...because two heads are better than one,
and the more heads, the more fun.

Well, well, in less than two months, I celebrate my first anniversary of blogging! Well Mean Gene, I have to say I'm excited, very excited, to be at this point, and can only tell you how much fun I had doing it. I would recommend it to all.
Okay, maybe not all, but you get the point. So, what's new from the other side...

In less than two weeks, I celebrate my third month-versary of my iPod acquisition. And I have several ideas to present the folks at Apple that might make their product even better:
1) A firewire battery pack. I remember the first Samsung MP3 CD player they came out with; while the unit itself accepts AAA batteries, they also included a separate battery pack which accepts 2 AA batteries and increases total battery life. Bottom line folks, the 10 hour battery the iPod comes with, for the lack of a better word, sucks. A couple of duracell ultras can increase our listening time by at least 20 hours. Since the only port available is the firewire, it seems the only logical place to use it. And I know several iPod users who wouldn't mind plunking out the extra $40-$50 bucks...

2) An AM/FM remote control. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely wrong with the remote control that came with my iPod. But, as you look at it, don't you wish it had a digital display, so you wouldn't be as tempted to go back to using the iPod controls? I know I do, and there are some digital display remotes that come with personal stereos that even have AM/FM digital tuners, a la Sony's CD Player model D-FJ75TR. If Apple should go that direction, you get the best of both worlds: a digital display remote to see what you're doing (as well as one that snaps in perfectly into the iPod without having to worry about pushing it in all the way), and a digital tuner just in case you get tired of your own music. And suppose this remote control takes away from your battery power; at least we'll have our new battery pack to accompany us...

3) Design faceplates. The PowerBook 1400 series had design faceplates to add uniqueness to our Apple laptops. Faceplates are common with cellphones, and even some Palm Pilots. Why not have it be common with our iPod? Think about it! A new cover is exactly what we'd need to bring new life to our favorite Apple invention. How about a blue marble faceplate? Or a silver faceplate to match the back of the iPod? Or a patriotic (US, Canadian, or even Iraq) faceplate? C'mon, we know that easily scratch-able glass cover can be removed. And I'll tell you what, we'll even let the "Apple Technicians" do all the work. A $20 investment that will help my iPod look several months younger, cause Lord knows how scratched up my iPod is...

4) A new iPod case. Real leather, perhaps? How about one that covers the iPod like a lid, which when flipped open (similar to a Palm Pilot) reveals the scroll wheel, while clear plastic covers the screen? The ports aren't covered, and it wouldn't add size the iPod, except an extra compartment that will hold the earphones, remote, and possible battery compartment...
This sounds an awful like the iPod cover from Krussell which is being sold at eBay for about $30. If anybody has any experience with Krussell iPod covers, please e-mail me your overall review of it. Otherwise, I'll wait until Apple redeems itself in this department...

Something else worth of mention: It's been 4 months since I committed myself to Verizon Wireless for two years. And I must say I have not called their 611 service for any customer service yet. Okay, maybe once to find out how much my bill was, but that was it. These guys are really good; I'll go so far as to say their commercials don't do these guys enough justice. However, I originally wanted Nextel service. Nothing against Verizon, I must reiterate, but I still wanted walkie-talkie ability, speakerphone ability, just to look a little bit more professional I guess. And their phones are pretty elegant, as well. So all I can do at this point is wait until my contract expires before I can consider switching to Nextel. And if I were to put this on a timer, it would be one year, seven months, two weeks, and five days until I can get it. Until, Verizon had better give a reason (other than great service) not to switch...

Remember that guy & girl & middle man situation I found myself in several months ago? Well, I can honestly say that I'm glad that I did not go any further into that one. God has a way of moving which makes all that happens for the better. As I grew closer to this girl, I came to one conclusion: they (the guy and girl) were made for each other. They both smoke (one "trying" to quit, the other one compulsive), and they both drink (to what degree, I dunno). They are perfect complements: while one has a lot of emotion, the other shows little to no emotion at all. I mean, the guy was under the belief that he would've graduated last semester. But when he found out that he'll be leaving at the end of this one, he just looked a tad bit disappointed. You would expect him to be pretty pissed off. And I'm telling you, he looked nothing of it. Very alarming...
In any event, I have a blast hearing about the adventures of their relationship. And all I can say is that I'm soooo glad that it is not me in this guy's shoes...

Mikey is starting to worry me now. I mean, sure this is the spring semester and all, but I have not heard one word from him since the beginning of the month. Though it's no business of mine what he does, as a concerned friend, and blogger, I wish to know what's up, other than the fact that his brain's fried...

Something else that's eating me away: Hunter College. It's been a feeling I've had for so long. And it's one of emptiness. Granted, my Hunter icon and many discussions about the college may induce feelings of favoritism towards that college, and sure, there are friends who wish they went to that college. But they do not understand what it's really like, or what people go through, in that school. I feel as though I've been robbed of something. Perhaps the feeling that I'm going to one the top most prestigious CUNY schools around, or maybe the feeling that when I walk down that aisle next year, I would have finally graduated from a great college and will move on to great things. Instead, I feel empty. Why?

One reason might be the fact that when you take away the "great reputation" of this college, you have nothing. Nothing more than empty halls, meaningless lives, and college students dying to get out of there. Almost reminiscent of a prison cell. Another reason might be the struggle involved with it. The tuition hikes that are approaching are outrageous, and what do we get in compensation, graduate students who don't know how to teach, like in my Intermediate Macroeconomics class. The fact that I got 22/25 (an 88 equivalent) on her first midterm exam will not excuse the fact that I did not know where I was going, going into the exam. I felt as though I read the textbook, programmed formulas to help me breeze through the math, and aced out through the skin of my teeth. The feeling was nothing more than reproduction of getting through high school exams, which from early on, indicate that if you screw up the first time, you won't make it through the other exams. This feeling sucks. And it won't go away, not even if I force it to.

I look to those that came before me, telling me of their great experiences in college. The fun they had, the parties they went to, the midnight miracles they had to pull to get that B; you know, all that good stuff. But when I look back, what can I say? Surely the fun I had came from other experiences, work-related, home-related, and kliq-related; but not from Hunter College. I had been to but four parties since I been at that school, none of which relate to the college. What they call midnight miracles, I call 3AM miracles, where 3 hours later, I would wake up hoping to retain even half the knowledge I learned from reading the textbook. With all due respect to the occasional movie trips I've made with Tavie and other friends from the college, my experiences here have merited to nothing more than sleep deprivation and heartache.

And to those who think my interpretation is too strong an opinion, let me simplify it this way. I have often told those who go to college my belief system of college in situations like this. Your life in the next four years is like a storyline to a great TV series, the next Felicity, so to speak. When you find nothing but dark clouds everywhere, telling you you're wasting your time, forcing you in fact to waste your time, you must realize that it's all part of the system. The antagonist of this particular TV series is "the system." And in this series, your mission, or attainable, yet unforeseeable, goal is to beat the system. Once you get out, that piece of paper means that you have accomplished such a task; that you took all the crap they had, all the bullshit they gave you, and told them once and for all to stick it. What you do to reach that point is what makes the series (your college life) interesting. So what do you do? You find small things in that atmosphere, or not even of the atmosphere. You find your God, your beliefs, friends, fraternities, international field trips, college clubs, fellow students in your major, teachers, even some good 'ole fashion college drama. You take those things you find, sew it into your storyline, and make it work for you. They, in turn, give you influence to keep on going in this cycle, until you eventually find the loop that takes you out. And not once do you look back, because there is always something to look forward to. Now while this proves to be sound advice, does it always work? Well, that depends on you. If you learn, or have learned, not to depend on one thing, then this will always work for you.

In my situation, I start with the college atmosphere, which at first, was encouraging, even inviting. The fact that you'll see familiar faces everywhere you go, the fact that you will take this four year plus road together. But once everyone started drifting away, and I started looking around, the atmosphere became discouraging. It has even led me to question why I'm here, and why I feel like shit because in all honesty, I don't know where I'm going. Once realizing the atmosphere wasn't working for me, I turned my attention to the people; the people who I see in the building, those that are in my classes, and might leave with me out the hell house and into THE real world. But as I look around, all these people seemingly discuss is how much the tuition hike sucks, how much Bush sucks, and how much the college sucks. Well, I had something in common with these people, so hey, we'll bond that way. But, once you take that away, what do you find? People who sneer at you because you might have possibly been looking at them for too long. People who'll often ignore you, because they're too concerned with their own life, and just consider you a part of the college atmosphere. From there, it gets real depressing, that all these Starbucks drinking, Marlboro smoking, European style dressing, uptight looking, snotty-appearing faces are just a part of the Hunter College package. Sure, we all want to get out, but where's the adventure in just getting out?
Then, I ended up turning to myself. Once I got past all the empty voids in my life, I realized that I stood much of a better chance to improve my status if I fought to get out of college with that degree. And so, I situated myself accordingly, with companions that share that same dream, and friends who need help reaching that dream. Together, we the people who want to move on up in the world, are gonna get to that point; because two heads are better than one, and the more heads, the more fun. But take that shared dream away, and we all are seemingly forced to hide in our respective corners of the world, never dare crossing over, or merging any of these corners. And still, that empty void remains.

So, in that incredibly long tale, one realizes that before you know it, in jumping from one aspect of life to another, you finally get to that goal. In tying up with my angle concerning my experience versus those of my elders, I realized that in my experience, trying to find such factors or aspects of the college experience for inspiration has been in itself, an aching, and life drenching experience. Not to mention the pain that it takes to get from freshman to senior. It could make anybody feel like crap. But it's only Hunter that can seemingly do that. I have never heard anyone in any other college or university complain of such problems. In fact, the real stinker of it all is that other CUNY students look at us Hunter students differently because of this. I knew someone name Toné (pronounced tone) who worked at Modell's on 86th and 3rd. He had his little band, was a freestylist, and went to City College. For the first couple of weeks at Modell's, I remember keeping to myself, and not opening up much until I got the feel of all the people there. And when I started talking to other co-workers, the guy had asked me if I go to college, and if so, which one. Once I told him, he mistook my getting to know the atmosphere for the uptight behavior commonly found in Hunter College students. Thinking he was crazy then, I kept reassuring him that it was not like that. Now that I look at it, here I was, defending my Hunter alumna, and at the same time, I pass my the first floor of Hunter West, only to feel these students proving him right. It feels downright yucky...

In effect, now that my thoughts are here, I feel better releasing them. And in the end, all I can say is, one more semester, and I will win!
But as a side note, I can really appreciate people like the companions and friends I've made, because while the corners never merge, nothing stops communication and the history of these corners from passing through. In other words, while my friends, and my companions' friends, do not become one big fat circle, we still talk a lot about them. Also, I do appreciate knowing something about the company I keep; and appreciate, even more so, people who wish to know more about me. Even though I evade from telling them anything (and tell y'all almost everything), it's still cool to know their enquiring minds want to know.

Well, that's it from me.
Until next time, where we will have Keri Russell as our special guest...