Toolman

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 09 Apr 2009 14:33

Props on the GPA.
If you decide to switch to English, I recommend that you decide beforehand a few career options that can lead from there. I have a degree in art (painting) with a minor in English... and honestly, what can I do with any of that?...

I will say that my English courses were a bloody blast, but still...

dazza · Post by **dazza** » 11 Apr 2009 04:20

i'm with Erik on this one - i study latin, english literature and ancient history,
and we have a lot of discussion about carrer options in our faculty.

with art and languages i guess teaching should be high up on your
dream job list - of course writing books and getting paid for speeches,
or at least teaching your stuff students at a uni and not to "maturing"
schoolchildren is in the pipe aswell, but i know only a handful of peeps
who actually got to do that.
since i love teaching, i wouldnt be too bummed out, if i wont become a
well paid prof with shitloads of props. a lot of my fellow students kinda
just signed up because were good at latin in school, same goes for
the english faction.
people like you are way too underrepresented - doing something out of a
passionate interest is the only way to do things imo, plus its the best
starter kit to be successful - all those who just study hard without loving
it are suckers ! So if you love it, do it .

If savety and money are important factors in your equasion, than i'd go for
engineering ; a friend of mine, stuck between rapper and manager,
choose the latter and is still an awesome poet who reads, rhymes and
writes a bunch - all on an expensive leather sofa.

i like your style btw

colefieldhouse22 · Post by **colefieldhouse22** » 11 Apr 2009 05:59

Major props on the 4.0 in engineering. Clearly it is a much harder major than most.

Have you thought about double majoring?

Post by **Zac Miley** » 12 Apr 2009 20:04

If you enjoy literature that much I think it's important to study it. My art teacher is a prime example of something like that.

It is possible to become an art teacher by taking a painting course, a drawing course, a sculpture course, basically a course for every subject you would teach, Plus normal teacher courses. My art teacher actually went through the art institute experience and is a very capable artist himself. He is a sculptor (he is in the middle of a $30k commission), a photographer (he shoots weddings, has traveled to Puerto Rico and stuff), and he has illustrated for CD covers as well. All of what he learned in school helped him with that. There is no way he would be as successful as he is without the attending an art school and just breezing through his teaching courses. He is a passionate artist, and I think that's important if you want to teach something.

I'm not saying you should become a teacher or anything like that, but following your passion, regardless of money is more important than studying something that is only mildly interesting that will make you money.

That's probably the artist in me though.

I guess my advice is to study whatever you like the most, and see yourself liking for a long time.

That feels all jumbled. Maybe we'll talk on aim soon.

Kljopa · Post by **Kljopa** » 13 Apr 2009 01:51

Zac Miley wrote:
I'm not saying you should become a teacher or anything like that, but following your passion, regardless of money is more important than studying something that is only mildly interesting that will make you money.

+1 :)

mtoolan · Post by **mtoolan** » 16 Apr 2009 20:18

Yeah I feel like I should take the road I feel more interested in, but I also want to make sure this is actual interest and not some fleeting idea that came from settling into engineering. So I am going to stick it out for another semester and see if the desire is still there, if it is it's going to be a long semester.

I played footbag for the first time in a while today. I've been feeling the urge to play for a few days but kind of held off to see if it would get stronger. Today I decided to just go play, oil the rusty joints. Nothing great came of it except that I don't think the hiatus has killed my game as much as I had thought it would. String length was better than expected and I was still within reach of most tricks although I never attempted anything over four adds, no reason to rush.

So stupendously stoked for the Boston jam next week. I feel like I need this. The weather has finally started getting nice, I'm playing again, it's been a while since I've gone to a jam. Perfect timing.

Anybody ever read "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand? I remember hearing my sophomore honors english teacher mentioning it in passing a long time ago and I saw it at barnes and noble so I picked it up. I'm about two thirds through it and I love it.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 17 Apr 2009 05:35

I read The fountainhead twice in high school. I will eventually read it a third time.

I sort of don't want to give anything away, so I will hold back.

One of my good friends from my two year college studied CS but also helped run the "poetry club". He went on to finish with a double major in English an Computer Science from SUNY Binghamton. He taught English in Spain for a few years and now freelances successfully as a web developer in NYC. He is happy and he is nuts and I love him for it.

My GF has a master's degree in creative writing and she worked her way up in corporate communications at Bayer. Despite the fact that she works with mostly many Engineers and other specialized technicians, her "unique ability" to write an email professionally, alone, keeps her employed.

My suggestion is to stick with the Engineering if you are undecided but you want to be practical. If your passion lies in English, then you will either double major in it or it will make the decision clearer at a later date.

If you think that you can double major, and you truly don't do much during the Winter, I highly recommend utilizing that time you spend lying around

. Though I don't necessarily get there myself, I do believe in trying to optimize one's time.

You might want to talk to Matt Beall, as he is graduating with a degree in English next week. Not only does he have a strong GPA, but he is fairly brilliant (and at least as crazy as me

.) He can give you a low-down on the positives and negatives of exploring an English degree.

I can tell you from living with with a woman for over 5 years, that studied English, that it will profoundly influence how you experience things. While Engineering will do the same thing, it will manifest in very different ways.

Also, while I do personally believe that the idea that people are either right or left brain thinkers is a bit undeveloped and crude for a theory- it is important, imo, to nurture and develop both sides. I did not personally take enough initiative with Math until I was in College and it's unfortunate because by way of audio art (by way of visual art) I discovered that I tend to look at things as an Engineer, as much as I do as being a creative.

I will truncate this post to avoid further hijacking of your thread. I will leave with this one other bit of information though:

If you decide to do a double major (which I think you should do, because the economy sux and it will dramatically increase your world-view and employability,) you will always have footbag to come back to when you are bugging-hell-out.

I hope that you have a good time in Boston.

Slowsis · Post by **Slowsis** » 17 Apr 2009 05:53

If you like "the Fountainhead", you should read another one of Ayn Rand's books..."atlas Shrugged". Its a bit more of a mission (1100 pages) but its well worth it. Be careful though, you just might have a changed world view after reading it!

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 17 Apr 2009 06:23

And after (or before- but not before finishing Fountainhead) you read Atlas Shrugged (which I have not) you should consider watching the South Park episode Chickenlover.

mtoolan · Post by **mtoolan** » 05 Jul 2009 22:00

So ever since the NYFA jam (which was awesome by the way) I've been giving some serious thought to why I am not getting any better other than not playing as often as I should. I think it's because I don't try new stuff anymore. So here's some newer stuff I tried.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYTiOr4unyc[/youtube]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 06 Jul 2009 04:28

I enjoyed that, thanks for taking the time to make the video. That first combo made me laugh really hard. I like how bothsided your game is. Hopefully see you at East Coasts this year.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 06 Jul 2009 05:31

mtoolan wrote: Anybody ever read "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand? I remember hearing my sophomore honors english teacher mentioning it in passing a long time ago and I saw it at barnes and noble so I picked it up. I'm about two thirds through it and I love it.

I haven't read it yet, although it's on my list. It has a terrible reputation in many circles, and when I told some of my friends about buying it I was fairly strongly admonished. It's definitely seen as a bit of a bible for the social conservative/economically liberals of the world (ie. Republicans, Australian Liberals, Tories etc.) along with Atlas Shrugged. Having not read it, I can't comment on that. I do know, and this is perhaps one of the reasons for it's bad rep. that it's spawned a couple of political groups that should probably be considered cults. It's also notorious for having sentences that go on for pages (this may be an exaggeration) and being tedious and boring.

That said, I haven't read it so I haven't made up much of an opinion yet, except that I feel that it's influential enough that it's on my reading list of books I think I should read (which is opposed to my other list - books I would like to read - obviously there is some cross over, although not with Rand given her rep and the size of her books). From what I've read from more objective sources than my political friends it seems much more likely that I'll probably enjoy her work and I suspect the strong opposition is more in relation to people liking her "too much" (see Richard Dawkins, Mike Moore etc.) and because of the causes other people have used her work to justify.

mtoolan · Post by **mtoolan** » 28 Oct 2009 11:34

hey guys, it's been a pretty long time. a whole lotta shit's been going on, both good and bad. unfortunately, i haven't been playing a lot of footbag lately, once since funtastik's to be exact. i'm sure there are a lot of reasons for it; i've been really busy with school this semester, i've been picking up more hours at work, the weather has been relatively terrible in comparison to past years, my interests are changing, there's no one to kick with. but fear not, i still love footbag and have been keeping up with modified and such for the most part. i think the main reason i haven't been playing is because i seem to get to this point where i play for the wrong reasons, whether it's purely for exercise or purely to be better than the next guy, that's really not the way my mind latches onto things. i think i have this weird obsessive type personality where when i find something, i obsess over it to the point of being absolutely sick of it. that never really happened with footbag though, because it was fun, so all i have to do is make it fun again, right?

as i said, despite my lack of hours played, i still check modified most days, and i must say, what red husted is doing with fourkast is probably the coolest thing ever. i think this is a big step for north american footbag and even perhaps on an international level (i really don't know much about european footbag clubs/teams). i think everything that fourkast is trying to do is an awesome idea and i really hope things keep going the way they're going, i haven't been this excited about something like this in all my years of footbag. also, i think dan ednie is doing an awesome job with his footbag endeavors as well.

now as for my life, i'm enjoying school a whole lot. i just can't get over how phenomenally better every class i've taken is when compared to everything i took in high school. it's no wonder nobody wants to learn anything in high school. this semester i joined the honors program here at my community college and the level of awesome of my college experience has skyrocketed. all of my professors are phd's, which intimidated me initially, but they all have such a passion for their subjects that's just so infectious. i never thought i would enjoy an early american history class until i took this one and realized just about 75% of what you're fed about the subject up through high school is bullshit, and it's not just history where that happens. it's the greatest feeling to me when i think i know all i need to know about something and something or someone comes along and just blows me away to the point where i feel like i know absolutely nothing.

i've become much more sensitive to senseless ignorance, stupidity, materialism, consumerism, greed, and bullshit in general. i know that's not very descriptive, and it won't get anymore descriptive because i'm not really in the mood to elaborate on anything, i'm just typing surface thoughts and feelings. i deleted my facebook and have taken up journaling, which has made my life so much better in so many ways. i suggest both things to everybody. the thing is i had attempted journaling many times in the past and it never stuck with me, but since i fell into the right groove it has become a daily necessity. this post does not reflect my journaling, this is more of a nonsensical spewing of entangled thoughts and feelings about things.

this isn't all i have to write but my mind is a little numb from class and being up late due to homework. perhaps i'll write more later, thanks for reading.

Frank_Sinatra · Post by **Frank_Sinatra** » 28 Oct 2009 18:07

Coming to New Year's Jam is the best way to make footbag fun again.

I enjoyed reading all those things about college, I felt the same way when I found the right academic program for me.

Iron Clad Ben · Post by **Iron Clad Ben** » 13 Nov 2009 14:59

Cool post. It sounds like you are undergoing a lot of personal growth right now. That isn't easy, and often it can be painful. Sometimes it's good to get a break from footbag and focus on other things in life.

I have also taken up journaling. Right now I have one life/footbag journal and one comedy journal. It's lot easier to be honest with yourself in a personal footbag journal. I like it a lot more than having a public footblog. Plus it's fun to write by hand.

Glad to hear you are really enjoying school. Footbag will be there when you're ready to come back.

mtoolan · Post by **mtoolan** » 11 Jan 2010 10:59

So I'd been dreading this coming semester for a while, mostly because I'm getting really bored with these stupid suburbs and the fact that all of my friends are away at other schools. I got really lazy and left registering for classes until the last minute because I didn't want to take the classes I was supposed to have to take. Then I talked with a friend who told me that since I'm planning on going to a four year school after community college that it really isn't necessary for me to get my associate's degree. So I picked classes that I wanted and now I'm pretty excited. I have a World Religions class that I'm really looking forward to, Intro to Psychology because I'm interested and don't really know much about it, plus it's one of those gen eds I'll need to get rid of anyway, American Literature II which is the one I'm looking forward to the most, Elementary Spanish I because I've been telling myself to learn another language for a long time but I'm just lazy, and Foundations of Modern European History, which will probably be like the Western Civilizations class I already took but I'm looking forward to it anyway. And today my books came in the mail, and despite their exorbitant cost, they all look like they'll make for a good class(with the exception of spanish, it's just a basic workbook).

I still haven't been playing much footbag. It's not that I don't want to, more that I'm always unmotivated towards physical activity in the winter months and it's too much of a hassle for me to make myself play on a regular enough basis when I have to play inside. Not to mention it would be disconcerting to start playing from scratch again since I haven't kicked since funtastik's. So I patiently await spring and it's promise of warm afternoons, cool breezes, and radiant sunlight. When it arrives I will start playing again in full force.

Two things have happened in the past couple months that made me think a lot about my future. The first is that I turned twenty years old in October. Nineteen was a weird age, but twenty is certainly much weirder. I originally thought that it would be more of a symbolic thing, no longer being a teenager, but there's just something in my head that tells me it's time for things to start happening. The second event was New Year's. It's 2010, it feels like just a couple years ago I was in my aunt's backyard watching fireworks and hoping all the power wouldn't go out when it turned 2000. So needless to say I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do in the next ten years, this coming year more specifically. I've decided that next semester I would like to study English and possibly minor in creative writing at a school in New York City next semester. I've already applied to NYU, St. John's, and a couple CUNY schools(and if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know soon). I plan to go to school and get some sort of job and eventually an apartment with one or more roommates. This goal has been driving me in a lot that I've been doing lately, most recently applying for a new job that'll make me more money to save for this plan. I've always loved the city and every time I go there I always want to go back. Another thing that I look forward to is participating in NYFA. I'd love to be able to kick with those guys on a regular basis.

As for other miscellaneous things, I've been supremely lazy. There's just no motivation for me to do anything around here but I've resolved to do something creative for at least a half an hour every day. Today I'm going to cover my wall with post it notes that have various quotes written on them(anyone with good quotes please let me know), and last night I filled up an entire notebook page with ideas for things to do during this designated creative period, some of which I am pretty proud of. Another resolution for this year is to read at least 50 books. Last year I got 31 and I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment as it was my first attempt, and I'm confident I can finish this year. It's crazy how when I started getting into reading books I didn't know much other than the classics, so I started there. And after that I would jot down names of authors people mentioned, or names I came across when I'm on wikipedia reading about the author of the current book I'm reading(I love doing that). Now I have almost an full bookshelf of stuff that I plan on reading and I'm sure I'll have even more before the end of the year. I'm also still journaling and I've promised myself to write everyday, whether it's just a journal entry or if I go off on some story line or something, it's remarkably calming when I sit down and write.

That's about it for this post, I certainly didn't plan on writing that much and I'll be uber impressed if anyone actually reads the whole thing, but thanks if you did. Rock on, modified!

Wasabi · Post by **Wasabi** » 15 Jan 2010 14:12

Go to Hunter College. I've escaped the idea for a year now, but I've finally decided to finish up my BA this year and get the hell out. Peeps play hack here, but whether they are potential footbag recruits is something to be seen (as always).

I was only able to register for one of three courses that I needed to graduate, so I have the option of either completing the work I failed to do and submit them to my professor(s), or look towards the Fall to graduate.

Anyway, my bid's on Hunter College. Come kick it with us NYFers!

mtoolan · Post by **mtoolan** » 08 Feb 2010 10:20

That's one of my top choices, so far it's Hunter, Baruch, and St. John's (because my dad graduated from there so I think I'll do pretty well with financial aid). I'm just waiting on acceptance, which I'm pretty confident I will get but I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself. It'd be awesome to be in the city and kick with NYFA.

My motivation for things seems to come and go at regular intervals. I'll start of being amped about something and in a week or two I'll end up being really lazy about it, and then the motivation returns. But I know I need to stay motivated if I ever want to get out of this monotonous suburb. I just have to keep the dream in sight at all times.

I'll admit I haven't been too motivated towards school lately. Online classes take a lot of self discipline, something I need to work on, but I'm confident. I'm also taking a world religions class that I love. Having been raised a Catholic and going to Catholic school for most of my life, I've gotten fed up with Catholicism in general. Buddhist and Toaist philosophy have grabbed my interest within the last couple years and I'm finally learning what I want about the two. I also have a great professor who has a background that's relatively similar to mine, and he does a superb job of teaching us without too much bias.

The only class I really wanted that I didn't get was creative writing, because I'm looking for some guidance in that category. I've dabbled in fiction and poetry writing but I don't really know what I'm doing. If there are any writers out there who could give me some direction, give me a shout and maybe a few pointers. I'm pretty good at writing in general I think, and I truly enjoy it, but I could definitely use some direction.

Another thing I want to start doing is making some footbags. I've made some shitty four panels and I stitched a decent amaretta 32 a year or so ago when Dave let me have a go at it. When I get the money together for some supplies I'm going to dive right in.

DTank126 · Post by **DTank126** » 12 Feb 2010 15:41

"The sun's not yellow, it's chicken!"-Bob Dylan (for the post-it note on the wall thing... if you're still doing that)

Props on going to school for what your passionate about. English is one of those majors that's fun to study but hard to find a good career with, other than teaching (or at least that's what I've heard from people who majored in English). I guess as long as you can get your degree than you'll at least have a head up on most applicants in the job market for whatever kind of work your looking for. Actually, you should talk to Pat Thompsen, he majored in English and now he's out in LA living the dream (I think).

Anyway, hopefully I'll see you at a tournament soon!

Peace

mtoolan · Post by **mtoolan** » 01 Apr 2010 16:44

I finally started playing footbag again. Had a session last week for about half an hour and it wasn't terribly frustrating, another two sessions at Penn State on Saturday (went up to see Dave's show, it was great time) with Pipenberg, Dave, Adrienne, Ryan Thomas and Vince, and then one tonight.

I'm finally getting back into my groove a little; blurry whirls felt nice and floaty, shuffle was feeling pretty smooth, strings are getting longer, hit smoke bsos(which gave me trouble back before I took the break), pdx drifter and pdx dlo are starting to feel good again, and I even hit blurry drifter midstring. I'm definitely looking forward to the next session.