I have been wanting to move out of Edwards ever since before I even moved back here after graduating from school last December. This was only supposed to be a temporary transitional thing for me. I thought I would get my ya-ya's out driving a bus for a few months, find something cool to do for the summer, and then have some sort of real-ish job-ish thing lined up for the fall. Well, here we are knocking on Fall's door, I have been driving the bus all summer and I have nothing else lined up for the near future. I have spent lots of time online looking for jobs and internships and such. I have found a few interesting things that I am or will be applying for, but so far no real leads. While it would be ideal to get a cool job lined up before I move somewhere, I am starting to feel like maybe I should just move to a cool city even if I don't have an awesome job already lined up. Even if it means that I just move there and end up having to get some sort of part-time bus driving job or something, maybe it would be better to at least be living somewhere that I enjoy and then trying to find an awesome job once I'm already there.
There are lots of places I think I would possibly enjoy living; NYC, DC, Seattle, Portland, San Fran, Chicago, Denver/Boulder, Boston, maybe the Twin Cities, etc... (not to mention all of the cities outside of the US that I would also like to live in). If I were to choose right this very moment, however, I would probably choose DC because a significant majority of the cool/interesting jobs and internships that I've found online in recent days are located in DC, so I think there would be better chances of me eventually finding a cool work situation there later on. Plus, DC was ranked one of the best cities in the USA for young people in some magazine that I read a few months ago. Plus my aunt and her husband live there and they are cool people. Plus it has a great public transit system, which often correlates directly to how cool a city is. I haven't actually spent any significant time in DC though, so I don't really know for sure if I would actually like it or not. I think there's a good chance that I would like it though.
So yeah, I am halfway seriously considering just packing up my stuff and moving to DC even if I don't have a job already lined up there. I think I might have enough money to scrounge by for like a month or maybe two months with little or no employment before I went broke and had to beg my aunt to let me sleep on her couch. And I suppose even if it took me a little while to get a job that I really felt emotionally invested in, it would still be better to have a ho-hum job and live in DC than to have a ho-hum job and live in Edwards.
So yeah, that's what I'm thinking...
9.13.2007
9.05.2007
Boulder Poser
Since moving out of Boulder back in December, I have been coming back to the Denver/Boulder area at least once every couple of weeks. I love Boulder. I loved it when I lived here, and absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. I was in Denver only three days ago hanging out with friends and playing at Water World (for the first time since I was a wee young lad), but already I am back down again. This time my excuse for coming down is to help Granny buy a new and hopefully much improved car. Every time I come back though it just makes me wish I were still living here and going to school. Sometimes when I'm here I like to come to campus and pose as a student. In fact, I'm sort of posing as a student right now since I am writing this from the UMC student center since Granny doesn't have internet. I'm even wearing my leather messenger bag just to help blend in, even though there's nothing in it. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow when there are actually students on campus. Maybe I'll ride my bike too fast around campus like the good old days. Who knows, maybe I'll even take it to the next step and go sit in on some big lecture class. Haha, well maybe I won't do that, but I will probably at least come hang out on campus for a bit tomorrow and soak in some student vibes.
School isn't the only thing I love about Boulder though. I also love things like the awesome bike paths. I love that people USE the bike paths. I love the trees. I love the old houses. I love the less-old, dumpier houses. I love all the young people. I even kind of like some of the old crazy people. I love that you can get print versions of The Onion. Oh, and the Flatirons, they're cool too.
Anyway... I think I'll go ride my bike around for a bit before it gets too dark out. Adios people!
School isn't the only thing I love about Boulder though. I also love things like the awesome bike paths. I love that people USE the bike paths. I love the trees. I love the old houses. I love the less-old, dumpier houses. I love all the young people. I even kind of like some of the old crazy people. I love that you can get print versions of The Onion. Oh, and the Flatirons, they're cool too.
Anyway... I think I'll go ride my bike around for a bit before it gets too dark out. Adios people!
8.15.2007
Swedish Sweatshops
*Try and say THAT three times fast!*
My mother and I are sitting here in our IKEA-wannabe living room looking at the latest IKEA catalog wondering how they can sell their stuff so cheaply. We decided it must be because they use child labor. Picture all those poor little blond-haired, blue-eyed Swedish kids slaving away in stylishly-furnished IKEA sweatshops, forced to sit in ergonomic chairs and to work under the light of attractive, affordable, sturdy floor lamps...
My mother and I are sitting here in our IKEA-wannabe living room looking at the latest IKEA catalog wondering how they can sell their stuff so cheaply. We decided it must be because they use child labor. Picture all those poor little blond-haired, blue-eyed Swedish kids slaving away in stylishly-furnished IKEA sweatshops, forced to sit in ergonomic chairs and to work under the light of attractive, affordable, sturdy floor lamps...
7.30.2007
Road Rage
So, I almost got in a fight on the highway today on my way home from work.
They are doing construction on I-70 near Vail this summer and it routinely causes big traffic jams on the highway. The few times I have been stuck in this traffic, I have noticed a bunch of people who think they can do whatever they want and decide to drive in the shoulder past all of the stopped traffic. It made me so mad that today I decided to wait in the right lane and watch for people doing this and pull into the shoulder myself to block them off, flip them off, and let them know that they are jerks.
So I did it. My first customer actually pulled onto the shoulder from right behind me. They were in the left lane and then pulled into the right lane right behind me and then right into the shoulder from there. When I saw what they were doing, I quickly pulled into the shoulder, honked my horn at them, and flipped them off. Well, they decided to stop and make more of it, acting like they wanted to fight with me. When I first decided upon this course of action, I didn't think it would result in any physical altercations. I thought I would simply flip them off and let them go on their merry way with them hopefully feeling at least a little bit guilty for their selfishness, and with me feeling at least a little bit vindicated. So when this guy stopped and wanted to make a bigger issue out of it, I didn't know what to do. So I rolled up my windows and locked my doors and motioned in an annoyed manner for him to keep going, but I also kept flipping him off too just for good measure. Luckily he decided to leave without incident.
Unphased, I kept watching for these hated shoulder passers. I saw a few coming, but I wasn't able to pull in front of them in time, so I had to be satisfied with merely flipping them off from the lane I was in as they passed unhindered on the shoulder. Then I saw another car coming and pulled in front of them and flipped them off through my sunroof. They got mad and made a two-handed "what the hell is this car doing?" sort of motion, and then they gave me a sarcastic two thumbs up and exaggerated smile gesture as if saying sarcastically, "Good job! You are a really great vigilante! Keep it up!". After a few seconds of flipping them off some more and giving them a "you should wait in traffic just like everyone else" motion, I let them pass while they continued to give me the sarcastic two thumbs up and I continued to flip them off. I wanted to say back to them, "yes, I AM good at this, and yes I WILL keep it up, you jerks!"
Yeah, it was pretty immature (REALLY immature), and probably not very smart of me (some might call it plain dumb), and it probably just made me even more mad than if I had done nothing (I was fuming), but I don't really regret doing it either. The people in the cars around me might have thought I was just as much of an ass as the people passing in the shoulder, but I like to think that maybe I was also their hero for doing what they wish they had done. It probably had no real effect on the people who I flipped off either, other than just make them angry, but I also like to think that maybe I made them feel at least a smidgen of guilt too. So, I probably won't do it again in the future, but I think I'm glad I did it anyway.
PS: Don't worry. I pretty much always contain my emotions quite well when I am driving, especially when I'm driving the bus. Even though there are so many thing to get mad about when driving the bus, I am really good about maintaining my composure and not letting those things upset me.
They are doing construction on I-70 near Vail this summer and it routinely causes big traffic jams on the highway. The few times I have been stuck in this traffic, I have noticed a bunch of people who think they can do whatever they want and decide to drive in the shoulder past all of the stopped traffic. It made me so mad that today I decided to wait in the right lane and watch for people doing this and pull into the shoulder myself to block them off, flip them off, and let them know that they are jerks.
So I did it. My first customer actually pulled onto the shoulder from right behind me. They were in the left lane and then pulled into the right lane right behind me and then right into the shoulder from there. When I saw what they were doing, I quickly pulled into the shoulder, honked my horn at them, and flipped them off. Well, they decided to stop and make more of it, acting like they wanted to fight with me. When I first decided upon this course of action, I didn't think it would result in any physical altercations. I thought I would simply flip them off and let them go on their merry way with them hopefully feeling at least a little bit guilty for their selfishness, and with me feeling at least a little bit vindicated. So when this guy stopped and wanted to make a bigger issue out of it, I didn't know what to do. So I rolled up my windows and locked my doors and motioned in an annoyed manner for him to keep going, but I also kept flipping him off too just for good measure. Luckily he decided to leave without incident.
Unphased, I kept watching for these hated shoulder passers. I saw a few coming, but I wasn't able to pull in front of them in time, so I had to be satisfied with merely flipping them off from the lane I was in as they passed unhindered on the shoulder. Then I saw another car coming and pulled in front of them and flipped them off through my sunroof. They got mad and made a two-handed "what the hell is this car doing?" sort of motion, and then they gave me a sarcastic two thumbs up and exaggerated smile gesture as if saying sarcastically, "Good job! You are a really great vigilante! Keep it up!". After a few seconds of flipping them off some more and giving them a "you should wait in traffic just like everyone else" motion, I let them pass while they continued to give me the sarcastic two thumbs up and I continued to flip them off. I wanted to say back to them, "yes, I AM good at this, and yes I WILL keep it up, you jerks!"
Yeah, it was pretty immature (REALLY immature), and probably not very smart of me (some might call it plain dumb), and it probably just made me even more mad than if I had done nothing (I was fuming), but I don't really regret doing it either. The people in the cars around me might have thought I was just as much of an ass as the people passing in the shoulder, but I like to think that maybe I was also their hero for doing what they wish they had done. It probably had no real effect on the people who I flipped off either, other than just make them angry, but I also like to think that maybe I made them feel at least a smidgen of guilt too. So, I probably won't do it again in the future, but I think I'm glad I did it anyway.
PS: Don't worry. I pretty much always contain my emotions quite well when I am driving, especially when I'm driving the bus. Even though there are so many thing to get mad about when driving the bus, I am really good about maintaining my composure and not letting those things upset me.
7.25.2007
Deleted
I almost wrote another blog entry today, but it sucked, so I deleted it and wrote this one instead.
Anyway, today's video is "Break" by The Cinematics. I had never heard of them before yesterday when I randomly and on a whim downloaded their album from iTunes just because it was on the discounted "Up & Coming" list and the one or two songs I listened to sounded decent. So I bought the whole album and I actually really like it! Go figure. I don't really like this video that much though. Fluorescent bulbs as decorations in music videos is so overrated.
Anyway, today's video is "Break" by The Cinematics. I had never heard of them before yesterday when I randomly and on a whim downloaded their album from iTunes just because it was on the discounted "Up & Coming" list and the one or two songs I listened to sounded decent. So I bought the whole album and I actually really like it! Go figure. I don't really like this video that much though. Fluorescent bulbs as decorations in music videos is so overrated.
7.20.2007
A date with Judi Dench
This morning I had a dream that I was on a date with Judi Dench. At the beginning of the date I was madly in love with her, but by the end I was rather put-off by how rude she was and how she was constantly stuffing her face with sweets and cakes and pastries and very small, very expensive cappuccinos. She was wearing this strange, sparkly white dress but she kept spilling cake and pudding on it. Who knew Judi Dench was such a slob? At least I was looking really spiffy in my white T-shirt. It was probably the worst date I've ever been on.
Later on, I was spraying all the plants in town with a Coca-Cola/Water mixture to attract snakes to town to scare away all of the bunnies. Apparently the bunnies were really wreaking havoc and everyone thought snakes would be better. Or wait, maybe we were trying to attract bunnies to get rid of the snakes; I don't remember. I squirted one guy in the eye with the potent mixture after he made fun of my green shirt, but really I had only squirted myself in the eye since I was experiencing a bout of multiple personalities and that guy was just my alter ego. It turned out that my alter ego and I were fighting over some woman who wasn't interested in either of us, but I was pretty sure that she was slightly less uninterested in ME than in the other alter ego me who I had squirted in the eye with coca cola.
This woman had a flock of dogs following her everywhere she went. Each of the dogs was like a representation of one of her former boyfriends. There were some really mean, nasty, mangy looking dogs, and a few nicer looking dogs. My dog representative was a Weimaraner. My alter ego's dog was a Pomeranian.
Here's a video of a Pomeranian wrestling with a bigger dog:
Later on, I was spraying all the plants in town with a Coca-Cola/Water mixture to attract snakes to town to scare away all of the bunnies. Apparently the bunnies were really wreaking havoc and everyone thought snakes would be better. Or wait, maybe we were trying to attract bunnies to get rid of the snakes; I don't remember. I squirted one guy in the eye with the potent mixture after he made fun of my green shirt, but really I had only squirted myself in the eye since I was experiencing a bout of multiple personalities and that guy was just my alter ego. It turned out that my alter ego and I were fighting over some woman who wasn't interested in either of us, but I was pretty sure that she was slightly less uninterested in ME than in the other alter ego me who I had squirted in the eye with coca cola.
This woman had a flock of dogs following her everywhere she went. Each of the dogs was like a representation of one of her former boyfriends. There were some really mean, nasty, mangy looking dogs, and a few nicer looking dogs. My dog representative was a Weimaraner. My alter ego's dog was a Pomeranian.
Here's a video of a Pomeranian wrestling with a bigger dog:
6.22.2007
Published
A week or so ago Mom pointed out to me that the local newspaper, the Vail Daily, was looking for contributors to their blog. So I wrote the guy telling him about my interest in cars and whatnot and he replied saying he was interested and to send him a blog. So I did; he liked it and he put it up on their website.
"Diesels emerging as 'economy cars' in the US" by Yours Truly for the Vail Daily
"Diesels emerging as 'economy cars' in the US" by Yours Truly for the Vail Daily
6.13.2007
Hilarious
The blog topic recommendations have been noted and I might write about them soon, but for today I just want to put up some videos of a hilarious episode of my favorite automotive TV show, Top Gear on BBC (also the source of the last Bus-Jumping video). In this hour-long episode the guys head across the pond to the good ol' US-of-A for some hoot-hollerin' fun. They start by buying each of themselves a car for under $1000 in Miami which they then drive to New Orleans with plenty of funny moments in between.
It is worth watching all six ten-minute segments, but if you want to just skip the funniest part, go to Part 4 and fast forward to approximately 7:30 in. In this segment the boys have been challenged to go camping and only eat whatever they can find dead along the side of the road. After finding and passing-up a few candidates they finally find a squirrel that might work, but Jeremy decides to keep looking and this is where he returns triumphant with his hilarious findings. Really the whole episode is worth watching though, so if you like this part you should watch the rest too.
Top Gear in America, Part 1
Top Gear in America, Part 2
Top Gear in America, Part 3
Top Gear in America, Part 4 (this is the funniest one, FF to about 7:30)
Top Gear in America, Part 5
Top Gear in America, Part 6
It is worth watching all six ten-minute segments, but if you want to just skip the funniest part, go to Part 4 and fast forward to approximately 7:30 in. In this segment the boys have been challenged to go camping and only eat whatever they can find dead along the side of the road. After finding and passing-up a few candidates they finally find a squirrel that might work, but Jeremy decides to keep looking and this is where he returns triumphant with his hilarious findings. Really the whole episode is worth watching though, so if you like this part you should watch the rest too.
Top Gear in America, Part 1
Top Gear in America, Part 2
Top Gear in America, Part 3
Top Gear in America, Part 4 (this is the funniest one, FF to about 7:30)
Top Gear in America, Part 5
Top Gear in America, Part 6
6.08.2007
Reader's Choice
I have been feeling kind of "blah" since coming back to Edwards after being in Europe. I feel like my whole life is sort of in limbo because I don't want to live here much past, say, September, but I don't have anything lined up either... In the mean time I am just driving the bus hoping to save up enough money so I can maybe afford to do whatever it is I end up doing when that magical arbitrary September deadline rolls around. Anyway, as a result of this "blah-ness", I have been experiencing writer's block with this blog lately. I have been trying to write blogs but I just haven't been able to write anything that I felt like posting. So if any of you have ideas or suggestions for blog-worthy topics, let me know. If I like your topic idea then maybe I'll try to write a whole blog about it. I'll take any and all suggestions into consideration. I would list some of the topic ideas I've had lately just to get you guys started, but I wouldn't want to stifle your creativity. Thanks in advance for your help.
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