Author Archives: jake.kyle

Is anyone else upset about the rejection of “alright” in English grammar. Instead it’s supposed to be “all right” but is that all right?

This really irritates me. “Alright” has always been in my life. People say it all the time around me so naturally it becomes a part of my speech but it’s not technically a real word. Yet I can’t replace it with saying “all right” because it’s both two words and simply doesn’t mean the same thing. If I ask you “how was the test?”and you say it was “all right” that implies you got a hundred, (or at least think you did) but if you say “alright” that means it was… ok, satisfactory, but not actually all right. Strangely enough, alright is never all right. It actually means that it’s not all right, but generally more right than not. I don’t like “all right”. It’s arrogant and out of place. I don’t know when I’d ever need to say something was “all right” because nothing is ever ALL right. But things are always alright.

I really like the word “alright”. You could say “ok” but that’s just pronouncing two letters and strikes me as an odd choice. It makes me feel like goofy. You could also say satisfactory but c’mon, that word is way too sterile to be used in actual conversation. Alright is prefect!! It’s the prefect balance of good and bad. It’s such a chill relaxed word and just sounds great! It’s also a great lyric for a song and has many more meaning and connotations than can be described.

So how has my semester gone? It’s been alright! Have I changed? In ways yes and no. Probably not fundamentally or physically. My morals are always maturing and my outlook on life constantly expanding, but I couldn’t tell you if these were directly related to my time at Baruch. I do know that I wouldn’t change anything about this first semester. I’ve worked hard and have had plenty of enjoyment from my time spent here in the city. Regardless of how I may or may not have changed, the experience was enjoyable.

Finally, my expectations told me the school was gonna be alright! And the expectations have certainly been met. I seem to always expect things to be alright because it’s the most realistic and the chance for this to be exceeded is better than if I expect great things. Although I’m optimistic I don’t care for over blowing something. If your expectations are modest than the outcome will seem all the more better for it. SO in this case Baruch has exceeded my “alright” expectations and i think it can even be considered great. I’ve met some great some people, had some great classes and I’m looking forward to continuing this trend. I can’t say I’m expecting the next semester to be great, but maybe it’ll be alright.

All of our free writes have been about ourselves and expressing ourselves. I find it almost impossible to describe myself and my feelings accurately, but I think maybe If I draw it out detective style I’ll be able to discover a definition of who I am. So I figure I have two main versions of myself. One is me at home with my family. With them I’m dependent, I’m a son, a brother and I’m the youngest. I rely on them to teach me and guide me through life and so I act differently there then when I’m out in the wild. This would be the second version of me. It’s the land of independence, consisting of here in Baruch or throughout the city with friends or essentially anywhere that’s not home. Here I need to watch out for myself, and provide food and entertainment all on my own. So maybe if I compare these two versions of myself, I can find a connection between them and realize who I truly am. But nothing obvious really jumps out at me. This ain’t no Clark Kent takes his glasses off and he’s superman connection, no this secret must be more hidden in the dark. I suppose now I have to find some out of the way, extraneous, connection to tie this all together. Perhaps by looking deep within myself the real me will appear from the darkness and confusion. All of this thinking has led me to only one logical conclusion.

I’m Batman!

Who are you? Who am I? This is something that cannot be answered with words, or descriptions. Nothing I write or say will make you understand who I am. I don’t mean to avoid the question, but it’s frustrating. I like to look at things from different angles then my own because my position can always change. Trying to think of who I am is too difficult, not because I’m so complicated, but because I think so many things. I can tell you who I think YOU are because of the things I know about you and what you say and do. It’s limited and compact. That doesn’t mean you agree with this or that’s it right, it probably isn’t. Who YOU think YOU are is entirely more elaborate, and infinitely more difficult to answer. So how can I place all those years of actions and thoughts into a digestible conclusion of who I am? I can answer I’m nice, I’m cool, I’m relaxed. That’s not true though, because I’m also angry, I’m a geek, and I’m frantic. Everyone is like this; I’m not alone.

In the movie Anger Management Adam Sandler plays an uptight everyday office man. He is required to attend Anger Management classes with the teacher being Jack Nicholson. In the very first meeting Nicholson asks Sandler to answer the question, who are you?

Click here for video and watch until around 3:05 (It’s about a minute).

The point of this is to say there is no right answer. I know that whatever I write here will be acceptable, but it won’t be accepted. What someone thinks of me is what they see me say and do. Not talking about myself but just normal, or possibly abnormal, everyday interactions. I also know the purpose is just to express our opinions and feelings, but it always comes out feeling fake, forced and ultimately without real effect. I could talk about practically anything but myself.

Now I can easily answer the last three questions in the next 3 words. I don’t know. You want my most immediate concerns? I hope I won’t fail this blog because I’ve gone all philosophical. I hope I won’t get motion sickness on the bus… again, and I hope I can grow a full beard someday. I don’t worry much though, I have hope. And I certainly hope college will offer some real impact on my life that high School never could. This can lead into change and how I feel it only ever comes from new realization; it wouldn’t be new if I knew what it was. College will give me something worth changing for, and i know I have the capacity to change greatly, but I can’t begin to imagine what and how. If I imagine something, and I don’t change immediately, then I’d be lying to write that down. So I suppose I’m hopeful; If I think of myself as anything, it’s open and optimistic. The possibilities are endless.