In just one day of living in NYC you may see:
A mass of people swaying awkwardly around a drum corps
A dealer not so subtly offer you drugs
A piano in the middle of the park
A homeless man curled up on a bench for an afternoon nap
A 99¢ pizza place
A ghetto bootie that does not belong to a female
A strap-on on and fake boobs on a manequin
A pigeon flitting fearlessly a foot away from your face
A jazz combo playing Afro Blue on the walkway
A huddle of theater kids dancing inappropriately to the music in the air
A few same-sex couples walking happily together unimpeded
A pair of kids practicing Capoeira on a raised platform
A line at Starbucks wrapping three times around the interior of the store
A little person not sanctioned by the university shouting at passersby as if he were traffic control
A quartet of semi-intoxicated friends (two guys, two girls) converge on a single point in the air to make out. All at once. Like literally four set of lips interacting inclusively.
A Broadway star buying a meal at the same chicken joint as you
A beautiful purple sky created by smog and light pollution
A high skyline blinking with bright lights, the biggest reminder that you're in one of the greatest cities on Earth- a city so steeped in history, so full of energy, so industrial and yet so beautiful.
Enjoying his bite of the Big Apple,
Jamin
Friday, September 16, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Another National Anthem
9/11
A day that will be emblazoned into this generation's brains like the Kennedy assassination and the Atom Bomb dropping were seared into generations previous. A day that changed the character of the past decade. A day in which many were disavowed of the notion that America was eternally and completely "the land of the free": that being here meant you were safe from the outside world. A day we look back on in remembrance, reverence, and caution. Ladies and gentlemen, on a day like today so steeped in history, so pungent with loss, it is important to not let ourselves become stagnant.
Ten years ago, our country suffered a great loss. We lost innocent men and women and symbols of our strength. Now, although these monuments are resurrected, we can never recover our valuable citizenry or the notion that we are somehow unlike everyone else- vulnerable. But instead of being defeated by these wounds, we can let them make us stronger. A loss of innocence doesn't just have to be a calamity: it can awaken you to the totality of life.
So, ten years after that horrible day, I urge you to take a good look at the world around you and the life you lead. While I will never condone the use of terrorism or think a nation deserves to suffer so terribly, the current state of the world and particularly our foreign affairs is a direct result of our nation's own decisions. Whatever you believe politically, I urge you now to not just let 9/11 be a bad memory. I urge you to let it galvanize your deepest potential as a thinker, worker, human being. What you choose to do with your released potential is up to you but that day shadowed some of the very things that made our nation great, and this day can be the turning point in which we recover it. If we want to truly honor those lost, what we can do is choose to uphold the national identity that makes us who we are. We can be strong, resilient, productive, and free.
A day that will be emblazoned into this generation's brains like the Kennedy assassination and the Atom Bomb dropping were seared into generations previous. A day that changed the character of the past decade. A day in which many were disavowed of the notion that America was eternally and completely "the land of the free": that being here meant you were safe from the outside world. A day we look back on in remembrance, reverence, and caution. Ladies and gentlemen, on a day like today so steeped in history, so pungent with loss, it is important to not let ourselves become stagnant.
Ten years ago, our country suffered a great loss. We lost innocent men and women and symbols of our strength. Now, although these monuments are resurrected, we can never recover our valuable citizenry or the notion that we are somehow unlike everyone else- vulnerable. But instead of being defeated by these wounds, we can let them make us stronger. A loss of innocence doesn't just have to be a calamity: it can awaken you to the totality of life.
So, ten years after that horrible day, I urge you to take a good look at the world around you and the life you lead. While I will never condone the use of terrorism or think a nation deserves to suffer so terribly, the current state of the world and particularly our foreign affairs is a direct result of our nation's own decisions. Whatever you believe politically, I urge you now to not just let 9/11 be a bad memory. I urge you to let it galvanize your deepest potential as a thinker, worker, human being. What you choose to do with your released potential is up to you but that day shadowed some of the very things that made our nation great, and this day can be the turning point in which we recover it. If we want to truly honor those lost, what we can do is choose to uphold the national identity that makes us who we are. We can be strong, resilient, productive, and free.
Monday, September 5, 2011
NYC!!! I'm HERE
If you can find me, I'M HEEEEEEEEEERE!!! Hello friends, family, neighbors, random people in Malaysia (Yes, I do have an international following, albeit a small one)! I haven't written all summer, but I will blog about it soon. Today, I just want to share with you my first week at NYU! It has been so fun. It feels like I've lived two months in a week. I don't remember exactly what happened when so this timeline may be inaccurate. Whatever. I just want to tell you what happened. Here we go!
Sunday- The original move in day was postponed due to the hurricane. Instead, my mom, grandma and I hauled up in our hotel watching movies. We did manage to snap some photos of deserted intersections and closed-down shops, but because the city was still in flux, it was a mostly uneventful day.
Monday- Move in! Lugging all my possessions around makes me want to run away to a Buddhist temple and give up on materialism. Just kidding, but it was still a challenge to move 4 suitcases up to the 14th floor and then aid my room mate, Nick, accomplish the same feat. After traversing 14 flights with luggage, we decided it was not unreasonable to climb them without at least once a day as an exercise in fitness and wellness.
After getting unpacked and making one last convenience item trip to Bed Bath & Beyond, I met up with some friends for the evening. A few hours of aimless trekking later we ran a gauntlet of Welcome Week High Fives from the student staff into the Skirball Center for Performing to catch Hypnotist Michael C. Anthony. Given the spontaneity, I had no idea what to expect. What I got was the most I've ever laughed in the space of an hour ever in my life. Highlights: People dropping to the floor in a dreary sleep upon contact with the hypnotist, a row of men experiencing the miracle of birth (or rather the pain of it), the extermination of the number six, sexy poses on a beach, the hero who saved his fellow hypnotics from a snake belt, a boy who cried a little too much and a sassy Bobby rechristened Cha-Cha. Hysterical? Yes. Real? Steph doubts it. Who cares? No one really as long as people embarrass themselves.
Wednesday- The freshmen had vocal diagnostics to pair us with voice teachers and get the faculty familiar with us. Unfortunately we were not allowed to watch each other so later in the week a reasonable amount of facebook video-stalking ensued.
Thursday- Throughout the morning we met with the program head to receive the results of our diagnostic. Besides getting our voice teacher assignments, us classmates bonded in the hall. It was the first time some of us had seen each other outside of facebook so naturally we freaked out at the sight of real people. Not really what happened, but you get the idea. Later that night we had a mixer with the ENTIRE program and I happily found them to be just as friendly and awesome as my class. The cast of Sweet Smell of Success even performed a preview for us to give us a taste of exactly the kind of work we'd be doing here. After the formal mixer it was off to a party where the socializing continued more freely but with less air-conditioning. I guess, if you can make friends with someone in a crowded room hemorrhaging with sweat, you can make friends anywhere.
Friday- My room mate, Nick, and I went to a jazz restaurant to hear some live music and eat some very overpriced salad. After, some friends convened in Steph and Nik's room for hours of rambunctious laughter. It wasn't this night but I know we capped our late-night-conversation time at 5:00 am at some point.
Saturday- Movie night at Kaylee's! A revolving door of attendants watched Little Miss Sunshine and were then privy to a private concert courtesy of Nik and Steph, two very fierce singer/songwriter performers. It's nice to hear random music in Washington Square Park, but it's even better to hear your friends.
Sunday- While riding with Steph on the subway up to the theater district, I spotted Andrew Ranells from the Book of Mormon. Exciting but bound to happen in this city. We get off and run into the Brazil Day festival. This creates a decent amount of road obstacles which delay us from arriving at the Catch Me If You Can box office to attempt student rush. Shrugging it off, we play the Book of Mormon lottery. I WIN!!! Steph texts fellow program buds reporting the news. Among the responses were "F***er!!!!", "F*** You!!!", and "I hate you!!". We eat at a grocery store. We see Book of Mormon. We laugh. A lot. Lanz makes me briefly ponder the odd coincidence that I saw Andrew Rannells the same day I won Book of Mormon tickets. We have a discourse on the inalienability of human rights, female mutilation and moral obligations in a global community. We meet up with some friends, John, Juliet, Nik, Brian, and "Room mate" legally named Nick. (Not to be confused with my room mate Nick. This Nick is John's room mate.) We eat at a diner. Steph and Nik unsuccessfully attempt to get Netflix to work. We bask in the glow of the day anyway.
This brings me to today where I went to a BBQ secretly organized by a Christian group on campus. Word of advice, if you're trying to recruit people for anything don't make them angry by walking them to a distant location at lunchtime when they're expecting food and make them wait for 2 hours only to receive pizza instead. As payback I filled out my survey with an alias but gave them enough real information to try and hunt down a nonexistent Jarome Speizer for a while. After that, I skyped with my parents, then my good friend Liz and shared it all with you!
This week has been so amazing. You know it must have been because normally I would try to think of a spicier word than amazing to describe my feelings. I've met some wonderful people, had great conversations, experienced a little of the city, and got super pumped for beginning actual classes.
The Adventure Will Continue,
Jamin
Sunday- The original move in day was postponed due to the hurricane. Instead, my mom, grandma and I hauled up in our hotel watching movies. We did manage to snap some photos of deserted intersections and closed-down shops, but because the city was still in flux, it was a mostly uneventful day.
Monday- Move in! Lugging all my possessions around makes me want to run away to a Buddhist temple and give up on materialism. Just kidding, but it was still a challenge to move 4 suitcases up to the 14th floor and then aid my room mate, Nick, accomplish the same feat. After traversing 14 flights with luggage, we decided it was not unreasonable to climb them without at least once a day as an exercise in fitness and wellness.
After getting unpacked and making one last convenience item trip to Bed Bath & Beyond, I met up with some friends for the evening. A few hours of aimless trekking later we ran a gauntlet of Welcome Week High Fives from the student staff into the Skirball Center for Performing to catch Hypnotist Michael C. Anthony. Given the spontaneity, I had no idea what to expect. What I got was the most I've ever laughed in the space of an hour ever in my life. Highlights: People dropping to the floor in a dreary sleep upon contact with the hypnotist, a row of men experiencing the miracle of birth (or rather the pain of it), the extermination of the number six, sexy poses on a beach, the hero who saved his fellow hypnotics from a snake belt, a boy who cried a little too much and a sassy Bobby rechristened Cha-Cha. Hysterical? Yes. Real? Steph doubts it. Who cares? No one really as long as people embarrass themselves.
Wednesday- The freshmen had vocal diagnostics to pair us with voice teachers and get the faculty familiar with us. Unfortunately we were not allowed to watch each other so later in the week a reasonable amount of facebook video-stalking ensued.
Thursday- Throughout the morning we met with the program head to receive the results of our diagnostic. Besides getting our voice teacher assignments, us classmates bonded in the hall. It was the first time some of us had seen each other outside of facebook so naturally we freaked out at the sight of real people. Not really what happened, but you get the idea. Later that night we had a mixer with the ENTIRE program and I happily found them to be just as friendly and awesome as my class. The cast of Sweet Smell of Success even performed a preview for us to give us a taste of exactly the kind of work we'd be doing here. After the formal mixer it was off to a party where the socializing continued more freely but with less air-conditioning. I guess, if you can make friends with someone in a crowded room hemorrhaging with sweat, you can make friends anywhere.
Friday- My room mate, Nick, and I went to a jazz restaurant to hear some live music and eat some very overpriced salad. After, some friends convened in Steph and Nik's room for hours of rambunctious laughter. It wasn't this night but I know we capped our late-night-conversation time at 5:00 am at some point.
Saturday- Movie night at Kaylee's! A revolving door of attendants watched Little Miss Sunshine and were then privy to a private concert courtesy of Nik and Steph, two very fierce singer/songwriter performers. It's nice to hear random music in Washington Square Park, but it's even better to hear your friends.
Sunday- While riding with Steph on the subway up to the theater district, I spotted Andrew Ranells from the Book of Mormon. Exciting but bound to happen in this city. We get off and run into the Brazil Day festival. This creates a decent amount of road obstacles which delay us from arriving at the Catch Me If You Can box office to attempt student rush. Shrugging it off, we play the Book of Mormon lottery. I WIN!!! Steph texts fellow program buds reporting the news. Among the responses were "F***er!!!!", "F*** You!!!", and "I hate you!!". We eat at a grocery store. We see Book of Mormon. We laugh. A lot. Lanz makes me briefly ponder the odd coincidence that I saw Andrew Rannells the same day I won Book of Mormon tickets. We have a discourse on the inalienability of human rights, female mutilation and moral obligations in a global community. We meet up with some friends, John, Juliet, Nik, Brian, and "Room mate" legally named Nick. (Not to be confused with my room mate Nick. This Nick is John's room mate.) We eat at a diner. Steph and Nik unsuccessfully attempt to get Netflix to work. We bask in the glow of the day anyway.
This brings me to today where I went to a BBQ secretly organized by a Christian group on campus. Word of advice, if you're trying to recruit people for anything don't make them angry by walking them to a distant location at lunchtime when they're expecting food and make them wait for 2 hours only to receive pizza instead. As payback I filled out my survey with an alias but gave them enough real information to try and hunt down a nonexistent Jarome Speizer for a while. After that, I skyped with my parents, then my good friend Liz and shared it all with you!
This week has been so amazing. You know it must have been because normally I would try to think of a spicier word than amazing to describe my feelings. I've met some wonderful people, had great conversations, experienced a little of the city, and got super pumped for beginning actual classes.
The Adventure Will Continue,
Jamin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)