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 Posted August 28th, 2006 at 1:14PM
We came down to Ithaca last Wednesday to look at apartments. We found one, which I’ll write about in a later post. Then I had a few days to pack, before moving in on Saturday. The apartment wasn’t furnished, so we had to bring my bed, furniture, and a variety of odd knick-knacks for the kitchen, bathroom, etc.
My parents slept over Saturday night, then returned on Sunday. I busied myself around the house. Everything is pretty much settled, except I still need to find a chair for my desk. Going to check out the Salvation Army and the odd used furniture store here and there.
Typing this post up in the pub on-campus. Still no internet at my place, although my neighbors in the same building sometimes get a wireless signal from one of the other houses in the area. I’ll have to investigate this further – my laptop doesn’t pick up any signal. Or perhaps I’ll just forgo internet at home. It’s not terrible. Forces me to do stuff other than surf the interweb. Like read newspapers.
Classes start this Wednesday. Not looking forward to it. Glad this is my last year, I’m over college. I hate people my age.
Posted April 26th, 2006 at 6:18PM
Today Al Franken broadcasted his radio show live from Ithaca College. I was fortunate enough to snag a ticket at the last second (they were free, but I had forgotten all about the event and never went and picked one up). Three hours, but it was generally fun. Variety of guests, from Ithaca mayor Carolyn Peterson to several professors from Cornell and IC. It was a good crowd, most of Emerson Suites was filled. Entertaining. I didn’t get a book signed however. I wanted to buy his newest (The Truth (With Jokes)) but it’s currently only out on hardcover, and I didn’t have the money to swing that.
Tomorrow is my last day of classes. Another semester down, only two more to go. Phew. The end of the year workload is really not that bad, but that won’t stop me from bitching. I need to work on two essays for my Public Essay class, I have two reviews, an essay, and a full-blown article between my Feature Writing and Writing as a Critic classes. A final in Macroeconomics.
Again, not that bad, but I’m also going to be moving out of my sublet this coming weekend (before finals). Speaking of which, I only need to be around on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, so I’ll drive to Ithaca early on Tuesday, then stick around, sleeping in the car, doing my stuff on Wednesday, and then jetting back home.
Posted March 24th, 2006 at 3:27AM
I present you, my faithful-but-sometimes-wavering reader, with a local Ithaca College event that will be kick-ass and which I encourage everyone to attend. From IC’s Intercom system:
“Know Occupation” Week Coming Soon
“Know Occupation: Israel/Palestine†week will begin with an art exhibition of political cartoons by an Israeli and a Palestinian artist on the Ithaca Commons on Sunday, March 26, and will continue with a series of films and speakers at Ithaca College about the consequences of military occupation for Israelis and Palestinians. The “Know Occupation†events, which have been organized the IC Students for a Just Peace, are free and open to the public.
The scheduled events follow:
• Sunday, March 26, Political Cartoons Exhibition on the Commons, Across from Unique World, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., features the works of Loui Jameel, a Palestinian student at al-Quds University in the West Bank, and Amitai Sandy, an Israeli artist in Tel Aviv. Refreshments and music provided.
• Monday, March 27, “Home Demolitions,†7:00 p.m., Textor 101, Ithaca College, presented by Daniel McCarey, IC senior, who participated in a human rights summer work camp organized by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
• Tuesday, March 28, “Breaking the Silence†movie and presentation by Tamir Sorek, an Israeli who has refused to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces in the Palestinian territories, Textor 102, Ithaca College, 7:00 p.m. Tamir, currently an adjunct assistant professor in the sociology department at Cornell University, studies the processes in which ethnic and national identities are produced, re-produced, and dissolved.
• Wednesday, March 29, “Arna’s Children†movie and discussion with IC Politics professor Beth Harris, Textor 102, Ithaca College, 7:00 p.m. The movie, written and directed by Danniel Danniel and Juliano Mer Khamis, tells the story of a children’s theater group that was established by Juliano’s mother, an Israeli, in the Palestinian Jenin refugee camp. Juliano returns to Jenin during the Second Intifada to film what happened to the children who had participated in his mother’s theater project.
• Thursday, March 30, “The Separation Wall,†Williams 323, Ithaca College, 7:00 p.m., presented by Haley Singer and Nicole Brierre, seniors at Ithaca College, who visited the West Bank and Israel over their winter break on a delegation with the Faculty for Israeli Palestinian Peace.
Posted May 26th, 2005 at 12:23AM
It’s the end of May and I’m putting the finishing touches on my trip abroad. I’ve done the bulk of the necessary planning. Most of the paperwork is done, and the passport is in the mail. It should arrive within the next two or three weeks. But before I go any further, let me write a quick refresher, since this is my first post in the travel blog.
This fall I’ll be heading to Freiburg, Germany, where I’ll be staying the entire semester. It is a specific program through IES, in which I’ll be studying the European Union. Because of where my interests lay — as well as a certain lack of requirements in other fields — I’m tentatively planning to take four politics classes and an intermediate German course. The classes cover a broad range of topics relating to the EU, ranging from the economics of the system, to its relations with the Muslim world.
I am interested in the workings of the European Union, to be sure (I’m not sure how many people would actually make a statement like that, but regardless). To be honest, the primary reason for this trip is to see the world — or at least large parts of Europe. Because when I say that I’ll be staying in Freiburg — it’s a bit misleading. The EU program includes paid trips all across Europe, to the key institutions which make the EU function. This includes Brussells, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva, Budapest, Prague, and more. The specific field trips won’t be revealed until I actually arrive in Germany, however it certainly looks to cover most of Northern and Eastern Europe. At this point in time, it doesn’t look like I’ll be going to the more southern states, like Spain or Italy — but of course, when you’re in Europe, these places are only a train ride away.
I’ll be leaving August 30th, and will be returning December 19th. It’ll be only my second time on an airplane, my first time outside of the US for an extended period of time, and a chance to really nail down German. It’ll be a chance to live more independently than I have before, and to take in the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of a quite markedly different culture.
Ithaca College has large programs in London and Australia, but I’ve always heard that to get “The Full Experience,” you need to live in a country where English is a second language. Germany or Austria were my main avenues, since I’m taking German at college. And studying the European Union ties in nicely with my politics major (the Chair of the Department said that I will be “basically done” after I get back).
At this point in time, I’ve completed 90% of the paperwork required to go. I’m waiting on the passport, and then I’ll be O-K with IES. I had everything in order at school by the time I left. Right now, I’m actually focusing on getting a few recommended immunizations, as well as a cyst removed from my wrist. The surgery is going to be bothersome, requiring a total of three visits to the surgeon, as well as the actual operation which will take at least two or three hours.
But besides a few other loose ends, my main concerns right now are buying plane tickets and a notebook computer. Unfortunately, both of these are turning out to be large expenses. Roundtrip tickets from Albany, NY to Frankfurt, Germany look to be about $1000. And the 12″ Apple Powerbook is $1300. My parents are buying, but I still feel bad about dropping that sort of cash. Ultimately we’ll just have to take the plunge.
A few people who know me might be getting sick and tired about all of this. I’m nearly tired talking about it. But the plan is to set up an independent travel blog while I’m abroad. I’ll be figuring out the technical aspects in the weeks to follow, but eventually I’ll have a pared-down, distinctive section of the site, where I will be posting while I’m in Europe. Expect a lot of pictures. Probably become the main page of the site, since I’m thinking right now that I’ll stow away the rest of the blog during this time. Right now I’m not sure what will become of other parts of the site, like the conga lines I’m advertising, or the forum. I don’t know if I’ll have time to constantly administrate it all. Time will tell, but if people keep the forum nice and active (hint, hint), I’ll be more inclined to keep it afloat. That reminds me, on a last note, I plan to do a slight redesign to the menu bar, for the main sections. This will hopefully make the link to the forum stand out more, potentially adding users faster. That’s the plan, anyways.
Posted May 2nd, 2005 at 10:40AM
Here I am, banging out the rough draft for one of my final papers. I should have had a full rough draft last Thursday, but I re-scheduled the conference. The final is due on Friday. It should be good. It’s a satirical piece arguing for why we should jettison nuclear waste into space (or the sun, haven’t decided yet). I’ve just been having a terrible time concentrating on it. Like right now, how I find myself magically posting instead of working on it. Interesting, huh? I guess it’s coming along alright. Slowly but surely. A sneak peak:
So where exactly are we going to put our nuclear waste? Storing it domestically is costly and dangerous. Paying third world nations to take it also might have repercussions for America down the line. And ocean dumping is frowned upon today, as a result of environmental lobbyists. However, I think it’s safe to say that there one prospective avenue that we have yet to discuss. And that is jettisoning the waste into space.
This semester in terms of finals, I have three tests and two papers. This is a 180 from every semester before, where I had a lot of papers and only one or two tests. I think it will be a nice change of pace actually. I can go and quickly rip through a test faster than it takes to write a decent paper.
I have no idea what my grades are going to be like this semester.
Interesting fog today. Cornell looks cool.
I think the cleaning staff have given up on our floor altogether. We have more toilet paper, but nothing has been cleaned. Probably for the best. Someone broke one of the shower handles a few days ago, so now we are limited to the worse shower, which is too low and changes temperatures frequently. Although this doesn’t quite stop people from trying to use the broken shower – everyday now I wake up and go into the bathroom to find it pouring out water because some real genius could turn it on but not off.
I’m tired of this shit.
Posted April 21st, 2005 at 11:37AM
I had a few lines in today’s Ithacan. They sort of fugged up my blog’s name, but at least my own name was spelled right. It was enough to inflate my ego a bit. Otherwise, this week is almost over. Today I’ve been running back and forth, trying to get the library to remove its figurative head from its ass and stop billing me for late fees on DVDs that I returned on time.
Anyone who comes here because of The Ithacan article will probably be sorely disappointed. Ah well.
Posted April 7th, 2005 at 6:36PM
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