The bachelor party/first day of grad school

Last night I returned to Syracuse from my weekend back home. The primary purpose for that trip was to attend Darren's bachelor party Saturday night. Eight of us went to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to go to a strip club, hit a casino, and drink. I'm not going to go into all the sordid details of the trip (it was pretty much what you would expect from that kind of a night), and I couldn't do it justice anyway. It was, without a doubt, one of the most fun nights I've ever had. It wasn't just the gambling, drinking, and naked ladies-- although I am by no means diminishing the importance or awesomeness of those things-- it was more about getting a chance to spend a night with seven of my favorite people and cut loose and have a great time. While all of us spent a great deal of money, I don't think anyone got in too far over his head. I did get a lap dance, but I maintained some semblance of discipline... I held myself to two songs (partly because, midway through the second song, Cory looked into the room and shouted, "Niz! Remember!").

So, after a great but tiring weekend, I got up early this morning to begin my career as a grad student. Today was just an orientation day, so it was dull but not really taxing. Tomorrow the real classes start. Interestingly, they had us take a grammar diagnostic test of 50 multiple choice questions. The purpose of this test was to see which students need help brushing up on their grammar skills, and a series of "grammar slammer" classes will be offered in the evenings. I was surprised that so many people seemed to be dreading this test. After all, it was only a diagnostic, and even if you did really poorly, the grammar classes are technically optional. Plus I figured that anyone looking to get a master's degree in communications would have a pretty good handle on the English language. Not so, apparently. Granted, I'm in a program that's all about writing, and I understand there are a lot of other programs in the school where writing is not important (photography, broadcast journalism, film, etc), but communications school... grammar... kind of seem to go hand in hand. Anyway, a lot of people were terrified of this test and were talking about how little they understood grammar. So I took the test and I got 43/50 (86%). I was a little disappointed in myself. Yeah, it's a decent score, but I destroyed the verbal sections of the SAT and GRE, I've written a novel, I read constantly... bearing all those things in mind, I felt like I shouldn't have missed any questions, let alone seven.

Well, when I got home today someone from the school had sent out a mass email, letting us know how the scoring broke down. The average score was 62% and the highest score was... 86%. So, out of the 200+ people in the communications school, it would seem I am the finest grammarian. This naturally gives my confidence a little boost heading into classes, as well as the fact that I've been doing some reading for my intro class on news writing, and everything that I read makes immediate and intuitive sense to me. I probably would have written news articles this way without reading a book telling me to do so. So I'm pretty confident in my abilities when it comes to the mechanics and the structure of my writing. I think it's likely that, from a technical standpoint, I will be among the best writers in the school. That does not mean, however, that I have no concerns about becoming a journalist. I'm fully aware that I'm going to have to get past my natural reluctance to do research and I will need to develop the habit of digging for every possible fact. I also fear that interviewing people will not come naturally to me. Still, I guess it's a nice luxury that the quality of my writing is literally the least of my worries.

That's all for now. I'll be back sometime later this week to relate how the classes are going. Until then, keep on keepin on.

-Nick
PS-- We were told today that the incoming grad school class in the communications school is something like 64% female. By my own estimates, the ratio in my specific program is even more favorable. Things could be worse.

The Audition/leaving for the weekend

So today I had my audition with Full Cast Audio for the audiobook I mentioned in an earlier entry. I thought my reading went over very well, and the guy I met with (Dan) seemed to be impressed. We practiced the passage once before he had me put it on tape, and he let me go through the whole thing without stopping me. He said afterwards that he usually stops actors and coaches them or suggests they try something different, but he didn't see any problems with what I did. So then he had me read the passage into the microphone. They'll keep my sound sample on file and use it for matching me up to roles in the future. He made no guarantees that I'll wind up getting offered a role, but he seemed very pleased with what I could do. It turns out the company is a smaller operation than I originally thought, and they don't pay their actors very much. But I'd still be excited about it if I got offered a role. For one thing, I think it would be a lot of fun. For another, participating in something like this would be a big help getting voice work in the future (if I decide I'm interested in doing that). Last but not least, Bruce Coville does in fact own and run the company (I think I mentioned before that I was unsure about the extent of his involvement), and Dan told me that he and Bruce split the directing/producing duties about 50-50 for all the books they record. So there's a good chance I'd be working directly with Coville if I got hired, which would be awesome. It's always great to get a chance to meet one of your childhood heroes, let alone work with the guy.

As previously mentioned, I'm going home this weekend for Darren's bachelor party and my cousin's high school graduation. I'll be driving home sometime tomorrow afternoon, and I'm sure I won't have time to blog while I'm there (lots of stuff going on this weekend, it's going to be very hectic but I'm sure it will be a good time), so this will probably be my last entry until Sunday night, at the earliest (unless something interesting happens, which prompts me to write an entry before I hit the road tomorrow).

Karaoke follow up

Okay, just got back from the karaoke bar, and I've gotta say... I actually had a really fuckin' good time. I know it's nerdy and ridiculous and sort of sad in a way, but it was a lot of fun. I sang my stand-by, "Play That Funky Music," as well as Tenacious D's "Fuck Her Gently," and J. Giles Band's "Centerfold," all of which were well-received. I actually sang better than I thought myself capable of. And I'm really starting to like hanging with this group of people. I wouldn't be surprised if we drift apart once we start school and start socializing more with people who are in our own programs (we're all in the communications school, but most of us have different concentrations or whatever), but I hope we still find time to get together and have a drink or do something like this once in a while. Anyway, the computer tells me it is 1:41 in the AM, and I am rather sleepy, so I'm out. Might be back sometime tomorrow.

-Niz

Strip clubs, voice acting, karaoke, etc.

Hey gang, it's been an eventful few days. Well, as eventful as things ever get when you live by yourself, you're currently unemployed, and your classes haven't started yet. Last night, I went out to a bar with some other Syracuse grad students to have a couple drinks, socialize, etc. This was the second time I've gone out with this group, although I think some of them have gone out more often than that. As far as I know, no one in the group knew anyone else until we moved to Syracuse to start the grad program, but we were all in the same boat, so we used the email listserv the grad school set up to start communicating with each other, and eventually people started organizing stuff like this. Anyway, it was a good time, I really dig these people, very interesting folks for the most part, and it looks like I'm going out with them again tonight. For Karaoke. Yep, karaoke. I don't think I'll be shocking anyone when I say I'm not really a karaoke kind of guy, but somebody mentioned they were planning on going to a karaoke bar tonight and they asked if I was in. I not only said I was in, I boldly declared that I would sing. See, this is something the D.A.R.E. officers don't tell you about, but they probably should. In addition to all the health and legal issues that go along with drinking, someone should forewarn children that after a couple drinks one may start to make dubious claims and commit himself to doing things he would never ordinarily do. So now I'm trying to decide what I should sing tonight. "Play that Funky Music" by Wild Cherry is my go-to song for situations like this, because A.) it's awesome B.) I know all the words and C.) it does not require a great deal of talent to sing it. I'm also considering "Angel is the Centerfold," and a couple others. Let's hope by the time I sing everyone will be so drunk they won't notice I'm terrible.

One of the more interesting things that's going on with me right now is that I'm auditioning to be a voice actor for this audio book. I saw an advertisement about it in the arts section of the Syracuse Post-Standard last Friday, and I was drawn to the name: Bruce Coville's Full Cast Audio. Bruce Coville is my favorite children's author, known for the My Teacher is an Alien series, Goblins in the Castle, and other fine books. The ad said they were looking for young men ages 15-23. As I just barely fit in that age range, I called the number to set up an audition. The guy I talked to said all their appointments were booked, but apparently they desperately need men in my age range, so he suggested we set up a private audition. I'm going to his office in Syracuse on Thursday evening to read for a part. Now, I decided to do this purely on a whim. I have never done any voice acting, hadn't even really considered it until I saw this ad, and I'm not sure my voice is at all pleasing to the ear. But the guy emailed me a couple pages of material that I'll be reading at the audition, encouraged me to practice it as much as possible, and even talked to me for a few minutes about the character's backstory and the kind of emotions he's feeling at the time. So even though I set this up on nothing more than a whim, I'm going to take it seriously and do the best I can when I go in on Thursday.

The part I'm auditioning for is the first-person narrator of a story about a high school football player, Mick, who starts using steroids. So if I were to get the part I would be reading almost the entire book, everything except the dialogue of other characters. I have absolutely no idea how much a gig like this would pay, but I'm assuming it would be a decent amount since mine would be by far the largest part. But, of course, I'm looking at it as a very long shot at this point, considering I've never done any voice acting or anything. On the other hand, I'm an excellent reader and I seem to have a gift for public speaking (based on the reactions I got from speeches I gave at my high school graduation and my sister's wedding reception, among others), so who knows? Oh, oddly enough, the book I'm auditioning for is not written by Bruce Coville, and there has actually been no mention of Coville in any correspondence I've had with the company. I might ask them about that when I go in for the audition. Maybe Coville owns the company or something, I don't know.

Even though I've only been living in my new place for less than two weeks, I'll be returning home this weekend for my buddy Darren's bachelor party and my cousin Zach's high school graduation. A bunch of us are going to Canada for the bachelor party, though I'm not really sure why. I mean, we're all over 21, so we can drink legally in the States (if that statement didn't make any sense to you it would be useful to know the drinking age is 19 in Ontario). I guess it's because they decided to go to a strip club for the bachelor party, and the skin bars in Canada are apparently superior to those in Buffalo. I can believe it, after my only previous Buffalo strip club visit, to Rick's Tally Ho. Rick's Tally Ho sucks. 'Nuff said. Considering a bachelor party is supposed to be one last night of debauchery for the groom before he ties the knot, considering we are all red-blooded males in our early twenties, considering we will probably consume copious amounts of alcohol, and considering we will be in a foreign country, I am somewhat concerned about the possibility of an embarrassing incident (readers of Rage Pirates will remember my cautionary tale on the perils of strip clubs, which can be read here: http://www.ragepirates.com/articles/lapdance.html ). I'm not concerned about myself, because I've matured (at least a little) in the five years since "The Strip Club Story" took place, and I really can't afford to blow money at a strip club at this point. Excotic dancers are strictly a luxury item. So I will be going to the club as only a spectator, not a participant. No lap dances for this guy. Hopefully everyone will maintain a semblance of orderly behavior and the night will go smoothly. (By the way, I'm more or less joking about my concerns that something might happen. We're a pretty low-key group. I mean, we like to party occasionally, but no one is going to mistake us for Tucker Max's crew.) Anyway, it should be a great time. Darren and I have tossed around the idea of going to Canada for a night like this for years now, but we've never gotten around to it. Two weeks before his wedding seems like as good a time as any.

In a previous entry, I recounted my disappointment that using the bus service to get to and from campus isn't really a viable option, so I decided to get a parking pass. Well, yesterday I went to campus to buy said parking pass, and suffered further disappointment. I was under the impression that I would be able to buy a full-year permit, and it would be good for one year from when it was issued (this makes sense, right?). Turns out that's not the case. Admittedly, this is partly my fault. Had I read the parking web site closely or read all the info in the parking brochure the university sent me, I would have known this already. But I didn't. I actually have to buy a separate parking pass for the summer term, which is good through the end of August, THEN I can buy the full-year permit for the rest of my time here. I don't know why summer does not count as part of "full-year," but I'm sure there's a good reason. Or they're greedy and trying to make as much money as possible from parking. That could be it too. So I was kind of pissed about the additional expense, but I handed over the credit card. I'm not entirely sure it was worth the money, but it was kind of nice when I drove to campus last night and knew I had a spot in the garage, rather than having to circle campus desperately looking for an open spot by a meter.

There's other stuff I could write about, but this entry is getting a little long already, and I can always add more tomorrow or the day after. So I'm out for now. Wish me luck at karaoke tonight; this white boy's getting funky.

R.I.P George Carlin

I imagine that a lot of people who regularly watched "Meet the Press" and followed politics for many years felt last weekend the same way I feel now. I just found out that George Carlin has died of heart failure at the age of 71. In my mind, Carlin was the smartest, funniest, dirtiest comedian of all time, and we will almost certainly never see his equal, and the world of comedy will never be the same.

Lazy Saturday

I've had a very uneventful day today, but that's kind of the way I like it. Not all the time, sometimes you need to spice it up a little, but often my idea of a good Saturday is sitting around at home, reading, watching TV, listening to music, etc. And that's exactly what I did today. Good times.

Last night I went out to that Bills/Red Sox bar to watch the Sox-Cardinals game, which was a blast, aside from the Sox losing. I knew I was in love when I walked in the door, saw all the Bills decorations and memorabilia adorning the walls, and heard Bon Jovi blasting on the stereo. I don't even like Bon Jovi that much, but it seemed like the perfect music to be playing as I walked into this place. It's not a very large building, but they have quite a few TV sets, one of which is a big-screen, all the usual bar staples (juke box, pool table, dart boards, etc.), plus an outdoor patio and reasonably cheap drinks. It wasn't very full last night, but I imagine it's packed to the rafters on game days during football season. Really looking forward to checking it out on the first weekend in September.

So, in addition to lying around the apartment today, I got started on some of the reading I'm supposed to do before classes start, and it turns out there's not as much of it as I thought there would be. I'll be able to tear through that in a day or two, which is good news. And good news is something that's been in short supply lately. Yesterday I had a setback on my transportation plans for the next year. I intended to take the bus to and from campus most of the time, to save on gas money and so that I wouldn't have to buy a university parking pass, which is outrageously expensive. And when I first saw this apartment, the woman from the rental company told me there was a bus stop right outside (at least, that's how I remember it. I suppose it's possible I misunderstood what she was telling me, or she was misinformed, or feeding me bullshit). Well, I went to the web site for public transportation in Syracuse, and it turns out the closest bus stop to my place is about a mile away. Now, anyone who knows me would be able to tell you I am a lazy, sedentary human being. But I'm not opposed to walking a mile. So once I figured out where the nearest bus stop was, I decided to walk there and see what the walk was like, how long it took me to get there, etc.

Not long after I started walking, I realized this was not going to work out. Oh, it was a fine walk on a sunny, 70 degree afternoon. But during the winter it would be a very different story. And I'm not just talking about being cold; that I could deal with. The problem is that some of the roads I have to travel on my way to the bus stop do not have sidewalks. Again, no problem during nice weather-- you just walk on the shoulder of the road. But during winter, snow banks several feet high will be on the shoulder of the road. Plus, it's about a fifteen minute walk to the stop (in good weather), and then taking the bus from there to campus would take way longer than it would for me to drive there (it's less than a ten-minute drive). So I was thinking about it, and considering all factors (the additional time needed to commute by bus, the need to walk two miles per day through wind, snow, sleet, hail, and snowbanks, and having to put up with notoriously unreliable public transportation when I'm trying to get to classes and/or appointments on time, just to name a few) I decided I would have to pony up the dough for a parking pass. Sure, it's pricey, and it's an expense that might not be absolutely necessary, but I figure it will be money well spent for the convenience of driving, and I'm pretty much mortgaging my future already. What's a little more money?

As I'm writing this, I'm listening to SModcast, the podcast put out by filmmaker Kevin Smith and his producer, Scott Mosier. Whether or not you're a fan of Smith's movies, the podcast is definitely worth a listen. Smith and Mosier just talk for about an hour about whatever weird topics pop into their heads, and the result is sometimes banal but usually interesting and often hilarious. If you're interested, download an episode or two for free from www.quickstopentertainment.com

Still trying to decide how I'm going to spend the rest of the evening. I bought a newspaper from a convenience store a little while ago and haven't read it yet, so I'll probably read all the articles of interest in there. Then, probably watch a flick and have a couple drinks, maybe turn on SNL later on, assuming I haven't seen it already and I'm not getting a sucky vibe in the first few minutes. Yes, it's a fascinating life I lead.

All right, that's all for today. Maybe tomorrow I'll be back with something more interesting.

-Nick

Initial Post

All right, so I've decided to start a new blog. I used to blog on the message boards of my web site (www.ragepirates.com), but then the boards were destroyed by Turkish hackers (seriously). I also haven't spent a great deal of time online during the past year or so, which is why I never bothered to start another blog somewhere else until now. I've recently moved into my own apartment in Syracuse (I'm pursuing a master's degree in print journalism at SU) and have high-speed internet, so I figured now would be a good time.

I moved into my new place about a week ago, and I've spent that time trying to acclimate to my surroundings and find my way around the city a little bit. I like the location of my apartment quite a bit; I don't feel like I'm in a crowded urban environment, but anything I could want or need is only a short drive away. The suburbs are where it's at, yo. There's also some really cool stuff in Syracuse, despite it being a small city. One of my largest concerns about moving here was whether or not I would be able to watch my beloved Bills on television once football season starts up in September. I'm told that there's more of an allegiance to the NYC teams here than to the Bills (although I have seen a lot of old men wearing Bills caps and windbreakers), so I worried that the Bills might not be carried on local network TV. Well, fortunately I found out that there's a bar about two miles from my apartment that's sort of the headquarters/meeting place for the Syracuse chapter of the Bills Backers. Interestingly, this bar is also a haven for Red Sox fans. So I'll probably be heading to this place (It's called The Beginning II, if you're interested. Where The Beginning 1 might be, I'm really not sure) every Sunday during football season, and also during the summer to watch some Sox games and escape from all the damn Yankees fans around here. I actually might head out there tonight to watch the game.

I'm somewhat apprehensive about the master's program I'm about to begin (classes start June 30th), but not because of the coursework. That I'm sure I'll be able to handle. After the semester at USC when my book list was over 40 titles long, I'm confident I can take any amount of work they decide to heap on me. My concern is that in the journalism industry, experience is more important than education. So I need to find a way to build up a body of work to show to prospective employers after receiving my degree. Meanwhile, I need to keep up with my classwork, and hopefully find a part-time job that will help me pay the bills, so I'm not just living off loan money. There's going to be a whole lot on my plate for the next year, and it'll probably be really stressful some of the time, but like I said I have quite a bit of confidence in my ability to handle whatever gets thrown at me. And on top of everything else, I'm still hoping to find time to work on my own writing, both fiction and non, which brings us back to the purpose of this blog.

I guess I'll use it partly as a journal, just so friends and family can keep up with what I've been doing, but I'll also post my thoughts on current events, politics, sports, etc. Basically anything that pops into my head or that starts to dominate my thoughts. And if I do produce some creative writing, I'll probably post it here, or at least give you all a preview if it's a longer work. I'm not going to promise that I post here every day; I'm sure there will be times when I'm just too busy/lazy. Besides, that kind of promise in the first entry of any king of (b)log is basically worthless. How many times do people start a journal or something similar with every intention of writing in it every day, then after a week, or a month, or six months, their interest starts to wane? I know it's happened to me multiple times. So I make no promises. But I will say that I'm pretty excited about this, and I want to use it as a way to keep my writing skills sharp, even if it's just by writing a short summary of my day.

I guess that's all I had to say in the first post. Catch you next time.

-Nick