Time.

What?

Ok, fine. Anyway, what’s new? I’ve got a few things; I just don’t know what they are…yet.

But here’s one.

I’ve been glued to this weeks TIME magazine (May 14, 2007): The Most Influential People in the World, the TIME 100. Page after page I learned a new name and a new word, and was angered or pleased by one of the many human beings who so boldly or so subtly dwell on this Earth. Before I even opened the magazine I was just elated. After studying the cover with my keen political and global eye, I saw the most bedazzling of persons so poignantly placed on the cover. Twelve faces in all, eight of them men, so only four ladies. But for me, this time, sex was not the concern.

I was more wrapped up in the politics of the people and could not have been more thrilled with the politics of the cover. Environmentalist and models, inventors and philanthropists, politicians and actors were pictured. Of the four American political figures, THREE, count them—1, 2, 3—of them were Democrats, bleeding heart liberals no less: Speaker of the House Ms. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA (San Francisco!)), Former Vice President and Senator Al Gore (D-TN), and Junior Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) (Leo DiCaprio was there too, also a bleeding heart liberal, but thankfully, he’s chosen to keep under a theatrical spotlight and has yet to pull a fucking Arnold…but then again, I can’t really say much about the Green-unator). I mean christ, Hillary didn’t even make the cut(!). As for the lone Republican, it was the one and only former Democrat, New York City’s pseudo-Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg. So basically, it was four liberals. The conservatives were finally closeted on this cover of TIME (as if Mark Foley didn’t do enough for them). Though granted they are rarely in the spotlight for positive reasons, albeit if at all (other than scandal), their absence was welcomed.

As I delved into the periodical, I was simply stunned, educated, and indeed pleased. And though I HIGHLY recommend this issue of TIME to any breathing, living human being, I’ll quickly summarize. There are six categories one has the opportunity to fit into: Leaders and Revolutionaries (Raul Castor among them, Obama, Pelosi, and Bloomberg, too), Heroes and Pioneers (Thierry Henry, Tyra Banks, Warren Buffett, Oprah, Michael J. Fox, and Elizabeth Edwards make that cut), Power Givers (Angelina Jolie, George Soros (another bleeding liberal), and the Queen of Jordan Rania al-Abdullah, along with philanthropists throughout history are noted for their generosity), Scientists and Thinkers (Al Gore, Richard Dawkins, and Monty Jones stand out among the many), Artists and Entertainers (America Ferrera, Brian Williams, Rosie O’Donnell, Sacha Baron Cohen, and even Tina Fey are made beacons for the entertainment world), and finally, Builders and Titans (Shigeru Miyamoto (think Nintendo), Katsuaki Watanabe (think Toyota), Chad Hurley and Steve Chen (think YouTube), and of course Richard Branson (think Virgins, planes, and pot (marijuana, that is)). And with each picture or caricature is a brilliantly written piece by an equally respected author (for most). This is yet another reason why I just adore TIME—every fucking week.

So do your research. Google the names above and then go, find the issue and see for yourself the amazing and not-so-amazing people that make up part of our population. It will undoubtedly educate and stun you, as it so wonderfully did to me.

Cheers and happy TIMEing.

And So Begins my Blog

Welcome to Necessary Publications. I am just thrilled to have you joining me today, as I’m welcoming myself with this message as well. I’ve decided to start blogging again after a long hiatus. I’m done with undergrad and still need a reason to write, so I figured fuck it, I’m starting a new blog. Here goes:

I have but one exam left (and a paper, too) in my college career. That, my friends, is fucking horrifying. I have adored my time in college. Each year, one after the next, I love for its own respective reason. Freshman year for my stupidity, ignorance, and new found sense of self; sophomore year for my roommates, New School, and my stupidity, though my ignorance began to fade; junior year for my fall semester in the city and then my global voyage on Semester at Sea; and now, senior year for its insanity, new friends (old ones too), ridiculous rendezvous’, and truly indulging in all New York has to offer—oh, and the new Greek and Roman Court at the Metropolitan Museum.

It has been a wild ride, as I’m sure most grads say when they realize they’re done with four of the most fabulous, most errant, most absurd, and most liberating years of their lives. And then to think, what the fuck comes next? Jobs for some, travel for others, grad or law school can fit into the equation too. But what about continuing to learn?

I’ve been in school for the past 17 years and really would prefer not to stop. Ok, fine, yes I bitch about the papers and the classes and the work, but it is so rewarding, so fantastic, so exciting to learn and expand the mind, why stop? Well, ok, you can get me again and say, “Well, you never have to stop learning.” Whatever, fuck you. The point is you’re forced to learn in school. There’s just no way around it. If you don’t learn anything in school, you’re simply trying not to—furthering the ignorant stereotype that our society has so welcomingly embraced. So of course because I like learning I’m going to continue doing so…I’ve just got to finds new ways of going about it. The lectures stop; the texts cease; the academic environment fades.

Hopefully, my brain does not.