Archive for the 'Ricky' Category

Reflection in Decimal

Published on December 31, 2009 in Dover, Ideas, Ricky and Tufts. 0 Comments

People have a lot to say about the upcoming year. I’ve been monitoring the #10yearsago hashtag on Twitter. If you cut through the noise, there’s a lot of interesting stuff there – examples of humanity. Collectively, we like to reflect on change and the passage of time, especially when we hit our arbitrary big base-ten milestone years. There’s no harm in that, and I am no different.

Ten years ago, I was nine years old. My family had not yet moved to Dover Plains or even to Carmel, the community I lived in before moving to Dover. I spent most of my time playing video games, and struggled in school. I had a hole in my ear drum that prevented me from taking normal showers or swimming with my friends. Never had I operated a modern personal computer. A good deal of my mental energy was absorbed by jingles on TV, some that celebrated a new millennia.

In these ten years, I studied, worked, laughed, and cried. I took hundreds of standardized tests, met many people, and spoke dozens of million of words. I grew closer to some people, and drifted away from others. I had my fair share of heartache, but publicly and unashamedly fell for a beautiful woman at Tufts University.

Although that brief story seems pretty special to me, I bet it’s unremarkable to you. With some luck, your story has similar themes of progress and development. After all, a lot happens in ten years. In these last ten, many of us became completely different people, with something still recognizable from our pasts.

I love looking back every once in a while. It’s comforting, and I benefit as a person by remembering who I was, where I came from, and who helped me get where I am; it’s that benefit that pushes my evangelism of journaling.

If you’re not already taking a few moments a day to jot down what you’re thinking, you’re not really getting the full benefit of these collective, reflective moments. Although I’m not an expert on memory formation, I know you’re missing a lot if you don’t write stuff down. To reflect on what remains in our heads over a long period is incomplete; leave notes to yourself to piece together a more complete narrative.

Entering this new year, give journaling a shot. If you’re celebrating the dawn of a new decade tonight, remember to remember it.

A Major Decision

Published on November 6, 2009 in Ricky and Tufts. 0 Comments Tags: .

Hello world!

If you see me in my daily life, you know this by now. However, this blog community is neglected, and it’s time for some loving.

I’m about 90% sure that I’m going to attempt a double major of Computer Science and Political Science at Tufts. I think those two majors pretty much sum up the intersection of my interests in this world. Sure, there’s no cohesive element between them, and I’m fairly certain that a focus on one diminishes my focus on the other, but thinking about this double major makes me happy. That’s what matters, right?

I’ll likely be declaring this soon, but there are a few details to work out. We’ll see what happens.

Eight Years

Published on September 10, 2009 in Ricky. 0 Comments

It’s easy for me to do a lot of thinking when the eleventh of September approaches. The attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, now eight years ago, had a profound impact on my upbringing, and the country as a whole. I recall (and remember that I was eleven years old at the time) my mom and her friend contemplating how to get down to New York City from Carmel, New York, where I lived at the time, to see how they could help. Trained as a Registered Nurse, my mom was frustrated when the media urged citizens not to travel to the city to help.

As I went to sleep that night, I knew the world had changed forever. However, I was at an age where I was not old enough to fully grok the implications of that day, as it happened. The course of events that was set off has dictated national and international politics from that day forward, and obviously, stole loved ones from the people of the United States and the world. Living so close to the city, I still get emotional when I think about the day in terms of personal and human tragedy, rather than history and politics, and I’ve brought myself to tears in writing this post.

Today, feelings are complicated, as the grief and ramifications of September 11, 2001 are swept further into the past. The United States will never fully recover from the attacks, and they’ll be with me for the rest of my life.

I cannot help but recall a powerful experience I had in my high school two years ago. A year ago from today, I reposted my recounting of that experience. I’ve elected to repost it again, because I find its narrative compelling.

I had an intense experience this morning, and I’ll never forget it. At Dover Middle/High School, HS Student Council members have to say the pledge and read the morning’s announcements each day. This month is my assigned month (and some other people’s), and I had an additional duty this morning. Directly after saying the pledge, I was to instruct the student body to remain standing for a moment of silence to remember everyone impacted or stolen from us six years ago.

While reciting the pledge and this unique announcement, I became very emotional. I was certain that I would be fine before doing it, but upon saying, “I pledge,” I felt immensely sad. Completing sentences was painful, and I’m amazed that I was able to finish the task without stopping completely.

It was obvious that I was troubled by the task, but people were kind enough not to say anything to me about it. I wish I didn’t have to do that this morning. To a much greater extent, I wish no one had to.

The fact that no one ever commented on my emotional stumbling over the pledge that day resonates with me. Those moments of shared understanding are rare and powerful.

…

If you’re looking for something else to read today, I highly recommend this post from Christopher Penn.

Keane & Kanye West Collaboration

Published on July 20, 2009 in Ricky. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

I’m an interesting person when it comes to music. I listen to this odd hybrid of British indie/piano rock and American alternative/indie. I use indie lightly, because I don’t claim to know what it means. I just like what I like, and that’s emotional, meaningful music that I can picture in the movie of my life. More often than not, if I’m listening to music, it’s something from Keane, the wonderful group that gave the world Somewhere Only We Know, We Might As Well Be Strangers, Is It Any Wonder?, Spiraling, and Perfect Symmetry.

Against all odds, I manage to make these preferences sync with a passion for the music of Kanye West. Despite all you’ve heard about his lackluster personality, he’s a musical genius. There’s something indescribable to it. The best I can do to is say that I have a blast listening to it.

Imagine my shock to learn today (thanks, Tom!) that Keane have confirmed a collaboration with Kanye West.

Chaplin said the band have already spent a day in the studio with the rapper, and that the resulting song – which still needs to be finished off – will hopefully be released before the end of the year.

“We worked with Kanye just for one night, but we’re hoping to get some more stuff done with him in the next few weeks,” the frontman toldNME.COM after playing the Ibiza Rocks festival. “But he’s obviously a very busy man, and we’re quite busy as well at the moment. But we should have something really, really great to show for it hopefully later this year.”

I think I just died happy. This will either be the best four minutes of music ever, or the weirdest.

Testing, 1-2-3. Is this thing still on?

Published on May 13, 2009 in Computer Academy, Dover, Ricky and Site News. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

I’m home, back in Dover Plains, with plenty of time to write. I’ve moved beyond apologizing for abandoning this blog – I’m here to tell you why I did for most of the year, and what I plan to do about it.

College is hard. That is to say, time management is hard. In a ridiculously social environment, it’s hard to make time to sit in front of a computer for the sake of sitting in front of the computer. I took five classes this last semester, and have been funneling tons of time into the Tufts Roundtable, a new publication at Tufts. I’m the head web designer.

What I’ve run against over the last year is the ongoing debate between living life and broadcasting life. It’s a debate I’ve been struggling with, and over the last eight months, I’ve focused on living over lifecasting. With my new pool of time, we’ll see how that changes.

This last semester was amazing, and I’ve actually had the time of my life at Tufts. For better or worse, I’ll be passing my time in Dover Plains until September, and because I’m Ricky, I have goals for that time.

  1. Resting.
  2. Reading.
  3. Getting outside.
  4. Tinkering with computers.
  5. Spending time with friends.

This July, I’ll be working my standard summer job at the Dutchess Community College Computer Academy, a computer camp for kids. Other than that, I have no concrete plans. I’m looking for another job, or some volunteer work in Dutchess or Putnam counties. Let me know if you have anything in mind.

Oh, and welcome back! I’ll be writing much more often than I have now.

My Favorite Video from my Childhood

Published on March 18, 2009 in Ideas, Links and Ricky. 0 Comments Tags: , .

When I was really young, like, pre-school young, I had an amazing obsession with Phil Collins, which has only resurfaced in recent years.

Today, I found my favorite video from when I was a kid – it’s Phil Collins’ final song on his Farewell Tour. He’s performing Take Me Home, undoubtedly one of the greatest songs ever written. I remember watching this video over and over again on a VHS tape. To me, it’s inspiring.

My point in writing this post isn’t to get you to listening to Phil Collins. Rather, I urge you search YouTube for things you loved as a kid. You’ll be amazed and delighted at what you find.