the saddness of my evening has been discovered by Nielson! It turns out that 45% of TV viewers are watching TV by themselves.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Grandma's getting more web-savvy than me!?
Not mine at least--we had to convince them and even pay for their internet connection, and give them a computer, but they are trying and thats the first step... My mother is super into it though, she sells stuff on Ebay, has made friends... its kind of crazy. This all seems to jive with what I found on a media brief about internet searches from Biddys and Geezers
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Yule Log thought you were missing out in that apartment without a fireplace! The lovely people at WGN are bringing back the Yule Log which shows comericial free fire burning!
jackie and I at work are both from Ohio... being out in Utah from the Midwest is such a change. I mean, there is snow out here. Real Snow. not like those days at BostonMIllsBrandywinewhere the 8 trails and 5" base used to keep me moving and content... Now a days I need fresh pow or at least the vast majority of bowls and trails open to even get out of bed. well, not really. I'm still new at this... any snow makes me happy!
ok, super cool site for really random items... I bought about half my christmas presents on it...
fredflare
fredflare
so I'm going to miss Philmont immensely, but I can live vicariously through those that are around... PhilStaff
Friday, November 12, 2004
From my friend Katie.... I totally agree and am equally as confused.
"Every American I met while traveling is disgusted byBush's policies and supports Kerry. But obviously 50%(or so) of Americans like Bush, why have I never metthem? Do they not travel to foreign countries orinteract with foreigners?"
"Every American I met while traveling is disgusted byBush's policies and supports Kerry. But obviously 50%(or so) of Americans like Bush, why have I never metthem? Do they not travel to foreign countries orinteract with foreigners?"
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
oh yeah... the voting thing. its kind of fun to look at sometimes... i'mvoting this year in one of THE MOST conservative states, not what i am... but i'll try to make my point anyway...
but this is funny...
http://liqwidsky.com/this_was_my_land.htm
but this is funny...
http://liqwidsky.com/this_was_my_land.htm
ok, so i haven't written in an age... but of course, i don't neccessarily have any time now... i'm at work... (yep, i have a job) and its my few minutes before i start "working" so...
a few philosophical notes from Lauren Brown--also in the "real world"
The hardest part about being here is being away fromfamily and friends. I miss everyone tremendously buthave come to realize that perhaps my being here is anattempt at learning new things about myself. For thefirst time, I'm really making my own decisions andchoices. It's strange to be in a place where I don'tknow what tomorrow brings, or how long I'll be here,or where I'm headed next. I'm learning to become justa little more decisive and a little less hesitant. Iread in TIME magazine that the decision making part ofyour brain is the last part to develop fully. I'mgetting there.
I've attempted a campaign against growing up...but I'mrealizing it doesn't work so well. Time keeps ontickin and there isn't much I can do about it.
anyway... that definitely says a lot about what i'm seeing these days. its tough to move on, but it has to happen sometimes.
-kp
a few philosophical notes from Lauren Brown--also in the "real world"
The hardest part about being here is being away fromfamily and friends. I miss everyone tremendously buthave come to realize that perhaps my being here is anattempt at learning new things about myself. For thefirst time, I'm really making my own decisions andchoices. It's strange to be in a place where I don'tknow what tomorrow brings, or how long I'll be here,or where I'm headed next. I'm learning to become justa little more decisive and a little less hesitant. Iread in TIME magazine that the decision making part ofyour brain is the last part to develop fully. I'mgetting there.
I've attempted a campaign against growing up...but I'mrealizing it doesn't work so well. Time keeps ontickin and there isn't much I can do about it.
anyway... that definitely says a lot about what i'm seeing these days. its tough to move on, but it has to happen sometimes.
-kp
Sunday, July 18, 2004
so... in comparison to last summer, i have ample computer access if i am so inclined, but then again, i still hate job searching, i have nothing really to tell my friends about what is happening, and i'm confused. like, super confused. i need to move somewhere, make that next leap, and i just don't know what to do.
i failed that exam. i mean really. a lot. so thats kind of out. i mean, i can study again, but do i want to? i kind of do... i think i'd be pretty good at it... if i ever passed it...
randa and jon joke about me moving to idaho. it sounded pretty ludacris to begin with, but its sounding more appealing. i mean a roommate. no job, but i wasn't goig to have one of those anyway...
whatever, i'm confused. it sucks.
i failed that exam. i mean really. a lot. so thats kind of out. i mean, i can study again, but do i want to? i kind of do... i think i'd be pretty good at it... if i ever passed it...
randa and jon joke about me moving to idaho. it sounded pretty ludacris to begin with, but its sounding more appealing. i mean a roommate. no job, but i wasn't goig to have one of those anyway...
whatever, i'm confused. it sucks.
some healthy liberal stuff from april...
Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 by In These Times>>
Cold Turkey>>by Kurt Vonnegut
Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.
But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America's becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.
When you get to my age, if you get to my age, which is 81, and if you have reproduced, you will find yourself asking your own children, who are themselves middle-aged, what life is all about. I have seven kids, four of them adopted. Many of you reading this are probably the same age as my grandchildren. They, like you, are being royally shafted and lied to by our Baby Boomer corporations and government. I put my big question about life to my biological son Mark. Mark is a pediatrician, and author of a memoir, The Eden Express. It is about his crackup, straightjacket and padded cell stuff, from which he recovered sufficiently to graduate from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Vonnegut said this to his doddering old dad: "Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."
So I pass that on to you. Write it down, and put it in your computer, so you can forget it. I have to say that's a pretty good sound bite, almost as good as, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." A lot of people think Jesus >said>that, because it is so much the sort of thing Jesus liked to say. But it was actually said by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, 500 years before there>was that greatest and most humane of human beings, named Jesus Christ.
The Chinese also gave us, via Marco Polo, pasta and the formula for gunpowder. The Chinese were so dumb they only used gunpowder for fireworks. And everybody was so dumb back then that nobody in either hemisphere even knew that there was another one. But back to people, like Confucius and Jesus and my son the doctor, Mark, who've said how we could behave more humanely, and maybe make the world a less painful place. One of my favorites is Eugene Debs, from Terre Haute in my native state of Indiana. Get a load of this:>>Eugene Debs, who died back in 1926, when I was only 4, ran 5 times as the Socialist Party candidate for president, winning 900,000 votes, 6 percent of the popular vote, in 1912, if you can imagine such a ballot. He had this to say while campaigning: "As long as there is a lower class, I am in it." As long as there is a criminal element, I?m of it.> As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.>>
Doesn?t anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public>schools or health insurance for all?>>How about Jesus? Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?>>Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.>>Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.>>Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. >?>>And so on.>>Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or>Dick Cheney stuff.>>For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the>Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten>Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that?s Moses, not>Jesus. I haven?t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the>Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.>>?Blessed are the merciful? in a courtroom? ?Blessed are the peacemakers? in>the Pentagon? Give me a break!>>
-------------------------
There is a tragic flaw in our precious Constitution, and I don?t know what>can be done to fix it. This is it: Only nut cases want to be president.>>But, when you stop to think about it, only a nut case would want to be a>human being, if he or she had a choice. Such treacherous, untrustworthy,>lying and greedy animals we are!
I was born a human being in 1922 A.D. What does ?A.D.? signify? That>commemorates an inmate of this lunatic asylum we call Earth who was nailed>to a wooden cross by a bunch of other inmates. With him still conscious,>they hammered spikes through his wrists and insteps, and into the wood. >Then>they set the cross upright, so he dangled up there where even the shortest>person in the crowd could see him writhing this way and that.>>Can you imagine people doing such a thing to a person?>>No problem. That?s entertainment. Ask the devout Roman Catholic Mel Gibson,>who, as an act of piety, has just made a fortune with a movie about how>Jesus was tortured. Never mind what Jesus said.
During the reign of King Henry the Eighth, founder of the Church of >England,>he had a counterfeiter boiled alive in public. Show biz again.>>Mel Gibson?s next movie should be The Counterfeiter. Box office records >will>again be broken.>>One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on>television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us.
-------------------------
And what did the great British historian Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794 A.D., >have>to say about the human record so far? He said, ?History is indeed little>more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.?>>The same can be said about this morning?s edition of the New York Times.
The French-Algerian writer Albert Camus, who won a Nobel Prize for>Literature in 1957, wrote, ?There is but one truly serious philosophical>problem, and that is suicide.?>>So there?s another barrel of laughs from literature. Camus died in an>automobile accident. His dates? 1913-1960 A.D.>>Listen.
All great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human>being: Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, the Iliad and>the Odyssey, Crime and Punishment, the Bible and The Charge of the Light>Brigade.>>But I have to say this in defense of humankind: No matter in what era in>history, including the Garden of Eden, everybody just got there. And, >except>for the Garden of Eden, there were already all these crazy games going on,>which could make you act crazy, even if you weren?t crazy to begin with.>Some of the games that were already going on when you got here were love >and>hate, liberalism and conservatism, automobiles and credit cards, golf and>girls? basketball.>>
Even crazier than golf, though, is modern American politics, where, >thanks>to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of>human beings, either a liberal or a conservative.>>Actually, this same sort of thing happened to the people of England>generations ago, and Sir William Gilbert, of the radical team of Gilbert >and>Sullivan, wrote these words for a song about it back then:>I often think it?s comical> How nature always does contrive> That every boy and every gal> That?s born into the world alive> Is either a little Liberal> Or else a little Conservative.
Which one are you in this country? It?s practically a law of life that you>have to be one or the other? If you aren?t one or the other, you might as>well be a doughnut.>>If some of you still haven?t decided, I?ll make it easy for you.
If you want to take my guns away from me, and you?re all for murdering>fetuses, and love it when homosexuals marry each other, and want to give>them kitchen appliances at their showers, and you?re for the poor, you?re a>liberal.
If you are against those perversions and for the rich, you?re a>conservative.>>What could be simpler?
-------------------------
My government?s got a war on drugs. But get this: The two most widely >abused>and addictive and destructive of all substances are both perfectly legal.>>One, of course, is ethyl alcohol. And President George W. Bush, no less, >and>by his own admission, was smashed or tiddley-poo or four sheets to the wind>a good deal of the time from when he was 16 until he was 41. When he was >41,>he says, Jesus appeared to him and made him knock off the sauce, stop>gargling nose paint.>>Other drunks have seen pink elephants.>>
And do you know why I think he is so pissed off at Arabs? They invented>algebra. Arabs also invented the numbers we use, including a symbol for>nothing, which nobody else had ever had before. You think Arabs are dumb?>Try doing long division with Roman numerals.>>We?re spreading democracy, are we? Same way European explorers brought>Christianity to the Indians, what we now call ?Native Americans.?>> How ungrateful they were! How ungrateful are the people of Baghdad today.>>So let?s give another big tax cut to the super-rich. That?ll teach bin >Laden>a lesson he won?t soon forget. Hail to the Chief.>>
That chief and his cohorts have as little to do with Democracy as the>Europeans had to do with Christianity. We the people have absolutely no say>in whatever they choose to do next. In case you haven?t noticed, they?ve>already cleaned out the treasury, passing it out to pals in the war and>national security rackets, leaving your generation and the next one with a>perfectly enormous debt that you?ll be asked to repay.>>Nobody let out a peep when they did that to you, because they have>disconnected every burglar alarm in the Constitution: The House, the >Senate,>the Supreme Court, the FBI, the free press (which, having been embedded, >has>forsaken the First Amendment) and We the People.>>
About my own history of foreign substance abuse. I?ve been a coward about>heroin and cocaine and LSD and so on, afraid they might put me over the>edge. I did smoke a joint of marijuana one time with Jerry Garcia and the>Grateful Dead, just to be sociable. It didn?t seem to do anything to me, >one>way or the other, so I never did it again. And by the grace of God, or>whatever, I am not an alcoholic, largely a matter of genes. I take a couple>of drinks now and then, and will do it again tonight. But two is my limit.>No problem.
I am of course notoriously hooked on cigarettes. I keep hoping the things>will kill me. A fire at one end and a fool at the other.>>But I?ll tell you one thing: I once had a high that not even crack cocaine>could match. That was when I got my first driver?s license! Look out, >world,>here comes Kurt Vonnegut.
And my car back then, a Studebaker, as I recall, was powered, as are almost>all means of transportation and other machinery today, and electric power>plants and furnaces, by the most abused and addictive and destructive drugs>of all: fossil fuels.>>When you got here, even when I got here, the industrialized world was>already hopelessly hooked on fossil fuels, and very soon now there won?t be>any more of those. Cold turkey.
Can I tell you the truth? I mean this isn?t like TV news, is it?>>Here?s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a>state of denial, about to face cold turkey.>>And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now>committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we?re hooked >on.
Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 by In These Times>>
Cold Turkey>>by Kurt Vonnegut
Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.
But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America's becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.
When you get to my age, if you get to my age, which is 81, and if you have reproduced, you will find yourself asking your own children, who are themselves middle-aged, what life is all about. I have seven kids, four of them adopted. Many of you reading this are probably the same age as my grandchildren. They, like you, are being royally shafted and lied to by our Baby Boomer corporations and government. I put my big question about life to my biological son Mark. Mark is a pediatrician, and author of a memoir, The Eden Express. It is about his crackup, straightjacket and padded cell stuff, from which he recovered sufficiently to graduate from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Vonnegut said this to his doddering old dad: "Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."
So I pass that on to you. Write it down, and put it in your computer, so you can forget it. I have to say that's a pretty good sound bite, almost as good as, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." A lot of people think Jesus >said>that, because it is so much the sort of thing Jesus liked to say. But it was actually said by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, 500 years before there>was that greatest and most humane of human beings, named Jesus Christ.
The Chinese also gave us, via Marco Polo, pasta and the formula for gunpowder. The Chinese were so dumb they only used gunpowder for fireworks. And everybody was so dumb back then that nobody in either hemisphere even knew that there was another one. But back to people, like Confucius and Jesus and my son the doctor, Mark, who've said how we could behave more humanely, and maybe make the world a less painful place. One of my favorites is Eugene Debs, from Terre Haute in my native state of Indiana. Get a load of this:>>Eugene Debs, who died back in 1926, when I was only 4, ran 5 times as the Socialist Party candidate for president, winning 900,000 votes, 6 percent of the popular vote, in 1912, if you can imagine such a ballot. He had this to say while campaigning: "As long as there is a lower class, I am in it." As long as there is a criminal element, I?m of it.> As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.>>
Doesn?t anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public>schools or health insurance for all?>>How about Jesus? Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?>>Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.>>Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.>>Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. >?>>And so on.>>Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or>Dick Cheney stuff.>>For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the>Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten>Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that?s Moses, not>Jesus. I haven?t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the>Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.>>?Blessed are the merciful? in a courtroom? ?Blessed are the peacemakers? in>the Pentagon? Give me a break!>>
-------------------------
There is a tragic flaw in our precious Constitution, and I don?t know what>can be done to fix it. This is it: Only nut cases want to be president.>>But, when you stop to think about it, only a nut case would want to be a>human being, if he or she had a choice. Such treacherous, untrustworthy,>lying and greedy animals we are!
I was born a human being in 1922 A.D. What does ?A.D.? signify? That>commemorates an inmate of this lunatic asylum we call Earth who was nailed>to a wooden cross by a bunch of other inmates. With him still conscious,>they hammered spikes through his wrists and insteps, and into the wood. >Then>they set the cross upright, so he dangled up there where even the shortest>person in the crowd could see him writhing this way and that.>>Can you imagine people doing such a thing to a person?>>No problem. That?s entertainment. Ask the devout Roman Catholic Mel Gibson,>who, as an act of piety, has just made a fortune with a movie about how>Jesus was tortured. Never mind what Jesus said.
During the reign of King Henry the Eighth, founder of the Church of >England,>he had a counterfeiter boiled alive in public. Show biz again.>>Mel Gibson?s next movie should be The Counterfeiter. Box office records >will>again be broken.>>One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on>television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us.
-------------------------
And what did the great British historian Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794 A.D., >have>to say about the human record so far? He said, ?History is indeed little>more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.?>>The same can be said about this morning?s edition of the New York Times.
The French-Algerian writer Albert Camus, who won a Nobel Prize for>Literature in 1957, wrote, ?There is but one truly serious philosophical>problem, and that is suicide.?>>So there?s another barrel of laughs from literature. Camus died in an>automobile accident. His dates? 1913-1960 A.D.>>Listen.
All great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human>being: Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, the Iliad and>the Odyssey, Crime and Punishment, the Bible and The Charge of the Light>Brigade.>>But I have to say this in defense of humankind: No matter in what era in>history, including the Garden of Eden, everybody just got there. And, >except>for the Garden of Eden, there were already all these crazy games going on,>which could make you act crazy, even if you weren?t crazy to begin with.>Some of the games that were already going on when you got here were love >and>hate, liberalism and conservatism, automobiles and credit cards, golf and>girls? basketball.>>
Even crazier than golf, though, is modern American politics, where, >thanks>to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of>human beings, either a liberal or a conservative.>>Actually, this same sort of thing happened to the people of England>generations ago, and Sir William Gilbert, of the radical team of Gilbert >and>Sullivan, wrote these words for a song about it back then:>I often think it?s comical> How nature always does contrive> That every boy and every gal> That?s born into the world alive> Is either a little Liberal> Or else a little Conservative.
Which one are you in this country? It?s practically a law of life that you>have to be one or the other? If you aren?t one or the other, you might as>well be a doughnut.>>If some of you still haven?t decided, I?ll make it easy for you.
If you want to take my guns away from me, and you?re all for murdering>fetuses, and love it when homosexuals marry each other, and want to give>them kitchen appliances at their showers, and you?re for the poor, you?re a>liberal.
If you are against those perversions and for the rich, you?re a>conservative.>>What could be simpler?
-------------------------
My government?s got a war on drugs. But get this: The two most widely >abused>and addictive and destructive of all substances are both perfectly legal.>>One, of course, is ethyl alcohol. And President George W. Bush, no less, >and>by his own admission, was smashed or tiddley-poo or four sheets to the wind>a good deal of the time from when he was 16 until he was 41. When he was >41,>he says, Jesus appeared to him and made him knock off the sauce, stop>gargling nose paint.>>Other drunks have seen pink elephants.>>
And do you know why I think he is so pissed off at Arabs? They invented>algebra. Arabs also invented the numbers we use, including a symbol for>nothing, which nobody else had ever had before. You think Arabs are dumb?>Try doing long division with Roman numerals.>>We?re spreading democracy, are we? Same way European explorers brought>Christianity to the Indians, what we now call ?Native Americans.?>> How ungrateful they were! How ungrateful are the people of Baghdad today.>>So let?s give another big tax cut to the super-rich. That?ll teach bin >Laden>a lesson he won?t soon forget. Hail to the Chief.>>
That chief and his cohorts have as little to do with Democracy as the>Europeans had to do with Christianity. We the people have absolutely no say>in whatever they choose to do next. In case you haven?t noticed, they?ve>already cleaned out the treasury, passing it out to pals in the war and>national security rackets, leaving your generation and the next one with a>perfectly enormous debt that you?ll be asked to repay.>>Nobody let out a peep when they did that to you, because they have>disconnected every burglar alarm in the Constitution: The House, the >Senate,>the Supreme Court, the FBI, the free press (which, having been embedded, >has>forsaken the First Amendment) and We the People.>>
About my own history of foreign substance abuse. I?ve been a coward about>heroin and cocaine and LSD and so on, afraid they might put me over the>edge. I did smoke a joint of marijuana one time with Jerry Garcia and the>Grateful Dead, just to be sociable. It didn?t seem to do anything to me, >one>way or the other, so I never did it again. And by the grace of God, or>whatever, I am not an alcoholic, largely a matter of genes. I take a couple>of drinks now and then, and will do it again tonight. But two is my limit.>No problem.
I am of course notoriously hooked on cigarettes. I keep hoping the things>will kill me. A fire at one end and a fool at the other.>>But I?ll tell you one thing: I once had a high that not even crack cocaine>could match. That was when I got my first driver?s license! Look out, >world,>here comes Kurt Vonnegut.
And my car back then, a Studebaker, as I recall, was powered, as are almost>all means of transportation and other machinery today, and electric power>plants and furnaces, by the most abused and addictive and destructive drugs>of all: fossil fuels.>>When you got here, even when I got here, the industrialized world was>already hopelessly hooked on fossil fuels, and very soon now there won?t be>any more of those. Cold turkey.
Can I tell you the truth? I mean this isn?t like TV news, is it?>>Here?s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a>state of denial, about to face cold turkey.>>And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now>committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we?re hooked >on.
so, my dad emailed me this... didn't really read it till now, but it makes sense. or maybe he just didn't want me to buy that road bike... hmm...
---
Dear recent graduate: Your parents are thrilled that you chose to move back home to "regroup" after graduation. They've truly cherished this precious time with their child, chatting over morning coffee and regaling visitors with your teenage antics that only recently morphed from "painful" to "funny" family memories.
But let's be honest: They want you out. Mom and dad have endured enough -- from dirty diapers to public tantrums to piercings, missed curfews and fender benders. I'm sure you're aware of the huge debt burden they took on to send you to the college of your choice. Those tears in the student union parking lot weren't simply about their baby leaving home. As you slept through Biology 101-403 and skipped three and a half weeks of classes to follow Phish, your parents put off replacing the gutters and an Alaskan cruise; they started buying generic just so you'd get an education that would enable your future tattooed, eye-rolling child to go to college someday.
We all recognize that after four years (not counting those six months overseas with your ex), you have now begun the next phase of life. Over the next decade, you're going to buy cars, pay taxes, receive a regular salary, manage home mortgages, decipher insurance policies, and suffer through countless drudging staff meetings. When you're 35, do you really want to be "that guy" -- you know, the guy still sleeping on the twin bed in his childhood bedroom in what is now the cat's/exercise equipment storage room. That's what I thought. So get on with it already.
1. Live like a poor college student for as long as you can stand it. You might not be a starving student anymore, but don't stop acting like it for as long as you can stand it. Even after you get your first 9-to-5 job, keep the roommates and the beater car. Eat cereal for dinner (but don't tell your mom). Take a bartending job or a part-time gig at a bookstore to make ends meet. Do whatever you need to do while you can still get by on four hours of sleep a night.
2. Debt happens. Don't let it happen too much. We know you need stuff -- Tevas are not appropriate office footwear -- when you transition into the working world. When you do reach for your wallet, please do so responsibly. (We could go on and on about this topic.) Still, there's no bigger buzz-kill than credit card debt. Unfortunately, it seems to be a rite of passage in America. You probably got a credit card (or four) in college. (If not, then you're one of the 8% of coeds who aren't packing plastic.) Now you'll be offered an increased line of credit and lots of perks that are designed to help you spend all of it. Don't do it. Only buy what you immediately need on your credit cards and cut costs whenever possible. Buy cheap beer; don't bother picking up the coolest mountain bike. Live within your means. That's what Phish would do.
3. Say "no" to The Man. Without finals to cram for, you have a lot more time for important stuff, like watching TV. For those too lazy to TiVo, you'll be inundated with countless pitches for shiny new items that you really don't need. Here's an opportunity to make your accounting professor proud. Remember that insufferable lesson about "depreciating assets"? Most of what you see parading across the boob tube falls into this category: stuff that loses value over time. Don't acquiesce to The Man. You have willpower: Identify all the stuff you're going to buy that will lose its value over time -- cars, bicycles, and stereo equipment. Then plan to spend as little money as possible on them. Doing so will keep your debt down and your studio apartment feeling roomy.
4. Don't pimp out your ride. Speaking of depreciating assets, this one's a biggie. The moment you drive a new car off the dealership lot, it loses a big chunk of its value. In fact, on average, new cars and trucks lose more than 20% of their value in just their first year. If you bought a sleek convertible last year for $20,000, today it's worth less than $16,000. Yes, even with that monster stereo you recently installed. Besides, fussy cars make you look desperate to the opposite sex.
5. You've got it. Flaunt it. What you've got that the rest of us want is time. (And gravity, but that's another issue.) You're young, nimble, and probably run circles around the rest of us on the office softball team. You can also kick butt when it comes to savings. A 25-year-old investing $200 each month for just 10 years will have $402,797 in her retirement kitty by age 65 (assuming an annual 8% return). If a 35-year-old were to invest $200 each month until age 65 -- that's two decades longer than the 25-year-old in the next cubicle -- she ends up with a little more than $300,000. When you get a job, ask your HR person how you can sign up for the company's 401(k) (or other work retirement plan). Fill out the paperwork and brag about your brilliance at happy hour. Better yet, open your own brokerage account and start picking stocks for yourself. It is true that you have been both a source of much joy (and more than a few gray hairs) to your mother and father. Trust me when I say that your parents had your best interest at heart when they arrived on this page after Googling "getting your grown child to move out of the house." But enough is enough. Comb your hair and get your own place to mess up. On behalf of your parents, I wish you all the best, Dayana Yochim
The Motley Fool/www.Fool.com Dayana Yochim spent four months under her parents' roof "transitioning" into the working world after college. The Fool has a disclosure policy that many parents may wish to modify for their live-at-home adult.
---
Dear recent graduate: Your parents are thrilled that you chose to move back home to "regroup" after graduation. They've truly cherished this precious time with their child, chatting over morning coffee and regaling visitors with your teenage antics that only recently morphed from "painful" to "funny" family memories.
But let's be honest: They want you out. Mom and dad have endured enough -- from dirty diapers to public tantrums to piercings, missed curfews and fender benders. I'm sure you're aware of the huge debt burden they took on to send you to the college of your choice. Those tears in the student union parking lot weren't simply about their baby leaving home. As you slept through Biology 101-403 and skipped three and a half weeks of classes to follow Phish, your parents put off replacing the gutters and an Alaskan cruise; they started buying generic just so you'd get an education that would enable your future tattooed, eye-rolling child to go to college someday.
We all recognize that after four years (not counting those six months overseas with your ex), you have now begun the next phase of life. Over the next decade, you're going to buy cars, pay taxes, receive a regular salary, manage home mortgages, decipher insurance policies, and suffer through countless drudging staff meetings. When you're 35, do you really want to be "that guy" -- you know, the guy still sleeping on the twin bed in his childhood bedroom in what is now the cat's/exercise equipment storage room. That's what I thought. So get on with it already.
1. Live like a poor college student for as long as you can stand it. You might not be a starving student anymore, but don't stop acting like it for as long as you can stand it. Even after you get your first 9-to-5 job, keep the roommates and the beater car. Eat cereal for dinner (but don't tell your mom). Take a bartending job or a part-time gig at a bookstore to make ends meet. Do whatever you need to do while you can still get by on four hours of sleep a night.
2. Debt happens. Don't let it happen too much. We know you need stuff -- Tevas are not appropriate office footwear -- when you transition into the working world. When you do reach for your wallet, please do so responsibly. (We could go on and on about this topic.) Still, there's no bigger buzz-kill than credit card debt. Unfortunately, it seems to be a rite of passage in America. You probably got a credit card (or four) in college. (If not, then you're one of the 8% of coeds who aren't packing plastic.) Now you'll be offered an increased line of credit and lots of perks that are designed to help you spend all of it. Don't do it. Only buy what you immediately need on your credit cards and cut costs whenever possible. Buy cheap beer; don't bother picking up the coolest mountain bike. Live within your means. That's what Phish would do.
3. Say "no" to The Man. Without finals to cram for, you have a lot more time for important stuff, like watching TV. For those too lazy to TiVo, you'll be inundated with countless pitches for shiny new items that you really don't need. Here's an opportunity to make your accounting professor proud. Remember that insufferable lesson about "depreciating assets"? Most of what you see parading across the boob tube falls into this category: stuff that loses value over time. Don't acquiesce to The Man. You have willpower: Identify all the stuff you're going to buy that will lose its value over time -- cars, bicycles, and stereo equipment. Then plan to spend as little money as possible on them. Doing so will keep your debt down and your studio apartment feeling roomy.
4. Don't pimp out your ride. Speaking of depreciating assets, this one's a biggie. The moment you drive a new car off the dealership lot, it loses a big chunk of its value. In fact, on average, new cars and trucks lose more than 20% of their value in just their first year. If you bought a sleek convertible last year for $20,000, today it's worth less than $16,000. Yes, even with that monster stereo you recently installed. Besides, fussy cars make you look desperate to the opposite sex.
5. You've got it. Flaunt it. What you've got that the rest of us want is time. (And gravity, but that's another issue.) You're young, nimble, and probably run circles around the rest of us on the office softball team. You can also kick butt when it comes to savings. A 25-year-old investing $200 each month for just 10 years will have $402,797 in her retirement kitty by age 65 (assuming an annual 8% return). If a 35-year-old were to invest $200 each month until age 65 -- that's two decades longer than the 25-year-old in the next cubicle -- she ends up with a little more than $300,000. When you get a job, ask your HR person how you can sign up for the company's 401(k) (or other work retirement plan). Fill out the paperwork and brag about your brilliance at happy hour. Better yet, open your own brokerage account and start picking stocks for yourself. It is true that you have been both a source of much joy (and more than a few gray hairs) to your mother and father. Trust me when I say that your parents had your best interest at heart when they arrived on this page after Googling "getting your grown child to move out of the house." But enough is enough. Comb your hair and get your own place to mess up. On behalf of your parents, I wish you all the best, Dayana Yochim
The Motley Fool/www.Fool.com Dayana Yochim spent four months under her parents' roof "transitioning" into the working world after college. The Fool has a disclosure policy that many parents may wish to modify for their live-at-home adult.
Friday, May 21, 2004
Visitor's guide To Driving in St. Louis
The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00 AM.
The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM.
Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.
Gravois Road can only be pronounced by a native.
Ditto for Spoede and Chouteau.
Construction on Highways 40, 64, 70, 255, 270, 44, 55 and I-170 is a way of life, and a permanent form of entertainment.
The Page Avenue extension and Airport expansion projects took over 20 years to get approved and St. Louisans lost track of how many political figures claimed them as their own ideas.
A St. Louisan from South County has never been to North County and vice versa.
West County has everything delivered.
St. Louisans were aghast when the federal government required them to redo the highway signs to indicate that the federal highway went to cities in other states instead of local municipalities.
If someone actually has their turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect, or has been on for the last 17 miles.
There are 2 exits on Highway 40 for Clayton Road and 2 for Big Bend.
All old ladies with blue hair in Cadillacs (driving on Olive west of 270) have the right of way.
Laclede Station Road mysteriously changes names as you cross intersections.
As do McCausland, Lindbergh, Watson, Reavis Barracks, Fee Fee, cKnight, Airport Road, Midland, Olive and Clarkson.
Drivers are starting to cut their OWN plates rather than go through the MO. Vehicle Dept. to get new tags. You can purchase tags from dealers behind QuiK Shops in the city. They are cheaper, the clerks are nicer, and the service is faster.
You can go all four directions on Highway 270: North and South in West County, East and West in South County, and East and West in North County.
Confused?
So are the St. Louis drivers.
There are 54 school districts on the Missouri side alone -- each of which has their own school bus system and scheduled times to block traffic.
There are 75 "official neighborhoods" in the City of St. Louis. St. Louisans commonly give directions (especially for restaurants) to strangers based on these neighborhoods which aren't marked on any maps that are handed out by the tourist board, the AAA or Mapquest.
There are 91 official municipalities in St. Louis County. Each Municipality has it's own rules, regulations, and often their own police departments.
More importantly, most have their own snow removal contracts so it's not uncommon to drive down a road in winter and have one block plowed, the next salted, the next piled with snow and the last partially cleared by residents wanting to get out of their driveways
No native St. Louisan knows that Lindbergh runs from South County to North County! And, if you tell them, they will not believe you. Lindbergh belongs to every neighborhood except Kirkwood, who had the nerve to creatively change the name to "Kirkwood Road".
Any car parked longer than 4 hours in the city, is considered a parts store.
Highway 270 is our daily version of the NASCAR circuit.
YIELD signs are for decoration only. No native St. Louisan will ever grasp the concept.
Lambert Field and St. Louis International Airport really are the same place.
The East Terminal, however, is a different place.
Never ever try to cross a bridge in St. Louis during rush hour unless you have a port-a-potty in the car.
The outer belt is Highway 270 which turns into Highway 255 in South County. The inner belt is Highway 170 and if it's a 3XX number it's an outer outer belt.
Highway 40 is the same as Interstate 64 through the middle of St. Louis.
If you need directions to O'Fallon, make sure to specify Illinois or Missouri.
The City of Ballwin actually proposed that drivers use connecting strip mall parking lots to get from place to place rather than drive on Manchester Road to cut the traffic on Manchester.
If it snows or rains, stay home!!!
The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00 AM.
The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM.
Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.
Gravois Road can only be pronounced by a native.
Ditto for Spoede and Chouteau.
Construction on Highways 40, 64, 70, 255, 270, 44, 55 and I-170 is a way of life, and a permanent form of entertainment.
The Page Avenue extension and Airport expansion projects took over 20 years to get approved and St. Louisans lost track of how many political figures claimed them as their own ideas.
A St. Louisan from South County has never been to North County and vice versa.
West County has everything delivered.
St. Louisans were aghast when the federal government required them to redo the highway signs to indicate that the federal highway went to cities in other states instead of local municipalities.
If someone actually has their turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect, or has been on for the last 17 miles.
There are 2 exits on Highway 40 for Clayton Road and 2 for Big Bend.
All old ladies with blue hair in Cadillacs (driving on Olive west of 270) have the right of way.
Laclede Station Road mysteriously changes names as you cross intersections.
As do McCausland, Lindbergh, Watson, Reavis Barracks, Fee Fee, cKnight, Airport Road, Midland, Olive and Clarkson.
Drivers are starting to cut their OWN plates rather than go through the MO. Vehicle Dept. to get new tags. You can purchase tags from dealers behind QuiK Shops in the city. They are cheaper, the clerks are nicer, and the service is faster.
You can go all four directions on Highway 270: North and South in West County, East and West in South County, and East and West in North County.
Confused?
So are the St. Louis drivers.
There are 54 school districts on the Missouri side alone -- each of which has their own school bus system and scheduled times to block traffic.
There are 75 "official neighborhoods" in the City of St. Louis. St. Louisans commonly give directions (especially for restaurants) to strangers based on these neighborhoods which aren't marked on any maps that are handed out by the tourist board, the AAA or Mapquest.
There are 91 official municipalities in St. Louis County. Each Municipality has it's own rules, regulations, and often their own police departments.
More importantly, most have their own snow removal contracts so it's not uncommon to drive down a road in winter and have one block plowed, the next salted, the next piled with snow and the last partially cleared by residents wanting to get out of their driveways
No native St. Louisan knows that Lindbergh runs from South County to North County! And, if you tell them, they will not believe you. Lindbergh belongs to every neighborhood except Kirkwood, who had the nerve to creatively change the name to "Kirkwood Road".
Any car parked longer than 4 hours in the city, is considered a parts store.
Highway 270 is our daily version of the NASCAR circuit.
YIELD signs are for decoration only. No native St. Louisan will ever grasp the concept.
Lambert Field and St. Louis International Airport really are the same place.
The East Terminal, however, is a different place.
Never ever try to cross a bridge in St. Louis during rush hour unless you have a port-a-potty in the car.
The outer belt is Highway 270 which turns into Highway 255 in South County. The inner belt is Highway 170 and if it's a 3XX number it's an outer outer belt.
Highway 40 is the same as Interstate 64 through the middle of St. Louis.
If you need directions to O'Fallon, make sure to specify Illinois or Missouri.
The City of Ballwin actually proposed that drivers use connecting strip mall parking lots to get from place to place rather than drive on Manchester Road to cut the traffic on Manchester.
If it snows or rains, stay home!!!
Trouble readjusting to life back home after spending time travelling?
Here's a few handy hints that should help you settle back in:
1) Replace your bed with two or more bunk beds, and every night invite random people in to sleep there. This will make things seem more hostel-like, and will also boost your karma. Ensure at least once a week a couple gets drunk and shags on one of the top bunks all night. Remove beds one by one as symptoms improve.
2) Sleep in your sleeping bag, and forget to wash it for months.
3) Sleep in a different room each day, varying it by setting the air conditioning either too hot or too cold. Sleep behind a pot plant for that jungle effect. Cats also double as pumas with a little imagination. Put up a mosquito net, ensuring that there are plenty of holes, and it falls down at least twice during the night.
4) Enlist help of a family member to set your radio alarm randomly to go off at some time during the night, filling your room with loud talking. Works best if you can find a radio station in Hebrew.
5) Slowly remove items of clothing etc from your backpack, until you are completely using your wardrobe instead. Maybe only one item a day, but remember its one step at a time kids, one step at a time. Don't forget to smell your clothes before wearing them, and re-introduce the use of the iron SLOWLY.
6) Buy your favourite foodstuffs, and despite living at home, write your >name and when you might next be leaving the house on them. This should be the backpackers staple diet of mainly pasta, potatoes and beer.
7) Ask family member to every now or again steal one of the above
foodstuffs, preferably the one you've most been looking forward to, or the most expensive.
8) Keep at least one item of food far too long or in a bag out in the sun, so you have to spend at least 24 hours within sprinting distance of the toilet.
9) Even if it's a Sunday, make sure you're out of the house by 10am, and then stand on the corner looking lost. Ask first passer-by of similar ethnic background if they've found anywhere good to go yet.
10)Once decided to possibly get a job, take a fully packed rucksack to work with you every day. Although it's perfectly safe next to the coffee machine, watch it like a hawk.
11)Buy your bus, train ticket or order a taxi in a foreign language. The fact the person behind the counter won't understand you simply adds to the authenticity. Remember to barter for everything, if the bus driver says 70p, offer 30p.
12)When sitting on public transport (the tube in London is the best) introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you, say which stop you got on, where your going to, how long you have been travelling and what >university you went to. If they say they are going to Morden, say you met a guy on the central line who said it was terrible, you've heard Parsons Green is better, and cheaper.
13) Shower infrequently, ensuring that you continue to apply Deet for that true travel aroma.
These simple but effective instructions should help
you fall back into normal society with the minimum of effort. Good luck!
Here's a few handy hints that should help you settle back in:
1) Replace your bed with two or more bunk beds, and every night invite random people in to sleep there. This will make things seem more hostel-like, and will also boost your karma. Ensure at least once a week a couple gets drunk and shags on one of the top bunks all night. Remove beds one by one as symptoms improve.
2) Sleep in your sleeping bag, and forget to wash it for months.
3) Sleep in a different room each day, varying it by setting the air conditioning either too hot or too cold. Sleep behind a pot plant for that jungle effect. Cats also double as pumas with a little imagination. Put up a mosquito net, ensuring that there are plenty of holes, and it falls down at least twice during the night.
4) Enlist help of a family member to set your radio alarm randomly to go off at some time during the night, filling your room with loud talking. Works best if you can find a radio station in Hebrew.
5) Slowly remove items of clothing etc from your backpack, until you are completely using your wardrobe instead. Maybe only one item a day, but remember its one step at a time kids, one step at a time. Don't forget to smell your clothes before wearing them, and re-introduce the use of the iron SLOWLY.
6) Buy your favourite foodstuffs, and despite living at home, write your >name and when you might next be leaving the house on them. This should be the backpackers staple diet of mainly pasta, potatoes and beer.
7) Ask family member to every now or again steal one of the above
foodstuffs, preferably the one you've most been looking forward to, or the most expensive.
8) Keep at least one item of food far too long or in a bag out in the sun, so you have to spend at least 24 hours within sprinting distance of the toilet.
9) Even if it's a Sunday, make sure you're out of the house by 10am, and then stand on the corner looking lost. Ask first passer-by of similar ethnic background if they've found anywhere good to go yet.
10)Once decided to possibly get a job, take a fully packed rucksack to work with you every day. Although it's perfectly safe next to the coffee machine, watch it like a hawk.
11)Buy your bus, train ticket or order a taxi in a foreign language. The fact the person behind the counter won't understand you simply adds to the authenticity. Remember to barter for everything, if the bus driver says 70p, offer 30p.
12)When sitting on public transport (the tube in London is the best) introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you, say which stop you got on, where your going to, how long you have been travelling and what >university you went to. If they say they are going to Morden, say you met a guy on the central line who said it was terrible, you've heard Parsons Green is better, and cheaper.
13) Shower infrequently, ensuring that you continue to apply Deet for that true travel aroma.
These simple but effective instructions should help
you fall back into normal society with the minimum of effort. Good luck!
Friday, April 30, 2004
Study: Uneducated Outbreeding Intelligentsia 2-To-1 (from the Onion)
CHICAGO—In a report with dire implications for the intellectual future of America, a University of Chicago study revealed Monday that the nation's uneducated are breeding twice as soon and twice as often as those with university diplomas. "The average member of the American underclass spawns at age 15, compared to age 30 for the average college-educated professional," study leader Kenneth Stalls said. "America's intellectual elite, as a result, is badly losing the genetic marathon, with two generations of dullards born for every one generation of cultured literates." Added Stalls: "At this rate, by the year 2100 there will be five smart people on Earth, swallowed whole by more than 12 billion mouth-breathers incapable of understanding the binary exponentiation that swamped the Earth with their like." High-school dropout Mandi Drucker, 16, said of the findings, "All I know is, we're in love."
CHICAGO—In a report with dire implications for the intellectual future of America, a University of Chicago study revealed Monday that the nation's uneducated are breeding twice as soon and twice as often as those with university diplomas. "The average member of the American underclass spawns at age 15, compared to age 30 for the average college-educated professional," study leader Kenneth Stalls said. "America's intellectual elite, as a result, is badly losing the genetic marathon, with two generations of dullards born for every one generation of cultured literates." Added Stalls: "At this rate, by the year 2100 there will be five smart people on Earth, swallowed whole by more than 12 billion mouth-breathers incapable of understanding the binary exponentiation that swamped the Earth with their like." High-school dropout Mandi Drucker, 16, said of the findings, "All I know is, we're in love."
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
ok, so last time i was on, i was all bothered by a whole bunch of crap... so we will take things on a lighter note...
this is a funny site april sent me... if you like movies, and bunnys, and really random stuff.... the excorsist, remastered...
this is a funny site april sent me... if you like movies, and bunnys, and really random stuff.... the excorsist, remastered...
Thursday, March 25, 2004
"Nobody listens to you. Either your advice is irrelevant, your timing is poor or your voice is too quiet. The stars will correct this situation eventually, but until then it's up to you."
--damn horoscopes... i'm going one vote timing..
its always timing... life only happens when timing is right... and thats my problem i'm on the wrong foot and one step behind.
--damn horoscopes... i'm going one vote timing..
its always timing... life only happens when timing is right... and thats my problem i'm on the wrong foot and one step behind.
Friday, March 19, 2004
ok... so things have happened, but i'm lazy so haven't kept up. plus no one reads this anyway...
but whatever.
didn't get the gregory job... its too bad, but probably for the best anyway. i'm not a southern california kind of girl anyway...
i'm thinking about staying at philmont.. well... going away and then coming back, but haven't decided if thats a bad choice...
arriane and lisa are driving me nuts, but then again, i'm probably getting on their nerves too... i'm just ready to go home for a bit. having only 6 people who you work, live, and hang out with, being your ONLY people can get, well, tedious...
oh. i'm third on the st. james photo hunt list... with jo ann, andrea, and mark warren....
but whatever.
didn't get the gregory job... its too bad, but probably for the best anyway. i'm not a southern california kind of girl anyway...
i'm thinking about staying at philmont.. well... going away and then coming back, but haven't decided if thats a bad choice...
arriane and lisa are driving me nuts, but then again, i'm probably getting on their nerves too... i'm just ready to go home for a bit. having only 6 people who you work, live, and hang out with, being your ONLY people can get, well, tedious...
oh. i'm third on the st. james photo hunt list... with jo ann, andrea, and mark warren....
I have just read and signed the petition: "Oppose the Federal
>>Marriage Amendment"
>>
>>We are trying to reach 50000 signatures, and we need
>>YOUR HELP!
>>
>>Please help by signing this petition. It takes 30 seconds and will really
>>help. Please follow this link:
>>
>http://www.care2.com/go/z/12267
>>
>>Once you have signed, help even more, by telling your friends
>>and family to sign as well!
>>Marriage Amendment"
>>
>>We are trying to reach 50000 signatures, and we need
>>YOUR HELP!
>>
>>Please help by signing this petition. It takes 30 seconds and will really
>>help. Please follow this link:
>>
>http://www.care2.com/go/z/12267
>>
>>Once you have signed, help even more, by telling your friends
>>and family to sign as well!
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
First... humor thing sent by MAtt...
georgee bush
then...
a couple positive things have happened in the past couple days.... thursday i get to head to san diego to go to a final job interview with Gregory. i'm kind of psyched, cause it means they like me, but then nervous, maybe i can still blow it! but this is the closest to being permanently employeed as i've had in a while... so i'm prepping appropriately... you know, writing this, listening to music, and checking email...
georgee bush
then...
a couple positive things have happened in the past couple days.... thursday i get to head to san diego to go to a final job interview with Gregory. i'm kind of psyched, cause it means they like me, but then nervous, maybe i can still blow it! but this is the closest to being permanently employeed as i've had in a while... so i'm prepping appropriately... you know, writing this, listening to music, and checking email...
Thursday, February 26, 2004
so this morning has been one of those rough ones...
i called my mom and dad this morning to let them know that there hasn't been that much snow here, etc. but then we talked, inevitably, about the job search and what my plans are for post-kanik. i don't really want to go home. chicago is a nice city, but i don't know anyone there, and... i'm kind of, well, happy here, right?
but there is this whole 7 week between contract things that i don't knwo what to do with. and mybe that time is just saying that i should move on. out of cimarron, into the "real world" ... out of the wild. maybe i shold move to Denver or something and get an apartment i'll be in a city that i wouldn't mind being in, potentially doing something that i kind of want to do... but will i find something? or will i settle?
i could maybe just stay in cimarron... but then, i'm not moving forward AT ALL. i'm comfortable ere, but will i be too comfortable... i have a contract for the summer, and it would be a blast. a great time... its so pretty here, and why do i have to grow up... i'm only 23. i'm still in my 'free' section before i have to apply for grad school and everything... but i don't know.
i just really don't know.
i called my mom and dad this morning to let them know that there hasn't been that much snow here, etc. but then we talked, inevitably, about the job search and what my plans are for post-kanik. i don't really want to go home. chicago is a nice city, but i don't know anyone there, and... i'm kind of, well, happy here, right?
but there is this whole 7 week between contract things that i don't knwo what to do with. and mybe that time is just saying that i should move on. out of cimarron, into the "real world" ... out of the wild. maybe i shold move to Denver or something and get an apartment i'll be in a city that i wouldn't mind being in, potentially doing something that i kind of want to do... but will i find something? or will i settle?
i could maybe just stay in cimarron... but then, i'm not moving forward AT ALL. i'm comfortable ere, but will i be too comfortable... i have a contract for the summer, and it would be a blast. a great time... its so pretty here, and why do i have to grow up... i'm only 23. i'm still in my 'free' section before i have to apply for grad school and everything... but i don't know.
i just really don't know.
Friday, February 20, 2004
been interviewing with Gregory backpacks for a while now... I had given up on ever hearing back from the guy--just kind of chalked it up as another rejection (official numbers will be out soon...) but I talked with the VP of Sales and Marketing for about 50 minutes last week and talked to the Communications Director yesterday. Both conversations seemed to go pretty well, so now i just wait and HOPE that they are still mildly interested in me and will call next week... It would be such an amazing job--and i'd be good at it. so we'll see.
never talk policy with a morman and a guy who voted for AH-nold as the California gov-in-nator...
i really love arianne and matt to pieces, but i just cringe and hide behond my turtleneck when they start talking politics... don't really think of myself as too involved in all of that stuff, but they are just SOOO conservative that it drives me crazy. taht and they don't listen. but whatever. we'lll just stick to talking about old episodes of friends... taht should be pretty safe, eh?
i really love arianne and matt to pieces, but i just cringe and hide behond my turtleneck when they start talking politics... don't really think of myself as too involved in all of that stuff, but they are just SOOO conservative that it drives me crazy. taht and they don't listen. but whatever. we'lll just stick to talking about old episodes of friends... taht should be pretty safe, eh?
Friday, January 23, 2004
Things are going well here... we've been busy (kind of) but the snow didn't come till about yesterday (its just been COLD!) and now, of course, we don't have any crews for a LOOONG time, so we still can't do any winter camping... oh well, at least i can go skiing.
we just got finished with a crew on monday... stayed up around hunting lodge... did some hiking... (thats the only benefit to not havign snow... we hike a ton--the other week we did trail peak!) at night we cuddle in the sleeping bags... its not so bad, really.
i was up in utah the other week... went to park city to see some peopel i worked with in the summer/fall (you remember lizzie the RT, and sean casey ACR?) we had a blast and i got in some skiing too! I got to see laura michaels and hang iwht here... the only bad part was that my car got towed and i had to pay $100 to get it out... oops.
we just got finished with a crew on monday... stayed up around hunting lodge... did some hiking... (thats the only benefit to not havign snow... we hike a ton--the other week we did trail peak!) at night we cuddle in the sleeping bags... its not so bad, really.
i was up in utah the other week... went to park city to see some peopel i worked with in the summer/fall (you remember lizzie the RT, and sean casey ACR?) we had a blast and i got in some skiing too! I got to see laura michaels and hang iwht here... the only bad part was that my car got towed and i had to pay $100 to get it out... oops.
Thursday, January 08, 2004
"Katie said that she & Colin are planning on getting married in the summer of 2005. She just broke it to us yesterday, but your father thinks it isn't too serious because it is such a long time off & they don't have a definite plan."
so this was in an email that my mom sent me... i think its crazy talk... i mean, hes a nice guy and everything, but they are young.. and have so much they should do...
but then again, they are happy, and who says you need more than that? (well, besides me.) i just know taht i couldn't do it... but then again, i haven't even met the wrong guy yet, let allow the right one.
so didn't knwo how to respond and i still don't but i'm trying to...
so this was in an email that my mom sent me... i think its crazy talk... i mean, hes a nice guy and everything, but they are young.. and have so much they should do...
but then again, they are happy, and who says you need more than that? (well, besides me.) i just know taht i couldn't do it... but then again, i haven't even met the wrong guy yet, let allow the right one.
so didn't knwo how to respond and i still don't but i'm trying to...
man... so i'm back at philmont as a kanik (inuit for "its really damn cold outside") guide... its not bad except that one of the peopel i work with is the guy i hated over the fall... but i live with some super cool morman girls and i get paid to sleep outside in the snow...
well, we actually haven't had so much snow so far... it was 52 degrees according to my car today... we hiked trail peak and just had a pretty good time. but theoretically it should be snowy outside.
i've been back here since the day after christmas and will stay till the end of march. during this time when i'm not "working" i will be searching for jobs and studying for the actuary exam. neither of which is a very intriguing plan, but its a plan as it were, so i go with it.
basically i hope to pass the time till sept. when i will hopefully be going to SE asia with lauren. not the most financially responsible idea in the world, but fun, right?
anyway, i told my self that i was going to put in 2 hours of productive job searching, and i've been sitting here for that long, but have only applied to one job. oops. i'll try again. later.
well, we actually haven't had so much snow so far... it was 52 degrees according to my car today... we hiked trail peak and just had a pretty good time. but theoretically it should be snowy outside.
i've been back here since the day after christmas and will stay till the end of march. during this time when i'm not "working" i will be searching for jobs and studying for the actuary exam. neither of which is a very intriguing plan, but its a plan as it were, so i go with it.
basically i hope to pass the time till sept. when i will hopefully be going to SE asia with lauren. not the most financially responsible idea in the world, but fun, right?
anyway, i told my self that i was going to put in 2 hours of productive job searching, and i've been sitting here for that long, but have only applied to one job. oops. i'll try again. later.
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