Jobs & Housing!

Yello Areteens!

Photo taken on the set of my "Edge of Glory" music video during finals week at Kenyon.

The battle for summer jobs and housing has been ongoing for some time now.
Some began their marathon way back in November of 2010 if not earlier depending on how competitive or specialized a sector they were entering, while most seem to hunt between December and February.
Others, search from March to May and after May, you can pretty much forget finding a full-time summer job, or at least finding a steady summer job that you can make a decent-sized summer earning from. Still, there are always exceptions.

As for me, I have a few interviews that I am waiting to hear positive news from, while very much on the search for affordable ($500 or less) housing in or around the city. Fingers crossed on one hand and email refreshed with the other, right?

How's your summer hunt going? Has the search blessed you with any finding or are you still digging? Have you stopped running to take a water break or have you won the war? Let me know, Areteens! We must "Live Excellently" -Josh :)

Edge of Glory Music Video!

Jello Areteens!

If you haven't been able to keep up with Gaga's rule in the Creative Arts landscape, her new song, "Edge of Glory" is the 3rd official single from her highly-awaited 2nd LP, Born This Way.

In true Mother Monster (high) fashion, Gaga (& her unseen Haus team) have initiated yet another rallying of the monster's internet campaign in calling for video submissions of fans performing to "Edge of Glory".

While I love the song (and Gaga's catalog thus far), I typically do not bother with fan-mass related projects. They always seem predetermined or required high connections to even consider a win. That said, I did receive an email during my final exams week, before Gaga herself had even posted about it, so I thought, why not?!

With limited time and just enough energy, I managed to shoot and construct an edited version of the (rather long) song for the contest.  Here's my 2-minute ode to Carrie Bradshaw and all women who love finding a fabulous pair of shoes!

Edge of Glory Video (Edit)

Share with friends & check out my other music videos! "Live Excellently"

-Josh :)

ANTM Cycle 16 Winner: Brittani Kline!

Yay Areteens! Brittani Kline (officially) won Cycle 16 of America's Next Top Model! 

Behind-the-scenes with Brittani Fierce. Oof!

While Molly may have been that much stronger in photographs and certainly provided true competition, Brittani's fierce walk, long neck, uniquely (not so) asymmetrical face, undeniable drive and engaging personality secured her the top position! A victory awarded despite photo shoot tears, a Tyra-induced anxiety attack and the serious (yet hilarious) tumble on Ms. Vivienne Westwood's runway.

What do you think of the panel's decision? Was Brittani the right choice or did Molly deserve it?
For those ANTM die-hards, how do you feel about the show's high fashion shift, Cycle 14-present?
(Personally, I love it!) Whatever the case...

"Live Excellently"

-Josh :)

ANTM Obsessed! The Cycles of High Fashion: 14, 15, 16

Hello, hello Areteens!

Cycle 15 winner the Fabulous & Undeniable Ann Ward!

Okay, I must admit, despite rarely watching reality television, but I have been on a Major America's Next Top Model binge this past week!
As such, it had been a while since the epic heyday of Cycles 6-8 (Danielle Evans, CariDee English, & Jaslene Gonzalez). Cycle 10 (with winner Whitney Thompson) was the last cycle I had seen since returning with Cycle 16. But honey.... it was well worth the wait! Time & humor allowed for my return to the series.

First, it had been a long time since keeping up with Ms. Tyra Banks and the Top Models-to-be, so there was a heightened level of curiosity as to how they managed to continue cranking out cycles and just how memorable those cycles would be. Secondly, I had seen a news posting about Ms. Banks season premiere for the brand new, uber high fashion Cycle 16. After watching the first few minutes of the season I knew I was hooked! The show hadn't seemed this fresh and fun to me since it's aforementioned heyday. Also, it showed that Ms. Banks could still deliver. For real! Absolute hilarity ensued over her embodiment of a few of the shows model casting archetypes and brought me back to why I loved her and the show in the first place. Plus, it was just the right amount of post-modern, self-knowing, meta-ness that encapsulates the current times.

Now keeping up with Cycle 16, I became interested in the previous two seasons by way of their respective winners. I saw Ann Ward's Covergirl picture over and over in this latest season and was so mesmerized that I decided to go back a season and see what the fuss could be... Honey! Ann Ward just may be my favorite model/winner/contestant of the series so far-and that means a lot. Her photos are breathtaking and I watched the episodes of her coming out on top again and again and again. Naturally, I couldn't stop there, not after seeing Krista White appear at the end of Cycle 15-absolutely stunning!
Having watched Cycles 14-16, I not promising to go back and catch up on Cycles 11-13, but here's what I think of where ANTM is now:

One of my favorites of Ann! Her 3rd consecutive #1 on the show. Photo credit: Matthew Ralston.

Making the definite choice of high fashion as the benchmark for the model's performance has given the show a whole new focus. Before, there was a bit more sense of 'luck of the draw' to the winners. Sometimes it was personality that tipped the scales, other times it was bone structure and high fashion potential, and still other times it came down to the truth of who hadn't won in the show yet (full-figured, African-American, Latina, petite, etc.).
This is not completely the case as strong photos and runway walk do too matter, but with high fashion as the new and definite benchmark via spreads in Vogue Italia, everything becomes framed in that context. The models photos, walk, personality, commercialism and professionalism (standards looked at in this past) now must carry the weight of high fashion potential... and it's fabulous!

Congrats to the entire show staff, seen and unseen, for making these past three cycles oh so haute!
Commendations to the models for working their hardest under such pressure!
A special shout-out and gratitude to Andre Leon Talley, Franca Sozzani and the uber-talented guests from the fashion industry for agreeing to be part of a reality television show that is really trying to offer much more than mindless fodder for the primetime evening. Here's to enjoying the rest of Cycle 16 and hopefully future cycles as well!

No dreck dahhling, just Vogue! "Live Excellently" -J:)

B'day Sickness

Hello, hello Areteens!
I know it's been too long, but life has that effect sometimes.
I recently became very sick as my birthday (4/12) was one week away.
I feel much better now, though I'm still tired. As such, I wanted to know how you deal with being sick?
For me the first week was terrible & it felt like a predatorial death, however, I survived.
Some people hate being sick & deal with it by pushing through, going about their business as if nothing's wrong. I call them, 'the aggressors'. While, others use it as an opportunity to get much needed rest. Thus, I consider them to be 'the nurturers'. Still, others fall somewhere in the middle, frustrated over the undeniable sickness that has befallen them, yet unable to push through as is their liking. I call them 'the acquiescents'. Where do you fall? Personally, I tend to be in the 3rd catergory. Best believe, I pulled it together for my birthday dinner! Here's a pic:

More posts soon! I promise! Do enjoy April for me, as it is my birthday month! 

               "Live Excellently" -J:)

Spring Cleaning the Houseplants of My Mind

Hey Areteens!

         I can be obsessive. Mostly, though, I obsess over ideas. When an idea develops in my mind Possibility Floods from the Nile Aisle of Creativity unlock the gates encasing the newly germinating seed, allowing it to grow and take over my mind. It is kind of like having an indoor houseplant that is so comfortable and resilient in its surroundings, it just grows so rapidly. Too rapidly. Inevitably, I begin feeling this mixture of excitement and anxiety over the awesomeness of the idea, which, if only I could move it out of my mind, would not overwhelm me so much.  But like most moving jobs, you need help. Enter the process and art of ‘(Pitch and) Persuasion.’ (The new Jane Austen novel. Lol! Could you imagine?! ‘A novel (and soon to be movie) chronicling a woman’s battle with hierarchy and corruption in the literary/publishing world, while she falls in love) Isn’t lovely how great ideas can come out of jokes?

            There are many films I plan to have made. Some require more direct involvement from me, while others I would like to have made on behalf of the Arêteen Company. I have an idea for the film inspired by my life, but only because the events that have transpired are too ridiculous not to be put in a film. That and my mind- my way of processing the world- is too much for me, so it must be treated like memories in a pensieve. When he feels his mind stretched a bit too thin, Dumbledore puts his memories in a pensive so he can see them more clearly. Dumbledore is not real. I love J.K Rowling and her creation Harry Potter.  I guess that’s what I’m doing right now in e-journaling (typing on my computer, not writing my thoughts out by hand). It’s not the same though. Maybe I’ll have a pensieve when I die. One can only hope.

            Overflowing, my mind is like an old woman’s house. There are too many random nick-knacks of ‘interest’ stuffed into various nook and crannies of ‘influences and inspirators,’ all of which are obscured by overgrown, resilient houseplants of ideas. I’ve started many different blogs in a vain attempt to push the plants out of my mind. Unwillingly, I realized that despite having a blog, I am not a blogger.  I don’t have the discipline to update so regularly that it would incite (and retain) public interest. As much as I enjoy talking with others, I don’t share all of my thoughts with them (at least not right away-and even then), and since I don’t enjoy writing the same way I enjoy talking (it’s requires more focus), why would I write down all my thoughts, especially for the public? If I’m not a regular journaler, why did I think I could be a regular blogger?

            It all goes back to a variation on the Golden Cardinal rule: If you wouldn’t do it to/for yourself, why would you do it to/for others? (I hope we can all see how this rule is regularly misconstrued and corrupted- shame.) At least now I know. Maybe, now I can get back to clearing out the houseplants in my mind. To spring clean is to move the houseplants outside, open the nook and crannies and dust off the nick-knacks locked inside. It is the process of discovering that which makes you tick and tock. Because, locked away in the boxes of interests lie the kernels of fear and obsession, from which the ideas grow. This is why I still blog. 


"Live Excellently"


-J:)

For High School Graduates Looking to Go to College

           I recently read a December 2010 article in the New York Times (which I love) on college education and whether or not the cost of going to an elite school is actually worth it. As someone who is fortunate enough to find himself at a college, that while not elitist per say, is still definitely pricey, it got me to wondering about how one should go about choosing a college. First, if you plan on going to college, you want to go to a school that will accept you, but there are actually more of those than not, so really you want a school that has the program for you. This is actually harder to determine than just looking through catalogs because of the third criteria: a college that fits your personality. If you do not personally identify with having certain tendencies (i.e.- elitist, competitive, liberal, conservative, vocational) then it wouldn’t be a smart move to apply to one of those schools.

            After whittling down your choices to no more than 10, go through and investigate their personalities. Inevitably, for you to have gotten this far in the college selection process, it is advised that you have a clearer picture of who you are and what you at least hope to get out of life, than not. This is where the real homework comes in, because ultimately what makes a college experience work is understanding that you are about to embark on a relationship with not just another person (which can be difficult enough), but with an entity larger and with a more storied history than yourself. Given this immense reality, the question becomes, where can I go and be best needed?

            The truth about relationships is they are most dynamic and effective when you are needed as much as you need. The same is applicable to finding the right college: you want is a college that needs you as much as you need it. Despite all of the drama, frustration, and crazy memories experienced with my college, I still love it. Part of that frustration was only there because (like child with a difficult to deal with parent), I could see what needed to be done for the college, but as a lowly student I was powerless to actually realize those dreams for the college. I was trying to move the overgrown houseplant of an idea out of my mind with no help from the outside.

            Part of the reason why the college was in no way able to heed my grand, but necessary wishes for it is because, in part, they too were trying to give to me. The college was understandably focused on making sure I learned what I needed to learn in order to help them in the future. We were on the same page, but reading different sentences. We were saying the same thing in different languages, or at least using different words. Even if you find a place that has a perfectly reciprocal relationship with you, no school will actually be perfect. (Perfect schooling happens with a private tutor- and even then).  That is why becoming an alum of the college is so important- it allows you to fulfill your end of the bargain in a grander way than you ever could have as a student.

            Find a college that needs you, but not too badly (you cannot fix everything). Be careful not to try and change the personality of the school in your attempt to give back. That is why it is so important to do that research early. You do that research well enough and trust me, you will not be applying to 8, 10, or even 14 schools. That’s ridiculous and unnecessary. Know yourself and you will find your college. Find your college and you will be able to give back to it. That is what is important: needing and being needed.

            To answer the article’s question: Is going to an expensive college worth it? Honestly, colleges don’t force you to attend them. Therefore, I’d say, it’s not about the money, it’s about the personality. The real question is: Is it worth it to go to a college that is not you and therefore does not need you? No. To do so is to try and change something that is too established to change in any fundamental way. To do so is not your responsibility. The same is true of friends by the way. Don’t try and change your friends, accept them for who they are and if who they are is too fundamentally different from whom you are then you need to find other friends. Match up purpose with purpose not purpose with problem. Find a college who personality and purpose is more in line with your own than not. Do that and the experience, good and bad, will be worth it, whatever price.

"Live Excellently"

-J:)

Fall Semester Finished!

Hello Fellow Areteens!

It's been more than a hot moment, but with Fall semester of my Junior year behind me, I can now return to gearing up for the 2012/2014 debut of Areteen. While I engage in some R&R, I suggest you do the same! I'll be posting, hopefully more frequently, now that school isn't pulling me away from you like a screaming toddler.

"Live Excellently"

-J:)

P.S-Jane Fonda is now following us @AreteenTweets on Twitter. Are you?

All In Good Time...

Hello, Hello Arêteens! It's Josh here!

Sorry it's been a hot moment since I last posted & I just wanted you to know that this is not a fluke, and that I've been busy preparing for various blog postings, Talk of the Hill, my 3rd music video, the fall dance concert (I'm choreographing!), and of course academic responsibilities!

Stay tuned! Excellence is coming your way!

-J:)

"Live Excellently"

7) The Big "C"

Hello, hello ev-er-ree boodee! (sing-song voice) It's Josh here!
Newborns (not really): Welcome to Arêteen life!
Returns: Keep on "Living Excellently!"

In a previous posting, I wrote about my favorite scripted shows. Well, between the onset of fall television and the start of the new academic year, Joshie boy is on a change high!

PAUSE.

With each posting you will gain more insight to the many facets of me the person as well as Arêteen the company. So, let me explain something that is key to everything:

I thrive on change. I love it...even when I don't. Why?

Because, invariably, the ability to adapt to different situations, changing generations, advancements in culture, etc. illuminates a certain facet of excellence that is just the sort of thing Arêteen is about.

Change, good or bad is still good. It challenges you. Makes you stop, take pause and ask yourself:

What do you know?
What do you believe in?
What can you handle?

And just when you think you can't take anymore, it turns out you can. And that's what makes change good. Even in all its abstractness, change is really about the question: How (badly) do you want to live?

And if you don't, can't, or won't then you know what happens... you die (even when you don't).

This applies as much for bad--> good change as it does for good--> bad.

In either case, an aspect of who you are and how you live is destroyed. Destroyed to help you, or destroyed to end you.

When approached, handled and understood correctly, change will always help you to see something you missed before, thereby helping you to live fuller and truer. 

Now, who doesn't want that? (some people... but nevamind)

So what the "Hello Dolly" does this have to do with television shows and college?

The Big C on Showtime is a wonderful show that highlights how cancer entered a woman's life and allows her to see everything differently. Everything becomes more important, less important, funnier or just plain ol' sharper.

And even though this is not the first nor the last piece of work to examine how change of any sort affects people, it just happened to be the show that pushed me over the edge into writing this posting... that and the fact that it's name was quite fitting. So...

As the school year starts up full speed ahead, fall television makes its reappearance and life begins/continues to dish out all its unforeseen surprises, my Big C is Change.  And so I ask you...

Arêteen Reader Question #3: What is important to you? What is your "Big C?" How do you handle change? 

Let me know! Until then...

"Live Excellently"

-Josh:)