A Day on College Hill

There's too much to write. Oh, way too much.

I remember when I got on the train I was with Chaz and Sara and Nupur. We were all really excited, and we got seats together and went around talking to people. Shook a lot of hands. Chaz was elected mayor of the Brown train. I remember I talked to a really nice black girl from Delaware about working at Cold Stone, and taking a couple trips to the snack car. And this was when I ran into Jenny, the girl who lives next to Stephen Colbert. And a kid from a school right near me whose name I forget. It was a very pretty train ride but very long. This was the day that I learned how to solve a Rubik's Cube. Everyone knew me as the Rubik's Cube kid.

Oh, I didn't make the Bear Necessities but that's okay. Kayla, the songwriter next door, got a callback for Higher Keys!

Anyway, when we got off the train, we had to wait around for busses. I remember I got some candy bar 'cuz I was hungry, and there was the Derbyshires a cappella group and they song Army by Ben Folds Five.

We gave up on waiting for the buses and followed Chaz to the Brown campus. We waited in a long line at Faucen House to check in, then were put in groups. This is when I was taken to Perkins, the cult-like dorm very far from the rest of campus but close to the music building that nobody wants to go in.

The people in Perkins often buy shirts from the Perkins shipping company.

Anyway, I went to the Ratty then with a Mormon kid. He had a bum leg and as he was walking, I made a joke about something and he turned that into a joke that he did that night at Stand Up Comendy. I thought that was pretty interesting...

I remember I went to a Comedy show that night, both improv and stand-up. There was an asian christian girl who had some good jokes like, "Free Tibet! ...am I paying for it?" And a guy who did one liners like "Girls hate the word moist. But love the feeling."

Then there was improv, and they were really good. There was one guy of race I couldn't determine who was VERY funny. He was "Milk" in guess-what-I-am, and he drew utters on the chalkboard and "came out" of them. Another guy was a cloud, and kept making puns like, "No, I'm cirrus Imeanserious!"

After that, I forget what happened, but Nupur and I ended up at the Gate, which is at the very N end of campus (Perkins is at the S end). It was very late, and raining all day and we had been running around and tired and were delirious. There were mirrors all over The Gate, and I remember being very confused by them.

At 2AM, I decided it was time to go home. I didn't know where to go, though, but I wanted to get there quickly. I had a map. It took me a bit, but I found I was running in the wrong direction. I ended up running in the right direction, but it took me about half an hour to get back, and I needed someone to let me in... which sucked. It was cold and windy... I got a cold sore that day, and I got sick.

I forget what happened the rest of the way. I went to a biology class with a nice professor who knew everyone's name. And some class about global warming taught by a woman who wasn't very interesting. I went home on the train... I was tired. I didn't talk much. I worked on Rubik's Cubes. A girl asked me how fast I could do it, and she could do it faster... but I'd only been doing it a day.

Anyway, the main thing I remember is The Gate and the run home. It was sad...

Peace out!

More on Life

During my A Day on College Hill (ADOCH) adventure, there was a cool guy named Baird that was my host. We were kind of forced on them - they don't volunteer to take us in - but he was very very cool and very nice and all that stuff, and seemed like he'd be a friend if I came here.

So I ended up coming here. And we run into each other constantly. And we actually are friends, and it's cool. I'm glad I was given him as my host for ADOCH.

So recently he invited me for tea at his frat. He's not a part of it officially yet, but will be soon. And I say this was a frat party, but this was not in any sense a frat party. They all sat outside from 4-6 and opened their house (deck) to anyone who wanted to come and just gave them tea, water, and raisins. I met some cool people there... there was a guy named Jack, who looked very distinguished and scholarly, but always said really inappropriate things like. It was just funny because he was dressed so nicely and kept saying such un-adult things. But un-adult in a good way, like in that he still has a life, as he should.

One girl, named Melissa, I think, was running some play, and talked me into trying out at 5:30. So I did. I just sang a couple scales so they could get my range, and then I sang "Tragic Story" /played piano/ so they could hear me. I don't think they liked me, but Baird and another girl from Philly whose name I forget who was running the auditions said I sounded really good... whatever. I don't mind either way. It's for a relaxed theater thing.

Anyway! There was also a girl there who's running a GISP (group interest special project) class this summer on the history of pirates. I thought Chloe would like that.

I still need to contact a number of people today.

Anyway! The weirdest part of the whole thing... guess who I saw at this frat "party?" Steven J. Miller.

Peace out!

Details

Sergei Treil is my favorite. He says "homehork" instead of "homework" and "multiwariable" instead of "multivariable." It's pretty cool. He's also a pretty good teachers, and asks us often what we think of his teaching. Even "Are the letters on the blackboard big enough?"

Steven J. Miller is also pretty craxy cool. He's probably about 35, so he's very funny and very with it. He talks about something topical at the beginning of each class... like the NY Jets, or darts, or something... and he makes sly little jokes a lot. What's also really interesting is that he's clearly mind-numbingly brilliant, but doesn't put any effort into showing it at all. You can just tell. It like eminates from him effortlessly. Today he gave us a review session at 7PM and brought us little doughnuts (which I didn't get to eat because he packed them up before I could get to them!) and he also takes an interest in all of us... like, he knows about all of my classes and was the one who let me know that you can't get credit for 18 and 35, and found out for me that yes you CAN take 17 and 18/35 at the same time both for credit. And he told me about stuff in the summer that he does. And he came to the frat "party" today.

More on that.

Peace!

One Day, One Night

When I came to Brown, I was afraid that I would stop writing songs. By the time I left, it had been almost three weeks since I wrote a song, and I was afraid that with the new workload and social life and all that, I wouldn't have the time to write a song.

But somehow I managed to write one.

It started, I think, two days ago. I was taking a break from my work and I sat down at the keyboard in my room and I decided I wanted to play piano. I played a couple songs - probably Tragic Story, because I'm pretty sure I play that whenever possible and Morgan said she heard me play it - and somewhere in between or after them, I just kind of started fooling around, not looking at the keys, seeing whatever my right hand played. And it hit this interesting rhythm/chord on Eb Gb and Db, and I thought, yes, I'm writing a song! And I was very happy.

I don't think I wrote any more of it right then, but later that night [after fooling around for a long, long time with the Alumnae Hall keyhole], I was able to get into the piano room. I remember it being dark, but this time there were lamps on all over the hall, so I could write on the little lyrics sheet I brought. I think I finished the first verse that night. It took me a while - longer than I expected with how loose and easy the melody was to write around - but I got it done. I think I may have finished the chorus then, too. Actually, I think I finished all the chorus except for one line, which came to me as I was walking out. I wrote it in later, I think. It was the line, "I've got how long?" ...Yeah you'll hear it later.

And that was all for that night. I played through it a couple of times and then went home.

Yesterday I went back. I can't remember exactly when it was, but I don't remember it being too late... I'm pretty sure it was light out. I can't remember if I wrote the lyrics while I was in the hall, or if I wrote them the night before when I came back, but in either case I played the song a couple times and timed it [to see if it was a reasonable length]. I had a lot of different ideas for it, which maybe I'll explain sometime if you're interested, but you can hear lots of them in the song easily. I was basically just afraid it would turn out too long. It ended up being 4m48s, which isn't too bad, but is pretty long.

Anyway, tonight I came back to write the final section. Actually, I had written four lines during Math 0180 with Professor Sergei Treil, but I couldn't think of everthing I wanted. So I went back tonight at about 8:30PM or so, after my math review session, while all the kids at home were at band and the kids here were getting ready to go party. I played through what I had, including what I had written in math class, and tried out some new lines for the next stanza... and I left the hall feeling pretty good about it. I don't know when it happened, but somewhere in the walk back to my dorm, new lines came to me, and I liked them better and so I stuck with those.

I got my camera and my power cord from the dorm and then back to Alumnae Hall. The door is getting easier to open by now since I know how to do it. It was very, very dark, and I was afraid that someone could be in there and I wouldn't see them and something bad would happen.

But it was actually a pretty beautiful scene, I think. Alumnae Hall is a very large, open building with a beautiful ceiling and hanging lamps and a wooden floor and beautifully designed windows. This was at about 9:15, so it was dark, and somewhat chilly. The piano /9ft Steinway/ is over in the corner, and the window beside it is always open, so there were gusts of wind blowing in over me as I played. And it was so dark that I couldn't see words on paper, so I didn't even bring my lyrics sheet. This is actually the first time I've ever recorded a song without finishing my lyric sheet first...

Anyway, I started trying to record it sometime around 9:30. I took a few samples just to make sure I got my balances right, and then [between text competitions from Joe and Gina, and news that the band stopped because of the rain, the last set sucked, and Chloe had gotten a kitten], after about five takes, I was able to get a recording that I was actually happy with.

Having to record this way is good and bad. The bad side is, when I want a song to be perfect - and I wanted this one to be perfect - every little mistake means you have to start again. You can stumble over your words or stutter or use a wrong word or hit a wrong note or anything. And if that happens to happen 3 minutes into the song, well, you just lost 3 minutes. Try again. So it took me a long time - I used wrong words a lot, since the verses are somewhat similar in structure/idea - but I finally got it.

Also, as for my "lyric sheets..." When I start writing a song - like, five minutes after I decide "Okay, I'm going to put effort into this," I get a piece of blank white 8.5 x 11 inch paper and write down, with my mechanical G-2 Force .5mm lead pencil, whatever lyrics I have. Usually, when I make a mistake or write something I don't like and decide to change later, I cross it out so that I can see it later... kind of like history or record keeping for myself or something. And I try to align everything left... just because that's how I like it. As for the chorus, I only write it once, and I put a big bracket around it that says "Chorus." I'm not sure why, I'm pretty sure I know where my own choruses are... but yeah, that's it. And when I'm done, usually, I take a couple minutes and write out the chord progressions... but sometimes I do that before I'm done, and they change as I'm going through... but I usually don't end up changing them.

So basically, if you wanted a book of my sheet music, you'd get that. All the words, the words that used to be, and the chords that might still be there, but maybe not. I should work on that - for my own sake - but... I don't know. That's just how I do.

Peace out!

Alumnae Hall

So when I came to Brown, I knew that if I didn't have immediate access to a piano at pretty much every point in my day - and especially times when I was working - I would die. So I brought my keyboard. 88 keys, little speakers, two of the D notes stick. But it's 97.5% functional... but still not quite good enough all the time. Especially if I want/need to be alone.

So anyway, corequisite, I was in the process of joining orchestra so I could play mallet percussion. Of course, if I'm in the orchestra, I have to practice. And so it turns out that when you get into the orchestra as a percussionist, you're allowed to have a key to Alumnae Hall, which is right near my dorm and houses a very large marimba/percussion cabinet and a NINE FOOT STEINWAY GRAND PIANO.

So I went to the music building one day before Breakdance Club and asked for a key. Turns out it costs $50 (but you get it back if you don't kill the keys). So yeah, I got the keys to the hall and to the cabinet and to the hall in general.

So one day I had some free time and I thought, hey, let's go play piano. So I walk up to the side hall, where Nat (the orchestra president) had used his keys to open the door. Stick it all the way in the keyhole.... turn one way. Nothing. Turn another way. Nothing. Go to the handicapped door... all the way in, one way nothing other way nothing. All the way to the side door... nothing either way. So I walk to the front door hoping maybe that will help. By luck, it was open, and I could just walk in and play piano. So I did. I forget exactly what I played, but I didn't stay long.

So later I went back to the music builing (Orwig) to trade in my keys since these didn't seem to work. Another night, around 9PM, I decided to take a break from talking to people/working to go play piano. I sat there at the side door for twenty minutes, without exaggeration, trying to open that stupid door. It turns out... that

A) The lock is really defective
B) The door is really defective

So what I would have to do was kick the door in all the way and hold it back, then ram the key in to the hold as hard as I can, twist it and simultaneously spin the knob and open the door. And that's the way to get in to Alumnae Hall.

So every time I go to play piano now, just know and laugh at the fact that I have to go through that stupid ritual every time.

Peace out!

It's Not Like I'm Saving You

For the first time in more than a month, I got an idea for a song I'd actually like to write.

Peace!

Walking

Most people walk with their eyes down. So when I walk by [and I have my head up], if I try to smile or say hello to them, they can just pretend no one had tried to recognize them at all. Wouldn't life be better if we all had our eyes up and said hello?

I noticed that I haven't seen a 'kid' pretty much since I got here. That is, no one Joey's age, and no one Michael's age, or Steve Smuryl's age. It's strange.

Yesterday was a busy day. I had my first education seminar course meeting [and I should start on the reading soon].

After that, I went to breakdance club. There was a really nice guy named Andy who got me started with top rock [step]. He was EXTREMELY good at foot work... I need to ask him for help some more sometime. Then there was a guy Billy who helped me with the six-step and showed me how to work some other things in. And this one crazy good guy whose name I don't know, but he seemed nice/helpful.

Then I ran to the Ratty for dinner and almost sat with John from Philadelphia but had to go to the math competition. I got the first two problems and the last two problems, but other than that... I mean, I had seen the problems before but I didn't remember how exactly to do them. So I ended up writing things like, "This is the Power of a Point theorem! You can do this other cool thing with it, too... but I forget how to prove it." Or "There's a formula for extracting nested radicals that I forget, but I remember that once you do it it's really easy to see that the answer is 2." Or "Something about squaring the perimeter and going from there."

Anyway. I left that at 7PM so I could go try out for the Bear Necessities. I signed up for 7:15 because I needed time to practice, but the only place I could practice was in a classroom in Wilson [where the audition was]. So I was practicing there in a closet, singing to a wall... and then a couple kids walked in and I was like... hi? And it was really weird and then they walked out. Then I went downstairs to audition... the scales were pretty good, I could go from an F to an E... but not falsetto. Then we did pitch matching, which was way too hard. Then I sang Hallelujah, which wasn't quite as good as I had practiced but went okay. I forgot my backpack on the way out.

Oh, somewhere along the line, I got a key to Alumnae Hall. Now I can practice alone on a beautiful 9ft Steinway piano whenever I want. I'm so excited!

I forgot that the V-Dub doesn't serve pancakes everyday, but that's alright.

After Bear Necessities, I went to QuizBowl.... which was kind of boring and I largely just sat there, so then I left and talked on AIM with a bunch of people from home.

From there, I went to Tae Kwon Do, but found out the beginner meeting wasn't until Wednesday.... so I came home, did some calc, talked, did some more calc... I need to get back to trying some calc right now.

I'd like to note that a) I love my new phone, b) Sergei Treil could kick your ass any day, and c) I hate Bluetooth.

Peace out!

Brown Secure

I can't connect to the Brown Secure wireless network and it makes me want to kill someone.

Peace!

Busy!

I'm starting to feel very, very busy, which I guess is good? My school work isn't too oppressive - Math 0350 is the only real killer, but I think I may be dropping it and/or vegabonding it. Other than that it all looks pretty good. Math 0170 is even fun so far, Math 0180 looks pretty interesting, Math 0330 shouldn't be too hard [six hours per week, he says?], and the education course doesn't have that much to it other than some reading, writing, and speaking, which is fine. It'll be a nice change.

So I'll tell you about some things that I did/am doing.

Yesterday I went to the first Democracy Matters meeting for the year. The leader, Jon, was really excited to see me because I sent him an e-mail saying, "I'm pissed off, angry, feeling shut out, and ready to change politics. Also I am poor. What can I do?" and he thought that was very cool. I also wore my new Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Republican t-shirt, which pretty much everyone there seemed to like. A nice sophomore girl Christine made some really good cookies and I think I may have eaten too many but that's okay. There was also a very socially awkward freshman boy there whose name I forget, but he was a CS enthusiast so we were all happy to have him since the DM website blows. There was also a guy named Grant who was on Speech&Debate who testified before Congress for the Fair Elections bill, which is what DM fights for.

Today I have my classes - Math 0180 with the lovable Sergei Treil, then a recitation section with him or his TA, I suppose?

I'm not going to Math 0350 with Cole anymore. I'm only going to Steven Miller's class because his examples are much better and he's a bit more interesting. But I still may drop it because it's a huge amount of work. We'll see, I suppose.

Then is my education course, from 3-5:20. And this is where the conflicts begin.

Breakdance Club meets from 4PM - 6PM. I really really wanted to make it to the whole thing but I'm just not sure I'll be able to. At 6PM there's a freshman math exam in Kasser 205 that I'd really love to go to and kick ass on, but I'm not sure that'll work. Then I have tryouts for the Bear Necessities sometime between 7-9PM in Wilson 206, but QuizBowl is having its first meeting at 7:30 in BH159. Tae Kwon Do is also meeting from 9-10PM.

Thank god that's the end of it, though, and I can wake up early to get some homework done. Sergei just assigned some more that doesn't look too bad but I'd like to get it over with, plus do his extra work... yeah, I think I'm dropping Math 35. Hah. We'll see...

Peace!

Waterfires 1

I went to Waterfires for the first time tonight. It was exactly what I expected, and it was wonderful. Bridgette, Nupur, and Danny came with me. Danny said he missed his girl, and he was sad. There were candles, which was comforting.

Peace!