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"Half of me is the gasoline, But the other half’s the surf"

Hey everyone, I'm finally back at Hopkins, yay! There's only so long that you can live with your parents after being free at school. It's very free here. Very very free. Anyway, I really don't have the time for a long post, so I figured I'd post a nice introduction I recently did for my youtube channel. I decided that I wanted to start making more youtube videos with short edits. Let me know what you think, I think I'm funny, but then again, I always think I'm funny. HAHA.





Hope everyone had a nice holiday, and I'll give a nice real update soon!

"You felt the coming wave, told me we'd all be brave, you said you wouldn't flinch"

Hey everyone! First off I wanted to say that I am thoroughly enjoying my vacation. Little things have  been going my way, but I am also longing to return to Hopkins. Here's a little list of things that have gone both wrong and well for me: got a $55 parking ticket in Boston, had a fun new years despite working until 1am, said goodbye to one of my dearest friends at Hopkins as she transfers to Cornell, got my hand slobbered on by a cow (technically a heffer), ran out of hair paste (3 times), got new clothes, slept in, reconnected with old friends, made new friends, saw many amazing movies, and developed a plan for this new year/semester. Now, onto the real reason of this post.

Last semester, the Student Admissions Advisory Board (SAAB, and sadly not born from jets), was pitted with the task of writing either an Academic Blog or a Student Activities Blog. I chose the latter, and will be following JHU Jessica's format that she used in her post on the Public Health Student Forum.  Mine won't be as academic centered, and it actually relates to one of my resolutions.

Which one? Well, if you were following us on the forums, we currently have a thread about New Year's Resolutions. One of mine relates to this activity that I have really fallen in love with, and can't wait to jump back into when I get back on campus next week. What one? Capoeira of course!

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Student Organization Name: JHU Capoeira
Category of Group: Cultural Dance
Year Founded: 2000
Your Name: Peter C
Your Year: Class of 2012
Your Hometown: Wakefield, MA
Your Position: Regular Member
Website: http://www.jhu.edu/capoeira/index.html

First off, I'm not sure about the year the group was founded, however, I know it has been around for about 9 years, so that would place it around 2000. Capoeira itself has been around for a lot longer, about 35 years in America, but centuries in Brazil.

Why did you choose to become involved with this student organization?
My freshman year I was taking an Intro to Portuguese class, and my professor had students from the group come and perform for us. They had us join in with singing and it went really well. They had a lot of energy and got us moving, considering it was a morning class. Afterwards, I was going to immediately go, but I felt weird so I decided to hold off on it. So this year I made sure to stop by the table at the Student Activities Fair and I put my name on the mailing list. All I have to say is that putting my name on that list was probably one of the best decisions I made in college. Capoeira has improved me both physically and emotionally. Plus I'm continuing to learn Portuguese, as well as Brazilian culture.

What are the organization's membership requirements?
Anyone can join at any time. Although most people will generally know what to do, you're welcome to join whenever. We all love meeting new people, and everyone will help you out.

What special events has this organization hosted?
While we don't host it, Capoeira has consistently been a part of Culture Show, which is a showcase sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. I performed in it this past fall, and it was a ton of fun. And this year we are actually hosting a Batizado (portuguese for baptism) in the spring, which should be fun. It includes a lot of workshops, and other capoeira groups in the area are invited to come. Pretty much you get your cords and sometimes a name (my friends are trying to get machado [axe] to stick, though I would like macaco [monkey] as well). Batizados are a big deal, so we can't have one every year, so I'm happy I get to be a part of this one.

What makes your organization awesome?
We dance and sing in portuguese, isn't that enough? Besides that, we have a wonderful sense of community. Everyone is very open to each other, and we feel like a family after a while. A family of abadas-wearing lunatics flipping around like crazy, but a family none-the-less

What are some neat things about your organization?
Well, capoeira in general has a vast history, so if you want to know more, check out my previous post or search for it in google. Whatever I say is just generalized, and its much more interesting from a valid source.

So yeah, come join us anytime, we meet Tuesdays and Thursdays for class at 7:30 at Hopkins Hillel in the basement, and we have an open workout from 3 to 6 on Saturdays.

"And I've been working... like a dog."

So first of all, my Christmas was nice. It wasn't elaborate, which was what I wanted. It was my family, then hanging out with some close friends, which is all I could ask for. Of course, I was dead tired the whole time, but with good reason. Whenever I'm home, I feel the need to work. I'm not joking either, I work non-stop.

What do I do for work? Well, on campus, I open mail and sort all the applications. That is very low-stress, and it's a nice break to my day. However, at home, I'm an employee at Kelly's Roast Beef. The actual position names  where I have worked are: counter, expedite, attendant, host, counter trainer, drive thru window, cash booth, order booth, salads, dress, dress trainer, set-up, grill, and fry. I have also covered slice before. Now, what does that entail? I pretty much have: taken orders, given out food, cleaned the dining room, washed dishes, brought out food to the tables, trained new employees everywhere, given out food at the drive thru, taken money and orders in drive thru, made salads/seafood sandwiches, put condiments on burgers, roast beefs and other sandwiches, put seafood platters together (fish, shrimp, scallops, clams, oysters, etc), cooked burgers, toasted rolls, and deep fried various foods. Oh yeah, and I've sliced beef and other vegetables, meats, and cheeses before. Yeah, it's a long list. I haven't really considered how much I do there, but there's good reason for it. I love my job.

Now most people ask me, "why do you work on break?" And like I just said, I love my job. Being a cook and working in a restaurant is not someone's idea of a fun time at all, but for some reason, I love it. Sure, I get super stressed out and snap at people from time to time (most often with good reason), but  I honestly love it. I have so much fun with my fellow employees it's just an added bonus that I get paid. But that's the thing, I get paid. It's a job, it's work, it's money.

And that's where I realize I'm actually lucky. I found a job that, although won't get me the same pay as an engineering job would after college, gets me pay. And I have a job to say the least. Most of my friends can't even find work, and yet I'm working horrible hours and in the end losing sleep because of it (I sometimes call out orders in my sleep, ask my mom). But I never realized that beneath the thick layers of grease and grime, I was lucky. Sure, my job isn't a walk in the park, but it's a lot better than no job at all. And I'm not trying to flaunt it around either; as much as I try to hide it, I can't.

I am a fry cook.

"Fun for all that children call their favorite time of the year"

As I'm sitting here typing this, I'm munching on a linguiça calzone and watching the snow slowly drift  down. I'm home, finally. Luckily my flight did not get delayed and got out just in time before the storm, but the lines were crazy. It was a nice adventure, but I'm just glad to be nice and warm, or at least kind of warm, in my house.

Honestly, we didn't get a ton of snow, which I really hoped for. We got around 6 inches maybe, and it's fluffy snow. FLUFFY SNOW. That's the worst kind, because then you can't make snowmen, have snowball fights, or make snow angels. Plus, you can't walk anywhere because you just get pelted by it. Oh well. Hopefully there will be another nice storm later and I get snowed in with wet snow, that way I can make a snowman, haha.

But seriously, I'm just glad to be done with my finals, away from Hopkins, and  around my family and friends. As much as I love Hopkins, I need a break every once in a while. I loved my classes by the end of the semester (with the exception of DiffEq), and part of me wanted them to last forever. But it was nice for them to come to an end, and for me to find something that I was really interested in.

Other than all that I spent last night at a Secret Santa with my friends (7th annual? wow), and it was a lot of fun. And then today I went to go visit my high school (bad idea, since the secretaries did not like my hair and wouldn't let me in), and then after went to go see all the christmas lights. Hopefully I can get a video sometime for all you guys, because it's excessive. OVERLY TACKY.

 

Did I mention these people are Italian?

"Here here here, the best time of the year"

Once again, Happy Holidays! Oh, and here's my animation project

Intro to Animation Fall 09 - Final Project from Peter Costa on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

"And even though I can't explain it, I already know how great it is"

Well, normally I alternate between written and video blogs, but I don't have the time to really film myself and then edit the video, so I just decided to write a blog. About what? Well, mainly being able to continue your hobbies while at school!

Now, I've never taken a class or anything, and that's probably really apparent when you see my photos, but I'm a sucker for photography. I really hate how point and shoot cameras (you know, a typical digital camera, where you "point" it at a subject and then "shoot") often wash out the subject and don't capture the beauty. My solution?

 Film.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Why go backwards when there's such things as DSLRs on the market? Well, to be frank, I don't have the money to afford a GOOD DSLR. If I did I would get one, but honestly, you learn to value photos more with a film camera. You're not able to see the photos right away, so you have to hope they come out well. And say you have this epic picture, but then you realize you got it all wrong because of exposure, aperture, and all that jazz. Well, then you learn from your mistakes and improve on your own abilities. People have become too reliant on technology, and although it has vastly helped, it has also hindered human growth. But that's a whole different story altogether.

But yeah, even though I'm bogged down with classes (it's the end of the semester and courses are wrapping up), I still manage to find time to snap a photo on my way to class or on my way to a meeting. Granted, I don't have as much time as I'd like, but beggars can't be choosers. Anyway, I've managed to somehow squeeze this hobby into my life here at school, and hope to continue it for a while

Ok, well I should go work on my animation final, so until next time, tchao!

"Bem-te-vi vôou, vôou, Bem-te-vi vôou, vôou"

First off the title of this blog means "Good to see, fly fly, good to see, fly fly." Bem-te-vi is actually a  bird found in northern Brasil, and it's called that simply because it is beautiful, and good to see. This is just one example of the type of songs that we use in Capoeira, a brazilian dance and martial arts form. Most of the songs relate to some aspect of life in Brasil, however this one is my personal favorite, along with "Tava no quilombo foram me chamar."

I guess I should give you guys a brief history of Capoeira. Like I already said, Capoeira is a combination of martial arts, dance, and music. It was developed by slaves in Brazil brought there under the Portuguese empire from what is now Angola. It was a way of slaves learning how to fight against their slave masters, however they couldn't simply just fight in public, so they disguised it as a dance. It aquired the name Capoeira (lit. chicken coop), because it looked as if they were watching chicken fights. After multiple centuries, Capoeira finally made it to the United States in the 1970's and has remained since. Capoeira itself has been on the JHU Campus for 9 years so far and has gained popularity every year.

 So, how's I get involved with Capoeira? Well, last semester when I was taking Portuguese Elements, students from Capoeira came in to give a presentation. Mainly, I was blown away. They had us sing and clap along, and it was a lot of fun. So, I meant to join that semester, but I kept on putting it off, and decided to just wait until this semester. So at the Student Activities Fair, I signed up, and then went to the practices. To put it short, I love Capoeira. It's not only fun and energetic, but it's also a full body workout. I'm sore in places I didn't even know existed. Also, my flexibility has pretty  much increased tenfold since the beginning of the semester, and I have lost weight (woo!).

Of course, like I mentioned, it is a martial art. We're doing kicks and flips, but it's all meant for show. We're not really trying to hit the opponent; we're aiming for inches away from them. That way it's still a dance, but if we were closer, it could and would be very lethal. So that's also a plus since now I have better self defense. Haha.

I'm mentioning this all actually because we just performed in Culture Show last weekend, which is a showcase of different performing groups on campus. It was actually my first time performing in front of a group of people since seventh grade. Back then I used to play the violin (I was horrible at it), I was in  my school's orchestra. I think the last piece we played was something from Harry Potter. Anyway, the thrill of performing was amazing, and the rush was phenomenal, I can't wait to perform again.

Anyway, I want to leave you off with something to listen to, so here's the song "La Laue" where the lyrics in the title are from:

"It's affinity to serendipity"

For some reason it's poor quality, sorry about that guys.

"You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one"

Ok, so, while I'm waiting for my laundry and procrastinating doing homework, I figured that I should at least post a blog or something. Might as well, right? Haha. Now, I wanted to talk about an event that happened a while ago (a few weeks, I believe). On Oct 11th, there was a rally head in DC as part of the National Equality March.

The National Equality March, organized by the Human Rights Campaign, was a march in D.C. in order to show the importance of equal rights to the LGBT community. Honestly, I think the current state of these rights is appalling. So, with a few friends, we drove down to D.C. and participated in the march.JHU Cate also came too! Mainly, we marched around 1-2 miles and then stood in front of the capitol building for a few hours and heard speakers talk. It was very motivational to be very honest. I felt like doing something right then and there. But honestly you can't. You can't just *poof* change something. You need to consistently put in effort. It was nice seeing the amount of enthusiasm  on this issue, and how everyone really wants this to change. I'm just glad that Obama has promised to get rid of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, since it's one step towards a brighter future.

Anyway, I think pictures speak louder than words, so I'm just going to include some pictures from my friends camera, including one where we got within about ~150 feet of Lady Gaga. Yes, she is that amazing. If you want to see her speech, click here to watch it.

Anyway, it's time for me to get to my homework, as well as finish my laundry. So until later, tchão!

P.S. for more information on the Human Rights Campaign, click here.

"Why they could percolate the ocean in Brazil"

Other than the fact that it took me 5 minutes to realize why Brazil wasn't spelled Brasil (it's with an s in Portuguese), I found this song that actually fits my mood perfectly. Oh Frank Sinatra...