This is why I left the Hamptons. Homecoming.

Current Mood: Entertained

I'm juggling a few things right now, but here's a look into my life.

I'm coming home for the first time in a long time. The thing is, this time I'm by myself. I'm getting to do the whole routine that Omair did. Going to other countries, hangin' out, doin' it big. I wonder if I'll do it right. It looks good right now. I've got my heart set on something good. Lets see what comes from it.

Thoughts of: Washington D.C.

It's SUPER clean
The hobo scene is much more relaxed than other cities
Attire is for comfort and work, but style is still important. The majority of people still look as if their clothing is from a dept. store, but that's to be expected.
The area is quaint. Not nearly as busy as NYC today, but it's Sunday.

Washington is nice. It's very classy, while at the same time maintaining a very function-based living and working environment for its constituents. At this point, all I'm trying to do is put things into perspective. Today is Sunday, it's a day to unwind for most-- Those 9-5's can be killer. The people seem nice. Not standoffish as most some New Yorkers are. Hopefully I don't become to jaded there. The population is a decent mix of black, white, and other, but all of the homeless that I've seen are black. Figures. They're generally more outspoken. If there were white hobos, I'm sure they would be asking for money too, but they're too proud sometimes. More news on the homeless scene as I explore tomorrow.
If my Apple job falls through, I think that I may just come here and enjoy D.C. until I go to school. Going back to Memphis seems like it'll be extremely hard. These three days away have given me a lot to think about, and ironically, time to think about it. Memphis life is such a routine. I'm sick of it. Really. It's not my type of life.
Well, I'm on the train into M.D. right now. Gotta try and get a hold of family to pick me up, but the subways are preventing that >.<. I'll update soon. Peace(maker).

EN WHY CEE

Current Mood: Excited :D

So here I sit, in front of Trump Tower, ogling my future home. The city of lights, the big apple, New York City. It's something I would never have imagined in my wildest dreams, but here I am.

The trip here was particularly entertaining. Not the whole airplane deal, but getting here from the airport. I decided that taking a taxi would be a waste of my limited spending money, so I decided to simply take the bus. I knew I had a few dollars left on my bus/train card, and thank G-d I brought it. I hopped on the train and quickly met a nice African man that helped me find my destination. He simply said, “Follow me,” and I did.

We were on the M60 bus, traveling from La Guardia all the way to Harlem, which is quite possibly one of the most entertaining places in the city. To me, it was a bustling thoroughfare of relaxed (and sometimes rigid) respect where every interaction is a match of wits and a game of the mind. The look in the man's face told me a lot about the area that we were in. It said, “If you know what's good for you, you'll remain chill. Don't fuck with anyone, and you won't get fucked with. If conversation does begin, act chill, be yourself.”

The people on the bus were hardened by their work, and seemed to love every minute of the commute home, to poverty or riches-- whatever the case, they were jolly. People laughed, people sang. But then, there was a disturbance.

A grim looking man came in and surveyed the crowded bus. We were already placed like Tetris blocks, with spaces few and far between in the crowd. He must have been that perfect piece, in an ironic sort of way, because when he came on, he exploded. He accosted the woman next to him, accusing her of a most dastardly act-- touching him.

He stood there, shouting obscenities and speaking quite poorly about her, taking every advantage to show his dominance in the situation. He continued to berate the woman for quite some time, and she began to fan her hand at him, a lame attempt to make him stop. This did nothing but add fuel to his fire. This is when the true extent of his tirade surfaced. He was quite witty indeed, naming all of her flaws and establishing that if she wanted to act “tough and gangster” around him, she should only expect the same. Luckily, the man's stop came soon, and he mumbled and muttered to himself as he dismounted the bus.

At this point, we were getting deep into Harlem, and the streets began to fill with wonder. Shop signs advertising solutions for the world's problems lined the sidewalks, inviting any and all onlookers, to come and do business with them. Men and women in their traditional garb discussed who know what as they mingled atop the asphalt. Car horns, voice, music, and even the steps of the people filled the air to create the symphony that flooded my ears. At that point, I thought to myself, this is my home.

My friends have just arrived to pick me up, and we're in the mood to have some fun tonight. I will report on this fun and more on my next checkup. Until then, peace(maker).

Listening to: Harlem.

Finding Memphis.

Current mood: Exploratory?

I finally found a decent diner in Memphis. Actually, it's in Germantown, so we're still in the 'burbs, but I like it. Feels nice. Not crowded, good service-- Natural. I'm going to work today at 5, but I've been pretty productive. I took my brother's car to the shop, picked up my own; I went on a long bike ride (where I found really awesome places to hang out); I thought about the direction of my life and how I'll use Columbia to reach that goal (I'm leaning towards following an Applied Math major and becoming an activist of some sort. Applied Math: Gov't maybe); Went home; Did some crunches and took an awesome shower; Ate cheerios; Watched Obama's speech on healthcare/edu, Played games with my little brother; and Now I'm about to meet up with John and hang out before work. My burger just came, so I'll update later. Peace (Rhythms).

Listening to: Diner Music

A Look into my Musical Taste

iTunes Listing <--- Click Here!

This is a service I found that allows people to share listings of their iTunes libraries online. This can facilitate mixtape creation, and hopefully I can take advantage of this next year with my (hopeful) radio show at Columbia.

Enjoy!

Ethiopian Family Dynamic.

Current Mood: Anxious.

Saturday evening will be a big day in my life. It is my senior graduation party, and it's kind of a milestone, I think. People have come from all around the world, just to see me? It's interestingly curious why they came to see me in particular. I'm an Ivy League boy? I'm a funny person? I'm family? Whatever the reason, I like it.

There is nothing quite as curious as an Ethiopian family eating food together. Family at the table have traveled all over the world: India (most recently), Berlin and all of Europe, China, Mexico, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Dubai, Canada, France, Italy, etc. Crazy culture lies deep within the bones of these folks, and they're all crowded around me, waiting to hear me speak, watching my every move, looking to me for guidance. That's a lot of weight if you ask me. I love making them happy, and I guess this is their payment for that. I'm excited for the graduation party. It will signify my separation from my family and moving into my new existence, essentially, becoming independent, and becoming a man. This ceremony trumps the graduation ceremony that has been trivialized by tickets, odd speeches, and black folks hootin' and hollerin' to get everyone to notice their baby. I'm glad to hear from Nelson though. His speech is gonna bring people to tears, promise. I'll document! That's why I made this thing. Not only to inform my readers of my progression through life, but to remind myself that I am changing quickly, and that I need to simmer down sometimes. I hope I don't bore anyone.

I'm working on a few projects at the moment. I changed my cross stitch from a gift to a postcard. I'm gonna send it to a girl I hope to visit in the near future that isn't having such a good time right now it seems. I did get the chance to talk to Wendi Thomas from the Commercial Appeal today. She killed me on Twitter. Also I have to remind myself to e-mail Stan Bell back.

Today I went to work @ 12:14. I was very late, but Mrs. Chang kind of pardoned me. She was mad though, because she had to go somewhere. I went inside and rushed to make the many drinks that I was needed for. I worked really hard today, and none of the people in the kitchen had to stop cooking because I was on the dishes like clean on dem forks, heck yeah. I love working @ Changs.

The bubble tea of the day:

Green Mango!

I love it. I love it. I love it. It's so sour, yet so good for the summer. Hazelnut is out :'( Sanket will be very angry.

Well, it's late, and I'm reading this C++ book for another project. I'm gonna buy a microprocessor and make this robot that I've been meaning to make. Either the robot will display tweets somewhere large in my room, or it'll tweet by itself every 12 hours and I'll get people to send it around the country. Schematics, Source Code, Pictures, and Videos coming mad soon.

Also, I need to work on playing the ukulele often, play WoW/D2, go to work, run, work out, get my license, continue blogging/facebooking/twittering, start praying often, eat more at home and spend more time here. I think I've got this. Now let's wrap this up with some music.

Listening to: Henrietta - The Fratellis

Very, VERY Good Night.

Current Mood - Bittersweet.

So last night was the culmination of months upon months of planning and maybe years of anticipation. It was my senior prom. But before I can tell you about the night, I must speak of the daytime.

Yesterday started as such: I woke up at 8, got dressed, and headed over to Woodland Hills, the venue for our prom. There, myself, along with all the other members of the SPPC ([Semi] Secret Prom Planning Committee), setup the decorations we've been working on since the first semester this school year. It was long, tedious, and expensive, but all in all, I think we did the absolute best job we could have. I'm really sad I don't have pictures to share with you guys, but if I do chance upon some pictures of our arrangement, I will share.

Next, I went home to prepare for prom. I cleaned out my brothers absolutely disgusting car, filled it with gas, came home, showered, ate, and got dressed, all within the span of an hour and a half. I felt quite accomplished, but then I remembered one thing: I completely forgot about the corsage. I made the appropriate phone calls, took pictures with my mother, and sped off to East Memphis to get the corsage. After getting it, I met up with Fadi and headed over to MRI's house to take part in one of the silliest parts of the "prom experience", the photo shoot.

This photo-op consisted of men and women representing the majority of each individual's family taking photos. This process could be simple. One person, preferably with a nice camera, takes a picture of the group/couple and sends the respective pictures to the respective families. But no. Everyone gets whatever cameras are on hand takes as many pictures as possible. Silly, no?

After that, we went to a nice restaurant by the name of Owen Brennan's. 'twas very delicious, and we all had a lot of fun talking and playing telephone at the table. One funny result: "Raptor Claw Central loves Peacemaker's Rhythm" turned into "Raptor's Claw Country loves Method Man" or something of that nature. Tee hee.

Despues de cena, we messed around for a little bit and headed over to prom. That's where the fun began. We walked in, and to my surprise, the party was already pretty pumpin'. I voted for King and Queen (Steve and Chantella respectively) and went on to revel in the party. The "Stanky Legg" was on as we walked in, but we only caught the tail end of it. Sad. But all was well when it came on again later that night. I found Alex and we Stanky Legg'd together.

The night continued, and we danced, danced, danced. What really made it great was seeing Fadi immersing himself in the night. Each ghetto song got it's proper treatment as he fizzled all through the night. Mad props.

So as the night came to a close, and I changed out of my sweat drenched clothes, the gravity of the night began to hit me, in more ways than one. First, I was beat. Waking up so early to decorate, then running around all day to get ready, topped off by some serious crumping (lol)? Needless to say, I was mad tired. Second, I had realized that last night was by far the best night I've had all year. I was with all of my friends, there was minimal drama, and I got to dance. There really isn't more I could have asked for.

I do hope that this summer is filled with experiences like this. Prom, for me, was significant for a lot of reasons. It was the culmination of many months of planning; it was the successful actualization of planning; and it was amazingly fun. Hopefully I can ride on this wave of success and give some of my other plans the attention they need. And to my readers, I hope the same for you. It has always been a hobgoblin of mine that my plans never come to fruition. As my school counselor said her recommendation letter: "He's sometimes too scatterbrained and gets distracted. Hopefully this is simply a problem that will be solved with age." Maybe I'll grow up this summer ;)

That's it for this installation. Hope everyone enjoyed it. Until the next murmor.

Listening to: "Got a Thing on my Mind" - Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

Quick Post

Currently: Awesome :D

I don't have much time, but just a quick update on the week/weekend.

• Done with AP exams, just working on random projects.
• I got my Columbia E-mail address: raa2148@columbia.edu
• Friday night was fun: CK's at Midnight
• Saturday night: Partied at Jehls, then CK's again. :p

I'll update you guys on projects and the like soon, but for now, I'm off to work!

Also, check this out. Just let it load and press play. You'll definitely enjoy this.

http://soytuaire.labuat.com/

Listening to: Fallin' - Asher Roth