Archive for September, 2008

17
Sep

Loving You is Tiring

By dan 2 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

I gots sumptin to say. While I await getting some piece that will make my Tivo work again (because apparently everything time I get a new cable box, a new piece must be purchased), I have to deal with the Time Warner interface in an attempt to watch live television.

Can someone please explain to me why when I’m paying eighty-something dollars for cable and internet that I have to deal with the hassle of navigating a menu that lists hundreds upon hundreds of channels (90% of which I don’t have). Yes, I understand the concept of ~showing me what I’m missing out on~… BUT I DON’T CARE, TIME WARNER. The regular channels and HD channels are separated by hundreds of channels I don’t have which means I have to remember the actual channel numbers. Look Time Warner, I don’t have space left in my brain to remember that 710 is CNNHD. While we’re at it, why are you providing me both regular CNN and CNNHD… if I have an HD box and HD television can’t you just take away the non-HD channel. I feel like cable companies can all just be crappy because no one can really do anything about it and just start up a competing cable company of their own.

Also, while we’re complaining about television, I hate the black boxes on the side of the screen even on some HD channels. Can’t they figure this out already and make the picture fit the whole screen?? Lastly, Project Runway has not kept my interest this season, I haven’t caught a single episode of Top Model yet, and Gossip Girl has been kind of disappointing compared to last season. The question is will I actually care about any other shows once the actual season begins on all channels?

Maybe I should go read a book. Peace be with you.

Dressed to Digress - Boy Crisis

03
Sep

I Shall Not Walk Alone

By dan 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

While perusing Barnes and Noble a few months ago, I spotted “What is the What” by Dave Eggers. I remembered reading what the New York Times Book Review had to say, and it sounded promising. I don’t really enjoy buying hardcovers and thus I put off the purchase for a while. I was pleased to see it finally out in softcover.

“What is the What” is the epic story of young Valentino Deng who was forced to escape his country of Sudan after a civil war broke out. He is joined by thousands of his peers known as The Lost Boys in his journey. The boys walk to Ethiopia, back to Sudan, and then to Kenya before many of The Lost Boys were finally taken out of the refugee camps by the UN and brought to the United States and other countries willing to take the young men (and women). Valentino, who actually goes by several names in the book, narrates the story of his plight in Africa while struggling and suffering in present day America as a fish out of water. It’s a simultaneously comical and depressing story because Valentino is able to keep his sense of humor despite his awful experiences. It should come as no surprise that many characters die. In fact, one of the major themes of Valentino’s story is that he believes that he is bad luck and everyone around him suffers because of it. At times I felt like I was playing Final Fantasy IV with people dying left and right.

The book didn’t change my life, but it did open my eyes to what is going on in Sudan. I would definitely recommend it to those interested in learning about the story of that country through a fictional account. There are actually several non-fiction autobiographies of The Lost Boys which is another option. Additionally, at times I felt myself forcing my self to get through parts. I didn’t get into any sort of groove with the book until after 300 pages, and that’s a significant amount to have to struggle through (though this could have to do with the fact that much of it was read while still in school). “What is the What” is one of those rare books that I think would be much more effective as a movie rather than a book because I think seeing what was described would be much more moving and powerful than simply reading about it. Check it out if the topic sounds appealing, but I wouldn’t say it is a must-read-before-you-die book.

01
Sep

You Would Leave at the End of the Summer

By dan 0 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

So I am no longer a resident of Boston, Massachusetts.  My usual packing method for any trip or vacation is to wait until the very last minute.  This would be no different.  Movers were supposed to arrive at 9am (but they came at 8), so I decided that midnight would be a good time to actually start packing boxes… after goodbye drinks with some friends of course.  As a result, I pulled the very last all-nighter in that apartment which was a very appropriate way to spend it all things considered.  Miraculously the movers were able to fit everything out of the door.

After grabbing a bite to eat at the delicious B.Good, I took a two our nap on the floor of the apartment using the sole couch pillow I forgot to pack.  It then took a few hours to get everything that remained into my car and to clean up the joint a bit.  The strangest thing had to be the echoes of an empty apartment.  I eventually arrived at my parents’ house in New Jersey close to midnight.  What a day.

My apartment wasn’t the only place I would bid adieu to this week.  Spending Labor Day down at my parents’ beach house is the usual plan at the end of every summer, and this year was no different.  The beach house is currently up for sale, and if all goes according to plan this is likely the last weekend I’ll be enjoying here, and we’ll have a new place next year.  I wouldn’t say that I am super attached to the house since we’ve only had it for about six years now… but it’s definitely been a great summer getaway all those years.  Growing up, my regular house was never the place my friends and I would convene, but the beach house was definitely a change to that as I would frequently have people over for weekends at a time.

Anyways, this weekend was spent getting the shit beaten out of me by the waves, scavenging for food since my parents decided to make some meals that, to put nicely, don’t agree with my palate, getting a bracelet made for me by my twelve year old cousin (I got to pick the colors, which became one of those very important unimportant decisions that take me a half hour to make), go bike riding for the first time since I don’t even know when with my other cousin, and finish a book that I started months ago.  Very nice overall.

So tomorrow morning, after growing up in various boroughs, going to high school in Manhattan, and living there for a summer while interning, I will become a bona fide New Yorker when I pick up my keys from the building management without any sort of end of internship, beginning of a semester, or graduation dictating when it is time to leave and move on.

Lastly, while summer is known for typically more upbeat music, if I had to choose my Debbie Downer tune of the season this year it would have to be “The Stakes Were Raised” by Slow Runner.  I fell in love with the album and song a few months ago, but this one song in particular has been growing on me more and more as it becomes permanent favorite.