Well, you read right, this is my thirty fourth post this year (woo-hoo!)  And as I reflect on this year I am totally amazed (again) in how fast ten months can go by.  It is already May 8th (by the way my Twenteith birthday is tomorrow at 7:21 AM!!!) and I will be leaving Esopus Hall and Sophomore year in about a week.  I really intend to post an additional post before the year’s end, because this really is fun.  As a blogger, you never really know if many people are reading your posts, but with some confirmation and encouraging I feel very accomplished as a NP Blogger.

Let’s be real for a second: it’s a lot of attention, and I’m not an “attention prostitute” of sorts, but the occasional spotlight is nice!  I have had the opportunity to write my mind, post pictures, and video (the best part was the video blogs -love them!) but also make people laugh.  My objective as a NP Blogger, as for all bloggers of my kind, is to promote the school I love to prospective students, and in being myself and fostering laughs, I feel I have done my job.

I have just got wind of who will be next year’s bloggers -NO I’M NOT TELLING YOU, IT’S A SECRET!-  and i’m sure that group will have a fantastic time doing the same.

As per usual:

Mercy Me

and

www.theripplesproject.com

Thanks, yo,

Matt

: D

Here it is, see for yourself!

Beyonce, “Ego”

Solange, “I Decided”

Enjoy,

Love,

Matt

: D

April\’s Video Blog

Listen, I can’t talk right now because I have to go and enojy the weather!  I’m heading out to go on a lovely, superfast bike ride right now -which is totally encessary.  This day has been funtastic so far and after having an AWESOME food drive for Family of New Paltz and listening to some choice tunes, I gotts to go!

That’s all, enjoy the pic and the musical selections!

Dispatch, “Bang, Bang”

Gavin DeGraw, “Follow Through” (Thank You, Tiffany S. French!)

Love,

Matt

: D

Just in case you were wondering this blog post will be short, sweet and very deep!  Recently I have been thinking of old friends and memories of years past, and they (most of them, that is) are fond memories.  It makes me appreciate what we all have to give to the people around us, and the needs we fulfil while the good times last.  It makes me proud of the work I have done -yes of course, as an artist, and a brother, and a son, but also wholly, as a person.  I feel good about what I’ve been a part of and claiming my identity through those times and deeds.  However, with that, I am also proud and happy with where I am right now.

There are things going on, and thoughts in my mind that are brand new and uneasy at times, but overall, I’m extremely thankful and happy (there’s that word again!) for where it has led me to: here and now.  I believe that everything does happen for a reason and what has happened in my life shows its reasoning every once in a while, and I am just overcome with peace and joy.

If there is one thing you should do for this next week, whether it be writing and essay, looking at colleges, procrastinating and essay or living expressively and creatively through the world around you, I urge you to find the peace in your life.  To look into your past and lay out your life’s events on a table in front of you and be at peace with what has happened.

It got you here.

That’s where you need to be.

And I am sure that once you do, you’ll be in the unique position of growth and peace.

I also have another request, and that is to listen to these two songs and let them find their way into the moment.

Allow them to inspire you.

Tom Baxter, “Light Me Up”

&

Tom Baxter, “Skybound”

Thank You,

Matt

: D

At Peace

P.S.  Maybe not so short after all!

Sweet mother of pearl, never in all my years of eating solid foods have I ever seen a cinnamon cluster as ENORMO as the one I am about to show you.  I was just eating breakfast because its the most important meal of the day, and Wha-BAM”: Cinnamon Cluster to choke a small rodent!

Look at the pictures that I posted, see for yourself!

John Mayer, Tracing

Matt

: D

Hey, Hey, Hey!

I know I JUST posted a blog today, but I couldn’t hold it in!  I am now posting another blog -Video Style!

James Morrison, If The Rain Must Fall

John Mayer, Say

Enjoy-ski,

Matt

: D

(This is gonna be deep…)  Thus far along the course of my life, I have never been as busy as I am right now -and its a good thing.  I feel that as life progresses and time clicks on, life should get better (instead of “peaking” at 20!) and you should get busier as well.  Right now I have many responsibilities and commitments that take up most of my time -but that’s alright.  First of all, I got myself into all these extras and second, I’m growing and learning a lot.

I was always weary of the saying that had something to do with not being comfortable in your daily routine, because then nothing is really happening, and you’re not learning anything.  Well, my friends, its true!  When I am taking on new challenges and it is scary, new and anxious, I learn the most about myself, whereas, when I’m comfortable, I’m just working like a robot in a routine.

EXAMPLE:  If I’ve got some free time to just VEG-out and watch some Will & Grace, I’m comfortable, and I’m not really learning anything (good times though!).

On the OTHER hand, If I am starting a new job and things are a little confusing and I know I have to be professional -well, then I am learning.  Not just how to complete my tasks, but how I work, and how others work.  It’s hard to explain, but trust me, get involved, become busy, and you’ll see the growing that happens.

I also know that being busy will make these remaining semesters fly by me -but not to worry, I will have taken tons of pictures, met tons of people and had tons of fun (…tons, and tons, and tons!)

James Morrison, If The Rain Must Fall

Coldplay, Prospekt’s March/Poppyfields

Keep it real, keep it busy,

Matt

: D

If you are in the New Paltz area you can attest to the reality that is is flippin’ cold this time of the year.  Because of the flippin-ness of the cold that pervades into everything, I have employed the use of Toe Warmers.  I saw them once in Modell’s, and last year I bought them, although I didn’t use them until now.  All I had to do was cut the package open, remove the sticky protector and apply to either the top or the bottom of both my feet!  Presto change-o I’m warm!

These foot warmers have made it extraordinarily easy to go to Stop & Shop, Rite Aid and even Lowes.  It’s like I have mini space heaters that “chill out” under my feet and radiate heat for approximately six hours -Wildly exciting, I know.

If it wasn’t already implied, my mind has been on the cold weather lately.  I was thinking about how we’re right in the middle-ish of Winter, and how we will be moving toward warmer weather in “no time.”  It also got me thinking about how the Southern Hemisphere is in Summer moving toward Fall, and how they will be getting colder.  I sort of felt bad for them because in some places, they would feel as cold as I am right now -except for my toezies- and that they’d have to wait close to a year to get warm again.

Oh Well!

Life, like the seasons, the moon and an automobile engine, goes in cycles, and I find it extremely important not to favor any one stage in the cycle, but to embrace them all.  I’m happy I’m frozen to the bone, because it is the nature of the season.  You’ve got to take the good with the bad and the everything-in-between!

Elton John, “Sad Songs Say So Much”

Josh Groban, “Believe”

Rod Stewart & Dolly Parton, “Baby, It’s (Flippin’) Cold Outside”

Happy Frigidity!

Matt

: D

For those of you who got my “Tweet” on Twitter, you know that I just completed my first homework of the semester.  Kate McCoy told our Soc and Phil class to watch “The Story Of Stuff” video (on http://www.thestoryofstuff.com) and respond to it on Bb (Blackboard).  Long story short, the video is twenty minutes long and it is all about the goods we consume and the WRETCHED HARM it is doing on our dear mother: Earth.  It really is a saddening story that we all are a part of -but to avoid repeating myself, I pasted the response in this blog.

***This is an actual reproduction from an actual Bb response that Matthew Stracquodaine actually typed.  He happens to actually feel this way.***

Wow! I must say that although I have seen many a presentation on sustainability and production, it always wows me to hear it again.  Actually I was thinking about the message in this video while I was watching it on my MacBook, listening through my JBL speakers and eating some chocolate (Dove “Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate” -Yes, it is delicious).

What ultimately needs to happen is a world-wide movement (literally, the entire world) to scrapping this system and creating a new one that has Sustainability written all over it.  Logically, that is the only way that the whole world will change for the better.  The only thing I worry about is whether or not it will change soon enough.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Beatles “Don’t Let Me Down”

Woody Guthrie “This Land Is Your Land”

Coldplay “Death And All Of His Friends”

Enjoy …Sort of.

Matt

: D

So, from what I’ve heard, the Spring Semester is right around the corner, and it is a doozy!  Supposedly, the Spring Semester is a little more intense than the first, but I say bring it on.  It’s going to be here by tomorrow and that’s final -we can take it.  That being said I hope all of you had a splendid vacation and are ready to be back.  The winter break is a good chance to get away from schoolwork, roommates and various other New Paltz related things, to realize how good you had it, and that you can’t wait to come back.  Truth be told, that seems to be the way it works every time.

Now normally, I would talk about something and then place a song choice at the bottom, but I say no -I am going to talk about the song I will recommend to all you readers (Thanks, again):  “Who Put The Bomp” by Barry Mann.  This is a classic little Doo-op ditty that is juts chock-a-block full of fun.  Just today, I was in Rite Aid (I know, good times!) and I heard this wonderfullicious track playing over the generic, plain, normal celing speakers and I wrote down a line for later.  Later, I entered that line into Google to find out what it was, and then played it on YouTube!

Simple, right?

Ever since then, I have been busting out all sorts of whistling and dancing (with my room door shut) to this track.

If you don’t believe me, well then see  for yourself!

Barry Mann, “Who Put The Bomp”

Happy Semester,

Matt

: D