YAY Technology

It's been many moons since I last updated the few that still take the time to look at this word-vomit on a computer screen. However, due to the acquisition of a computer (thanks parents :-]) I'm able to let you all (both of you) know what's been going on in the life of a 22-year-old dude struggling to find direction as the arrival of adulthood is fully realized.

So I suppose I will start at the beginning of the summer, since I haven't written since mid-June. I began my summer job on a sunny Monday doing something I didn't think I'd ever actually enjoy: I'm a custodian. From 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM every day, I slog a mop back and forth, wrestle with wet vacs, buffers, and obstinate waxing materials, lean out of windows four stories up to ensure their cleanliness, and shove furniture around. And yes, I actually enjoy it. Mostly. Ecclesiastes (and Proverbs, and Psalms, I believe) talk about the "sluggard," how they barely work and prosper for it. Some of my most frustrating moments have been had when I have to take over someone else's job because they have simply "disappeared," vanished to another room behind a locked door on a previous floor, getting paid to take a nap. For the most part, though, I pop in my head phones and listen to sermons while mopping or waxing, where interactions with others are limited.

On weekends, I typically climb rocks. I don't know why I enjoy it, but I do. I don't know many others who will take an afternoon to brave a scary, strenuous overhang with a 15 foot fall onto barnacle covered rocks, or lunge for a hold barely wide enough for their fingertips 50 feet above the ground while they face face an at-least fifteen foot "whipper," a fall away from the wall until the rope catches and then swings them back towards it, if their tendons can't hold the strain. I can't explain its attraction. But it's there. Yes, I'm probably crazy.

Currently, I was looking for a job, then got tired of filling out random forms and online resumes and attempting to remember the phone numbers off all the employers I've had. I am hoping to find something with the National Park Service, although permanent jobs with them are hard to come by. Money only gets tighter the more I try to save, and I realize how SOL I am without Jesus. I am really trying to trust him with everything I have, and when I don't have much, it's hard to let go of what I do have. As I try and figure out what to do next in life, I know the only lasting thing that I can do is trust him with my life, and everything else is kindling, according to 2 Peter. Awesome. :-)

Joining the Proletariat

Many of you have known me long enough to know what I think of Karl Marx. While I'm not as much of a proponant of his ideas as I once was, I have definitely become a member of the proletariat: the workers party. I own nothing but my labor, some climbing gear, $3000 worth of music gear, and a beat-up pickup truck. The only way to continue living as I do is to sell the labor that I have. So I mop floors, wash windows, sweeps, scrape gum from the floors and duct tape from the walls. At least I get to listen to sermons while I do it.

It does, however, feel FANTASTIC to be working again. It will take awhile to figure out how much food I have to eat to fuel my lifestyle, because a few cups of pork stirfry, an apple, pop tarts, and maybe a sandwich for dinner just aren't cutting 8 hours of work in additon to afternoons spent climbing. I'm chillin' out today, but I am trying to keep busy.

GRADUATION!?

So just the other day, I was a student at Clark College, sitting through the wrong English 101 class on my first day as a college kid. As I apologized profusely I stumbled out of class, probably tripping over everyone's bags on my exit from Hannah Hall 103, as I asked myself what I was going to do now. Luckily I found the appropriate classroom, which I discovered as Larry Blakely told me that I had found a chemistry classroom. The look on my face must have been classic, because everyone laughed at me as Mr. Blakely let me feel awkward for a second before telling me I was in the right place. I found my seat and sunk into my chair. So this is college, I thought.

The next day, I threw my few possessions into my Ridgeway Gamma 921, my dorm room at Western Washington University. As I attempted to get acquainted with my new roommate, I hoped not everyone felt nearly as awkwawrd as I did. I was a sophomore surrounded by freshman, a history major surrounded by art majors, a musician surrounded by graphic designers. All of a sudden, I was a "good" Christian guy stuck in a sea of people talking about sex, drugs, and alcohol, and grew immune to the huge pile of Busch and PBR cans that appeared in the recycle bin on Sunday morning as I deposited the bottles left over from my weekly ration of Henry Weinhardt's Root Beer. As I walked onto north campus for the first time, not knowing a soul, trying to find Old Main 480 at 8 AM on a Tuesday morning, coffee in hand I looked around and tried to envision what I was getting myself into. So this is university, I thought.

365 days later, I started my job as a resident advisor in addition to, as Residents Life will tell you (falsely,) being a "student first." Fresh off a summer spent rafting in Idaho, a was thrust back into an environment similar to that of my first day. Unable to handle the stress of the job, I quickly discovered it wasn't for me, resigned, and relocated to an apartment on the southern edge of campus. I had given up my security in housing during a time that jobs were near impossible to find, and baerly being able to scrape up rent for the next month became the norm. After my first meeting with my new landlord, I walked back to my room with less money than I had coming out. Junk, so this is life, I thought.

I just finished my application to graduate in fall 2009. Hitting "print" was like a punch in the sternum. I'm almost done. Out on my own. Kind of.

I wonder what'll happen "tomorrow." I'm sure it'll be entertaining.

Shoot. What is Today? Thursday?

The sun is shining here in Bellingham. The little clock on the bottom right hand corner of the screen says that I have 40 minutes until I need to be across campus, sitting, listening to presentations about democracy promotion in various countries. I haven't written for awhile, so I figured I'd give a quick update.

I just finished Revelation today. Which is cool, because I started in Genesis at the beginning of August. Done in 9 months, if my math is correct. That's pretty cool. The plan now is to spend a week in Hebrews, which is hands down my favorite NT book.

I love when people talk on the phone in the library. Loudly. It's my favorite.

Climbing isn't happening as often as I would like it to. In between being tired of all the local spots, it's hard to find climbing buddies, and my left arm is feeling kinda funny, which perhaps has something to do with the awkward bump on my left arm. I'm climbing with my finger taped up, which helps give support to the tendon, but to blow a tendon now would be the worst thing I could do. ANYWAY. I'm going to the doctor today to see what's up. I know. Shocker.

I would love to keep going, but there's people wandering around the library looking for computers, even if it's just to check their Facebook. SO I should go. I'll try to write more later. We'll see how that goes.

So This Is What I Do

I'm at it again: writing papers based on almost entirely primary source evidence. It's so much more fun and interesting than looking through secondary source material (stuff that was written about other stuff, to over-simplify it) writing the page number, and giving credit to the person that does it.



So, because it's more fun, I sit in front of a light-emitting screen and sift through newspapers on a microfilm machine. This is fantastic in small doses. However, I'm going on hour number four of it, and my search has turned up surprisingly little evidence. The objective? To analyze newpaper advertisements searching for ways in which women during the early-mid 1940's were encouraged to operate under war industrialization, rationing, and general traditional gender role flip-flopping. While good evidence has been hard to come by, I keep seeing ads directed at women saying that something is "so easy to wear," typically in reference to wool something- or- other.



QUESTION: Don't ya just put something on? The ability to wear something is not the issue (unless we're talking about the armor of God: that stuff'll just fall off if we're not careful.) Rather, it seems to me that whether or not you can do ANYTHING in it is the question. What the heck is "garbandine?" Terms like "bodice" just confuse me.


As you partake in my boredom while August issues of the New York Times scroll unfruitfully before my eyes, think about this...



What if humans were actually called slugs? what if we renamed the two species right now, because those are the species names that were actually intended in our creation? Would they If you were a human, how would it feel to get salted by a slug?



This is just a taste of the micro film room at WWU. Where the university setting turns otherwise intelligent slugs into mere humans in the process of being salted.

Life is good, by the way. Confusing, busy, but entertaining. Thank goodness it's almost summer.

My Day Started Earlier Than Expected

After a later-than-intended evening, I went to bed about two hours past my new bed-time (right around 10:30 PM.) I awoke with a start at about 4:50 AM soaked with sweat from too many sheets, then became even more awake when my roommate returning home at about 5 AM. About five minutes later, I received a strange phone call from a friend. At first I ignored it, but felt uneasy about it. A quick return phone call revealed that my friend was in the hospital and needed a ride home.

Well. Now I'm up.

I have a paper to write today, and I'm about halfway through it. Then I remembered something a fellow musician and worship team member had told me about...a 300W Genz-Benz bass amp that weighed less than 3 lbs. I took a break to investigate and then realized that there was a reason I hadn't looked at gear in a while. I tend to want it. The fact that my acoustic guitar is slowly breaking, the crack in the bridge slowly expanding doesn't make it any easier.

I used to use a lot of gear. Those who have witnessed me on Glenwood's worship team can attest to this. Options are good. Bigger is better.

False. As I enter a stage in my life where frequent relocation is all but imminant, less really is more. My bass amp is shoved under a desk because it's the only place it'll fit. My computer's broken, and thusly my system for playing amp-less is gone. At church, I now plug directly into a direct input box, something I HATED doing at Glenwood. In my closet in Vancouver, I have tubs and drawers full of cables, pedals, strings, tubes, and assorted guitar parts. Oh, to have all that money back. Yet the thought of off-ing a guitar scares me, because I love them and the sounds they make. I really have scared down too. But to think that I could go even more bare bones and be ok with it makes me better able to part with all the stuff I don't use at all.

Anyway.

Back to work.

WOW. It's Actually Happening.

I've spent the last few months of my life living in the cave that is Wilson 2w, the microfilm room in Western Washington University's library. Full of primary source documents and the means to access them, it lacks a reliable internet connection and any computers that can be used to figure out what's going on outside of my little history bubble. A shortage of time forced me to forgo my daily edition of the New York Times. All this to say, I have no idea what's going on in this world. As I get back in the loop, I grow increasingly more frustrated with the times of the day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/business/31auto.html?_r=1&hp

This article really got me fired up. For years, we've mostly clung to the capitalist market. Competition is good. It keeps prices somewhat low, and keeps the manufacturers responsible for the quality of goods. When a company can no longer remain competitive, it dies off, and makes room for others to enter the market. However, if this last step fails to occur, the system is shaken up and no longer ceases to function as it should.

However, this last step is precisely what is NOT being allowed to happen. The Obama administration is continuing to prop up dying businesses. That's not what fired me up about this article though. The source of this proverbial "riled-up-ness" is this: Obama is quoted as saying that leadership from Washington is what caused the current failure of the American auto industry.

Here's the deal: The American auto industry shouldn't need the leadership of the American government. What it does need is the ability to DIE. I love my Chevy to death, and I really hope that the Feds will allow me to continue driving it in spite of it's emissions problems, but I would rather see GM die than give it more money so that the CEO can keep their summer home. People buy more foreign cars anyway. Cause' they're better.

I'll try to keep more on top of this thing this quarter, as I document the downfall of the American economy. Clinch your buttocks folks: we're going socialist.

It's Almost Over

It's Dead Week. Thursday thereof, to be exact. 12:57 PM to be precise.

I am taking a break from final revisions on my History 499 paper. It's the capstone of the history program, so I had to take it, and by the time I was done I have almost 19 pages of double spaced text. That's not including the two that I decided were crap and deleted. At least it didn't come down to a frantic rush for more evidence and information.

I have knots all through by back and neck, including a weird spot in my upper arm that I THINK is a knot, but I'm "knot" sure. HAHA. My hands hurt from the routes I've been trying at the gym to get in shape for our prospective trip to Smith Rock. I'm feeling stronger than I ever have, which is awesome. My fingers are also starting to need the support of climbing tape. It's moments like this one that I remember that I'll feel the abuse I'm giving myself when I'm older.

I've been fairly productive the last few days. I finally cleaned the mold off of our bathroom ceiling, bleaching spots on my sweatshirt in the process. I'm learning new ways to cook Ramen due to my recent fascination with Thai food. I actually bought chicken at the store last night in preparation for Finals Week! Wow. Moving on up. I've been eating a lot of oranges and apples, I now own milk and butter, and I'm starting to hardboil eggs again. I'm constantly hungry these days, and I kinda wish I wasn't; life'd be cheaper.

Yesterday, I found out that I got an 89 on a test that I was sure I'd bombed. It was an amazingly pleasant surprise.

I have just decided that my paper is good enough. Which means I'm going bouldering. That's climbing without a rope and only about 6 ft off the ground. It's hard and painful, but not particularly scary.

Climbing tape is my friend.

HOLY CRAP FREAKING OUT

So there's this paper. And this paper is analytical as all get-out, and right now I'm on page 13. I need to be through page 15 by Monday, and the more I get down, the better off I am. yeah I know, doing pretty well as far as time goes. the only thing is that I freaking hate this right now. I'm tired of THIS. Stupid freaking history papers that make no sense to the broad understanding of things in general. It is said that people should eat more when they're stressed. I'm eating less. Yes, sleeping more, which is good. All I know is that I have been sitting in this chair looking at this freaking computer screen since 1:30 this afternoon with two one-hour breaks, and all I have to show for it is two lousy double space pages of crap that I am going to spend my Sunday revising only to have it torn up in class on Thursday, in which my prof will tell me to delete the whole thing and start over.

What the heck.

GR.

Why do I do this? Every night I see the same librarian that I have seen every week night since midterms of last quarter, and every night she smiles at me and says "See you tomorrow." History is my life, and I've spent the last three days in a row, which happen to have been perfect climbing weather, hammering crap out on a keyboard.

I can't wait until this is over.

I'm probably better right now than I think I am, I am just super upset at my inability to pick the common themes out of these six speeches.

Midterm-Time

I'm sort of tired of school right now. My body hurts, I'm sleepy, I'm hungry, and my life won't slow down until Saturday evening, when it takes a hiatus for the Sabbath. School work resumes Monday morning, with a heinus outline and introduction for my senior paper due the next day, and a midterm the day after that in a class for which I have done none of the reading. Oh, life. I wonder what it will be like when I finally decide that I'm educated enough.

I'm attempting to keep stress levels down by doing some climbing, eating, and sleeping, the former and the latter of which may be significantly cut back once the work loads get thicker. I only have five weeks left in this quarter! RIdiculous.

I'm about to call it a "secondary source only" reading night. Which is exciting, because I don't have to have my brain on 110 percent.

I'm doing OK. I promise. I will likely be writing even less, since my computer took a dump about 3 weeks ago. Campus computers are cool, but they take all the mobility out of things like this. And when going to Seattle means tracking down someone else's computer to use.

LOL

I looked at my last post date and laughed out loud. I haven't posted anything in almost a month, and people have probably stopped looking to see what's new.

Well, here's what I'm up to.

I'm beginning week 4 of 10 of the quarter. Which is really cool and really sad at the same time, because it means that I have seven weeks left to rock the socks off of my senior history paper. I still feel like I have so much to do and so little time in which to do it, considering that I have another upper division history course I'm taking, the reading of which I have completely neglected, and a GUR geology class, which is really just making me paranoid about the massive earthquake and tsunami that're supposed to hit the Pacific Northwest soon. I mostly laugh through that one though. It's sorta fun to sit in the back and laugh at freshmen that still haven't figured out how college works.

I'm climbing stuff pretty much every chance I get. I hate being at the rock wall at the gym, mainly because I'm tired of climbing inside no higher than 8 feet off the ground. I got to lead a few routes outside, and I'm really excited for the spring and summer when climbing outside will be the rule, rather than the exception. I screwed up my arm today, which is no fun, but it's part of the price you pay to climb stuff.

My hair is getting really long. I wear it up most of the time now, as long as I'm not walking to class in the frigidly cold Bellingham winter. I've heard from several people that this has been one of Bellingham's coldest winters in a long time. I'm running three layers these days: t-shirt, hoody, and my big, insulated snowboard jacket.

And Chacos with socks.

Yew Nears

I'm really terrible at making New Years' Resolutions. To me, it simply does not make sense to decide on one specific day to undertake the undoing of a habit simply because of the date. It seems to me that if one truly desired change in their life, they wouldn't wait for one specific date to change it. 

I used to try to resolve to do things based upon the year, but I would quickly fall off the wagon about a month or two into my resolution, which I suppose is a testament to my horrendous self-discipline. 

So. I begin this year recognizing the many blessings that God has given me. I also acknowledge that I am definitely imperfect. Thus, I will continue to work on the things in my life that I know need to be worked on. 

I spent my first moments of 2009 playing music with the high school band at Glenwood Community Church. I led camp songs and worship on an acoustic guitar, then filled in for a missing electric guitar player last minute. Having never heard or played several of the songs before, in addition to no prior rehearsal and a really terrible monitor mix, I stumbled through the best I could, but it was really rad to begin the new year doing the three of things I love to do the most; playing music, worshiping God, and talking to the high schoolers whom I spent most of my summer.   

I head back up to Bellingham on Saturday. While I have a lot of friends in Vancouver, I'll definitely be glad to get back up there and started on history stuff again. I'm attempting to take a photography class to break up the analytical nature of my quarter. So hopefully that works out somewhat.