polaroid is back!

both in production and in me taking them. its good all around.

happy halloween.

who would you choose to be

if you could go anywhere?

one of those open ended questions meant to make you think. popped in my head recently. in class on thursday my previous upstairs neighbor from walsh named valerie wynn was there. she was giving a speech on behalf of TeachForAmerica as she apparently is their student representative at Fordham. Back to that in a second. The reason i know this person enough to know where she lived last year was because I met her when she was working with the Breast Cancer Benefit concert in Mcginley last year which would be TSRJs first show. She was helping to arrange the whole thing and spoke at the first Walsh get-together/meeting for residents in the basement which is A. how we found out about it, and the B. how we went on to ask and then utilize said basement for the remainder of the year as our practice space.

Now a year later (a little more, I guess) she comes into my class, having had my professor -Dr. McKay - because she is a Psych minor - and speaks about this opportunity. Now maybe you have heard of TeachForAmerica before but I hadn't. And all of a sudden im totally hooked by the idea. I guess I just have the good fortune of running into/intersecting paths with Ms. Wynn. I am now planning on applying to their program for the Jan. deadline. I know it is extremely competitive and I have very little chance but when you apply you can apply for a specific city, type of place, or 'send me anywhere'. I think I both want to, and would be betting my chances, by selecting the last of those options.

Which brings me back to that opener - the idea of going somewhere totally on my own with this opportunity for 2 years sounds pretty exciting. Sure I'll be making crap money by comparison to alot of people entering the working world, but a teacher's salary and grad school paid for is alot more than I think i am realistically looking at - so I am going for it and hoping for the best.

Do you like my jack-o-lanterns and sam-o-lantern in the middle?

carving

i carved my pumpkins today. i think overall they turned out great. once i get those mini candles to put in them ill post pictures. for now:

this is a cool tree one of my roommates pointed out today. i didnt have enough time to back up and got too close to get the whole thing in. maybe eventually ill try again.

i really need to carve my pumpkins

had a cool idea (relatively speaking) about using my 3 pumpkins which are comprised of 2 small ones and 1 big one between them into some kinda World Series-centric carvings. One yankees one phillies and then some kinda World Series thing in the middle/on the big one. Too corny?

Either way I need to carve them soon. Part of me wants to go all out - use one of those stencils and make a sweet face, the other part of me just wants to go traditional jack-o-lantern face. (partially because i dont have the tools to do anything too complicated).

need to get my horror movie on over the next few days too. think ill start tomorrow night after game 2 and watch a solid halloween horror flick and carve some pumpkins. thatll kick off this halloweekend well.

cheers.

registering

even thought is is senior year and i only have one semester to go there are still so many classes that i am interested in. i have 3 spaces open and i have 14 classes i find interesting on some level and thats just within psychology. i didnt even look at anything else.

by the way - john Q and the negotiator are very very very similar movies. although to their credit in the negotiator they turn off the heat for the building, and in john q its the air conditioning.
am i knocking them? maybe - but when one of them comes on TNT im glued for 3 hours.

it really was a nice day

my room is starting to make me look like a crazy person

yum, indeed

something to note

while this might not be entirely true i came to notice that most of the time, the pictures that end up taking place within the walls of this apt are usually because i didnt leave my apt much, if at all, that day. typically they will fall on a day off or a weekend day when theres just nothing going on. whether the picture i take was what i would have taken that day or not - it was still something i noticed.

dollhouse was probably at its best ever (aired eps of course - epitaph one is an unfair comparison) tonight and of course it ends with - returning in december...6 weeks! what is this the first two seasons of lost?! for a show that airs friday nights - you dont need to give people more reasons to stop tuning in. this is a major blow, in my opinion, to a show that saw a pick up in ratings last week due to the quality of the ep and is bound to have the same this week only to go silent for 6 weeks. its hard to keep the momentum when you do that.

white collar premiered tonight and i will absolutely be tuning in again. this show, while just kinda the last act of catch me if you can extended into a full series, is clever because, well - its got so much of what was great character wise from that movie - the lead just feels so crafty and clever while managing to be an extremely likeable character. the supporting cast while not bad hasnt done much else other than the detective/partner who has great chemistry. i hope this show stays on par.

ok thats enough.

(just off to the right of this picture of the book i got today, which is truly amazing and a cool tri-fold design, is a slice of cake with funfetti icing on it that i am about to dig in to - yum)

when websites break

while twitter is absolutely the biggest culprit of this it seems like recently i have been running into alot of sites that just go offline without warning or are 'too bogged down - come back later'. its funny how much of an impact, especially with twitter, these minor hiccups can be for some people. anyway its late and now after the point where this will count for today and will come up as tomorrow but let the record show that i was here when i mattered and the internet failed me.

today was probably the last day for a long time where the temp will break 75 deg. should have spent it on eddies.

centenarian

today marks the 100th blogpost here at aptsonblmnt. surprising! i dont think id have ever gotten to 100 posts without this breadcrumb project both in that it has given me a reason to continue posting regularly and that it has increased the number of posts i make by a crazy percentage.

so today was the field trip and guess what - i should have packed a lunch. especially since i did not have enough time for breakfast. either way it was a beautiful day - and given the past week's worth of weather - we got lucky. had this been last week the kids would have been bundled, the ground would have been muddy, and that just makes it less enjoyable, keeping the kids from getting irritable or covered in mud would have overshadowed the day.

instead it was warm enough that alot of kids even left their coats on the bus. we had a tour guide who was basically a 65 year old white woman who was probably not paying attention to the age of the kids based on her delivery and questions - she was asking the kids how many stomachs do cows have and other questions that 4 year olds dont know nor do they care to learn about. regardless the kids got to hold chinese chickens, see a peacock (who was too stubborn to open up), ride ponies, go on a hay ride, get pumpkins, and see a bunch of other animals.

when i wasnt watching bags or taking pictures for the teachers i tried to nab a picture of them all together - one of them came out - and a few others i got a chance to take when the kids were all mesmorized by some animals enough that we didnt have to hold their hands to make sure no one wandered off.

after today id rather go there daily then have to go to class, but alas.

sometimes things just stand out

ever see something that just catches your eye? something about this today just stood out to me other than the obvious 'this doesn't belong here'. the whole of this - it and its surroundings just looked interesting.

going on a field trip with the kids to the petting zoo tomorrow. no the wife isn't coming (very clever, claire). excited - though thanks to one of my roommates i know am questioning - do i pack a lunch?

somethings just need to be seen...

having worked at a produce farm that is, for all intensive purposes, outside - for 4 or 5 years i can tell you that i have seen some pretty horrible things as far as food goes. sometimes a piece of fruit will fall under a bin in the store and remain there for a few weeks, sometimes unexpectedly your fingers will go right through a tomatoes that only afterwards, you realize is half black and fuzzy. sometimes you might pick up a watermelon that feels closer to water than melon and before you can process that it has burst and now it looks like you have brain matter covering you from head to foot. and dont even get me started on the smell. nausea is to kind a word...

that being said - and while it isnt rank or dank or gag worthy it was still surprising to find the pack of english muffins this morning looking rather, well, teal. no this isnt the fruity pebbles version - i promise you that those muffins were once white, and now - after no photo alteration are green. needless to say it wins for my picture of the day.

p.s. - its getting warmer

let's talk triple digits

i like movies, you hadn't noticed?

i made up a list today of the movies that have come out in 2009 that i have seen. sure sure im a nerd or a loser or i have too much time on my hands - im not gonna deny any of those. but among those as reasons i did it i also did it because people will ask you from time to time - what was your favorite movie this year (typically in nov or dec) or they might say after you've seen a movie that you reacted very positively to - was that your favorite movie this year...etc. in most cases its hard to remember every movie you have seen in the past 9 months even if the list isnt terribly long. same thing goes for albums - after 12 months its hard to remember everything that came out.

so i found a list of releases from this year by week - which is why this list seems to be in no apparent order. i, at the same time, have a separate list of movies that came out that i wanted to see but didnt get a chance to - that list is almost triple in length - not saying there were almost 100 great movies to come out this year - there are definitely some questionables on that list - but some interest = on the list.

what i've seen from 09:
1.)Taken
2.) Coraline
3.) Friday the 13th
4.) Watchmen
5.) Knowing
6.) Adventureland
7.) Lymelife
8.) Observe & Report
9.) Up
10.) The Brothers Bloom
11.) The Hangover
12.) Moon
13.) The Hurt Locker
14.) Public Enemies
15.) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
16.) 500 Days of Summer
17.) Inglourious Basterds
18.) Halloween II
19.) Paranormal Activity
20.) Zombieland
21.) Trick r Treat
22.) Where The Wild Things Are

not sure what my favorite movie or top 3 or what ever are yet - but at least i'll have an easier time figuring it out.

the last piece

and there's nothing more, period.

fort

build destroy rebuild

title tonight reflects, well i guess life and society but i wasn't attempting to be deep. it more is in regard to my picture of the day. whether it is clear or not that is 4 separate posters from the living room, hallway, and bedroom - all of which have fallen in the past few days. aside from one of the posters - these others are frequent fliers as in they frequently fly, or i guess fall off the walls. there isnt anything different about these posters in their size or weight to cause them to fall more often than the others but no matter how much sticky blue stuff i put on them they just come tumbling back down - sort of like the boulder that greek god got stuck trying to push up the hill (if i was smarter i might know his name).

so if you read this blog semi-often you may have caught a post i made a little over a week ago - it was the picture of my clinical psych text book. i posted this after taking my first test/exam of the semester which was in that class. that class, i thought, had kicked my ass and caught me off guard. i considered the benefits of making it pass fail which ultimately was nixed because of the time constraint with the deadline being the day after i considered this option and i was going home first thing in the morning that day. well a few days later (aka today) we get back our tests but before we do the teacher decides to 'brief us on the subject because he's learned otherwise it induces panic' - not a good start. turns out he curves the test and i didnt do badly at all. sure it still kicked my ass and without the curve id be questioning my decision to not make it pass fail - but the surprise bell curve changed my dread into anticipation - especially since after his curve breakdown - the lowest grade a person would get was a C.

so - thanks to my lack of awareness of fordham's deadlines and my frequent travels home i was able to walk out of class today feeling quite happy that this class will effect my GPA (at least for now).

october means...

...well lots of things. from candy corn and jelly beans, to costumed witches and pirate thieves. colder weather, fallen leaves, lets not forget some of these...


sure its corny and childish, but thats what halloween is about. you could smother it with a billion horror movies that have nothing to do with the holiday other than being scary and it will still, at heart, be about being a kid - the excitement of finally getting to wear that costume, and walk door to door seeing all the spooky people and places. and well, the candy. can't forget the candy.

this is a holiday that is almost entirely meant kids (now, atleast)- sure college students are able to have themed parties and w/e but halloween is associated with candy and trick 'r treating. and in a way its an excuse for adults to still harness the kid in them - when else is acceptable for adults to dress up in costumes? (okay okay - in public).

i almost made a fort today in my apt. maybe tomorrow.

fordham is popular

well at least to hollywood. or maybe not even so. for those who don't know - oliver stone's Wall Street 2 starting Shia and Michael Douglas is wrapping its filming on Fordham's campus tomorrow and has been here all weekend.

At first I thought to myself - wasn't it just 6 months ago that another movie was filming on Fordham's campus for a few days? Is this just a great place to shoot 'esteemed lecture' scenes? But wait, wasn't Michael Douglas in the one shot here last year?

Maybe he really liked something about Keating Hall and passed along some set photos to Oliver and co. and that's the real reason they are here. Not sure, still cool though.

Also - walked past a bunch of the crew and some extras when coming back to the Bronx tonight over by Ohare. Realized that if I were Warren I would have bumped into someone important, either in the crew or one of the main actors, totally by accident, and something would have come out of it that would result in no less than a 30 minute story about such an encounter (one you'd assume to be exaggerated if you didn't know Warren better). But alas all i got was this picture to verify this filming taking place here.

sometimes dreams can be cruel

ever have those dreams that are too real until, well, you wake up - and they're not? more importantly ever have them and they're overwhelming positive - you are living some dream - rich, on tour, or even just have gotten something cool - any way out - in the dream there is just this surreal positive emotion existing?

how cruel is it to wake up and have that all taken away? how many times have you caught yourself trying to fall back to sleep into the same dream? or have you ever sat there and as quickly as the reality of the day sets in - the details of the memory fade - the general idea might be there but the events, names, - they're all fading?

had one of those today - i was legitimately disappointed.

the cardinals have been eliminated and the phillies playoff game was cancelled due to weather. no it wasn't raining - it was 20 degrees and ended up snowing later that day. are we sure it's still baseball season?

(image today is of the sun setting behind the hill of Pete's Produce Farm - yes 'that' farm that i work(ed) at)

do you think it's weird...

..as an actor or actress to be in a death scene? Maybe for the actor or actress it isnt as weird because they performed it and with the context of all that goes into that scene - it blurs any significance away but maybe, then, for people close to them - parents, children, close friend - to watch someone you know dying on screen? Just something that came to mind today...

Weloveyouso.com is running a contest right now for a customized Xbox360. To win said contest you submit a photo of a self made fort. You know the kind you used to make in your house using blankets, and sheets, pillows, etc - and how the carpet and bedding surrounding you could become something vast and indescribable - a secret world within your own home. Of all the contests out there as marketing efforts for movies, albums, shows, etc I really like this one - and sure I am biased by who is behind it - but the idea of getting people my age or older, presumably, to build a child-like fort just seems like a great prompt - what's to lose? at the end of it, for the 99% of those who enter - they spent a day building and being in a fort - something they probably wouldnt be doing on their own the rest of their lives (doing it with your kids only half counts because it is probably their idea and you are just helping).

ice cream is not a meal

lesson learned - chocolate fudge brownie for dinner = too much for my digestive system to handle. hoping this passes soon. ouch.

in other news im going home...again...
i do love going home and i dont like to say that previous statement with the apprehension i seem to be saying it with because i like home its just that this is the third time i will be going home and its becoming routine and in my senior year thats not something you want to be doing.

i am in the process of buying my midnight release ticket for WTWTA - if you know me then you are not surprised at all and maybe even just rolled your eyes. no worries - for you - the movie is out in one week and maybe then ill stop obsessing...maybe.

not going to apologize for it, though - i love this story and im not alone in it or in the excitement for this movie although the excitement that has been bubbling for the past 18 months with a picture here, a set update there and then finally the trailer last spring has the down side of ending with the release and while i am thrilled it is finally here, i have enjoyed the ride so much that i'll admit it is a shame to be losing out on that. i hope that weloveyouso.com still continues as its a site i have come to check daily for the 3 or 4 posts they have - usually infrequently regarding the film specifically. through them i have found a few bands, other blog sites, a few artists, and some foundations - and i hope that it continues for all of those aspects.

do yourself a favor and go ask tom murphy (or pat) for a copy of their cd. they are giving them away and its very good.

peace!

seasons greetings

while that is typically associated with one specific holiday/time of the year it is not barred from being applied elsewhere. as such - i love Halloween and today i am really in the halloween mood/mind set and so i am adopting said phrase to apply to the fall/halloween season.

i need a pumpkin

started compiling a list of must-watch movies for this month. after last night's film - Trick 'r Treat i started reflecting on how little or few horror movies actually have anything to do with Halloween. There is the obvious Halloween franchise and last nights movie and then Sleepy Hollow. But for the most part horror movies have nothing to with this holiday. This was slightly disappointing to focus on because after last night I am craving more films that are about or take place on Halloween. Anyway - i started compiling a list including the 3 i listed above and then, since the list of Halloween related films (at least ones i know of) ends there I started including classics and other ones i think would just fit the mood. anyway here is my list:

movies for halloween:
trick r treat
halloween
blair witch
saw
shaun of the dead
dawn of the dead
sleepy hollow
nightmare on elm street
the shining
the exorcist

i left movies i havent seen like poltergeist, rosemary's baby, and the evil dead films because i dont know if i would include them having not seen them.

so these are the movies i will be watching between now and october 31st.

a one, a two, a one-weeeyuuuu

mike bought a tamborine today. now that song is stuck in my head. no complaints here.

a brief update from the weekend - my aunt came this weekend as did alex. band practice friday went much better than last time and in general went really well - i was less concerned and actually having a blast. got to the city a few times - saw the Milkmaid at the MET got two delicious meals (Virgils - BBQ, Becco - Italian). Always can count on eating well when my aunt visits. Had my first test of the semester in clinical and it was...well it was not what i would have expected from a multiple choice exam but im sticking with the 'get 'em next time' motto.

moving on...
A website I read and have probably referenced on here before is called SlashFilm (www.slashfilm.com). It is a movie blog site that is mainly movie news about new scripts, actors signing onto projects, updates on movies being filmed, etc. Every so often the site will post in movie related subjects but not in news format. Yesterday site moderator Peter Sciretta prompted 'What is your favorite scene from a movie?' Now if you know me you know that favorite is too final and too difficult for me to pick and the best i can do for even favorite movie is give you a few hyopthetical 'top 5' picks - always leaving a few slots open for whatever I can currently name. Peter's favorite scene from a movie: Tiny Dancer - Almost Famous. (if you think to yourself - that's not a scene it's a song - then you havent seen the movie to know what I mean). I have to admit - classic scene and one of my favorite movies from Fordham.

So I thought a bit about this, and while it hasn't been more than an hour since I read the prompt (I am behind on my slashfilm reading) I can at least offer a few others that were mentioned in the comments or that came to mind -

Where is my mind - Fight Club closing scene
End monologue - American history X
Climax - The Fountain
the world series - one flew
final scene - eternal sunshine
lunch with ma - requiem for a dream

I am sure I have forgotten some favorites of mine. I am going to think about this tomorrow and maybe add in some others next time I post but I wanted to throw this out there - for you few who read my blog - what scenes do you recall best - that leave you as shocked or as comforted or as crushed as you have ever felt while watching a movie - which ones are most imprinted in your minds - ones you can recall all the words or the ones you stop what you are doing every time to watch? (even if it's the rain kiss from the notebook, that's ok - wrong, but ok)

Picture today is of a tree right around the Subway (restaurant not transportation) on Fordham Road after Bathgate. This street from bathgate to which ever street has the light down by the metro and library entrance for Fordham's campus is lined with trees but somehow this tree seems to have lost a piece of itself.

you got the best of me today...

i ate well this weekend

a good place to get out of the rain

toxic waste spotted in the bronx

this week's number is 3