some past things never change, but some do
I come back from yet another long AWOL period in my livejournaling, I'm still too forced(sadly) to depend on my parents, I'm increasingly convinced month after month back again living in Chicago for just over a year that I made the right long-term decision for myself sometime ago to one day permanently move from here but keep some semblance of ties to here(just like how my dad got sick of the community he grew up in in central Georgia, moved away, but kept some ties to his hometown), and too many employers still to this day give me the cold shoulder when I apply for jobs. Is there still any wonder anymore why I'm often reluctant to apply for jobs, and too often fall right back into my same 'ol procrastination habits?
Main thing that's occurred in my life inbetween 2 years ago and now, is that I chose to drop out of Illinois State University last year due to grade problems and small other probs that painfully hurt me so much, and am unlikely to ever disclose the latter to any but my very closest friends. That decision was a tough and sad one to make, since there were aspects of Illinois State I absolutely loved(i.e. their School of Communication, and their theater one, and meeting great friends there I'll never forget), and some I didn't like about it(i.e how impersonal and unfriendly certain departments were, the high turnover of employees and interns in Student Counciling Services, and the fact college police there are more unhelpful than anything else, as a laptop I owned through the middle of my semesters at Illinois State got stolen and was never recovered). On the other hand, I'm still as politically independent and centrist as I've ever been, I've been more and more making decent money from selling old items of mine I no longer need, and see a great gold mine in one day beginning to sell select digital camera pics I take for extra income. It's very amazing how big of a hobby taking digital camera pics has become for myself!
Finally, as someone who has never been more than an infrequent smoker, the lies and flawed science powerful anti-smoking groups say to further their biased and flawed agenda(i.e. smoking bans, especially outdoor bans, increasing tobacco taxes) make me downright sick as hell. I have heard too many stories throughout Illinois, and Ohio(the first Midwestern state that passed a ban) to not be convinced how comprehensive bans are hurting independent businesses, including in the city of Chicago, suburbs, downstate cities, and rural areas. I'm very happy as heck that proposed state bans failed in Wisconsin and Michigan this year, to name a few examples. This is one guy who will always be in favor of free choice on smoking policy when it comes to private business(but absolutely favors bans in certain places where both smokers and non-smokers must use, such as government buildings and public transit, but am against bans in PRIVATE businesses). I also applaud the many businesses that have been keen enough to take their own initiatives to voluntarily prohibit smoking on their own(if the owner truly believes operating a smoke-free business works best for them), without an unnecessary government-imposed smoking ban in non-ban areas. Basically, if what I said above didn't make sense to anyone, I'm just a person who truly believes that there's room for smoke-free businesses, mixed smoking/non-smoking businesses, and all smoking businesses to co-exist together.
Wish me luck that I may finally be on the way to using LJ more often, as I'm finally realizing what I need to do in future job interviews that I didn't do(and hurt my chances) in job interviews earlier this year, and thankfully my self-esteem has been on the upswing for the 2nd half of 2008. And of course, sad as I was about the White Sox not making the World Series, yay for the Phillies being just one game away from winning it all!
Finally, planning to revise both my livejournal and facebook profiles(and of course, a full return to using facebook) soon!
Main thing that's occurred in my life inbetween 2 years ago and now, is that I chose to drop out of Illinois State University last year due to grade problems and small other probs that painfully hurt me so much, and am unlikely to ever disclose the latter to any but my very closest friends. That decision was a tough and sad one to make, since there were aspects of Illinois State I absolutely loved(i.e. their School of Communication, and their theater one, and meeting great friends there I'll never forget), and some I didn't like about it(i.e how impersonal and unfriendly certain departments were, the high turnover of employees and interns in Student Counciling Services, and the fact college police there are more unhelpful than anything else, as a laptop I owned through the middle of my semesters at Illinois State got stolen and was never recovered). On the other hand, I'm still as politically independent and centrist as I've ever been, I've been more and more making decent money from selling old items of mine I no longer need, and see a great gold mine in one day beginning to sell select digital camera pics I take for extra income. It's very amazing how big of a hobby taking digital camera pics has become for myself!
Finally, as someone who has never been more than an infrequent smoker, the lies and flawed science powerful anti-smoking groups say to further their biased and flawed agenda(i.e. smoking bans, especially outdoor bans, increasing tobacco taxes) make me downright sick as hell. I have heard too many stories throughout Illinois, and Ohio(the first Midwestern state that passed a ban) to not be convinced how comprehensive bans are hurting independent businesses, including in the city of Chicago, suburbs, downstate cities, and rural areas. I'm very happy as heck that proposed state bans failed in Wisconsin and Michigan this year, to name a few examples. This is one guy who will always be in favor of free choice on smoking policy when it comes to private business(but absolutely favors bans in certain places where both smokers and non-smokers must use, such as government buildings and public transit, but am against bans in PRIVATE businesses). I also applaud the many businesses that have been keen enough to take their own initiatives to voluntarily prohibit smoking on their own(if the owner truly believes operating a smoke-free business works best for them), without an unnecessary government-imposed smoking ban in non-ban areas. Basically, if what I said above didn't make sense to anyone, I'm just a person who truly believes that there's room for smoke-free businesses, mixed smoking/non-smoking businesses, and all smoking businesses to co-exist together.
Wish me luck that I may finally be on the way to using LJ more often, as I'm finally realizing what I need to do in future job interviews that I didn't do(and hurt my chances) in job interviews earlier this year, and thankfully my self-esteem has been on the upswing for the 2nd half of 2008. And of course, sad as I was about the White Sox not making the World Series, yay for the Phillies being just one game away from winning it all!
Finally, planning to revise both my livejournal and facebook profiles(and of course, a full return to using facebook) soon!