Also,

Paul Lansky- Mild und Leise

the good music conference

Go to THIS BLOG right fucking now.

It's written by my friend Jesse who's just about the coolest person I know. I also might be dating him, but not intentionally. It's only because as straight men we go on more dates than most couples do.

Anyway, browsing this blog, I found like 20 songs that I liked immediately, and there's like 20 songs on the website. It's awesome, the downloads are sick and they don't waste your time with any bullshit reviews, just a few sentences of why you should download the song. So go and download some shit.

Home

What is home?

When I first went back to my house for Rosh Hashana last week, I noticed something strikingly different between what my house was and what it had been- my house was no longer my home. It was an odd sensation, but in two weeks, my whole sense of reality had suddenly flipped around. I calculated how many rides I had left on my ten trip- My last trip would be a train back to Columbia. I tried sleeping but couldn't stop shifting- I wasn't used to the bed that I had slept in just weeks before. Then, before I left my house, I told my parents "goodbye, I'll call you when I get home!"

What's different? All the junk in my old room is the same, I didn't remove any of the decorations or any of the stuff. I just sat on my bed and gazed around, and all I could think of was "this isn't me anymore. I don't belong here." After a day and a half with my family, I felt like I was getting "homesick-" I just wanted to be back with my friends in my dorm with my shitty food.

This is just an observation I guess. 2AM doesn't lend itself nicely to insightful blog posts- I rarely make any insight anymore, just a whole lotta observation.

Well anyway, it's good to be home, wherever it is.

RYAN MANDELBAUM FOR CCSC GUY

I'm running for Columbia College Student Council Representative for the Class of 2013. Vote for me. Or don't.

Thoughts on NSOP

Thanks to some strange nights and packed days, there really hasn't been much to talk about on my blog. I really didn't think about any of it, I kinda just floated about for a week, trying to experience as much as I could and all that jazz. Classes started today and I'm trying to get my head back into some non-intoxicated, school-oriented state. Well, let me get straight to it.

Orientation is for getting students acclimated to their school environment. Strangely at Columbia, it doesn't do that at all. From NSOP, a student could gather that Columbia was a happening party school, where the frats welcomed any and all students every night, beer flowed like water, hookah bars were set up on all the steps, bedtime never came, and where one could simply hop on the subway whenever and end up wherever.

Not that that's a bad thing.

Orientation has been a friendmaking whirr for me. I try hanging out with old chums from my outdoor orientation program, but am quickly pulled aside by a "hey you should meet" or "hi my name is" or whatever. It's a strange experience to learn so many names, have so many conversations, all that.

As it came to a close, I realized that NSOP is a precious time to live the Asher Roth college life and do whatever you want. Now it's coming to a close and it's time to start my actual college experience, study for my degree, and live the rest of my life.

Class has started now, and suddenly the necessity of doing my work and actually doing stuff is hanging over my head. It's odd to finally have obligations, but in all honesty, it's really, really exciting; and aside from the fact that my LitHum section has three "that guys," my schedule is fantastic and I'm happy to be learning new things, finally.

I know this post wasn't really insightful or anything, but I'm still here and I'm still blogging.

College

I'm in college right now, sitting at my desk and studying for a physics placement exam.

weird.