Some Brief Life Updates!

Hey there, everybody!

It's been a little over two months since I got up here to Maine for my new full-time position so I thought since I have a bit of down time after training and opening, I'd share some thoughts and feelings from the experience so far.

My first month here was pretty hard for me personally. I wrote previously about some of the professional struggles I had, and they only compounded some of the feelings of loneliness and adjustment struggles to being in a new, very different area from where I was before. It was a bit of a culture shock not really knowing what to expect going from central New Jersey to central Maine. I've never lived in Maine so the rural aspect to the area was a bit jarring at first. I should have known what I was in for from my visits throughout my life but alas, it nevertheless was a bit of a rocky landing. Thankfully, after the first few weeks of finding my way around and figuring out my own rhythm in this strange land, I began to feel better. The people were welcoming, the cool local places were a lot of fun and I got to see a whole other side to my home state I've never seen before.

So, as month two began, I was in much of a flow than I was before. I had some routine and a supportive community of friends and colleagues beginning to develop. Then training and opening happened. It was rough for me as it always is. It was especially tough since I am new to this institution and put a lot of pressure on myself to know all the answers and be able to do everything for my students but I couldn't. There are many other frustrations I've had over the entire two months but that my be a post for another time.

I look forward to the beginning of a new academic year that is full of learning experiences for me. I'm in a state I've never lived in before, at a small private university (unlike the two, large, public universities I came from before), working with new people in an albeit familiar way but in a totally different context. It is rough at times but I know I'll be a better professional at the end of it all.

I never want to just play it safe any more, I've had plenty of that. I look forward to more adventures this year and beyond as I look to grow and learn as a person and a professional. I'm ready to get out into the world and make a difference for my students this year.

I'll keep blogging periodically as cool things happen and I have something to say, so stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I Was Geeking Out About: August 2014

Welcome to another monthly wrap-up of my weekly geek outs!

In an ongoing effort to better serve up my awesome content to you, here is a look back at the previous month's geek outs! Enjoy!

• Week of 08/01/14
• Week of 08/08/14
• Week of 08/15/14
• Week of 08/22/14
• Week of 08/29/14

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monday: Heathers

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie is Heathers from 1988, which comes to us via Netflix and stars Christian Slater and Winona Ryder.

The basic premise of the classic movie is that a high school student named Veronica (Ryder) is fed up with her clique-y group of popular friends, the "Heathers", and wishes they would just go away. In comes Slater's character who has a deadly solution. It all seems like fun and games until the bodies start to pile up and the whole school is thrown into chaos. Think Mean Girls just with more guns, death, and mayhem.

The movie isn't terribly gory or violent. It is also rather cheeky and silly at times. It's a mash-up of genres for sure, a dark, comedic, thriller where Ryder is forced to deal with her problems maturely. There is a lot going on thematically but it all works. There is also cliche 80s and high school stereotypes in the movie, which is great decades apart from the time this movie came out. You have your overly dorky nerds, stupid cops, aloof parents, and dimwitted jocks. The dialogue in this movie is also pretty incredible, with zingers, one-liners, and quotables all over the place. It's a lot of fun and gives the movie its unique flavor.

My only gripe, which I totally acknowledge comes from me being in 2014 and this movie being nearly as old as I am, is that a major sequence in the film is about how the jocks are pranked and made to look like they're gay, which is apparently the worst thing in the world. It was certainly a different time back then.

I recommend this movie as a pretty solid popcorn movie you don't have to think too much about but it is certainly smarter than it looks.

You can check out Heathers streaming now on Netflix!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 09/05/14

Welcome to another week in geek!

Hey everybody. Here is what I'm into lately!

• Party Down

So this cult series originally aired on Starz from 2009-10 and had one of my favorite actors in it, Adam Scott from Parks & Recreation fame. Parks grabbed Adam Scott from this show as did Glee with Jane Lynch. The series didn't fare too well with viewers at the time but it has had a second life after its too short tenure. All of the episodes have found a home at Hulu Plus and I've been rewatching them for nostalgia's sake. The premise is that a bunch of wannabe actors and writers in Los Angeles work as caterers and get into a bunch of wacky antics. To put it succinctly, the show is great, you should watch it. All the actors are wonderful in it and it is very smart and witty, like me!

• Timehop

I've seen a lot of people using this app lately so I decided to check it out. It's been a lot of fun seeing what happened on each day in my life several years ago via what I posted that day. It's free and fun and helps us wax nostalgic, social media style. Check it out!

• Fantasy Football

I have had the pleasure of being a part of a student affairs fantasy football league of some kind for the past three years. Doing fantasy football has been an awesome way to get more into the sport, since I get all the updates of how my players are doing and have more of a general idea of how each team is doing as well. I won my league last year, and I have a pretty solid lineup this year so I am looking forward to seeing how they do!

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monday: Star Trek - The Motion Picture

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie comes to us from Netflix (note: it went off the service 9/1/14, but it seems to keep popping up on streaming services and is one I've wanted to watch for a while) and is 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

I've seen pretty much all of the Star Trek feature films, and I have to unfortunately admit, this one is another miss. It just doesn't seem like the best parts of the series translate well to the big screen. This movie isn't terrible, it just seems to be confused and sort of full of itself.

My first big complaint with this movie is a long winded sequence of Kirk riding around outside the Enterprise. I understand that this was the first time it was seen on the big screen but just for the sake of pacing, it seemed to be overdone. Pacing was generally a problem with this movie, and it was made over 30 years ago so there is that but not all classic films has this issue. The best ones stand the test of time.

All of the original cast is back for this adventure, an eager Kirk is ready to take the helm again, a beleaguered Spock is looking for logical enlightenment, and the rest of the team is their usual selves. The main plot of the movie is intriguing enough, but the only real pay off is at the end with an interesting twist as to the reveal of what this alien entity is that the Enterprise crew is trying to stop from destroying Earth.

Perhaps I can't give it a completely fair shake since I saw most of the other Star Trek films first but this one just feels tired and overdone. It doesn't have the heart or interesting moral dilemmas of the show and doesn't really come close for me to any of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Maybe I'd be more invested if I watched the original series, but I haven't so my stance is that this one is a skippable entry in the film series.

Come back next week for another movie to check out!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 08/29/14

Welcome to another episode in my life of geekiness!

I'm still pretty busy this week but this should be the end of it, as the students move in here to Husson University this weekend so next week will be the beginning of classes and some semblance of a more routine flow in my life. I feel bad for not having the brain power or energy to devote to new blog posts but I also wouldn't want to interrupt my usual weekly series so I'm whipping up something quick for you all to let you know I'm thinking of you! Enjoy!

• Starbucks

I've expressed my love of coffee a few times before. I think I've also mentioned that Starbucks is my usual weapon of choice, either by my own coffee maker or making a pilgrimage to a store. Especially during chaotic weeks like this past one, getting my signature grande vanilla iced coffee with soy always helps me keep chugging along with energy and enthusiasm!

• Music

During my late nights in the office and just plugging in during the day to get work done, I've been listening to a lot of music via the cool streaming services, some of which I've talked about before, namely Songza and Spotify. Their respective playlists always connect to whatever mood I'm in and saves me the grunt work of figuring out something to listen to. I've discovered a lot of cool new music through these methods too, which is great! I know I'll keep maximizing this flow when I'm in my office regularly during the academic year.

• Students

This one is another sort of broad, general one. I've been working with and getting to know my student staff members over the past two weeks. I just have to gush that they're a great batch of folks. I know everyone says that about their students but I would certainly not lie if I wasn't feeling it. I look forward to getting to know them better and work with them to make this a great year! I furthermore am looking forward to students being here on campus. It's been a quiet summer and I always appreciate the pulse and energy of a college campus when it is in full bloom. That's why I'm here after all!

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monday: The Breakfast Club

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie is the classic 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, coming to us via Netflix.

I have to admit, I love this movie and have always loved this movie. I haven't sat down to watch in a while but it definitely holds up. The basic premise is that a group of high school students have to spend a Saturday in detention for various reasons. They are all basically your typical stereotypes; jock, nerd, popular kid, the loner, and the misfit. The movie is so simple since all the plot entails is just getting these five people stuck in a room together and letting the rest play itself out. Judd Nelson's misfit John Bender is one who begins to instigate the others to divulge things about themselves. Where at first all of these starkly different stereotypical high school students thought they had nothing in common, by the end of the day, they realize they're more similar than they ever thought.

I love how simple and minimalist this movie is. It completely hinges on the characters and the actor's performances, and they all succeed greatly. Each character is nuanced and has their own moments to shine. Nelson is certainly a highlight of the movie and provides most of the film's quotable moments. Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and Emilio Estevez all provide great turns here, and Ally Sheedy is very intriguing as the quirky Allison. I wish I could have a whole movie of her!

The Breakfast Club should be required viewing in high schools. It breaks down those foolish misconceptions we have about each other that put up walls and separate us. Every one has their own problems and we all want the same things in life, to be loved, appreciated, and to be able to pursue our own dreams. I feel like this is going on a continuing list of great films I have to show my children when they grow up. Even after almost thirty years, this timeless classic is still relevant today. Plus, it has that great Simple Minds song in the soundtrack! It's just great all around!

I highly recommend The Breakfast Club, which is streaming now on Netflix.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 08/22/14

Welcome to another week of my perpetual geek outs!

Since I didn't want to not post this week and having been busy recently with my job, I'm going to do something a little different this time around. This is a forward looking edition of what I'm geeking out about. I'm going to share some books I looking forward to geeking out about so hopefully we can read along together in the coming months. Enjoy!

• "Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed" by Alexis Ohanian
• "Contagious Optimism: Uplifting Stories and Motivational Advice for Positive Forward Thinking" by David Mezzapelle
• "The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School" by Alexandra Robbins

I want to tackle these three distinct books for a variety of personal interests so I hope you can check out one or all of them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Green Lantern and What I Learned From 'The Blackest Night'

Recently I just wrapped up reading the main story line of 'The Blackest Night' event in DC Comics. The story centers around the Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, which is one of my favorite superheroes.

The basic premise of the story is that the emotional light spectrum (based around the ROYGBIV framework) has split. Where there is usually just the green light, powered by will, there is now lanterns for all of the aforementioned colors. Yellow is powered by fear, red by rage, blue by hope, orange by greed, violet by love, and indigo by compassion. This creates an imbalance, more or less, that realizes the prophecy of the "blackest night" which would extinguish all the light in the universe and end the chaos this splintering of the emotional light spectrum caused.

Long story short, this plot involved a lot of discussion of emotions, their causes, and their validity. Certain lanterns are obvious opposites of each other and an emotion like greed, turned up to 11 (so to speak), is just chaos. In the end though, all of the different colors are able to come together to end the rampage of the undead husks of the "Black Lanterns" that are destroying life all over the universe. They come to an understanding of each other at times, or at least an acceptance that for some, the power of their ring is the one controlling them, making them a single-minded embodiment of greed for example.

This was my big takeaway and my favorite element of this story line. People feel what they feel, we shouldn't judge them or assume anything about what they're feeling. Sometimes rage is the appropriate response to injustice. Sometimes hope is the hardest thing to do for someone. Sometimes fear can make good people do misguided things. In the end though, it furthered my love of the Green Lantern to know that no matter what else is going on, you just need to have the will to carry on because there are people that care about you and it gets better.

I highly recommend all of the Blackest Night story. It's action-packed, involves the whole DC Universe, and has this great undercurrent of emotional stuff. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Thanks for stopping by!

Movie Review Monday: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie comes to us from Netflix, and it is 2011's Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

This documentary is a exploration of the unique character of Jiro Ono, a master sushi chef from Japan whose commitment to his work and craft is unparalleled. He has a world renowned restaurant that only has about ten seats and charges thousands of dollars per customer. The film examines Jiro's story, perspective on life, and his relationship with his sons, who will eventually take over for their venerable father.

I must give a major caveat to the viewing of this movie; it is completely subtitled, obviously since it is centered in Japan. I know this could be a deterrent for some folks so I figure I'd make sure it was known ahead of time. I didn't know but it is still a great viewing experience. The movie is very well shot and has some awesome sequences of Jiro making his amazing sushi. The only complaint I'd have with the composure of the film is that has fairly slow pacing and there is no sense of urgency or conflict. It is all just talking heads and informational interviews with people around Jiro. There isn't a problem to be solved or crisis to avert or call to action. It's just a monument and memorial to Jiro, simple and clean, just like the man it is for.

I enjoyed this movie enough and if you're like me and love sushi, you'll want to run out and get some after watching.

You can stream this movie right now over at Netflix! Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!