So I guess we're scrapping departments.

I read an interesting article about Fiction Writing department at Columbia earlier this morning. Like tuition, this is just one of the dozens of issues facing this college as we move to the end of the year. As for tuition, I don't want to pay more next year, but considering there is a 3.6% decrease in income. We're also not moving at the same rate inflation is moving. Then there's the president's salary. I understand that the head of an institution that deals with the 12,000 students here, there is going to be a high income. But the fact that President Carter is making as much as President Obama ($400,000), is pretty ridiculous. Not to mention in 2009, he received a $45,000 bonus. This doesn't take into account some of the other people in the higher administration positions here. If we're looking for a place to take money from to pay for faculty to continue to teach, it should be pretty easy to figure out how to do that.

Walking through the city of Rome

Walking down the streets of Rome, there is a familiar yet foreign smell of freshly baked goods. I can smell the sweet fragrance of bread that is not yet an hour old. The ancient cobblestones beneath my feet create a sound similar to that of a horse’s hooves as I amble on. The sights of centuries old buildings overtake the horizon and stretch out for miles. The peeling paint on plaster makes everything feel as old as the city that has existed for more than a millennia.  The red tiled roofs above each building creates a sense of uniformity seen throughout the city. The sound of the old Italian men shouting their wares is not brash against my ears, but calming as I feel like I’ve been transported into the ancient city at the time of its height long ago. I wish to actually visit this city, now that I have this image in my head.

I'm sick and everything sucks

So I've been extremely ill this week and to make matters worse, apparently my loop mail doesn't work to actually send email to any of my professors. (I sent three emails this week and so far, I have received no responses. I asked two of my professors and neither of them said they received anything). Although, I guess I can look on the bright side because I'm not the only one who is sick. Three of my dear friends have all had similar ailments; fever, vertigo, nausea and dizziness coupled with insomnia. It's fantastic really.

The best part about this week has to be taking an exam with a fever. Honestly though, nothing is more enjoyable than trying to use my brain when it feels like someone is driving a nail in the small gap between my eyes. On the bright side, we graded them in class and it looks like I did really well.

However, to make matters even better, one of my dear friends is coming in this weekend and she wants to see me. Problem is I have a ton of work to do this weekend including studying for two exams in classes I'm already lost in.

It does get better though, my de facto roommate is bringing a few friends from where he's friend in this weekend so I'll probably lose my spot on the couch I have so dearly called my home for the past while. This means sleeping in my real room which now reeks of pot because my asshole of a roommate decided it'd be a good idea to blatantly smoke pot in my room now that I'm gone most of the time. Clearly my "don't smoke that shit in here or around me" speech I gave him has done wonders. He had the nerve to ask me if he could get rid of my bed last week. I do believe I am turning into a text book case of someone who has gone insane via art school. Eh, I guess I broke the golden rule of "no personal drama". Oh well, I consider this acceptable because he or one of his friends stole my iPod recently.

Good news for me though. I've booked my spring break flight home as well as another flight for Easter weekend. I do hope some quality time at home will work wonders for me.

I just finished re-reading the Communist Manifesto as well as Antichrist, probably the only benefit from being sick for the past week and lacking the ability to sleep. The reading for class has inspired me to actually crack open the second and third book of the Hunger Games series, as I've purchased them in hard copy but have neglected to actually read them. Hopefully that will be this weekend's source of entertainment if I am still too ill to attend any sort of social gathering.

I've been listening to a bunch of "new" music recently. I put new in quotes because most of the music I've downloaded as of late is music I used to listen to. So far it's been mostly crust/thrash punk from the 80s and 90s. The nice part about this music is that most of it can be downloaded for free directly from the artist, something that is pretty rare with music today.

I also discovered a Bon Iver piano/low key session between Justin Vernon and his drummer Sean Carey. I also discovered Sean Carey has a solo album and it is quite remarkable. Worth checking out in my opinion. (Bon Iver Video)

I met another musician who actually wants to make music which is pretty sweet. I guess the whole "make your creative posse" thing is actually working.

I certainly hope this, for all intensive purposes, is a sufficient blog post.

I recently picked up Disambiguation on vinyl. This is the band Underøath's seventh studio album and the second in my collection of their records. The record itself is rather unique as it is a picture disk on one side with some of the abstract art featured in the booklet that accompanied the album with the other being a white disk with the production information printed on it. None of my roommates, (a loose term as I don't officially live with them) had ever seen anything like it. This is hardly a surprise for the band as they constantly push the envelope with their vinyl releases. One of their older records was literally cut into the shape of a saw, jagged teeth and all.

Merely a test.. As clicking on my blog from Matt's blog led to a dead page.. Hmm