Fall On Your Sword.
You just have to experience it to believe it.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
It's that time again...
For the Olympic Games fever to strike. I am a complete sucker for the Olympics, especially the Winter Games. I've been watching the pre-opening ceremonies show and experiencing pangs of sadness at not being able to watch with my Mom. Growing up, I always watched the Games with Mom. It was a thing that we always did together, and even after we didn't live together, we'd watch on the phone and the Games always dominated our discussions.
But yes, I am jazzed! I want to see Apolo Ohno become the American Olympian athlete with the most Gold medals ever. I'm looking forward to the men's figure skating, which will be intense with Russian god Plushenko. I'd love to see Shen and Zhao bring China a gold medal in pairs. And so much more... it's just day after day of awesomeness.
Sadly, the tone of the Games is dampened by the death of the Georgian luger. I think that track is a little off the charts. 90 mph? Jeeezus. Kind of irresponsible, and they've had doubts that as to its safety all along, especially for the lesser experienced athletes, just like the 21-year old who died this morning.
The Georgian team looked absolutely miserable as they entered the Olympic arena during the opening ceremonies tonight. I felt very bad for them.
The Opening Ceremonies themselves have been fun. The native peoples are the focal point
of the presentation, which is really great, and very appropriate. And so far, my favorite costume is the Mongolion flag bearer's. I need a hat like that.
Two weeks, three weekends of awesome winter sports. How odd, considering I do none of them and pretty much despise winter. Hmmm...maybe I don't despise it as much as I think I do?
In honor of the Winter Olympics, a new header, the photo taken in our "back yard" last November.
But yes, I am jazzed! I want to see Apolo Ohno become the American Olympian athlete with the most Gold medals ever. I'm looking forward to the men's figure skating, which will be intense with Russian god Plushenko. I'd love to see Shen and Zhao bring China a gold medal in pairs. And so much more... it's just day after day of awesomeness.
Sadly, the tone of the Games is dampened by the death of the Georgian luger. I think that track is a little off the charts. 90 mph? Jeeezus. Kind of irresponsible, and they've had doubts that as to its safety all along, especially for the lesser experienced athletes, just like the 21-year old who died this morning.
The Georgian team looked absolutely miserable as they entered the Olympic arena during the opening ceremonies tonight. I felt very bad for them.
The Opening Ceremonies themselves have been fun. The native peoples are the focal point
of the presentation, which is really great, and very appropriate. And so far, my favorite costume is the Mongolion flag bearer's. I need a hat like that.Two weeks, three weekends of awesome winter sports. How odd, considering I do none of them and pretty much despise winter. Hmmm...maybe I don't despise it as much as I think I do?
In honor of the Winter Olympics, a new header, the photo taken in our "back yard" last November.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Making waves
A bamboo forest reminds me in many ways of water. There's a flow to the strong yet flexible stalks, and a sound very much like waves on the shore. The new header on this blog is a shot of a bamboo cluster I took on a mountain top at a Korean Buddhist temple. I thought it an appropriate image to use for a couple of reasons: first, I'm going back to Korea this summer, and second, life in bloom is a welcome sight next to all the snow and gray ouside my window.
Monday, February 08, 2010
On the way.
It's February, which means March is almost here. March has many good things. It has my birthday, my wedding anniversary with Bizarro (5 years), and Spring Break, for which I am headed to the land of my birthing (South Shore of Boston).
The new schedule is starting to feel a little more sane. I am not worried about it at this point. I am happy as a clam to have all this work and to have a plan for summer (teach screenwriting in Korea).
The new schedule is starting to feel a little more sane. I am not worried about it at this point. I am happy as a clam to have all this work and to have a plan for summer (teach screenwriting in Korea).
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Grumpus Maximus
I've been a grumpus since last night. I came home sick from work yesterday. That only took 2.5 weeks of the new semester. Still better than last semester, in which I was sick before classes even started, but I'm still not happy with the apparent continuation of the sickly theme.
One of two things are going on:
1. I secretly hate my professional life, my subconscious is sabotaging it, and my body is trying to tell me how miserable I actually am.
-OR-
2. My immune system is really so delicate that a few nights of wacky sleep schedule is enough to cause me to catch the first germ that comes along.
Tutoring is worse than teaching when it comes to germ exposure. Students come in all sniffly and snotty and are all up in my face, and I often have to handle their books or whatnot. I need to do better at keeping them at arms length if they come in all sickly.
Truth is, I think that it is likely a combination of 1 and 2. Although I love my new job, I have already found it very stressful to be shuttling between two campuses, two institutions, two totally different types of work, two radically different environments. I need one job that suits my needs. I have to stop this patchwork piecemeal life. I can't take it anymore.
I have put out feelers for any possibility of increasing my hours at the tutoring job, so that I can start transferring my proverbial eggs into that basket, but that college has just entered a hiring freeze, so my hopes are dim that that can happen. This means I have to keep struggling with this fucking crazy schedule that includes early mornings, late nights, and one day a week that I have to be in both places. I can't get a handle on the balance of it. I've sworn off all 10:00 television programming (which, alas, includes Burn Notice and Leverage) so that I can try to be in bed and asleep by 11:00, so that getting up at 6:30 won't feel like dragging my cold corpse from the grave every morning.
I realize that to many, this sounds like a bunch of whining. Sam Axe would call me "a bitchy little girl." But the fact remains that I am going to be 42 in less than a month, and I'm working a young-woman's game with this kind of schedule and work. I deserve something much better, with benefits, a reasonable work load and schedule, and somewhere I can hang my hat and say "this is where I work." I love being a tutor (which is more complex than just the 1-on-1 work, because we do workshops, classroom visits, and other such things), and I love doing the operations stuff that my job entails. I need more of that.
So how can I make this happen? Incidentally, I wouldn't mind doing that kind of job in a place with palm trees.
I should note that I felt my best this winter the two weeks I got up and went to the retreat house to write every day. Underneath this entire discussion about how to earn a living is the undeniable identity and desire to write and do nothing else. How to get that to pay the bills...that's another topic for discussion.
One of two things are going on:
1. I secretly hate my professional life, my subconscious is sabotaging it, and my body is trying to tell me how miserable I actually am.
-OR-
2. My immune system is really so delicate that a few nights of wacky sleep schedule is enough to cause me to catch the first germ that comes along.
Tutoring is worse than teaching when it comes to germ exposure. Students come in all sniffly and snotty and are all up in my face, and I often have to handle their books or whatnot. I need to do better at keeping them at arms length if they come in all sickly.
Truth is, I think that it is likely a combination of 1 and 2. Although I love my new job, I have already found it very stressful to be shuttling between two campuses, two institutions, two totally different types of work, two radically different environments. I need one job that suits my needs. I have to stop this patchwork piecemeal life. I can't take it anymore.
I have put out feelers for any possibility of increasing my hours at the tutoring job, so that I can start transferring my proverbial eggs into that basket, but that college has just entered a hiring freeze, so my hopes are dim that that can happen. This means I have to keep struggling with this fucking crazy schedule that includes early mornings, late nights, and one day a week that I have to be in both places. I can't get a handle on the balance of it. I've sworn off all 10:00 television programming (which, alas, includes Burn Notice and Leverage) so that I can try to be in bed and asleep by 11:00, so that getting up at 6:30 won't feel like dragging my cold corpse from the grave every morning.
I realize that to many, this sounds like a bunch of whining. Sam Axe would call me "a bitchy little girl." But the fact remains that I am going to be 42 in less than a month, and I'm working a young-woman's game with this kind of schedule and work. I deserve something much better, with benefits, a reasonable work load and schedule, and somewhere I can hang my hat and say "this is where I work." I love being a tutor (which is more complex than just the 1-on-1 work, because we do workshops, classroom visits, and other such things), and I love doing the operations stuff that my job entails. I need more of that.
So how can I make this happen? Incidentally, I wouldn't mind doing that kind of job in a place with palm trees.
I should note that I felt my best this winter the two weeks I got up and went to the retreat house to write every day. Underneath this entire discussion about how to earn a living is the undeniable identity and desire to write and do nothing else. How to get that to pay the bills...that's another topic for discussion.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)