As things settle.
Well a few new things have come around.
I am employed, finally. I work for a fast food Italian place. I'm just gonna' call it a fixer-upper. Apparently the last manager of the place didn't do anything. For a year and a half. So, the manager now, started about a month ago, I started a 2 weeks ago and everything is still pretty new. The staff needs training in some pretty serious ways and it looks like I might get a quick promotion to shift manager. I mean, compared to what I was doing before, this is a pale comparison, however, I'm still happy to have a job at all. NPR this morning said that unemployment here was a little over 10%.
It feels like I work in an UPN sitcom. The crazy 'cast' of employees is as follows: two younger white people, a couple, they fight a lot and it's very tiring. One black guy and one guy from Guinea. So, it's been pretty... interesting. The guy from Guinea is very... oh, I don't know how to put this without being completely offensive... grew up in a very hyper-masculine society and some of the things he says makes me cringe. Aforementioned girl's sister came in he says to her, "Man, I better stay away, you're probably jail bait. Now, if we were in Africa it wouldn't even matter..." And with the addition of a speculative eye and the fact that she seemed to *adore* the attention, I think a little part of me died.
On to other things...
Spent a day with Austin last Saturday which was terrific. We went to, I think, the State Botanic Garden. A good deal of the plants had small nameplates, there were several different kinds of gardens. We attempted to do some hiking there, but the map they had was kind of confusing and there were no signs leading from the posted map to the actual trails. Very beautiful and they had an Orchid exhibit inside their conservatory. A small set up explaining all the different kinds of tropical plants and their uses among society -- textiles, food, drink. There was also, much to my surprise, an area planted to be similar to...I forget where *exactly*... but it was from an Asian area. They had transplanted plants/bugs/wildlife and it was flourishing. We saw no less than 8 lizards on our walk. Just a shame we couldn't get a clear shot. And yeah, spent a lot of time playing with the camera.
From there we walked around downtown Athens for a little while, waiting for time to pass so we could go on a brewery tour at Terrapin. They give you a pint glass and 8 'tickets' for 8 dollars. Each ticket provides a 1/2 glass of beer, or if you don't want to wait in the lines, which take a little over 5 minutes to get through, you can hand them 4 tickets and get a full pour. Any way you slice it, 2 beers + glass, or 4 beers + glass + More time in line, is a good freakin' deal. And man is their beer tasty. They had a limited draft of a "Double Wheat" which they called Reunion '09. I can barely describe it, so just take my word that it was fantastic.
I've been feeling a little homesick for Chicago. I miss a lot of people there. I've been thinking about a lot of the experiences I had their and I definitely found a home there amongst the people I've come to care about. A family that I don't intend on losing contact with, mind you. Just because I changed venues doesn't mean I'm still not a fan. I've spent portions of my life going through the aftermath of hitting the, "New Start" button... I think there have been times where I've disconnected from the place I've left in greater ways than I was aware of and I don't want that to happen again. I've had way too many awesome parties and weekends with folks from Chicago.
I spent a good portion of my life feeling like I was waiting for something to happen and now I feel like it has. Specifically meeting Austin. I've been hesitant to really say anything about relationship because I've had a tendency to say things earlier than would probably be deemed appropriate. It's a huge change with this particular experience, because I've said things to him that I've never felt comfortable saying to anyone else before. So, for me, that's a good sign. Maybe it's chemicals, maybe it's energy, maybe it's magnetism, maybe it's just that we have a whole lot of fun... whatever it is that brings us together so strongly, I feel as though I've only taken the first few steps on this path.
I like it here a whole lot. Could be that I've never lived in this portion of the country and I'm definitely a traveling type. Or could be this is the climate I really enjoy. I'm looking out the window right now and I see 3 kinds of trees, a few bushes, some vines, grass and a clover type plant. Eventually, I'm going to be able to name all of these. And what this does is just calms me down. It puts a number of things into perspective being able to look out the window and appreciate and reach out to Nature. Plus, there's a break in the trees right next to the house because there was an above ground pool. This always creates some really interesting sun beams.
As to what else I've been doing, a lot of reading. Trying to re-find parts of myself and interconnect them as I heal from older damage, constantly searching for pockets in my 'mind' that haven't been illuminated. This is an entry in one of the books I'm reading now. It's by Aleister Crowley, generally an esoteric philosopher and I've found his writings mesh very well with how I understand the world.
THE POLE-STAR
Love is all virtue, since the pleasure of love is but
love, and the pain of love is but love.
Love taketh no heed of that which is not and of that
which is.
Absence exalteth love, and presence exalteth love.
Love moveth ever from height to height of ecstasy
and faileth never.
The wings of love droop not with time, nor slacken
for life or for death.
Love destroyeth self, uniting self with that which is
not-self, so that Love breedeth All and None in
One.
Is it not so?...No?...
Then thou are not lost in love; speak not of love.
Love Alway Yieldeth: Love Alway Hardeneth
..........May be: I write it but to write His name.
I am employed, finally. I work for a fast food Italian place. I'm just gonna' call it a fixer-upper. Apparently the last manager of the place didn't do anything. For a year and a half. So, the manager now, started about a month ago, I started a 2 weeks ago and everything is still pretty new. The staff needs training in some pretty serious ways and it looks like I might get a quick promotion to shift manager. I mean, compared to what I was doing before, this is a pale comparison, however, I'm still happy to have a job at all. NPR this morning said that unemployment here was a little over 10%.
It feels like I work in an UPN sitcom. The crazy 'cast' of employees is as follows: two younger white people, a couple, they fight a lot and it's very tiring. One black guy and one guy from Guinea. So, it's been pretty... interesting. The guy from Guinea is very... oh, I don't know how to put this without being completely offensive... grew up in a very hyper-masculine society and some of the things he says makes me cringe. Aforementioned girl's sister came in he says to her, "Man, I better stay away, you're probably jail bait. Now, if we were in Africa it wouldn't even matter..." And with the addition of a speculative eye and the fact that she seemed to *adore* the attention, I think a little part of me died.
On to other things...
Spent a day with Austin last Saturday which was terrific. We went to, I think, the State Botanic Garden. A good deal of the plants had small nameplates, there were several different kinds of gardens. We attempted to do some hiking there, but the map they had was kind of confusing and there were no signs leading from the posted map to the actual trails. Very beautiful and they had an Orchid exhibit inside their conservatory. A small set up explaining all the different kinds of tropical plants and their uses among society -- textiles, food, drink. There was also, much to my surprise, an area planted to be similar to...I forget where *exactly*... but it was from an Asian area. They had transplanted plants/bugs/wildlife and it was flourishing. We saw no less than 8 lizards on our walk. Just a shame we couldn't get a clear shot. And yeah, spent a lot of time playing with the camera.
From there we walked around downtown Athens for a little while, waiting for time to pass so we could go on a brewery tour at Terrapin. They give you a pint glass and 8 'tickets' for 8 dollars. Each ticket provides a 1/2 glass of beer, or if you don't want to wait in the lines, which take a little over 5 minutes to get through, you can hand them 4 tickets and get a full pour. Any way you slice it, 2 beers + glass, or 4 beers + glass + More time in line, is a good freakin' deal. And man is their beer tasty. They had a limited draft of a "Double Wheat" which they called Reunion '09. I can barely describe it, so just take my word that it was fantastic.
I've been feeling a little homesick for Chicago. I miss a lot of people there. I've been thinking about a lot of the experiences I had their and I definitely found a home there amongst the people I've come to care about. A family that I don't intend on losing contact with, mind you. Just because I changed venues doesn't mean I'm still not a fan. I've spent portions of my life going through the aftermath of hitting the, "New Start" button... I think there have been times where I've disconnected from the place I've left in greater ways than I was aware of and I don't want that to happen again. I've had way too many awesome parties and weekends with folks from Chicago.
I spent a good portion of my life feeling like I was waiting for something to happen and now I feel like it has. Specifically meeting Austin. I've been hesitant to really say anything about relationship because I've had a tendency to say things earlier than would probably be deemed appropriate. It's a huge change with this particular experience, because I've said things to him that I've never felt comfortable saying to anyone else before. So, for me, that's a good sign. Maybe it's chemicals, maybe it's energy, maybe it's magnetism, maybe it's just that we have a whole lot of fun... whatever it is that brings us together so strongly, I feel as though I've only taken the first few steps on this path.
I like it here a whole lot. Could be that I've never lived in this portion of the country and I'm definitely a traveling type. Or could be this is the climate I really enjoy. I'm looking out the window right now and I see 3 kinds of trees, a few bushes, some vines, grass and a clover type plant. Eventually, I'm going to be able to name all of these. And what this does is just calms me down. It puts a number of things into perspective being able to look out the window and appreciate and reach out to Nature. Plus, there's a break in the trees right next to the house because there was an above ground pool. This always creates some really interesting sun beams.
As to what else I've been doing, a lot of reading. Trying to re-find parts of myself and interconnect them as I heal from older damage, constantly searching for pockets in my 'mind' that haven't been illuminated. This is an entry in one of the books I'm reading now. It's by Aleister Crowley, generally an esoteric philosopher and I've found his writings mesh very well with how I understand the world.
THE POLE-STAR
Love is all virtue, since the pleasure of love is but
love, and the pain of love is but love.
Love taketh no heed of that which is not and of that
which is.
Absence exalteth love, and presence exalteth love.
Love moveth ever from height to height of ecstasy
and faileth never.
The wings of love droop not with time, nor slacken
for life or for death.
Love destroyeth self, uniting self with that which is
not-self, so that Love breedeth All and None in
One.
Is it not so?...No?...
Then thou are not lost in love; speak not of love.
Love Alway Yieldeth: Love Alway Hardeneth
..........May be: I write it but to write His name.