it's good

college is good, guys, it's good! back in the House, where it all began, and I'm quite happy, and today is my first day of classes as well as the first Housemeeting, but I still feel like this is some kind of big summer camp that I'm participating in for fun and could back out of anytime I wanted to.

on the it's-a-small-world front: Adam, Alex and Rima and I met your friend Patricia. Isa, Alex met someone who knows you, but I forget who.

are you all at college yet? are you satisfied with your choices? if you ever need a pick-me-up, feel free to visit Cornell and its 7-TASPer welcome wagon. my first class of the semester, Russian 121, starts in 2 hours. good luck to all of you at the beginning of your brilliant college careers.

beginnings and endings

Almost one year later, forcing myself to think about TASP and the untouchable summer before my senior year in high school, familiar feelings are being aroused. I look around my hometown and I can't find home anymore. The people that made this typical Southern suburb worldly and diverse are gone. Like the sole survivor of a shipwreck, I find little solace in living. But thanks to the eerily reminiscent separation one year ago, I can hope for more. Though certain friends at TASP have been a constant presence, collectively, our time has long since passed. And I dread that it will be the same with my hometown friends, the group I flocked to to fill the void after that summer of '03. Thanks to those six weeks, I sought continuity and depth in relationships instead of using them for transient demands. So perhaps my current band of brothers will soon be just a memory, and our golden time has passed. If so, the bittersweet memories are better than nothing at all. And tonight I thank the people and experience that made so many things possible.

Hello All

I've been reading the blog silently for a while, so i thought i should just say hello. I'm enjoying an (extremely) indolent summer right now, and looking forward to Williams in just 19 days. Whoppee! Considering the question mentioned earlier about school anxiety, i was feeling all that Alex, Isa and Adam were saying, until i started meeting some of them online. Now, i'm excited and ready for it, social part included, which is a huge relief.
Enough rambling from me.
Love you all

you can't make this shit up...

http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2004_08_08.html#001687

2 more weeks till school starts, at least for us Cornellians!!



one love baby,
rafie

mobile war machine!

so i randomly decided to google "mobile war machine," and i found this link: PHLAK, or professional hackers' linux assault kit. anywho, they sell merchandise, among which is t-shirts. there is one style of t-shirt that says "PHLAK" and then below it says "A Mobile War Machine." i love it! i vote that all taspers should have to buy one, because they're so cool. they even have a little linux penguin on the back, all ready for war and whatnot. so buy. that's my story.

-- alex

NY & NJ Taspers

Hey everyone. I'm just writing to see if the NY and NJ taspers want to get together in the city Wednesday, August 11 or Thursday August 12. I'll be in NY from Tuesday August 10 until Sunday. I just talked to Haruko and we were thinking either Wednesday or Thursday night. I'd really love to see you all (Alex, Sid, David & Greg) and anyone who happens to be in the area. Please let us know soon! You can call my cell (312-560-6275) or Haruko's (917-698-2354).

That's all for now. As you heard I'm visiting alina too and I'm very excited. It'll be soo nice to spend my last few weeks with taspers.

it's all winding down, eh?

so summer is ending. move-in is september 1 for me. im sure one day i will have a perfectly interesting life, just not right now! this has been the most lowkey summer of my life and except for the ridiculously amusing drama of saying goodbye to people i am not going to miss, nothing new has happened forever! in the spring, i made a comment about how i am only going to miss my one best friend and family and someone said that was really awful. well, now more than ever i know it is COMPLETELY true.

anyway... Alexis is coming August 19-21! I dont know how our adventures will top running around searching for our clothes in the middle of the night on some beach in michigan or ramming cars into things but i am sure we will think of something!
if anyone else is in the area, then or ever, give me a call.

oh my god yes...

oh my god yes...


Yes I am excited about college. Obviously a bit apprehensive as well. But worry is wasteful; there is really no point in being angry over the future. Puts the mind in knots.

A few days ago I had the chance to go to the Providence Zen Center. I ate dinner with some of the resident monks and a few other visitors. They also offer meditations and chanting. I meditated for a bit, and it was amazing. Do your self a favor and go to your local Zen center or practitioner.

I am now a security officer. After being 1) fingerprinted and having a 2)background check courtesy of the attorney general's office, I was deemed qualified enough to join the esteemed rank and file. This is really a splendid job. I get paid for taking hourly strolls, listening to public radio, and reading anything that I desire. Any suggested books, something that I can read in eight or so hours?. Seriously though, I genuinely enjoy spending late nights chatting with other guards (really some of the most interesting people I've met) and pondering my existence. Bonus points for being able to look like a tough guy and having people ask sheepishly if I give them directions to the rest room or the exit.

That is all.

wait except for this...

http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/contentPlay/shockwave.jsp?id=this_land&preplay=1&ratingBar=off