America's Economic Priorities: Mortgage, Car, Video Games

Wilmington, N.C.

            The general manager of the Best Buy store on South College Road is frantically finalizing the preparations for this Monday night. As manager, a lot of responsibility has fallen upon Dale Marshall, and he insists that every employee be prepared for what the night will bring. “We’ve gotta make room for that Mountain Dew display over here so the tournament center will be clear,” says Marshall. The general manager walks the aisles of the store between the cell phone department and the video game section to do a few final run throughs with his employees to make sure the night will go off without a hitch.

At 12:01 A.M on November 8^th, electronics stores will celebrate the release of Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” for which Best Buys, Walmarts and Gamestops across the nation have been diligently planning for months. “Modern Warfare 3” is the newest installment of the widely popular “Call of Duty” first-person-shooter franchise.

The game is a follow up to last year’s release, “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” which is currently the best-selling video game of all time. “Black Ops” shattered theatrical box office, book and video game sales records for a five-day sell-through period of more than $650 million. This release exceeded Activision's previous five-day worldwide record of $550 million set by 2009’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” according to internal Activision estimates. Activision, the game developing company behind the “Call of Duty” franchise seems to have a firm hold on the entertainment industry, and they do not plan on letting up with the newest release. “Historically, ‘Call of Duty’ is the best-selling video game franchise, and they tend to move more units than anything else, industry wide,” says Best Buy manager Dale Marshall on the success of the series.

Not only will this week’s “Call of Duty” debut have a huge national impact, but many local businesses will also be appearing at the midnight release at the Wilmington Best Buy on South College Road to get some publicity and to endorse the new game. Coastal 97.3 has teamed up with Mountain Dew to continue on with Dew’s marketing campaign leading up to the release of the game. Fanboy Comics, a local comic shop is supplying an array of comic and game related door prizes and is sponsoring a by-lottery tournament for a copy of the game.

Many analysts are predicting “Modern Warfare 3” to beat out the sales records set by its predecessors, but many other hefty releases will compete to make their mark among the rising black lines of the sales charts this fall. “This fall’s video game release season is shaping up to be the perfect storm with Electronic Arts’ and Activision’s flagship shooters, ‘Battlefield 3’ and ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,’ respectively, going head to head by releasing a mere two weeks apart,” says Michael Klappenbach of About.com. Klappenbach does not mention some of the other heavy hitting titles appearing this holiday season from the “Batman,” “Assassin’s Creed,” and “Uncharted,” franchises that are also likely to stimulate high sales.

Representatives from Activision, Microsoft, Gamestop and Best Buy all declined to discuss the projected number of units of “Modern Warfare 3” that had shipped or the projected sale information due to legal reasons. But Michael Pachter, a high profile gaming research analyst for Wedbush Securities offers some thought on the possible number of units sold. “‘Modern Warfare 3’ will come out on top with some 16 million copies being sold in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 24 million by the end of 2012,” says Pachter. He points out that the figures are simply estimates, but if the pattern of sale in recent years remains the same, “we’re in for another ‘biggest launch in history’ all over again.”

24 million is an intimidating number of consumers, but some people see the “Call of Duty” franchise as a simple fad. “I got tired of ‘Call of Duty’ when they were making games about World War II,” says Owen Blanton, a graduate of East Carolina University. Blanton claims to be one of the only gamers that he knows of to be dissatisfied with the direction that “Call of Duty” has taken in recent years. “My favorite first person shooter was ‘Medal of Honor: Allied Assault,’ which totally dominated PC games sales for years,” commented Blanton. But Blanton admits that he will definitely be among the millions of Americans who will be $60 dollars poorer this fall when “Assassin’s Creed: Revalations” hits the shelves.

To the rest of the world, it may seem a bit strange for gamers to spend $60 per new release, and to spend hundreds of dollars replacing malfunction system hardware. “I have experienced the ‘Red Rings of Death’ five times on my Xbox 360,” says Matt Gudlaugsson, a former UNCW student. The Red Rings of Death are an infamous sign of massive hardware failure on an Xbox 360 console, and can only be repaired in a slow process by professionals at the customer’s expense. Gudlaugsson often questioned why he continued to give his money to Microsoft time after time, and attributed the cause to a single reason: “Halo 3.” Gudlaugsson said this of his gaming addiction: “If it weren’t for ‘Halo’ I would have either switched to Playstation or given up on gaming a long time ago.”

My Swedish Essay on UNCW's COM dept website

Here is an essay I wrote about my experience studying abroad in Sweden in the Spring of 2011. It is published to the COM Studies department's website to give some guidance to other students looking for advice on studying abroad.

Here's the link!

http://www.uncw.edu/com/sweden.html

A pleasant chat with a Capital One specialist

• Hi and welcome to Capital One live chat! One of our specialist will be right with you.
• You are now chatting with Thomas.

Thomas: Thank you for visiting Capital One’s website. My name is Thomas, what questions can I answer for you about our online credit card offers?

you: hello, my name is john and im a student looking to get a good "first credit card" to help build credit for my future and to help myself budget and so forth. i have never really had any credit before other than having a water bill in my name. i applied for the journey student card and was denied. why is that?

Thomas: John, just to let you  know,  the  Journey Student Rewards Credit Card is listed under Average credit.

Thomas: For the best chance of being approved for a card,  you should choose the credit level appropriate for your situation.

Thomas: So, we do have Secured credit cards.

Thomas: Because, the Capital One Secured Card is designed to help you take control and build your credit.

Thomas: Many of my customers decide to apply for a secured credit card to begin building credit in their own name.

Thomas: Let me explain the features on the secured credit card and help you with the application process. Is that fine?

you: but how can i be "rebuilding credit" if i have never had credit before?

Thomas: Just to let you know, when compare to other credit cards this card has high approval rate.

you: the secured card? i wouldnt mind applying for it but i really wouldnt like to have to pay an annual fee

Thomas: Yes, the secured credit card.

Thomas: You  know what,  Capital One will periodically review accounts for graduation from secured to unsecured cards.

Thomas: We will proactively evaluate your account based on your payment and credit history.  And Capital One will partner with you every step of your way on the road to credit.

Thomas: So, please maintain your account so that you may get  an upgrading option  on your secured credit card.

Thomas: The membership fee of $29  for this card is competitive and helps to make sure you get the best program we can offer to you(Like Free Credit inform).

you: but why is it that a student needs average credit to apply for a student card? it would make sense for this student card to actually be used by students

you: a person with no credit shouldnt be considered having bad credit

Thomas: Please note that, when processing your application, we consider many different factors, including information from your application and credit bureau reports.

Thomas: Since you are declined for  our Journey rewards card,  you will receive the written notification in the mail stating that why your application was not approved.

you: yes in 7 to 10 days. but if i have never had any line of credit before other than a water account that i payed on time each month, what could the criteria be that negatively impacted my application? could the process that reviewed my application that only took 5 seconds have missed something?

Thomas: In that case, I'll provide you with the number where you can call and discus about your application.

Thomas: You can call us at 1-800-933-5182  to check your application.  I'd request you to please wait for a minimum of 48 hours before calling(From the time you applied for the card).

Thomas: Once you dial the number please press 3 to speak with a representative.

you: ok

Thomas: Please keep your SSN handy while calling our customer relations.

Thomas: You can call us on Monday - Saturday 8:00 am - 10:00 pm EST.

you: is there something you can recommend me to do other than just call a customer service hotline? maybe theres something wrong with my credit that i dont know about? it seems like im just going to get some more pointless answers if i call

Thomas: Generally, to be eligible for an  offer, your annual income must be greater than your annual rent/mortgage payments.

Thomas: However, to know the exact reason, you need to call  our customer relation or please  wait for the written notification.

you: that is what i figured, but with no income other than what my parents give me per semester, i had no choice but to put a lower number than what i thought might get me approved. but there was no area for a better explanation on the form. if i apply again and make up some numbers will i have a better chance of being approved?

Thomas: automatically to  let you  know, the application was process automatically.

Thomas: So, unfortunately, there is No way for me to know whether you will be approved or not until you go through the application process.

Thomas: We need to process your application first. But, in many cases, you can get a response in as little as 60 seconds.

you: if i apply a number of times and get rejected each time, is my credit affected? getting denied for a credit card multiple times in one day would look pretty bad on a credit report wouldnt it?

Thomas: When you apply for a credit card, it will show up on your credit report and could affect your credit score.

Thomas: However, it is standard practice to obtain a credit report to finish processing your application. So if you decide to apply for an account, your personal credit report will be reviewed.

Thomas: Since you've already submitted an application within the last 45 days, we may not approve a second application(For Unsecured credit card).

you: when i applied for this card today, it only took about 5 seconds to deny me, did it look up my credit score during that time? or did it just look at my rent and multiply it by 12 and compare that to my income

Thomas: At Capital One,  if you apply online you'll get a response in as little as 60 seconds. Because it is automated.

you: yes i know that, but im saying what kind of criteria does it evaluate in those short seconds?

Thomas: Your application information  and credit bureau reports will be taken into consideration for approval.

Thomas: Since I do  not have access to your application, I cannot  exactly tell what's wrong  in that.

you: so i am not able to apply for the journey card again for 45 days? can you recommend me a good card for students with no annual fee and apparently "rebuilding" credit status?

Thomas: You will not be able to apply for    any of our  Unsecured credit card in the next 45 days.

you: hmm

Thomas: At this point of time, the only option is to apply for our secured credit card with $29 Annual Fee.

you: great

you: are all the credit card companies like this?

Thomas: We do not have information about other  Financial Institutions.

you: what a shame

Thomas: This chat support is exclusively for Capital One.

Thomas: Is there anything else I can help you with today?

you: i dont think so, i think ive learned everything i need about the process of applying for credit cards with capital one

Thomas: Alright.

• Our chat session has ended. It’s been a pleasure helping you. Please use the Capital One chat service again soon.

hmmmmmm........

News Story- Beat Reporting: Environmental Issues Beat

Students Storm to Carolina Beach for Environmental Sweep

Wilmington, N.C.

 Citizens of Wilmington and Carolina Beach assembled alongside students of UNC-Wilmington and Cape Fear on Sept. 24 at the Carolina Beach Boardwalk to help clean the boardwalk, the accesses and the beach. According to Reese Stipicevic, the Sweep was planned by the campus CLES organization as one of the Seahawk Surge activities that the group puts together each semester. “The main idea behind the Seahawk Surge is to get a group of students together with the community and do whatever we can to help out,” Stipicevic said of the affair. Stipicevic is a student volunteer for the UNC-Wilmington Center for Leadership Education and Services, coordinator for the Carolina Beach Sweep and an active participant in the Cape Fear environmental community. When the idea for an environmentally themed Seahawk Surge was discussed, Stipicevic jumped at the opportunity to take action in coordinating the event centered around a beach cleanup. “I am extremely passionate about the environment, so I wanted take action on this project,” Stipicevic said of her involvement. The group of Wilmington students put this event together in conjunction with the town of Carolina Beach.

On the morning of the beach sweep, the ocean air brought clouds and sprinkling rain to keep the volunteers company during their trash-pick-up. Though, the rain clouds were not enough to dampen the cheery disposition of the volunteers out on the beach, combing for trash like it was buried treasure. The spirits of all were lifted by the unrelenting positivism of the coordinators—and the sound system blasting songs like “Wild Thing” and “Brown Eyed Girl” only helped to set the mood. Karleigh, an employee of the Carolina Beach Parks and Recreation Department, greeted the volunteers with fervor as they arrived, giving directions to the eager workers. The volunteers were instructed to grab an empty garbage bag for the trash and a glove for sanitary purposes. Before they hit the beaches to begin cleaning, each signed their name on the event ledger, putting their email address and their affiliated organization down for records. There were many different organizations present in the main boardwalk area, each representing their group proudly with a prominently displayed tent with their name showing brightly. The Girl Scouts of Cape Fear, the Surf Rider chapter of Cape Fear and UNC-Wilmington, the Red Cross and the Parks and Recreation committee of Carolina Beach were all in attendance, promoting their views on the event, as well as environmental welfare as a whole.

Many of the attendees had questions about where would be the best place to go to do the most good, and Karleigh responded with “It doesn’t matter, just get to the beach and clean!” She would refuse no one when it came to handing out extra credit slips for course credit and community service hours, and no one could pass on to the beach without signing up for the raffle, presented by the town of Carolina Beach.

Residents of all ages from Carolina Beach, UNC-Wilmington, Wrightsville and even a small group from Raleigh were attracted into Carolina Beach to participate in the Beach Sweep. Cindi, from the Parrot Heads service organization in Raleigh, made the drive the night before to aid the Wilmington chapter of the same organization. In response to the environmental aspect of the service project, Cindi said “Oh, yeah, I definitely enjoy this aspect. The beach was not clean enough, so it feels good to contribute to the community in this way.” She said that she would definitely make the trek again from Raleigh to Carolina Beach for another cleanup.

Dawn Harris and Crystal Hill, neighbors living just up the road from the pier say that they have a great stake in the cleanliness of the beach as citizens of Carolina Beach. For Hill, a student of Cape Fear Community College, this Beach Sweep was her first, but according to her, it would surely not be her last. “We live just up the road and we see how dirty it is every day. It’s our responsibility to get out here and cleanup in any way we can,” said Hill. She and her neighbor, Harris, described the types of trash they see on a daily basis, listing off Styrofoam, cardboard and cigarette butts as the most prominent forms of litter scattered about the pier and surrounding areas. “Butts, butts and more butts,” said Harris of her greatest pet peeve on the beach. Other than eradicating the “butt problem,” Harris, who has been on several cleanups before, simply wants to “clean up the earth and make it more livable for the whole town.”

According to the CLES office, there are not any more Seahawk Surges planned for this semester, but there are a few events planned centered around environmental issues, including a lecture series entitled “Be Ocean Minded.” A film and another series of talks by University professors from the geology department will address the concept of the “plastic ocean.” These events will begin on Oct. 15. 

Young Bill v. The Incredulous Lighthouse Keep

The lighthouse keep sailed towards the tall phallic structure from his small cottage in disbelief: his had assistant left the beacon unlit, inviting havoc to all those sailing without knowledge of the subtle danger that this cove carries with it. The thickness of the fog was palpable as it settled and the keep rowed as fast as he could with one hand and one hook. He had told his young apprentice day after day to check the oil levels in the lamp before leaving for the night. So when the master looked out of his quiet seaside window expecting the blinding light of the beacon to reveal all the world had to offer and saw darkness, he became immediately incredulous with his page's dimwittery and scurried out of his door to attempt to rescue the situation.

VERSUS

Young bill watched from the lighthouse with a nervous air about himself. He clutched the cold rail with such vigor that he had to change grips every minute or two to let the blood return to his fingertips. He stared down into the black abyss, feeling as if he were a sentry watchman, posted to guard the edge of the world. He stood below the lifeless head of the lighthouse, seeing for the first time what true darkness felt like. He let loose his grip once more, and he heard the softest and most subtle sound he had ever heard. A mere whisper, yet a still distinguishable "thud" rang from the watery depths below. He knew that they had finally arrived.

What does this photo make YOU think of?

................

For the life of me...

The new semester is here, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why I am sitting in this classroom. The professor is still attempting to get his presentation to work on the projector, but I can’t care less. The only thing on my mind are the last words she said to me as those last sweet moments of summer escaped from my fingertips. “This isn’t going to work.” The words had wrenched my heart from my chest as quickly as a power-point presentation is loaded from a flash drive. I guess someone should tell my professor. My mind drifted idly back to the day before the school term had begun.

            Move in day had been a bit rough after I dropped my chest of drawers on my big toe, but apart from the possible nerve damage, I was enthralled about the coming semester. She and I had worked together at orientation to get some classes together, and I could tell she was happy about it. The smile across her face as we sat in the dining hall for lunch was enough evidence to let me know. As I iced my foot under the table, we reminisced about the perfect summer that had come and gone too fast. To me it still seemed like the graduation party where we first hooked up had just been yesterday, but unfortunately the calendar was seemingly against me and had the habit of telling me that it was August and not June. She picked up her salad fork and I looked into her eyes, and those great blue vessels told me that she was also longing for those summer days that had gone as quickly as they had come, and as she lifted her fork upwards, I had a quick lapse of judgment and decided to utter those three little words that we had been carefully tip-toeing around the entire summer. Her eyes that had just been singing sweetly to me suddenly began to sing a different tune,  and I knew something was wrong as her still full salad fork fell from her grasp and hit the table. She mumbled something that could have been “that is so sweet” and we sat quietly and awkwardly through the rest of the meal. Needless to say, that small exchange had me a bit worried about my newfound love’s feelings towards me.

            We went our separate ways for the afternoon, agreeing that we would hang out again that night and have one last celebration before our first college classes the next morning. I went to my dorm and had a quick conversation with my roommate consisting of a short discussion of the opening and closing hours of the dining hall. I attempted to log onto the internet but the password my roommate had scribbled down to access the network was illegible, so instead of checking my email, I just put on my favorite Rolling Stones record and took a nap.

I woke up to a small beep and vibration, alerting me that I had a text message on my cell phone. It could have only been one person; the only person that I wanted to receive a text message from. The brief message instructed me to “meet at the big fountain in 15.” Later, as I was strolling up to the fountain, I saw her leaning sweetly against the fountain’s base, wearing an outfit that I had seen her wear about a hundred times over the summer. As I approached for a hug she quickly leaned away and began “I am going to make this easy,” and unfortunately, it was anything but. I went to bed that night thinking of the best summer of my life and concluding to myself that all dreams must come to an end someday. I woke to the pain of remembering that she and I had the first class of the day together. I dressed for the first and what would certainly be the most awkward fifty minutes of my college career.

Did I really love her? I’m not sure, but as I sat watching my toe throb like the vein of frustration in my professors forehead as he continued his struggle against technology I saw her across the room chatting and giggling with a number of rugby players. They all seemed to be as happy as I had been twenty four hours before this moment. Finally I realized that the Rolling Stones were right all along, because truly I can’t get no satisfaction. 

Wallet for a young man

For a young boy, many things have a weight that you may not expect. Things can have a value that may seem strange to the rest of the world, but to a child can be a foundation that we build our lives off of. As a child, my financial life began the day I got my first wallet. That day I truly felt like I belonged in the world ─ the wallet represented some stability and responsibility that I saw in my mother and father. I carried it with me at all times for years and I feel like it helped me through tough times at school, church or in my backyard. Anytime I felt uncomfortable, it was always easily accessible in my front pants pocket or in my backpack, and all I had to do to return normalcy to my small world was to reach out and stroke the slightly notched surface of the plastic exterior.

            My mother was sitting quietly at the kitchen table with a bottle of diet coke on the day that I received my wallet in the mail. I burst in through the front door of my one story, suburban home after being released from school for the day and a long journey on the large yellow eyesore ─ needless to say I was not interested in games. My mother knew what was coming and was well prepared. I flew into the kitchen where I knew she would be sitting and yelled the same question I had been asking after school for five weeks: “Did my package come today?” Looking back, I do not think that the decibel level that I used on those long afternoons were the best thing for my voice and my mother’s ears, but if you told me that then I would have simply asked in a manner that was louder than necessary “what is a decibel?” As the last syllable of my question rolled off of my tongue, my mother had her response ready and uttered a short “No,” and my heart felt like it shrank just a bit, like it had every day for the last few weeks. I had ordered a wallet covered with characters from the new Disney/Pixar film “A Bug’s Life” from a specially marked box of Captain Crunch. The day that I finished the fourth and final box of the sugary breakfast cereal, I glowed with pride and imagination as I wondered what it would be like to hold my new prize in hand. I watched my father fill the envelope with the order form and four of the carefully clipped “proofs of purchase” and he even let me lick the stamp before he told me he would run it to the post office the next morning.

 After my mother gave me the bad news, I slowly dragged my feet to my room in a morose manner, when I heard her call back and say “Wait, this couldn’t be the package that you were talking about could it?” My ears immediately perked up like a cat on the prowl and I ran back into the kitchen in the same style that I had done a few minutes ago with hope restored in my soul. I yelled “What package are you talking about?” and my mother lifted her newspaper that had been lying on the table to reveal a small book-sized brown package. I jumped to grab it but she beat me to it and was quick to read aloud the name written on the label: Charles Cole, my father. I was vexed at my mother for calling me in again only to dash my dreams to ribbons for the second time in one afternoon. She said calmly with a slight smile “Now wait a minute, wouldn’t it be your father’s name on the package? He filled out the form and sent it off, so this may still be your package.” My eyes widened and my heart flickered as she handed me the package. I tore into it immediately like a curious young lion given permission to eat for the first time. My hopes grew every second and when I saw the Disney Company logo underneath the brown papery skin of the package, I knew that victory was mine. I slowly lifted the brand new wallet out of the now valueless paper shell that I had just loved for a brief moment, and held my new blue treasure like it was a gift from God.

For the rest of that afternoon, and for the next several weeks in truth, I spent as much time as possible with my new wallet in hand. I would treat it with great care as I rotated it around in my hands before my eyes ─ always at arm’s length at first, then I would bring it within inches of my eyes and nose, so that no minute detail could escape me. The shell of the wallet was made of a clear layer of plastic that was finely notched so that it made a sweet zipping sound when you ran your fingernails over it. The function of this outer layer was to create a three-dimensional effect out of the inner layer, which depicted the major protagonist and antagonist from the film displaying clever expressions with their backs to each other. The final and innermost layer of the exterior lay below the image of the “Bug’s Life” characters, and resembled what I always thought looked like a subtle combination of a wasp’s nest and a basketball net that wrapped around all of the surfaces of the wallet. There was magic in these layers: when you pushed your finger against any point of the surface, the outermost layer compressed inward and caused the lower layers of the wallet to appear to grow immensely in a masterful 3D spectacle.

My wallet quickly became my favorite object and I kept it with me at all times, no matter if it had a coupon to Burger King in it or a couple quarters that I found on the playground. For me at that age, just having the wallet was good enough ─ filling it was unnecessary. One cold afternoon in November about two months after I had received my wallet, I visited my neighbor’s house to play basketball. This young man was possibly the only boy at my school that was louder, faster and more rapid than me. His physical and verbal pace was too fast for three out of four adults. On the basketball court he pestered me like a coffee-drinking hummingbird until he smacked the ball into the street over and over until we were both too tired to care. We sat down on a couple of logs in his yard and I pulled out my empty wallet to look at out of habit ─ my friend’s face betrayed his desire immediately. He stared in silence at my blue prize for only a short moment before he demanded to hold it. I turned him down without delay and shunned his sweaty palms with a quick rotation of my upper body while cradling in the treasure to my chest like a sleeping child. He had the subtle air of southern politeness in his voice when he screamed in my ear “Lemme see!” I tried to be as calm as possible when I shouted “No way!” right back into his ear. He resumed his hummingbird tactics and began to jab and grab, using every tool in his arsenal of annoyance to make his out of what was mine. After my best attempts to dodge and parry his advances, he eventually grasped the smooth blue treasure and ripped it from my clutches. My friend had a look of satisfaction in his eyes as he held up the wallet to his face and repeated the same rituals that I had done one thousand times before. Each second he held my wallet away from me felt like a stab in the back and I needed to get it back through any means possible. I knew that if I chased him for it, he would undoubtedly outrun me, so I stood still and executed the meanest and most outraged yell that I could muster. He had the stunned look of a deer in headlights as he carefully handed the wallet back and sat down on the logs with a puzzled look on his face.

I ran home exasperated by my friend’s behavior ─ I never exploded like that over anything. Despite its emptiness, I knew I had to defend my most prized possession at all costs. It was my anchor, and as long as that square outline rested in my front pocket, I knew that all was right in my small world.

 I kept my wallet with me every day for many years; cards, coupons and cash all coming and going at their own pace as the wallet aged with me. Eventually, the plastic began to erode from the corners and the surfaces became rough and scratched, distorting the spectacular three-dimensional effect. At the age of twelve I made the cheerless decision to put the wallet aside and get a new one, although I knew in my heart it would never be able to replace the wonder that my first magnificent wallet possessed. I chose a simple Batman wallet from K-Mart, and although I knew it was adequately cool, it was nothing compared to the “Bug’s Life” 3D masterpiece that had represented me so well as a person for years.

            With each wallet succession after that, my wallets became less of the forms of self expression that they used to be, and became more of an impersonal tool that I had to carry to keep order to my money and identification. The designs lost their fervor and were replaced by the simplicity of solid colors, usually black or brown, leather or thick fabric. I was betraying my childhood by skipping over the wallets with Mickey Mouse depicted on the surface and examining the modern, jet black piece of leatherwork that I needed to carry with me for the next few years. Never in adulthood will my wallet be empty and the small bulge in my back pocket is no more an aspect of personal freedom than a neck-tie tied tightly around my throat. 

Folgers Special Roast 27.8 ounce

When you crack open the lid for the first time on the jumbo sized tin of Folgers 27.8 ounce Special Roast Coffee, a thin silver barrier is the final step before you experience that first blast of fresh coffee smell. This instant will take you back to all those early mornings that you have ever woken up simply for the purpose to brew that special cup of liquid vigor.

By some error of marketing, the Folgers team left a personal scoop out of their cans of coffee, so the consumer must have means to provide their own scoop. The true die-hard coffee drinkers will disregard the initial absence of the scoop and plunge their thumb and forefinger into the black, grainy depths of the can within the first second the seal is broken and pull out the dark treasure for a rewarding experience. They draw their hand back from the pits of the can in order to hold the pinch of pure coffee euphoria towards their nose. They draw in the aroma that is the essence of the single freshest portion of coffee that will ever ascend from this particular can. With each second that passes after the “AromaSeal” is broken, the freshness that defines the coffee leaks out of the can like the soul of a man slowly losing consciousness. For this reason alone, my method to deter the escape of my brand new coffee can’s life force is the confines of the icy wasteland of the freezer in the kitchen. The frozen tundra of the freezer is the only means of prolonging the existence of each individual grain and the flavor that they possess.

            Despite the lack of coffee scoop that the people at Folgers provide you, the creators of the 27.8 ounce can of coffee made a breakthrough in design when drawing the blueprints for the can itself. The decision to give the hefty tin a small functional protrusion that serves as a handle was a Godsend. Each morning I delve into the cold wasteland to give life to my coffee grains, and I face the task of lifting the tin ─ slippery with condensation and weighing just over one pound ─ to the counter where my coffee maker is located: a trek of ten feet, give or take. The handle makes this journey possible every morning at 8’clock when no living thing should be forced to function, but must to fulfill their daily obligations.

            In this sense, Folgers Special Roast Coffee can also be “man’s best friend.” It aids all men and women (and some children) to productive days through a simple process of brewing. If you have ever brewed coffee then you know the scents and the sounds that can only be associated with this graceful procedure. The slow spits and sputters that alert you that the process is going smoothly sound almost as sweet as the lack of these sounds, signaling that the brewing has completed. Following this silence comes the most satisfying part of my day: bestowing myself with a gift of a smooth, dark sip of black gold as a reward for pulling myself out of bed, scooping a few pinches of powder, pouring a cup of water and pressing a tiny button. 

Stopping by the city on a snowy evening

This evening in Gothenburg was one of the more beautiful sceneries that i have ever witnessed. the light snow in the breeze was almost enchanting as i walked all over the city tonight. in fact, there were several times that i chose to walk rather than taking a tram because the city, the streets and the buildings were all too beautiful, all despite the cold of course. I wish i had a camera that was powerful enough to convey the true world because tonight i would have take them all, just to be able to describe in a better way the awesome scenes. i have always imagined living in a big city, and tonight, as i walked in between a row of residential and commercial building in the city center through the light snow fall, i realized that this is what i am doing right now.

good night

Four Week Strong

today/yesterday/two days ago marks the 4 week time period of my arrival in sweden.

i must say that its starting to grow on me, i was able to walk from my class all the way across town with out using the trams or a map and it made me feel really good about my time here and my orientation skills.

i cant believe its been 4 weeks, it seems like time is going slower and slower, but when i think back it also seems like its gone by fast as well, im like a living paradox.

in 2 days it will mark the official one month time of me arriving, it was january 17th, and that will mean that ive got a mere 4.5 months left here, and that may sound like an eternity now, but if they go by as quickly as this last month i will be out of here before i know it, and im totally not complaining about it, because im still very homesick, but as each day passes and i become more and more used to the european lifestyle and i become more attached to this place.

one thing i really like is that im going to be able to say that "i lived in gothenburg sweden." not only did i visit, but i resided here for 6 months, and not many people can say that about a foreign country. its going to be something that i can tell my kids about i think, and i think ill be able to appreciate it for a very long time :)

my first class is ending in a matter of days, and my second class will begin, so in someways, after january 21st, i will be officailly 1/4 of the way done, but in terms of time i am shy of that fraction by a little.

well, ive noticed that this writing has become more of a weekly thing, and i think im ok with that. a weekly update, but maybe next week ill talk more about the things i do instead of solely the passage of time and my feelings about it, haha.

john

February Sixth/Seventh. Three weeks in

Today the sixth and tomorrow the seventh marks my 3rd week here in sweden. its been pretty hard, and i have not written in here nearly as much as id like to. but i like to think of time passing like, ive been here for 3 weeks, but like tomorrow will be my 4th monday, and so on, and i think that helps time pass. i miss home, and although im having a good time here, making lots of friends, i still miss home and the constant communication of cell phones. the international office of UNCW made a big deal of the consequences of culture shock after a few weeks of international living, but i dont think i have been shocked too hard, its only the time difference that bothers me a great deal. and that my only tool of communication to the world outside of sweden is my computer, without a wireless connection in my room. i remember there was a girl at the send off meeting for international students of UNCW, and this girl said that in her opinion, you did not need to bring your laptop with you on your exchange program, and that the campus of your university would have plenty of computers to use. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?!?! if i had taken her advice, i would have been dead from internet withdrawal after a matter of days. and to add, the computers on my campus ARE IN SWEDISH. i can barely understand the basic commands when i have attempted to use these computers, and luckily i have my computer with a 25 foot ether net cable to use constantly in my room. however, i have had problems with my laptop no doubt. ive been here for like, 21 days or so, and my computer has crashed from the blue screen of death at least 10 times, maybe more. i have narrowed it down to my webcam and streaming video. i think i can use my webcam, but if i am doing anything else at the time, it will crash, and if i go full screen in any video stream it will most likely crash. but luckily no data is lost, after a quick reboot everything is back to normal. but i was so paranoid when i was typing my six page paper for class, every time i finished a paragraph, i would save it to my flash drive just to be safe, but fortunately it didnt crash during that 3 day period i was writing.
My friends ian and jake are both still getting settled and start class in the next couple of weeks, i have to remember to wish them both good luck. im sort of jealous of jake because he is in S. Africa and it is summer there and beautiful, and here it is ice ice ice all the time. but i think i am much more comfortable in sweden where i dont have to worry in the slightest about crime, and once spring comes, it will be beautiful here. and i think that africa is such a large continent that it would be hard to travel to many different places, but in europe, intra-continental travel is very easy. i may even have a chance to go to st. petersburg at some point, which is a dream of mine. at this point, im planning on visiting oslo, stockholm, denmark, riga (latvia) maybe finland, maybe france, maybe italy. and henry recently alerted me he might be summering in britain, and if i get the chance, ill hope the pond and spend a few days with him there! that would be awesome.
i need people who are willing to travel with me. i dont really want to travel alone, for safety reasons as well as for social reasons, haha. its unfortunate ive made so many friends here who have already been in sweden for a semester and have already traveled so much, but luckily ive met a few guys that may be willing to travel with me, should be fun.
ive seen two films in the film festival, an american film as well as a swedish one. i enjoyed both, as well as the theater atmosphere. it was a nice reminder of home, and things like this make me think that swedish and american culture are very similar. the way people act, the eaterys, and many buildings are very similar to the way things are in america. but everything is sooo much more expensive here. its not uncharacteristic to easily spend 14 dollars on a simple lunch. its sad and embarassing to say that i actually miss stores like walmart, anywhere open 24 hours. cheap food and drink anywhere will be welcome upon my return to america. i think driving will be difficult after this long period of not.
my parents are coming to see me and leave with me at the end of my program, and that should be fun, and i hope by that time, i can give them a good guide around the city, or maybe the country if they take me on some sight seeing to some places ive already been to. but i hope i dont have to stay too long after my classes are over because im sure ill be ready to be home as soon as i can.

heres to another 3 weeks. in three weeks ill have been here for 6 weeks, which sounds much more daunting than 3 :)
and also, i hope to post on here more often if i have time. i want to be able to remember everything ive done here clearly, and i dont take nearly enough pictures haha.

(ive been listening to a lot of pierce the veil and owl city to apply some musical associations to my memories, but i should stop with owl city, because ive already got several musical memorys with owl city, haha)

Sweden hardcore scene

I went to a show in Gothenburg last monday, monday the 31st of january. it was expensive, but what isnt over here? 

I was able to buy my ticket the day of the event, because i suppose demand was not too high, and i almost thought there were not going to be many people there. and when i went to the record store to purchase my ticket for the night, i was made aware that bring me the horizon, who were headlining that night would be in the store in a couple of hours to sign autographs, i was like, awesome. so i went back in a couple of hours with my global studies text book and met the band and had them sign my textbook, lol. a good memory.

ultimately, the experiences were very similar, but there were several little differences that i noticed and enjoyed. i was very surprised by the security measures taken by the venue or the promoter or who ever was responsible for it. the barriers at the front were well guarded similar to the united states, but the really strange aspect was if a person was under 18 they were forced to stand in an upstairs area, so i guessed that was the reason that there was a lot more room on the ground floor. 

the other thing that i found very interesting and funny was that they had medical staff that had water bottles giving water to anyone who wanted it between the sets. i guess they care more about the publics general health and welfare in sweden than they do in america. but i liked it :)

overall, i'd say that it was worth every cent i spent, and if i have another chance, ill go again!

gambling addiction

is one of the worst things i can imagine.



the sad sad character arch of David Scatino, aka the T-1000, in the sopranos is an extremely realistic and depressing portrayal of the all-too-real consequences of gambling addiction in conjunction with involvement with loan sharks/organised crime. attempted suicide, loss of his family, business, dignity and self respect just to start.
he is exiled out west most likely to escape debt collections after tony and his associates "busted out" his business. he lives in shame, knowing that he killed his sons dreams by gambling away his college fund. remember that if you gamble, quit while your ahead, because odds are that you're already behind. gambling and debt can ruin lives

I love music.

Listening to music can enrich any experience. The ipod/all quality mp3 players has got to be my favorite invention of this century so far. Some may argue that the mp3 age has killed the music industry, and others say that music dilutes life by blocking out reality, but i view it as the opposite. Music memory is awesome. i love listening to a song and being reminded of a good memory. and trips/vacations/all travel are the absolute best times to do this! Listening to my ipod in the city, on the trams in my room totally contributes to my happy mood and can remind me of home, people, beauty so on so forth.
Its upsetting that im too timid to download music over here. I think im going to have to pay for most of my music while abroad for fear of reprisal by the university/government. I live in campus associated apartments with a direct ethernet line to the wall, so tracing my ip to any suspicious activity would not be difficult for anyone to do. Oh well, luckily im in no shortage of music :)

As of now, here is some music that im trying to make associations with:
Owl city, mayday parade, bring me the horizon, circa survive, every time i die, pierce the veil, others..

day by day of Sweden. ill try to keep this up to date

A most brief account of what ive done in sweden so far, mostly for my own purposes.

Day 1- 1/17 arrival, check in, had to ride tram separately from everyone else, grocery shopping, bed at 7 pm, woke back up at 12 skyped til 3 then went back to sleep.

day 2- 1/18 quest for the towel, went grocery shopping first stupidly, went to central station and mall looking for towel finally found one, payed to much for it, went to BK for lunch, lol, went to pharmacy, went home to skype and prepare for pub crawl, didnt stay to long

day 3- 1/19 woke up real early to go talk to people in the front office and got some light bulbs, worked out hard, came back ate, skyped with rachel for a LONG time, which was cool except that it was like 4 am eastern time when we skyped, she was up doing homework, then i took an epic nap from about 1130 to 550, not the best idea, i went out to the mall again and bought a notebook for class and a water bottle, and dinner at mcdonalds. had a bad night, no doubt because of my nap, kept waking up in the middle of the night.

day 4- 1/20 woke up and did a little exercise in my room, watched an episode of lost, then went out to do errands before class. left super early to avoid getting lost, got my student number and login information and such, went to class, went to meeting for exchange peoples. went to building looking for bookstore/card to print with, was told to come back monday. shoudnlt be too hard. back to my place, for lots of skyping, computer errors, reading more skyping and sleep. :)

day 5- 1/21 went to an exchange student meeting, it was come and go and i didnt learn anything. came back worked out, talked to rachel and went to bed super early

day 6- 1/22 city challenge day, got lost, luckily found a group that would take me, haha. had a pretty good time and made some friends and took some pretty cool pictures. my computer keeps crashing, it could be caused by when im skyping or streaming video. i think its directly correlated with that. skyped some and went to sleep pretty late.

day 7- 1/23 church at st andrews church of england, ice skating, coffee and winnie the pooh at mcdonalds, lol

now that my life is less exciting i will only post when exciting things happen.

1/25 first paper assigned

2/2 finished 1st paper, 6 pages about the paradoxes of globalization. also went to archipelego last weekend and saw ice everywhere. it was money. went to the film festival earlier this week, saw an american movie, it was very interesting to consider how europeans see american culture.