Annnnnd... it's fall!
And it's been about a month and a half since I've posted! Well, today is Homecoming for UF. One of the secretaries at work had extra tickets to our Homecoming game, so I bought two for my dad and I (he's been wanting to see the Gators play all season, and I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't gone up to this point). While I didn't attend Gator Growl this year, I did get a "sneak peek" at one of the student acts... in fact, Eva's roommate Anna, and our friend Jess, won a contest to perform at Gator Growl! So on Friday before the event there was a barbecue at Eva's house and the girls put on a little acoustic show... and they were good! I'll admit, I was a little POed when Anna won the ambassador position Eva was vying for, but she can sing AND play guitar, so I guess she is kinda sorta awesome (they're roommates, btw). Anyway, hopefully Gator Growl was good this year, besides no Jabbawockeez. However, the game?
Ugh!
UF is doing downright mediocre this season. Homecoming was against Mississippi State... and we LOST. 7-10. Two missed field goal attempts. If we had made those, we would have won. The new QB, Brantley, is a far cry from Tebow. He ran slower than the linebackers, for goodness' sake! His rushing game was atrocious, and when it came to passing he threw one interception, and a ton of incompletes, often to no one in particular or worse, to someone covered by 4 guys. Ouch! The ONLY good move he made was toward the end, in the last two minutes, when he threw the ball out of bounds on purpose just before getting sacked.
Anyway, long story short it was a piss-poor game with a ton of Gators mistakes and penalties. Time to look for jobs in Alabama to get on board the next rising team!
As for life itself, it carries on normally. I applied for a position (and interviewed) with the Zam Network. For those who don't know, I've been a huge poster since High School - the Zam Network is a large grouping of online videogame news and forums. I have almost 9000 posts on their forums since 2003! However, it's been almost a week since I interviewed and I've had no news back... so it doesn't seem good.
Two weeks ago I went to DE with Eva to visit Carolynn for her baby shower! I can't believe how big she's getting - and she's due in late November! She's my first friend to "do it right..." Graduated, got married, bought a house, and THEN got pregnant! I'm so happy for her and Tom... they're awesome people :-) We also celebrated Eva's 20th birthday while there. Alf and Julie accompanied us on a journey to Grassroots and the Fair Trade Shop, and then to dinner at Kate's. I miss UD SOOOOO much! I loved college... le sigh.
But life isn't bad here either! I'm liking my new digs very much, especially price-wise. My check book is the healthiest it's been since graduation, thanks to the cheap rent. So I have money to spare on things like zipping up to DE for a baby shower :-P Work is a mix... pretty standard, I should say, but I AM looking for a new job. Alas, no senior fiscal assistant positions have opened recently, so I'm a little stuck. Do I start over in another field, like a program assistant or a secretary? Hmmmm. Still no progress on graduate classes... they weren't kidding when they said taking time between graduating and working means you're a lot less likely to go back to school. Heck, I WORK at a school and I'm not taking classes! Well, besides ballroom dancing, which was a lot of fun :-)
This weekend's been a long weekend, thanks to the aforementioned Homecoming (which meant Friday off, yay!). I enjoyed the heck out of it. While the game was a disappointment, getting to spend the evening with my Dad, soaking in the crazy college atmosphere, was awesome. I played a lot of games and spent a lot of time with Eva. Heck, I even went to a church (Pentacostal) this morning! I... didn't mind it. It reminded me a lot of The Springs in Ocala. More upbeat music, lots of young people. The pastor was pretty good, challenging the traditional Protestant notion of "Sola Fide" (by faith alone) with passages from James where he basically says "Hey, cool, you believe in the Lord. Wonderful! Know who else does? Demons. Know where they are? Hell. Put your money where your mouth is." Go James. Frankly I was going between being a believer and an outsider. On the one hand, Christianity in general is... eh... religion. On the other hand, just because it's from religion doesn't mean it's wrong. Er, not about salvation, but the general message. If you believe something, practice it. For example, Eva's dad is the most outspoken Christian I have ever met. But you know what? While I disagree with a LOT of what he says, I cannot fault him for practicing exactly what he believes.
As for me, my faith in Christianity is yet again at a low point. But the pastor had some really good points. I especially took home the idea that you can't work just on the actions, but you need to get to the entire outlook. For me, I was applying it to myself secularly. For example, drinking. Sure, drinking excessively is bad. But drinking itself isn't the problem, just the result. I'm unfulfilled in life. I need more going on, I need a purpose, a goal, something to strive for. Even videogames are an escaping mechanism. Why will I spend the afternoon playing games when I'm dissatisfied with my job? Avoiding the problem, I am (Yoda voice).
Well, I do feel somewhat accomplished today. I took out the trash, washed my clothing and sheets, cleaned my car, went foodshopping... life is good. And despite my complaints (especially about the Gators) I'm good. God may or may not exist, but either way I'm blessed, and enjoying what I have :-) Ciao!
~Paul
PS: I feel like posting two things. Because Sam Tsui is the MAN. See this video, pls, KK, thnx!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdMZAeIfM94
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net
Ugh!
UF is doing downright mediocre this season. Homecoming was against Mississippi State... and we LOST. 7-10. Two missed field goal attempts. If we had made those, we would have won. The new QB, Brantley, is a far cry from Tebow. He ran slower than the linebackers, for goodness' sake! His rushing game was atrocious, and when it came to passing he threw one interception, and a ton of incompletes, often to no one in particular or worse, to someone covered by 4 guys. Ouch! The ONLY good move he made was toward the end, in the last two minutes, when he threw the ball out of bounds on purpose just before getting sacked.
Anyway, long story short it was a piss-poor game with a ton of Gators mistakes and penalties. Time to look for jobs in Alabama to get on board the next rising team!
As for life itself, it carries on normally. I applied for a position (and interviewed) with the Zam Network. For those who don't know, I've been a huge poster since High School - the Zam Network is a large grouping of online videogame news and forums. I have almost 9000 posts on their forums since 2003! However, it's been almost a week since I interviewed and I've had no news back... so it doesn't seem good.
Two weeks ago I went to DE with Eva to visit Carolynn for her baby shower! I can't believe how big she's getting - and she's due in late November! She's my first friend to "do it right..." Graduated, got married, bought a house, and THEN got pregnant! I'm so happy for her and Tom... they're awesome people :-) We also celebrated Eva's 20th birthday while there. Alf and Julie accompanied us on a journey to Grassroots and the Fair Trade Shop, and then to dinner at Kate's. I miss UD SOOOOO much! I loved college... le sigh.
But life isn't bad here either! I'm liking my new digs very much, especially price-wise. My check book is the healthiest it's been since graduation, thanks to the cheap rent. So I have money to spare on things like zipping up to DE for a baby shower :-P Work is a mix... pretty standard, I should say, but I AM looking for a new job. Alas, no senior fiscal assistant positions have opened recently, so I'm a little stuck. Do I start over in another field, like a program assistant or a secretary? Hmmmm. Still no progress on graduate classes... they weren't kidding when they said taking time between graduating and working means you're a lot less likely to go back to school. Heck, I WORK at a school and I'm not taking classes! Well, besides ballroom dancing, which was a lot of fun :-)
This weekend's been a long weekend, thanks to the aforementioned Homecoming (which meant Friday off, yay!). I enjoyed the heck out of it. While the game was a disappointment, getting to spend the evening with my Dad, soaking in the crazy college atmosphere, was awesome. I played a lot of games and spent a lot of time with Eva. Heck, I even went to a church (Pentacostal) this morning! I... didn't mind it. It reminded me a lot of The Springs in Ocala. More upbeat music, lots of young people. The pastor was pretty good, challenging the traditional Protestant notion of "Sola Fide" (by faith alone) with passages from James where he basically says "Hey, cool, you believe in the Lord. Wonderful! Know who else does? Demons. Know where they are? Hell. Put your money where your mouth is." Go James. Frankly I was going between being a believer and an outsider. On the one hand, Christianity in general is... eh... religion. On the other hand, just because it's from religion doesn't mean it's wrong. Er, not about salvation, but the general message. If you believe something, practice it. For example, Eva's dad is the most outspoken Christian I have ever met. But you know what? While I disagree with a LOT of what he says, I cannot fault him for practicing exactly what he believes.
As for me, my faith in Christianity is yet again at a low point. But the pastor had some really good points. I especially took home the idea that you can't work just on the actions, but you need to get to the entire outlook. For me, I was applying it to myself secularly. For example, drinking. Sure, drinking excessively is bad. But drinking itself isn't the problem, just the result. I'm unfulfilled in life. I need more going on, I need a purpose, a goal, something to strive for. Even videogames are an escaping mechanism. Why will I spend the afternoon playing games when I'm dissatisfied with my job? Avoiding the problem, I am (Yoda voice).
Well, I do feel somewhat accomplished today. I took out the trash, washed my clothing and sheets, cleaned my car, went foodshopping... life is good. And despite my complaints (especially about the Gators) I'm good. God may or may not exist, but either way I'm blessed, and enjoying what I have :-) Ciao!
~Paul
PS: I feel like posting two things. Because Sam Tsui is the MAN. See this video, pls, KK, thnx!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdMZAeIfM94
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net