patosullivan

music you think about in the wee hours.

Vince Guaraldi Trio - O Tannenbaum

I’ve had Charlie Brown Christmas music stuck in my head for probably a week.   …Not to be dramatic, or anything, heh.

This summer has been going pretty well. I’m getting pretty anxious, though, I can’t wait to be at FSU. It feels very strange to think that I’m on the brink of the next big step; there are all sorts of people and experiences ahead of me that will likely have a very profound effect on my life, and I can’t help but wonder what that will all look and feel like. Although I do wonder, I can’t really make too many predictions, which adds to the excitement of it all.

</sorta-cheesy-stuff>

I haven't been writing much lately.

It’s just been a few tweets here and there on Twitter in the last few weeks.

Well, I’ve been back in the United States for about three weeks now. In that time I’ve graduated from high school and attended orientation at Florida State.

Graduation: Meh.

Orientation: Honestly, slightly intimidating at first, but that didn’t last too long. FSU feels like it will be a good place to be for me in the next four (or so) years. My advisor in the communications department and I had a really decent conversation regarding the department and the relationship that I’ll have with it, and that conversation alone gave me a lot of confidence about this upcoming semester and the years ahead. Let’s hope I don’t feel silly for saying so later on.

My schedule, as of right now:

American History since 1865

Multicultural Film

Introduction to Mass Media

Liberal Arts Mathematics

My advisor suggested a 12 hour course load, I was sort of thinking I would have been able to handle 15 hours just fine, she’s the advisor, though, so I trusted her judgment.

My plans for the rest of summer:

Ride my bike.

Read as many books as I can.

Work on a few personal video projects.

Watch some really great movies.

Posts like this used to usually make it to patosullivan.com, often preceeded by a small blurb and something along the lines of “in pat-related news.” I’ve decided that patosullivan.com should be used soley for longer and more serious writing, with each post focusing primarily on a particular topic. This decision may mean that patosullivan.com won’t be updated as frequently, as I may not always have the time or creative energy to sit down and write a more formal essay, but maybe the lack of frequency will be made up for by a significant increase in quality. We’ll see.

I’ll still use this tumblr for updates like this one, and I’ll use twitter for random thoughts, short updates, lame quotes from movies and tv shows, etc.

NOTE: Do not volunteer to perform your own karaoke version of Gangster’s Paradise if you’re not all that familiar with the song. Your deadpan “Michael Cera performing a rap song in a chinese restaraunt” impression will not go as well as planned, and you will giggle.

Solution: practice practice practice… 

Aaron Swartz

“Aaron Swartz (born 1986) is a writer, web developer, and entrepreneur. At age 14, he was a co-author of the RSS 1.0 specification.”

Aaron Swartz is one cool guy. Not only does he have the ability to understand, and successfully find solutions to, complex web/programming or human problems, he also writes some undeniably killer essays.

Check out his blog, Raw Thought. Nearly everything he has to say is an enjoyable read whether you agree with him or not.

 An essay of his that I find particularly interesting (but that I believe I particularly disagree with) is entitled “Money and Control,” and it deals with the idea that every human being has an inherent right to make all of their own decisions without being excluded from our current societal structures (i.e., capitalism). I hope I haven’t detracted from the essay through my little summary, and to avoid any further damage I may cause by continuing to blather on about it, I’ll encourage you to go and read that one and a few others for yourself.