Are we some dumb-ass niggas or what?
17 days since my last update - not counting posts to other groups.
So what's been going on since last time? Not much. After I got back from the DC trip for July 4, I worked another day at Akustica, and then we were basically finished. Since then I've been trying to find something to fill the time between now and the Canada trip, which is in a week...I leave a week from Sunday (the 4th) and I get back on Thursday night, the 15th. It ought to be a blast - and the camera I bought in DC ought to be finished by then, so I can get those pics developed, scanned, and posted.
I've basically had 3 free weeks here, though...with my mother's help, I took a shot at tackling what it is I want to do with my life/career/etc - worked through some exercises in this book called What Color Is Your Parachute? that gave me some interesting information about myself, my skills, my interests, and how that relates to what I think is important or needs to be done...
I've also been thinking a lot about things I could be doing outside of school...not so much like getting a job outside of class, but more like...tossing around the idea of taking a year off to go join Americorps and do some service work in some other city somewhere. Not sure what exactly that would gain me, and I'd of course have to make sure I'd keep whatever standing I have so I could come back to CMU and pick up where I left off...and right now it's just a thought. But on the other hand - let's face it. I'm underperforming. On paper I'm essentially a C student, and it's not because I can't understand things, or because I'm not able to do better, I just....don't. I'm unmotivated to do my classwork, and maybe what I need is some kind of wakeup call. For Matt it seemed like taking a year off, working at Chesapeake, and then spending the summer in Maryland, alone, concentrating on his classes, worked out well for him. I know I can pull off a great term if I stay focused, but there's really nothing to suggest that I won't underperform again in the fall....start off strong, then just stop caring and slack off. I can't afford to do that anymore - the next 2 years of school have to be really great, especially since I basically pissed away the first 2. So maybe what I need is something different...though I don't want to leave CMU, really...and I don't want to lose a year. But it's something to think about...right now, though, I'm sticking with school, and going back to CMU in the fall. This is just stuff that's been bouncing around in my head these past 2 weeks.
Other than that, I've been spending these days trying to keep busy somehow. I did some cleaning one day, I've been working out, and I raided my parents' bookshelves and came up with a 2-foot-high stack of books that look very long, very dense, and for the most part pretty interesting. I also bought (and already read) Nick Hornby's About A Boy and a collection of short stories by Philip K Dick. Right now I'm about halfway through Intrepid's Last Case, a book about the head of British intelligence during the Second World War, and his activities after the war in dealing with the KGB and Soviet spy rings in North America during the Cold War.
I've also bought some hockey equipment - just gloves and a stick, really - and went out with Taku to a rink out in Murrysville or somewhere, learned to skate, and had a lot of fun. I definitely ought to play hockey more often, or at least ice skate...I think I finally learned the motions...
Last weekend, some of my mother's cousins decided, also, to get as much of that side of the family together...the Blackmonds and other names that I don't really know, but they're mostly relatives of Grandpa's sister that I sort of remember. Last time they saw me, I was a baby, so that was fun...there were a few dozen of us and we all took over a park in the North Hills for an afternoon of grilling, frisbee, basketball, etc. It was cool to meet a lot of these people...they all apparently live somewhere in the Pittsburgh area, and they're all my relatives. I'd met a lot of my extended family on my dad's side, but not so much on my mother's. Then again, my maternal grandfather only has the one sister, while my paternal grandfather was one of ten children. So...they're a bit bigger, and more prone to organizing big reunions...
The last big event of the past 2 and a half weeks was last night - the Guster/John Mayer concert with Martin Sexton opening (never heard of him before...though he was OK, even if he only played 4 songs). The people I saw there were a long list of people I haven't seen in a long time...mostly because they're either still in high school or because I keep forgetting to get in touch with them. I went with Craig and his new girlfriend, Meg and her friends were there, even the ones she's feuding with at the moment. I also saw Shaina Wertheimer and Chloe and their Dice-girl friends, who are still as refreshingly friendly as they always were during the musicals. I also ran into Robert Nathenson, who promised (again) to give me a call so we could hang out before he goes back to school. I was definitely in my element...I was energetic, talking to everybody, making fun of all kinds of people in the crowd (sorry you missed it, Andy, you'd have loved it), etc...I really had fun. Also, the sky exploded right about when the concert started...I haven't seen it rain that hard since the Dave Matthews concert. It was really cool....especially since all the high school chicks who had done themselves up so they could throw themselves at John Mayer were all out in the rain frolicking. Good times....good times. I even met a girl there, Erica, who was a friend of Craig's girlfriend - goes to Pitt, is really short (what is it with us tall guys and short girls?), and quite attractive. We spent most of the evening in some pretty animated conversation - the vibes were good. But she just graduated and she's off to Michigan in 2 weeks for grad school. So much for that idea. Still...it was fun to have a girl take that kind of interest in me. It's been a while since I've been able to get into that sort of mood/conversation/situation with a girl I just met. I'll see her again before she leaves.
That about sums it up - today I've just been reading and writing this entry, and this evening I'll be either at a big going-away party at the Craig st. apartment for Taku (he's off to Americorps in Florida for 11 months) or I'll be at a drive-in movie with Craig and the people I was with last night at the concert.
I can't believe the summer's almost over...it's just over a week till I leave for Canada. Counting today, in fact, it's....how long is it, Matt? =)
So what's been going on since last time? Not much. After I got back from the DC trip for July 4, I worked another day at Akustica, and then we were basically finished. Since then I've been trying to find something to fill the time between now and the Canada trip, which is in a week...I leave a week from Sunday (the 4th) and I get back on Thursday night, the 15th. It ought to be a blast - and the camera I bought in DC ought to be finished by then, so I can get those pics developed, scanned, and posted.
I've basically had 3 free weeks here, though...with my mother's help, I took a shot at tackling what it is I want to do with my life/career/etc - worked through some exercises in this book called What Color Is Your Parachute? that gave me some interesting information about myself, my skills, my interests, and how that relates to what I think is important or needs to be done...
I've also been thinking a lot about things I could be doing outside of school...not so much like getting a job outside of class, but more like...tossing around the idea of taking a year off to go join Americorps and do some service work in some other city somewhere. Not sure what exactly that would gain me, and I'd of course have to make sure I'd keep whatever standing I have so I could come back to CMU and pick up where I left off...and right now it's just a thought. But on the other hand - let's face it. I'm underperforming. On paper I'm essentially a C student, and it's not because I can't understand things, or because I'm not able to do better, I just....don't. I'm unmotivated to do my classwork, and maybe what I need is some kind of wakeup call. For Matt it seemed like taking a year off, working at Chesapeake, and then spending the summer in Maryland, alone, concentrating on his classes, worked out well for him. I know I can pull off a great term if I stay focused, but there's really nothing to suggest that I won't underperform again in the fall....start off strong, then just stop caring and slack off. I can't afford to do that anymore - the next 2 years of school have to be really great, especially since I basically pissed away the first 2. So maybe what I need is something different...though I don't want to leave CMU, really...and I don't want to lose a year. But it's something to think about...right now, though, I'm sticking with school, and going back to CMU in the fall. This is just stuff that's been bouncing around in my head these past 2 weeks.
Other than that, I've been spending these days trying to keep busy somehow. I did some cleaning one day, I've been working out, and I raided my parents' bookshelves and came up with a 2-foot-high stack of books that look very long, very dense, and for the most part pretty interesting. I also bought (and already read) Nick Hornby's About A Boy and a collection of short stories by Philip K Dick. Right now I'm about halfway through Intrepid's Last Case, a book about the head of British intelligence during the Second World War, and his activities after the war in dealing with the KGB and Soviet spy rings in North America during the Cold War.
I've also bought some hockey equipment - just gloves and a stick, really - and went out with Taku to a rink out in Murrysville or somewhere, learned to skate, and had a lot of fun. I definitely ought to play hockey more often, or at least ice skate...I think I finally learned the motions...
Last weekend, some of my mother's cousins decided, also, to get as much of that side of the family together...the Blackmonds and other names that I don't really know, but they're mostly relatives of Grandpa's sister that I sort of remember. Last time they saw me, I was a baby, so that was fun...there were a few dozen of us and we all took over a park in the North Hills for an afternoon of grilling, frisbee, basketball, etc. It was cool to meet a lot of these people...they all apparently live somewhere in the Pittsburgh area, and they're all my relatives. I'd met a lot of my extended family on my dad's side, but not so much on my mother's. Then again, my maternal grandfather only has the one sister, while my paternal grandfather was one of ten children. So...they're a bit bigger, and more prone to organizing big reunions...
The last big event of the past 2 and a half weeks was last night - the Guster/John Mayer concert with Martin Sexton opening (never heard of him before...though he was OK, even if he only played 4 songs). The people I saw there were a long list of people I haven't seen in a long time...mostly because they're either still in high school or because I keep forgetting to get in touch with them. I went with Craig and his new girlfriend, Meg and her friends were there, even the ones she's feuding with at the moment. I also saw Shaina Wertheimer and Chloe and their Dice-girl friends, who are still as refreshingly friendly as they always were during the musicals. I also ran into Robert Nathenson, who promised (again) to give me a call so we could hang out before he goes back to school. I was definitely in my element...I was energetic, talking to everybody, making fun of all kinds of people in the crowd (sorry you missed it, Andy, you'd have loved it), etc...I really had fun. Also, the sky exploded right about when the concert started...I haven't seen it rain that hard since the Dave Matthews concert. It was really cool....especially since all the high school chicks who had done themselves up so they could throw themselves at John Mayer were all out in the rain frolicking. Good times....good times. I even met a girl there, Erica, who was a friend of Craig's girlfriend - goes to Pitt, is really short (what is it with us tall guys and short girls?), and quite attractive. We spent most of the evening in some pretty animated conversation - the vibes were good. But she just graduated and she's off to Michigan in 2 weeks for grad school. So much for that idea. Still...it was fun to have a girl take that kind of interest in me. It's been a while since I've been able to get into that sort of mood/conversation/situation with a girl I just met. I'll see her again before she leaves.
That about sums it up - today I've just been reading and writing this entry, and this evening I'll be either at a big going-away party at the Craig st. apartment for Taku (he's off to Americorps in Florida for 11 months) or I'll be at a drive-in movie with Craig and the people I was with last night at the concert.
I can't believe the summer's almost over...it's just over a week till I leave for Canada. Counting today, in fact, it's....how long is it, Matt? =)