Entry: The Twenty-Sixth-- Non-Complacent, Non-Conformist
Work ended Friday. I love my summer job, I really do, and it’s hard for me to believe it’s over, a mere ten weeks after it began. It's fun and rewarding in so many different waays, and I already know I want to go back for one more summer, at least. It’s just that I’m mildly concerned how all these camp summers will look on my resume. Especially since my official job title this year, according to my contract, was “Wizard.” Which I’ve been told is a full step above “Commander-in-Chief,” my position from the year before. And miles ahead of “Cotton Candy King,” my 2001 title. I just wonder: are Fortune 500 companies still looking to hire “Wizards” for their staffs? Are cotton candy making skills still valued in today’s ever-shrinking job market? It’s these questions that keep me awake at night, as I contemplate my uncertain future.
That’s not to say, however, that that’s the only thing keeping me awake at night. For instance, last Friday I had another weird arriving-back-at-Swarthmore dream (this makes at three, for those keeping score at home). It was a slight improvement over the first two; even though the campus was still bizarre and my quadmates incongruous, a couple real Swatties did make brief appearances before disappearing off into the dreamy ether. Most notable was Megan, hair dyed a very striking platinum blond shade, that I found to be most disconcerting. Still trying to figure out what that meant. Am I still anxious about school? I’ve yet to really work out my academic schedule, which could sort of be a source of stress, but I don't even want to get into that question... it's so complicated it deserves a whole LJ post of its own.
Anyway, with so much free time on my hands, I decided to be proactive this weekend, and attempted to organize some social gatherings myself (as opposed to my usual method of waiting for others to suggest things, and then tagging along). Went a resounding 0-for-3 on that front, and ended up spending most of the weekend lounging around at home. This was somewhat disappointing; even my usual passivity produces better results than that. On the bright side, I’m very well relaxed, except that the rapid transition from a hectic week of work to nothingness produced a sort of relaxation that was almost jarring. This odd sort of circumstance endowed me with an unusual amount of excess energy, and no convenient siphon for it. Already, more than once, I’m taken to doing scores of spontaneous jumping jacks*. I’ve also begun to enjoy jump-kicking the freezer door shut, which I’ve discovered is just a really cool thing to do, especially when it bounces back open again and makes all the refrigerator magnets clatter to the ground**. I strongly recommend trying this at home; you won’t be disappointed. (Assuming you have a refrigerator/freezer with the latter on top, the former on the bottom. Otherwise you could, in fact, end up disappointed. And that would be unfortunate.)
Of course, eventually I tire of these aerobic shenanigans. Then it’s off to watch some television, one of my many other exciting pastimes. I’m actually still catching up on shows I’ve taped over the past month, which is good, because I’m leery of becoming addicted to any new programs. I’m inundated with commercials for the Fox and CBS fall seasons (Skin! The Handler! Some David E. Kelley show about New Hampshire! Many, many generic sitcoms!), but I’m trying hard to resist. I figure that three regular weekly TV shows (four, if we end up watching Joe Millionaire again) is enough distraction for one person, especially with the ever-present danger of a video game system ending up in our room too. Wish me luck.
Finally, I’ve been making attempts to get in touch with my latent creativity. Towards this end, I’ve created a list on my computer of good, creative ideas, to add to whenever inspiration strikes. Eventually, I’ll use all these ideas to write a play or create an amazing game or invention or some sort of fancy, creative thing like that. That is what highly successful people always are advising you to do, isn't it, harnessing your creative potential and whatnot? Keeping a pen and paper by your bedside in case genius awakens you at 3 AM? Acting on your good ideas, rather than ignoring them? It seems to me like it is. Hopefully, someday this will let me become successful, so I can let people on the secret to my success.
Until then, however, I remain humbly yours, Alex, the Super Amazing Wizard Commander-in-Chief Cotton Candy Maker. Yay for me.
*Only once was this in public. But I was with my parents at the time, and I think their inexplicable embarrassment more than made up for whatever self-consciousness I myself might have felt.
**Dad (from the basement): What the heck are you doing up there?
Me (from the kitchen): Are you sure you want to know?
Dad: Probably not.
Me: Okay.
[end of conversation]. He still hasn't reinquired.
That’s not to say, however, that that’s the only thing keeping me awake at night. For instance, last Friday I had another weird arriving-back-at-Swarthmore dream (this makes at three, for those keeping score at home). It was a slight improvement over the first two; even though the campus was still bizarre and my quadmates incongruous, a couple real Swatties did make brief appearances before disappearing off into the dreamy ether. Most notable was Megan, hair dyed a very striking platinum blond shade, that I found to be most disconcerting. Still trying to figure out what that meant. Am I still anxious about school? I’ve yet to really work out my academic schedule, which could sort of be a source of stress, but I don't even want to get into that question... it's so complicated it deserves a whole LJ post of its own.
Anyway, with so much free time on my hands, I decided to be proactive this weekend, and attempted to organize some social gatherings myself (as opposed to my usual method of waiting for others to suggest things, and then tagging along). Went a resounding 0-for-3 on that front, and ended up spending most of the weekend lounging around at home. This was somewhat disappointing; even my usual passivity produces better results than that. On the bright side, I’m very well relaxed, except that the rapid transition from a hectic week of work to nothingness produced a sort of relaxation that was almost jarring. This odd sort of circumstance endowed me with an unusual amount of excess energy, and no convenient siphon for it. Already, more than once, I’m taken to doing scores of spontaneous jumping jacks*. I’ve also begun to enjoy jump-kicking the freezer door shut, which I’ve discovered is just a really cool thing to do, especially when it bounces back open again and makes all the refrigerator magnets clatter to the ground**. I strongly recommend trying this at home; you won’t be disappointed. (Assuming you have a refrigerator/freezer with the latter on top, the former on the bottom. Otherwise you could, in fact, end up disappointed. And that would be unfortunate.)
Of course, eventually I tire of these aerobic shenanigans. Then it’s off to watch some television, one of my many other exciting pastimes. I’m actually still catching up on shows I’ve taped over the past month, which is good, because I’m leery of becoming addicted to any new programs. I’m inundated with commercials for the Fox and CBS fall seasons (Skin! The Handler! Some David E. Kelley show about New Hampshire! Many, many generic sitcoms!), but I’m trying hard to resist. I figure that three regular weekly TV shows (four, if we end up watching Joe Millionaire again) is enough distraction for one person, especially with the ever-present danger of a video game system ending up in our room too. Wish me luck.
Finally, I’ve been making attempts to get in touch with my latent creativity. Towards this end, I’ve created a list on my computer of good, creative ideas, to add to whenever inspiration strikes. Eventually, I’ll use all these ideas to write a play or create an amazing game or invention or some sort of fancy, creative thing like that. That is what highly successful people always are advising you to do, isn't it, harnessing your creative potential and whatnot? Keeping a pen and paper by your bedside in case genius awakens you at 3 AM? Acting on your good ideas, rather than ignoring them? It seems to me like it is. Hopefully, someday this will let me become successful, so I can let people on the secret to my success.
Until then, however, I remain humbly yours, Alex, the Super Amazing Wizard Commander-in-Chief Cotton Candy Maker. Yay for me.
*Only once was this in public. But I was with my parents at the time, and I think their inexplicable embarrassment more than made up for whatever self-consciousness I myself might have felt.
**Dad (from the basement): What the heck are you doing up there?
Me (from the kitchen): Are you sure you want to know?
Dad: Probably not.
Me: Okay.
[end of conversation]. He still hasn't reinquired.