Call it foreshadowing, but my best friend in elementary school and I were obsessed with Ace of Base. We would listen to it constantly, we both had the cassette, and we knew all the words to all the songs. Yeah, turns out we're both gay, but thats not the point. Fourteen years ago today Ace of Base's hit The Sign was the the number one song in America. God I miss the nineties.
(via Towleroad)
A classy lady, that's for sure.
"L.E.S. Artistes" by Santogold, my favorite new artist.
How many times have you been told that you can't run from your problems, that ignoring things only makes them worse? Being a red-blooded, New England WASP, I am a pro at putting on a good face. When I moved back to Connecticut last fall it was to take a break from everything, take some time off and regroup. Now some time has morphed into nearly seven months, and I'm no further along than I was when I returned. I sit here day after day complaining about my life, about working two dead-end jobs, and yet I am incapable of doing anything about my situation. My "miserable" life has been an easy excuse for me to avoid doing what I need to do.
I realize I'm a little behind-the-times with this, but basically this video sums up my weekend in DC.
Twenty-five years and my life is still trying to get up that great big hill of hope, for a destination.
Technically its more like 24 years and four months, but still pretty accurate. This, my 500th blog post, finds me basically in the same place as when I created my own little corner of the internet. I was a recent college graduate, trying to find his way in the world and figure out what to make of his life. I had expectations, mine and others, that I needed to live up to. I tried and tried, moved, built lives that were quickly torn down, moved again, found hope, lost hope, and above all just powered through. I’ve made a lot of decisions in the almost two years since I left college, some of which I wish I hadn’t and a whole lot of which I am proud of, but thankfully none that I regret. Every decision I have made has led to me where I am right now.
Delaware is flashing past the windows of my train; I’m on my way to DC as I type this. There is a job fair tomorrow, and then I’ll be visiting friends and family for the rest of my mini-vacation. I’m combining my responsibilities with a much-needed mental break. I’ve come to realize that I enjoy train people much more than airplane people; train people are dedicated commuters. They conduct their lives in the open. The girl across the aisle from me is reading her pocket-bible. The guy sitting in front of me, about my age, is watching ballroom dancing on his laptop while fielding calls from his buddies about what bar to head to tonight. Read into that what you will.
My point is this - I am on a train to Washington DC right now. I don’t know if I’ll find a job tomorrow. I still am not one hundred percent certain about what field I even want to pursue. All I know is I am out there doing something, something for me. I am no longer beholden to anyone’s expectations but my own. I will find a job somewhere, and if I don’t like I’ll move along to something else. I just need to focus on me, because if I lose sight of myself then I’ll have lost any chance of ever regaining what I once had, who I once was.
So this is my 500th post. I guess its more of a rumination on me, and probably not the most exciting way to mark a milestone, but to borrow one of the most annoying quotes ever, it is what it is. Soon there will be 501, then 502, and eventually a post about my new job, new apartment, new life. The world happens whether or not you choose to participate, so I plan on doing everything I can to secure my place on the ride.
I realized quickly when I knew I should that the world was made up of this brotherhood of man, for whatever that means. And so I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed, just to get it all out, what’s in my head, and I, I am feeling a little peculiar. And so I wake in the morning and I step outside and I take a deep breath and I get real high, and I scream from the top of my lungs, “What’s going on?”.
(Inspiration taken from the classic 4 Non Blondes song, “What’s Going On?”)
Things are starting to look up on the job front. I have an interview next week for a great position that could lead me down a totally new career path, I have a lead on a job down at UNC-Chapel Hill, and I'm heading to DC tomorrow for a job fair and to spend some time with friends. Keep your fingers crossed, because pretty soon things could change for the better!
This year I am participating in my first ever Aids Walk. I've done a lot of different fundraisers for a variety of charities over the years, and I am particularly excited about this one. The event is put on by the Gay Men's Health Crisis, the largest AIDS awareness organization in the country. I've pledged to raise $500, and I'm asking you to donate whatever amount you might be able to give. Five dollars or fifty dollars is all the same to me, every bit counts. Also, feel free to sign up and come join us in New York on May 18th!
(I've installed a little thermometer on the left-hand column so you can see how much I've raised so far!)
If there ever was an answer to NBC's insufferable series Quarterlife, it would be Roadtrip Nation. The PBS series sends teams of twenty-somethings across the nation in order to find out more about what makes ordinary (and extraordinary) Americans tick, and in turn learn more about themselves. Armed with video cameras and an RV, the teams control everything from itinerary to interview subjects, and the series has become a sleeper hit online and on PBS Television. For me, watching the videos was like watching my own fears and insecurities about my life validated and expanded upon, only it wasn't me. It was someone else. Someone else was feeling the same way I did, and they got to do something pretty incredible about it.
Now the New Zealand Tourism Board is partnering with Roadtrip Nation to offer Roadtrip Nation in New Zealand. Its basically the same premise, only, you know, in New Zealand. How cool does that sound? They're accepting applications now, so if you know two or three people who are perhaps just as aimless and frustrated with the rat race as yourself, definitely give it a shot! What could be more rewarding than a few weeks spent interviewing New Zealanders, breaking down cultural divides, and learning more about what you want out of life.
If you have a few moments, go check out Roadtrip Nation and watch some of the videos, and if you're feeling adventurous, get some friends (or heck, strangers!) together and submit an application for Roadtrip Nation in New Zealand. But you have to promise to send me postcards.
I'm working on a couple posts that should start appearing soon (sorry for the lack of posts lately, my crappy job has been taking up a lot of my time, no fun), like this weekend. We've got such exciting topics as travel, dining, and manscaping (is that term even relevant anymore?).
Oh yeah, and if you want to keep up with me in real life, I'm now Twittering.
Recent Comments