The Daily Minutiae

The Ghost of Al Amode

2009-10-02T09:44:00.002-04:00

Nowadays, you know when you're talking to a member of Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation." Their humor is easier to come by and seem to be personally defined by some kind of thrifty tic, which is something of a great thing in itself.Around a year ago —election time— such a heavy emphasis was put on us Millennials, Generation Y, particularly how we were going to clean this world up. I remember an

Buns and a Prayer

2009-06-03T14:20:00.002-04:00

I've been looking for a way to revitalize my blog, and I think I may have just found it.It was a day shy of 11 months ago that I gained fame.It was the Fourth of July. I had the day off from work, I remember. I never thought I would have preferred the halls of my old high school to the scorching summer heat, but it truly was a scorcher.Not knowing what to do with myself, I rode my bike around

Scheduling: Scheduling 101

2009-02-28T11:37:00.002-05:00

Friend me on Facebook and before long you'll see how conceited I am about my quarter schedules:"Adam Liebendorfer has God's own spring quarter schedule.""Adam Liebendorfer has bested even God in His scheduling abilities."Big claims, but ones I can defend. Fall quarter, I didn't know what I was doing. I had class everyday, including Friday. That would be the last, I told myself.This quarter,

Death of a Modern Author: Chapter One

2009-01-21T01:36:00.001-05:00

"The Clevengers, that's their name." "Lucky number seven," Lucas mocked. "Don't be like that Mr. Redding. We have to always be optimistic." "I am optimistic, Janet. But what if the Clevengers aren't the right fit too?" Janet didn't like the tone he used. He didn't sound optimistic at all, but she couldn't do anything. He was her boss. "Toby's been through a lot, Lucas."

Lessons from the Desert: Civil War is Civil Again

2009-01-04T16:26:00.008-05:00

I've been keeping up with rumblings from the Middle East a lot lately, and I've started to collect some observations. Thinking back on all of them, I realized that most --if not all-- of them I go out on a limb or play devil's advocate in some way, but here it goes, and hopefully you can see my thought process.To start out, when I heard Israel was attacking Gaza again, I was disappointed. When

Sex-volution: L'homme Fatal

2008-12-20T18:49:00.002-05:00

A lot of articles are floating around there written by women about men. A lot. When things are going slow --and let's face it, we're on a six-week break here-- sometimes I like to skim through one or two and just meditate what They have to say about Us. It seems like I'm sneaking across the front lines in the dead of night every time I do, though. The conviction! Sometimes it almost feels

Thoughts: This Fella is the Man

2008-12-14T16:57:00.004-05:00

I am not one to divulge my blogspace to spreading Internet videos, but this one ... this one is a doozy. I'm not entirely sure I frown upon what this man did, and the question comes up, "What would I do?"The video explains it all.To bad it was only a size 10.

Just Saying: And the Deity Dundee this year goes too...

2008-12-10T10:36:00.006-05:00

Shiva?Since I've added the Newser app to my Google homepage, I've had the pleasure reading some of the most appalling headlines of 2008. The nine-year-old who landed a movie deal for his book, How to Talk to Girls; kids indicted for Kick-a-Ginger day; death by spray deodorant; studies showing intelligent men have more virulent sperm. The works.But one this morning got me to thinking of an

Just Saying: Huh...loud sounds

2008-11-19T07:42:00.003-05:00

Rue in Europe, woes in China (not to mention things getting worse), and everybody's blaming the stars and stripes. Many seem to think the United States has plunged the world into economic limbo and catastrophe.Haha ... oops.It seems like by letting housing market run rampant, the U.S. has played the role of the jerk who threw the bottle rockets in the bon fire. That minute where they brandish

Politics: O Come, O Come Emanuel

2008-11-07T10:17:00.003-05:00

When Obama took Pennsylvania, I started the Obama Administration conversation. Everybody thought I was jumping the gun and the conversation died. Looks like I was right.Remember, remember the fourth of November. That night the changers cheered and McCain's strangers jeered (and untactly booed). History had been made, Oprah tears had been shed, and the entire world except Americans

Election '08: Adam the Soothsayer

2008-10-30T16:57:00.004-04:00

I swore twice I'd never talk about it ever again.From the bottom of Morton Hill, I could hear the latest voter peddling. Gone are the "Are you registered to vote in Athens?" Now we're haggled about early voting.I walked back from the board of elections office last week feeling relieved. I hadn't forgotten to vote; I had earned my hindsight. And in this hindsight I'm seeing things about this

Just Saying: "...and I approve this message."

2008-10-23T09:51:00.004-04:00

Presidential front-runner Barack Obama has made history again. Go figure.The Illinois junior senator simply mauled his previous monthly election fundraising record by almost three-fold. In February 2008, with the Democratic nomination shifting to his favor, Obama decided to know no longer use public funds for his campaign. By August he had set the fundraising record as $62 million, only to be

Tech: It's Like Apples and Apples

2008-10-16T22:25:00.004-04:00

So, ah, the new MacBooks came out. There was fanfares in the streets; the pope sanctioned the day as a holiday. Figures, right when I get mine and am content with it, they come out with the Next Generation.To the armadas of college kids out there who flip open their MacBooks and MacBook Pros (Even you, you black MacBook owners. Why you'd fork out an extra hundred or so dollars to get a black

Just Saying: The Mean Gene

2008-10-16T10:40:00.003-04:00

Maybe only Ben Folds can get a crowded auditorium of people scream an expletive in unison:Y'all don't know what it's likeBeing male, middle-class and whiteY'all don't know what it's likeBeing male, middle-class and whiteY'all don't know what it's likeBeing male, middle-class and whiteIt gets me real pissed off and it makes me wanna sayFUCK!-"Rockin' the Suburbs," Ben FoldsIn a brief, paltry

Impressions: Sticks and Stones

2008-10-14T18:47:00.004-04:00

My bucket list has been growing since I got down to Athens:-kill a bear with my bare hands-be a centaur for Halloween-drink a gallon of milk in one city-run a marathon-make a documentary that I'd watchUnlike musicals, I used to like documentaries, but like musicals, now I don't. This doesn't mean that documentaries were my passion and one day they failed me; I just liked to watch them from time

Fall Quarter '08: Nostalgia

2008-10-13T18:35:00.012-04:00

"I know what you're thinking ... a twelve-by-twelve area isn't that much to work with, but what a lot of students do something called 'lofting;' that's where they make their bed a bunk-bed and put stuff under it. It's like putting your bed on stilts...""And now we're coming into East Green.""I'm sorry, which one?""East."___________________________________________________These are two of the

Music: Dig Out Your Soul

2008-10-11T13:26:00.009-04:00

I finally got my RSS feeds to start working again this morning and my music source had stories about the launch of Oasis's latest, Dig Out Your Soul. Being loyal to the band, I felt ashamed I missed the first day of the release, I kept to my Limewire devotions and didn't pay for it nonetheless.An article in The Washington Post describes an "evolution gene" that made humans' brains so big and let

Just Saying: Nobel Peace Prize

2008-10-11T02:35:00.004-04:00

It was announced early today that Martti Ahtisaari of Finland was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Ahtisaari's role as mediator was pivotal in several international disputes, Yugoslavia and Ireland to name a few. An undoubtedly passionate and competent man, the former Finnish president has stated that he plans on using the prize money to further the spread of mediating conflict

Fall Quarter '08: 13 Stewart Street

2008-10-10T01:40:00.007-04:00

When I gulp, I gulp loudly, like they do in movies.I actually circled the block before arriving; the front door of 13 Stewart Street was in the back. Ahead of me were a few concrete steps, a well-kept garden and a sign above the door reading something to effect of "MSA Islamic Center of Athens."Why I was standing there was a culmination of things this week. First we had an assignment in our

Impressions: The Douchebag

2008-10-09T17:51:00.005-04:00

If the bluesy guitarist-turned-ladykiller John Mayer feels pressed to find a mark he's made on the world aside from his hit lament "Gravity," he need not look further than a simple Google search. The inquiry "douchebag john mayer" generates an even 50,000 hits. Many of us would never see this as a positive thing but --is blogging old enough to say this?-- Mayer's blog post about douchiness has

Sex-volution: Uprising in Chile

2008-10-08T01:27:00.008-04:00

In Tangle of Young Lips, a Sex Rebellion in Chile-Alexei Barrionuevohttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/world/americas/13chile.htmlChile's Sexual Awakening-photos by Tomas Munitahttp://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/09/09/world/20080913CHILE_index.html?ref=americas____________________________________________________________________For me, this article echoes memories of Craig. "Craig" was the name

Impressions: Right Thing to Wear at the Wrong End of the Gun

2008-10-07T18:59:00.004-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/world/americas/06mexico.html?_r=1&oref=sloginCall Colombian Miguel Caballero (miguelcaballero.com) an entrepreneur. His trendy fashion line appeals to most upper class people around the world. Sorry ladies, he mostly focuses on men's clothing, but there are some for you in his American Gold Collection and everything is custom-tailored. And his website is just

Fall Quarter '08: Midnight

2008-10-07T00:39:00.003-04:00

There are interesting phenomena among college freshmen. The first is how easy they are to spot the first week: traveling in herds, visible lanyards, copious college apparel. The second is how they disappear in the second week. Suddenly the most straight-laced of freshmen emerge with body piercing and some start tattoo tableaus on their backs.I got out of my shift at The Post tonight at

Fall Quarter '08: Voseo

2008-10-05T22:28:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to think of a euphemism. I had a lofty opinion of myself in high school Spanish class, especially the last year. So much that I wasn't surprised in the least to learn I tested into Spanish 341. I was kind of cocky about it, really. I still am.But every Tuesday and Friday, Professor Porter tears me a new one in Gordy Hall. I consulted my old friend and Spanish teacher this summer,

Election '08: '08, Oh God...

2008-10-03T09:14:00.003-04:00

I'm partisan!"Can I call you Joe?" Washington Hall echoed with derision. I took this as maybe the only chance I'll have in the next hour and a half to refill my water bottle. Walking down the hall, every room had the debates on and it seemed like Palin's thick, gerund-decapitating accent seemed to seep through the walls. People had been practicing their impersonations of her all week; by last

The Monthly Washingtonian, Vol. I

2008-10-02T01:27:00.005-04:00

Hopefully this will be the first in many photo essays depicting life in and around Washington Hall. First is a picture of when a fire alarm tripped across the street at Read. The rest are of mattress jousting. Don't ask for names. I promise the photojournalism will improve for later editions.__________________________

Fall Quarter '08: Extemporaneity

2008-10-01T18:03:00.004-04:00

The litany of every walk to anywhere on campus:"Excuse me. Are you registered to vote in Athens?"I really hate public speaking, but Public Speaking is starting to grow on me.Tammy our professor makes it a point to call the depressing state of the country to our attention every class period. There are one or two of us that I spy texting or having that glazed over look, but every time she makes

Election '08: The Man's an Idiot pt. 2 pt. 2

2008-10-01T10:19:00.003-04:00

Anyway, Obama's an idiot.Barring all Goonies-era verbiage, an Obama-Clinton ticket would've been a real double whammy.The family image in a dual-gender ticket makes its case on Democrat side too. Let's beat the dead horse for a minute here and restate that times are tough. Nobody wants to be lead by parents who are at odds with each other.Though nothing says family values like this:courtesy

Election '08: The Man's an Idiot pt. 2 pt.1

2008-10-01T10:03:00.005-04:00

Headaches were abound yesterday at my Religion, Gender, and Sexuality class. The class is structured around about an hour of review of the reading or expounding beyond the reading followed by a forty-five minute group discussion session.We finally crossed the no-no border yesterday. In a class that's aimed at making you comfortable talking about your beliefs, yesterday was the first time we

Thoughts: Pizza Politics

2008-09-30T09:19:00.004-04:00

The life cycle is as follows: We are born, we grow throughout childhood to support ourselves; we marry and have children and launch some kind of career; then we die. The OU life cycle works much the same way, only with the grease from cheap Athens food oiling the machine. The synergy is uncanny.As the first month of college wraps up and the Big Bang of the rest of our lives starts to cool,

Thoughts: Making Lemonade on The Wall

2008-09-28T18:45:00.003-04:00

I hope an enterprising IT major finds this. To state the obvious, Facebook has taken the world by storm. Once frequented by impulsive college kids, the website has ballooned to over 100 million. I’ve been trying to keep up with the New York Times lately and on more than one occasion Facebook has wiggled into the headlines. Years from now, people will be looking at

Stories: Longshot-6 Sniper, Long Night

2008-09-28T03:50:00.004-04:00

Note to self: When in dire need, never, under any circumstances, go to the hospital.Like most good college stories, this one begins a little after the clock struck midnight. I was in my room, taking apart my Nerf gun (modifying the Longshot-6 Sniper into a real sniper) with my friend, Mitchell. The gun comes in two parts and I was cutting one part to supe it up to give it to him.Then, as fate

Election '08: Not Another Debate Analysis

2008-09-27T12:09:00.002-04:00

This isn't punditry. A college freshman offering political punditry is almost as absurd as punditry taking over mainstream media. Knowing well that the debates we're on last night, I was cringing at the thought of waking up and seeing armies of self-proclaimed bloggers-turned-news hubs give their thoughts on how the debates went. So far, it has been kept to a minimum (I was relieved to see a

Music: "Another Way to Die"

2008-09-25T22:24:00.007-04:00

Changes are abundant in the James Bond community these days.With the casting of Daniel Craig, the sixth briton to dawn the tuxedo and grab the Walther PPK, in 2006's Casino Royale, the Bond franchise caught a second wind. Younger people were drawn into the good ol' fashion, suave, "shoot 'em, blow 'em up" formula that has kept 007 in commission. Young audiences were taken in by a trendy change

Notice! Guerilla Warfare Impressions

2008-09-25T00:12:00.003-04:00

For those of you from J101 who are following. I was messing around with layout and got the wrong blog posted in the RSS feed. The real one's up now. Enjoy, it's my pride and joy.

Impressions: Guerilla Warfare

2008-09-24T22:32:00.003-04:00

Translated: "He gave us his example!"Where have all the riots goneAs your city's motto get pulverized?What's in love is now in debtOn your birth certificateSo strike the ******* match to light the fuse!-"Letterbomb," Green DayAy Nicaragua, NicaragüitaLa flor más linda de mi querrerAbonada de la bendita, NicaragüitaSangre de Diarangen.Ay Nicaragua, sos más dulcitaQué la mielita de TamagasPero

Election '08: The Man's an Idiot pt. 1

2008-09-23T20:02:00.004-04:00

The second part in this series will focus on the Obama, the man that was too good to pick a woman as a running mate; but now, let's take a look at McCain, the man that pulled a beauty queen with a pockmarked reputation out of his you-know-where.The killjoy to any good Young Republican rant is the Obama supporter's infamous factoid: Though John McCain graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, he was

A Call to Arms

2008-09-20T22:56:00.003-04:00

A few of us thinking about butting heads together with other media students and starting a project. Eventually we'll be looking for people outside of Scripps, but for now, we want to make a strong core of any communications majors (we want everything from PR to Advertising to IT to Magazine and News) and anybody who wants to do what we're told we're all here to do: perfect our craft.Try to drop

Bread'n'Butta: Estoy Enamorado

2008-09-20T11:57:00.005-04:00

I'll admit, usually I'm a midnight blogger. Have to give people something new when they wake up. But as my self-proclaimed adages say, "Bloggin' is good for the noggin" so "when the blog gods call, you answer."I've stumbled on something that really horrifies me this morning.Since I moved in here at OU, I've kind of seen how impassionate about things I am, a very anyway-the-wind-blows attitude.

Bells'n'Whistles: Introducing the Canon 5D Mark II

2008-09-19T20:50:00.006-04:00

Wednesday was a tough day for Nikon fans.Photo from Canon.comIn its second move to combat the Nikon "feature offensive," Canon has introduced the next in its line of full-frame digital cameras, the 5D Mark II.Expanding on the size to megapixel ratio of the original 5D, Canon has thrown in some extras that are sure to please audiences when the Mark II comes out this November. The Tokyo-based

Impressions: The Beginning...

2008-09-18T21:51:00.010-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, with much pain I regret to inform you that they days of secret diaries are over.I wish we could still use "diary" as a namesake; the word "blog" still doesn't sit with me. Every time I use it in conversation makes my gut gulch like I took too many trips up to the wok line. On top of that, it just sounds like an unpleasant bowel movement, found under some section of a

Blog Contest: Whatzupwitu

2008-09-17T21:54:00.003-04:00

Ok, I thought I'd try something a little different.Rules:-All participants must be blog users who post regular-One post per person, por favorThe Prize:A thoughtful blog commentThe Challenge:Explain to me in 200 words or less what IS this?Couresy of YouTube

Bread'n'Butta: We Don't Like Ike

2008-09-16T21:18:00.003-04:00

Fifty years ago, our country was being run by Dwight D. Eisenhower under the campaign slogan "We Like[d] Ike." Nowadays, the name Ike connotes something very different. Hurricanes are extraordinary things, certainly enough to stifle doubts about nature's ability to fight back. As expected, the hardest hit areas this season have been the gulf states of the Southeast. Forecasts tomorrow are

Impressions: How Am I Even Writing This?

2008-09-15T23:52:00.003-04:00

The rush and rapture of the college life has come and, almost, passed.I'm finally getting that swamped feeling with all this reading we have to do and frankly, I'm a little peeved at the professors. Some of them have a rhyme or reason behind what they're having us read, like the single textbook for journalism 101. For other classes, however, the reading is disjointed, superfluous, and really a

Tech: Even Beethoven was Deaf

2008-09-14T16:09:00.004-04:00

As is sometimes characteristic of us college students, the pages I've read today could probably make a paper chain longer than I've walked today.Thus far I've consumed about a hundred pages since last night, and still have that much more to be "sitting comfortably" tomorrow for classes. The total distance I've walked -has to be less than a quarter mile- has been comprised of sparse trips to the

Fall Quarter '08: Images of Home

2008-09-13T16:05:00.001-04:00

Leading up to my leaving for college and he being an empty-nester, there were times, say, when it we were coming home late and it was raining, or at sunset when we were calling it a day in the yard, that Dad would turn to me and let me know how good of a fit Athens would be for me.It didn't take long after I came here to realize some of the things I would look back on way down the road.Like

Bread'n'Butta: Ambassadorial Musical Chairs

2008-09-12T14:11:00.002-04:00

Heck of a week: I start classes, I declare Spanish as another major, I listen to Yusuf Kalyango talk about crisis and international reporting, we expel the ambassador from Bolivia, Venezuela expels ours.I have a good friend from Bolivia. Starting next week in fact, I was going to look for a job to fund a trip "down there" for spring break. What I didn't know was that Bolivia is, according to Al

Impressions: Amazingly Thin = Amazing Relationship?

2008-09-11T18:32:00.004-04:00

Everybody, meet Max. Max is a hunk. That's what I go to the gym for."That's what I should do, Mitchell," I confided to one of my new Scripps friends at dinner, "I should be a sex critic. Do those even exist?"This was after he laughed when I compared a girl to bad cigars.Among other seconds today, I went to my second class of Religion, Gender, and Sexuality (CLWR222). So far no complaints; in

She Kissed a Girl and We Liked It

2008-09-10T22:19:00.005-04:00

[I found this one in one of my older blogs]courtesy YouTube user: ManiaTVdotcomMy dad doesn’t keep any secrets in his car. I’ve learned that from sitting at bank drive-thrus and waiting for groceries. With this in mind, it was second nature to plunk in his old copy of Janis Joplin’s Farewell Song that I found suspiciously stowed in the glove box. The opening track is an acid blues version of “

Impressions: Brave New World of Digital Intimacy

2008-09-10T21:18:00.002-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=sloginA lot of people would wonder why I like this article so much. To us echo-boomers, it doesn't say anything we haven't heard of before. In fact, for most of us, it's talking about things we drench our lives in everyday. I guess a textbook topic name for it would be: "a glance at how social networking

Impressions: The Challenge of Change

2008-09-09T20:35:00.002-04:00

http://scrippsjschool.org/ohiojournalist/article.php?id=10For our first day of journalism class, we were asked to read an article explaining how the media world is in transition. While reading, I was expecting a paper assigned: "Where do YOU see mass media is going?"I think the world is starting to tap into age-old wisdom via new-age technology. There are just some that people trust their news

Election '08: Here's to You, Mr. Wright

2008-09-09T19:20:00.002-04:00

I swear this is the last time I'll talk about it and sadly, no Wyclef Jean quotes today."I'm not sure I like how all this is going," my grandma said over the paper this morning. "It seems like all they're trying to do is entertain everybody; all I care about is the health care."She put down The Plain Dealer on the on the cover was the old Straight-Talk Express flanked by some woman I just assumed

Election '08: Why I'm Not a PoliSci Major

2008-09-09T19:16:00.002-04:00

If I was presidentI'd get elected on FridayAssassinated on SaturdayBuried on SundayThey'd go back to work on Monday-"President," Wyclef JeanAbout a year ago, I turned eighteen. And what's so great about that? Cigars, rifles, and questionable movies of course! Oh yeah... and the draft and voting.There's been a lot of sludge from this election mucking up the T.V. lately.First, this:Then, the very

Forethought

2008-09-09T19:06:00.002-04:00

"Forethought" seems like a worthwhile title to my first blog, no? The irony I suppose is that being new to this blog thing, forethought is probably the thing I'm lacking most. All I can offer in the way of first blogs is a little bit of navigation. Most of the titles in these posts will come in two parts: a category, a colon, and the title. You've probably noticed that that would be three