I’m A Famous Rockstar by Ben Jones
The title is misleading - I'm famous, and I'm a rockstar, but I'm not famous for being a rockstar. 
That title is misleading – I’m famous, and I’m a rockstar, but I’m not famous for being a rockstar. :-)
First, the “rockstar” bit. We had our CD Release show last week @ Harpers Ferry, which we somehow managed to fill with people. It was AWESOME. A great way to start my mini-vacation (which is where I’ve been hiding). So I’ve got CD’s now; stop by 3-107 if you want to grab one.
You guys had me laughing out loud with your comments in the previous entry – so hysterical and creative. Reading that thread helped me get over the end-of-vacation blues – many thanks. For the record, we were indeed in a viewbook planning session – Saad you were right with your first post – always trust your first instinct! ;-) I’ll post another pic soon for you guys to try to figure out, that was fun.
Now the “famous” part. Last Saturday, the Boston Globe published an op-ed of mine (text here) and I instantly began to receive a ton of email, both good and bad. The good email came from folks who understood that the piece was wholly tongue-in-cheek. The bad email came from angry environmentalists who took the piece a bit too seriously – which is ironic since environmental studies was one of my two majors in college. I probably know more about sustainability issues than the people who were writing to berate me.
I’ve considered myself an environmentalist for over a decade, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that people generally have no respect for those who preach about the environment in an elitist or antagonistic manner. I returned each email and assured the authors that we were on the same side, but suggested that they might dare to have a sense of humor – or whatever it takes to find common ground with the folks with which they wish to connect.
Not one of them wrote back. I suppose I should not be surprised.
On a related note, I’ve been meeting with the environmental studies folks here at MIT to try to give them some increased exposure within the application process. Wow, what a fantastic program. Look for further info in future entries as I learn more, but for now I’ll just say that anyone who is interested in sustainability and/or energy issues should *really* consider LFEE at MIT. It’s awesome.
Hope you guys are having a great summer!
-B
First =)
Summer’s been great and I hope yours has been too.
Save the Earth!
ahahah i read your article and chuckled.
so very excited that the MIT online application is up!
i want to submit my AMC 12 and AIME scores for 10th and 11th grade, but the form only allows for one AMC 10 and one AMC 12. is there any way to indicate that i am submitting 2 AMC 12 scores?
also, the AMC forms don’t seem to allow more than 3 characters, so we can’t write like 132.5, for example. i rounded up to what is probably an impossible score. hope that’s ok.
YAY!!
advice of the day— “Trust your first instinct”
source no. 1 –Ben Jones’ latest blog entry
source no. 2 –Minesweeper
hahaha! I realised the same early in the morning yesterday, while ‘minesweeping at my PC’; my first guess would be correct, but I would not normally trust it!
Great to know that you are FAMOUS + ROCKSTAR;
good day!
Soup – you can just list the higher score (round up to 133 in the case of 132.5, we’ll know what it means). If you’d like to list both, use question 14 (the ‘”anything else?” question).
Saad – oh, the days of minesweeper, so good. If anyone needs it for Mac OSX, I know a certain ’09 (don’t want to post his name here without his permission) who adapted (wrote?) a version.
Mike – so glad you like the tunes!
If anyone needs it for Linux, I have a copy I ported years ago too. It’s crap, but it works.
Ben, it’s hard not to like them. I was pleasantly surprised, as another ’09 sent me a few songs and I liked them. THEN he mentioned it was your band.
Later,
Mike.
Dude,
I’m a bit of an environment nut. . .
ask almost anyone in my dorm, or any of my friends. I will harass people (very nicely) to recycle. I head the recycle program at Next House. . .so I try to get people to do their part.
Hopefully MIT can win first place in Recyclemania this year!
-Stephanie
I hate you.
I can’t get Tremulant out of my head.
And Saad, what the hell are you doing sweeping for mines at your PC? Who’s after you?
Later,
Mike.
Hey!
I loved the article, Ben!
I am yet to listen to your songs though! Save a CD for me, will you?! :D
And Steph, wow, I’m a lot into recycling and stuff too! Will do my part to help MIT win Recyclemania definitely