(no subject)
Well, it's been a long while since I updated on here. But considering how I seemed to have pissed off my Mom tonight, I am trapped in my room (avoiding her wrath) and updating feels like a good idea. Maybe I'll tell the story towards the end of this...
First, I want to repeat myself and copy a bit of a note that I recently published in Facebook. "Exploits from the New World":
Considering that the vast majority of my friends on Facebook live across an ocean, I figured that I would post a 'note' to catch you all up at once. It has been almost a month since my return to the U.S.A., and while I've been busy - I certainly wouldn't say that time has exactly flown past.
Maybe it's because the last week in Edinburgh was so packed, but arriving in the quiet suburbs of Connecticut just seems... well, quiet. At the moment, I am living back at home with my Mother. We are getting along surprisingly well (all things considering), and because the house is on the market for sale there is always something that needs to be done. For instance, within a week of my return I was asked to tear down a wooden fence around the yard. Smashy-smashy-sledgehammer time! It was fun.
On the job front, I have probably sent out around 10-15 applications for various things. The quickest reply was from a staffing company which supplies substitute teachers to a local school (Pre-K and Kindergarten, children age 3-5). I get paid about $50-70 per day, and sometimes it is as easy as playing with Legos or watching them sleep. Other times, it can be insane and very stressful. The best part is - I can accept which days I want to work and which ones I don't. This is very useful when other job interviews come up, or when I realize that scholarship deadlines are approaching rapidly. (On a final note: I was just offered a position today to substitute teach in the local high schools. At least I am getting closer to my goal of a university classroom).
On the grander scale, all I can really do is wait for a lot of things: I am waiting to find out the quality of my degree (so I can order transcripts and apply to PhD programs); I am waiting to hear back about possible internships (to gain experience during this year 'off'); and I am waiting to see if this house sells (so I can finally unpack all my books from the basement and settle in).
Evenings are mostly occupied with the usual video games and social functions. A lot of my friends are out of town, but there seems to be a rotation where every weekend-or-so a different one returns for a visit. In addition, I am back to playing in the local community band (Holst Suites, Sousa marches, and John Williams medleys) and I have even taken on my first-ever trombone student!
I am definitely still looking for "more" to do, but at the same time I am hopeful that I might start an internship in January where I move to Upstate New York (back to Ithaca, my old undergraduate town). So for the time being, enough things are keeping me occupied and life in Connecticut feels relatively "frech" to me. I am not completely bored, and by the time I probably will be, I will have university applications to fill out and essays to write.
So take care everyone. I'll catch ya'll soon.
....
Anyway, that was yesterday. It's a good catch-up (with an admittedly positive spin) as to what I've been up to all month. Now I'd like to take a moment and discuss politics.
Duck and cover, if you must.
Well, to be honest, this is only half about politics--since I only watched about half of the political debate (courtesy of Pirate Bay). Although it was nice to get a recent clarification as to where they stand on the issues (they seem to change so quickly!), I nevertheless grew bored with hearing them repeat themselves. Maybe the next one I'll try to find in audio format so I can listen to it as I fall asleep. It's not exactly thrilling visual material (even if the little line graph at the bottom was kind of nifty--if not predictable and un-scientific).
So I browsed Facebook instead. Skipped around the 4-5 people who are still waiting for me to confirm them as friends (I probably never will, but I feel cruel to tell them so) and eventually followed a link from one of my friends who joined a new Group.
First off, I like Facebook Groups--least of all because they give me a clear idea as to where people stand. There have been people in my past whom I've wanted to de-friend after learning their stance on certain issues (but I didn't). In this case, however (and this comes from a similar idea), I like the Groups because they lead me to new thoughts...
My friend is Baba. I first "met" him almost a year ago when I initially flew to Scotland. I was looking for something to listen to on the airplane and I found his podcast on iTunes: Baba the Storyteller. It is a 15-minute podcast (updated twice per month), and it is exactly how it sounds. Each episode he begins with a soothing introduction, he maybe discusses a few recent events in his life as a travelling storyteller, and then Baba tells a story. Believe me, when you are stressed out about your future and living in an uncertain land, his calming voice and relaxing demeanor are very welcome. I essentially treated his episodes like personal bedtime stories. And eventually, I visited his website and ordered his digital CDs (of pure, bonus stories).
It was the only time I can think of where I was really happy to have a bad exchange rate. His albums cost about 10 USD, which is only about 5 GPD (maybe the price of two pints in a pub), so I felt no reason not to "give back" to this artist who had genuinely soothed me over the better course of the year. Long story short (too late!): there was a problem with online payments and we started trading a few e-mails and then he finally got on Facebook and friended me.
So, yeah, that was all just a huge plug. Go check out his website. He's good peoples.
On Facebook, Baba joined a group called "Invisible Children." Now, I know that he is currently re-visiting Africa for a bit, so I was curious to see what he found over there which deserved attention.
Invisible Children is a group of filmmakers/humanitarians who are trying to bring public attention to the civil war in Uganda--and specifically to the role which chilren are forced to play within that conflict. Their original documentary (which is available for free on Google videos) describes how the children from the bush walk miles into the city to sleep because they are afraid of the rebel forces. Apparently, these forces will abduct children in the middle of the night and force them to join their army or else face immediate death.
I watched the 55-minute documentary tonight, and I'll tell you - the 55 Minutes of documentary was infinitely more rewarding than the 55 minutes of Presidential Debate. It certainly wasn't a 'feel good' movie by any means, but it is a perfect example of my recent life philosophy: People should be subjected to what makes them uncomfortable. That is the only way we will grow and mature as a culture.
And 'No' - I probably will not go out and do anything to help stop this horrible situation. There is tons of shit like this out there (not documentaries, but crises). I am an admittedly worthless intellectual. Although I am fascinated, I am also rarely spurred into activism.
By the way, I am also skeptical about what the other side of the argument is regarding this war. But for now I will be content to simply accept that I am aware of it, unlike two hours ago.
So I guess this 'political rant' can be summed up as such: The politics which is fed to you is rubbish. When compared to the massive problems found throughout the world, both candidates (and their debate platforms) appear small and petty. It is better to spend one evening learning about the human condition rather than an entire week digging for a grain of truth among the soundbites.
G'night...
First, I want to repeat myself and copy a bit of a note that I recently published in Facebook. "Exploits from the New World":
Considering that the vast majority of my friends on Facebook live across an ocean, I figured that I would post a 'note' to catch you all up at once. It has been almost a month since my return to the U.S.A., and while I've been busy - I certainly wouldn't say that time has exactly flown past.
Maybe it's because the last week in Edinburgh was so packed, but arriving in the quiet suburbs of Connecticut just seems... well, quiet. At the moment, I am living back at home with my Mother. We are getting along surprisingly well (all things considering), and because the house is on the market for sale there is always something that needs to be done. For instance, within a week of my return I was asked to tear down a wooden fence around the yard. Smashy-smashy-sledgehammer time! It was fun.
On the job front, I have probably sent out around 10-15 applications for various things. The quickest reply was from a staffing company which supplies substitute teachers to a local school (Pre-K and Kindergarten, children age 3-5). I get paid about $50-70 per day, and sometimes it is as easy as playing with Legos or watching them sleep. Other times, it can be insane and very stressful. The best part is - I can accept which days I want to work and which ones I don't. This is very useful when other job interviews come up, or when I realize that scholarship deadlines are approaching rapidly. (On a final note: I was just offered a position today to substitute teach in the local high schools. At least I am getting closer to my goal of a university classroom).
On the grander scale, all I can really do is wait for a lot of things: I am waiting to find out the quality of my degree (so I can order transcripts and apply to PhD programs); I am waiting to hear back about possible internships (to gain experience during this year 'off'); and I am waiting to see if this house sells (so I can finally unpack all my books from the basement and settle in).
Evenings are mostly occupied with the usual video games and social functions. A lot of my friends are out of town, but there seems to be a rotation where every weekend-or-so a different one returns for a visit. In addition, I am back to playing in the local community band (Holst Suites, Sousa marches, and John Williams medleys) and I have even taken on my first-ever trombone student!
I am definitely still looking for "more" to do, but at the same time I am hopeful that I might start an internship in January where I move to Upstate New York (back to Ithaca, my old undergraduate town). So for the time being, enough things are keeping me occupied and life in Connecticut feels relatively "frech" to me. I am not completely bored, and by the time I probably will be, I will have university applications to fill out and essays to write.
So take care everyone. I'll catch ya'll soon.
....
Anyway, that was yesterday. It's a good catch-up (with an admittedly positive spin) as to what I've been up to all month. Now I'd like to take a moment and discuss politics.
Duck and cover, if you must.
Well, to be honest, this is only half about politics--since I only watched about half of the political debate (courtesy of Pirate Bay). Although it was nice to get a recent clarification as to where they stand on the issues (they seem to change so quickly!), I nevertheless grew bored with hearing them repeat themselves. Maybe the next one I'll try to find in audio format so I can listen to it as I fall asleep. It's not exactly thrilling visual material (even if the little line graph at the bottom was kind of nifty--if not predictable and un-scientific).
So I browsed Facebook instead. Skipped around the 4-5 people who are still waiting for me to confirm them as friends (I probably never will, but I feel cruel to tell them so) and eventually followed a link from one of my friends who joined a new Group.
First off, I like Facebook Groups--least of all because they give me a clear idea as to where people stand. There have been people in my past whom I've wanted to de-friend after learning their stance on certain issues (but I didn't). In this case, however (and this comes from a similar idea), I like the Groups because they lead me to new thoughts...
My friend is Baba. I first "met" him almost a year ago when I initially flew to Scotland. I was looking for something to listen to on the airplane and I found his podcast on iTunes: Baba the Storyteller. It is a 15-minute podcast (updated twice per month), and it is exactly how it sounds. Each episode he begins with a soothing introduction, he maybe discusses a few recent events in his life as a travelling storyteller, and then Baba tells a story. Believe me, when you are stressed out about your future and living in an uncertain land, his calming voice and relaxing demeanor are very welcome. I essentially treated his episodes like personal bedtime stories. And eventually, I visited his website and ordered his digital CDs (of pure, bonus stories).
It was the only time I can think of where I was really happy to have a bad exchange rate. His albums cost about 10 USD, which is only about 5 GPD (maybe the price of two pints in a pub), so I felt no reason not to "give back" to this artist who had genuinely soothed me over the better course of the year. Long story short (too late!): there was a problem with online payments and we started trading a few e-mails and then he finally got on Facebook and friended me.
So, yeah, that was all just a huge plug. Go check out his website. He's good peoples.
On Facebook, Baba joined a group called "Invisible Children." Now, I know that he is currently re-visiting Africa for a bit, so I was curious to see what he found over there which deserved attention.
Invisible Children is a group of filmmakers/humanitarians who are trying to bring public attention to the civil war in Uganda--and specifically to the role which chilren are forced to play within that conflict. Their original documentary (which is available for free on Google videos) describes how the children from the bush walk miles into the city to sleep because they are afraid of the rebel forces. Apparently, these forces will abduct children in the middle of the night and force them to join their army or else face immediate death.
I watched the 55-minute documentary tonight, and I'll tell you - the 55 Minutes of documentary was infinitely more rewarding than the 55 minutes of Presidential Debate. It certainly wasn't a 'feel good' movie by any means, but it is a perfect example of my recent life philosophy: People should be subjected to what makes them uncomfortable. That is the only way we will grow and mature as a culture.
And 'No' - I probably will not go out and do anything to help stop this horrible situation. There is tons of shit like this out there (not documentaries, but crises). I am an admittedly worthless intellectual. Although I am fascinated, I am also rarely spurred into activism.
By the way, I am also skeptical about what the other side of the argument is regarding this war. But for now I will be content to simply accept that I am aware of it, unlike two hours ago.
So I guess this 'political rant' can be summed up as such: The politics which is fed to you is rubbish. When compared to the massive problems found throughout the world, both candidates (and their debate platforms) appear small and petty. It is better to spend one evening learning about the human condition rather than an entire week digging for a grain of truth among the soundbites.
G'night...