Montclair State University

It's a busy time of year for me, as it is for most college students; the semester is drawing to a close and everyone is frantically trying to finish up all their final projects. I am one of those students, I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the past three weeks trying to finish up the last of all my assignments. One of my most important projects is my Mini Documentary called When the Ends No Longer Meet. I have been working on this documentary for weeks and I just needed it to be finished. So, last week I thought I would go to the edit lab a little earlier than usual, to get a jumpstart on my final edits. The Dumont Television Center is suppose to open at 8 o'clock in the morning. That being said, I got up early and went over Dumont. The lights downstairs were off, but I didn't pay it any mind. The edit lab is upstairs, so upstairs I went. The door was unlocked but the lights were off and then suddenly I heard a low beeping noise. I look at the wall next to the entryway and the alarm was going off. The display screen of the alarm stated that I had 30 seconds to enter the code or the alarm would sound. The 30 seconds passed all too quickly and suddenly the sirens began to rang. Before I knew I was standing alone in the department of broadcast with sirens blaring. I made my way to the annex and found the director of my department, Larry. Larry informed me that he wasn't even aware that there was an alarm on the second floor, and chuckled while he disarmed it. As we walked downstairs there was a very nice police officer waiting by the front door.

Seriously, I couldn't make this kind of craziness up if I wanted to. My life is always an adventure in one way or another. Who else but me would set off the alarm at I building I go to everyday of the week?

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last weekend was Easter Sunday of course, and I went home to celebrate with my family. I should have known that the weekend was going to be bad when I left my dorm room at 5 o'clock in the morning carrying almost all my worldly positions with me and it started to down pour. If that wasn't enough, I was wearing my new UGGS that had not been waterproofed yet. After, I gathered my thoughts and my things and loaded them both up in my little Chevy Aveo, I hit the open road, or so I thought. For whatever reason there was killer traffic going to South Jersey. I understand it was Easter weekend and everyone is going home to see their family, but It was 5 in the morning. I wasn't expecting anyone to be on the turnpike that early, but I guess they weren't either.

As soon as I set foot in the door, my mom put me to work making food for the next day. She gets overly excited about making new and different dishes for different holidays. The problem with that is, that she never really makes them. I do. After a stressful morning of running around from store to store getting Easter flowers for our church and cooking, I was ready for a nap. However, my family had the bright idea to have a small get together for my Aunt's birthday that was LAST WEEK! Let's just say it didn't end well. The next morning I woke up to my 24 year old brother running through the house knocking on all the doors yelling WAKE UP HEIFERS!! You see he was in charge making the cheesecake for Easter dinner and he couldn't remember the recipe. So he took upon himself to wake up the entire house for help. You have to love him. All in all Easter weekend was humorous and entertaining. If you're every in our neck of the woods stop by.

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When we're young we plan out every aspect of our life, down to the man we're going to marry and the color of the front door, enclosed by our white picket fence. It never occurs to us that the world we've spent hours creating is not going to come true. We never stop to think about the fact that the world inside our heads is not the world we live in. I like to call this world the land of unicorns and glitter. It's a world filled with just that: unicorns, glitter, rainbows with pots of gold at the end and every princess gets their very own gold-plated pink castle, complete with moat, draw bridge and a prince to rescue her. I've never been a fan of such a world, in fact I've spent quite a considerable amount of time avoiding this world at all costs. Lately, however I've been finding myself slowly drifting into the blissfulness that is the land of unicorns and glitter. I spend my afternoons there, frolicking with the ponies and picnicking with my prince. The difference now, then from when I was a kid is that I can separate the two worlds. I now understand that the land of unicorns and glitter is several atmospheres above reality. Now, that I can separate the two worlds, it makes me wonder if I can live without the perks and happiness of the land of unicorns and glitter. Will I be okay in reality without my prince and gold-plated pink castle? What if I'm one unicorn short or my draw bridge doesn't open? Will I be okay? Honestly, I don't know the answers to any of these questions, they just sort of roll around in my head, bouncing from one lobe to the other. Here's the kicker, reality doesn't play by the rules, not even your own. You can't put it in a box and place a white picket fence around it. Reality just happens, whether you want it to or not. You have to wipe the tears from your eyes and the snot from your nose and just deal with what's in front of you, no matter how crappy it may be or seem.

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 8:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As you all know, I my computer has been broken for quite sometime. I sent it back to the manufacturer and they sent me a $500 check!!!! They told me that they didn't have a comparable computer and that they would seen me a check for the amount I paid for it. This week, my check came in. I was beyond excited, because that meant that I could use that money toward get my brand new 13" MacBook Pro. The second my class was over, I rushed to the Apple store in the Willowbrook Mall and purchased my very first MacBook, complete with a dark purple satin hard shell case (purple is the color of royalty). That night I was working an overnight shift at my job and decided to Facebook chat with my brother. Little did I know that the conversation we had that night would change my life forever.

Let me give you a little back story. My grandfather left my grandmother when my mom, the youngest of eight kids was born. He was to put it politely a flirt and we soon found after that he had a whole other family in Puerto Rico. My family has been in contact with his other family off and on for years, but nothing more than a simple letter or an occasionally picture. When I talked to my brother he informed me that my grandfather died three months ago and not all of his family lived in Puerto Rico. In fact, a nice chunk of them live in Philadelphia, only 45 minutes away from us. I was in tears. It was a bittersweet moment for me, because I always wanted to meet my grandfather. It never dawned on me that he would die before I found the time to find him, but at the same time I have all these first cousins that I never knew existed. One of my cousins is actually on Facebook, so now we have contact with him and his immediate family which basically gives us access to everyone. We are all planning to meet up soon to get to know each other. Maybe I will finally learn how to speak Spanish. This way when people come up to me and start rambling off, I can say something other than "No comprende!" It's a small world after all. I never believed that until now.

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You ever have one of those days that just makes you long for better ones? A day where there isn’t anything going particularly right or particularly wrong, but something’s just off. I found myself having one of those days this week. I just felt like I was floating along, with no rhyme or reason, just simply going through the motions of life. I got up and got dressed and went to class the same as always but, there was something missing. The sparkle and the spice were gone for some reason. Somewhere in the midst of this spiritually unfruitful day, I began to long for my youth. Granted, I’m only 20, but I’m no spring chicken in the big picture of life, 2 decades is a big deal. I began to reminisce on my younger years when I would spend days with my great-grandmother, my brothers, and cousins. She handed me a saw at the age of 4 and we would all go looking for fire wood for the wood burning stove that she kept in her living room. In the summers we would pick the weeds from around her front step and plant vegetables in her garden. We were always covered in dirt and debris from the countryside. I smell I grotesquely refer to today as “outside”. On this dark day of sorts, I thought about all of this. The life I once had as a child, I wonder if it will ever resurface. Will I be planting vegetables in my garden with a gang of my dirty outside smelling great-grandkids? Sometimes you can’t help but think about your past life and how it will influence or effect your present and future.

I’m a long way from having great grandkids of my own, but hopefully one day I will. Perhaps I’ll even hand a four year-old girl a little blue hand saw to drag along the ground and make a trail in the snow. To you all it’s probably a silly thought. But, to me it’s just a memory made and a memory to come. I miss being that little girl sometimes, she was an entire different entity that one. She was the softer side of me. I side that at one point in time got buried away with the piano lessons, tape shoes, and the colorful hair ties.

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey Everyone!!!!!

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote, but the hard drive on my computer crashed so I haven't had anything to blog on. Hopefully, I will be sending it away to the manufacturer for a replacement later this week. In the meantime, however I will be using Montclair State's Laptop Lending service, located in the library. So I guess you all are wondering what's new in my life. Nothing much, is the answer. I went home to visit my family last weekend for the first time this semester. I had a lot of fun there. My parents aren't as bad as I once thought when I lived with them 24/7. While I was home I shot a mini-documentary for my Television 2 Production course. The basis of the doc was unemployment. Currently, my entire family is unemployed except for me. I was worried that the footage wasn't any good, but it turns out that my professor really loved the raw footage I got. I'm hoping post-production will go as well as production went.

Right now I'm really focused on school. I want to get really good grades this semester so I can boost my gpa back to a 3.6. Speaking of grades, the only class that's really kicking my butt is Photography I. It's hard for me to be creative all the time, even though that's kind of what I go to school for. The other thing I need to figure out is what I want to minor in, it's a toss up between photography and business. I'm just not sure about what route career wise I want to take at this point in my life. To make television or be a wedding planner, I'm just unsure. Other than that, nothing has really been happening. I've just been living my life. As eventful or uneventful as it may be. Catch later.

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is my fourth semester at MSU, and although I love it, it is my dream to graduate early. As of now, I am on schedule to graduate a semester early, so I will be out of college for about 4 months before I am "suppose" to. But, for the last few weeks all I can think about is graduation. I know it's still a year and a half away, but I got the itch. Maybe it's because the summer is coming and I'm excited for vacation, but I'm rearing to go. I love the time I have spent here at Montclair, but all good things must come to an end. I don't know, I'm just ready to be out their in the workforce, doing something I love, something I'm good at. What that is as of right now I don't know. I know, I know for someone rearing to go she should have a better plan. But, I don't and that's the exciting part. As Montclair's moto says: CARPE DIEM!!! SEIZE THE DAY

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 4:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week in the Soap Opera that is my life:

A few week back I wish in a minor fender bender on Bloomfield Avenue attempting to pick-up my boyfriend from the bus stop. The short of the long story is that I side swiped a guy changing lanes. There were a lot of tears, but no one was hurt, except for my soul as the cop wrote me an $85 ticket for careless driving, which by the way is 2 points on your license. Anyway, I had to appear in court, the scariest thing I've ever had to do. They drop the 2 points and lower my charge to unsafe driving which is a $250 surcharge. So, now my ticket is $339. I don't know if you guys know this but, when you go in front of the judge the bailiff takes your license until you pay your ticket at the window outside the court room. By the way they don't take credit cards at the courthouse. Once I found that out I had to go back in and talk to the judge and ask him if I could pay online. He agreed. When I got back to my dorm room, I tried to pay the ticket online with my credit card, but the government apparently doesn't take Discover Card. So, I had to call my mom and ask her to pay it for me. Of course, I will pay her back. But all this is just the cake for the icing I'm about to lay on you. When I pull up my ticket information at the bottom of the screen, there says other summons under this ticket number or license plate, click here for more information. So, like any other concerned person I click here. To my surprise, there is a warrant out under my license plate. I immediately call my mom and ask her what to do. I've never been in any trouble before and there is a warrant out for my arrest. The only information given is the town the warrant is from and the number to the courthouse. I know the town, because my boyfriend lives there, but I've never been pulled over there. My mom tells me to call in the morning.

When I wake up the next morning I have a text from my mom and she said she took care of it. Later that day I call my mom and she says there is a man in Burlington with the same license plate as me. The warrant is for his arrest, not mine. I immediately start laughing. Because, I know that this could only happen to me. This is my life at 20. But these are memories I will always remember.

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend was my one year anniversary with my boyfriend. Unlike most couples we aren't romantic. We are more like romantically awkward. Nothing ever goes according to plan, nothing ever falls into place just perfect, but it always falls into place. Our anniversary wasn't any different. I didn't wake up on time so we missed the movie we were suppose to see, which meant everything got pushed back three hours, which meant we didn't get to go ice skating for the first time. Don't get me wrong we had a good time. I got a new fish name Andre. He is adorably. Plus, we made a midnight run to Garden State Plaza because I wanted tostada pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. It was sweet. Nothing fancy, just us. One year's big deal and we could have done it big, but that's just not us.

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello everyone out there in web land. I've missed you oh so much. Let me start of by saying that my absence is by no means a reflection of how I feel about and that I am indeed deeply sorry for the disappearance. That being said, let's get down to business...

I'll give you the overview of the semester, since its' been so long. Since the last time we talked, a new semester has begun and I have a whole new host of reasons to gradually pull out what is left of my very short haircut. The good news is I dropped down from 16 credits to 13 which makes life a little easier, but and there is always a but with me as you guys know...they are 13 very involved credits. I am currently, taking my second to last Production class for my major (TV 2), which involves me being out in the field shooting my own footage and then taking said footage and turning it into something that remotely resembles television. The good part about TV 2 is that it is a lot more hands on than TV 1, but I am not exactly technological advanced so learning how to use Final Cut has been a challenge, especially since I am typing to you from by good old PC BABY!!!. The current project I'm working on, is a music video assignment, in which my partner Brigette and I will be shooting footage of our very own Montclair Be-boys. We need about 30 minutes of footage, that then needs to be edited down into 3 minutes. Hopefully, we can pull it off. This class makes me remember why I chose Broadcasting as a major to begin with.

Along, with the topic of The Arts...I guess I should tell you that I am currently enrolled in Photography 1. It is a beginners analog photography class, that counts as my fine art general education course. I'm sure I have told you before, but just in case I haven't...I'm not artsy. By the way taking good photographs isn't as easy as it sounds. Because, we use film cameras, there is a lot more involved than just pointing and shooting, despite what the Nikon commercials tell you. It's a struggle every day to print my pictures. But, Friday I went into the darkroom and I finally understood how to do things. I don' know it just clicked for me. I was standing in front of the enlarger and it just click. Trial and error doesn't mean failure. It means trial and error. So, perhaps I am artsy after all. I should be scanning some pictures in soon. So look out for those.

Next on the Agenda...

I got a little culture a few weeks ago. My very best friend in the whole wide world came to visit me. I've known her since we were 9 and we've been inseparable ever since. But, that's beside the point. Fida is Palestinian and she thought that since in all the years that I've known her and since I'm desperately trying to learn Arabic, that she would introduce me to my first Arabic meal. So, I went to Paterson with her family and we had dinner. I had things I thought I would never have and I actually liked them. I don't try new things ever and there I was in an Arabic restaurant trying everything. It was delicious.

This is Kofta Kebab. It is lamb with vegetables and rice.

Falafel

Stuffed grape leaves.

Valentine's Day 2011

So, I know Valentine's Day was six whole days ago, but since I was too busy to blog then. I'm blogging about it now. Valentine's Day normally isn't a big deal for me. My conscious rational side thinks it's a commercial holiday that flower, chocolate, and greeting card companies thrive off of. But, my emotional 20 year old woman side of me thinks its cute and romantic and a display of one's affection. I know, I'm a sap. This year I actually celebrated the holiday with my boyfriend. Not only did I get jewelry but he took me to a romantic hibachi dinner. Mount Fuji on 17 South. It's a great place. I had a great time and I hope you all did too. Just in case you didn't here's something that should at least make you smile.

That's all I have to say for now. Thanks for listening and sorry for the wait. Until next time.....

Posted by Lateefah Ruffin at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)