October 2011

I look out at the valley almost everyday. Sometimes it's covered by fog or rain, but most of the time I can see to the other end. It is where the sun rises, which I have yet to see emerge from the ground. 


I am doing ropes course training. It is an excuse to be outside for 8 hours straight and do no homework. I like it a lot, soon I will have the highest paying work-study. 

I took this sunset photo with my Mom and Susan, we were drinking coffee and eating chocolate in front of Latte Lounge. A woman walking a pig passed us during this moment. The pig was ugly, with a fat forehead that rolled over his eyes and hooves desperately needing a trim. Honestly, I want one.

Angela Adams. A joke with Jen.

Sometimes I feel like a traitor. I am capable of slipping in with a group that loves a specific things, like dungeons and dragons, the wilderness, sports, partying -even though I don't... I can never fully settle or identify, though I always fully appreciate the people and the moments shared. Am I wrong? Am I resisting? My roots are never permanent, am I too malleable? The roots I do have mostly reside within, but even those move occasionally. This is the muck of the self identity crises. 

A magical building

Here at school there is a very interesting old library. It's about 5 floors with the museum on the 1st floor. It's a fairly retro building filled with matching (kind of weird) art. To one side there is a theater, and on the top floor a place called "the loft" which is an academic help center.

They go fairly crazy here making up "interesting" names for locations. Another example of this is "the pit" which is a room about 3 feet lower than the rest of the floor because it is tucked under the theater. The pit is full of old oversized art books and various other collections. The awesome thing about the library is that it's packed with comfortable (hotel like) furniture in every corner. Even at the back of the windowless archives there is couches, chairs, and desk tucked in the corners.

There are two elevators in separate locations. My favorite is the industrial one that opens before it's actually at the floor. It is loud, completely metal, and has a counter that clicks for every floor instead of numbers that light up.

I have yet to go on the first floor, but this is already my favorite building on campus. I would say I have covered about 60% of this building. Many of the rooms are locked and full of rare books or other mysteries. There is a fancy meeting room on the 4th floor that looks exactly like office scenes in the show Mad Men. There is wood panelling, ultra-modern clocks, and lighting to match, simply unbelievably awesome.

Also there is a place called "table rock" which is a large flat rock on the top of the hill that looks out over part of Oneonta. It is only a 10 minutes walk from the campus and well worth it. I would advise to go during daylight because much of the trial goes through the woods.

Finding the observatory

The storms have passed for now, but their clouds still linger. It has been a full moon or at least close to a full moon for the past few nights. I want to look at the stars but the brightness of the moon and the partial cloud cover greatly reduce my chance of seeing anything.

At last I found the observatory at the top of the mountain. I joined the astronomy club the other day at taste of 'wick (please change your name for next year, please!) I also joined the psychology club and the the Hill Top news paper. There was no radio stand but I have a feeling my persistance will get me in soon.

The following morning of the discovery of the observatory there was a town wide garage sale that shut down Main Street and required a band. Yes, required.

Oneonta has some of the greatest and most diverse amount of architecture I have seen in a long time.

This was painted almost overnight for 9/11. While it's not the message I expected to be painted on this wall it is a great statement. 9/11 is so much more personal here than in Maine. This evening there was a candle light ceremony with people crying very hard. There is a lot of mixed feelings about 9/11 here. Many of the students from New York City feel the decade mark is the sign to move on but not to forget.

1st day of classes at college

Today was the first day of classes and I had four. There was soaking rain all day and I have a head cold. Not a smooth start but honestly it was not that bad. I have discovered there are lots of crazy professors. I am taking a lot of classes that really interest me and I am considering adding another course.

Back to the rain, it poured. It has been raining for three days straight and the ground cannot obsorb any more water. What really causes the problems here are the roads being near and at the same level to the rivers. The kids who live at Pine Lake were evacuated but all will definitely be fine, the dock just might float away again.

This is the freshman housing at Pine Lake when there is not a downpour of rain. Under the blue and white stripped tent is where we had the contra dance.

This is also the stone bench my group made under a tree as a class project. Beyond the bench you can see the swimming area in the lake, it is warm on the surface but very cold underneath.

Today I got into the school radio. I had about a 30 second chat with a disc jockey (maybe DJ Slice?) and I should be emailed by the station soon. It was definitely 80's rock and roll style, there was also a skeleton in the control room.

I am glad I am in the woods. The campus is becoming beautiful, the leaves already begin to slowly turn color. At night deer come and graze on the grass. One evening there were two fauns sleeping near the path I walk to go back to my dorm. They did not seem to care about my presence even though I was less than 50 or so feet away.

I took this photograph during one of the few moments without rain. This is the valley, you can sort of see some parts of the downtown. You can also see how many trees are here....

This is not by dorm, but it is close by.

I am very curious as to what this place looks like early in the morning on a clear day.

At school, now what happens?

I finished Awakening! Yes. That awkward name is in fact the title of the pre-orientation course I took. The idea of the course is to get freshmen to bond before college starts. The setting is an offsite campus in the wilderness known as Pine Lake (a glorified but decent size pond.) About 60 students of this college can choose to live on this campus which is a 20 minute drive from the rest of the school. One would expect that the people living there to be a bunch of crunchy kids studying the environment but it turns out that every major is represented.


I was in group 5, known to most as "Cinco." There was approximately 68 kids (originally 72) divided into 6 groups with the male/female ratio at less than 1/3. Our group was fairly "functional." 


The final challenge was the high ropes course where I was blindfolded and mute with my buddy Sam (who was not blindfolded or mute,) and we climbed the giants ladder together. The giants ladder is about 30-40 feet tall and consist of 5 bars or steps that start out 4 feet apart and end up around 6.5-7 feet apart. When you're at the top you ring a bell signifying you completed the course. That was the moment when I took my blind fold off revealing how high I was off the ground, my fear of heights is greater than I originally believed.

Anyways, the blur of Awakening lead straight into the "Hartwick Welcome Weekend." The staff kept us super busy for four days straight leading up to the first day of classes. Mud volley ball was definitely a highlight (of many!) of the weekend.

Sam is the one truly covered in mud in this photo, he was the one who climbed the giants ladder with me. He takes classes here and at the state school across town to become a certified EMT.

My dorm is comfortable, my roommate is great, the food is alright. This is it, this is where I live, notice the coffee corner. I find the 60's woodwork charming.

The Process of Going to College

I have begun packing for school. I swear I am packing the essentials! I am prepping for life in small dorm. I take notice in the small things that differ in packing for college versus backpacking, which honestly, feels luxurious. 

My friend (a.k.a. Zoe, The Terrible Modern, or Nilbog,) has already begun the process of unpacking at her new school. She now resides in this building.


Currently I am busy putting in a crushed rock around my house as well as some painting, and seeing friends in between. Although I am so rusty at it, I am enjoying an already 2.5 day streak of reading and writing, and it feels good.


Other habits I am looking forward to restarting is swimming and meditation. Last year this time I weighed about 153 pounds, 155 pounds maximum. Now I weigh 138-139 which is mostly due to lack of exercise and a coffee diet. I can't say I will join the swim team at Hogwarts for sure, but it really is tempting, I just want my weekends! As for meditation...


Last night as one of a few culminating event of the summer, a bunch of my friends and I collected at Bayside Bowl. My first score was 58, followed by a 62 in the second game. I beat Obama.

My camera was hijacked and used to take photos of people shaking their faces. Here is the complete album.

Isaac also made a mocumentry. 

I present to you: TONIGHT WE BOWL

Starting up the blog for the school year.

Hello World.


I am re-booting "The American" blog for the school year. I have taken a long break, now I'm ready. I recently heard and enjoyed quoting this to a friend of mine: "[I hope that this last year] was just the trailer, the real picture show starts now." Let's hope that's true.


I had a goal of making a book about this last year. I wanted to finish it this summer. It will be called "The American Gap Year." It has not yet been completed, although it has a decent start. I will keep you all posted on when it will come out. It has been difficult for many reasons, including the meaning of the gap year still unraveling in my head, which will continue, I am sure, for a very long time. I will attempt. Soon.


I am sure I have mentioned the name of the college I will be attending this fall, but due to being unsure how I can safely use the name I shall refer to it as Hogwarts. As for a location, Hogwarts is located somewhere in the state of New York. I am packing my wand. And a nerf gun.


The last week and a half has been an up and down journey both emotionally and it seems through time. Today seemed very 90's. Yesterday the terrible modern went to New York City for school. I have bought new materials for school myself. A friend from England visited and left. Difficulties have peaked and begun to decompress. New ways of life and how I will spend my time seems just around the corner.


Six days until I go to school! I will be in the Hufflepuff house, otherwise known as freshmen honors housing.