Volunteer, Advocate, Trekker.

Phew, well, it's been a turbulent few weeks I gotta say. For those random international people who seem to follow my blog, and I greatly appreciate you, you should know that my girlfriend and I have split up after just over 2 years. While I'm sure I shouldn't expect her to follow this blog anymore, I still don't think it appropriate to go into the dirty details of that kind of thing in a public forum. Star Trek (Original Series) Stage Plan for Sets But The TV Show that is my Life seems to be having some kind of exciting arc or something. We've got characters leaving the show, old recurring characters having an increased role, and a whole bunch of sets that have been scrapped (hopefully to make way for new sets.) In addition to preferring not to go over Sarah's house anymore (to avoid the awkwardness of running into the guy I presume she'll be dating soon) - I have quit my job as a CA in the residence halls. That's two long standing sets, I'm ho...

Site of the Day: "Five Jobs Everyone Should Experience" - a blog or something I found randomly googling. A conversation I had today, mixed with an episode of How I Met Your Mother, led me to think: where could I be in 5 years, if not teaching/in government? Well, I remember Hillary Clinton once saying she worked on a fishing ship: WTF? Random right? But like the census and American Eagle, I feel everyone should have a job in certain sectors... it teaches you interesting things. Quote of the Day: Watching a documentary on the Smithsonian channel on the science of Jurassic Park. Mom mentioned she didn't see the value behind cloning Dinosaurs in real life like Jurassic Park, "I don't think Humans need any competition" , and asked me for my opinion: "Well I don't know if they should do what they did in Jurassic Park, but I think it'd be cool if there was like -- an island museum [zoo] people could go to... oh, well I guess that is the plo...

Haha, interesting experience-filled day to add to the memoir of my life. Today I got to learn how to handle a "rock star." As you may know, the ASG was charged (literally) with providing the bands for Springfest 2011: and while I made recommendations such as Bruno Mars , Travie McCoy , and the Far East Movement -- in the end we ended up with Shwayze, Cisco & Urban Crush . I wasn't too pleased, my main intention was to get someone with name recognition like Kent always manages to get (Bruno Mars, Drake, 3Oh!3...) but alas, we ended up having to go with someone approved by the University's student entertainment division or something? I dunno. He's disappointed he didn't get to meet Zippy. The story gets interesting when newly-appointed (for the last week) ASG Vice President Kenny was looking for someone to pick them up from the airport. Always eager to help, I volunteered. I had to find 5 pals (which ended up being 3 people from ASG, a housemate, ...

Woah, BUSY night at work! (Which means I haven't been able to get much else done.) The residence hall I'm working at has had quite a night, I can't get too detailed because I take confidentiality pretty seriously, but I think it's safe to share that two of our residents went to the hospital (give or take), both from the second floor. Then a shower on the second floor started flooding, and two residents had to be temporarily relocated. Whaaaaaat is going on on the second floor? The RA's nicknamed the whole night's crisis: "The head, the finger and the flood." But after that, I took care of some emails about the Garfield House for mom, and looked over an essay for Sarah, and did some Circle K work. Now I hope to get to catch up on some of the MOUNTAINS of homework due in April x_X Website of the Day: Not so much a website, but a Twitter account. So a very poisonous snake is missing from/inside the Reptile House of the Bronx Zoo - and this somehow...

Well today has had it's ups and downs. At work, working midnight to 6 am trying desperately to stay awake even when I'm full of Redbull and bottled Starbucks. This is made out of Redbull cans! WOW! Lets see, stayed up til 2am last night somehow watching Star Wars IV with Sarah. (That was probably not so good a decision, but it was due today.) Woke up for class at like 6am this morning, had "Instructional Techniques" with the awesome bearded teacher; that class was boring. We're doing practice discussions so students can get experience leading a class discussion, even when it goes sour. We have to have 20 minutes of discussion. I talk a lot in that class, haha, sometimes I feel bad but no one else is talking and it's the point of the activity! I'm not going to leave the teacher-student hanging there. Especially when I have a valid opinion that hasn't been voiced yet. Anyway, one of the problems was that all three group-discussion leaders used the...

Well, it's been a busy month. And to be honest, I've just been too exhausted in my free time to blog! Even my Desk Manager at Honors has commented on how I haven't been as bubbly as I used to be this semester. But I'm enjoying the business, and the productivity it has spawned. In ASG this past week, I got my second piece of legislation on the agenda (where most senators have yet to get their first.) My first one was Wind Turbines, the second: free parking on weekends. This was an easy thing, rather than weeks of research like with the wind turbines - this was just changing the policy to reflect what is enforced, and what most other Universities around do as well. We don't ticket for not showing a parking pass on weekends at the University of Akron, but out policy says we ticket 24/7 and visitors must pay 6$ to get into an unmanned lot. That's ridiculous, because no body uses the lot - everyone parks in the deck - but if someone did Want to follow the rules, t...

Not literally, but my desktop. Pretty much since getting this labtop, with it's 500 GB memory I haven't made it a priority to keep the desktop or files too clean. My first desk shift of the year, what better time for some Fall cleaning! (Already 1/4th through my shift, nice!) While I'm at it I'll post a few of the things I've been letting pile up. So, a random thing I wanted to ask you if you remembered: 2X-L . He was a robot, which I brought up to Sarah like a month ago. She did not really remember 2X-L. But we had one growing up, and you put in a cassette with some kind of learning adventure and pressed the buttons to select either the right or wrong answer I guess? I don't really remember how he worked, or why I downloaded a picture of him - and the only thing I remember about him was that I wanted to put him on my blog. Well, here he is, now I can delete it haha. Actually if you look at that 2XL link above, you can see an earlier 80's-version of 2XL....

"A resident of Ansan, [South Korea] near Seoul, reported seeing 40-50 objects resembling parachutes falling on a mountainside. The military and police mobilized a special joint task force. Upon investigation, the objects turned out to be helium balloons released by a local school." - (BBC News.) What a sad place the world is coming to when music about war is art imitated . Woah, sorry, had a deep moment. I'm back now. So I have a bunch of half-written back-blogs to post that I just have to finish and add aspects to (ie: song of the day, quote, etc.) So today was bad, but is getting better. Woke up at 6 am and realized I slept through my 4-6am shift this morning >( oh well, nothing I can do about it now, emailed my boss and we'll see what happens of it. But I was also planning to do my final project for Human Cultures that was due today at work -- so I quickly started working on that, and finished just before class. Got to class, then it wa...

Well followers, it's been quite a stressful May I have to say. Grandpa is likely spending the last of his nights in the hospital, as his treatments aren't working and he isn't responding to medications - so his wishes are that he be taken off the breathing tubes. He was breathing with struggle on his own when I had to leave earlier to come to work (cause I couldn't get ahold of my boss.) I don't want to lose grandpa, but the Doctors seem to indicate that it's only a matter of time. Then there's the, by comparison, comically unimportant issues of working the Census and CAing and trying to figure out when each is. Add to that starting Monday I start classes. And thanks to enrolling in another class (3 credits) I don't risk losing a chunk of my CA paycheck to something, and I get a parking pass included in my tuition. (Parking was going to be an issue: taken care of.) Then Sarah goes off to China tomorrow morning, driving her to the airport in Cleveland. Is...

Okay, I admit it -- Sarah has discovered this thing that is "Parkour" (or "Freerunning," depending on how picky you are) and I want to be able to do that! :( That is sooo cool. Long story short, it's like a running-gymnastics where you do crazy flips and things to jump over and around obstacles in modern urban environments. All I keep thinking is "Wow, that'd help me get into Abandoned Buildings WAY easier!" Sarah busted her knee a tad at Kyuhun's going away party, adding that on top of her ACL damage from last year. I'm sure otherwise she would be just as eager to find some kind of class to learn how to do this in! It was mentioned in a second season episode of Heroes that Monica used it. Her power being she's a "muscle mimic" - or she can recreate any motion she sees without formal training. So by watching a video of parkour (pronounced to rhyme with hardcore - it's French) she was able to perform it to jump in/aro...

Huh. My finals week is over before I even knew it. I had my Japanese final on Tuesday morning (it went... eh. If I want to have a prayer in Japanese 201 next semester I'd better study ALOT this summer.) And with my Macro final last Thursday, and most of my Ed classes didn't have "traditional" finals -- one was email in answers to five questions the teacher asked on the first day, and another was "participate in a class discussion on being a teacher." So yay for a light finals week which is over, even if I didn't do too well on Macro or Japanese. Eghhh. (Book for next sem of Japanese. Remarkable prices: Amazon new, 48$ Amazon, used: 62$ (wtf?) Random Used Book Site: 36$ Better World Books: 134$ Yeah. Screw you Better World Books.) The rest of my spare time this week has been reserved for Census training. Now that "GQE" (Group Quarters Enumeration) is complete, we're moving on to NRFU ("Nar-Fu") or Non-Response Follow-Up. AKA: I g...

Blah. Working 12midnight - 6am. It's already almost 4am and I haven't touched my homework - lol. Gonna watch this video by the Nostalgia Critic about "Home Alone 3" then try to start my Japanese homework. Then maybe work on my Content Reading homework. Fun stuff I know. So Last night was Sumner-fest, a street-wide party on Sarah's street. That was kinda interesting. Well let me rollback a little farther, so I had got out of the Census at about 4'oclock. I try to leave Quaker, and the guy tries to charge me. I'm like "Um, I'm a student." "I still gotta charge you. How long were you here?" He isn't trying to be a dick, he was trying to be really nice about it - just doing his job, I understand. But I was angry, cause I made a distinct effort to park somewhere I was allowed to -- which is why I chose the lot that HAS THIS SIGN: What's that you say? All Permits? You mean like Commuter permits? Yup, that's a permit. ER, Univ...

11:48 p. - 12:23 a: Japanese "Listening Comprehension" worksheet. Listened to "Genkides 2: Track 02" ten times. (Unrelated to my schedule, see below for music reference. The Japanese characters behind the sword above by the way read: "Kee-Ru Bee-Ru" or, not surprisingly, "Kill Bill." See, I'm studying!) 12:23 a. - 12:31 a: Assisted residents looking for somewhere to project a movie on a big screen. After the R.A. on duty shot them down, I suggested they check if the classrooms downstairs were left unlocked. 1:10 a. - 1:46 a: Paused to chat with Erin who came to visit me. Erin's awesome, and writing a section of the Circle K award paper - YAY for helpfulness! 1:47 a. - 2:13 a: Chatted with Sarah online. I love her, and what's she doing up? Sigh. How much easier our relationship would be without Circle K. No wonder everyone in this org are single ladies or gay guys. 2:13 a. - 3:04 a: Returns to content reading project. At...

Hahaha, so if you've ever shopped at an American Eagle Outfitters, you know they have music playing in the background. Well, as someone who worked there for a few months during the Christmas season, you quickly realize it's the same so-many songs over and over (as opposed to a radio station. Which, to be fair, also plays the same so-many songs over and over.) But I digress. Anyway, during my orientation they switched to the Holiday CD (what a good metaphorical change of gears...) and since then I really wanted to make a list of the songs. That list has found it's way to the internet, and I wanted to repost it here so as to come back to it and refer at some point. The songs I find particularly note worthy I may link to or something, we'll see. But maybe you'll recognize a name or find a title interesting, so: ========================= The Handsome Furs - "All We Want Baby, Is Everything" The Rolling Stones - "Beast of Burden" The Sounds - "Be...

No, not the kind I would be enjoying like say, a marathon of Magic School Bus episodes. A marathon like I would not enjoy, with the running. Pretty much until Monday I have a packed schedule, and that means very little sleep. But I should first appreciate the little happinesses of life, like how 3 of my 4 classes were canceled today! How awesome is that! Japanese, which pretty much had a 0 chance of getting canceled at all this semester. I love it. And my morning class was pretty interesting, got to discuss and watch a few scenes from the movie "Freedom Writers." But my marathon: it's like 4:30, and I'm already dead tired from getting little sleep last night writing 2 papers due today (granted, one only had finishing touches needed, but the other was 10 pages!) Now I work 6-8 at Ritchie, then watching the most recent episode of Heroes with Sarah and likely getting dinner some how (most recent ep: "Thanksgiving.") Then it's work 12-4am, find my way over ...

That's Japanese for "Wednesday" (Suiyoobi.) So I have a bunch of work to get done, and I haven't really gotten any of it done, but not for lack of trying this time. The CA before me at work stayed for like... 50 minutes after his shift ended just kinda chitchatting. Then I've been trying to get this stupid video to embed in a power point for Ed Tech. Now I'm kinda relaxing, even though it's already 2:34 and I have a bunch of things to get done by 3:45! Iie! (That means "No!" in Japanese.) So, if I made a list I think I'd really see all the crazy stuff I need to get done in a day, and do get done in a day. Tonight at work I have to: write this blog, respond to a bunch of emails for Circle K, convert a video as previously described for Ed Tech, then I want to organize my Psych folder a bit so tomorrow night it will be easier to write the final paper. Then tomorrow I'm really busy - got Ed Tech in the morning at 1:45, then going to Grandpa...

Omfg -- so Saturday was like, THE AWESOMEST DAY EVERZ! After the interview, went back to Garf to get some things from home (house was a mess. Stole some gummy bears from like a two pound bag on the coffee table. No toasters, thankfully.) Then went to Sarah's for a few, where my phone gave me a TON of troubles like zomg > But went in for training, and signing of a confidentiality agreement :/ which means no state secrets on my blog I'm afraid. But anyway, that Saturday night -- got to go see the AP tour with The Secret Handshake, Mayday Parade, The Academy is, and others and it was a lot of fun and amazing! I Loved it! And I got to buy TSH CD which I've wanted, AND got the lead singer to sign it [Luis Dubuc] AAAND Got my picture with him [see next blog.] SO EXCITING! *U* I loved this weekend, it was practically perfect. Song of the Day: "Saturday" by The Secret Handshake.

So - just got back from my group interview at American Eagle Outfitters, wish me luck! I may hear as early as tonight if they want me to come in for training tomorrow morning! I really hope I get it, but if not, I won't be *crushed* -- but I'll be happy that I've made the biggest stride in getting a real job in a while. So, thought I'd let you in on a little behind the scenes commentary on my interview today! First, I didn't even know what to wear!? Do I dress fancy-schmancy, shirt+tie+dress shoes? My first instinct was the mantra "you can't look too professional" but with Sarah and Google's help, I changed my mind. You can in fact look too professional, so I'm quite glad I dropped to one of my button ups with khaki's, and even that may have been too dressy. But yeah, if you ever interview at American Eagle Outfitters, or somewhere similar (maybe this blog is to help people who are interviewing there --) definitly wear *nice* casual. I did ...

Ugh, I dunno why I do it to myself. But I am sooo tired, it's 4:17 in the morning on Halloween day and I'm working the desk. (Oh I remember now, I need money like nobodies business.) Hopefully my tuition disbursement check comes today to my home address, cause if not there's gonna be some issues. But enough about my money issues. So err, I guess I haven't been doing some things right for the District of Circle K cause I get a letter of complaint from the governor. I was on the fence before about DCON chair, and I think I had an okay idea - but that does it - I want out of this student organization. Obviously I'll still volunteer at the club level next year but I do no want an elected position. Rather, I may run for President of College Democrats. We'll see what happens, but elected or board position in CKI? Unlikely. Too much crazy. Ugh. So the other day, I was waiting for Patsy so we could go food shopping and I was hopping merrily back and forth from two woode...

Okay. I have officially had all of my classes for Fall 2009 semester at least once now, but I still didn't feel like I was back in school mode til working a shift at the Honors desk. I am now working, however, my first graveyard shift -- and admittedly I was pretty tired on my way over here, dreading working and just wanting to sleep in my bed. But now that I'm here, and I get some alone time on my labtop, it's kinda nice to be "home." So today's been pretty stressful, with some Circle K plans falling through requiring a last minute change that's going to prove cumbersome and annoying, and some financial aid problems, on top of overall financial problems -- I've just been pretty generically stressed lately. Oh! In response to my financial issues (ie: I'm only working 6 hours a week CAing. That's not gonna cut the mustard.) My possession of a car has [technically led me to conclude weeks ago] that I'm gonna get a real person job. My first ch...