Happy Winter Break

With a semester under my belt I feel a bit more relaxed about everything. I have successfully secured at least a 3.0 GPA in my first semester at Berkeley. What am I going to do now? I guess now that I am home I am going to relax and visit with old friends. The thing is, I feel a little overwhelmed with all of the people I can see. I haven't seen my sister since August so I want to spend time with her, but I have people I want to see outside my family. The thing is, there are a lot of people that want to see me, but only about a handful I actually want to see. I guess what I want is to just hang out with the right people and not waste time with the people who cause me stress, I just want to see the people who make me happy. Thank you to those who do. Hopefully I will be seeing a lot of you this break as we go on great adventures.

My Tranquility

My favorite place to sit on campus is at Ludwig's Fountain. Ludwig's Fountain is located just to the side of Sproul Plaza between the little market place and the student store. It's just before students meet a handful of groups "tabling" for student support for various causes from wanting a free Palestinian state to the Berkeley College Republicans (yes, they do exist). Ludwig's Fountain has a history behind it, as well as half of whatever is on campus. Ludwig von Schwarenberg was the campus canine back in the early 1960s, he enjoyed hanging out near the dining commons hoping to get scraps of food from students and he enjoyed just playing with all the young adults. When the new student union center was built back in 1961 the university built a fountain to attract foot traffic to the new plaza. It attracted four more legs than it expected. Ludwig enjoyed playing in the fountain with the students during the day and he went home promptly at 5:30 everyday. He became the unofficial mascot to the university from 1961-1965 when his family moved to Alameda. The regents dedicated the fountain in honor of the campus canine making Ludwig's Fountain the first place on campus to be named after an animal.

As I was saying, this is my favorite place to sit on campus. I either read the Daily Californian while eating breakfast or just sit and listen. THe fountain makes a great calm background noise of flowing water. Now, one may be asking why I would want to sit in a place with so much foot traffic. The truth of the matter is that I am rarely sitting at Ludwig's Fountain with anyone else. I feel like I can step out of time at the fountain and watch the world around me. I see dancing, hook ups, breakups, successes and failures. Just as the water reflects my image, I can reflect on life and where I am and where I want to be. Whenever I think of the history of the fountain I think of a more carefree time, when animals would come on campus and the students would play with it. Before the idea of having to make a six digit income after graduation planted itself into the mind of every university student. I enjoy Ludwig's fountain, I can look into Sproul Plaza around Sather Gate to see all the activism and think about changing the world or I can look out into the city and think of being part of something unique, or look out to the west side of campus and think about how I can escape life. It's a magical place, I invite you to come there with me.

My Thoughts

One week left of instruction. Two weeks until I come home for the much needed Winter break. I learned something my first semester here, something beside the fact that college kicks your ass or that I will never be able to know everything, I now realize I know close to nothing. What I do know is this: never take the relationships you have for granted. Enjoy every moment with the people you like, especially if you get to see them everyday. You may not have that forever. I don't regret not spending more time with you; I just miss seeing you everyday. It's a good feeling I have though, I feel good about everything.

Pick My Classes

It's time for everyone's favorite game show: "Pick Benji's Classes"! On Monday I go through the first phase of "Tele-bears" which is where I sign up for my first 10.5 units of classes. I don't sign up for all of them to keep it fair for those who haven't had an opportunity to sign up yet. One of the perks of a big public university. So first let me tell you what classes I am taking this semester:

Economics 1: Introduction to Economics
English R1A: Introducing Cultural Studies
Philosophy 4; Knowledge and Its Limits
History of Art 24: Seminar: Looking at Berkeley Buildings

Next semester I need to step it up a little and take some real classes, like that have to do with science. What I have as potential classes for next semester:

English R1B
Undergrad Business Administration 10: Introduction to Business Administration
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Studies 20AC
Plant and Microbial Biology 40: Secret Life of Plants
Nutritional Science 10

Seems all well and good, but the problem is in those last two, they both fulfill the biological sciences requirement of the college. It would be an incredible waste of time to take them both at the same time, so I need your help in choosing which to take. Here's what I have been thinking and been told. Nutri Sci may be more applicable in life and I could probably learn a lot and since my mom is a health teacher I might have a little bit of an advantage. However this is a popular class and will be quite full. Plant and Microbial Biology is interesting because plants are just so beautiful and there is so much we just don't know about them and I would love to learn. I love visiting botanical gardens, but I am told the subject of plants may be boring and I don't know anyone currently taking this class.

So there we go, I need your help to decide which class to enroll. Also bear in mind that both of these are potential majors since I don't even have one yet. I could possibly see myself do those for the rest of my life.

The Bulk of the Curve

I got my second philosophy paper returned to me today. My class is based 90% on papers and 10% on participation. I have 40% of my course work completed and my grade is a very solid "B". In high school I would never have allowed for this. I was always in the top 5% percent of my class, never would I have settled for 40%. This is a new feeling on content for me, of course I would love an A and I will continue to strive for it, but I think I am good with the flow of B's. I don't quite know what to say, except for that I have changed a little. I am at the "best public university in the world" not just a random high school in the high desert in California. The people here are some of the best minds in California, I think I might be ok being average when it comes to putting me in a pool with "the best". (Ok not really, I want an A)

The New Cold War

I declare anarchy to exist. On this planet there is just one place where this form of government exists and unfortunately many of us experience this often. I am not talking about the ideal anarchy or extreme communism where everybody shares, but I am talking about riots, fires and disorder anarchy. This place is the public laundry room.

Mr dorm building has one laundry room which we share with about two other buildings and each building has around 100 residences. This laundry room has three washing machines and three dryers... oh wait one of the dryers is broken so make that two. Two dryers. I came to this conclusion while doing my laundry the first time and have confirmed it every week after on laundry day. Sunday is the busiest day for laundry and home game Saturdays are the least busiest. I do my laundry on Wednesdays because I like having clean sheets in the middle of the week for some reason, although I will probably switch to Mondays since my afternoon seminar class is over.

Anyway, each machine is on a timer, 38 minutes for washing, an hour for drying, pretty simple. Unfortunately people either Berkeley students have no concept of time or they are forgetful, I will go with the former to be a bigger jerk. I always like to check to see if a machine is open before i decide to drag my clothes two floors down to do laundry, usually there is one free so I grab my stuff and put it in the washer and set the timer on my computer to go off in about 35 minutes. When I put my clothes in the washer I realize there is about 20 minutes left on one of the dryers and about 40 minutes left on the other so I am sure I will be able to grab a dryer when I am done. Half an hour later I see that one dryer is done so I get ready to put my clothes in there, but oh wait, the person with 20 minutes left never came down to get their stuff so now I also have to throw their stuff in their laundry basket as well as put my stuff in the dryer. While I add my clothes to the dryer, the machine I was using to wash gets another load of my laundry and I know there will be a dryer for me to use since no one is using the washing machine but me and the other dryer has about 10 minutes left. I turn the timer on again.

35 minutes later I am ready to put my clothes in the dryer, but wait the machine I was going to use has 50 minutes left on it... apparently the person who was previously using it didn't think their clothes were dry enough so they put it back in for another hour. Now I have to wait at least until my current drying load is done before I can put my soggy wet clothes in a dryer, but I have to take them out of the washer because there is now someone waiting to use the washing machine. And also the clothes I removed from the dryer before I put my clothes in are still on top of the dryer. So I know there is about 20 minutes left on my dryer so I go upstairs and do some more studying and I go back down to collect my dry clothes and replace them with the wet ones from the washing machine incident just 20 minutes prior. Unfortunately there are now two people with wet clothes also waiting for the dryer who had their stuff in the washer with about 10 minutes left when I was removing my second load not too long ago. Now however I feel like an ass because they have also been waiting and I just show up to throw my crap in the dryer I was just using. Now I face a moral dilemma, do I give up the dryer to let the "patiently" waiting neighbors use it, or do I quickly throw my stuff in there and say "too bad, I get it"? I do what any anarchist would do. I take the machine for myself because I know had the situations been reversed they would have pulled the same crap on me.

And where the hell is the owner of these clothes on top of the dryer?

My Inferiority Complex

Apple introduced the Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros on Tuesday and as most of you know I have a MacBook Pro. I have loved my MacBook Pro ever since I got it, except for the whole dead on arrival thing from mid august, but that's another story. I had at the time of purchase the fastest Macintosh portable available and it felt damn good to be at the top, but now with the intro of the new MacBook Pros I feel somehow inadequate. These new models have the Core 2 Duo which sports a 64-bit processor (mine is 32-bit) at higher processing speeds. It also offers firewire 800, a bigger hard drive and more RAM for the same price I got mine. I mean I know technology has to get better, but why can't mine get better with it?

I guess this is just one of the steps of depreciation, it's quite sad really, how we invest so much in the best technology and four years later you'd be lucky to get $400 for that. It's worse than cars. The original Macintosh for instance sold at around $2,400 and that price today you could get something almost infinitely faster... Ah technology, it makes me wonder where we will be just a few years down the road. 500GB iPods, 2 TB laptop hard drives, Blu-ray (or HD-DVD) burners and wireless technology up to wazoo.

My Meeting

So as you may or may not know I met one of my all time favorite people yesterday at a rally in Berkeley. Oh who was it? Well I'll give you some clues, he won a majority of votes in the 2000 presidential election, his policies during his reign as VP helped to create environmental standards and helped to forge the technology which created what we know today as the World Wide Web, and now he travels the country giving a slideshow presentation about the effects of global warming (on a Mac of course where he sits on the board of directors). yup you guessed it, I met the Al Gore.

Yesterday at around 12:30 I was at a rally in Berkeley for passing proposition 87, on the CA ballot it is for taxing imported oil and using that revenue to research alternative energy sources for the future. He talked about why we must pass this if we want to help stop the effects of global warming and create a better world for our children. If you are so inclined you can watch the speech here http://www.yeson87.org/page/invite/TakeTheLead. I was right in the front and center. I arrived about an hour early to assure a good spot in line. In fact my friend Claire and I were first in line and by the end of the rally somewhere around 2000 people had shown up! Here's a picture of him after he shook my hand.


Photo Credit: Claire Viall

Ah it was really amazing.

On 'Weekends'

Weekends are a coveted thing here in college. They're worth their weight in boba. After a week of classes, papers, midterms, work, hall association, and Hillel the weekends are welcomed with open arms. A typical weekend for me is on Friday I work from 10:30-4:00. I love my work so it's kind of fun and enjoyable. Later on Fridays I go to Hillel for services and dinner, something to ease me into the weekend. After services I usually go out with Eric to get some boba, which I am I now an addict. I'll go back to my dorm at anytime ranging from 10:00-1:00 depending on what i do after boba. Either way I don't get to bed around 2:00 because I have to check and respond to my emails.

On Saturday I will wake sometime around 10:00 and sit at my desk for about an hour talking to people on AIM before getting my butt up to take a shower. I'll generally get out of the shower and around noon I'll head out to either the game or hang out with friends. Yesterday I hung out with Claire and Jena and we took in a movie (Man of the Year) instead of going to the game. In the evening it's anyone's game. I'll either go to Hillel for some activity or go out and eat which I only do around once a day on the weekends, unless there is free food where I might eat up to three times a day. Yesterday I saw the Afro Semitic Experience at Hillel as a benefit concert for Crones Disease, they were pretty awesome. Jewish dudes wearing traditional African clothing and big black guys playing the bongos while singing Eliyahu Hanavi. After the concert last night I went to get boba and watched Harold & Kumar.

Sundays are the worst day of all (excluding M-Th). I still get to sleep in, but I realize that I have homework/papers to write for classes that week. I then get my butt into the shower, procrastinate for about an hour, clean as a method of procrastination and finally I might crack open my textbook. On Sundays it's rare that I will go further than the dining commons less than 100 yards from my dorm room. However, I can get cabin fever easily and I might take a walk to Memorial Stadium which is awesome when empty. I then proceed to bed around 11:00 to get ready to wake up around 6:30 the next morning. It's all part of the routine.

However tomorrow I get to see Al Gore talk about Proposition 87. Yay!

The Challenge

Sorry. For all of my frequent readers I am sorry for my month long absence. One month. That's almost half a percent of my lifetime. Much occurred since my last posting, but nothing all that special. It's all part of the routine. This blog was supposed to be for the interesting things in my life, such as starting college, getting a broken computer, and almost getting mugged. Either all of the what would have been "big stuff" turned into routine, or my life is just boring. In the past month I went home to help my family move and for Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays. It was an interesting feeling coming home. I felt out of place. I felt like my family didn't necessarily need me anymore, or perhaps it is I don't need them. It was a weird feeling, even though I had only been away six weeks, it felt different, my life is now here, in Berkeley.

Anyway, mid-term season is over for me. I had one test in economics and a paper due in both Philosophy and English. I can now relax again. Oh wait, in about two weeks I am supposed to start registration for next semester. I feel as though I just started this one, now I have to pick classes again? I don't even know my major yet, I can't just start picking classes, what if I pick the wrong ones? I'll just look at the schedule and pick the classes I want to take, the ones that look interesting.

As for everything else, I got a nice piece of mail today regarding my AppleCare agreement. I was reading over the terms and conditions--the small print-- and I noticed something they don't cover, "Acts of God". I wonder how many calls they get, "Hi, um my computer got burned, yeah God wanted to talk to me, but he couldn't find a bush so he just used my laptop, can you fix that?" I smirked.

Ok, so now the good stuff. I present myself with a challenge, the challenge of posting a blog every other day. An every two days blog. Nothing fancy, but just to stay in touch with everyone. For the next month, at least every two days will see a new post. We'll meet back here to see how I did on November 20.

The Worn Out College Student and the Tie-Dye Wearing Antagonist

Hello everybody, I am sorry about my overly long hiatus from my normal writing schedule. I didn't forget, I just have been busy. Anyway, it's time for an update.

Last Tuesday, September 12, was a big day. Apple Event, new Barenaked Ladies album and a potential mugging avoided. Yes, last Tuesday I was almost mugged on my way back from work to the record store to pick up my new Barenaked Ladies Are Me album. I was walking down Telegraph, the famous street in Berkeley, with a lot of independent shops and an equal amount of homeless people. It was mid afternoon so the sun was shining and people were out and about. Obliviously talking on the phone to my mother, I noticed a normal couple in front of me being approached by a hippie/homeless man. The shady man holding a skateboard in his left hand approached the couple saying, "You see that cup over there? Well, you're going to put money in that cup." The female side of the couple said in a stern voice, "um, sorry dude, no." I wanted to avoid the situation by going around the confrontation thinking he was just a normal bum looking for spare change. However, I heard an exchange of words and I turned around to see the man raise his skateboard in threat to the couple. We know about "fight or flight", my conscious in its infinite wisdom decided to choose fight that day. I yelled. "hey man knock it off". The guy turned to me and approached me, I said to my mother over the phone, "sorry mom, I will have to call you back, someone is getting mugged" as if it was a normal occurrence. As soon as he started to approach me the couple scurried off the other direction and didn't even stay for back up. So here I was, an 18 year old college student coming back from a long day of school and work carrying his backpack, only wanting the CD he has been waiting for months. As they couple sheepishly ran off I thought, "great, now it's just me and this guy while busy Telegraph Avenue is oblivious.

The man, who was ironically wearing a tie-dye peace shirt and sporting dreadlocks began to get close to me giving his whole rehearsed homeless story, telling it as if the world owed him something. He had a scar under his left eye, presumably from a fight with his crack or heroin dealer. I gave the flower child retort saying that we didn't need violence and that he can just go to the local shelter or wait patiently for someone to drop change in his cup on their own terms. He continued to tell me he has been out there for weeks constantly getting spit upon or kicked and that this was his day "to vent". I knew I couldn't just walk away, he might have come after me, so I stupidly opened my wallet and said to him, "If I give you this will you leave and get the hell out of here?" I never really got a response, but I gave him a dollar and watched him turn the corner from telegraph onto a different street.

I am sure this was part of his routine and I thought about calling the police, but I thought finding one homeless person in Berkeley was as tough as... well finding a specific homeless person in Berkeley. I know I didn't do the exact right thing, but I feel like I did something and that's more than the male side of that couple can say. Where did he go anyway?

I picked up my phone, "Hey mom, sorry about that..."

No More Summer Camp

Berkeley is no longer the summer camp I said in which it reminded me. I am writing this in hoping to further delay the completion of my philosophy paper. It is supposed to be about 3-4 pages long and I am just past two pages. Not only am I writing my first college paper, but I also have an economics problem set due this week and reading for English as well as a drawing to redo for art history. Give me a break if I can't draw. What makes this philosophy paper even worse is that we just started class last week and have only been four times, that's six hours of instruction, but the discussion group has only met for one hour... on Thursday. Even my graduate student instructor (GSI) said it was weird that we were writing a paper so early in the course. Even worse is that we have to reconstruct (not summarize) the philosopher's argument and then draw our own conclusion, like if we have enough experience to be philosophers. If you want to know what the paper is on, just look up Descartes' First Meditation and all will be known.

On the bright side, I am feeling comfortable in my new environment as I begin to gain a routine. I was elected as the hall association (hall ass) treasurer/finance director, I am again in charge of money, I hope to do well in this position. I also just started working at the campus computer with a really great group of coworkers. I really look forward to working there more and creating a bond with the folks there, they could be like my new robotics. I also figured out my schedule for free food, all at Hillel, the Jewish group on campus. I am good for food on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays that saves me meal points. I go to Hillel a lot, usually with my friend Eric from temple back at home.

Well this brings me to the Apple related topic of the blog. On Tuesday, Apple is having a special media event. The event is to be held in San Francisco, just 15 miles away from my dorm room.

It's time to play my favorite game... Guess What Apple Will Introduce!!

My first prediction will be an iTunes movie store, full length movies downloadable on iTunes, that in my opinion is almost a given. Apple wouldn't however just have a media event for software, there is also some hardware to go along with the new software. Probably an iPod refresh or new iPod model with a bigger screen for viewing movies. Also Apple may introduce a living room media hub, but I doubt it, but it could happen. Anyway I look forward to watching Steve's Reality Distortion Field™ on Tuesday as well as stopping by the local record store to buy the new Barenaked Ladies album "Barenaked Ladies Are Me" it should be a good week.

A Great Weekend

I can write about the first week of college classes. Well they were... different. Yes they were more difficult than high school, but they were also very different. From 20 people discussion groups to 700 student lecture halls. Everyday I had to walk about 4/5 of a mile just to campus and an extra fraction of a mile to classes all at 8:00 in the morning. Just so you know, I am the only one on my floor with 8:00 classes everyday, so imagine how I feel being pretty much the only person awake at 7:00. Worst of all are the awkward gaps between classes, enough time to study, but not enough time to walk back to my room and rest for awhile. This week though was just a lot of downtime. Fortunately for me it's a good trade off because I am also one of the only ones on my floor with Friday entirely off, so it's always a three day weekend for me. Here's a little view of what I did this week:

Econ 1 Discussion MW 8:00-9:00
Econ 1 Lecture MW 12:00-1:00
Theatre 24 M 2:00-4:00
English R1A TTh 8:00-9:30
Philosophy 4 TTh 11:00-12:30
Art History 24 W 2:00-4:00

**Starting this week however I can move econ discussion up an hour and add an hour long discussion for philosophy on Thursdays from 2-3**

This weekend however is what this post is about. My friends Janet, Will, Rene, and Tyler came up from Lancaster to visit (Alan came too, but he spent his time with Jena). On Saturday we took a tour of Berkeley, had dinner, went to Yogurt Park and some of us went to a party.

On Sunday we took the BART to San Francisco and had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf, walked up to Ghirardelli Square for some awesome ice cream sundaes where Tyler and I split a $7.00 sundae, but they accidently filled our order twice so we got two for the price of one. After that we went to Japan Center, city hall and UC Hastings Law School. We then took a quick muni ride to Castro and took a look at all the shops. Then we finished the night going down Market Street and had dinner at a Thai restaurant and got drinks at the Hilton after joining in chorus with a homeless man looking to make some quick change.

Today we had to say goodbye but not before getting some Cal apparel and eating lunch at Blondie's Pizza.

I just wanted to let everyone know that seeing those people put a huge smile on my face, it was one of the greatest things to have happened to me. In a time where I was feeling a little bit homesick I got to see some of my favorite people and that just meant everything to me. I can't thank them enough, but hopefully this will suffice for now. Thank you.

Let the Stories Begin

I knew I would have good college stories, but I didn't know they would start right away. Anyway, after moving in last Sunday I am starting to feel more at home and I am ready to begin classes. Before all of that however we have "Welcome Week" which is just to help us get to know Cal with tons of activities and such. Well last night was my first fraternity party. A bunch of people from my floor decided to go "frat hopping" and go to the parties.

There was of course the stereotypical drinking and loud music, but I only participated in dancing to the latter. Since I had a job interview this morning with the campus computer store, myself and a few other people decided to leave early and get to bed (no later than midnight). The rest of the 20 or so people stayed behind to keep dancing and such.

Now, i haven't had the best time trying to sleep in these new conditions, the new environment is causing some sleep anxiety. Anyway, at around 7:00, just before I decide to finally get up for the day, my roommate walks in and the first thing I say to him is "dude, re you serious?". My roommate, Guy, was out all night until 7:00 in the morning and he didn't come in to go to bed, he had to leave because he had his own thing to do in the morning. I proceeded to tell him he better tell me whatever story this involves later, "alright dude."

Anyway, after my job interview (I got the job) I went to Caltopia which is this huge fair/trade show event for the students at Berkeley. They have everything there, from banks, to energy drinks, to rock climbing gear. I used to think getting the SWAG (souvenirs, wearables and gifts) from robotics was a lot, but they had so much there.


Photo Credit: iSight camera in MacBook Pro

From the top right: A beer pong poster from winning at the game, water bottle, various pamphlets, toiletries, stickers, tattoos, measuring tape, white boards, Blue & Gold beads, magnets, tons of food (Full Throttle energy drink, mac & cheese, popcorn, fun sized candy bars, gum, trail mix, yogurt, cookies, and vegetable booty), Starbucks gift card, iTunes gift card, pens, pencils, lubricant, and my personal favorite from the sperm bank of California, condoms! This doesn't include all the drinks handed out at the event, including Odwalla juice, Naked Juice, Starbucks, Honest Tea and tons of others.

This is not high school anymore.

I also need help naming my MacBook Pro, I have narrowed it down to BearMac or CalMac, if you have a preference of any other ideas let me know.

Welcome to Cal

Well I am here, in my dorm room, with my roommates, in my new city. I am in Berkeley. I guess I knew someday this had to come, just didn't realize it would happen this quickly. It was actually kind of anticlimatic, of all the movies you see of a kid going off to college they never really show what happens right after the parents drop them off. I wonder why.

This is Welcome Week where we pretty much just take a week doing fun activities and get fre food often. I went to the campus computer store to return my DOA computer to get it replaced. I am now writing this on a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo MacBook Pro. I couldn't really be happier about it.

There are a few things I forgot however, I forgot to bring colorful decorations for my room. The walls are a nasty gray and with two other guys, we don't really know how to make it lovlier. i have decided to take that tast upon myself. I will bring a few posters and buy a plant or something. I am also in need of some of the essentials such as detergent, water, and food for the room. I also need a digital camera to take these awesome pictures of the view I have from my room. If you look straight out you can see the Bay and it is beautiful. Ok maybe a digital camera isn't a necessity, but I do need it.

I miss you all very much and I will keep you updated on my new life here in Berkeley.

(One complaint though, this humidity doesn't help my hair too much, the gel can't hold it.)

The Home Stretch

Tonight is my last official night in Lancaster before I move up to Berkeley. It is very bitter sweet, I hate the AV, but I love it because it is my home and I was born here. I am going to embrace the new culture of the bay area with open arms and represent the AV in a positive light (hopefully).

I will miss all of you as well. You have all helped to shape who I am today and would not be as successful without your support. Even if you aren't up there with me, you own a little stock in Benji. Don't cash in though, save your shares.

PS: One of the fortunate things about leaving is these blogs will get better by a factor of infinity.

Breaking News!!!

This just in... Today, August 15th 2006, a Mac was announced dead on arrival. Benji Coleman-Levy, 18, received a shipment containing an Apple MacBook Pro. When turned on it started up as it should, except for one small detail, the backlight did not work. Nothing could be seen on the LCD screen except for the outline of a few key elements during startup. Immediately, Benji tried to bring the computer back to proper health, but it was too late, the Mac was dead (at least in a deep coma).

Plans are for Benji to take the Mac to Berkeley on Monday and exchange it for a properly working one, however, this one should not have died in vein. The memorial service is scheduled on Monday at the University of California, Berkeley, but the family wished it to remain private.

The MacBook Pro is survived by its saddened father Benji, a brother iBook, and two iPod companions.

A New Generation

My summer is coming to a close. I leave for Berkeley in less than a week, 5 days to be exact. I have so much left to do before I leave, I have to finish the alcohol education lesson the school makes me take, I have to buy certain dorm related items, and I have to say good-bye to you, the heroes. I don't know quite where the summer went, but what I remember was good. Late nights with Rene and Janet's and Will's. Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Target, Valencia and the aqueduct with Kasey. Vacation up to Washington with my family and the continuous string of parties after graduation.

Today, high school started again officially replacing my class with the next generation of high strung, highly stresses, open-eyed college hopefuls. Also, the elementary schools around here started again as well. The kindergartners entering today are in the high school class of 2019. They are the ones officially replacing me in the mandatory public education system as I was the replacement for the high school class of 1993. Those guys are about 31 now by the way.

I still have a good 5 days left of my summer, before I make the plunge into the truly independent life. I will definitely miss the innocence. As of right now I am introducing the "Benji Transition Program". Kind of like what what we're doing in Iraq with their government, but with less blood and it actually has a time table (and probably more than a 34% approval rating). It's 5 days long and it involves packing and purchasing what I need as well as transitioning how I say I live in Lancaster to I live in Berkeley. Well if you'll excuse me I have some packing to do, I suppose I have to start eventually.

The Results

Well the Reality Distortion Field ™ is starting to wear off as the Steve Jobs keynote becomes part of recent history. Fortunately there are still 4 more days of the conference to go. Yesterday I made predictions on what was to be announced today, let me recap and tell you how I did.

I knew Mac OS X Leopard was going to be demoed, as did the rest of anyone who has ever read anything related to this conference so you can't really give me that one, but I would like to tell you how I feel about the features. First off, I really like the sound of Time Machine. I mean we all need to make back-ups but it is rare any of us do, so Time Machine will take care of us. I am also really happy for PhotoBooth being built into the operating system. iChat and Mail also look amazing. Also, it looks like Apple kept some of the new stuff "top secret" so the folks up at Redmond don't start their photocopiers too early. Apple was poking fun at them earlier with a banner that read "Redmond has a cat too, a copy cat". I thought that statement was pretty funny myself.

I would also like to say I called it with the Mac Pro, not only did I know that it was going to use Woodcrest (Dual Core Xeon), but I even knew there was no standard configuration, it is all build to order. The form factor changed too, well the inside did and they added one more optical drive, but still the one more optical drive is enough to change the form enough for me, although next time I would like to see it sport a smaller footprint.

Also the Xserve did get updated and the transition is now complete. No more PowerPC, it was good for 10 years and I will have very fond memories of the AIM alliance.

Well to my disappointment no new MacBook Pros, but that's ok, now I don't have to worry about if it will ship by the time I need it for school. So I guess I have to buy sometime this week. With 4 days left, I am looking forward to other announcements this week as well. Check out the latest at Apple

Predictions

Well as an Apple fan boy I am going to give my official predictions for the World Wide Developers Conference to kick off tomorrow with a traditional trademark Steve Jobs keynote. I am looking forward to being caught in his reality distortion field as it has been since January since we last heard him speak publicly. Anyway, my predictions.

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
I'll start with the obvious here. Apple is going to preview the next generation of its operating system code named "Leopard". It will most likely take advantage of the new Intel processors in the current Macintosh computers. It might have Windows virtualization software built in, which can be very exciting for people who are interested in switching or are bounded by one Windows-only program. Also, Apple is already poking fun at Micro$oft. With banners that say "Mac OS X Leopard, Introducing Vista 2.0" and "Mac OS X Leopard, Hasta la Vista, Vista"

PowerMac (Mac Pro)
My next prediction will be that Apple will complete their transition to Intel by introducing the professional end Macintosh (currently the PowerMac G5) with a new Intel chip, either a Core 2 Duo, Merom, or Woodcrest. I don't exactly know what the specs will be, but I hope for a new form factor as it has been 3 years since an update.

Xserve
Apple's server product also long since been updated and still sporting a PowerPC chip. This will hopefully see an update tomorrow. Not that it matters to me, but I think tomorrow will see the completion of the transition.

MacBook Pro
I have been putting off the purchase of a new laptop for school because of this event. The MacBook Pro was introduced in January as one of the first computers sporting an Intel chip. I can see this getting updated to a Core 2 Duo processor at a faster system bus and speed. At least that's what I hope. Probably not a new form factor as it has ben very successful as aluminum.

Other Hardware Updates
I can see the iMac being the only other update to the hardware line because, again, it has been since January. It will most liley have similar specs to the MacBook Pro and offer the same chip, the Core 2 Duo. I think the Mac mini and MacBook will be untouched tomorrow.

iTunes/iPod
Sorry to you music lovers out there (Rene), I doubt these will see an update until the October quarter, especially since the WWDC is for professionals around the Macintosh platform. Steve will give a numbers update as in how many songs/iPods sold, but nothing new.

Well that about wraps up my predictions. Let's see how I do tomorrow. Steve Jobs takes the stage at 10:00 AM PDT at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

New Look, Same Attitude

After getting bored of over a month of the same plain white look, I decided to do a little upgrade to the blog and make it a bit more colorful and fun. I hope everyone (all 2 of you) enjoy it.

Yesterday I went shopping to get a new bottle of shampoo and I decided to get Paul Mitchell with Tea Tree Oil, it gives me a kind of tingly feeling when I put it on my scalp. While I was in the shower, with nothing better to do than brush my teeth, I decided to read the newly placed shampoo bottle. No surprises, just the regular "lather, rinse, and repeat as necessary" and as I was finished reading the label I came across the line we have all come to know and love, "Paul Mitchell does not conduct nor endorse the testing of its products on animals."

I couldn't help but think of how I would feel if they did. I am all for animal rights, but I couldn't help to bring out the Jew in me. I thought to myself, "thank goodness they don't test the newest and best stuff from Paul Mitchell on animals while I would still have to pay $10 a bottle, someone gets to use the newest stuff for free and that someone just happens to be an animal" If someone gets to use the newest products, let's make sure they are humans. At least then we know someone will appreciate how shiny their hair is. Or they'll appreciate not having to worry about how it looks anymore because it all fell out. One of the two.

Learn Me Something New

With less than one month until I leave for college and begin the next four years of my life, I begin to think about what I hope to accomplish. I get the same feeling when I look at the course catalog as I do when I see all the books I want to read at Barnes & Noble. I get a sense of fatigue. Not the kind of tired fatigue where you don't want to do anything anymore, but a sense that I will never get all that I want to accomplish. I have a desire to take every class, from economics to art history to rhetoric. Through this I discovered one of my most coveted values, education.

I don't necessarily care about being rich anymore, I want to be able to live so I can be able to know more. I will never gain all knowledge, but I hope to make a small dent. I hope to make a small dent in the Universe. Whether it be for the good of mankind, or for some other individual. I hope to someday build upon the knowledge I have gained and contribute to the vast libraries in the world. I want to imagine, create, inspire, & explore.

This isn't so much an anecdotal blog as it is a blog of what is going on in my head (which is much more than you see here). This is just the beginning, the past 18 years I gained a foundation for acquiring more knowledge and the next four years I hope to gain an even better foundation and maybe someday build upon that foundation and give back to the community that has inspired me. I would also be happy just giving back to the individuals who have given me so much. As of right now, I am a philosophy major. Look for changes.

Where the tree of knowledge stands there stands paradise.

Home Remedies & Vacation Memories

I am finally back home. After 10 days of vacation, I have made it back to the 100+ degree Antelope Valley. My vacation spanned from Berkeley to Ashland to Bend to Portland to Olympia then Sequim and finally home... I am glad to be back.

After 19 hours, 1150 miles and various pit stops we made it back home in one day. It was one of the toughest drives I have ever endured, but luckily with a good book on CD, music and fellow passengers it wasn't as bad as one might have thought. I drove for about 300 miles in various locations, but the most fun was driving from Coalinga to the Grapevine on the I-5 at midnight. I was really tired, but the bright lights from other cars and high traveling speeds of 80 miles per hour helped like a double shot espresso. We got home around 3:00 AM Thursday morning.

As promised I am including a link to a photo gallery of several pictures I find worth posting on my blog, I hope you enjoy them because it was not easy sifting through over 500 photos to get the good ones of me and my family. (unfortunately it requires an account with Kodak, but no worries, it's free and I don't seem to be hassled by emails or just my junk mail filter is amazing)

[Edit: I fixed the link for the photos, I am pretty sure you don't have to log in anymore, just click "view slideshow"]

Greetings from Sequim

I am at the end of my vacation here in the middle of no where in northern Washington state in a city called Sequim. My Uncle David, who is 51 but acts 80 retired up here and it's basically the lavender capital of the world. I have been a bad blogger on vacation. Too many activities, trust me though, everywhere I go I think, "I can put this in my blog" so I promise one of the first things I do when I get back is to make a blog about my entire vacation with pictures and everything. I am having a good time, but I am ready to come home and see my dog and my friends. In the meantime, I am keeping the camera battery fully charged and taking plenty of landscape pictures (because I can't take pictures of people to save my life) and I am letting Angie take the pictures of me. Well world, I have plenty to say, just no time to say it now. Good night!

C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A

I am writing this from my hotel room in Ashland, Oregon.

The past two days I attended CalSO, the Cal Student Orientation in Berkeley. This included getting up at 6:30 in the morning on the weekend in the summer to drive up to the bay area wih my family in our 2003 VW Passat. We stopped in Cupertino to visit my aunt who lives in Olympia, but was visiting her parents. I also had an ulterior motive of getting to see the holy land, headquarters of Apple Computer.

On Monday I woke up to begin my orientation with people who put the same major on their application (mathematics). We did the typical "get to know you" ice breakers (which I hate), took a campus tour, and learned about what our first year experience at Cal will be like. We also registered for our first 10.5 units worth of classes. I also decided to change my major to something with a little more substance and amusement. My major is now philosophy (although I am sure it will change a billion times before I graduate).

I learned about the diverse history of Cal and I absolutely love the city. I am proud to be a Golden Bear and look forward to starting my new life there in the fall. As for the rest of the vacation, I will keep you posted.

I included some photos from the trip (I was behind the camera)

Fourth of Jew-ly

The Fourth of July in my family consists of watching the Twilight Zone marathon and making sure my dog doesn't go crazy with thg loud noises of the fireworks. This particular Fourth of July was only a little bit different in that I finally finished one of the funniest books I have ever read, "The Know It All" by AJ Jacobs. The author had so many hilarious anecdotes about what he read it was amazingly exciting and quite the page turner. I can't say that I know the encyclopedia as well as he does, but I felt like he brought me along for the journey.

At around 9:30 I decided to take a shower and maybe lounge around, but instead I decided to call my friend Kasey and instead I rushed over to his house where we lit illegal sparklers (no fireworks in Lancaster) and just enjoyed the closing of the 230th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration. It's amazing to think that 230 years is a long time, but if you think about it, we're quite the young ones in the world. There are trees in the United States older than the country . I don't suppose we're going anywhere soon, but certain things this country is doing makes me question our moral values. We are supposed to always be on the cutting edge of what is moral and what is good, but rising gas prices, the War in Iraq, global warming, and lack of universal healthcare make me think different sometimes. The (supposedly) most advanced nation in the country can't provide healthcare for its citizens.

Oh well, on the bright side, I skipped the carrot cake and went for watermelon for breakfast this morning.

Breakfast

I woke up this morning and after getting a drink of water I proceeded to the refrigerator to look for something to eat. I could have had the traditional yogurt or blueberries, but there was something else there staring me in the face as if to say "C'mon eat me, you know you want to." It was the Trader Joe's carrot cake I enjoyed a slice of the previous evening. I thought to myself, "why not?" I figured it was healthier than a donut, I mean, it has vegetables in it. It's the first word in the name, "carrot". I think if people can have a chocolate chip bagel for breakfast, why can't I have a little bit of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting? So I satisfied my taste buds and went all out for the carrot cake. I think I should have my own talk show, "Justifying Poor Eating Habits with Benji Coleman-Levy"

Pack of Smarties

In case you didn't know, last summer I worked at NASA in a high school internship and I got paid pretty decent wages. This kept me busy from 7:30 to about 5:00 during the work week. I also took an acting class over the summer at the local community college. This summer however I am jobless. I haven't really worked since then. I pretty much considered school and robotics my job.

This week I am supposed to be helping my friend, Rene, teach a class for middle school students about robotics. Rene has been doing most of the facilitating and I have just been his right hand man. The lectures include things such as binary numbers, boolean algebra, logic gates, and basic robotics. I do about 10% of the lecturing and it's pretty much just the boring concepts like safety and analog vs. digital. I learned however that these kids are incredibly intelligent. For example today we lectured on logic gates and half adders and full adders and before 8:00 this morning I had no idea what they were and I barely understood it. These kids within moments of it being taught to them were running circles around me.

I have always kind of considered myself to be a fairly intelligent person, but after teaching this class I learned that I am not as smart as I thought I was. I don't remember what I was doing in middle school, but I know I wasn't spending my first week in summer learning the fundamentals of engineering.

Timeless

My name is Benji and I am now a true blogger.

I have dabbled a little in blogging via MySpace, but nothing like this where I am dedicated. I thought it would be a good idea to have a blog other than a MySpace blog. I just graduated from high school and I hope to use this so people can see what I am doing while at college. I will be attending the University of California Berkeley (Cal) in the fall and I am really excited about beginning a new era in my life.

"Scorns of Time" is a reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet during the famous "To Be or Not to Be" speech. I believe that time is something that we must not be afraid of, but to embrace it. We cannot live our lives of today for what might happen tomorrow. I believe in making everyday the best day and making it the best for everyone around you. I don't live my life according to a dogma that tells me to prepare for the worst that may come later, I worry about the here and now and my fellow human being. You will soon get to more my character by more blog posts.

Before I leave my first blog I would like to leave you with a few facts about me, I am a self proclaimed Deist Jew from California. I love Apple Computer, my dog, my family and my friends. I am a vegetarian of about two years. I enjoy tennis and my favorite color is blue (although I am colorblind).

World meet Benji, Benji... world.