working 2 jobs.

I am learning what it’s like to work two jobs. In a nutshell, it’s madness.

In the midst of the insanity, I find that I have to spend time in completely non-work-related outlets. However, the irony is of course that these things require additional time to an already bursting stressful schedule. Last night, I regained some sanity by having a coffee break with Lauren to discuss the end of Appointment in Samarra and running for 5 miles. This took up about 3 hours of my evening, so naturally, it was past midnight before I went to sleep. But of course it was worth it. Coffee breaks with Lauren are the highlight of my weeknights. Running is a recent addition to my life. I must say, I am quite proud of myself for completing a 5 mile run. Previous to this, the most I ran at a time was 2 miles, and I was huffing it just to do it. But last night I just pushed on through, in what I hope was a great gear up for the Bluegrass 10K race that I will participate in at 8am on the 4th of July. :)

I am grateful that I am leaving on vacation in about half an hour. I will be trekking up to Michigan to see many treasured friends and join in the celebration of the wedding of MJ and LT. I will really enjoy my time there, but I also know that this uber-important second job will be weighing on me… and the reality sets in: I will have to work on my vacation. *Sigh.*

I am learning some other things too. I am learning that a big component of exercise is psychological – mastery of mind over body. I am learning that not all light beers are completely terrible. I am learning that poison ivy on days 3 and 4 is a lot worse than on days 1 and 2. I am learning that schedules are nice guidelines, but I can’t hold myself to it and more often than not, it gets tossed out the window. I am learning that I am a screw up and weak… that I am no good, but that God is good, and I am learning that that will be enough. I’m also learning not to trust Blogger with my blog posts, and will revert to typing them in Word beforehand… I am also learning that Firefox and Camino are way superior to IE.

the week's update.

My letter of invitation to study at the Minsk Linguistics University was mailed on June 2nd. I am now waiting for its - hopefully - safe arrival into my mailbox in the next 1-2 weeks. This is my CRUNCH TIME for support raising. As you see, I'm about halfway on my one time support, and only a fifth of the way with pledges. Hence, the phone calls... thus, I appreciate any prayer support offered up for me this week. I'm feeling a bit chaotic. Usually you'd describe your schedule or home as "chaotic," but no, the chaos is me. I meant what I typed. :)

Happy birthday to my friend Les. I didn't go to sleep until 2:30am thanks to a birthday related "prank" of sorts for the occasion. Heh... Ahh, the days of pranking back in college... many stories I could share, so inquire within if interested. :)

I am going to have an 80s dance party soon. I was more of a kid of the 90s then the 80s... I mean, how many 8 year olds really listen to the radio and buy music?? But either way... the early 90s sort of meld with a lot of the 80s stuff. SO... SURVEY TIME!! What are some of your favorite songs from the 80s and early 90s? The only artists I can recall listening to are MC Hammer, Paula Abdul, Tiffany, Vanilla Ice, NKOTB, Ace of Base, Weird Al, and a bunch of country that I got into thanks to a few of my Alabama relatives.... and most of those are probably 90s and not 80s. So I'm looking for your ideas.

Reason #29 why it's better to be married:
You are less likely to oversleep...

weekend recap

I shouldn't be writing this. I have two projects to work on at my day job, and well, they are both getting so frickin' tedious that I needed to take a candy bar and blogger break. :) My new boss also started work today, which has made work a bit more busy than usual. He's from Venezuela, speaks 5 languages (Spanish, Italian, German, French, English), and has lived in places like Munich, Milan, Vienna, NYC, Miami... and now he's moving to northern Kentucky... I hope he likes it.

My weekend was fantastic. I help throw a block party Friday night for a bunch of kiddos and neighbors. We had dogs, hotdogs, and water balloons among other fun stuff. Leo had a fantastic time, and made a few friends, like with this guy named Joseph.




Saturday, big day!, I turned 24. Birthdays are just days. But this was one great day. I started it off by going for a jog with my friend Katie. She's a great friend and we had a great time.



She treated me to breakfast at Great Harvest. Simple, but so good. The owners of the one we went to are Christians, and they are super generous. They freely give you massive slices of bread - your choice of maybe 5 or 6 kinds - that you can slather up with honey or butter. MMMM. Then you get a cup of jo, and you're ready to go. Their house blend is excellent, for all you locals. After breakfast, I met up with mi madre, who kindly took me shopping to buy me clothes. I had a couple great finds - like a cheap kelly green sleeveless boatneck shirt and a calf length denim skirt. Super cute. We met up with mi padre to have lunch at Abuelos, the newest mexican place in town. Their salsa is HOT, their food is a lot of bang for your buck, and they're the only place in town that features Dos Equis beer on tap, which I naturally indulged in. I had my favorite cake made by my mom, Boston Cream Pie. It's heavenly, my friends.


That night, I met up with a lot of great friends for dinner outside at Cheapside downtown, swing dancing on Main Street, and beer and floats back at my place for the rest of the evening.





Among these friends were the SUPER Ferrell Bros. They drove from Cincy just for the occasion of my birthday. I have some pretty swell friends, don't ya think?

It doesn't get much better than this, really. Good food, fun, fellowship, friends, and of course, dancing.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn speaks

Today it is 06.06.06.

I just finished reading Warning to the West, a series of lectures that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn gave in the U.S. and Britain after his exile from the Soviet Union. He speaks of Communism, the suffering of Russian and Eastern European peoples, and the danger that the West faces in growing weak and complacent in the face of the rising nuclear power of Russia, a power that seeks supremacy over the West. (Though the Soviet Union has dissolved, I would say its values and ideologies are still very much alive in Eastern Europe.) Here are some interesting quotes:

"The primary, the eternal concept is humanity, and Communism is anti-humanity. Whoever says "anti-Communism" is saying, in effect, anti-anti-humanity. A poor construction. So we should say: That which is against Communism is for humanity. Not to accept, but to reject this Communist ideology is simply to be a human being. Such a rejection is more than a political act. It is a protest of our souls against those who would have us forget the concepts of good and evil." (July 9, 1975)

"The true antipode of peace is violence. And those who want peace in the world should remove not only war from the world but also violence. If there is no open war but there is still violence, that is not peace." (July 9, 1975)

"Alas, such is human nature that we never feel the sufferings of others, and they never darken our temporary well-being, until they become our own." (July 15, 1975)

"...But I return to that terrible statement of Bertrand Russell's: "Better Red than dead." Why did he not say it would be better to be brown than dead? There is no difference. All my life and the life of my generation, the life of those who share my views, we all have had one viewpoint: Better to be dead than a scoundrel. In this horrible expression of Bertrand Russell's there is an absence of moral criteria. Looked at from a short distance, these words allow one to maneuver and to continue to enjoy life. But from a long-term point of view it will undoubtedly destroy those people who think like that." (March 1, 1976)

"Just as mankind once became aware of the intolerable and mistaken deviation of the late Middle Ages and recoiled in horror from it, so too must we take account of the disastrous deviation of the late Enlightenment. We have become hopelessly enmeshed in our slavish worship of all that is pleasant, all that is comfortable, all that is material - we worship things, we worship products. Will we ever succeed in shaking off this burden, in giving free rein to the spirit that was breathed into us at birth, that spirit which distinguishes us from the animal world?" (March 24, 1976)

myspace

My dog has gone online.

(This is my roommate's doing... I don't like myspace one bit, but I have to admit that this is "frickin' hilarious"!)