New York State of Mind pt 1

Quite a few changes have happened since this blog was last updated, obviously they were not changes to this blog. My fellow housemates in Davis are now without me, but they are adding two great people in Andreas and George. As for me, I've moved out to the Big Apple to serve a year in Americorps/New York Civics Corp for The Doe Fund. Right now, I am being poor, taking in crappy free WiFi, washing my hair in the sink, sleeping on hardwood floor with only a towel as a pillow and sitting on a 4th floor balcony outside my temporary room window until my apartment is ready for move in two floors down. Worst thing of all, no air conditioning. BROOKLYN BABY!

My flight out of hot, but dry Northern California was at 5:40 AM and I landed in hot and humid NYC at 5:00 after a :30 min circling pattern over LaGuardia due to a thunderstorm. I was put up in the Downtown Marriott in the Financial District. I loved the Marriott with it's awesomely cold room with a comfy bed. The views from my floor and my room were amazing to say the least (will hopefully update with pictures later). My room window overlooked the Hudson River directly across from the Colgate Clock and the window next to the elevators on the 36th overlooked Ground Zero. Had VISTA training at the Marriott that ran from about 8:00 - 4:45 for three days, but during that time I met a lot of cool people.

I've already had some awesome experiences so far:
1) Met my awesome roommates (Kelsey, Lia, Rosalyn) who are all girls. I know that the guys are probably thinking that I'm living the dream, and the girls are thinking that I'm crazy. Definitely gonna try to have fun though. Should be one hell of an experience!

2) Meeting new people and hitting up a couple bars.

3) Sworn in at City Hall with Mayor Bloomberg.

4) Interviewed by a local Chinese journalist: Lia and I got stopped by a Chinese journalist after the ceremony (probably because I was one of the few Asian participants). She began by asking the typical questions such as "Why are you doing this?" "Where are you from?" etc. However, when we mentioned that we're living together, she got flustered! She said, and I quote, "Together? In the same room?!" Also, like every other Chinese person she was disappointed to learn that I didn't speak Chinese.

5) First taxi ride in NYC: Got to know quite a bit about our awesome driver, Kashif. We had a talk about culture differences between our brothers in South Asia and East Asia and my American culture. He began discussing the problems here with divorce rates (he had an arranged marriage and says that he loves his wife so much. They never met prior to their marriage) and kids leaving to do their own things without putting family first. He too was disappointed to find out that I didn't speak Chinese and never visited China. He was very nice and stayed in his cab to see that we got into our building safe.

To say the very least, I'm looking forward to get settled in, having fun, and surviving on a low stipend, and surviving Crown Heights, Brooklyn!

Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner
Sometimes I feel like my only friend
Is the city I live in, is beautiful Brooklyn
Long as I live here believe I'm on fire hey
Cuz it's the B-the-R-the-O-the-O-K
L-Y-N is the place where I stay
The B-the-R-the-O-the-O-K
Best in the world and all USA
It's the B-to-the-R-the-O-the-O-K
L-Y-N is the place where I stay
The B-to-the-R-the-O-the-O-K

Mos Def!

"Hi my name is Justin, and I, too, like to party."

I am now in the final stretch of my first year at Davis and looking forward to a generous amount of summer vacation. Needless to say I am a happy man. If I had to sum up my first year of college in a few words, the magic words would be Good Will Hunting (no, I'm not a Janitor at MIT). While the overall experience is a positive one, and certain parts of it are exceptional (e.g. Matt Damon/ Robin Williams), my social life, like Affleck's role, specifically has room for improvement (side-note: to be fair, I don't know that this was entirely his fault, he was simply out-shined by his co-stars).

Ben Affleck role in Good Will Hunting is an suitable allegory for my social life at UCD because both are lacking in substance and depth. This isn't to say it hasn't been what I expected for the most part, but I sort of expected my social life to just take off on its own. I have met some great people, and I've met my fair share of douchebags (I mean really people, I don't set my standards too high). Maybe people are right about transfer students when they say we really have to try harder to get involved with college life. Combine this with my comedic bouts of social awkwardness, and you really have a prize-winning recipe for not being the most popular person in the room. I really just want to form a few friendships that reach beyond superficiality. Also, as long as I have quality I don't mind quantity. It is pretty easy in theory: join an IM team, go to parties, whatever. Just get out more. Not so hard right?

Enter School.

School: Oh hey what's up Justin? Enjoying your weekend?

Me: Well of course, School! The weather we've been having has been amazing, I have the house to myself 'til Sunday, I'm laying out by the pool (as you can see obviously because you are standing right here), and I'm gonna go out tonight because I have absolutely no school-related work to do this weekend!

School: Yeeaaaaaaahh, about that... listen, your professor just posted this week's readings, and you have 200 pages to read. In addition, you have a midterm Tuesday, since your professor insists that the date listed on the syllabus was only 'tentative' and subject to change.

Me: Hmm, well I guess I should get home and get to work. Thanks School, once again you've ruined my weekend. You know what, while you're at it, why don't you just tell me to sleep on the couch while you have sex on my bed with some random girl that you met at the party I was going to go to?

School: So you're cool with sleeping on the couch then?

If you're anything like me, not only did you picture the character 'School' being portrayed by Jake Busey, but you also realized that this dilemma occurs just about every weekend of the school year. Some people just handle it better than others, and some choose to ignore it altogether; I am neither of those people. I have to read every provided source and then kick myself when the material isn't covered in discussion or on the final (note to self: when a book on your reading list says "optional", don't purchase it). Maybe one of the things I missed out on by being a transfer student was the ability to filter out irrelevant readings.

While we're on the subject of my student standing and what I missed out on as a result, the one thing I regret is not living in the dorms. Establishing yourself as a transfer student means you have to try significantly harder than freshmen in dorms. You live right on campus and are in direct contact with people of your own age that you share common interests with instead of living 3 miles from campus and having middle-aged adult neighbors (although don't get me wrong, the neighbors know how to party: it seems like every weekend they have a "let's all mow our lawns at 9am" party!). Honestly, you'd have to be socially retarded or otherwise try to not make friends living in the dorms. Plus, I feel as if the magic of college is completely lost if you jump into it commuting from a house in the suburbs. This is one of the major motivations I have to study abroad. It's practically a do-over, and those aren't too common... without time travel. Unfortunately for me, some things can't be undone for Ben Affleck even with a time machine, such as a great deal of his performances I've seen thinking "this time it will be different." Nope. Oh well.



For your health.

Bienvenue!

Living in a house with three boys? What a mess. I now understand what parents complain about. You have the moody one, the one that burrows his head into everyone else, and the guy who uses a fork to prod the guy burrowing his head into him. This house has been a living hell. The sinks are always full of dishes, there is unmentionables on the toilet seats every morning, and people growing beards that become longer and longer each day. Please just answer me this, why?

How do I live you ask? Being the fatherly figure in the house is almost a full-time job; I advise the kiddies on what to do with their lives and what classes to take (seeing that I don't have a paying job nearly a year after I graduated, I feel that I am well qualified to tell them what not to do). [Side-note: For those reading this and knowing full-well that I don't have a paying job...Please e-mail me and let me know about great job openings or if you could offer me a position, I am all ears.] I pick these guys up whenever they call. I buy alcohol for the rest of us. You know, the normal things.

Oh, I haven't yet introduced myself! Why didn't someone remind me! How rude. My name is Christopher and I live with the other two so-called "bloggers" on this site. I am trying to find my niche in this world, and I won't settle for a niche that is un-rad...I at least want to work at a place where I can wow people with where I work even though I hold a lowly position. I want to be able to say "Hey man, yeah I'm at the CIA office. What do I do there? Umm...I deliver the mail to them, I actually don't work there." Just to let you know, I have a B.A. in political science and that doesn't really set you up anywhere. So to all you kids who are like..."Econ sounds cool but the math sounds too tedious, I'm gonna do poli sci," don't do it! Don't get stuck in a house with 3 kids younger than you with their futures ahead of them. Also, I'm only here because Daniel is trying to make me feel bad about not posting.

Even though everything aforementioned makes it seems like I have hated my time here, I can't help but say I love this place and would rather be a resident ghost than to live outside of it.

Topic of the week 1(c): Where the heck are our followers? Does no one read this crap? (Hell, I'm not even a "follower.")

The One Where He Introduced Himself

Hello Internet. So I guess I will start this off like any other awkward/intimate internet conversation between two strangers (as I imagine you and I are), with my A/S/L (Age/Sex/Location). If you aren’t reminded of the late 90s and early 2000s by that reference, know now, I am thoroughly disappointed.

I’m 20 years old, male, and I am currently residing in Davis California; oh, and my name is Dan the man (what were my parents thinking?). I go to college; I go to work; I eat; I sleep; I do it all over again. You may think to yourself, “Hey now, there has to be more to it than that?” Unfortunately, you would be wrong. No, don’t try to argue; wrong. In truth, what more else is there for me to do? I go to school to get an education (apparently “knowing is half the battle”). I go to work to make money (as the Beatles so aptly put it “love won’t pay the bills”… or something to that effect). I eat because eating, contrary to popular belief, is one of the single most pleasurable things an individual can partake in (I don’t want to hear it. Not a word. Food is the end all-be all of pleasures [guilty and otherwise]). I sleep because, well duh, where else can I be a super hero (Yes, that is the only purpose I see in sleep: Super hero dreams.). Ok, that last one is kind of a lie; I enjoy sleep for an innumerable amount of reasons. So yes, while occasionally other activities slip into the mix (IM soccer, parties, spending time with my amazing girlfriend [yup, I’m one of those guys who always refers to their girlfriends as “amazing”] etc.) the majority of my time is occupied by the big 4. “Dan, you are obviously so busy (obviously), why are you spending your valuable time writing a blog?” may be your next question; believe me, I’ve asked myself that very same question. The answer is simple; I no know (no you didn’t misread; I actually said “I no know”). I honestly don’t know, it just seemed like the right thing to do, and I’ve got to be honest, so far it feels like it. The title alone makes me smile, not because of its subtle commentary on the place I have reached in my life (struggling to find a balance between the life of a fledgling professional adult, who is constantly being told to dress in “business casual,” [a term I didn’t even know the definition to until I googled it about 4 months ago] and the life of a carefree college student who is perpetually confronted with situations where pants are indeed “optional”]), but because of the simple absurd spontaneity in which it was conceived. I am enjoying writing; writing freely, with no worry of the tyrannical red ink that has plagued my printed life since it began (oh so many years ago in Mr. Schmidlins first grade class). To sum up this blog, in all of the corny glory I can muster, this blog is freedom (yah, I said it, freedom).

So that is me, not everything, but enough.

On a side-note, we have decided to amend the way in which this site will operate (so soon, I know). To get a more interactive (and frankly, active in general) experience, the topics will no longer be held to a “weekly” constraint. If someone wishes to discuss something, by all means, let them discuss it. J brown has requested a new topic from me, so naturally I will oblige him.

Topic #2: College life; the good the bad and the douche bag. Comment on this. 

¡Bienvenidos!

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my place in the world: where I want to go, what I want to be, and how I am unique among billions of others. After a considerable degree of soul-searching, this is what I came up with, and thusly am I now a blogger. You might be asking yourself, “You claim to have searched, nay, plumbed the depths of your soul, and the only idea you could conjure up was to create a blog?” To you, I say this: Yes. There is some method to this, trust me. The way I see it, the journey is more important than reaching the finish line; I do not mind looking at individual events as mere footsteps along my greater path, even if they are baby-steps at times. Sometimes you’re allowed to walk after a sprint, I believe it’s called circuit training. So here I am, taking the proverbial first step into the unknown, steeling myself.


That aside, I feel introductions are necessary. My name is Justin Brown, I am a student at the University of California – Davis. I enjoy soccer, running, and general wild hi-jinks. That was so entirely rudimentary that I could have said it in Spanish (but I'll save that for a different blog). Apparently, a part of me decided that I could stand among the legion of bloggers. This is good, because it most likely means the unmotivated part of me has decided that staying in school is in fact in my best interest. Take that procrastination.


If you’re here, you’ve likely read Daniel’s post, and are aware that we will be maintaining a weekly topic here at BC(PO); quite frankly, I intend to provide you with premium insight. To answer our first topic, Business Casual to me is a shining beacon of possibility. It is the new day breaking over the snow-capped mountain range of potential. It is the gleam in the eye of a drooling newborn, so full to the brim with dreams and the advent of greatness. Business Casual is what ties all of us together; it is within us. Business Casual is the vessel, and you can call me “El Capitan” (please don't).


J. Biz Out

Innagural Post (the ground rules)

So here’s the back-story: Justin and I were hanging out (you know, kicking it as college kids do) and we decided that our opinions were too damned important to not be heard. We are two intellectuals on the proverbial pilgrimage. We are traveling the well trodden path of “college” in pursuit of enlightenment (our diplomas). This pilgrimage has imparted us with wisdom, experience and a “vision” about how our mightily imperfect world ought to work. Ok. So that is completely untrue (well almost completely). While we are both in college, neither of us harbor such narcissistic, pretentious views. In truth, the decision to create a collaborative blog was reached rather spontaneously. The following is a detailed account of how “Business Casual (Pants Optional)” was born:

Justin walks into Daniel’s room.

Justin: Hey.

Daniel lays on his bed, shirtless (as usual), watching “Frasier” (as usual)

Daniel: Hey.

Justin: Want to start a collaborative blog?

Daniel: Sure.

Justin: Do you want to make it on Blogger?

Daniel: Sure, I already have a Blogger account.

Justin: Oh… you blog?

Daniel: Yah I… (blah blah blah small talk ensues)

10 minutes later

Justin: So what should we call our blog?

Daniel: How about…

20 minute brainstorming session begins, during which various names are suggested. The conversation strays from “A Flock of Beagles” to “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Bros” and everything in between (“Brody Shelly”, “Brosey Cuervo”, “Whatz a Panini?” etc.)

Justin: How about, “Business Casual (Pants Optional).”

Daniel: I love it.

                Riveting right? Well no, but that’s what happened (kind of). You may have noticed that there is a third author to this blog; his name is Chris. Let’s just say that Chris was not home at the “time of conception”, however, he should be given all the respect and attention of a biological parent. So, now that the “Genesis” portion of this blog has been written, let’s move onto the meat: What are we doing here?

                This blog is going to have weekly topics. Justin, Chris and myself will take turns (every Sunday) choosing a new “topic of the week.” This topic can be ANYTHING under the sun, and frankly, the more obscure the better. Throughout the week we will all author pieces that connect to the overarching theme (connections will hopefully be found in new and interesting ways from week to week). Pretty cut and dry. So, this first post is turning into “East of Eden” (long, boring and required reading), so let me leave you with the first topic of the week:

Topic of the week #1: Who are you and what does “Business Casual (Pants Optional)” mean to you? (while initially sounding lame, superficially philosophical and just a little like a bad 12^th grade essay prompt (no offense 12^th grade)) I think that this will give you all a chance to get acquainted with our “staff” here before we launch into more… umm… “Hard-hitting” topics.

So that is all folks; was it good for you? Because it sure was for me.