Sunday, September 4, 2011
Ten Days In
The actuality that I will be living in South America is starting to sink in. Parts of Buenos Aires are starting to shine, even after ten days. The nightlife here is a breed of its own. It is such a mix of swanky hotspots, to mega-clubs and discos. The longer I'm here and the more I wander through this expansive city, the more I realize it is a mix of everything once thought of great with the world. Whether it actually is or isn't is determined by time, but at the point of its construction, it was trendy, helpful, and beautiful. The mix of Parisian architecture with grungy indecisive buildings is complemented by skyscrapers in Puerto Modero that are situated next to La Boca, one of the poorest barrios in BsAs. I need to stop trying to compare this city to other ones, it is simply BsAs, it doesn't feel like Miami, New York, or wherever, it feels uniquely Argentine, uniquely Buenos Aires.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Antes de Llegar
So here I am, sitting in the Dallas Airport finally on the way to Argentina. For months now people have been telling me how much I am going to love going abroad, how much it will change my life, and how much they wish that they could have done it. I nod along and pretend that I have an idea of what they are talking about, but really, know that I will not truly know until I step food in a land where the toilets flush the other way. Even now, sitting 500 miles away from my family, it still doesn’t really feel like I am about to spend the next 119 days in South America. I don’t know if it more of an eagerness to get there, an anxiety about not knowing what’s to come, or something I cant really explain, but I am ready. Ready to want to come home, ready to hate it, ready to love it, ready to become fluent in Spanish, and ready to find out a lot more about myself along the way. It could be the Xanax, it could be the lack of sleep, or it could be the fact I haven’t smoked in 2 days, but whatever IT is, I am ready to stop being told I will feel it, and start doing it. Next time I write, I will be in Buenos Aires.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Being "That" Age
Being 20 leaves a lot of room for maturity and personal growth. I am by no means perfect, but do feel as if I have a decent ability to look at younger kids, and relate back to a time when I was their age. For most of us the pre-pubescent years some of the most awkward in our life. Hormones begin racing through our bodies and hair begins growing in places we never thought possible. It is sometimes hard to remember back ten years when you live in a city such as New York.
Coming home for the summer and coaching 200 swimmers with ages ranging from 5-18 years, you learn, or rather remember a lot. For the most part ,12 and unders are great, and so are 15 and ups. Not to single anyone out (which I am about to do...), but the 13/14 age group is totally at "that" age. They go from the opposite sex to wanting to be all up in them. They think they are too cool to listen to instruction, yet know they are doing the wrong thing. The bigger kids make fun of everyone, because they can. No one is going to stand up to a six-foot, 160-pound man. Hell, I get intimidated by these 13 years olds. The bigger kids use their size to beat up on kids. By beat up, that rarely means physical action, simply intimidation.
If you bloom on the later side, or are just not a big kid, words become your best line of defense. Middle School is nothing short of a warzone of testosterone and estrogen. The smaller kids use their knowledge of a developing vocabulary to fight back against the giant, already-shaving, young boys. Clashing between the big and the small occurs on a daily basis and often translates over to adults (and in my case, swim coaches).
When kids reach whatever age it is that they reach, they begin to develop their personal style preferences, and sexuality. This does nothing but further the divide between rich/poor, smart/dumb, matured/maturing, gay/straight, nice/mean. If you are different in any way, there will be someone who noticies it, and will call you out on it. Middle school is a time where conformity stressed that is contradicted by the development of personal style and choice. It is a couple year period of bullying, misery, and struggle. Long story short I hate middle school.
Looking back, I had it pretty easy. I never had it too bad, being between the popular kids and the nerds. There is no avoiding "that" age, but it is something that will eventually unite us all as we develop and mature as a society. Eventually kids will realize there is more to life than who can start shaving first or who has the lowest voice. Long story short I hated middle school and seeing kids reminds me of how far my piers and I have come. There are still clicks, there is still drama, but we have become vastly more accepting of everyone.
Coming home for the summer and coaching 200 swimmers with ages ranging from 5-18 years, you learn, or rather remember a lot. For the most part ,12 and unders are great, and so are 15 and ups. Not to single anyone out (which I am about to do...), but the 13/14 age group is totally at "that" age. They go from the opposite sex to wanting to be all up in them. They think they are too cool to listen to instruction, yet know they are doing the wrong thing. The bigger kids make fun of everyone, because they can. No one is going to stand up to a six-foot, 160-pound man. Hell, I get intimidated by these 13 years olds. The bigger kids use their size to beat up on kids. By beat up, that rarely means physical action, simply intimidation.
If you bloom on the later side, or are just not a big kid, words become your best line of defense. Middle School is nothing short of a warzone of testosterone and estrogen. The smaller kids use their knowledge of a developing vocabulary to fight back against the giant, already-shaving, young boys. Clashing between the big and the small occurs on a daily basis and often translates over to adults (and in my case, swim coaches).
When kids reach whatever age it is that they reach, they begin to develop their personal style preferences, and sexuality. This does nothing but further the divide between rich/poor, smart/dumb, matured/maturing, gay/straight, nice/mean. If you are different in any way, there will be someone who noticies it, and will call you out on it. Middle school is a time where conformity stressed that is contradicted by the development of personal style and choice. It is a couple year period of bullying, misery, and struggle. Long story short I hate middle school.
Looking back, I had it pretty easy. I never had it too bad, being between the popular kids and the nerds. There is no avoiding "that" age, but it is something that will eventually unite us all as we develop and mature as a society. Eventually kids will realize there is more to life than who can start shaving first or who has the lowest voice. Long story short I hated middle school and seeing kids reminds me of how far my piers and I have come. There are still clicks, there is still drama, but we have become vastly more accepting of everyone.
Monday, June 13, 2011
The "k" Response
Let's cut right to the chase. When you are having a texting conversation it is always annoying when the person takes hours to text you back even though you know the message has been read (why BBM is handy). Texting is difficult to fully comprehend because the person you are having the conversation with might text differently than how they speak. For example some people add lots of smilies or exclamation marks while their conversational mannerisms might not match up. The same can be said for the length and complexity of each message. Enough talking, here are text responses that I cannot stand.
"K" This is by far the worst. Sending "K" to someone is the sassiest thing you can do. You are more or less giving them the middle finger of texting.
"Sure" This is almost as bad as "K" but lacks the sass just a little bit.
"Fine" This brings the sass full scale, but it can be taken in different ways thanks to the text/speak separation.
"Bro, ill, dope, word" are cool if you are in Sigma Chi and live in a JCrew catalog, but it's whatever. These don't really tick me off more so just step back and be like... uhh? (I often will use these in text, ya I'm a hypocrite)
One of the toughest things about texting is realizing the person you are having the conversation with has time to think about their response and how to put it. Rather than instantaneous responses in conversation, texting is a new form of communication that really is only a couple years old.
"K" This is by far the worst. Sending "K" to someone is the sassiest thing you can do. You are more or less giving them the middle finger of texting.
"Sure" This is almost as bad as "K" but lacks the sass just a little bit.
"Fine" This brings the sass full scale, but it can be taken in different ways thanks to the text/speak separation.
"Bro, ill, dope, word" are cool if you are in Sigma Chi and live in a JCrew catalog, but it's whatever. These don't really tick me off more so just step back and be like... uhh? (I often will use these in text, ya I'm a hypocrite)
One of the toughest things about texting is realizing the person you are having the conversation with has time to think about their response and how to put it. Rather than instantaneous responses in conversation, texting is a new form of communication that really is only a couple years old.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Oh You Tweet?
I recently celebrated by 3 year Twitter birthday. Most of you reading this are probably getting the link via Twitter so you understand how awesome it is. Twitter has around 100 million users and seems to be the hottest thing since Uggs or Atkins. When I first signed up for an account many people made fun or talked down about Twitter. Some of them are now following me... Anyway what I am trying to say is that social media is ever changing and it is just funny how people can go from being so anti-Twitter to being obsessed and Twit-Picking photos of their house parties, dogs or beer-bongs in a matter of days.
When Twitter was young...
Twitter was awesome, not that it isn't now, because only a select group of people had and realized how awesome it was. People could really say whatever they wanted because only a few people had it. I remember the first Twitter conversation about someone talking trash on someone else via social media. As more and more people began to tweet, the fewer and fewer possibilities remained to express every thought you want.
Follow(ers)...
Some people are obsessed with the Twitter ratio, it's all a race to see how many followers you can have. Well ya it is nice to have a lot of followers, but I would rather have fewer followers that really like what I have to say than 1,000 people who follow me just because. That being said when I decide to follow someone it is based off of what they have to say. If you tweet things like "mother nature has tapped into my soul today," or "@.... is so busy." The same thing applies to Facebook statuses, don't make your updates appear as if people are going to read your name then apply it to the sentence. Like we know who you are don't waste my time. Twitter is awesome because you pick and chose who you want to follow. If every tweet is some emo dissertation about your dog or the weather, I am going to unfollow you. Please don't take offense, you're an awesome person, maybe just not an awesome Tweeter.
Parents on Twitter...
Those annoying tweets can be relayed over to tweets about children. I am all for parents being on Twitter, but do get a little freaked out if they come up to me start talkin about what I have been doing thanks in part to my tweets. I just get a little bugged out when a friends uncle asks how many shrimp I caught at dinner last night. I'm flattered they follow me but don't blatantly bring it up. Another struggle is worrying about what you tweet because adults follow you on Twitter. There are a few solutions to that, one being that you make your account private. Personally I like being open to everyone. Early on I tweeted a few risque things, but opening up my account makes me focus on appropriate tweets. Keeping your twitter private also limits your ability to broadcast a message. When Osama Bin Laden was killed 36% of people found out via Twitter. That number awed me. Important social events like that happen sporadically and by keeping your account open, you can broadcast your thoughts and information out publicly.
The best thing about social media is that it is ever changing. Twitter has revolutionized the way information is shared. As it continues to grow, I can't wait to see what comes next!
When Twitter was young...
Twitter was awesome, not that it isn't now, because only a select group of people had and realized how awesome it was. People could really say whatever they wanted because only a few people had it. I remember the first Twitter conversation about someone talking trash on someone else via social media. As more and more people began to tweet, the fewer and fewer possibilities remained to express every thought you want.
Follow(ers)...
Some people are obsessed with the Twitter ratio, it's all a race to see how many followers you can have. Well ya it is nice to have a lot of followers, but I would rather have fewer followers that really like what I have to say than 1,000 people who follow me just because. That being said when I decide to follow someone it is based off of what they have to say. If you tweet things like "mother nature has tapped into my soul today," or "@.... is so busy." The same thing applies to Facebook statuses, don't make your updates appear as if people are going to read your name then apply it to the sentence. Like we know who you are don't waste my time. Twitter is awesome because you pick and chose who you want to follow. If every tweet is some emo dissertation about your dog or the weather, I am going to unfollow you. Please don't take offense, you're an awesome person, maybe just not an awesome Tweeter.
Parents on Twitter...
Those annoying tweets can be relayed over to tweets about children. I am all for parents being on Twitter, but do get a little freaked out if they come up to me start talkin about what I have been doing thanks in part to my tweets. I just get a little bugged out when a friends uncle asks how many shrimp I caught at dinner last night. I'm flattered they follow me but don't blatantly bring it up. Another struggle is worrying about what you tweet because adults follow you on Twitter. There are a few solutions to that, one being that you make your account private. Personally I like being open to everyone. Early on I tweeted a few risque things, but opening up my account makes me focus on appropriate tweets. Keeping your twitter private also limits your ability to broadcast a message. When Osama Bin Laden was killed 36% of people found out via Twitter. That number awed me. Important social events like that happen sporadically and by keeping your account open, you can broadcast your thoughts and information out publicly.
The best thing about social media is that it is ever changing. Twitter has revolutionized the way information is shared. As it continues to grow, I can't wait to see what comes next!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Voicemail
(Let me preface this by saying that the occasional drunk voicemail from an ex or current significant other is generally appreciated)
On an average day I receive about 10-15 phone calls. I don't own a home phone, so calling my cell is the best way to reach me (duh). Text messaging has been around, or rather been popular, for about ten years now. The days of short mail are long gone, thank goodness. Ever since the growth of text messaging, the need for voicemail has gone down. Voicemail is redundant for a variety of reasons:
1) It takes up time to find the message, listen to it, call the person back, and finally bring the conversation up to the speed where the message left off.
2) PEOPLE ALWAYS RAMBLE IN MESSAGES (that pisses me off)
3) We all have our phones attached to our hips (not actually, that is so dated). If your phone rings, chances are you will pick it up. If the person you call can't talk at the time of the call, what is the point of leaving a voicemail? Voicemails are like phone calls with yourself (wow I worded that terribly, but you get it...)
4) Just text me, it makes it look like I have friends (even if the text is from my mom)
5) Voicemails usually consist of the first half of a conversation you have when you finally call the person back, so why not just call them later or shoot the person a text to call you?
6) Listening to voicemail is awkward. Its like you are on the phone, but you're not really on the phone. I used to listen to voicemails and nod my head, maybe even act like i was having a conversation. (to make my insecure 12-year old self look cool)
The more technology advances the less important voicemails will become. When you are sitting in a meeting, in class, or out at a bar, text messaging is vastly easier to do. I have been an in-class-texter for about ten years now but can honestly say I have never made a call or listened to my voicemail in class. Texting is such an easier thing to do, it's quicker and quieter as well. To sum everything up, if you need me, call me, but please text me instead of leaving a voicemail.
On an average day I receive about 10-15 phone calls. I don't own a home phone, so calling my cell is the best way to reach me (duh). Text messaging has been around, or rather been popular, for about ten years now. The days of short mail are long gone, thank goodness. Ever since the growth of text messaging, the need for voicemail has gone down. Voicemail is redundant for a variety of reasons:
1) It takes up time to find the message, listen to it, call the person back, and finally bring the conversation up to the speed where the message left off.
2) PEOPLE ALWAYS RAMBLE IN MESSAGES (that pisses me off)
3) We all have our phones attached to our hips (not actually, that is so dated). If your phone rings, chances are you will pick it up. If the person you call can't talk at the time of the call, what is the point of leaving a voicemail? Voicemails are like phone calls with yourself (wow I worded that terribly, but you get it...)
4) Just text me, it makes it look like I have friends (even if the text is from my mom)
5) Voicemails usually consist of the first half of a conversation you have when you finally call the person back, so why not just call them later or shoot the person a text to call you?
6) Listening to voicemail is awkward. Its like you are on the phone, but you're not really on the phone. I used to listen to voicemails and nod my head, maybe even act like i was having a conversation. (to make my insecure 12-year old self look cool)
The more technology advances the less important voicemails will become. When you are sitting in a meeting, in class, or out at a bar, text messaging is vastly easier to do. I have been an in-class-texter for about ten years now but can honestly say I have never made a call or listened to my voicemail in class. Texting is such an easier thing to do, it's quicker and quieter as well. To sum everything up, if you need me, call me, but please text me instead of leaving a voicemail.
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