PAIN!!!!!

Thursday
Woke up to pain...
Probably the worst pain I've felt in a while...like I was paralyzed from the waist up...
I'm such a weakling...
I guess it's cause I never really worked out that hard before...like David Solomon would say...it's too much of a change...too drastic...too much....
Simple tasks like washing my face or pushing open a door have become damn near impossible...
I'd push open a door and yell "fuck" and people would give me strange looks...
I'm paralyzed, leave me alone...
Damn working out...I feel like ripping my arms off....
I'm such a pansy...

I'm on the quest to find one of those yellow LiveStrong cancer bracelets...
Every time I see someone on the street with one of those bracelets I stop them and ask where they got it from...they would always say the same thing...they got it from a friend/roommate/someone else...and they would always say "good luck trying to find one"...

I talked online with Annet and she's supposed to be in town tomorrow...
She wanted me to give her a tour...
And Raul is supposed to be in town too...
I have no idea what's going on or where I'm going to take them...

Started talking to Andrew again...
I really don't remember why I stopped talking to him in the first place...

Friday
My damn arms still hurt...
It only hurts when I extend them...

Friday classes suck...
Lab lecture, recitation, clinic....3 chem classes in a row...ugh

Annet called me, she couldn't make it...next week she said...
I don't know what happened to Raul...

Kenny came back with his family and friend Dan...
He's got a BIG family...4 younger siblings...
Tagged along with Dan, Ed, and Kenny while they walked around mapping out all the good bars in their head....
It's funny to watch drunk people try to hail a taxi cab...actually, it's pretty entertaining to watch drunk people try to do anything...

Goddammit, I usually pay no attention to the homeless people...but this one guy I saw on the street that night...
He was begging for change outside of a McDonald's...while ravenously scarfing down a hamburger...the shiny grease all over his dirty hands...asking for more change....I don't know why I felt so bad...
Geeze I just wanted to buy him "real" food and give it to him...

Saturday
I don't remember what I did today...to be honest I was asleep for most of the day...seriously...
I took Tylenol and took a nap...and did it 2 more times....
I really don't feel good...
I need a shave, I need to do laundry, I wanna go home... :(

"I feel a-tragic like I'm Marlon Brando..."
~David Bowie, "China Girl"

Bible cults, Grassroots campaigning, Lifting heavy objects

Tuesday
It seems to me that all the biology and chemistry I learned in high school has added up to nothing...
After taking 2 years of biology this guy stands up in front of the room and tells me that "biology is the study of life..."
And I had a 2 hour chem lab today...on what?
Density, identifying an "unknown" metal
I guess they got me "prepared" or whatever...but for the most part, college has just been "re-learning" old material....when am I gonna learn NEW stuff?

My roommate Ryan is running for treasurer for Brittany Hall...
A couple days ago I helped him campaign...
There's this website called Face Book and it's basically an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges...
We did a search for people that lived at Brittany Hall...and we sent each of them a message telling them Ryan's views and what he will do as treasurer...and also the voting procedure...
Over 330 people...Ryan worked on the A's forward, Kenny worked on the middle, and I worked on the Z's going backwards...took us about an hour...

Had dinner at the upper level of Weinstein...
There was this girl that one of my roommates was trying to avoid...she went to the same highschool as him, but she was a teacher's pet or whatever...
Ryan yells out Kenny's full name and she turns around...it was hilarious...
She got all touchy feely with him and his face was bright red...

There is a "bible club" at NYU, but it's more like a bible cult...
People call you at 3am..."Hey, wanna look at the bible together?"
Ok, not like that, but every Tuesday this guy calls our room looking for Ryan...
It all started back when Ryan and Steve filled out this harmless spirituality quiz...you do a quiz and then your name goes into a raffle and you could win 10 pizzas or something...
That quiz...was how the bible group hunted you down...
They got your phone number...and they know where you live...
So every Tuesday we get a call...Eddie covered for him and said he was at a party at some other dorm...we're probably gonna go to hell for lying to the bible club...
Anyway, we start playing some poker...then halfway through the bible guy walks in...
It's so freaky...our door may be open all the time, but you can't just walk in without making a sound or at least knocking....
What I didn't know was that the bible group holds its meeting at Brittany Hall...in room 805, the room directly above ours...
So yeah, Ryan got basically got caught lying...and every Tuesday we're gonna disconnect the phone and lock the door...cause they're probably gonna sacrifice Ryan...

Wednesday
Writing the Essay...what can I say...I really don't like that class...
The instructor is pretty cool, but I don't like the class overall...
The progressions and stuff...the assignments are very vague...
No more clear-cut thesis...I have to write "complex ideas"...
I feel like I'm blindfolded and I'm being asked to shoot a target 10 miles away...

Had "real food" at Weinstein, Quizno's...
Then I decided to something new...something I have never done by my own free will...
I went to the gym...
It's an interesting concept, you lift heavy metal objects to damage your muscles...in order to make your muscles bigger...
Worked out my tri's, lat's, chest, and quad's...
It seems that everyone there is in shape already...and I feel like I just don't belong there...
My arms felt like putty afterwards...I don't know if I'll be going back anytime soon...
Another thing, every single girl at the gym is incredibly healthy looking...
That might be my only motivation to go back...

Congratulations to Ryan and Christina...they will be the Brittany Hall Treasurer and Vice President, respectively...
Seems like the "Facebook Grassroots Campaigning" worked afterall...

"A tournament,a tournament, a tournament of lies.
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline."
~REM, "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

It's all a blur...

It's all a blur...days melt together and time has been going by too fast...

Friday
I'm so jealous of people who have no classes on Fridays...
On Fridays I have to wake up extra early, 7am....yay
And I have 3 classes in a row....yay
But it's good though, all my classes are over by 12:30, then I have the rest of the day to just relax...

From chem recitation this morning: Mike the TA: "Is it hot in here, or is it just me? [trys to open a window, but there's a padlock on it] Hmm...the window is locked...it's NYU, it figures..."

Kenny's friend, Mike, came over....he was Asian, so we had a lot in common....jk
He was cool, played poker, I kept getting good hand I called his bluff and wiped Mike out early...
Won 3 dollars, lost 2 dollars....which comes to a net poker payoff of 1 dollar.... :)
Funny how Katherine walks in and Kenny gets distracted and loses everything...

Hi, my name is Julian and I am addicted to gambling...
I really should stop...I've been playing WAY too much poker...

"I peed in the dark cause I felt like it, I wanted to test my aim..." ~K.M.

Saturday
Woke up to a giant flash of light and loud CRACK and incredible explosion...
Yeah a huge thunderstorm at 8am that scared the shit out of me and my roommates...

When back to sleep, woke up and it was beautiful outside, sunny and all...
2 hours later...there was torrential downpour...Noah would be proud (dammit, I gotta stop reading the Bible)
Then it was cold that night...
Looks like someone was a little happy-go-lucky with the weather machine...

Walked around the San Genero Festival in Little Italy with Kenny for a bit...
He knew the DJ guy...
Hard to believe it's been 1 year since I went there with Andrew, Dan, and JoMo...
Everything was mostly the same, they still had that "drown-a-clown" booth...

Sunday
Woke up around noon and had lunch at U Hall...
Since it's "buffet-styled" we stole food...but not silverware, cause that's against Ryan's code of ethics...
Went to K-mart with the roommates to stock up on food and drinks and soap and candy and pillows and....
Never buy more than you can bring back...
We had an interesting time bringing back the stuff...water is freakin' heavy...
Let's just say people were probably staring at us and a homeless guy offered to help us...

Had dinner with Eddie and his Stern buddies...
"Yeah,a few of them are Asian..."
Turned out that every single of them were Asian...
Cause half of Stern is made up of Asians...
Which sucks because I don't stand out anymore...
I haven't really been hanging out with that many Asians...
Should I be?

We went to the legendary Mamoun's on MacDougal Street...this is where you can get $2 falafel sandwiches...
Really great stuff...
Two dollars...you can't go wrong with that...
Long line, fast service, thumbs up...



Blasting TV theme songs through my guitar amp (hooked up to my laptop)...hilarious and nostalgic at the same time...

Monday
Writing the Essay...the instructor made copies of my essay and distributed to the class...apparantly I wrote exactly what she wanted...she's like, "This is fall-out-of-your-chair good...it made the little hairs on my arm go up...you're a good writer..."....I was surprised...
Reminded me of what Gott did to me 2 years ago...my Cold Mountain essay became a "sample essay"...
Why the hell does it happen?...I mean, I guess I'm a decent writer, but still...I'll post a copy of my work...see for yourself, it's not that great...
Simple sentences, that's all I used...simple sentences, simple words that people can relate to...you don't have to use fancy language and sentence structure to get your point across...
I just write what I'm passionate about, and it usually gets the job done...

I don't know why, but it bothers me that when other people read, critique, and analyze my work...

ConWest was like usual...I wish I could sleep with my eyes open...

Back to the dorm for a quick game of poker...I won...(I should try my luck at a casino when I turn 21)

"Everywhere you look,
everywhere you go.
There's a face
Of somebody who needs you..."
~Full House Theme Song

Writing the Essay Assignment

Writing the Essay Assignment
Progression I, Assignment 2: Scene

The attic door made an unearthly creak and slammed behind me. Immediately the music hit my ears. “He got feet down below his knee, hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease, come together right now over me…”
I was mesmerized by the music and I walked over to the source of the melody. As I walked towards a shadowy figure I could hear the floorboards creek with every step I took. The man was standing next to an old wooden mahogany table. A phonograph sat on the table with the golden funnel-shaped horn pumping music throughout the room. “Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine, calls her on the phone ‘Can I take you out to the pictures Jo-o-o-oan?’” The mysterious man was right in front of me.
“Hey Dad, what are you up to?” I could tell my father was startled.
“Nothing, I was just going through my old record collection.”
“Record? What’s a record?” I said sarcastically.
“Very funny.”
The room had a musty odor. I guess it’s a universal smell that all attics have, that indescribable, but very familiar unique “attic-y smell”. My father and I were both slightly hunched over, the roof of the house directly over us; a network of wooden boards, aluminum sheets, and insulating fluff. We stood on an old Oriental rug, pigeon blood red with patterns of exotic flowers on it and lush green vines, not to mention a few coffee stains. There were cardboard boxes everywhere, boxes filled with everything imaginable, faded magazines, yellowed newspapers, clothes from the 70s, family photo albums, a Magic 8-ball, my old train set, an artificial Christmas tree, videotapes, old movie posters, love letters from long ago. A solitary light bulb hung from the ceiling by a thin red cable. The light bulb swung ever so slightly, a glowing pendulum, it altered the shadows in the room. Shadows shifted from side to side, almost if they were dancing in time with the music. “I'd like to be under the sea, in an octopus' garden with you…”
“So what are you listening to?”
“The Beatles, they’re probably one of the most influential bands in rock and roll history. They changed music forever.”
I concentrated on the phonograph on the table. The record was slightly misshapen, as old records often are, not perfectly flat, but there were bumps, waves, and curvatures. The record sat on the turntable, as it spun around and around like a hypnotizing merry-go-round. It amazed me how this beautiful music was created from a rotating black disc and a needle. “Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting…”
I stared down at the album sleeve my father was holding in his hands. I could make out the aged and faded album cover. It was a photograph of four men walking across a street; one man dressed in all white, one dressed in all black, another one barefoot, and last man dressed in denim. It was like a miniature parade. “Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry…”
“I really like the cover art. What’s the album called?”
“It’s called Abbey Road. You can borrow it if you want.”
“Thanks Dad.”I stood there, next to my father. We listened to the rest of Abbey Road together as the light bulb continued to gently sway throughout the rest of the night. “Sleep pretty darling do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby...”