How can we define art

Before I begin I'd like to note that the reader should not take my opinions on art as anything more than my late night ramblings. While I certainly have an opinion about it, I don't pretend to be correct or even comprehensive, I just thought that the paragraph on art that I left in my last entry could use some clarification and expansion. I think its an interesting topic that needs further review.

Ok, so what do I feel art is. After going to the Tate Modern Art Museum in London I am quite convinced that art has some type of universality to it. By this I mean you don't need to be an "artist" to make art. I will appreciate a Picasso just as much as I enjoy a picture my friend drew me (assuming I like both of them equally). But so if you don't need to be an artist to make art, than why is there a museum for Van Gogh and not for me. Well the answer is that we value art based on the evaluations of others. This bothers me in a number of ways. I find myself asking if I'm supposed to find the Mona Lisa exquisite (which, if you're curious, I don't) simply because most of the world's art experts think it is one of the greatest pieces ever done. I tend to think that a piece of art finds its value in how it makes me feel. If I look at a painting/sculpture/drawing/etc. and it produces a deep emotion in me than I will find it valuable. I feel the same emotions with certain aspects of the real world that I experience as well (for instance when I stare over the lake at my former camp). In the end the purpose of art is for people to try to reproduce reality in a way that makes us feel a certain way, because we like to feel.

I refuse to proof read or check this last paragraph. I have no idea if what I said makes any sense and quite frankly if it doesn't I don't care. I'm moving on.

Tomorrow is my last day in Leiden, and it is going to be busy. I have to go running, sell my bike, close my bank account, and then take a day trip to the east to have some fun. Pannekoeken for dinner and beers after. But most of my bags are packed and my room is clean, so I'm ready to leave. I think I'm also mentally ready to leave- I am looking forward to coming home as much as I was looking forward to coming to the Netherlands. I'm really glad that in that sense my life has come full circle.

Also, because I didn't mention it, my favorite painting is Van Gogh's The Bedroom. I like how it takes a simple reality and turns it into something to marvel at. I would never stare at my bedroom and see something interesting, but when I look at his painting I do. It makes me feel like the ordinary can become extraordinary, and if that is true than there is hope for me yet.

Ok, Top 5 Things I Can't Wait To Do When I Get Home
5. Watch a Mets game
4. Visit Camp
3. Sit on the porch on a Sunday with a beer and do absolutely nothing
2. La Familia Pizza
1. Friends

Be well

AC

Last few glorious days.....

Well its certainly been a little while since I've written anything substantial in this blog, but I've been out there living life. I don't have time to be tied down to a blog, haha. Anyway, I just got back from London and I now have only 3 full days left in the glorious Netherlands. Before I go and enjoy my last full day at the market though, I thought I'd catch this blog up a little (especially now that I know that some people are actually reading). This also gives me some time to listen to the CD that Justine made me- which so far rocks out.

So first order of business, my London trip. London was incredible- much better than I remember it when I was 12. I learned how to navigate via the overground train, underground (a.k.a. the tube) and the awesome red buses. On Saturday I spent the day with my cousin Nicola and my uncle David, and we got to see a lot. First, we walked around Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. I did not know that Big Ben is actually not the name of the clock tower, it is actually the name of the bell inside of it. Afterwards we got to see the beautiful Westminster Abbey, which has so much history and famous people buried inside of its walls. To experience the entire thing would normally take 3 or 4 hours, but I didn't want to stay in one place for too long. After all, I wanted to see the entire city in just a weekend. After the abbey we had lunch in Trafalgar Square and then went to the National Gallery. All of the museums in London are free, which is the way I think it should be everywhere. We got a chance to experience some beautiful paintings, which isn't a new experience for me seeing as beautiful paintings are as numerous in Europe as cars on the Jersey Turnpike. The next day Nicola and I went to see the Tate Modern Art Museum, which sparked a lively debate about what art actually is. I think I'll elaborate below.

So, what is art? Most paintings are extremely difficult to create, and I would never imagine that I could paint on the scale of a Rembrandt or Van Gogh (my favorite painter). But at the same time we have modern art, which is basically a pencil on a table or a piece of moldy bread that is classified as "art." Some of the pieces in this museum I looked at and just shook my head. One exhibit that was getting a lot of attention was simply 4 TV screens, each a different color, with a clip of a girl doing some kind of telepathy or mind power. These clips were all from fairly famous movies (the two I recognized were Matilda and The Craft). But is this art? I'm not really sure. Some people look at a piece and say, "I could have painted that with a set of fingerpaints if I wanted to," which always elicits the response, "BUT you wouldn't have thought to do it." Frankly, I think this argument is full of crap. I oftentimes look at paintings and all I see if random assortments of colors with no definitive shape and believe I could do them, and might even do one that looks like a true piece of modern art. Whats more, if I did an identical piece to one of these artists, my piece would be dismissed while the artists would be adored. In this case, the only difference between art and my own personal hobby is the years of art school the artists attends. But should you have to get an education in art to be able to be an artist? Before he passed away, my grandfather, with no artistic education, painting 3 of the most incredible pieces I've ever seen. These were by new means modern art, they were incredibly accurate scenes in the English countryside that I have visited. Furthermore, the painting elicited a similar emotion to the actual countryside. THAT, is what I believe art is. I want to look at a piece and feel something, and if millions of people look at a painting and feel strongly about it, it is a masterpiece.

Anyway, now that I've successfully digressed, I enjoyed the rest of my time in London. Sunday night I hung out with my cousin Mark and watched a football (soccer) game. Monday I went to St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London on my own. St. Paul's Cathedral was one of the three most amazing things I've ever experienced. The climb to the top (there are three levels) is the scariest thing I've done in Europe, but the experience was priceless. The cathedral is the most beautiful I've ever seen, and the dome at the top literally does feel like a gateway between earth and heaven. I'm not even religious and I still felt this emotion as I climbed to the top. As for the Tower of London, I'd been before, but its always a fun trip to take. The crown jewels are incredible, including the Cullinan I (a.k.a. the first star of Africa), the largest diamond in the world, that sits in the royal sceptre. I always think the people who built the tower would have a good laugh if they knew how big of a tourist attraction it is today.

I think that's it for now. I might write another entry tonight when I'm packing, we'll see. I can't wait to be home and see everybody who's smiling faces I've missed so dearly for 5 months. You know who you are. Oh, I almost forgot music. Besides the two CDs I just had made for me (thank you Liz and Justine) I'm mostly listening to a mixture of Matt Pond PA, David Grey, Kings of Leon, and Death Cab at the moment. I also forgot a top 5 list, so I'll have to improvise a quick one. Ok, here goes:

Top 5 Cities I've Seen in Europe
5. Cork
4. Antwerp
3. Leiden (had to do it, this place has been so good to me)
2. Amsterdam
1. London

That's it for now. I'm having such a good time I'm not sure I want to stop writing, but all good things.... As always, be well.

AC

How dependent we really are on the internet

Hello millions of people who read my blog. Once again I have not been keeping up in this thing as much as I would have hoped, and everytime I write a new entry I end up saying, "Its been a long time...." Since that is starting to get annoying I'm just going to pretend it hasn't been a long time. So last week the internet in my apartment went dead for about 3 days, and it made me really aware of how dependent we all are on the internet. I challenge you to go three days without checking your email, facebook, the news, or espn.com. Its honestly a crazy feeling, which is weird considering 15 years ago barely anybody had the internet.

The really strange thing about this three day period, however, was that I became borderline depressed. It wasn't even like I didn't have the internet, I just had to go to the library or a cafe every time I wanted to check things. Of course, since that is a hassle I would just check all my internet stuff once a day, but then the rest of the day I felt really alone and bored. I mean, I guess it was also because my friends were all busy and I really had nothing going on during those days. So I spent most of the time by myself with my thoughts, my Ipod, and a book. It was relaxing, but at the same time I was dying to get on facebook and just zone out for a couple minutes.

So school is winding down, even though I have a month left here in Leiden. Sorry my computer just died and I lost track of what I was typing before it crashed on me. I'll be back in the United States on June 28th, and I can't wait. I'm still going to have some fun while I'm in Europe though- mostly around the Holland area because money is tight. I will be going to London for one weekend, staying with my cousins. Overall a pretty nice way to finish off the semester. When I get back I turn into a work machine. LSATs and two jobs by the looks of it.

Umm, thats it for now. Listening to some new music I've been exploring: The Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, etc. I wish I had whole days to just explore music and get really knowledgable and have all this new awesome stuff. Anyway, I'll try and write in this blog more often, but we'll see how that goes.

AC

I haven't had the time to blog in a while

Yea its been a very long time since I've written anything. Rather than write a ton of info about everything that's happened in the last 3 weeks (which would bore me as well as anybody that's reading), I think I'll just write about the important stuff. I think for the first time I'll write a "Highlights" section. This may work really well.

Highlights Since Last I Wrote
-I went to England for a weekend to see family. I got to see my Mom, Aunt Pat and Uncle David, my grandma, and my cousin Nicola. It was a lot of fun, and I didn't even do London.

-I saw stone henge, and it was a tourist trap. Bummer- but its still stone henge so its still pretty amazing

-Lots of very old buildings and great English bitter

-Went to Cork to see Butler and Brian. Also got to see Dublin, and most importantly the Guinness Brewery

-I got a lot of awesome pint glasses, so look out for gifts various friends of mine.

-Corey cam to visit the weekend after (he just left today) and we did Leiden, Amsterdam, and Antwerp. Basically, anything that needed to be done was done, so Pannenkoeken, Indonesian food, museums, bars, stroopwaffel, etc.

-I have a lot of work to be doing in the next few weeks, but somehow I'll still manage to be bored I'm sure

And that about wraps up the highlights. I think that's a good general idea of my last few weeks. I'll be putting up some pictures on this page soon, and they'll go up on facebook as well. So last week I actually bought music on iTunes and purchased the new Death Cab for Cutie album "Narrow Stairs." A couple of things about this. First of all, I think the album name is great because I'm in the Netherlands, the narrow stairs capital of the world. Seriously if you haven't been in a house here its crazy, they're basically just ladders. Secondly, the first time I listened through I was underwhelmed, but now I really like it. Some of the tracks aren't great but overall I like the flow of the album, and you can tell they mixed some things up. "Grapevine Fires" and "Remainder" are great tracks, along with "Cath..." Check it out.

I can't wait to get back to New Brunswick. I never thought I'd ever say that in my life, but there it is. I'll explain more later, I have some work to do but I'm gonna have the time this weekend to write a for real post. Until then, be well.

ac

Busy times ahead...

So I've got a very eventful couple of days ahead of me, and I'm really excited to be so busy. I almost always have down time here, but I'm going to be hard pressed for any down time in the next 3 weeks. So tomorrow I have a presentation on Ray Kurzweil's book The Singularity is Near and the future of the mind and psychology. It's been bothering me a little, but I'll get through it. Immediately after class I need to call a potential employer in New Brunswick to have a phone interview, and then I make my way to Den Haag as fast as I can for a night of fun filled activities. Apparently Queen's Day eve in Den Haag is really awesome, so I look forward to it. Wednesday is Konnegingdag, enough said. It's gonna be crazy, and I already bought my t-shirt. Thursday morning I need to catch a 9 am flight to Birmingham to spend the weekend with my family. I'm really looking forward to going to England and seeing my Mom's side of the family, who I haven't seen in years. I get back on Monday for some classes, but on Friday I'm flying out again to Ireland. Cork is going to be crazy, Brian and Butler will make sure I have a good time. Then the week I get back from Ireland Corey is flying into Amsterdam from the States. Overall, solid 3 weeks.

I feel like at the moment that I have too much on my mind to get it out in any coherent fashion, so I'm not even gonna try. Instead I'm writing a top 5 list, probably a really stupid one though. Lets see what I think of.

Top 5 things the Mets need to do to make the World Series
5. Get at least 5 wins out of Pedro Martinez, more importantly have him going into the postseason and make sure he is pumped and assuming a leadership role.
4. Delgado and Moises Alou have to bat above .270 on the year, assuming both are playing everyday
3. Johan 15 wins, minimum
2. Willie Randolph needs to show a little life, make sure there are no collapses like last season
1. Young players (Wright, Reyes, Pagan) need to act 3 years older (although Wright isn't a problem) and old players (Alou, Delgado, Castillo) need to act 3 years younger.

If you can't tell I mostly made that up on the spot. I already disagree with some of the things I wrote. Here's another one.

Top 5 Joe Purdy Songs (if you haven't heard of him do some downloading)
5. You Don't Like Me Anyway (may move up the list soon)
4. Far Away Blues
3. The City
2. I Just Can't Seem to Get it Right Today
1. I Love the Rain the Most

That's it for today. I know the top 5 lists are getting annoying so I'm gonna try and write some stuff with substance in the next couple posts. Be well.

AC

Homesickness

So I have a theory, and that theory is that I'm getting homesick. The problem with this is I don't really know if I am, I've never been homesick before. I've never really had a problem being away from home, mainly because I never felt solidly at home because I moved as a child a decent amount and went to summer camp every summer for 8 weeks. So I guess I just avoided the attachment that most people make with a home, or a house. My family will be moving in a couple months (assuming we beat the mortgage disaster that is the US economy right now) so I likely won't even be coming back to Summit when I leave the Netherlands. But anyway, I've been feeling a little alone here, and maybe that is a product of me having my own apartment and not really knowing anybody in my building. It isn't a very social place. The only common room is the laundry room, with its whopping one laundry machine and one dryer. There is no common room, no kitchen, no bathroom, because our rooms all have these things. Furthermore, my key only gets me into my very limited hallway, not the rest of the building. They really don't like the idea of us socializing.

But so a lack of seeing my friends and being alone here is starting to get to me a little bit. I spend most of time reading or on the internet, and I've gotten pretty used to entertaining myself. I'm kind of worried that when I get back I'm gonna be really anti-social and my friends will notice. The other possibility is that I'll be really clingy and my friends will hate me. I just don't know what its gonna be like, plus if you add reverse culture shock (which I actually am convinced I might experience, even though I didn't really have culture shock) it won't be a very nice situation.

So here it is, the top 5 things I miss about Rutgers (friends not included because I miss them all and I don't pick favorites).

5. Buccleuch Park
4. The porch
3. Walking back from Douglass Campus fearing for my life
2. The Daily Targum
1. Brower Subs

That was a fairly impromptu list and subject to change, but still I think it is fairly accurate. Anyway, I'm gonna cut this post short. Listen to Rogue Wave because they are awesome, and read anything by Ray Kurzweil because the man is a genius (and probably going to live forever). Also at the request of Rich Bavier, because I am talking to him on aim at the moment, he is number 0 on my top five list. Seeing as 0 has a negative connotation to it as well, I don't think that implies I'm taking sides on friends. My other friends can maybe go in as fractions, but I'm lazy. Be well.

AC

Another Top 5 List...

Hello. So Rutgersfest got announced today back in Jersey, even though I've known the line-up for quite a while now. Anyway, Third Eye Blind is gonna rock, and I'm not going to be around to see it. Figures that the one year I'd go abroad Rutgersfest would be a decent show. I actually wouldn't have gotten smashed and passed out at 5 this year, I would have gone to the show and I'm sure I would have loved it.

Anyway, in honor of this whole missing Rutgersfest thing I've been listening to 3eb a lot. I had already heard just about every song when I was dating Liz, but since then I haven't heard them as much. The funny thing is, once I got a chance to listen to them at my own pace I actually started really enjoying them. There is no denying that Steven Jenkins is a brilliant lyricist, although sometimes I wonder about his musicianship. A lot of the songs sound the same, and he doesn't seem to be able to write about anything that isn't a horribly depressing situation, but he tends to be very good at it nonetheless. So here is my stream of conscience on 3eb, followed by my top 5 favorite 3eb songs.

Ok, I hate all of the radio played 3eb songs. They all tend to suck in my mind, and I honestly don't equate them with the rest of their music. Sometimes I wonder if they made those songs just to appease the studio label while they made their own stuff. So this means Semi-Charmed Life, Jumper, How's It Gonna Be, Graduate, Deep Inside of You, and Never Let You Go are completely out of contention. In fact, there is very little I like on their first album, expect for the fact that Motorcycle Drive-By is probably my favorite song of theirs. It reminds me of Molly because she put it on a CD for me when we were both really young, and its stuck with me ever since. The lyrics are brilliant, and the guitar is haunting. I like their album Blue because I think its less mainstream and they do more instrumentals. Out of the Vein is good, but a little manufactured. Also, whenever Steven Jenkins goes falsetto it tends to bother me, he really needs to do a better job of picking his spots with that. I love how I sound like I'm critiquing them, when they've obviously got something right (they are a major band and I'm a loser). So anyway, I guess I'll just get to the list.

Top 5 Favorite 3eb Songs

5. 10 Days Late- no symbolic importance on this one, its just an awesome song. Well unless you count all of the accidental pregnancies I've had with girls....(haha). I don't quite get the church choir bit in the middle but its awesome anyway.

4. Crystal Baller- this is a really cool song that I started listening to last summer. I've never really looked at the lyrics until now. First of all, her rhymes the word "ends" with "ends", which is a little weird. But I also realized that it is one of the few happy topics they sing about (sort of), so that's a good thing. Whatever.

3. Faster- this song, on Out of the Vein, reminds me of Liz more than any other 3eb song. I tried to think about what song I'd heard in her presence the most but I couldn't pinpoint it, but this one just tends to remind me of my friend. She always has "You have to steal time from a life that's passing by" as her away message. Also, I've always thought her life moved a little faster than mine, so maybe its symbolic. Maybe I'm thinking into it too much.

2. London- besides being in the movie "Can't Hardly Wait" (which is one of my favorite movies because it is so fucking hilarious) this is a really fun song, despite being about not being able to get over a girl even though she dragged you to London just to make you jealous of her new guy. At least that is what I think its about, it seems obvious but every time I read the lyrics I feel like I'm missing something. I'm half British though, so is there really any doubt that I like this song (on a related note, I will be chilling with my cousin at his sweet apartment in London next month).

1. Motorcycle Drive By- see the explanation above, but also since I've been listening to it here in Europe its been helping me get over some personal issues and made me realize some important facts about my life back home. Yea its a sad song, but its hopeful.

So anyway, I'm thanking God for saving this post when I accidentally closed the screen, and thanking 3eb for playing Rutgersfest. They aren't my favorite band, but they are pretty fun to listen to at the right time. I heard a new album is coming out, but you'd have to talk to Liz about that. I'm not an uber-fan, just a..... casual observer. I like that term. As always readers, be well.

AC