The Artist

It's wonderful to begin the year with a movie as wonderful as this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed all 100 minutes of this silent film. Michel Hazanavicius' masterpiece will hopefully inspire even more directors to create what I believe to be a lost medium - silent film. (Please note that the theatre isn't silent completely, as music plays to set the mood for the movie at times.) The acting fit perfectly to the style of the movie by including large displays of emotion that would seem ridiculous to a current audience in a modern film. Whether these displays were Jean Dujardin's massive smiles and head twitches or Berenice Bejo's silly but adorable dance movies, they seemed effective in making the movie lighthearted where needed, and dramatic elsewhere.

My generation truly missed out on silent films, and that really saddens me. Us kids of the 90's were right at the edge of cassette tapes and kid's cartoons, and technology of media exploded from there. I'm so sad I never got to sit around with friends listening to vinyls like my parents did (though I admit I have listened to Dad's records quite a few times over, mostly in secrecy). I remember VHS tapes, and how awesome they were, but they were quickly replaced with DVD's. I grabbed a VCR from home and several VHS tapes and I've brought them to Davidson, not to be ironic and nostalgic, but to fully enjoy every single movie so much more. The only VHS tapes I can find are classics and they might be damaged such that the entire movie has a slight pink tint, but they are so much more appreciated than the fifty DVD's I buy every year. Rewinding a movie might be a pain, but it reminds me to slow down every now and then between scenes in my life.

I know I've strayed from the topic of The Artist, but the fact that Hazanavicius made a silent film - one popular in the mainstream - after decades of none at all amazes me. I enjoyed myself so much watching the film, and I sincerely hope that more of the style are produced soon since the film has done so well.

Culturally Aware in 2012

My New Year's resolution is to become more culturally aware. I'll admit, this title comes as an attempt to glorify a silly challenge I'm putting myself through in the year.

This year, I want to build my vocabulary and develop my abilities to explore, analyze, and conclude from what I see, hear, and learn. (Be on the lookout for a 101 things in 1001 days sort of deal in the next week or so--I assure you it will appear from somewhere... I just have to sit down and think through what.)

Essentially, I heard my brother talking about participating in the 50 books challenge where participants try to read 50 books before December 31st comes to an end (~a book a week) and decided I wanted to do something like it. Over the past few weeks, though, I've decided that I wanted to change this a little bit to span more than just books. I want to cover stories of people real and not, descriptions of the world near and far, and views I agree and disagree with currently. I want to gain as much as possible from this experience as well. Unfortunately, studies and money might come into conflict with the completion of this challenge but I will try my best to complete it. Here are the challenges:


1. 30 new books in the year
2. 20 new movies in the year
3. 10 new friends in the year (which I must have some interesting story with) Note: if I'm friends but don't have an interesting story, acquisition of a story counts towards this.
4. 10 new museums or art galleries in the year (which I must see at least one full exhibit in)
5. 5 new cities visited in the year (which I must eat in and see something exciting or thrilling in)


I might be editing this list over the next week or so. I will also try to blog my "accomplishments" as they come - book reviews, movie reviews, interesting stories with friends, thoughts on museums, thoughts on cities.

If you are interested in joining me in this challenge, I would love to have you! Please let me know if you are going to participate, and maybe we can do some stuff together. I would love the company.

Wrapping Up 2011

On a scale from 1 to 10, this year was an '11.

I recycled--that was my idea for our graduation shirts last year (with a couple modifications to make it more relevant). I'll admit that. But there's no denying that this year has been wonderful. I absolutely adored living through the 2-oh-1-oh plus 1, as my father called it a few times in January.

II watched a clip from NBC, in which a kid said he was hoping for a better year in 2012. I suppose everyone didn't have as awesome of a year as I, so I decided to check in with some friends on Facebook. The following list is from a variety of people from a variety of life stages, a variety of level of acquaintance with me, and a variety of backgrounds. I hope it helps to sum up how people feel about 2011 and 2012 alike.

Among my friends there are those who view 2011 as wonderful, and 2012 as a challenge they can overcome:

As 2011 draws to its final hours I have no idea what to say. It was the best year in my life so far (I do plan on living forever so a lot to look forward to). Tonight at 12 am, a new year starts. A year full of smiles, laughter, and love. My biggest fear in life is growing up. 2012 is a big year in my life and the year where I believe my fear will conquer me. Starting 12 tonight I will embrace my inner childhood more than ever, not the one that whines and cries but the one who never forgets to smile, the one who doesn't let others stop him, the one who always let out a hand for friendship, and the one who makes sure that everyone around him is always smiling and laughing. 2012, come at me. --Kushal

There are those who met the call to review 2011 with sarcasm:

Wait, I'm supposed to be listing things this year? Oh, it's New Years Eve. Um...
Dude, I can barely list what happened yesterday. Okay. This year, I existed. Happy New Years Eve. --Lindsay

There are those who are hopeful:

Happy New Years Eve everyone! Time to leave things in the past and look ahead into the future! --Jomel

There are those who were given gifts of life:

Happy new years Eve! I'm sad to say goodbye to 2011, we had a great year! The birth of Quinn, we bought our first house and the countless memories we made along the way! I can't wait to see what 2012 brings us! We're ready, bring it on! --Whitney

There are those who are glad for a new year and the blank page it brings with it:

Ready for a New Year... Ready for a new start... Ready for new friends... Ready for new love. Bring it 2012!!!!! --Eddie

And there are those who write perfectly the way I felt about this year:

I throw around adjectives like they're no big deal - incredible, wonderful, lovely - but here the sun sets on a year that truly was impossible to believe, full of wonder and love. Moments extraordinary and extra ordinary alike, shared with friends old and new. It's been a year of new places, new dreams, and new friends that I very much hope are in for the long haul. After the best year of my life, it takes serious nerve to ask 2012 for anything more, yet ask I will. Be safe, be brave, but above all, be happy. It's a big world out there.   --Carrie

I hope my friends have given you a wide view of feelings about last year and this new year. I think allowing Facebook to describe last year and thoughts on next year really provides a view into how great the human spirit is. We humans have met adversity and fought it head-on. No matter what is thrown to us, we are able to keep moving and continue hoping for the future. Those recovering from bad years aren't shutting down, but are instead moving forward into the new year with hope and wonderment at what could be. Those blessed with good years are thankful for those years and looking forward to even greater years to come.

No matter your story, no matter your background, no matter who you are, you are connected with everyone else simply because you are human. We humans will prevail and the human race will never cease to amaze me. Thank you, everyone, for a terrific year and a satisfactory first semester of college. It's you who enrich my life and make it all the better.

And, guys, have a wonderful 2012.

Shame on Me!

Apologies for how transient (or invisible) I have been in the past few months. Trust me, it's not simply negligence that led to the incredibly low frequency of postings here--I've been extraordinarily busy. In order to make up for my lack of posts--and leaving you out of my college experience entirely--let me give you a short update on all that has happened.


-Aaron Pomis won the election to sit on the school board of the Charlotte/Mecklenburg district.
After canvassing three times and explaining to many people the pros of electing Aaron to office, everything paid off. It was great to know that something I worked on turned out in my favor. The experience with the Pomis campaign will help me next fall with Obama's reelection. I owe all of these experiences to JD and Aaron. Thanks so much, guys.

-Eco-Reps met its conclusion.
While the fact that the program finished brings me great sadness, I know that I gained a lot from the experience and I'm extremely excited to take what I've learned and use it in the future. I will miss the fellowship of the group, but I have gained friendships with the members. I know who to go to for help with certain issues that have to do with the environment, and I'm very excited to see what else Allison has in store for us. There is an internship this spring open to students interested in environmental issues, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to apply. I really hope that I get accepted because I know it would not only be engaging, but would also help me learn more about grants and planning.

-I met with Lindsey Graham's Greenville office.
I'm hoping to get a spot on Senator Graham's staff for the upcoming summer. I have been emailing a couple of the members of staff and finally went in for an interview last week. It was incredibly exciting to talk to them, and they even introduced me to other members of the office as their "summer intern". I know that I'm a Davidson College Democrat, but I am more than willing to work for Graham, a Republican, because he is not only the Senator from my state that I hold the greatest respect for but also because I agree with a lot of his policy.

-Finals are done!
Woohoo! This is the most exciting of updates, I must say. I studied so hard for them and nearly lost my mind in the process. I was satisfied with my grades on a few and disappointed in some others, but that's just how it goes, I suppose. My grades have inspired me to work much harder next semester and harder still for the semesters to come.


Well, I hope this post works as some sort of reconciliation for you. I'm sorry for the awful posting frequency, but you'll accept that as just my style from now on, right? (I know, posts apologizing about being late all the time get old very fast, so I'll abstain from the apologies from here on out.)

Have a terrific day!

Davidsonian Article

Ellie and I wrote an article for this week's Davidsonian. Our topic? Food, of course.

Be sure to pick up your copy of the Davidsonian and turn to page 6!

(Or, view the internet version here.)

Thank you, and have a wonderful day!

Food for Thought

So I post rather infrequently, and I suppose I justify my transiency with the well-accepted phrase that "those who often talk the most have the least to say". I have plenty to say, I assure you, but I want to make sure I reserve your precious reading time (or precious clicks to other pages like facebook or NYT) for the most important or interesting experiences I have had thus far and into the future.

Today, however, an extraordinary speaker graced the Lily Gallery with his presence.

This man, Raj Patel, has a very impressive resume, and has a lot to say about big issues.

Novices, Furman Trip, the Apple of My Eye, and the Big Apple.

Wow. Long time no post. I've got three weekends' worth of exciting activities!

September 23rd I drove down to Columbia to stay with Amit and judge the USC novice tournament for forensics. If you are in high school, I HIGHLY recommend you do forensics. It's such a neat program, and will help you so much later in life. I only wish I had done it earlier than I did. I'm very thankful of Amit for letting me stay with him (and thankful to his awesome roomie as well), and glad I got to see Caroline and Faucette and all of my Southside buddies! It was so great to see everyone. There was also a girl there who saw my Davidson shirt and said she wanted to go there so badly. I recognized her as the girl who had the Skippy Jon Jones: Lost in Spice piece last year. Among my friends, the piece is infamous.

During that week, I went canvassing with the Davidson Dems for Aaron Pomis, a very qualified candidate for the upcoming School Board election. I enjoyed it a lot, even though most people didn't answer the door for me.

On September 30th, I drove to Greenville, and had a grand old time hanging out with Caroline. I woke up in the new month, and realized I was late to my engagement--a Furman tour with the Eco-Reps. I hopped out of bed, threw on some clothes, brushed my teeth, and dashed out the door. Unfortunately, there was so much road work going on, so my drive was a bit delayed. I finally made it to Furman, and we started the tour. We saw the Eco House on campus, featured in Southern Living and accompanied by an awesome garden. After a tour of some of the other facilities, we grabbed some lunch and went to talk with some Furman Eco-Reps (they weren't literally "Eco-Reps", but they did the same job as us). Furman has a really neat Environmental Science major, and a couple of the kids there said they were majoring--or double-majoring--in it.

After our Furman visit, we hopped in the car (and van) and drove to downtown Greenville. After illegally parking in a church parking lot (not very Christian to make your parking lot exclusive for church use only during all of the week, huh?), we scaled a small mountain and met our tour guide at the top of Falls Park. Quick aside: the city had dyed the water in the fountains at Falls Park pink. It looked so crazy. Alright, back to my story: the tour guide introduced himself, and was none other than my beautiful father, Russell Stall. He told us a little bit about his nonprofit, Greenville Forward, and started the tour. We saw the Liberty Bridge, Falls Park, South Carolina's Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, Fluor Field (home of the Greenville Drive), the Kroc Center, A J Wittenburg, and the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Finally, we ended with something tasty at OCHA, a locally-owned tea shop.

Needless to say, I went home that night worn out.

But wait! I did more that night?! No way!

I had dinner with my parents and grandmother, and then had my really good friend, Neil, over for the night. The last time I saw this dork was before I left for college, so we were long overdue. It was very nice to see him.

The next day, October 2nd, I woke up early so I could go apple picking with that cutie, Caroline. She drove over to the house about 9-ish, and we hopped in the car to go to SkyTop. Neither of us really thought about packing warm, so when we got there, we were freezing. We scrambled down into the orchards, looking for Jonathons, Winesaps, Golden Deliciouses, and Fiji apples. Only Fiji and Winesap were in the orchards, so we quickly went to pick them. Unfortunately for us, most of the apples had already been picked. I saw apples at the tops of the trees, and took to the skies to find them! (Or just climbed a couple of trees). We ended up only able to find a basketful of good apples on the trees, and our definition of good was quite loose. We went to this weird little bamboo forest they have in the middle of the orchard, and then went to see a couple goats. Caroline freaked out at the goats (she looked like a kindergartener), and then we went up to buy the apples. We grabbed massive bags of all the apples we didn't have and loaded them in the car.

Next, the good part: eating the delicious apple-centered snacks that SkyTop has to offer. First off, a pumpkin-flavored homemade donut and a apple-cider flavored homemade donut--SO GOOD. Next, slices of apple with warm caramel poured over them--ALSO SO GOOD. I got some cider and Caroline got some hot chocolate. The girl who served us saw my Davidson sweatshirt, and said that she was planning on going to Davidson, too! That's like, two people in two weekends! Anyway, we finished our apples and grabbed a dozen more apple donuts and left.

Then, Fall Break!

YES.

For Fall Break, I drove to Charlotte to my grandparent's house. My parents and brother were going to meet me there. While I waited, I played my grandfather's PlayStation2, but we couldn't get the color to work. I played Enter the Matrix in black and white. It was awesome. We spent the night there (Harrison and I stayed up way too late) and woke up at 5 am (see why I said "way too late"?) for a flight at 7-ish out of the Charlotte airport to LaGuardia Airport in New York. We carried all of our luggage on, which is something I've never done and that excited me greatly. (It's really not that thrilling, I assure you.) We landed in NYC (with a massive bang, I might add) and took a cab to Penn Station. Gosh, I love New York. It's like the greatest city in the world. We made it to Penn Station, and waited on a train to Dover. I was still in awe of how wonderful it was to be back in the city. We hopped on our train, and rode it for a couple of hours to Madison, New Jersey. There, Ned was waiting on us with a car to pick us up. We went to lunch at a bar where we got our first taste of New Jersey.... I guess literally, too.

We got some cupcakes and left Madison to go to Ned's house on Lake Hopatcong. His house is awesome, and he lives right on the lake. Harrison, Ned and I all hung out for the two nights we spent in New Jersey and had much fun. We went out on the boat twice, and watched Signs with a projector and a white sheet by the campfire. I decided that I want some boots because of the visit. Early Monday morning, we woke to catch a train to New York. We got on the wrong side of the platform, but the conductor was nice enough to wait for us to walk under the tracks to get over to the correct side.

Back in New York, we dropped our bags off at the hotel and grabbed brunch at this really hipster eating place. I had porridge, and it was SO good. We were all marveling at the fact that a person could stop anywhere in NYC and know that the food would be fantastic.

We walked to 30 Rock and saw all of Rockefeller Plaza before heading to MoMa, which I swear gets better and better every time I go. Unfortunately, the contemporary art exhibit at MoMA was being redone, so I didn't get to see my favorite exhibit. After MoMA, we headed to Trump Tower. It was cool, but everything was gold looking. Next, we met up with a mentor of Harrison's, Steve Moss. He is a man from (a long time ago) the UK who works for a French bank and lives in New York. He is an interesting guy, and Harrison had a nice little meeting with him.

After the meeting, we were too tired for more, so we went to the hotel for the night.

The next morning, we headed to Wall Street to see the Occupy Wall Street movement. We saw all kinds of awesome signs and a big papier mache megaphone. It looked pretty cool. We then moved on to the 9/11 memorial and looked in their museum--"museum". Harrison and I bought a shirt and Dad bought a pen.

We ate one final lunch, and prepared to leave the big city. Waiting for us outside the hotel was a limousine to take us to the airport. We all felt so awesome riding in it, and it was a great way to end the New York trip. We all flew back to CLT, then parted ways.

I've had a very great past few weeks.

Have a wonderful week.