Author Archives: Lydia Fisher

So the first semester of college has almost gone by and i ended up learning more than i thought i would. In relation to school, i’ve finally gotten back into the rhythm of it. I’ve been out of high school for what seems like a very long time (in reality just over a year and a half) and it’s been a very, very long drawn out transition to college.

In the beginning of the year i really despised Baruch. I didn’t like the people, for they seemed to lack most of the same interests as me, which set the mood for my disdain for coming to class. This was my biggest challenge; i ended up coming in late a lot of the time and quickly used up the allotted amount of classes i was able to miss within the first two months. That was a huge mistake, haha. I also felt that my high school was way more difficult and demanding than college (even the classes aren’t that challenging) and it really turned me off to the idea of school in general.

Fortunately something changed, literally of a sudden, and i really began to enjoy the school. It was as if after i legitimately looked into transferring something clicked in me, telling me that i had so much more to learn about this school. So, i’m staying indefinitely.

In another aspect, i got the opportunity to get to know someone in a very intimate setting: my roommate! I realize how much i value having a space that is entirely my own and not shared with another someone sleeping less than three feet away from me at night. Living with my roommate has been a huge challenge. We are admittedly alike in a good amount of ways, but having someone so vehemently close-minded (who doesn’t realize it) is really, really shocking. I’ve been able to realize my limits with people and what i stand for, as well as how to deal with someone in a respectable manner who i can’t stand.

Interesting semester, overall.

First off, I wasn’t expecting much from the workshop. This is entirely due to the fact that the previous workshop just did not do it for me, so i set up this unconscious bias against any and all future workshops. However, the most recent workshop swayed my opinion.

Colm is a wonderful orator. He has excellent tone to his voice, which kept me interested to the point that i decided to pull out a notebook and write down a couple of memorable phrases of his. Admittedly, i didn’t read his book. I wikipedia’d the piece before the start of the lecture and found it to have a somewhat interesting plot. This enabled me to get just that little bit more into the presentation- i find it interesting that he wrote the book from a woman’s perspective. Brooklyn seems like it would be interesting, but in my heart of hearts i know i won’t get around to reading it anytime soon (or at all). His accent was a nice touch, though!

To be honest, the workshop hardly held my attention. I’m sure the woman presenting is intriguing, well-read, and successful, but i really did not care for her presentation. To me, it was just a handful of cliché information thrown at a group of people that were more focused on how hungry they were. However! The BBC video about flying penguins was funny and made me think about Eric Idle’s humor and how the British are intelligent enough to understand that the video was a complete joke (i’m not sure how it would’ve gone over had it been shown in the US). The Insider Edition video concerning Dystonia was just awkward, and i’m not sure whether or not we figured out if it was a fabrication or just a really bizarre publicity stunt. The video of Walter Cronkite’s news coverage of JFK’s assassination was interesting enough- it definitely humanized the event for me. Otherwise, i left the workshop having gained nothing but a new appreciation for being able to eat lunch when you want to.

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1. Gustav Klimt – The Kiss

This is my favorite piece of art/artist. I love the detail and the gold leafing, which you can’t really see unless you take a close look at the original painting. Growing up I was taught to appreciate art because I was constantly surrounded by it; my house back home is a historic gem and it’s filled with all of this beautiful artwork, none of it contemporary. I’m well-versed in art history, and that really has nothing to do with the art history class i took two years ago, but has everything to do with my parents and their friends inspiring within me an insatiable curiosity for all things classical.

1. Bike

I am absolutely in love with riding bikes. Cars are cool, trains are sick, busses suck. Bikes? Completely awesome; zooming through streets, dodging cars, feeling the wind’s resistance, knowing you’re the force behind the road falling away behind you.. I’m in love with the sensation. There’s a huge bike culture from where I come from and the lack of bikes in the city (at least the upper east side) is bizarre. Biking allows me to go places on my own, speed away from things i don’t care for, and allows me to explore places that would be inaccessible with a car. Over the years, i’ve learned to build bicycles from scrap and how to fix flat tires with chewing gum- things i’ve picked up out of necessity- and learned that I’m actually pretty adept at solving problems by myself in light of stressful situations.

1. Brazil

I took a gap year last year and spent mid August 2011-Mid July 2012 in Brazil. I started off in the south of Brazil where I learned the language, then I took to traveling around the country teaching english and staying in hostels, tiny villages, and big cities with people I’d met who offered me a place. I was challenged every day and fell more in love with being alive every day i was there. What i learned about myself and the world as a whole is indescribable. The year was an emotional roller coaster, to say the least. I learned a different reality- a new lens to see life through. I understand how difficult it is to be completely alone in a place where you know no-one, even less the language. I learned how heart wrenchingly sad goodbyes can be, the power of friendship, and how to halfway depend upon the kindness of strangers.

The guy on the left is the chief of the Umuarami indians in the Amazon. I lived with him in their very tiny village, deep deep into the jungle, for about 2 and ½ months; The left is a wonderful man I met on the beach who gave me his favorite pipe.

1. Music

I love all sorts of music. I’m big on hip-hop (typical cats, blue scholars, tuka, nujabes), classical, and wavy music, but I can get down with Gregorian chanting and country music.

1. Buffalo

I’m from Buffalo- I absolutely love the place. I miss it insane amounts. It’s an old rust belt city that peaked in the early 1900’s, ergo why most everyone who’s not from the city is such a downer about it. Exploring the old grain elevators, riding throughout the ghetto filled with refugees from around the world, spending nights in old wine cellars listening to a friend’s band play.. Buffalo is a huge part of why I am the way I am.

1. Photography

I’m not a serious photographer; I just take photos for fun. I like film far better than digital, despite the fact I mainly shoot digital because film is so expensive.

1. Reading

This is my favorite literary magazine. I don’t read as many books as I did when I was a kid, but this magazine sustains me. Some of the most interesting and real stories I’ve read have come out of this publication. Reading so many different perspectives from people who write for fun and aren’t starving artists, who are instead rather ordinary people, is incredible.

1. Friends/Family

I know everyone says it, but my friends are awesome. Like, they’re really awesome. I tend to surround myself with people whom inspire me, and that’s exactly what they do. My heart is swollen with love for them, to put it simply. I’m really not close at all with my two sisters, but my mother and father are solid sources of wisdom. I’ve passed the point in my life where i’ve realized that my parents are people, too, and that they’ve done incredible things with their lives a good 30+ years before I was even alive. When I was living outside of the country I hardly bat an eyelash when someone told me they missed me. Yet, now i understand the ache of distance enough to know that hanging out with my family is the coolest thing out.