Random Update (9.20.12)

Been busy. Last weekend Mitchell and Dad visited which was nice. Shout out to Jane for her birthday yesterday. One year closer to death! But yeah I have been busy. Club soccer has practice 2.5 times a week, I'm taking 19 credits of classes (5 classes + lab), and then there is, like, college: the (allegedly) best time of my life going on that I should gobble up like I gobble up Cool Ranch Doritos. But I do find time for the important things in life like puns and blogging. 

Here are some puns (all original, but the good ones are usually not mine):
Why are solar-powered cars so popular in Southern Africa?
-They never Madagascar.
Why does South America smell so bad?
-Peeeeeeeeeru!
Why did the East African wear high socks and short shorts?
-He only wanted to Tanzanias. 
What do you call mosques in Quito?
-Mosquitoes. 
Why can Ecuador open locks with its feet?
-It has a key-toe (Quito). 
Why are writing classes so hard in Nashville?
-They have to write Tennessees a week.

Apparently now is the time to sign leases for off-campus housing for junior year. Freshman year just ended and people are planning for junior year. I have 4 years of housing and I also will be living off-campus for the rest of my life. I will not be part of this off-campus scramble. A similar time-crunch is experienced with regard to the study abroad office. I want to go to Spain in spring of junior year, and applications are due early next semester. Meaning decisions about those applications are due much sooner. My major and core requirements do not share my desire to go abroad. They scream, "Stay and finish us, you lazy, worldly bumpkin!". To which I reply, "Be quiet. I order you to be quiet!". To which they do not reply, because this personification of silly things has gone far enough. But the picture you get.

JM, Jim, Veb, Zach, Mike, me (Pat and Jose m.i.a.)

Not doing names here.

Freakin' sweet.

BC

Caaaaaalling all squad cars in the aaaaaaaaarea!

Random Update (9.8.12)

Well the big new is, I made the BC club soccer team. I had trained all of August with my old coach, Rob, and my goal was to make the team. We have a game today (Saturday) at Yale, so I'll be waking up around 10:30 AM to get in a van and bus over with the new teammates. They are some chill guys. Also, looks like I'll have some home games for parents' weekend, for those who are interested.

This evening, the varsity soccer team played Maryland (#4 in the nation) and lost 0-4 despite our loud and boisterous cheering. My friend Ethan from 4Boston has organized the fan section pretty well. He done made BC soccer proud. Clever cheers are the best. My favorite (G-rated) is when the goalkeeper walks around his goal-box, we yell "LEFT! RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT!" as he takes his little meaningless steps. Then when he stops walking we yell "STAAAATIONARRRRRY!". It's good fun. Also we knew his girlfriend's name.

As far as classes go, I found out that it's not recommended to take Micro and Macro Theory at the same time next semester, so instead of taking Micro and Macro Principles this semester, I am taking a Chinese history class to fulfill part of the BC core requirements, and only taking Micro principles. Excitement. Oh, and Micro/Macro refer to economics courses. Sorry.

The spired building on the left is Gasson.

#19

8th floor is where it's at.

Random Update (9.3.12)

Moved into the new room Thursday afternoon after adventures in New Jersey, such as camping and experiencing the infamous Jersey Shore. On camping, I like it. On the infamous Jersey Shore, I don't see much hope for some of its people. But anywho Hannah, Angela, Lauren, Christine and I bused up to Boston and thus began sophomore year. My dorm is on main campus and has ready access to classrooms, gym, dining hall, soccer fields, and subway. Oh, and the roommates are Pat (direct), J.M., Veb, Zach, Mike, Jose and Jim. This is an outstanding crew. It's also outstanding that classes don't start until Tuesday. But it's also outstanding that they do, because I bought all my textbooks for my humanities class and my Spanish class and they all look quality, top to bottom. Here are the classes I'm taking:
Principles of Economics I 
Principles of Economics II 
Waves and Vibrations + Lab 
Western Cultural Tradition V-VI 
19th Century Fantastic Short Stories (Spanish)
It's just felt right to be back. Basically the last couple days have had no schedule and involve going wherever and seeing whoever happens to be there that I haven't seen for a while. I've also met a bunch of new people via the new dorm neighbors, new summer friends, and soccer. I really only feel like remembering Sunday, so I will briefly go through it. I got up at 8:30 AM and went for a few laps around the Reservoir, then went to the plex and did some exercises, then did about 3/10ths of a mile swim. Then I washed off back in the room and took a 30 minute nap until a big introductory meeting with the dorm staff in the theater. After the meeting I played soccer with a bunch of people on the new football field. Then I went with my friend Ethan and two other guys to watch the Barcelona-Valencia soccer match. Ethan is a Valencia fan and I met him through volunteering/playing soccer last year, just to let you know, if you're curious. After the game, Ethan's friend (from Barcelona) who watched with us tells us of some more evening soccer going down on the baseball field. So I go play soccer again with a bunch of Spanish-speaking Boston College kids, which was a blast. After that, I showered and got hungry, so Miguel, Pat, Mike, and Christine all went to a nearby burrito place and got some late night food, ate, and returned to watch the movie Drive which is a quality film. Then we played cards and people shuffled in and out of the room and now I type this and Now I'm going to sleep.

Arcade shenanigans. 

 New York.

 Those clouds.

Those sands.

About One Year

I met a lot of new people and also got to know myself a lot over the last ~year. I want to pat my year-younger self on the back for starting (and also give Luke a firm handshake for inspiring) this blog. It hasn't been much more than the title: little peeking holes into whatever the  hell , I mean heaven, I'm doing in the world. While it certainly isn't everything, when I look over a couple old posts my brain fills in the in-between with terabytes of memory. When you have all that assisted memory recall, it's makes writing a summary a lot easier. I have arrived at the following, followed by the list of what I've learned.

The Following
Being eighteen was a blast. It was my first time being an adult. That didn't scare me. I had never been more in-tune with my # age and how old I felt. However, it probably scared some concerned family members pretty darn good, though, them tossing the lines to dock and letting me go on my own for a little bit. I will start from the first week of college. It's a bunch of recently-christened adults pretending to be less nervous than they are. Some adults discover that things they thought they couldn't or shouldn't do before, can be done now. Some adults want to find his best-man or her maid-of-honor for the wedding: they're ready to make friends. My roommate Jeff and I decided to have fun, and see where it took us. If you meet your best friend for life, that's cool. If you just make a sick catch during pick-up ultimate and never recognize anyone you played with ever again, so be it. With this in mind, I did what I do best: find a soccer ball, quote Monty Python like it's my job, and see what this whole "Boston College" thing is all about. It's been working out just fine. I've tried to do as much as I can, to do what I can do well, and always to look for better things to do. My head is like a magic sorting machine for people and activities. The lesser are left behind; the worthy remain. That may sound strange when talking about people, but it's not a pessimistic mindset... it's more like always looking for outstanding friends. It's easy to only hang out with one group of friends all the time. The truth is, there are a lot of people out there to find. So I try to. Now for some supporting evidence. I met Christine right before Thanksgiving by randomly introducing myself at lunch. Laura and I only started hanging out a lot right before Christmas, same with Pat after Christmas. Sam and Matt I met on spring break, Dennis a week or so after that. Charae and Nick I got to know really well only just this summer. Other friends don't apply to this ongoing search; I knew in the first week or two: Alex, Matt, Jeff, Lorena, to name a few. The end of year-one is a contrast with that first week. At the moment I'm getting ready for year two, and the long-awaited reunion after summer. And that's how freshman year goes: come in wanting something new, leave missing something old. 

The List

1. All Brazilian IDs are fake.
2. Squirrels make ACC football games mildly entertaining.
3. Monty Python is the fastest way to find great people.

     3a. I like traffic lights.

4. Midnight is a darn tootin' early bedtime.
5. Fenway is a classy ballpark.
6. Thanksgiving comes at exactly the right time.
7. Boston has beaches.
     7a. Maine has nicer beaches.
     7b. Duxbury has nicerer beaches.

     7c. Santa Cruz wins.
8. Newton campus is a good time.
9. Newton bus is not.
10. Climbing a mountain is really something.
11. Federal drinking laws are more of a suggestion for most people.
12. Dining Bucks die quickly, and there are no funerals.
13. The Emirates Stadium is gorgeous.
14. Spanish-speakers cannot understand you when you speak English extremely quickly.
15. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is stunning.
16. The Boston Celtics are not, but it was worth going once.

17. The dudes in Dispatch are awesome dudes. And talented. 
18. 48 Hours < Appalachia.

19. Lost is a quality show.
     19a. ditto New Girl
     19b. ditto The Newsroom

20. You can see Gasson from the top of the Prudential building.
     20a. You can see the Prudential building from the top of Gasson.

21. Marathon Monday: 3 hours of sweat and heat, 3 days of pain, sweet accomplishment.

22. Jello shots: 1 cup water + 1 cup "water" + Jello mix.
23. Having a soccer field at your doorstep is heaven.

24. Dr. Pepper is delicious.

     24a. ditto Brie

25. Radiohead knows how to end a show.

26. Brasil can play soccer.

27. I attract crime.

28. The New England soccer chant, "Re-vo-lu-tion!", could mean something entirely different if it were chanted somewhere else in the world.
29. Santa Cruz relaxes the soul. Brah.

30. It's nice to be home.

Random Update (8.13.12)

New room + boxes

New room - boxes

Random Update (7.22.12)

Going back to Thursday (7.19.12), Pat, Chris, Matt, Emma, and myself drove down to Nick's house in Stone Harbor, NJ for a mini BC summer fling at Uncle Buzzy's famed getaway, Manland. Although the weather was overcast, swimming in the bay was quite refreshing; Nick's house is right on the water with the back porch morphing into a dock. Thankfully there was a bunk room designed for such large gatherings of friends and family. Thursday and Friday consisted of hanging out and around Stone Harbor with friends; late nights finished at the house, for it was well-stocked with food and drink. Saturday, July 21st, my birthday, was fantastic. My to-be-roommate Pat and I woke up at 6:30 AM for the Manland Triathlon which allegedly started around 7:30 or 8:00 AM. So we walked over at 7, registered, and were told to come back before 8:00 AM. So we walked a few houses back to Nick's place and wrapped ourselves in blankets (it was slightly chilly that morning). At 8:00 AM we all jumped into the bay and tread water for a minute or so. We started the race with a quarter-mile swim. I struggled. I moved on to an eleven-mile bike. I was average here. Having not been on a bike for nigh on six-years, I was pleased with this. I moved on to the run. Based on splits, I finished 2nd in the run. Overall I finished 28th with a time of 79:55. Pat (darn it!) beat me by two minutes and change, finishing in 21st. Afterwards, there were refreshments for the athletes. Nick's mom took a lot of photos, which will be up as soon as I get them. from 11:00 AM to about 2:00 PM I slept. From about 11:30 AM to 3:30PM, Pat slept. Boy, that was a wonderfully deserved nap!

That afternoon, Nick's cousin Quinn, Pat, and a bunch of other guys went to the basketball court to play some ball before the evening festivities. The highlight of the day (besides going 6-2 in 5v5) was the most epic almost-alley-oop ever from myself to a Pat flying down the paint from the free throw line. So close. Sooo close. After showering, we held off our appetites for the Manland festivities. Essentially around 80 of Nick's family and friends all come to his great Uncle Buzzy's famed Manland, a converted-garage old-guy-with-some-dough creation. It's actually quite modest. Just a small bar and stuff. But it's decked out with some sweet stuff. Couldn't name it all, but there is a "Mancipation Proclamation" and a shot-ski. Anywho, there was a ton of food and drink, and it was a great time over at Uncle Buzzy's just chilling with friends and enjoying a perfect summer evening after a hard morning of athletic achievement. After food, Nick and company meandered on back to his house for the remaining of the night. Highlights include playing Settlers of Catan, a few folks singing classic and new-classic songs outside with the wonderful talent, Quinn's sister, and on the whole enjoying my birthday immensely. 

Before swim (I'm in the white shorts, Pat's in the black)

After the swim. On to the bike.

Random Update (7.15.12)

Friday was my last day of work, and it was really fun. Each day we go in different "crews" around to different areas of Boston. My last day I got to chill with Mark, Ogechi, Meredith, and Felix, all of whom I knew really well. We got to skip some all of the more monotonous car training, so we jammed out and hung out on the way there. The whole group did really well, in terms of raising money. Together we raised $1,368!
Fridays after work there is a ritual. Everyone goes to Kung Fu Garden, a hole-in-the-wall Chinese place in Chinatown to eat. It is also referred to as "KFG" and my personal creation "Kung Fu Panda". They have amazing scallion pancakes. So I said goodbye to some of the people I work with after having a good time eating good food. But it wasn't a last goodbye for everyone! Yesterday night I invited a nice group of guys and gals over to have some good food and good music. By the end of the night there were much more people than I imagined, because my house roommate Charae had also invited some of her friends! It was a nice way to say goodbye to Boston for the summer. I cooked a bunch of hotdogs and learned how to make a cork-screw-like hot dog by slicing diagonally around the dog. It cooks deliciously and crispy-ly throughout!
This morning everyone headed on home after a few hours of crashing on the couch watching The Iron Giant. This afternoon Nick, Sam, Dennis, Joe, and Amanda went bowling downtown. Tomorrow I'll be going to New Hampshire for a water park adventure, Thursday I head down to New Jersey, and Sunday I'll be in California!