Every time I start questioning my choice of career, and I have been doing it a lot lately, I get a message like this from a former student and start to think that maybe the last 20 years of my professional life haven’t been a total waste of time.
Visiting Scholar at NYU
During my sabbatical year I was fortunate enough to secure an opportunity to serve as a Visiting Scholar at NYU’s Interactive Telecomunications Program. It was somewhat of a homecoming for me since this was the program that I graduated from nearly two decades earlier.
Continue reading “Visiting Scholar at NYU”Magical Court-side seats in Orlando
This year continues to have me reconnecting with old friends and loved ones. I had a great weekend in Orlando celebrating the birthday of my boy Jeff Ice. The only downside of the trip was that my boy Des couldn’t make it. Jeff, Des, and I have been best friends since 7th grade. We all have families and jobs, so we don’t get together as much as in the past. To say that Des was missed is an understatement.
I have to thank his wife Lex for setting everything up and bringing us all together again! She flew us down, put us up at the crib, and even made sure that we had the best seats in the house during the Orlando Magic game. Which I must add was hysterical because after I stopped playing basketball I kinda lost all interest in the game. However, during this sabbatical, I have watched more basketball than I have in years. And court-side seats are making me start to rethink my position. Ice hit the jackpot when he married her! We gotta all get together again before I have to back to work!
Continue reading “Magical Court-side seats in Orlando”Mini Obie Reunion
The sabbatical year continues to bring me back into contact with many of my friends from years gone by. You see, my boy Fat invited me to come and watch his son Henry play for the Oberlin College Yeomen, and to co-sponsor a pre game reception for the team. For a variety of reasons I rarely have the desire to watch basketball anymore, but it was Fat’s kid, so I schlepped downtown support my boy. Plus I can’t remember Oberlin ever playing in NYC so I was more than a little curious to see how the team looked today. What I didn’t realize was that Fat also invited a grip of our fellow Obies to the game for a somewhat impromptu Oberlin College mini reunion.
Continue reading “Mini Obie Reunion”Old Apples don’t die, they multiply!
I am throwing out my Apple 9600 Power PC. I am amazed that it still boots up after 17 years. This machine got me through my graduate school digital media program. When I bought it the system had a “huge” 9GB SCSI hard drive and 1.5GB of ram. At the time is was a beast. Now before I tossed it I was able to back it up with a small 8GB Flash drive over a first generation Continue reading “Old Apples don’t die, they multiply!”
Interviewed on WPIX!
In an earlier post I mentioned that I was recently interviewed at the Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiere by Mario Diaz of WPIX channel 11. The story that didn’t make the final segment edit is that this wasn’t the first time I had played hooky to see a Star Wars film. You see near the end of my senior year of high school my best friend Jeff and I hatched a plan to be the first people to see Return of the Jedi without having to brave the insane lines that were forming in Manhattan prior to the opening day. During that time the world had gone Star Wars crazy. People had been lining up nearly a week in advance of the premiere of Jedi to guarantee that they would be among the first to see the final episode of the original trilogy. However while Jeff and I were both hardcore Star Wars fans, we knew that neither one of our moms would let us miss that much school for a movie.
So Jeff and I came up with the brilliant plan to ditch only one day of school and Continue reading “Interviewed on WPIX!”
Life after ITP
As part of an alumni panel discussing life and career possibilities after graduation, I was invited once again to speak to students in the NYU Interactive Telecommunication Program. It was a great event, but I must admit to having a good laugh at the fact that I was the oldest person on the panel by far.
The funniest thing was when I mentioned the year I graduated a student in the front row mouthed the word “wow”. Dat’s right son, I’m a straight up ODG (Original Digital Gangsta)! Protect ya neck!
CUNY Career Opportunities for NYU-ITP Students
I was approached a few months back by the folks at NYU to be a part of an academic career opportunities event for students of the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). I was asked to to introduce ITP students to the teaching opportunities available within the City University of New York (CUNY) system. My presentation highlighted the two schools I represent, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and LaGuardia, and how current students and alumni can work as adjuncts, teaching assistants, tutors, workshop organizers, application writers, interns, etc..
This felt very much like a homecoming for me. It was the first time I had formally presented at my old Alma Mater. I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed my time at ITP.
The life and times of a struggling MC
It is a rare occurrence when I get an opportunity to stop and reflect on the path not taken. With that said, I want to thank Tom Seymour and De Loot for inviting me to be interviewed on the New York Cine Radio podcast. I had blast talking about pursuing a career in Hip Hop music when Continue reading “The life and times of a struggling MC”
West Virginia Road Trip!
Last weekend the family and I took a trip to West Virginia Wesleyan for my wife’s 25th College reunion. The kids and I were a little pissed that we had to cut the annual family pilgrimage to nerd mecca (aka Comic Con) short this year. In order to make the trip to West Virginia in time for the reunion we could only attend the opening day of the Con, but since Ski’s 25th reunion only comes around once and Comic Cons are eternal, the kids I sucked it up in order to make Mommy happy.
It was also my first, and most likely last trip to West Virginia so we splurged and rented this nice little ride called the Chevy Cruze for the trip down. I haven’t driven much since I got rid of my car a few years back and I have been missing owning one. We don’t really need one in NYC so getting to drive a new car was something I was looking forward to doing. The satellite radio and the GPS made the trip pretty enjoyable.
All in all the weekend Continue reading “West Virginia Road Trip!”