The News

Here are some headlines and news from my life today:

Homework, Job and "Having a Life" Combine to Make Young Man Anxious
I have so many assignments stacked up, job applications to fill out and gardening chores that I want to do that I literally didn't fall asleep for over an hour last night. Furthermore, I'm not doing a good job of prioritizing those good things in life that make it worth going through all the stressful times. I was planning to quit my job later this summer, but I may advance the expected last day by a few weeks.

Journalist Interviewed: Trying Times for Newspapers... and Photographers
I carpooled to a school tour with a colleague this morning and had the opportunity to hear some of his life story. He studied journalism in college (in the 80s) and got a job as a photojournalist for the St. Paul newspaper The Pioneer Press. Apparently no one reads newspapers any more. He was laid off in 2002, made it as a freelance photographer a number of years after that, and more recently couldn't even make it doing that. Now he's in his first semester at Hamline - same as me - getting licensed to teach communications.

Camping Gear Still Strewn About
I got off the water with Brooke and friends last Monday after a four-day canoe trip. It poured rain the last day out, so I hung up a makeshift clothesline in my room to dry stuff out. I've been slowly putting things away, but there's still plenty to go.

Craigslist Leads to Interesting and Potentially Helpful Guy
I have a new bike. His name is Jeconiah. Actually, he's just a new frame I bought with some birthday cash with all of my old components swapped over. I'm currently trying to sell some of the old parts that didn't transfer on Craigslist, and I missed a great trade opportunity by 4 hours. C.J. was the guy behind the almost trade and when I called him back today, he still took the time to ask about what I was looking for - a crank, long cage derailleur. He "knows people" and alerted me to the bargain finds to be had at local "swap meets." Apparently he trades for parts, builds up bikes and knows a lot of similar people. Though he only just met me over the phone, he'll "get back to me" with some potential used parts I'm looking for. Score(?).

Government Shut-down Foils Family Plans
Thanks to stubborn lawmakers in the State Capitol building that is just a few miles from my apartment the entire state government might shut down in 7 hours. News usually just passes in one ear and out the other, leaving me about as politically informed as my bicycle, but this story is hard to ignore. Several of my colleague are realizing they may not be getting paychecks this week - a sobering thought. Fortunately for me the worst direct impact on my life will be the closure of the state park Brooke, her family and I were going to relax in over the holiday weekend. One positive* side: perhaps the government contracted construction workers will stop loudly driving their bulldozers up and down my street while I'm trying to study.

New Study: Can Cookies Lead to Obesity?
My housemate Noor is apparently the lead researcher on this one. And I am the experimental group, n=1. He brought home a tray of 84 cookies that he received for free yesterday, and rather than eating them all he left a note reading "please, help yourself." Also, consider that Brooke and I are low on groceries and time to cook...

*really just for me. Again, mostly sobering for the actual workers.

Head Above Water

Turns out school is more difficult than I thought - at least when juggled with work, planning for a trip, job searching and having a life.

I'd write more, but notice how "blogging" didn't make the list of things with which I was juggling school.

Suffice it to say I have more [b]logs to post, I would like to keep blogging, and life is pretty busy right now. Presently I have some more Ed. Psych. to read before class tonight and a trip to the good ol' BWCAW slated for tomorrow.

[blub]

The [B]log: April 30, 2011 - Day 3

As I finished typing the last sentences of my last (for now) blog post somehow a little piece of my subconscious knew that I would receive my first SASE from my good friend Jonny, and that it would be very prompt. As if on cue, a letter did arrive from Jonny (and his wife Hannah) as quickly as the USPS made possible. After a long (and busy!) day at the shop, followed by a delicious Indian feast at a nearby restaurant I found the letter lying on the table just inside the door.

I wasn't really sure of what I was doing/planning when I unofficially announced that I planned to continue blogging... and then offered continued receipt of said [b]logs via SASE. First of all, I had no idea if anyone would even bother with the time and money (88¢ + 2 envelopes) involved. Also, I didn't have a ny particular writing plans... although these daily exercises have been nice and might as well be continued. And now that I have at least one paper log "subscriber" I have a greater purpose behind these thoughts... I am... a Logger!


Another more immediate effect of the letter (for a letter it was, as well as a SASE!) was to make me excited. I still have a few pen and paper correspondences, and I think half the reason for this is my innate love of tangible memorabilia and all things antiquated. I get this from both parents. I have a pocket watch (waiting on a fob), a physical ledger book, and an old cigar box with recipes on index cards. In high school I would collect paperback classic novels, half as much for the weathered artwork on the covers as for the literary value. And I love letters. So maybe, if I'm being honest with myself, a request for SASEs was partly a clever, subconscious trick to get mail! Score!


But also, as I read over Jonny's friendly words, this letter did well to remind me of the joy of paper correspondence. When I was composing the auto-reply "vacation responder" for my email account I was envisioning most of my communication during this time period as phone-centered. But hey, why not mail some letters too? Catch up on some correspondences? Yeah it costs money, but what's 44¢ these days? Sure it takes time (i.e. - is not instantaneous), but 2 days plus a few hours isn't really that long... So hooray for snail mail


Finally, I've just remembered that I wanted to make some predictions (not the right word) about this month. What do I fear? What do I think will be challenging? etc... One guess I had was that trivial searches would lose their appeal; so far that's been true. If googling an obscure law/fact/thing is no longer an option then the back of my mind will stop urging me to a computer throughout the day. I do think it will be difficult to get by without conveniences such as: apartment-searching, job-searching, obscure item purchasing (with home delivery!)... and checking the weather. Today I woke to pouring rain, psyched myself up, bundled up in rain gear, bike to work... and then couldn't fit all my rain gear into my small backpack when the ride home happened to be sunny and gorgeous. Who could have guessed?


I'll ponder more later. Now to bed! I've got some serious relaxing to do tomorrow!

The [B]log: April 29, 2011 - Day 2

Wow! Several days of cold weather and then today was gorgeous! Even by 9:20 when it came time for me to bike to work. One of my past computer addictions that I must now learn to live without is wunderground.com - the amazing weather site. The day looked beautiful - not a cloud in the sky - so I left for work with only a sweatshirt - not even a jacket in my trusty backpack. (Also of note: I broke down and bought a bike-specific map of the Twin Cities with my employee discount at work. I took a more "bike friendly" route this morning and was rewarded with prettier scenery, less traffic and few red lights!) By 6 PM it was raining buckets. Ah yes, that's what it feels like to not be able to read the weather's forecast... By 7 PM I somberly called for a ride from Brooke when I got off at 9. She arrived at 8:30 (with my sister - visiting for the weekend and wanting to check out the shop) and there was no rain to be found. The roads had even retained enough heat that all residual moisture on the roads had *evaporated*! Whoops! So I biked home in the end. Lesson learned: when you don't know what to expect from the weather, be prepared.

The [B]log: April 28, 2011 - Day 1

I woke up early today - not of my own accord like the last two days but because a construction worker bulldozing our street rang the doorbell to ask if it was my Silverado parked outside. (It wasn't.) And now I am up. The spot on my desk where my computer used to be looks strangely empty. (I disassembled my computer, putting battery and power cord in one drawer, computer elsewhere.) Last night I partially filled the space with my recipe box and my new ledger. Still, I keep automatically turning to that space - looking for something.

The first thing I did, once I decided that I wasn't going to fall asleep again, was actually to walk right past my desk and head upstairs for a pre-breakfast snack. Fortunately Noor - my housemate who works at Pizza Hut - brought home a pizza for sharing last night. I wandered back downstairs nibbling on a piece. Then what? Without a computer there's really nothing that draws me to my desk, other than the fact that my only chair is there. (I shouldn't say "only." I have a cushy chair that actually isn't that comfortable that I mostly use to drape articles of clothing on.) I sat down in the end and wondered what I should do. That wondering is kind of funny... like it's this void created by the sudden lack of this thing in my life. It's kind of like when you've been busy at school and you wake up to your first day of summer vacation. You wander out of your room, are encountered by the void your former routine has left and pronounce, "I'm bored." Hopefully I won't be bored for long. And actually, this may be the first time I've written in the morning. I kind of like it. But no I have some phone calls to make before work...

The [B]log: An Intro

So, remember that time that I went for a month without using a computer? In my last post I mentioned keeping a paper blog (log), and I now intend to post those recorded thoughts here, in electronic form. When I made the comment about sending me a SASE two posts ago, I was serious. Only one person took me up on that offer, and I sent him a nice photocopied log. But now I'm back to conforming to the world.

Behold, the [b]log:

99 Problems, But A Vole Ain't One

When life gives you lemons, they say, make lemonade. But when life wakes you up at 3 in the morning and then prevents you from falling asleep again... touché. Life wins. I guess I'll blog.


Obviously, I'm no longer depriving myself from the use of my computer. In fact, I've been using it for a week or so now. I did manage to keep a (b)log of sorts on paper for a while - soon to be transcribed into the cyber-world - but the "research" wasn't nearly as ambitious as my initial dream.


I've been busy lately, but what's new? Actually, quite a bit is new. In the past month I have applied to grad school, begun planning a canoe trip, and begun the search for school jobs anew. Then, just yesterday, I found out that I was tentatively accepted to Hamline University's Masters of Teaching program (pending final application review), that I could still enroll in summer classes and that summer classes began next Monday. I also a seemingly ideal job to apply for, through Americorps, began menu planning for the canoe trip and found out that an old friend had also just been accepted to a Masters program at Hamline and might be moving up to the Cities in the near future. Finally, in order to fund grad school (beginning in T minus 3 days), I now have several grants and scholarships to apply for.


When it should have been falling asleep at 11:30 last night my mind was crunching numbers and working logistics. Somehow this was all going to work out. I think. After what seemed like several hours of tossing and turning, I finally managed to let my mind wander enough to slip into unconsciousness...


ONLY TO BE AWAKEN TO THE SOUND OF MOVING AND SCRATCHING! My first instinct was to think "[bleeping] neighbors!" and shut the window. This I did, but the scratching only increased. Next thought was "my, those ants are up early." (I have ants trying to build an anthill in my cheaply-trimmed egress window. I gave up trying to stop them and contained it with a piece of paper and some masking tape.) I turned on my light to confirm my suspicions and YIPE! a rodent was frantically scampering back and forth on my window sill. (Apparently he had fallen into my egress window bay, become trapped and managed to find or chew a hole through my screen, only to be trapped again on my window sill.)


Now at 3 AM my mind was back in action. Room now fully lit, I grabbed my 25¢ garage sale bicycle commuter gloves and closed in for the pounce. Little vole friend (I've ruled out mouse, and he seemed too fast for a mole) did not like this plan and shrieked as he dove off the sill. It was a short fall to the card table where - again he was trapped. Another lunge, another shriek and another dive - this time to the carpet... and full reign of my room. I chased the shrieking little bugger up and down the walls of my room until finally he made it under my closet door. Great. A frightened rodent trapped with all my expensive camping gear (down sleeping bag, down jacket, camping pads, etc) - including my brand new, never-been-used, birthday REI camping pad. By now I was fully awake; vole friend was cruisin' for a bruisin'.


I finally managed to nab him, nestled under a jacket. I foolishly wasted time (as he tried to chew through my glove) taking this picture:

He managed to escape from me once. I tracked him down once more. Then finally I [stupidly] managed to shove him back out the hole in my screen. Then I tried to fall asleep to him scampering around in my window bay. Various thoughts came to mind including but not limited to: creating a make-shift ramp (a la Brooke rescuing a rat from a pit toilet with a ladle during her time in Mozambique), throwing him food occasionally and keeping him as a window pet, or letting the little blighter tunnel out.


I turned the lights back on, donned the lobster glove once more, took out my window screen and spent a few minutes grabbing piles of dead leaves and rocks in vain, while vole friend shrieked and darted. Finally I nabbed him for the last time and chucked him in a bush at ground level. I likewise rescued a more docile toad. By the time I crawled back in bed my mind was back to school budgets, syllabi, grants and schedules. Soon (4 AM) birds were chirping. Then (5 AM) light started entering my room. I gave up.


Now it's 6 AM, I'm all done blogging and I'm beginning to hear the real ants move their little tiny rocks, one at a time.