good-bye 2007...THANK GOD it's over
"En el país de los ciegos, el tuerto es el rey." "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king."
I got that one from my spanish quote of the day application from facebook. I recommend it even if you don't speak spanish, it's hilarious. i can't put my finger on exactly what it reminds me of. somewhat like in an office, when they promote the slightly more competant person to be assistant manager or in a grocery store when the 17 year old manages the 15 year old cashiers. or in american politics when the slightly less horrible guy gets the rule over the slightly more horrible people. something like that.
so besides practicing spanish, i've also been attempting some french. for christmas jana gave me a couple of french phrasebooks since for her wish from the "make a wish foundation" she's taking me to PARIS!!!!! AHHH i'm so excited i've really wanted to go there. i plan to get a lot of cheap tourist junk that says I "j'taime" stuff on it. nice.
so 2007 was maybe the worst year yet. luke and i forced ourselves to talk about the good parts of 2007 last night so that we wouldn't sound so bitter. we came up with: we got decent jobs, an apartment together, a cat, got to go to a red sox playoff game, met some cool people from work/portland, graduated from college, i went to st. thomas with my family for spring break.... i think that was it.
2007 earned it's reputation as worst year yet due to a combo of people dying, getting cancer, oweing piles of money to loan sharks, credit card companies, and my insurance company(fuck insurance, like i chose to have emergency surgery), and a hellish 2nd semester prior to graduation. all this stirred together has cast a gloomy glow over 2007, but IT IS OVER! and i'm so excited to have a new year to look forward to.
last week at our family christmas gathering, we ushered out 2007 as only we can by getting piss drunk and having a big cry fest over everything that sucks in life. my aunt and my cousin eben absolutly bawled all day. the highlight was my plastered aunt screaming "It's christmas for fuck's sake..falalala" and then falling into tears again.
sometimes you just have to let out how you really feel and later blame it on the booze.
christmas with my immediate family was quiet but nice and as i said i got that super awesome trip to france! i look at it as a symbol of turning bad situations into good ones, and bad years leading into better ones. i guess you learn and become stronger from each experience, it's just some experiences last so long it's take awhile to realize you're now looking back on it and reflecting.
new years eve didn't really pan out the way luke and i had planned. we had wanted to go away skiing for the weekend but things got complicated with money, who was gonna watch the cat, and also there have been 5 large snowstorms in the last 5 days so that makes going anywhere difficult. we then tried to get up to pemmaquid to at least be lame in another town, but with the snow that was also impossible. so instead we braved the snowbanks and trudged down to our favorite restaurant on the water for a romantic late night dinner. there was hardly anyone in the old port with all the festivities being canceled, so it was quiet. we had a drink after and went home early to finish out the year.
This year is going to be better since i'm going to pack it with a lot more activity. it was nice to have a break after college and just focus on work, but now i need some other things to keep me busy. i plan on taking some community classes (yoga, maybe french and/or spanish) and then this fall i'm going to start graduate work at the University of Southern Maine, first working towards a graduate certificate in non-profit management and then eventually a Master's degree in Public policy and management. i plan to just do 1 or 2 graduate classes per semester since i work full time, but i think it will be a great change of pace. i'm also searching for a nice volunteer opportunity to get involved with. just gotta pay off my credit card first so i can charge it back up again. My list of resolutions/goals is about 30 long so I won't bore you with all of them, but with everything that's happened lately I feel good that i'm still motivated enough to make goals.
my dad is coming over in a few hours to take me out to lunch. 3 cheers for my dad. he's such a great guy. he's had to deal with a lot of crap at work lately and at home, and he's still positive and funny. my mom has been at his throat for the last few months and i imagine that has taken it's toll. despite how nice it was to get a break from my parents for the last few years it's interesting to now see them up close again and remember how strange they are. the last time i saw my mom she was talking about her shoe collection and said something like "i have 20 pairs of sneakers and none of them are good enough". essentially that's how my mom lives her life. she surrounds herself with piles and piles of expensive junk that she constantly complains about having, and you can live your whole life trying to impress her and make her happy but you'll never reach that exact level of perfection that she's looking for. 20 different pairs of sneakers and not one is acceptable. i love her dearly, she's just interesting.
jana just has one more hospital stay left, and then the rest of her treatments can be done at home or at the local clinic. we're all looking forward to that since the hospital bores her out of her mind. it's so sad to see the little babies going through chemo. how does a baby get cancer? that just seems like the most unfair thing in the universe. the hospital did put on some interesting events during the holidays including a santa clause and his elf coming to all the rooms (the elf was a real "little person" or whatever the PC term is). i find that to be disturbing for some reason. also all the little bald kids dressed up like reindeer and pranced around for a play. jana declined to participate. although the last time she was in, she was so looped on drugs she considered putting on her own song and dance routine for everyone. amoung other things she actually gets "medical marajuana" which is straight THC pumped through an IV. woah. i'm stoned just thinking about how intense that must be. i'm sure she'd trade it for good health in a heat beat though. we've all moved into "hat and bandana phase" with jana. i'm required to wear a hat when i'm with her and on christmas morning all 4 of us wore hats.
no christmas pictures were taken this year, just furthur proof that 2007 should be striken from the record.
on a lighter note, i recommend the "instant karma" CD, a tribute album to john lennon with proceeds to benefit Darfur. Also, as much as this will not sound like me; Wyclef Jean, Carnival Volume II. I asked for this CD for christmas based on his video for "Dollar Bill". it's set in a refuge camp in africa but everyone in there is a person of color but they are all americans. the whole video is these people trying not to get deported. it really makes you think when you watch it, or it least it made me think. as far as books go, i've been trying to keep it light lately so i read the entire epic harry potter series. i always thought it was a stupid trend, but damn those books are good. i've also read a few Jodi Piccoult books which i also enjoyed (although i'd never admit it on facebook). after watching an epic VH1 documentary on drugs, i bought On the Road and have really liked it so far. it's intense, so not something i can read all at once. i'm also re-reading The Zapatista Reader, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I LOVE that book.
besides paris i hope to take a few more trips this year since i'm planning to apply for a new job at work. i love my department but i need to do something a little more internationally focused and involved with students. The title is Teach Coordinator, where i'd place recent grads in other countries to teach english, peace corps style. it's a small but amazing program that CIEE offers and i'd be so excited to work in that department. more details to come if anything comes of it. i try not to get too excited, but since 2008 is going to be the best year ever, who knows what could happen.
alright, that's enough for now...time to get started.
I got that one from my spanish quote of the day application from facebook. I recommend it even if you don't speak spanish, it's hilarious. i can't put my finger on exactly what it reminds me of. somewhat like in an office, when they promote the slightly more competant person to be assistant manager or in a grocery store when the 17 year old manages the 15 year old cashiers. or in american politics when the slightly less horrible guy gets the rule over the slightly more horrible people. something like that.
so besides practicing spanish, i've also been attempting some french. for christmas jana gave me a couple of french phrasebooks since for her wish from the "make a wish foundation" she's taking me to PARIS!!!!! AHHH i'm so excited i've really wanted to go there. i plan to get a lot of cheap tourist junk that says I "j'taime" stuff on it. nice.
so 2007 was maybe the worst year yet. luke and i forced ourselves to talk about the good parts of 2007 last night so that we wouldn't sound so bitter. we came up with: we got decent jobs, an apartment together, a cat, got to go to a red sox playoff game, met some cool people from work/portland, graduated from college, i went to st. thomas with my family for spring break.... i think that was it.
2007 earned it's reputation as worst year yet due to a combo of people dying, getting cancer, oweing piles of money to loan sharks, credit card companies, and my insurance company(fuck insurance, like i chose to have emergency surgery), and a hellish 2nd semester prior to graduation. all this stirred together has cast a gloomy glow over 2007, but IT IS OVER! and i'm so excited to have a new year to look forward to.
last week at our family christmas gathering, we ushered out 2007 as only we can by getting piss drunk and having a big cry fest over everything that sucks in life. my aunt and my cousin eben absolutly bawled all day. the highlight was my plastered aunt screaming "It's christmas for fuck's sake..falalala" and then falling into tears again.
sometimes you just have to let out how you really feel and later blame it on the booze.
christmas with my immediate family was quiet but nice and as i said i got that super awesome trip to france! i look at it as a symbol of turning bad situations into good ones, and bad years leading into better ones. i guess you learn and become stronger from each experience, it's just some experiences last so long it's take awhile to realize you're now looking back on it and reflecting.
new years eve didn't really pan out the way luke and i had planned. we had wanted to go away skiing for the weekend but things got complicated with money, who was gonna watch the cat, and also there have been 5 large snowstorms in the last 5 days so that makes going anywhere difficult. we then tried to get up to pemmaquid to at least be lame in another town, but with the snow that was also impossible. so instead we braved the snowbanks and trudged down to our favorite restaurant on the water for a romantic late night dinner. there was hardly anyone in the old port with all the festivities being canceled, so it was quiet. we had a drink after and went home early to finish out the year.
This year is going to be better since i'm going to pack it with a lot more activity. it was nice to have a break after college and just focus on work, but now i need some other things to keep me busy. i plan on taking some community classes (yoga, maybe french and/or spanish) and then this fall i'm going to start graduate work at the University of Southern Maine, first working towards a graduate certificate in non-profit management and then eventually a Master's degree in Public policy and management. i plan to just do 1 or 2 graduate classes per semester since i work full time, but i think it will be a great change of pace. i'm also searching for a nice volunteer opportunity to get involved with. just gotta pay off my credit card first so i can charge it back up again. My list of resolutions/goals is about 30 long so I won't bore you with all of them, but with everything that's happened lately I feel good that i'm still motivated enough to make goals.
my dad is coming over in a few hours to take me out to lunch. 3 cheers for my dad. he's such a great guy. he's had to deal with a lot of crap at work lately and at home, and he's still positive and funny. my mom has been at his throat for the last few months and i imagine that has taken it's toll. despite how nice it was to get a break from my parents for the last few years it's interesting to now see them up close again and remember how strange they are. the last time i saw my mom she was talking about her shoe collection and said something like "i have 20 pairs of sneakers and none of them are good enough". essentially that's how my mom lives her life. she surrounds herself with piles and piles of expensive junk that she constantly complains about having, and you can live your whole life trying to impress her and make her happy but you'll never reach that exact level of perfection that she's looking for. 20 different pairs of sneakers and not one is acceptable. i love her dearly, she's just interesting.
jana just has one more hospital stay left, and then the rest of her treatments can be done at home or at the local clinic. we're all looking forward to that since the hospital bores her out of her mind. it's so sad to see the little babies going through chemo. how does a baby get cancer? that just seems like the most unfair thing in the universe. the hospital did put on some interesting events during the holidays including a santa clause and his elf coming to all the rooms (the elf was a real "little person" or whatever the PC term is). i find that to be disturbing for some reason. also all the little bald kids dressed up like reindeer and pranced around for a play. jana declined to participate. although the last time she was in, she was so looped on drugs she considered putting on her own song and dance routine for everyone. amoung other things she actually gets "medical marajuana" which is straight THC pumped through an IV. woah. i'm stoned just thinking about how intense that must be. i'm sure she'd trade it for good health in a heat beat though. we've all moved into "hat and bandana phase" with jana. i'm required to wear a hat when i'm with her and on christmas morning all 4 of us wore hats.
no christmas pictures were taken this year, just furthur proof that 2007 should be striken from the record.
on a lighter note, i recommend the "instant karma" CD, a tribute album to john lennon with proceeds to benefit Darfur. Also, as much as this will not sound like me; Wyclef Jean, Carnival Volume II. I asked for this CD for christmas based on his video for "Dollar Bill". it's set in a refuge camp in africa but everyone in there is a person of color but they are all americans. the whole video is these people trying not to get deported. it really makes you think when you watch it, or it least it made me think. as far as books go, i've been trying to keep it light lately so i read the entire epic harry potter series. i always thought it was a stupid trend, but damn those books are good. i've also read a few Jodi Piccoult books which i also enjoyed (although i'd never admit it on facebook). after watching an epic VH1 documentary on drugs, i bought On the Road and have really liked it so far. it's intense, so not something i can read all at once. i'm also re-reading The Zapatista Reader, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I LOVE that book.
besides paris i hope to take a few more trips this year since i'm planning to apply for a new job at work. i love my department but i need to do something a little more internationally focused and involved with students. The title is Teach Coordinator, where i'd place recent grads in other countries to teach english, peace corps style. it's a small but amazing program that CIEE offers and i'd be so excited to work in that department. more details to come if anything comes of it. i try not to get too excited, but since 2008 is going to be the best year ever, who knows what could happen.
alright, that's enough for now...time to get started.