nemotoad

02:23 pm: Oh nooooooo......maybe those novices last year were right...





Gives a whole new meaning to the term "self-hating Jew"

06:58 pm: Selling my soul to the devil
I committed an unspeakable act today. I got a job application from Starbucks. I'm still not entirely sure if that violates any of my principles, but it rubs me the wrong way. It's not that I'm against Starbucks. Lord knows I drink enough of their coffee, sky-high prices and all. But, if I get a job there, I can no longer even pretend to have any anti-corporate sentiments. Not that I really have any, but it was always nice to have that as a fall back option. I'm glad that I never put that Daily Grind bumper sticker on my car ("Friends don't let Friends Drink Starbucks"). I suppose I would get really good at making lattes and cappuccinos, but I might also learn to hate them. I keep on picturing that scene in Barber Shop when the guy is in Starbucks ordering a "half skim, half soy nonfat mocha latte, with an extra shot, a spoon of orange extract, and the foam on the side." I'm not entirely sure that I'm willing to put up with that kind of shit.
As an act of reparation, I also picked up an application from Barnes and Noble. Also corporate, but the Book House told me flat out that they wouldn't hire me for the summer. At least I'd only have to look up book titles and such, no lattes. As a fall back, I could always just pretend that a book wasn't in if I didn't feel like going to get it for someone...a bitter, pointless act of revolt, admittedly, but it still seems that it would be oddly fulfilling.
Or maybe neither of them will hire me. You never know. I realized as I was looking at the applications that they weren't college applications. In 18 years, I have accumulated a very specific body of skills. None of them really apply to working in a coffee shop or book store, other than an elitist attitude and thick-rimmed glasses. I could always scoff when people mispronounce the name of a drink at Starbucks, or laugh when someone buys a "Kelis" cd, but I'm not sure that really fits in with a mantra of "the customer is always right."
Sigh. I'm out for now.

Ben

09:29 pm: Freedom!!!!!!!!
OK, so I'm all finished with APs. Forever. A single tear trickled down me cheek...That said, I'm glad their over. I now basically have 4 study halls a day. Econ today was painful. The room was about 90 degrees, and random screams of "Yo, Shanique! Whatup girl?" interrupted the test every thirty seconds. But the test was basically simple. Nothing too complicated at all.
I just finished Chang Rae Lee's "Native Speaker," which was awesome, even if it was a little bit too "Lit 101." Very, very overt in every possible aspect. It basically smacked me over the head with painfully obvious extended metaphors, disgustingly repetitive themes, and flat characters. It still rocked, but just a little bit too child-like. I started Toni Morrison's "Beloved." I feel a little bit guilty reading too much of Oprah's book club, but I still think Toni Morrison is an incredible author.
That's all for now.

06:13 pm: again, I beg your forgiveness...
OK. So this whole "livejournal" thing seemed like a good idea at the time, and even though I'm ridiculously bored about 75% of the time, I still can never find time to update this thing at any regular interval. So, I'll go into a quick update. As far as college goes, I'm going to Yale. I just up and made a decision on April 29. I'm still not entirely sure why I did it, but I don't regret that I did. School is going even better. Classes, especially APs, are starting to wind down in a big way. At the risk of sounding like a totally massive geek ( who am I kidding...) I would like to say, for the record, that Stats AP is awesome, as we just spend most of it hanging out, bitching about Michael Johnson, and talking about Senior prom (still). Beyond that, everything is pretty much good. My car is staying together, somehow, even though random pieces seem to fall off of it everything I stop. I'm completely serious. I have a pile or small rusted bolts on the passenger seat. Still, when you buy a $100 car, you get what you pay for. But that's mostly just melodramatic bitching. The car, Mona (the name came with it), gets me to and from school, and can ghetto blast like you wouldn't believe. When I kick the bass, and blast the music, my knees shake from the vibrations. I just hope it can make the drive to Hanover.
On another, more artistic note, my Sculpture final is getting along pretty well. It will be unveiled in about a month. Until then, you'll all just have to content yourself with my now award winning (note the sarcasm...I'm barely sure that this even counts as an award...)photo, part of the 'Study in White" show. www.infiniti.com/art. It's number 25...
Going for now.

08:48 pm: It has been a long time since I did this...
So....I know it's been a few months since I last updated. Sue me. Anyway, to update. The quest for college has only gotten more and more difficult. I was accepted at Harvard, Brown, Tufts, and haverford in April, along with Yale, which accepted me in December. It seems so long ago that I was actually worrying about getting into college. Now, I'm worrying about where I will go. Right now, I'm leaning towards Yale. The pros? They have everything academically that I'm looking for. Interesting courses, illustrious professors, and resources abound. Beyond that, they have the single strongest Art department for an Ivy League school (unlike Brown, where you have to take any art classes at RISD, or harvard, where you have to take them at the Museum School of Fine Arts). On top of that, Gregory Crewdson, my absolute favorite artist in all of history, is on the faculty...I know that must sound kind of stalkerish-creepy, but it was his "Twilight" show as Mass MoCA that made me start working in photography. The cons? I can't really find any. The only things that people complain about are 1) The work load (not really an issue, as I am perfectly fine doing just about any amount of work. Need proof? even though I'm a second semester senior, and into every college that I applied, I still pulled a 96 average...I get at least 10 geek points for that). 2) New Haven. Fine, New Haven isn't the best city. It isn't even a good city. It isn't even remotely nice. But, neither is Albany, and that has never stopped me. Sure, you might not be able to walk through any neighborhood that you want to at 2 AM, but I'm fine with that. I'll make do. I'll get to the pros and cons of Brown and Harvard later...

09:53 pm: First Post...a momentous event!
I don't know if I should start this with "dear Journal" or something like that, but considering that this is basically an open forum, I really shouldn't address this to anyone in particular, but more the general public.
I always said that I would never have a livejournal. I even mocked people for having them, even if I read them. But here I am.
This won't be a long post, as I can't really think of anything too important to write about. Plus the whole "anyone can read it" thing is a little unsettling. As of now, I am pretty calm/secure with just about everything. I'm into college, going to China in exactly one week, and having a really fun senior year.
My photo-icon-thingy is a photo of my own taking. In case the thumbnail is too small, it's a rusty wagon. It is not symbolic at all. Just a disclaimer, I do not now, nor have I ever felt like that wagon. I just liked the picture.
Disclaimer number 2-I spell like a six year old, and it does not help that I type poorly. Deal with it.
That's it for now. I have my Brown interview tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. It's at Albany Academy, the one place that I never really wanted to have to go again (old drama- the people who go there are not all evil, but the general aura surrounding it is very fake, like the hollow columns in the entry. All about image, no substance...I so I gather...).

vale!