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The LoveSac in my dorm room.

LoveSac is a company that makes “Alternative Furniture,” things like bean bag chairs, couches, and blankets, stufed with DuraFoam, a long-lasting stuffing material unlike beans or feathers. I bought a GamerSac, a 3-foot diameter bean bag chair. They are expensive, but my first impressions are that this product is amazing!

Why?

I needed a comfortable place to sit in my room. Dorm rooms do not, by nature, have good furniture, and they really don’t have good places to sit. A bean bag chair seemed like the perfect solution. Believe me, it was. It is a great place to read, write, and study. Along with the standard, plain, Khaki LoveSac, you can order some amazing covers - I got “Earth MicroSuede.” The LoveSac is the most comfortable bean bag chair I’ve sat in - when you get up, it doesn’t just sit there, it “regrows,” so to speak. If you’re room is big enough, pick one up, you won’t regret it. The only major downside is the price, which is more than a bit high. If only they could lower their prices some and offer discounts for college student. The LoveSac is also bulky; only get one if you’re sure you have the space.

Where do you sit?

Email Me.

I’ve been at Bard College for a month now; the Workshop in Language and Thinking is over, and I began my “real” courses last Monday. I went home last weekend to see family, pick up my bike, tennis rackets, and relax. It feels very different having upperclassmen on campus now(they arrived last weekend), Language and Thinking was a lot like high school, everyone had (almost) the same schedule, and studied similar material, but now that courses have started, everyone seems a lot more independent.

L&T was truly amazing - now that the workshop has ended, I appreciate what I learned even more. My teacher was fantastic, and I’m happy to have him as my First Year Seminar teacher, too. He helped me most with my writing and development of ideas. He is also the reason I’m now taking Ancient Greek. During L&T, we read such amazing texts; Hannah Arendt, Aristotle, Samuel Beckett, Susan Sontag, Franz Kafka, Charles Darwin, Prigogine and Stengers, and more. My final essay was surrounded around the question, “Why do we speak?” It was a political analysis of communication and media throughout history. I talked about the idea that speech makes us human, and humans are, by nature, “political animals,” in reference to Aristotle and Arendt. I also talked about Internet Censorship in china, and the importance of sharing our opinions using free new media tools available on the Internet. I touched upon sousveillance, or inverse-surveillance, surveillance as a means of speaking. You can read my essay, but please don’t steal it or use parts of it without my permission. Download it as a PDF.

My class schedule.

I started courses on Monday, Labor Day. Here’s what I’m taking: First Year Seminar, Media and Society, Intro to Philosophy: Philosophical Classics, and Ancient Greek. All of my courses have been great so far, though I have spent a fortune on books, 22 in total. To me, it is strange having most classes only twice a week.

My side of the room.

College has been an overwhelming positive experience, so far. On Friday night, I attended Shabbat services at Beit Shalom Salaam - twenty people showed up, in contrast to the two or three who would show up last year, the upperclassmen tell me. The school just got a new Rabbi, who really wants to reinvigorate Jewish life at Bard. I helped cook dinner, too - we made Challah, lasagna, and salad. I have not yet recorded a new episode of Nerd News Radio, but hopefully I’ll get around to that next weekend.

What was your college experience like?

I’m in college. A little early, but that’s the way Bard College does it. All freshman take a three-week workshop called “Language and Thinking.” So far, being at Bard has been an amazing experience. I love being in such an intellectually stimulating environment. I have an excellent teacher, Thomas Bartscherer, and a great class - everyone seemed to get along, right out of the box. L&T moves fast, and the course started in “the deep end;” no introductions or family histories. The class works, as Thomas said today, no one is sitting it out, everyone is involved.

I have never seen an entire class get along so well, so soon. In fact, the class began by writing for five minutes. Over the past few days, I’ve grown to love free-writing with a pen and paper. It’s nice to be unplugged. In middle and high school, free-writes never had a purpose, they were a filler, and if anything, they were too structured. The campus is so beautiful. Today with some people from my dorm, we went walking around the campus, hiking around, I forgot my camera, but I’ll be sure to make the walk again and take some photos.

My pen. On my paper.

My dorm room is almost all set up, only a few small details to tend to. Bard is great, I’ve been having a good time. I’m happy to have an actual break this weekend, though, I’ve been in “meet new people” mode for 7 days now, need some time for myself (you know, I’m a very quiet almost anti-social person). I’ll keep blogging. Podcast next week Sunday, I hope.

My desk.

I go to college this Saturday, August 9th, 2008. I will be a freshman at Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. I have a little more packing to do (misc items and clothes). Bard College starts rather early, as they have a three week workshop for freshman, called “Language and Thinking.” I’m not so excited about doing work during summer, but at least it’s better than going right into a 4-5 course schedule.

Map of campus.

My roommate is from China, which is totally rad. I’m in the dorm Oberholzer, a 5-10 minute walk from campus. I’m excited and nervous. I’m happy I’m not going to be across the country, I’ll be 3.5 hours away from home, and 2 hours away from New York City. Also, it will be nice to go to school with a few people I know (there are 3 from my high school going to Bard, in addition to a few others).

The one thing I’m upset about, is that Apple hasn’t yet released new MacBook Pro’s. My college technology “situation” will be simple(r), as I’ll only have one computer (my MacBook, and in the future, a MBP). I’ve made a few purchases (hard drives, mouse, keyboard, monitor), but nothing major.

I can’t promise anything, but I hope to keep blogging and podcasting, maybe even more regularly. I’m sure my Twitter stream will be over-active, particularly in the first few days and weeks, and I’m going to take lots of photos. I’m bringing my (new) portable recorder, USB interface, and my microphone, so I’ll be well equipped to podcast. I’ll probably write a blog post a week after I settle in, but if I’m feeling particularly lonely, you may hear from me sooner.

Wish me luck.

Well, I’m a few days late, but what the hell.

This month is going to be intense, to say the least. My application to Brown University (the only school that doesn’t use the Common App) is due November 1st, which means a lot of things. Currently, I’m working on doing well in school because this “Mod” (like a semester…) ends on Friday. Lots of final projects. Three, to be precise. The next thing I need to do is prepare for the SAT2’s (those are on November 3rd), and write the few essays Brown requires. Then, I’m working on my portfolio which will be comprised of photography, music (I’m getting professionally recorded!), and technology. Usually I love October; the air is fresh and clear. But this year, it’s stressful. In a week, I’ll be less stressed, and in a month, I’ll be even less stressed. After November 3rd or so. Once I get the portfolio done, it’s done. All I need to do for the other colleges is do the essays…

Oh, and I’m speaking at PodCamp Boston 2 this month. Gah. It should be fun, but it’s so much to do…

I’ll keep you up to date.

Kabren

I know…

College applications are tough. Still have a few crucial things I need to do - design my portfolio, and choose what I want in it; write the main essay, the short answer question (for both the Common App, and Brown University’s application), and all the supplemental writing pieces; and get recommendations from teachers.

At school, today is what we call “mid mod”. It is what it sounds like, the middle of the module. Remember, my school breaks the year in to 7 modules that last 4.5 weeks each? Mid mod is actually pretty big, it’s where teachers evaluate your performance, and if you’re not doing well, you’ll get a mid mod (which isn’t so fun). Classes have been good, but stressful. Next mod should be a little bit lighter, but we’ll see. I’m finally getting good ideas out for my senior project, or the Capstone Project. I’m thinking abouto developing a device that fits in with Kelly Dobson’s idea “machine therapy”. Another idea I have is do work with the Holocaust and obtaining Austrian citizenship.

I’ve also fallen behind in podcasting. I completely forgot how demanding school was, and how much more tiresome everything is when you pile college and my capstone project on top of it all. Not to mention that this weekend is the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, which will occupy a lot of my time.

Maybe I’ll try to be around a little more…

Kabren
Email me if you like.

I visited Brown University this morning, and to say the least, I was thrilled. It’s hard to put into words how sensational this school was. It seems like an “Ivy League” school that allowed as much experimentation as a small liberal arts college. There’s no core curriculum, so taking no courses you don’t want to; it’s very interdisciplinary, many majors (or concentrations as they call them) take parts from different subjects; and concentrations can be created by the student. It is definitely a long shot for me, but I’m willing to take on the challenge. It seems like a school that would fit my interests and needs perfectly.

Brown is the only traditional Ivy League school I’m interested in. The other schools that appeal to me are Skidmore, Goucher, and Bard college.

We’ll see.

-K

I’m back! Just a quick trip. I visited three colleges, Skidmore, Bard (very quickly), and Vassar. I loved Skidmore. It’s now one of my top choices. Seemed like a great environment, great people, and great opportunities. For Bard, my mom wanted to see the campus, so we did a quick drive through, spoke to a couple of students. I had already been on a tour/info session there in March, but it was good to visit the campus again. I liked it better this time! And Vassar…hm. I did not get a good impression. It’s unfortunate, because they seem to have a good reputation. I just didn’t like what I saw. I probably wouldn’t get in there in addition. 
-Kabren