Mid-Summer Update

In a previous post, I announced to the world that I dislike summer. After reading a few of your comments, I should clarify: I have nothing against warm weather or Mother Nature--the flora is beautiful--it's our man-made tendency to let our minds atrophy that hurts me so. Still confused? I shall now give an example from my personal life:

In May, I graduated with a Master's degree in English. I had three full weeks to look for gainful employment so that this summer I might continue, um, living. I had no time to look for work before graduation because writing my thesis had eaten up every sane moment of my life. I know what you, my fellow blogger, are probably thinking. If you were strapped for cash why did you go to England? I admit it looks like a strange thing to do, but I'm fairly certain it was personal revelation that prompted me to visit those London streets (and scroll through microfilm of about the same length as those streets). The point is that in making it my full-time job to look for work for the three weeks prior to my trip, I thought I had it covered. Alas, I spent between 6 and 7 hours a day at it for that long, all to no end. I kept praying for God to just give me something, but He had other plans in mind.

So as I packed my bags for England, I was also packing all my worldly possessions in order to move back to my parent's house as soon as I returned to American soil. It was a strange feeling for me, a 28-year-old who had been living on his own for several years. (My mom was thrilled though. Thanks Mom!) Sadly, I did not know if or when I would live in D.C. again and, to my surprise, I had grown attached to this urban area.

I wish I could say I redoubled my efforts in job hunting upon my return to the States, but I felt slightly defeated. Nevertheless, my earlier diligence was paying off and I started receiving e-mails and phone calls. In fact, of the three voice-mail messages waiting for me when my cell phone started working again (London is outside its range) two were about job interviews.

I started making frequent trips to D.C. from my parent's home in Virginia--a few hours' drive--to interview with potential employers. I was also looking for summer employment in this area, anything to keep me productive and financially self-reliant. I finally found work with a temp agency in Charlottesville. Reminiscent of the Great Depression, a horde of hopefuls and I descend on a downtown office every morning at the ungodly hour of 5:30 a.m. for work. We wait in the lobby for up to five hours for our name to be called. If I am called, I can expect a full or half-day's work moving office furntiture or doing construction cleanup at $7.80 to $8.50 an hour. I collect my wage the same day, check or cash. If my name is not called, I go home with no pay, ready to wake again at 4:30 a.m. the next day to try again. I now have odd hours of wakefulness and sleepiness; also, I'm reading more these days....

But, thankfully, the job hunting has paid off. I am happy to announce that I am going back to school, only this time I'm the teacher. I have been offered two classes at Northern Virginia Community College-Annandale and another at Montgomery College-Rockville. All three are freshman English courses. I'm really excited. I will actually be professionally doing what I've always wanted to do. How many people can say that?

I am very grateful to my parents who took me in and for friends who let me crash on their couches in D.C. every now and then. But once again--and here's my point--just like every other summmer, I am counting the days 'til Autumn so that my life can resume.

My "Social Experiment"

I used to think that being social came naturally to some people. You know, the kind of person who has something to do every night of every weekend for as long he/she can remember. I'm trying a little 'social experiment' of my own which I think will turn into a permanent change in lifestyle. Every night that I don't dedicate to studying (and by nightfall I'm usually ready to call it a day) or class, I make at least one concerted effort to hang out with at least one other person. I recently broke up with my girlfriend, and I knew I needed to find something to fill the sudden vacuum that had appeared in my life. In fact, I had so much spare time that I just couldn't healthily fill it with down-time alone. In the words of Bill Cosby, "I'm no good on my own!"

It's a new and uncomfortable way of life and this post is for people who wonder if they can make a similar transition.

First off, it's hard! I'm beginning to suspect that it's hard for everyone and that my natural inclination is quite normal. Sometimes I just want to retreat into my shell, stay in my room, read a good book, be a little self-absorbed. I think that eventually I will need to find a balance between social life and me-time, but I think me-time has won out far too often in my life, so I'm trying this alternative for a while.

Organizing a party or calling up some friends is nerve-wracking and time-consuming. I'm plagued with a thousand little doubts about the quantity and variety of food I should make, if any; the number of people who will actually show up, if any; overshoot and invite the whole ward + grad school program or be more selective (or is that rude?); invite people in person, which I find exhausting and/or implausible, or by some electronic medium? Don't get me wrong, I love people and enjoy company and lots of it, but being proactive in this department challenges me.

Secondly, there have been days where I have felt like I need time to myself. So far, I've been ignoring that impulse usually to discover that I was shying away from the responsibility, not the time spent with friends. Just keeping at it I've discovered that people reciprocate, after a while. I've just had to remember this: people aren't used to this, my being interested in their time and lives, and they need time to get used to this change.

Thirdly, I've found that this new lifestyle, as challenging as it is, is worth every effort. In the past month I have had so many fun times with so many new people that I continue to be astounded at the sheer number of great people that live in this world, former strangers, former names and/or faces.

Gradually, my set of challenges is starting to change. Instead of wondering what I'm going to be doing on weekends, I've started to juggle my options. Now I'm having to deal with making sure I remember to invite everyone who might be interested or they'll call me out on not receiving an invitation. Now I start to crave a variety to social situations (because, honestly, how often can one guy play Settlers of Catan?!). That's not to say that this has become easy. I think I'm still a fairly private person and I'll often take the easy way out in social situations, but I'm progressing and getting closer to the kind of guy I've always wanted to be. Let me just say this in conclusion, it's hard but so totally worth it. If you need practice, just call me and we'll hang out.

Halloween 2008

Just wanted to share a picture from Halloween.

Great fun dressing up as Westley from The Princess Bride and I don't mind telling you that even though I look absolutely manly and masculine, that entire costume is made up of used women's clothing.