Two posts in one day.. lucky you.
Yes, OK, not really. I found this, and I honestly think it is one of the coolest things ever.
On eBay, sixteen authors are auctioning off the chance to have YOUR name in one of their novels. The authors include: Amy Tan, Dave Eggers and John Grisham. All proceeds will go to benefit the First Amendment Project—an awesome non-profit.
That is all.
Good blog, good guy (I assume), is looking for a PHP programmer.. who wants to be in the Alps. Programmers… any of you like to ski?
Check it out: not very deep rumblings.
I’ve been feeling out of sorts for awhile. I hadn’t been able to place it, but tonight I think I did. I’m restless and honestly, bored. I am bored to tears.
I always get this way toward the end of summer, but I would always look forward to school starting again. It’s not that I’m that much of a nerd (although, yes, I kinda am), it’s just that it meant a change. New people, new classes, new teachers, new everything. In retrospect, I always get this way toward the end of May as well—anxious for school to be done, anxious to move to something different.
I think this might be why I loved being an Army brat—the moving, the on-the-go.
Exactly three years ago I took a little trip, to shake the boredom. You see, I had taken college classes while in high school, so I had a year of college under my belt at the time of graduation. I had then gone, and come back, from college in California, and I wasn’t prepared to finish my last two years. So on August 5, I packed my car and took off. I didn’t return home until Thanksgiving. I covered 30,000 miles and 48 states, and, for a time, calmed my wanderlust.
Every year about this time I long to be somewhere else. I can remember vividly whole days and weeks spent on the road. In my mind’s eye, I see the dusty plains of Nebraska and the sun drenched fields of sunflowers in Wyoming. I remember my mom calling me almost every day, checking to see where I was and when I would come home. I reveled in making it to the easternmost point of the US (Eastport, ME) and the southermost (Key West, FL), but I began to ache for family and friends. So I cut my trip short by a couple of weeks and surprised my mom on Thanksgiving.
I think I could live anywhere. I don’t feel bound by country or language, and I’m itching to see more of the world, but… It’s hard to leave family. My cousins are growing fast and my parents are getting older, and I miss seeing them. I’d like to live closer, perhaps a state or two away, but I know I would quickly grow bored and restless. Like now. I moved across the country and that was great for me at the time. I still love it over here, but I’m ready for a major change.
I’ve been thinking perhaps a state move, or a job change would do it. But I’m not sure anymore. I’ve been debating joining the Peace Corps, but for several reasons, I’ve put a hold on my application.
If you’ve made it to the bottom of this winding, train-falling-off-the-tracks, yes-I-need-a-drink post, what are your thoughts? Has any reader ever joined the Corps? Did you enjoy it? What were your reasons for joining?
On that same vein, if you have any suggestions for calming the crazed desire to be constantly on the move, do share. Please.
I think I have finally found the problem with blogging. It’s just way too damn interesting. Here me out.
I was out tonight at a concert (the band America), which was awesome. It got over relatively early, so Jen and I headed to a bar in a very hip, coastal town nearby. I decided to stay sober tonight, because a) it’s about a 20 minute drive, and b) it was raining. No big deal, though, as I can normally have fun with no chemical aid whatsoever. As the night progresses, I end up talking to this guy who had been attempting to buy me drinks all night. He seemed a rather intelligent, college-educated type of guy. He works in real estate and blah, blah, blah. Now normally, I can talk to anybody about anything—for hours. It’s just one of those random gifts I was given (honestly I would prefer world-class violinist gifts, but that’s neither here nor there).
The problem, you ask? I was so bored, and all I could think about was coming home and checking blogs to see if anyone had anything interesting to say. Is that wrong, or what? I knew that I would come home and be highly entertained, and half the time, educated, by what my fellow bloggers post—and this guy couldn’t even compare. And he was cute and educated… WTF?!
So then I read Graham’s recent posting on his blog (very good read, btw), and I realized that I am not the only one who has this problem!
I feel better now. 🙂
(Which just goes to show you that blogs are a serious problem to social graces everywhere—I feel like I can relate better to most of you than to the people outside my door. Shit.)
There’s something that really bugs me, and I feel the need to share. I’m assuming by now everyone has used, or at least knows of, instant messenging. Yes? OK.
Does it bother anyone else when people go home and leave their computers on… while still logged in to IM? So there’s that stupid little clock there and an (Away) by their name, but they are STILL LOGGED IN. Technically.
The reason this drives me insane, you ask? Because I suffer from a need to IM said people and leave annoying little notes on their computer. However, one said person (I left notes on his computer last night..), has now replaced the typical auto-response of “I am away from my computer right now,” with… “Don’t you hate when people leave their computers on when they are really playing basketball!!! 🙂 ”
Yes. Yes I do.
So then I respond with pithy little phrases. Mainly, “Why didn’t you turn off your computer when you left today?” and “I swear to god, I will send an IM every 30 minutes… with unbelievably random information….” and “I am going to torture the shit out of you.”
I’m really quite sweet, aren’t I? 😉
I have this ongoing dream, that one day I will wake up and this won’t be my life.
Don’t get me wrong, I like my life. It’s interesting and entertaining; I have great friends and a wonderful family. But I wonder.
Had my life gone as planned (when I was 15), I would be married to a pastor, probably pregnant with our first child and quite possibly a missionary in a remote third world country. In college, I would have majored in history and Biblical studies. I would have sung in an a capella choir and joined the theatre troupe. I would have led Bible studies and married my high school sweetheart. My family would be inordinately proud of me and I would revel in being such a “good” person.
Appalling, isn’t it? Would you read my blog then? If I was self righteous and only watched “7th Heaven?” Yeah, I wouldn’t either.
As it is, I majored in communications. I edited the college paper and I watch anything that catches my fancy. I’m agnostic and not married, so a missionary, I’m not. My family loves me, but I disappoint them.
I don’t think I want the other life. Mine works for me.. but sometimes, when I’m having a bad day or I miss my family, I wonder.
No, I didn’t have a bad day. I just felt restless and listless and I don’t like that—it makes me wonder. And wondering, for me, is decidedly unhealthy.
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And now I have read this over and I am appalled at how pathetic it sounds when I purge. I hate it when I’m whiny.
So you tell me. What path were you supposed to take? What were you going to be?
Awesome, awesome. The duo behind “The Motorcycle Diaries” is going to turn Kerouac’s “On the Road” into a movie. Love the book, can’t wait to see the movie. 🙂
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for marcos..The Luckiest by Ben Folds
I want to work for Google.
They give awesome benefits: yoga, fitness center, massage room… and free gourmet meals during work. Hook. me. up. (And the guest and the outsider, as they eat a surprising amount of food.)
So why am I bringing this up? Because Google is holding a competition to hire two new chefs! Chefs who cook with organic ingredients for both carnivores and VEGETARIANS! Yay!
Seriously people, how awesome is this company?
It’s in Mountain View, CA. When you visit (to write about it or whatnot) you get Google boxer shorts as a parting gift. They have a wall mural of the company’s rise.. in crayon. There are toys like scooters and a pool table—for them to play with. They serve cereal: 13 different kinds, including Lucky Charms… this is in addition to the gourmet food in the ultra-cool cafeteria. And they all went to see the new Harry Potter movie—together.
I completely work for the wrong company… I am a Googler. These are my people.
Actually, most of the day was just blah… but we did go to the favorite restaurant with the Mozambique and the Borba and the espresso, so that made it far more fabulous. (The coworker is back—YAY! Happy! Joy!)
Then I just got off the phone with an old friend who graduated from college with me. She has been very worried about getting a good job, so she’s been stressed. But… she was just offered a very, very plum job with an awesome political foundation in D.C. (her dream). They are paying to fly her down, paying to move her down and they want her ASAP. Since I apparently send out getting-a-new-fabulous-job vibes, I will now concentrate all of my attention toward Anne. (I don’t want you to have to marry for citizenship if he isn’t dreamy… 😉 )
Oh and Netflix arrived today… yay again. “L’Auberge Espagnole”—I know, I know, but I love this movie—and “The Last Kiss”… what can I say? I like foreign films and indies.
Hmmm… what else, what else.. oh yes, the outsider’s birthday present (the last part) arrived. And now the worst part of birthdays has begun… the damn waiting. I want to give it nooooooowwwwww. I love giving presents—natural high, kinda like flirting. 😉
Sadly, the guest is having a bad day… so besos y abraza mi hermano. Prometo mejores dias para venir.
There’s something weird about Tuesdays. It’s not Monday, so no end-of-the-weekend blues. It’s not Wednesday, so there’s no thank-god-the-week-is-halfway-over sighs. It’s not Thursday or Friday, the days-that-aren’t-really-meant-for-work… just weekend planning. No, it’s Tuesday.
In my world, we publish on Tuesday. Basically, this means that Tuesdays are comprised of several stressful and highly-charged hours. Typically that also means the coworker and I have a fabulous late lunch.. with liquor. Sadly, she was still sick today, so no wonderful lunch… just an obnoxious day.
EXCEPT… there is a shining light on Tuesdays. iTunes adds new music.. yay, yay, yay! And I just spent some cash… and found a new group that I like: Phoenix. Very good stuff.
Other New Stuff (because my iTunes Library isn’t big enough at 3,321 songs…yowza):
Sadly, the songs/artists I look for every time still aren’t up. Songs are… Aimee Mann’s version of “Shed a Little Light,” Alison Krauss and Sting doing “You Will Be My Ain True Love,” Bap Kennedy’s “Moonlight Kiss” and Eva Cassidy’s “Songbird.” Artists include Sia (Australian) and Corneille (France.. thanks Anne!). Then there is the ridiculously long list of entire CDs that I want—Peter Mulvey (several of his actually), Josh Ritter, Nick Drake, the new Lori McKenna and the new The Ben Taylor Band.
I might have a song addiction problem. Hmmm.
Oh well. It won’t kill me.
OK, moving this up from the comments because a) I love them and want to share, and b) I already uploaded them to the server (all that work, they need to be heard).
I love, love Missy Higgins! All for Believing and Any Day Now are two of my absolute favorites.
For the rest of you who don’t know who we are talking about, listen:
All for Believing, by Missy Higgins
Any Day Now, by Missy HigginsAnd Misplacedpom if you like Missy, then you might like Eastmountainsouth: So Are You to Me and You Dance.
And definitely Abra Moore: Family Affair.
And Rachel Yamagata: I’ll Find a Way.
And Amos Lee: Speed the Sound of Loneliness.