Today the lady who cut my hair screwed it up. I also bought what i thought was a sobe. turned out to be sobe light. tasted like crap... what a crappy day...

Posted by Ben at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Didn't do much today... went to classes, my animation class is neat... I haven't written in here for awhile huh? Been pretty busy with homework and that darn webpage... I'll get back on the ball eventually and start writing more... that's all for now

Posted by Ben at 12:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mmmm... frozen yogurt... add that to my list of wussy things I like to eat along with soy milk, special k, and luna bars. Oh well.

I've been working on our dorm webpage a lot lately, that's why I haven 't been writing in here... if you haven't already check the site out at http://homepages.nyu.edu/~bjl229

I bought the new Beck CD today and got the Interpol CD and a Jeff Buckley CD also, neat stuff... I had bought a digital camera, but then canceled the order, I'm probably going to save the money for a plane ticket to somewhere... yeah...

Ok, i gotta work on something more productive... peace...

Posted by Ben at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Oh no! I didn't write in my journal yesterday! I was too busy working on the website... doh... oh well... I'm writing in it now. The end.

Posted by Ben at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lazy day today. I've done my laundry, but that's about it... oh yeah, i also started the website for our room, it's at http://homepages.nyu.edu/~bjl229 it probably won't show up as a link so copy and paste it. Other then that I've pretty much done nothing today. I should probably take a shower soon since it is almost 6 o'clock...

In other news... I was looking at rotten tomatoes, the website that compiles movie reviews from various film critics and gives you a general feel for how it was recieved. The film I saw yesterday, Spirited Away, has a 100% out of 51 reviews. That means all 51 of those big time film critics liked it. Woah... only the second time I've ever seen that happen. The movie was great though and I recommend everyone go see it. It's not one of those action futuristic animes, it's actually rather cute at times... um... but yeah... go see it.

Posted by Ben at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Did a lot today.

Woke up after 3 hours and 50 minutes of sleep and went to battery city park to look at a sculpture garden. Interesting work. Anti capitalist art right in the financial district of NYC across the street from the world trade center site.

After that I got back to my dorm and slept.

Woke up, cleaned the bathroom with roommates. Yuck... we have photos, I'll post them later. We're also considering starting a room 607 website to document our adventures.

Then we went to Times Square to look at guitar stores. Then we went to the Marriote Hotel I think... and took the elevator up 45 floors then down, it's really fast and it makes guys feel funny in a certain area... hahaha, people who have taken elevators or roller coasters know what I'm talking about. It's really high though and scary because it's one of those glass elevators. Neat experience, then we had pizza at Mariellas.

After I ate again at the dining hall. I had 4 meals left and tomorrow is the last day to use them so I figured I would use this one to just eat lots of dessert.

Last but not least. I went to see Miyazaki's latest anime, Spirited Away, really neat stuff! Go see it. Alright, all done for today...

Posted by Ben at 1:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

FIGURED IT OUT! Sheesh...

Here are the photos of my room...

Posted by Ben at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is erased because the pictures didn't work...

Posted by Ben at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Erased for the same reason as above...

Posted by Ben at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just ate a huge meal and feel all icky now. I had a slice of pizza, some barbecue beef thingy, mashed potatos, a chicken wrap thingy, a slice of chocolate cake, a slice of some pineapple cake, a bowl of double dutch chocolate frozen yogurt, and about five glasses of orange juice. Mmmm... hahaha, afterwards we went to Surprise Surprise, a furniture store next door to buy a lamp ($8.99) light bulbs ($1.99) and a soap holding container ($1.99). I finally have a lamp, yay... I also got two oranges from the dining hall which are currently sitting in the freezer. Later tonight while doing my laundry my roommates and I plan on going to the infamous c2 and bowling wih empty bottled water bottles and frozen oranges. Fun stuff. For now, I have to go to animation class by 6:20...

Posted by Ben at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ugh... I went to sleep too late last night... four hours of sleep and now I have to go to class from 9:30 to 10:45, aggghhhhhh. The good thing though is that after that, I have no class until 4:55... niiiiiccceee! That means I can take a nice long nap. A nap longer then my nights sleep. I think I'm going to be meeting someone though... we'll see what happens...

I bought a pack of 100 CD-Rs yesterday for $10 after discount, yay. I also bought a stapler and some masking tape.

My animation homework is evil. I did 51 out of at the least 100 frames and it took me from 7am to about 1am... 6 hours!!! Out of those 6 hours I was actually working about 80% of the time too!!! Agghhhh. But, the class is fun so it should be worth it. I look forward to the remaining six hours later tonight and tomorrow morning....

It's kind of funny how you can be so cynical about some thing then get caught up in it yourself and become one of those people you used to say "ugh" about... some of you know what I'm refering to. It's a very welcome change...

Agh! I just woke up and am about to head to class and I'm yawning like crazy! I need a haircut too...

Aiiighhttt... I gotta bounce. Peace out dawgs...

Posted by Ben at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I woke up in a good mood today and did some homework. Then I went to class and turned it in. Afterwards I went to the Tisch building (which is the art building) to pick up a light box for my animation project. While I was waiting in line for the elevator I saw the Dell guy. He looked totally wasted and just kinda stood there... funny stuff... I hear Mandy Moore lives in the dorm down the street, I have yet to see her though, not that I'm looking forward to it or anything. I just had a large glass of silk and am eating an apple. The apple was in the fridge over night so it's nice and chilled, mmmm... Ok, I've got to leave for class now, I'll write again later tonight, peace out dawgs.

Posted by Ben at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Got Beck tickets today for October 30th!!! Took me 40 minutes of pressing "Look for Tickets" then "back" over and over again. The website was really busy so it took awhile. In other great news, Sigur Ros is playing in New York on November 1st, same venue as Beck just a couple days later. How great is that!? In sadder news, I got some bad news today, but it's okay... things are still great.

Posted by Ben at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Got Beck's CD Mutations, more good stuff. He's good when he does his funky white boy stuff, but this folk type stuff is awesome... anyways, my roommate Zach is an ass hole... I hope you're reading this...

Posted by Ben at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Season four of the Sopranos starts in 54 minutes and I don't get HBO here!!! SOMEBODY SAVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Ben at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Oops, forgot the mood and song things...

Posted by Ben at 7:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever play the game NBA street for PS2, it's incredibly addictive and it's a stupid game. I keep getting my ass kicked by my roommate and I'm now extremely frustrated... I also have HW to do and I need to do some reading... ugh! Well I'm gonna crawl into bed and see what I can accomplish in regards to school work...

Posted by Ben at 7:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today I got stuck in the rain... had to walk home about 5 or 6 blocks in the pouring rain... crappy...

Posted by Ben at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, I went to eat pizza again at Mariellas then on the way back I checked the celeb sighting board and to my horror discovered that someone had spotted Amelie! I mean... Audrey Tautou! Wow... I'm now on a mission to comb the streets of NYC in search of her...

Posted by Ben at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This morning was quite interesting. I talked to Kim (yes, I'm going to use her name now since I assume most of the people who read this already know) until about 5 in the morning. Afterwards we went to the infamous floor C2 to get some more furniture. Because it was so early in the morning it was a lot easier this time. We managed to get 3 chairs. Afterwards one of my roommates and I got the idea of staying up for breakfast at 7 because we hadn't eaten breakfast at school yet. So we stayed up, kinda... I conked out for half an hour although I thought I had just blinked... must've been a long blink... anyways, it turns 6:50 so we head to the dining hall. To our horror it turns out on Saturday they open at 10am!!! Francis of Ian, if you're reading this don't tell anyone else... we're trying to get Leonard to go next Saturday... anyways, so we ended up walking around outside which was very weird. It was so early there was barely any life out there, in NYC!!! crazy stuff... we ended up eating at the 2nd Ave Deli which was pretty good. I had an omelete. The Weird thing was that instead of hash-browns, I got french fries... it was still good though. I ended up going to bed around 8am and woke up at 3... then I played video games and then ate. That was about half an hour ago. I'm now sitting here...

Posted by Ben at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Liberated my money today by opening a bank account at Washington Mutual... bought two books, Bradbury's Dandelion Wine and Kafka's The Sons, bought George Washington on DVD, borrowed a more comfy chair from the dorm storage area that we "accidently" ended up on...

Posted by Ben at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just got a letter from a friend of mine, she's so awesome, I feel so good right now...

Posted by Ben at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

College is supposed to be a time of challenges in which I'll suffer through hardships and eventually emerge a better person ready to do my share for society. Today was the culmination of one of my very first hurdles. I was being oppressed for something I believed in. Man's right to use the word "hella" and to call pop "pop." WTF, why doesn't anybody here respect the Seattle slang? Words like "clutch" "mad" "wicked" and "phat" are tossed around like it ain't no thang, but the moment "hella" slips from my tongue I get glared at... We had a long discussion about this and many more points of disagreement regarding the way we speak and ended up coming to no sort of resolution. Thus, the battle rages on...

Posted by Ben at 3:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Half way through the day! One class down, one more to go... too bad it's my 4 hour animation class... oh well, it's fun, but 4 hours... agh! That class is over at 9pm after that I'm free!!! I'm going to get so much sleep, but I have to meet Steph's dad tomorrow for lunch so I guess I won't be able to sleep in until like 1 or 2 as I had planned. Oh well.

I think I've been a jerk to certain people lately... not sure, the person probably won't tell me if I was anyways, but I feel bad... kinda ruined my morning, yuck. Oh well. This peanut butter ice cream is cheering me up a little. That's right, I'll just eat my sorrow away.

OMG, I just looked out my window and some guy in the apartments across the street was staring at me. How creepy... I would close the blinds, but then he'd know I was onto him...

Anyways, as I said before, this Beck album rules, thank you Andrew.

I'm still waiting for my bed sheets to arrive in the mail. Waiting for some other stuff from friends anxiously too. I have yet to figure out what time they sort the mail so I check it about five times a day.

Well, I'm going to finish my ice cream now so Peace.

Posted by Ben at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just kinda woke up and need to do some homework before I go to class, but I had to write this. THE NEW BECK ALBUM OWNS!!! hahaha, no it's OWN HELLA, yeah! It sounds nothing like his funky white boy electronic type stuff, basically this is just him his guitar some drummer and his awesome voice. Believe it or not I'm gonna call something coming out of Beck's mouth gorgeous. I'm sure if I played it for people not telling them it's Beck they'd like it, but a lot of people reading this won't listen to it just because they know it's Beck. If you want to give it a listen though the album is called "Sea Changes" not sure if it's out yet so try downloading some tracks.

Speaking of Beck... he's performing in NY on OCT 30th and 31st with the FLAMING LIPS!!! YES!!! My two current musical obssessions, together!!! This owns hella!!! If only Radiohead would join the lineup, oh well... ticket's are $43 and I'm tempted to go both nights, but know I won't.

Ok, I better start my homework now...

Posted by Ben at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Very weird day today... didn't hear a single car honk its horn, heard an ice cream truck outside my window and the weather was gorgeous, but really windy. Overall it was very odd, I'm glad its almost over... anyways, I discovered that the mother from the tv show Pete and Pete teaches here at the school. I don't know what class or even what her name is, but I'll find out eventually.

We've finished reading Plato's Symposium for my Conversations of the West class. Interesting book, it's all about a bunch of really smart guys getting drunk and discussing the nature of love. Today in my recitation for the class we too discussed love and even had to write short little speech thingys about love, I'll keep mine to myself. Also, we didn't get drunk. Anyways, it was a worthwhile read and it only took a day to read so give it a shot sometime. Next up is Oedipus the King which we have to have done by Monday!!! Agh, two books in less then a week this is crazy...

Alright, I haven't really gone to any 9-11 memorial thingys and don't really have any desire too, not because I'm insensitive to the issue or to the people that lost their lives, but what am I going to do there? If you think I'm a jerk or that I should be deported for doing this, please leave me a message and tell me why...

Alright, I'm gonna do something worthwhile for now, I'll write again later tonight, I think...

Posted by Ben at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AGGGH! My Intro to animation homework took me about three and a half hours today! I still have to do my Conversations of the West homework too!!! Aghhhhh! Other then that, my day was great.

Posted by Ben at 11:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm so happy right now it's not even funny :D

Posted by Ben at 2:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The most terrible thing just happened to me... I was sitting in my dorm eating what I thought was Chocolate Fudge Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. I get about half way through the pint then decide it's time to call it quits. I want to slow down my rapid weight loss, not reverse it. Anyways... I put the lid back on and look down only to discover I had just been eating Low Fat Frozen Yogurt! How much worse is this gonna get, Luna Bars, Soy Milk, and now Low Fat Frozen Yogurt... I'm so ashamed of myself...

Posted by Ben at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More things are coming to mind... last night while i was trying to do my laundry I ran out of change. To get quarters I bought two things of lifesavers and a pack of gum. Since they were 50 cents each I got two quarters back everytime. How annoying... Also, I weighed myself while I was in Virginia... I've lost a little over ten pounds in the past month. Woah...

Posted by Ben at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Got back from Virginia, had lots of fun, too much stuff to write about, but Virginia beach is nice except the nasty water. I saw the stars!!! woohoo... Just got back from doing my own laundry, took forever... need to sleep...

Posted by Ben at 1:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just remembered what I had been planning on writing about. It was an experience when Angel and I were lost in D.C. driving around looking for the bus station. We stopped to ask a police officer for directions and as he was explaining how to get there he approached the car awkwardly and was peeking in the back as he was talking to us. I don't know what exactly he was so suspicious about. What a punk. Anyways the directions he gave us weren't even right. He led us to a road that was closed.

Posted by Ben at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Had class this morning... ate pizza for lunch as usual... hmmm... i need more sleep... need to do some homework... Ugly Casanova concert tonight... don't know if I'll be able to go though...

Posted by Ben at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gone to Virginia or Maryland for the weekend, talk to you later...

Posted by Ben at 3:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

just remembered... the fire alarm went off at 4:30 in the morning and we had to evacuate. It happened again at 4:30 in the afternoon too. wtf... how annyoing...

Posted by Ben at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I also saw about 40 NYPD guys on mopeds cruising down Broadway...

Posted by Ben at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today I didn't have class until 12:30 but I also didn't wake up until 12:10 because my alarm had been set for 11:30 PM, ugh... oh well... class was fun... my animation class is really neat... anyways... It's 9:00, class is over and I'm walking home talking to Angel on the phone when suddenly this guy walks by. It's Harrison Ford!!! Actually, I guess it's not that big a deal, but it was neat. I walked right past him because the street wasn't very busy. He was eating a sandwhich and he kind of grinned as he walked by. He probably knew that I had recognized him... yeah, that was neat... Ok, i'm gonna eat my luna bar now...

Posted by Ben at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I picked up the Chomsky Reader today at the NYU Bookstore because I thought it would make me feel smarter. Anyways, in the first paragraph of the introduction I've found a simple explanation as to why ignorance is not bliss especially when it comes to things such as the violation of the rights of people both here in the U.S. and overseas. People like to think those are other people's problems and that if they don't know about it (and in some cases even if they do) everything is fine and dandy. Noam Chomsky is a guy, for those of you that are even more unfamiliar with him then I am, who likes to turn the attention of people toward things like bad foreign policy and attrocities being committed in East Timor and all that good depressing stuff... Here's what I feel is a good explanation as to why ignorance isn't bliss...

"However troubling reality may be, human dignity is not affirmed in fleeing it. Rather, dignity lies in seeing reality for what it is - and acting responsibly in the face of it."

I think that's a pretty good explanation, but I'm sure as I slowly make my way through this book amidst all my other reading I'll come across much more intellectually stimulating ideas... I'll keep you all updated...

Posted by Ben at 9:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Got back from my script writing class (aka Storytelling Strategies) awhile ago. Watched the movie Sullivan's Travels today. It was alright, good script which is why I guess we watched it... Here's the list of movies we're going to be watching in that class...

Sullivan's Travels
Breaking the Waves (yes!)
Edward Scissorhands (yes!!)
The Butcher Boy (yes!!!)
Cocteau's version of Beauty and the Beast (don't know much about it, but yes!!!! anyways)
Ordinary People
Badlands (WOOHOO!!! I love this movie...)
Midnight Cowboy (yes!!!!!)

very exciting stuff...

here's the reading list for the class

The Tools of Screenwriting
Story Sense
Poetics by Aristotle
Oedipus the KIng by Sophocles

and we also have to read the following scripts

The Verdict
The Fisher King
Rosemary's Baby (yes!)
American Beauty
Thelma and Louise

Geez, lots of reading this semester in my classes and I have yet to go to English class...

Posted by Ben at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just got back from my first class which started at 9:30, it's now 11:00. I had to go there on a little under five hours of sleep, but it's ok... It was my Conversations of the West class. I think it's going to involve a LOT of reading. I'm supposed to have Plato's Symposium done by next Wednesday I think and we're gonna be cruising through a bunch of other books too. All but three of the books I listed on my reading list in a previous entry are for this class. So that's eleven books by December and these are tough books too... and you know what? I'm actually excited in a very nerdy way, oh well...

The class was at the Cantor Film Center which is really neat. Movie posters all over the place and lots of high tech gizmos in the class room. The room was actually a lecture hall/theater which was cool and it had a special white board you could write on and it would show up on the big screen, how cooooool.

Anyways...

I have two more classes today from 4:55 to 9:00... I'm kinda tired so I'm gonna take a nap.
Bye.

Posted by Ben at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was pretty eventful.

It started with a Dean's Welcome where the Dean talked to us and introduced all the head chairs. Of course while introducing the head chairs two weren't present, one being Spike Lee. bummer, oh well...

Well anyways, the whole thing was kinda cool. They showed us examples of work done by past students. The musical theatre thing was really cool and they showed us a short made by the guy who wrote Election which was pretty good.

I also bought some stuff today. I bought two deathcab for cutie cds at Kim's music store. Which is also one of the best videostores in NY, and that was coming from one of the Cinema Studies professors. Well I went there and was frankly dissapointed. The name of the store, the indie look everything is great, but the selection... ugh... I miss Scarecrow video. Now that I've visited other "great" videostores I realize how great Scarecrow is. Dang... oh well, I'll be back there in December, phew...
I also bought the movie "Jules and Jim" there.
a
Afterwards I didn't do much. We had a floor meeting, woohoo...

I just got back from dinner with my roommate. We had pizza and this place called Mariella Pizza Restaurant. Mmmm, only $2.90 for pizza and pop too. It was so great the whole place felt so New York right down to people huddled around a TV watching a Yankees game and what looked like a mob deal going down in the corner. No Joke. The pizza was pretty good but I'm sure I'll find better places as I continue to explore. I've yet to try what is supposed to be a really great burrito place downstairs. Probably won't compare to Gorditos though...

Hmmm, what else. I just heard a lady screaming outside... sirens... I can see people across the street in another apartment complex type thingy. It's like having an Edward Hopper painting outside my window. No naked people yet though...

Oh crap... I have to do laundry soon, how fun. Ok, nothing else to say. Class starts tomorrow. I have to wake up at 8:30, yuck, and my last class ends at 9:00pm, yuck yuck. I also need to find a train ticket down to Union Station in Virginia for over the weekend... hmmm so much to do. Oh crap, I have to set up a bank account and change the number on my cell phone too. sheesh...

Posted by Ben at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This entry and the following two will only say "..." the reason for this is because I accidently posted the above entry 4 times because livejournal was being slow. So here I go...

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Posted by Ben at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Posted by Ben at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Posted by Ben at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well I'm back from camp bug byte. It was actually kind of enjoyable, but it was two nights, not just one night as I had anticipated. I was in a crew of 5 guys and we had to make a one minute romantic comedy all in one take. How fun... through making this 60 sec film and viewing those of all the other students I've concluded one thing... most of these kids don't have an artistic bone in their body and only got into the school because they took video production at their fancy private schools... oh well, not everyone is like that so I'll live. As long as I'm not stuck helping someone make the latest Matrix rip off I'll live. I did meet some pretty cool people though so I guess it was kinda of worth it, but I can't say I'm not happy being back in my dorm. I need food... the food there was easily the worst camp food I've ever had. Alright, not much else to say for now... I'll be back later.

Posted by Ben at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)