feel like writing now, 'cept i'm not sure what to write about when i'm not in a mood.
heard about a job today, gotta call the lady back tomorrow. what part of "preferred contact by email" is hard to understand? especially when the first contact (and my response) was by email? weird.
got complimented on my singing the other day. that's like three times in three weeks. i miss doing it. no, guitar hero doesn't count (aside: is it weird the three songs i know completely are ozzy, the eagles, and paramore?) maybe i could replace pat's singer :-P. too bad he's the writer too.
ultimate frisbee remains awesome. the mythbusters are winners of three straight baby! also our captain said, "well now that we know aaron has a flick [forehand throw] we've got a shot to be pretty good." apparently two half-decent hail mary passes in two weeks qualifies me as useful. admittedly i've been practicing that throw since i found out my technique was bad, but i'd like to do it more consistently.
yeah that's all i got. still feel like writing, but i don't have a topic. ideas?
name that tune:
play the best song in the world
or i'll eat your souls
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
what if i stumble, dc talk
I really shouldn't watch movies late at night. You see, movies and I have this weird relationship. Movies I watch regularly fall into really only three categories: movies that are funny, movies where stuff blows up, and movies I think about. The first largely consists of Mel Brooks comedies or absurdist fare -- Ghostbusters and Blazing Saddles come to mind, things that are simply mindless humor. The second category is pretty self-explanatory as well -- The Matrix (I don't go for that new-age hippie crap), Van Helsing (no explosions but does have werewolves!), Equilibrium, Live Free or Die Hard are the ones that come to mind immediately.
You will notice that those groups, while broad, leave room for a ton of movies. Unfortunately for me, this means that many, many movies have at least something for me to chew on afterwards. The Iron Giant? "You are who you choose to be." Moulin Rouge!? "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." Master and Commander? Dedication to individuals or duty. Hercules? Discovering and fulfilling a purpose. Groundhog Day? Discovering truth to oneself. And these are just a smattering of the movies I watch frequently!
I choose the above films as examples because I identify with them. Heck, most movies I like I like for precisely that reason. My life isn't exciting by any stretch of the imagination, try as Ben does to set me on fire or other delights. I get no joy out of who I am or what I do unless the Brewers are involved or I'm playing a videogame, and both of those are quite condemningly desperate attempts to fill...something in my life with other things that are just as clearly not of my own creation. But I'll get into that more later on.
I bring all this up because over the last few months I've taken to watching movies as I fall asleep (thanks to the unique construction of college life, TV and bed not necessarily both required). Of late especially has been a selection of films I had yet to see. Bolt was last week, which was surprisingly good -- my penchant for the music of one Miley Cyrus by no means extends to her acting career, but I liked it quite a bit -- and tonight's selection was Ratatouille.
Honestly? It was good but not great. However, there was something bugging me during the whole movie that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was only after the fact when I was reading about the film on Wikipedia (specifically, reviews of it linked to from there) that I figured it out.
Remy spends much of the movie torn between his upbringing -- let's face it, he's a rat -- and what he truly desires to be -- a cook -- and it is this that I identify with. Anyone who will read will know that it's no secret that I have no love for what I have spent five years training to become. You will also know that what I do love doesn't translate into a paycheck very well. The surprise here is that I'm not talking about baseball or even sports in general, but rather literature. Books are fun. I can go back to a good story countless times, and there's such a rich history of them I could start reading now and my grandchildren would never dream of reaching the end of it.
I guess what I realized it comes down to is one of two options: can I man up and just stick with the books thing (which sounds a lot like getting a job at a library somewhere for not much money), or can I stay with my major enough to "learn" to like it. The ideal scenario from my point of view is to work for long enough to pay off school, then get a job I like. Is that likely? Almost certainly not.
The bigger short-term concern is the interview process. Every interviewer doing due diligence will at some point ask a variant of, "why should we hire you?" and it is this question I dread. I know and you know the honest answer is, "No reason, really," for the simple reason that I offer no skills that many other qualified candidates do, and for darn sure a bunch of those actually want to do that job. There's no evading that answer to that question that doesn't sound like an evasion.
I'm still looking for real jobs, but I'm starting to really consider the fun job route. Am I crazy, or finally getting sane?
I shouldn't watch movies at night.
*****************
name that tune:
Show me how to lie
You're getting better all the time
And turning all against the one
Is an art that's hard to teach
You will notice that those groups, while broad, leave room for a ton of movies. Unfortunately for me, this means that many, many movies have at least something for me to chew on afterwards. The Iron Giant? "You are who you choose to be." Moulin Rouge!? "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." Master and Commander? Dedication to individuals or duty. Hercules? Discovering and fulfilling a purpose. Groundhog Day? Discovering truth to oneself. And these are just a smattering of the movies I watch frequently!
I choose the above films as examples because I identify with them. Heck, most movies I like I like for precisely that reason. My life isn't exciting by any stretch of the imagination, try as Ben does to set me on fire or other delights. I get no joy out of who I am or what I do unless the Brewers are involved or I'm playing a videogame, and both of those are quite condemningly desperate attempts to fill...something in my life with other things that are just as clearly not of my own creation. But I'll get into that more later on.
I bring all this up because over the last few months I've taken to watching movies as I fall asleep (thanks to the unique construction of college life, TV and bed not necessarily both required). Of late especially has been a selection of films I had yet to see. Bolt was last week, which was surprisingly good -- my penchant for the music of one Miley Cyrus by no means extends to her acting career, but I liked it quite a bit -- and tonight's selection was Ratatouille.
Honestly? It was good but not great. However, there was something bugging me during the whole movie that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was only after the fact when I was reading about the film on Wikipedia (specifically, reviews of it linked to from there) that I figured it out.
Remy spends much of the movie torn between his upbringing -- let's face it, he's a rat -- and what he truly desires to be -- a cook -- and it is this that I identify with. Anyone who will read will know that it's no secret that I have no love for what I have spent five years training to become. You will also know that what I do love doesn't translate into a paycheck very well. The surprise here is that I'm not talking about baseball or even sports in general, but rather literature. Books are fun. I can go back to a good story countless times, and there's such a rich history of them I could start reading now and my grandchildren would never dream of reaching the end of it.
I guess what I realized it comes down to is one of two options: can I man up and just stick with the books thing (which sounds a lot like getting a job at a library somewhere for not much money), or can I stay with my major enough to "learn" to like it. The ideal scenario from my point of view is to work for long enough to pay off school, then get a job I like. Is that likely? Almost certainly not.
The bigger short-term concern is the interview process. Every interviewer doing due diligence will at some point ask a variant of, "why should we hire you?" and it is this question I dread. I know and you know the honest answer is, "No reason, really," for the simple reason that I offer no skills that many other qualified candidates do, and for darn sure a bunch of those actually want to do that job. There's no evading that answer to that question that doesn't sound like an evasion.
I'm still looking for real jobs, but I'm starting to really consider the fun job route. Am I crazy, or finally getting sane?
I shouldn't watch movies at night.
*****************
name that tune:
Show me how to lie
You're getting better all the time
And turning all against the one
Is an art that's hard to teach
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