newsfeed- who gives a shit?

Well, this guy does.

I remember when Facebook introduced the newsfeed. And I also remember how quickly I was invited to join the groups people created wanting to destroy it. But not me. I saw the newsfeed as a while new frontier facebook was allowing us to conquer.

When Facebook (or The Facebook for anybody who still refers to it as so) was started, the whole networking idea was pretty cool, but its no secret that Facebook really serves us one main purpose:

Stalking.

And being able to stalk our friends and keep ourselves involved in their lives without ever having to actually talk to them was fantastic. Even better was being able to check out people of the opposite sex without having to possess the courage to ever actually talk to them (not that I would know....)

That was of course before the privacy settings went all hardcore.

Advantage- Facebook.

But the newsfeed really took the essence of stalking to an entirely new level. Way back when before the newsfeed era began, stalking meant having to think about the people you wanted to know about. The newsfeed has made that a thing of the past. Now we are able to get updates of up to 40 people we want, while at the same choosing 40 people we couldn't care less about.

Advantage- Adam

Now I know there are probably more important things going on in your lives so that should any of your newsfeeds gone down, you would have been able to deal. Well thats why you're all better people than I am. Not only did I freak out about having to go out of my way to who friended who and who changed their facebook picture for the third time in a week, but I did something I ordinarily would never do.

I took some initiative! I contacted facebook and let them know what the problems was. I got emails back explaining that I was not the only person experiencing the problem (although probably the only person who gave enough of a shit to say something about it) and with in 2 days my newsfeed returned.

Only to stop updating two days later.

Advantage- Facebook

So being the proactive person I am when it comes to things that are of absolutely no importance whatsoever, I sent facebook another message, and heard back from them again. This time, my personalized email was from Theodore from the Facebook team, telling me this time that not only were they still trying to correct the problem, but also inviting me to fill them in on any other problems I was having with facebook.

And then last night, while I was hopelessly staring at an impotent newsfeed, I logged off facebook and logged back on minutes later and magically...maybe through divine intervention...I was able to see that 34 of my friend had changed their profile pictures. And 24 hours later I can happily report my newsfeed is still updating normally.

So a special thanks to Theodore and the Facebook team for coming to my rescue in a dire time of need. No longer do I have to stalk like its 2005. New groups, wallposts, pictures and relationships, all on my homepage once again.

Advantage- Adam

And all was right in the world again.

For now anyway.

So Much For Daily Updates

11/11/07

I want to apologize to anybody who was expecting me to post something the last 2 days. So to all those who were left with nothing to read at 3:30 in the morning, I'm sorry. A lethal combination of being busy and not having anything to really talk resulted in my having to go against my promise of daily updates.

So, now that I've had a few days to collect some thoughts, I guess it would be fitting to make up for missed time.

However, I'd rather just talk about my weekend.

So last we spoke, I was talking about I had my first exposure so Gossip Girls. While I really didnt find the show to be worthy of the time slot it has, left me counting down the days for next weeks episode (3 days!!)

So if you don't know by now, I have no classes on Friday, which left me with a whole day to get stuff accomplished. I'm not gonna lie, but the feeling of being productive with errands is a feeling which is hard to top.

The list of things to get done included laundry, dry cleaning, grocery shopping, a stop at the mall, maybe a haircut and if time allowed a head start on homework.

Ok so the last thing is clearly a joke because even if I had homework (which i don't) we all know It wouldn't have gotten done until the last minute, if at all.

So the only thing standing in the way of me and getting everything done was lunch I had planned with my friend Scott (who not only is an up and coming stand up comic, but also has a weekly humor column you can read online at dailyorange.com).

So we had a very nice sit down lunch, swapped stories about our respective love lives (or lack there of) and before I knew it, 2 hours had past and my time to get anything done before the Knicks game at 7:30 was shrinking.

But I still had time, as it was only about 3:30. Plenty of time right?

Wrong. By the time the Knicks started playing, I had not left my room, which meant I had a limited amount of clean clothes, nothing to eat for dinner and nothing to wear for my Formal dinner with the Jones family (my rooommate Mike Jones- note that this shoutout will never be seen by Mike because he believes this blog confirms my love for penis).

So Friday was in the books, and I got nothing done. Went out Friday night with all the Girls, but knew that Saturday was D-Day.

Fortunately I did get every I had gotten everything done I needed to, but a day which I had set aside for me doing absolutely nothing was taken away. And thats a demoralizing feeling.

Saturday night (last night) I was in Binghamton for my friend Arielle's 20th birthday. I can honestly say it was a great time.

I got back today and arrived in perfect time for the Giants-Cowboys game, which was great for the first 30 minutes of play, however the second half played by the Giants left a lot to be desired. Lucky for me the Knicks started at 6 giving me a reason not to watch much of the second half.

And so while it may seem as though I was too busy to write anything here over the weekend, its actually a flat out lie, because I was just too lazy to do so. And for that I would apologize, although the number of people who actually read this is in all likelihood less than the number of women who didn't sleep with Wilt Chamberlain before he passed away. (people estimate Wilt the Stilt slept with over 20,000 lovely ladies).

So baring some unforeseen disturbance, I'll be getting back to you all tomorrow.

All 3 of you. (give or take 2)

Blair, Chuck and My Introduction to the Gossip World

11/8/07

Every so often, I find myself searching for something to watch on TV. Last night was one of those nights, as the Knicks and Rangers were off, leaving me without sports to watch. Pushing Daises wasn't on because of some awards show, and South Park wasn't on until 10. That left me with few options, and sitting around with my Television off until 10 just wasn't an option.

Earlier in the day I was hanging out with the girls on my floor and I was invited to join all of them in watching Gossip Girls at 9.

Without thinking twice, I agreed, and I now had something to look forward to.

So 9 o'clock finally rolled around and I found myself across the hall, sitting in the living room of my neighbors with 6 other girls watching the CW's new hit show.

I went into the show with mixed thoughts, as I knew there a lot of hype surrounding the show, but it was the CW (formally the WB), leaving me wondering just how good this show could possibly be.

So the show started, I had no idea who anybody was, what the story lines were or why the hell the parents looked more like siblings. Either way, my initial impressions were not strong. The acting was horrendous, the plots were stupid and the writing was pathetic.

I felt as though I was watching a 16 year old's rendition at Sex in the City, without capable actresses or competent writing.

But as the show continued, my opinion of the show changed. For the worst.

The parents were cheating and using drugs, using their children as scapegoats and punching them in the face, only to wind up arrested on charges on embezzlement (tisk, tisk Mr. Archibold).

I had braced myself for your typical "he likes her, but shes with him yet she still talks to his best friend whos sister is secretly in love with the first guy" and so and so forth. And in that sense, I wasn't disappointed.

-Dan ("other Tucker" from John Tucker Must Die) is datign Serena (hot chick from Accepted).
-Dan's sister is trying to win over Blair, who has been dating Nate who we found out last week still has feelings for Serena- but only admitted so by accidentally kissing Dan's sister Jenny.
-Blair thinks she is going to receive an engagement ring from Nate but finds out beforehand the truth about her boyfriend's secret love.
-Blair than goes all pussy-cat doll and becomes a skanky burlesque dancer in an attempt to turn on Chuck, who looks like a slightly less attractive Chad Michael Murray (yea, I know who he is)

And then we have all the drama with the parents, which I couldn't follow if my life depended on it- but if you watch the show regularly, you know the situations.

The fact that these parents were so corrupt and acting out to such an extreme was completely absurd, yet definitely gave the show something else to laugh at.

The dialogue was pretty sappy at points, especially between Dan and Serena (the scene when hes changed his sheets and she tells him nobody has ever looked at her like that before...please, I'm pretty sure I've heard that in all the other D-rate chick flicks I enjoy).

Another gripe. The running narration was way too much like Sex and the City, except it lacked the wittiness and sophistication of Carrie Bradshaw.

So overall, after all the drama and all the dust had cleared, I had successfully survived my Gossip Girls initiation.

Shitty acting, unrealistic story lines, drug addited-child assaulting parents, predictable corny outcomes and over-the-top drama left me with only one thought:

Can't wait for next weeks episode.

So Little To Do, So Much Time To Kill

11/7/07

Two-plus weeks to go before Thanksgiving. The semester is winding down, and finals are about a month away. For your average college student, the work is starting to pile up. Papers, exams, quizzes, assignments- can be overwhelming at this time with grades becoming more and more important.

Unless you're me.

I handed in that history paper I was bitching about a few days ago and upon handing it in I had realized it was the last piece of significant school work which was going to be required of me until after Thanksgiving.

No exams. No quizzes. No papers. No assignments. Nothing.

And so when I woke up Tuesday, I was living in a new world which I had previously only visited while day dreaming in class (which was every day I would actually be in class before I started bringing my lap-top).

And so now I have absolutely no school work of any kind to worry about until after I come back from my Thanksgiving break which begins two weeks from today. So it got me thinking about how much time I was going to have and how I would be able to enjoy all of it without the worry of procrastinating to write a paper or forgetting to study for a midterm.

Now many who know me are aware of my work ethic, or better yet- lack-thereof. So for the first time in my academic career I find myself in a situation where nothing is required of me for this extended a period of time (summers and breaks not withstanding).

For the next two weeks my wide-open schedule will probably be filled with plenty of the following:

Television- although thats not really a change from my lifestyle when I have work to do

Video games- same as above- although I can now play full NBA games instead of those 5 minute quarters which never feel right

Getting over to the Mall- going over the weekend is not pretty much impossible with all the construction at Carousel, so going at 10am or 2 in the afternoon, which has always been appealing, is now even more appealing.

Catching a midday Movie- I've done it before and I'll do it again- talking of course about seeing a movie by myself, which as depressing as it sounds (and it can be, not gonna lie) is also really relaxing. You get both arm rests, nobody kicking your chair plus the ability to keep your legs up without pissing off the douche bag in front of you.

Bowling- probably need a partner to join, but I havn't gotten over there yet this semester, and that needs to change. Plenty of time now.

Going to the gym- on second thought...

So there you have it. While the little calendar on my computer still reads November, school work is not something I need to care about.

Which when you think about it-

...is really nothing new for me.