Monday, May 18, 2009

He Doesn't Realize there's another Option

Well, I'm long overdue for an update. Somehow, between all my other commitments, I've never really taken to making this the kind of 'blog' that made blogs popular. Oh well.

My tenure at Purchase College is finally coming to an end. Last Friday was Commencement, so the official academic year has now ended, which means my last at Purchase. No more parties in the Olde, early morning rendezvous at Starbucks, no more sleeping in the dorms, no more classes in Humanities, no more VA shows,no more imbibing myself in Alumni, no more walking clumsily across the mall. I know I have done quite enough of this over the last 6 or so years, and it's also not the first time I've left Purchase, but it's sinking in, again.

But, for the best of reasons, and in order. I've accepted a spot in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University in Montreal. I will be heading up to the great white north to check out apartments soon. June 5th I will be heading into Charleston, SC, to visit one of my bestfriends, Caitlin (!, who has been studying in Athens since last summer and so I'm quite excited to see her.) I'm then, finally, going to visit Atlanta (airport in 2007 apparently didn't count)en route to Bonnaroo, where I will be working as a volunteer. This is very exciting, for not only is it free since I'm volunteering, and not only will I see Al Green, Phish, MGMT, Mars Volta, BRUCE SPRINGSTEIN, and on and on, but, also, my old roommate and long long friend Ali, whom I haven't seen since leaving San Francisco almost 18 months ago, will be working security!

After Bonnaroo, I'll put in a few more weeks of work, and then... Lucia and I are off to Lima, Peru for the start of a month long backpacking adventure. We will leave Lima quickly, probably visiting somewhere on the coast on the way to Cusco (Ica, maybe Nazca.) After a few days in Cusco, we will hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, maybe throw in some more hiking, and then head north, to Trujillo, and then to Ecuador. We will be staying in Manta, a coastal city, and occasionally exploring other destinations nearby. Before heading home, we will stop by Banos and the Amazon, with our last 3 days in Quito. This is highly subject to Change. It sounds like a lot, but mostly we'll be in Cusco and Manta, with travel days in between. The airfare was dirt cheap, considering we bought it recently (only 600 round trip! from JFK,) and we don't expect to spend much while traveling. We also, hopefully, have a place to stay in Manta.

After this, I'll sadly only have 2 weeks until classes begin in Montreal. But, I am ready! I have a few major themes I'll be exploring (technology and aesthetics, intellectual property law and new media art, the history of art of appropriation, transcultural communication and gov't funding for the arts, collaborative online international learning, blah blah blah.) I've already got my reading lists ready.

So, I know I haven't been writing here, but I haven't been traveling much, just around NY and such (well, and Chicago, and Dominican Republic, and cross country road trip...) I lost my camera, unfortunately, last summer, so I need a new one, but Facebook is my depository for visual records.

Once I get my new computer, I will try to incorporate some video and photos into the blog. In the meanwhile, my main creative outlet has continued to be The Silent Ballet. (www.thesilentballet.com. You can know follow us on twitter, sadly... www.twitter.com/thesilentballet/. Sad because I made and maintain it.) I do have a TSB NY music event in the works. More on that later.

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I'm always struck by what it is people seem to place value on. For some, it may be collecting things, for others it's sex, or drugs, or family, or tinted car windows. But for many, they don't seem to even be aware what it is they value, or why, and haven't the slightest that they, or others, can commit to a different set of values.

I, of course, do palce value aesthetics, but there is a line that is often crosses that goes beyond a judgment of beauty and is rather simply one of shallow impersonation. For these, there lack of taste, or their blind dedication to a style- style not being as empty as it seems, but rather as Nietzsche may use it, as in giving a style or shape to one's life- Sometimes we set goals for ourselves without even realizing it. It's not until actions have been taken, when we have the time to look back and we begin to shape our lives, in retrospect, and we see motivations. Are they real or imagined? I'm not even convinced it matters. Once these goals are met, they can seem completely useless, a waste of time and energy one wasn't even aware one was exerting. Entonces, it is so much more important that we really do take the time to examine carefully our lives, ourselves, our values. Because we do, in fact, posit our values, so do not let yourself be a one-way receptacle of moraes. For example, I noticed today how many CDs I have, and how much music I've accumulated on my external harddrive, how compulsively I organize my iTunes. At some point when I was younger, I decided I wanted to have a lot of CDs, I wanted to be the guy who knew more bands than other people. But, I didn't consciously or insincerely chase this goal. But, here it is. Now that I am moving, I've started sorting through some of my junk (articles, comic books, CDs, vinyl, books, clothes,) and I've realized how much junk I have. It holds me down. This is one reason I love to travel, to have all my possessions on my back, to be mobile.

I'm not thinking of any one person in particular when I say those who take there provincial styles too far. Of course, many of the kids I went to high school come to mind, with there silly, manufactured and replaceable music, lampoonable haircuts, beverages, and cars. A few incidents to come to mind as well. In Chicago recently, Sam introduced me to an acquaintance, who was in turn with a friend. After leaving these two, I remarked that I didn't know guys could be such bimbos. But, here was a gay boy, who couldn't even remember the name of the UNIVERSITY he attended, and could apparently care less. He didn't seem shamed, or embarrassed, but rather continued to futilely flirt. Another: I've had to explain what it is I'll be studying. And interdisciplinary cultural studies department is hard to explain, (though there are good reasons for why this is a good choice, particularly for me, I'll leave that for another time, after school begins most likely.) But I've often had to justify not just my decisions, but academia in general. Some people simply cannot comprehend anything other than salary. "Why waste so much time earning a PhD when you can just do occupation X and make 60k/year right off the bat?" People like this simply don't get it. I think the Hindu conception of souls is a good analogy here. People who think that may are on a lower plane of existence. They cannot see beyond there own selfish interest, beyond material attachment temporary conditions. They will struggle against death with all their might. It's almost not worth trying to explain it to them, I've found, because they are not capable of being made to understand.