Category Archives: Self-Blogging

Global Students

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This Wednesday, I took my German final (and finished my semester!!) and then met up with some friends at Cartel Coffee Lab.  Talking with friends from the Global Studies program really confuses my brain, but it makes me realize how insane all of this stuff is.

I always thought it was crazy cool that I had been to Europe once on a tour.  Meeting people in Global Studies has been humbling and inspiring because I hear about all of these cool things people are doing and I can’t wait to do my own stuff.  Our two tables at the coffee house were meeting for one last time because we’re all dispersing around the world this summer, and it’s always been fascinating to hear what everyone’s doing.

That table included people going to work in a total of four continents (and if Kevin made it it would’ve been five, but he’s already in Brazil).  It was really interesting to hear about what everyone would be doing and I got advice from two people who had already worked in Uganda for extended periods of time.  Even though most of us will only go a couple of months without seeing each other, it was saddening to see everyone for one last time.  Alli already left yesterday for Bahrain and won’t be back until the beginning of school.  Haneen and Yousef are departing next week to Palestine and Denmark, respectively.  Heidi’s going to Colorado for a summer job before joining up with the Peace Corps.

The whole idea of me going to Uganda in two weeks and staying there for two months is still hitting me slowly.  I’ve never done anything like it.  Unlike some internships, I’ll be the only foreigner in my group and I’ll be doing work with which I’m pretty unfamiliar.  I’m still figuring out the logistics of where I’ll be staying and what I’ll be doing.  All I do know if that I’ll be in Uganda for nine weeks, and that part will be very exciting, even if I’m totally unprepared.

Of Canines and a Couple

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So, the dog-hunt is continuing.

A couple of weeks ago, we singled out an adorably big Great Dane named Thor.  He was a total cutie and, on paper, was a real sweetie.  The only drawback was that we were not 100% on how good he would be with cats.  So, Kim and I went out to meet him two weekends ago.  Half-way there, we called the rescue and she informed us that Thor had been kicked in the head by a horse and was in the hospital.

After several worrisome days,  Kim and I debated what to do for a while.  We anxiously waited to hear how Thor was doing (hopefully improving), but we also did not even know if he would have been okay with cats in the first place.  Plus, the injury could have A. changed his temperament, 2. left him with special needs that we could not provide, or III. delayed meeting him until I was gone, making the decision-making process that much more difficult.  So we kept in touch with the rescue and also looked at other ones.

We recently received word that Thor is alive and recovering, but that it will be a long haul.  Our hearts go out to him and hope he recovers speedily and finds a great home.  The lady at the rescue recommended some other dogs and said she would help us out in finding another to adopt.  This passed weekend we met a gentle giant named Callista.  She’s really cute and kind, and I think we’re smitten.  She fits literally every one of our needs: she’s good with cats, good with rats, can stay in during the day, loves to lay around, doesn’t bark too much. Oh, and she runs like a giraffe, and who doesn’t like that?

So, we’re trying to clean up the house in preparation for a doggy.  The plan is to get a dog soon and get to know each other.  I’ll be gone for most of the summer, but Kim will be able to get said dog used to our home and find a routine.  When I return I’ll jump right in the mix and we’ll have two people instead of one when school starts and we both have more hectic schedules.  Current status is that we are waiting to hear from somebody to do a house-check to make sure we’re good to go.

Team CoCo

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So this post is way late.  Busy times call for blog delays, but I’ll try to make it up to you in a short amount of time, but that’s for another post.  With nary another delay, I present the Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour.

Kim and I went to CoCo’s Show-Show on Friday the 30th at Dodge Theater.  When we got there it was hella packed, and as we walked in we saw Pender out talking to people. Totally cool, right?  We went in and got situated in our seats, fairly central to the crowd and with a decent view of the stage. Also to note, there were several bars in the lobby area of the theater – totally normal – but there was also a bar in the theater.  Like, exit stage right.  I haven’t been to too many theaters before, but I thought that was pretty different.

The opening act for the show was Reggie Watts, who was a very interesting dude.  He was a pretty funny guy and will be on Comedy Central soon (if not already).  His routine included a number of really good accents and he did a lot of music as well.  The cool thing was that he was mixing music on stage, which I’ve never actually seen anybody do so it was pretty neat.  His songs, just a disclaimer, are not songs to play for your grandmother. Doesn’t make them any less awesome though!

Then! The Legally Prohibited Band showed up!  They played some great music right off the bat, and the three men on brass went into the crowd. One thing I learned that night was that Mark Pender can hold a note like a champ.  The screen then showed a short story about Conan between getting fired and starting the tour – including massive beard and pot belly.  And then Conan came out (less beard and less belly) – in a Phoenix Suns jersey! It was pretty awesome.

Conan addressed recent happenings with NBC and the Tonight Show, obviously. He explained a bit about how he’s been doing since, adding lots of comedy but some definite statements in there (when going through stages of losing one’s TV show, he said he skipped passed blaming himself because “what the Hell did I do?”) but he moved on quickly to music, with the CoCo-ettes dancing at his side.

The show overall was a great mix of music and comedy, including a number of tributes to Late Night fun like the Chuck Norris lever and…. shudder…. Triumph.  They also had some fun random things like the bat out of hell and Andy Richter riding a horse.  Conan even sang a song about his childhood.  Also he wore a paisley suit, which I do not condone. For anyone.  But! In the end, Conan ran out into the crowd while playing guitar and actually came pretty close to us, but he was running so fast with those gangly legs that I couldn’t get a decent picture of him.  Alas, I’m going to stop talking and let you look at pretty pictures:

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The Homestretch

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Today (Tuesday) was the last day of classes for this semester!  I had one class and one final today, and tomorrow’s Reading Day so there’s nothing going on there.  The next week includes two more finals, a paper, and a portfolio made up of a lot of things that I need to put together.

Looking back, this semester was not the best. Less as a result of the courseload and more a combination of that and my schedule.  Spending days running back and worth between work, school, and my placement wore of me pretty quickly.  For the next few weeks, things will be more relaxed and that will be nice.  Over the next few days it will be a lot less back-and-forth and just a couple choice trips to school and some homework.  After that, it will just be working and then doing things around the house.

I’m assuming future posts will keep you updated on the wind-down of school and preparations for the wedding and the internship.  But! I have a teaser for you.  A pending blog-post will be about Kim and me going to see CONAN last week.  Here’s the teaser:

A Workin’ Man

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So, I have a job.  Out of school, I usually work between 30 and 40 hours a week.  During school, I’ve usually worked a decent 20ish hours a week.  I get work done, I have a little down-time, I get paid well.  This semester, though, my schedule has sucked something fierce.  I tend to work 14-16 hours a week, if I do nothing but go directly to and from school and work. It’s been a stressful situation, but it’s getting me by.

This summer, instead of working 30+ hours/week and earning some dollar bills, I’ll be doing quite the opposite. I’ll be working for no money and actually spending money via tuition, flight, board, etc. Thankfully, my employ has said that I can return to the same job without issue.  Yay!

Problem is, my schedule next semester will be even worse. I’m looking at about 12 hours per week. In addition to an all-time low, it will be as I recover from a summer of spending and look ahead to the spendings of our wedding.  Needless to say, it’s a troublesome situation.  So, I might be looking for a second job or a different job.  The problem is, another job simply won’t pay as well.  I might be able to get more hours, but I’ll probably make less per hour.  I’m hoping hoping hoping that I can find a waiting job and get a little bit of tips here and there. Maybe I’ll go to bartending school or become a CEO at Goldman Sachs.

Man’s Best Friend

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Ever since… well, the dawn of time, Kim and I have talked about getting a dog.  Back at the apartment, we kept our hopes at bay due to money and the fact that we still had Kim’s cats at her parents’ house.  Now that we have our own place, we’ve been itching for a canine companion.  This whole semester since we’ve moved here, we’ve been bogged down with busy school and work schedules.  In a few weeks, though, we’ll have better schedules.

In recent months, I’ve toyed with the idea of getting a dog to keep Kim company while I’m gone.  Well, we talked it out and are excited to see if we can get a dog soon.  If we get it right as school winds down, I’d be here for the first few weeks of introducing the dog to the house and its inhabitants.  Once I get back, I’ll have some time to catch up before school starts.  Then, Kim’s and my schedules will work a little better next semester for taking care of a dog.

So, Kim has e-mailed a few local rescues and there is this one adorable giant that we’re hoping for.  The lady that runs the rescue has been very receptive, and we’re just waiting to hear back from her so we can find time to go visit and decide.  After a lifetime of wanting a dog and several years of talking about it with Kim, we might be getting a dog super soon.  Needless to say, I’m freaking excited!

Getting my Betta in the summer of 2007 was exciting, Gruber was my first pet ever and he was awesome (as awesome as a solitary fish could be).  Getting the rats once we moved to the apartments was a huge step for me, and I loved hanging out with them.  Lately I’ve been neglecting them a little bit but I hope to interact with them more in the future.  Kim’s cats are awesome and it’s been interesting trying to adapt to having furry quadrupeds with jingly collars roaming freely.  I’m excited to see what a gangly dog would do to the mix. :D

Thinking in Tongues

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So, I’m taking a two-semesters-in-one German class right now. The beginning was easy, as most of it was review of things I still remembered. Now, we’re getting into things where I’m a bit fuzzier.  If I could, I’d be one of the uber-multi-lingual folks who can speak a half dozen languages. That probably won’t happen until the later years of my life.

But it’s interesting to compare notes on the different languages I do know.  English is, of course, my native tongue.  I know all the rules – and the many exceptions – and can speak without even thinking about it.  I can write long papers in mere minutes just by throwing caution to the wind and my hands to the keyboard. I can type this blog. Needless to say, I think in English.

Mandarin, which is hella difficult, is also pretty easy for me, generally. I fumble over the myriad articles (as opposed to our lovely English three) and I need to expand my vocabulary for sure. But, I grew up speaking Mandarin and it works just fine for me.  I don’t spent too much time translating things in my head, which is nice. Readings and writing is terrible for me, because the characters and independent from the phonetic, so I rarely think of the right words. I get the tones correct for the most part when speaking though. I think in Mandarin too.

German, which is way easier than Mandarin, hurts sometimes. Despite having a HUGE number of cognates (guess what Haus, Telefon, Auto, Familie, Universitaet, and Schule are) and some similarities in structure, I keep running into road blocks. Gendered nouns drive me crazy, and add on that German has four different cases. I was trying to help Kim with part of her German homework last night and I just stopped because of confusion – hopefully we can help each other more when we’re in class together next semester. On my way to German yesterday I talked to Joey about exactly this. No matter how easy or difficult a language is, the important thing is to be able to think in that language. I don’t think in German.

Busy Week

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So, eleven days after being stricken ill, I think I’m feeling all better!  Which couldn’t be better, because I have a lot I want or need to do right now.

Last night, Kim and I dropped off all of our stuff for taxes. Things were a little complicated with the house and whatnot, but I think everything’s in order and it will be nice to get money back in the future.  Tonight, Kim and I are meeting with the first of two or more florists, and tomorrow we’re officially picking our photographer!  We’re a little under 300 days out from the big day, so it’s good to be finalizing a few decisions.

In addition to wedding planning, I’m trying to figure out this internship business.  AIESEC is still a running option, and I’ve been in touch with an AIESECer (and Rotaracter!) in Kampala that’s helping me out. I’m really hoping that I can figure out a way to do research with Peskin, though, so we’ll see if that goes anywhere.  On top of internship planning, Kim and I are hoping to do some stuff around the house and I am hoping to make some headway with club work, including some arts ‘n’ crafts and some lobbying.  Needless to say, it’s a busy week.  I’ve got a to-do list that’s getting more and more intimidating, but hopefully I’ll be crossing quite a bit off by week’s end.

Under the Weather

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So, since nine of the past eleven posts are about Africa and six of the past seven are about activism for Africa, I thought I’d give you a break.  And complain about being sick instead.

I like to think that my immunities are pretty strong.  I don’t get sick too often, and when I do it usually lasts a day or two. Other than being sick for a few days this passed Christmas, I probably hadn’t been sick for a year or two. But today I find myself fighting day eight of some kind of illness.  I joke that it’d kill a lesser man, but it’s probably killed me a few times over.

The lethargy of last weekend was kinda lame. And the stiffness and aching are none too fun either. But the kicker is the constant coughing.  I’ve been having fits of coughing all week and it is just driving me nuts. This week I spent about 2 hours in school out of my 20-something. And I worked for 9 hours.  I actually went to the doctor! This is something I haven’t done since I was in early elementary school, I think. About a hundred dollars later, I was home and still sick. Today I find myself on day five or a six-day pill regimen, and I’m feeling moderately better.  I still have a long way and only two pills to go, so we’ll see.  Maybe I’ll cough this illness away.

BFD

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No, not the usual B.F.D., although last weekend’s Bridal Fashion Debut was a pretty big fucking deal.

On Sunday, Kim and I took our moms to the Arizona Bridal Expo to see all things wedding.  It was a big day, and I ended up with  roughly a fifteen pound bag after four or five hours of walking around.  Among these things numbered cards, pamphlets, brochures and other such material from 76 – yes 76 – photographers. And that’s not including the half dozen photobooths and countless other vendors I said ‘hi’ to.

Highlights: Got a lot of contacts like woah – we saw quite a few pretty places and talented photographers that should give us a good starting-off point.  Despite seeing some neat venues, Kim and I are still leaning towards a particular location – more word on that later.  Also, I saw Taylor! She is my wonderful photographer-friend whom I hadn’t seen in the better part of a year, so that was nice.  Also also I think I was entered in at least few score sweepstakes and drawings for things from coupons to engagement photo sessions.

Lowlights: That “lot of contacts like woah” statement means we have to sift through 80-odd photography companies and however many other vendors.  In addition to Taylor, I got a hug from another photographer – a woman who claimed she knew me and put me in a place of utter confusion. (Can’t pick her for the wedding!)

Overall it was a lot of fun.  We just have to take the piles of papers and cards and sift them into something manageable.  We’re hoping to get a few more appointments/visits set up and attended to before we get into the thick of things at school.  Got to get moving!