Archivalry

It's okay, my roommate came back and now we're watching game shows on GSN. And I didn't have any classes today so it was not so hot 'cause I was all alone all day.

But I'm better now.

Weird

So I'm back at school after a weekend at home and I feel...weird. I dunno, it's probably just some stupid thing, I've only been here since this morning after all, but still, things just don't feel the same.

I miss home.

And even though getting on the train and coming back was a lot easier this time than earlier, I still feel like there were things I didn't get to do. Unfinished business, you know? And I miss the way life used to be. I was really happy in high school. I was really happy with the people there too. There were so many things I loved to do, and I don't have a lot of that here. I dunno...

I just miss home.

So classes classes classes. Wow. They are really something else. It's actually incredibly odd to think about at first, because if I get bored, it's not weird if I start to draw - everyone else is already doing it! And in my general figure drawing class, it's just kinda out of the question. So it got some serious taking used to.

My classes consist of general figure drawing, three dimensional, four dimensional, history of art, light color design, and english courses.

My 3-D teacher is completely out of his mind. Let me share some writing I did while sitting in one of my first classes with him.

And I quote, "So I'm sitting here in one of my first 3-D classes and it's so hot that I'm wetter now than when I was in the shower this morning. My teacher has said more about the fourth dimension than any other, but right now he's focusing more the philosophy of the ENTIRE WORLD. We've heard more about Plato and Sophecles this morning than the actual class at hand. Dear god it's hot. I'm having trouble holding myself together and melting away. I can't remember who I am. Time is nonexistent. Ideas about ideas combined with more self reflexive terms. Something about lines and cubes and arrows. Judgement? Knowledge? The abstract? We're just small confused children without air conditioning! We need air! Not a philosophy lesson. The water in front of me that once so cold and wonderful has given up its crusade against the humidity and heat."

The man is certifiably insane. And he's slowly driving me closer to the brink myself.

I'm really going to try and waive my 4=D class, 'cause I kind of already know everything we're doing. We'll see how that goes...

English is basically a philosophy course with an artistic aim to it. So far, we haven't accomplished much. Our teacher keeps trying to get us to define such abstract things and pretty soon two people are in an arguement. I try to keep myself in an open frame of mind, but every time I tell myself to keep a vow of silence for one class, someone says something so blatently wrong or insane that I have to make some comment. I'm trying, I really am.

Drawing is fabulous. I'll show you my work, and you'll see. My teacher is a god. She's really just awesome.

History of art? Boring. Not much to say here, we sit through three hours of slides a week, and then we get to go.

Light color design is impossible to explain. Fuck color-aid. That's all you need to know.

And women? Hmm...

Keep in mind I haven't much to deal with in terms of the female sex, because so many of them are in relationships! I know, it sounds crazy, but it's completely true. Having said that, here are some that always catch my eye.

A girl in my drawing and english class is without a doubt the most beautiful I've seen since I got here. And I've actually gotten the chance to talk to her and ask her about herself somewhat and find out just a little bit more about her. She doesn't live on campus, however, so that just sucks. But she has a twin sister. And there are also these two girls that are roommates downstairs, and they're, well...pretty damned amazing themselves. Just gorgeous, really. The only problem is I don't have either of them in any of my classes so it makes things that much more difficult. And then right down the hall from me there are a few classy ladies that are a lot of fun to hang out with, but I only find myself attracted to one of them.

Names you say? Later, mayhaps. =)

And lastly, I'm going home tomorrow for the weekend. A bunch of us are, including a good number of my best friends, and so I have some people I need to see and catch up with.

Questions? Comments? Opposing points of view?

I didn't think so.

=)

If you actually do have some, comment. Or call me. Or IM me. Just do something, okay? Good.

Question

Okay, quick question for the ladies.

WHAT IS WITH THE BIG SUNGLASSES?

Seriously, what's the deal? They're not attractive. We can't see your face.

All I want is an explanation.

Mud Wrestling

So it feels like forever and a day since my last post. I'm really am sorry I haven't been able to update more often...I'm still working on organizing my time and figuring out how best to do certain assignments and whatnot.

So time for a great story. Last night while getting some excellent mexican across the street, the clouds turned black and it began to simply pour on me, Em, and Brit. Thankfully they had umbrellas over the tables but it truly didn't matter because we had to walk back to the dorms anyway. So we stomp back to the dorm (Stabile) soaking wet and Em promptly has a brilliant but also slightly crazy idea.

We should mud wrestle.

She also happens to know exactly where to go to do said mud wrestling. Next thing you know she's called up about half a dozen others and I've changed into what I assume is appropriate mud wrestling attire (dirty shorts, wet t-shirt) and we all run to the lawn outside the Engineering Building.

And then it starts.

Basically you couldn't recognize anyone after about five minutes or so. We were all filthy, and loving it. We were tackling each other, dragging each other across the lawn, throwing globs of muck all around, and basically just having an awesome time.

Now it had stopped raining by this point so when you got dirty, you stayed dirty. My roommate went out with a white shirt and came back with a brown one. Em was by far the dirtiest, but we were all pretty gross. It was then that we realized we needed someplace to wash ourselves off before attempting to go back to the dorm. Great timing, right? Luckily for us, there was an answer literally popping out of the ground.

Sprinklers. =)

Personally I'd have thought they wouldn't come on right after it had poured so hard, but they did, and we were all the more grateful for it. So we ran for them and if you had happened to walk past the lawn at that moment, you would have seen maybe ten or so college freshmen standing, squatting, bending over, and doing anything else over about six different sprinklers to get all the mud off of themselves. It was just so fabulous. Not everyone was able to get all the mud off but it was an excellent solution.

Then we trekked back to Stabile and made our way inside towards the elevators, leaving a wet and muddy trail behind us. We crowded in and my roommate and I completely forgot to push the second floor button, so we went up to the third with the rest of our party. We bid them farewell, pressed the second floor button, and watched the doors close. This is where the story takes a turn for the funnier.

The elevator shut down.

It wouldn't move, the doors wouldn't open, it just stopped dead. And so there we were, two guys, soaking wet, covered in mud, shirtless, stuck in a stopped elevator. We were forced to call security using the in-elevator emergency intercom, and after waiting about fifteen minutes, the elevator moved down to the second floor, the doors opened, and after thanking the RA's who had come to watch and the elevator guy who had helped us out, two wet guys walked back to their room. We weren't really freaked out as much as worrried they were going to be mad at us because of the mud...still, it was my first time being stuck in an elevator. There's a first time for everything, I guess.

We decided to take the rest of the night easy and watch some TV.

We'll be taking the stairs from now on.

That was last night, I'll update more either tomorrow or tuesday (I have tuesdays off) and tell more about classes, people, and women. =)

Chambers Online

Right! It's time for some exciting news. Now I know it's been a while since we did this, but I finally finished uploading all those Chambers songs we recorded. They're online and ready for downloading. The link you say? But of course, my dears;

http://www.lionelgruenberg.com/chambers/

Yes, it's my brothers URL, because I don't have one.

Enjoy the brilliance of Chamber Singers '04/'05. We were stunning.

=)

For those that are curious

The mascot for Pratt Institute is a cannon. That's right, it's a cannon. We are the Cannoneers.

Don't fuck with us. We'll blow up your ship.

And your soul.

With our cannonballs.

Long time no post...

Sooooo. It's been a while since my last post and there's just been a ridiculous amount that has happened. I mean I'm in college, I've learned the NYC subway system, I've travelled Brooklyn and Manhatten in just a few days, and I have a school email address. This last bit is very important, as now I'm on facebook.com, a website that may or may not be the entire college experience for some people. Thankfully, I can safely say that I am not a facebook addict, I simply use it as a tool of some sort. You know, to discover when the next spooning party is happening, or to find out when a second person in the entire Pratt community enters in 'a cappella' as one of their interests. Otherwise, it can get pretty boring pretty quickly. It's fun, but it's no reason not to have a life.

I have friends! I don't think they read this blog, but I'm not sure either, so I'll just mention them anyway for the sake of those that do a.k.a. my other friends. Right now my new closest buddies are my room-mate Rafael and two girls from my dorm, Emilie and Brit. Brit has a funky knee, and being the joker that I am, it dawned on me that her name should actually read Brit-knee. Haha! Get it? Oh, I thought it was oh so very clever. Emilie gave me one of those looks when I said it, and Brit didn't look at me at all. Then there's Heather (not Pringle, but she's here as well.) and her room-mate Shirley, and Ally and Katie and the other people I've met. I kinda haven't met any guys other than my suitemates and the one other guy in my English class with me. Sweet, right? It's kinda crazy. Classes have officially started now though, so I'm meeting all these new people all over again. Like Johanna and Chelsey, and a bunch of others from my floor.

I also went into Manhatten last Friday to see my wonderful Heather Pringle, and we went out to dinner with Jon and got smoothies before I had to catch a train. You can be sure that'll be happening a lot. And I can't even describe how incredible it is to have someone you trust that close by in a city like New York. We both have our space, but if we ever need each other for anything, it's a fifteen minute train ride to see her, and that's really one of the most valuable things. She's one of my very best friends, how can I express that enough?

Classes have started, and they're intense. Really intense. And hot too because none of my classes have air conditioning save those on friday. And some of them are downright slow so far. Obviously, they have time to improve, but it's hot outside! I can't keep changing my shirt during those one hour breaks!

Most of my classes are in six hour chunks.

Yup, that's right. Six hour chunks. Eat that Ivy league-ers. You try sitting on a stool in an unair conditioned room while the professor who wishes he was a Philosophy teacher instead of a 3-Dimensional teacher drones on and on about an imaginary cube with arrows going from corner to corner relaying that in fact, things do actually have meaning.

Shut the fuck up and let me draw. Yes I'll draw in 3-D. Go sit down now. Geez.

I actually have something I need to post about that class, something I wrote while he kept on talking and talking. We almost died. I'll post a lot about the classes later on, there's just too much for right now.

Pratt doesn't have any music programs whatsoever. This means I'm kinda out of luck as far as an a cappella group goes. I could start one, but there's a lot of work involved with that, and I'm not the greatest arranger. It's a problem I have to put some serious consideration into, because I love to sing, and I love a cappella, I just don't know how to solve this particular dilemma at the moment. Especially with so much going on in terms of classes and the such.

Lastly, if there's one thing facebook has done for me, it's made me think about all of you Philadelphians more than ever. I miss you all so much, and Jeff, we will catch up soon. As soon as this weekend is over (it almost is...). But I miss so many people...I wish I could share this experience with all of you, because I know you would all love it. And I know you're off having your own experiences, and I know I'll see you soon enough, but I am thinking about you. Just...just don't forget that. I love you all. I miss you.