GOPVP

I didn't think it was possible for someone to make Hillary look good... I was wrong.

ladders

(to better understand the mood of this post, listen to "hey now" by augustana while reading found at myspace.com/augustana)


so... I'm kind of feeling a little down right now. Not that anything has gone wrong today either because it hasn't. I guess I'm having a little bit of a hard time coming to grips with the idea of being done with school and having to move out of my little bubble and into the "real world". I had a pretty amazing summer in Maine and I certainly don't have anything to regret in going there, but I kind of feel a little cheated I guess. I was almost certain that things would pan out a little better than they did, like me getting offered a paying job and being able to stay there, with people that I really came to care about, doing work that I really enjoyed, in a place that was everything I could have imagined and more... but things didn't happen that way. So here I sit, back in western New York, wondering, yet again, where my path lies. I know that I need to find work because, more importantly than air these days, I need money, and when my student loans hit, I'm going to need even more and so a job that pays me minimum wage (or nothing at all in Maine) isn't really going to cut it. So I continue my search, to find yet another "opportunity too good to pass up" that might "be the chance I've been waiting for" all the while coming to realize more and more that my passions in life are somehow or another slipping ever farther away from becoming something more because... well... I'm getting older, and let's face it, good things don't come to those who wait anymore, they come to those who know people who know people who once served someone important coffee while working at starbucks in the east village. But I'm hopeful, and I guess that's all I really can be, because what it all boils down to is outlasting the things in life that keep stepping on our fingers every time we reach for the next rung on the ladder for when we reach that next rung there's always going to be another one waiting to let us know not only that we're getting closer to the top, but that we're one rung further from where we started. So I'll keep on keeping on as they say and continue my ascent. Who knows, maybe the next rung will be the one I've been waiting for.

another door closes...

Well, this will ultimately be my last blog from Maine. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm going to miss it here and although there are some things that I'll no doubt forget very soon there are even more things that I know I'll find myself wishing I still had as a part of my day when I'm back home.

At the top of that list is definitely the friends that I've made here. Its hard to think that the chances of our paths crossing again are pretty laughable yet for some reason I feel like they will. I've always stood by the idea of never losing friends and I plan on sticking to that.

Not being able to play campus golf or go to Off The Boat or play ping pong at gilbert's on sundays... These are some of the other things that will be hard to find replacements for once I'm gone. The way the fog rolls in off the ocean like something out of a horror film only in the middle of the day. The quarry and the many treasure hunts at Good Will. Booze and Bake nights at the foundry. The soccer ball that belongs to the tech barn (or post? Hell if I know anymore). Waitng around the ER in a red dress because it turns out the color red can't skate for shit.

I guess I could keep going but I suppose that's a good enough start to keep me from forgetting what has been one of the greatest summer's of my life. To spend 3 months with the most creative and talented individuals that I've ever known. To create professional ties with them and to set up further networking opportunities down the road. But more than that, more than the jobs that may come or the refrences that might follow, more than the addition to the experience section of a resume, we found friendship.

I'll miss all of you and you can bet on it that I won't forget you. Until our paths cross again, there are no goodbyes.

I love slow weeks at work

song in my head

There's certain things that make a week worth while. This week has been one of THE SLOWEST of the summer by far and I keep asing myself if it was really necessary to even come to work. However, as I sit on this bench blogging, I realize that it WAS necessary for me to be right in this very spot at this very moment, for only seconds ago my friend Will came to me asking for song suggestions for this week's slideshow end credits. Without hesitation I uttered the only song that came to mind and tonight, when the credits roll and everyone hears the opening words, "Josie's on a vacation far away..." I'll be standing in the back, just smiling.

Thanks for making this week worth while for me Will :).

FIND something to do they said...

Bathroom stall wisdom

only in maine...

good will books

note the author

what religion has come to

I guess it does have a price... ($2.99 if you can't read it)

hospital literature

I just brought my friend to the hospital to get a follow up x-ray of her broken wrist and as I sit here in the waiting room I can't help but ask myself why there are nothing but health magazines. I mean, I understand that the context is right but wouldn't you think that people would want to get their minds off of their medical problems instead of convincing themselves that they have more or even worse health problems than that which they're here for in the first place. I'm probably missing something but I like to rant. Enjoi.

because no one sleeps around here

Since both my roommate and his brother decided they were going to read before bed tonight I decided to write....although it took me almost 25min to get enough signal to connect and now most of my brain is fried from the frustration of waiting...but I digress.

Things are starting to come together it seems with this summer and the way I saw things playing out after I leave maine. My friend got me a job at the auction house that he works at so at least I'll have a solid source of income when I get home which means I'll be able to get an apartment closer to the other work I hope to be doing in the city. Now I just have to find someone to go in on an apartment with me. In all due time I suppose.

Well, as luck would have it, the brothers just decided they're done reading so rather than being a dick and continuing to click click away at my blackberry I guess I'll end this short. Enjoi.

i love american newswriters

"Apparently ex-communists like GM."


...Best quote of the 2008 olympic coverage.

(2 weeks to WNY)

Although going home seems to be the only thing I've been writing about lately, I am going to miss maine a lot. I've been trying to take as many pictures as possible in the remaining days here but finding the time to do so (and finding nice days as well) is proving to be rather difficult. I'm ready to head out though. Ready to see my dog, my family, my friends. Ready to cook out, watch football and hockey, actually work for pay. All those good things. I'm ready to be back on familiar ground after being out of my element for so long. Coming home should be a whole new experience as if seeing it through new eyes. The eyes of someone who has traveled far from home for a long period of time for the FIRST time in his life. Perhaps I'll learn something from all of this... like that you should always take advantage of free lobster when you get the chance, because wny lobster ain't cheap.

technology meets lack of a computer

So I just set up mobile blogging on my phone. I don't know how I feel about this yet because I already text entirely too much and now it'll look like I do it even more. I kinda feel like Rev at the end of each episode of Run's House though and I guess that makes me feel kind of badass B). I think I want to name these mobile posts something similar like "mobile post #1" etc but that's not very creative so I think for the moment I'll just call this "technology meets lack of a computer"... Which brings me to mention the fact that my computer is dead so this should actually be helpful :).

a little snack for the road

and so it starts...

the first of what is soon to be many departures from the Maine Media Workshops occurred this morning at approximately 10am. it's kind of weird to think that I've only been here for about 2 and a half months yet it feels as though I've been here for years. these people have grown on me and I can only hope that I've grown on them as well. we've all learned a lot this summer, not only about our individual fields and areas of art but also as people. people who share a common love for expression and creativity. we've been humbled within our own little bubbles; something that took most of us by surprise but that we now understand is a part of the bigger picture. we were big fish moved to an even smaller pond where we just knew we would stand out only when we got there we found that all of the other fish could fly. we were stuck, watching everyone else do what we only wished we could do. we sat there, stunned, now uncertain of our own ability to swim. but then we learned... we learned that it isn't enough to believe with all your heart that you were the best swimmer in the pond; you have to realize that there is always something more that you can discover and there's always someone who can discover something from you. we have discovered. we have learned. in some small way we have given. and now, as this adventure comes closer to an end we look forward to whatever adventure awaits just ahead for us and there we will learn more, using what we've taken from this place to guide us onto the next. this has been an amazing experience. i won't forget any of it. thank you all.