Everyone’s a Little Bit Jewish
moocowinthecity https://youtube.com/watch?v=YdwlG05InAY
April 2007
Note to Lisa
So I ran into Josh (the “let’s help the foreign chinese performance artist hang himself over niagara falls – naked – with a rope the strength of dental floss so all three, including the interpreter – can later be arrested after the performance artist needs rescuing, Josh”) in the Student Union on Thursday.
He was wearing the same outfit as the last day I had seen him in class (he doesn’t even look like he’s changed a bit, sort of just like a time warp thing), maybe, what was it, two, three years ago? He recognized me instantly (not that I’ve changed all that much physically); however, I’m guessing he’s out of Jail now if he was ever sentenced or whatever, I’m not actually sure what the penalty is for aiding and abetting a naked performance artist in their goal to dangle in freezing cold water above sharp and jagged rocks; however I can certainly tell you, that he’s back on campus…
Actually, come to think of it, you may want to warn Daniel so he can batten down the hatches or, if Daniel’s in the dog house, don’t tell him and take on some extra shifts so you can see his face light up with joy when Josh walks into the dark room and asks to use the installation space and the flash bulb lights.
Note to Lisa
So I ran into Josh (the “let’s help the foreign chinese performance artist hang himself over niagara falls – naked – with a rope the strength of dental floss so all three, including the interpreter – can later be arrested after the performance artist needs rescuing, Josh”) in the Student Union on Thursday.
He was wearing the same outfit as the last day I had seen him in class (he doesn’t even look like he’s changed a bit, sort of just like a time warp thing), maybe, what was it, two, three years ago? He recognized me instantly (not that I’ve changed all that much physically); however, I’m guessing he’s out of Jail now if he was ever sentenced or whatever, I’m not actually sure what the penalty is for aiding and abetting a naked performance artist in their goal to dangle in freezing cold water above sharp and jagged rocks; however I can certainly tell you, that he’s back on campus…
Actually, come to think of it, you may want to warn Daniel so he can batten down the hatches or, if Daniel’s in the dog house, don’t tell him and take on some extra shifts so you can see his face light up with joy when Josh walks into the dark room and asks to use the installation space and the flash bulb lights.
Amazing, Amazing Day
I just wanted to say that the Lavender Ceremony was awesome, I’ll do a full post on that Tomorrow night.
I also wanted to say: Ohh, Ahh Sabres on The Warpath!! 6 Down, 10 to Go…and Peters and Goose can stop over anytime they want so I can show them my heartfelt thanks and give them the appreciation that they deserve.
Amazing, Amazing Day
I just wanted to say that the Lavender Ceremony was awesome, I’ll do a full post on that Tomorrow night.
I also wanted to say: Ohh, Ahh Sabres on The Warpath!! 6 Down, 10 to Go…and Peters and Goose can stop over anytime they want so I can show them my heartfelt thanks and give them the appreciation that they deserve.
Wow…just…wow…
You can do anything you set your mind to, man”
– Marshal Mathers
So much going on right now; but the important news: five of us were sitting around a table with Dr. Wolk; the five students who elected to write papers this semester and forgoe a final exam…and as he’s telling us about how he’s going to go back to Brussels (he calls three continents home, was given U.S. Citizenship, and is incredibly important in not only the European Union but also in Peru) he says “and if you want, everyone here is invited to do an independent study with me next semester, for as many credits as you want…”
And my heart leapt through my chest and my stomach fell: an opportunity to do an independent study with the foremost sociolinguist; the man, the legend…Dr. Wolk!
…I’ll be doing a six credit internship with him next semester; continuing my research on Rap Discourse and creating my own transcription system for it; the hours of work I need to log to break even with a C is 240, I believe I’ll be going much farther than that given that I’m starting it this summer, this semester even…and I’m just, what an amazing way to end out my final semester at UB this coming fall.
I may cry; I’m so happy…and I’m also stressed, going on 36 hours of no sleep, dealing with a professor who no longer can read his own (typed) assignment and forgot what he meant when he asked us to do a field experiment that was, in the end, a lesson in futility for everyone; and I’m excited because my parent’s will be landing at 4:30pm and I’ll be seeing them after my Arabic Final which I’m totally unprepared for and I’m sad beacuse this is my last class with Prof. Roustum and waiting in trepidation because four thousand balls are up in the air and tomorrow I walk on a stage to be the voice of the Gay population at UB and with poise, confidence and experience I deliver words that I hope will stick with my Younger Brother and not lay waste to the sands of time and I have no idea if anyone’s showing up to the thing anyway because people on this campus are flakey and the Gay community is the first to turn on each other here and I entered the university as a pro-palestinian socialist in line to be on the secreteriat and I leave university disavowed by my party and a libertarian zionist and on the 10th it all comes to a settle; a brief rest before I get thrown into the whirlwind of three days of public speaking in Toronto and then I land in New York City and then in Tel Aviv to return to a place I’ve never been and…I wouldn’t change or trade a minute of it…
My eyes are bloodshot; my apartment’s spotless and my day was started with a sunrise comprised of a conglomoration of colors not often seen this side of Buffalo.
Wow…just…wow…
You can do anything you set your mind to, man”
– Marshal Mathers
So much going on right now; but the important news: five of us were sitting around a table with Dr. Wolk; the five students who elected to write papers this semester and forgoe a final exam…and as he’s telling us about how he’s going to go back to Brussels (he calls three continents home, was given U.S. Citizenship, and is incredibly important in not only the European Union but also in Peru) he says “and if you want, everyone here is invited to do an independent study with me next semester, for as many credits as you want…”
And my heart leapt through my chest and my stomach fell: an opportunity to do an independent study with the foremost sociolinguist; the man, the legend…Dr. Wolk!
…I’ll be doing a six credit internship with him next semester; continuing my research on Rap Discourse and creating my own transcription system for it; the hours of work I need to log to break even with a C is 240, I believe I’ll be going much farther than that given that I’m starting it this summer, this semester even…and I’m just, what an amazing way to end out my final semester at UB this coming fall.
I may cry; I’m so happy…and I’m also stressed, going on 36 hours of no sleep, dealing with a professor who no longer can read his own (typed) assignment and forgot what he meant when he asked us to do a field experiment that was, in the end, a lesson in futility for everyone; and I’m excited because my parent’s will be landing at 4:30pm and I’ll be seeing them after my Arabic Final which I’m totally unprepared for and I’m sad beacuse this is my last class with Prof. Roustum and waiting in trepidation because four thousand balls are up in the air and tomorrow I walk on a stage to be the voice of the Gay population at UB and with poise, confidence and experience I deliver words that I hope will stick with my Younger Brother and not lay waste to the sands of time and I have no idea if anyone’s showing up to the thing anyway because people on this campus are flakey and the Gay community is the first to turn on each other here and I entered the university as a pro-palestinian socialist in line to be on the secreteriat and I leave university disavowed by my party and a libertarian zionist and on the 10th it all comes to a settle; a brief rest before I get thrown into the whirlwind of three days of public speaking in Toronto and then I land in New York City and then in Tel Aviv to return to a place I’ve never been and…I wouldn’t change or trade a minute of it…
My eyes are bloodshot; my apartment’s spotless and my day was started with a sunrise comprised of a conglomoration of colors not often seen this side of Buffalo.
Success
I find a lot of people’s thinking counter intuitive to success. Don’t worry how you’re going to pay for something, don’t worry about the minutia that holds you back, don’t worry about what is standing in your way: mountains can be moved (or, if you want to take a page from the Marine playbook: destroyed in 24 hours of less): look at the bigger picture.
I’m very much an existentialist: not the church, not the state we alone are in command of each of our fates and every day is another twenty four hours to get it right, but you won’t get anything done if you worry about the how.
You don’t need to worry about how. Worrying about how is what lets things die by committee and creates stomach cramps and pain and doubt and fear…you just have to know that whatever it is, it will.
To succeed you determine your end goal which means that you then have a starting point (where you are) and an end point (where you’re going to be)…and then you can plot how you’re going to get there; but the secret is to understand that failure does not exist, failure is a creation and a smokescreen by those who have given up hope, who embrace the darkness within themselves because it is easier than experiencing the (sometimes) necessary pain, tears, blood, sweat and sacrifice required to succeed. You do not fail. Yes, you may learn how to do something in so many ways as to make it not work (as Edison did) but you did. not. fail. You added information to a body of knowledge and in doing so allowed others slightly behind you, who are following the same path you are now blazing, to reach their goals more quickly and that is how you begin to leave your legacy because at some point it will click. There are only roads to success, in life it’s just a shame that so few people see them as they wallow in self pity because they’ve chosen the longer road rather than the shorter one. But if you keep on walking there are only so many times you can figure out how to make something not work until you find out how to make it work…and make it work well; learning each time how to change part of the equation to make it better.
The difference between those who do and those who regret is that those who regret see a bookstore as their end, as their 9-5, as their paycheck and do the minimal amount of work to get by: those who do, they see it as a business venture, a stepping stone to a corporate empire that they can conquer and dominate.
Those who do only see beginnings, those who regret see only endings.
I know where I am, I know where my end goal is, and right now the winds to my back and it’s the sunniest day I’ve seen in Buffalo for a long, long time.
Success
I find a lot of people’s thinking counter intuitive to success. Don’t worry how you’re going to pay for something, don’t worry about the minutia that holds you back, don’t worry about what is standing in your way: mountains can be moved (or, if you want to take a page from the Marine playbook: destroyed in 24 hours of less): look at the bigger picture.
I’m very much an existentialist: not the church, not the state we alone are in command of each of our fates and every day is another twenty four hours to get it right, but you won’t get anything done if you worry about the how.
You don’t need to worry about how. Worrying about how is what lets things die by committee and creates stomach cramps and pain and doubt and fear…you just have to know that whatever it is, it will.
To succeed you determine your end goal which means that you then have a starting point (where you are) and an end point (where you’re going to be)…and then you can plot how you’re going to get there; but the secret is to understand that failure does not exist, failure is a creation and a smokescreen by those who have given up hope, who embrace the darkness within themselves because it is easier than experiencing the (sometimes) necessary pain, tears, blood, sweat and sacrifice required to succeed. You do not fail. Yes, you may learn how to do something in so many ways as to make it not work (as Edison did) but you did. not. fail. You added information to a body of knowledge and in doing so allowed others slightly behind you, who are following the same path you are now blazing, to reach their goals more quickly and that is how you begin to leave your legacy because at some point it will click. There are only roads to success, in life it’s just a shame that so few people see them as they wallow in self pity because they’ve chosen the longer road rather than the shorter one. But if you keep on walking there are only so many times you can figure out how to make something not work until you find out how to make it work…and make it work well; learning each time how to change part of the equation to make it better.
The difference between those who do and those who regret is that those who regret see a bookstore as their end, as their 9-5, as their paycheck and do the minimal amount of work to get by: those who do, they see it as a business venture, a stepping stone to a corporate empire that they can conquer and dominate.
Those who do only see beginnings, those who regret see only endings.
I know where I am, I know where my end goal is, and right now the winds to my back and it’s the sunniest day I’ve seen in Buffalo for a long, long time.