Filed under: random
so i have finally figured out the main theme of holiday humor in my family. we figure out whatever topic will most bother someone and then make sure to bring it up over and over and over again.
for example last year the holiday humor was the fact that at 24 my sister was an old maid who would never get married. and this bothered her so much that people made sure to bring it up as many times as possible. oh how we’d laugh at her. it was a joke. it was like a really brilliant joke. and while i’m on the topic she’s still not married.
unfortunately for me this year the humor was daniel’s future. “daniel maybe you could do this…” “hey i know let’s talk about where daniel should go to school” “speaking of which, what are your plans daniel?” hahaha hehehe. giggle giggle. but really though not so funny when you have no idea and are feeling immense amounts of pressure about what you do decide. although apparently that is what makes it so funny. i am finally realizing now that this is what family is for.
and for the record, father david and mother ruth and any of you others who are going to feel guilty after reading this for all the pressure you put on me, you should feel guilty. but i am more just trying to expose you not cry out in agony. so don’t worry. and i figured out anyways that i am just going to live in my parents basement forever, i mean who else can find the phone when it gets stuck in the couch?
Filed under: Addis Ababa
i hope you can read the large print it says “Glenn Beck.” i honestly don’t know if it is the glenn beck that i am thinking of and i don’t care too much i will gladly misinform you all. the plot of this book is “a boy learns from his disappointment with his mothers gift,” which sounds very wholesome and even kid friendly. but if i know glenn beck there will be some terrifying plot twist where the mother’s gift held the secret for this boy to somehow take out an anti-American terrorist organization. and the boy will also at some point come to a moral cross-roads where he has to choose between wrong and right with no gray area in between and by chance he will look down at his WWJD bracelet and remember what the right thing to do is.
all that to say don’t be deceived by this seemingly heart warming book. i have a good feeling glenn has some real excitement up these pages, just in time for the holidays.
Filed under: Addis Ababa
well i’ll start with some good news: i am done with my finals and i probably got hella A’s. this is good news because my parents pay for my school and though they may seem kind and compassionate on the surface mother ruth, father dave and especially grandmother florence pile on the negative reinforcements if i don’t achieve their standards.
the bad news is going to be a real shocker, and when i say real shocker i mean you all know about it already. our american higher education system exploits students for their money! i know it is hard to believe but it is true. their are plenty of examples to prove it.
multiple editions with little to no revisions that simply make old copies of textbooks in-valuable (not as in invaluable but like not valuable).
textbooks often require special online codes that cost extra in order to take their tests online even though there are free programs that do the same thing.
even the bookstores are in on it. they keep themselves slightly overstocked so students can’t even sell their books back for a decent price.
buti have recently discovered the most disgusting practice of all. students have to pay for scantron sheets in order to take tests! there are a few levels to this thing. first of all they are like one piece of paper so how much could it really cost! second of all they make you buy freaking bundle of them so instead of paying a nickel for one you have to charge your card for a bunch that you will never use. thirdly you are paying to take a test! that is simply wrong. and worst of all scantrons are only used by teachers when they want to be lazy. So basically the 35 people in the class pay the bookstore an undisclosed amount of money to sponsor our professor’s 20 minute coffee break while he or she “grades papers.”
Filed under: Addis Ababa
so i have decided that i should be in a band a couple weeks ago but i am already running into problems. i thought that craigslist.com would solve my probs but it hasn’t because everyone seems to think they are good singers and so no one will take my word for it. they want recording and proof and stuff but i don’t have time for that nonsense. also i don’t really think i have time to be in a band, or at least not to practice 3-5 times a week. what is this jv basketball for the 6th year in a row? and ten some are even more picky, they want someone with choreography experience. they said if you can’t step then step. and i was feeling like “but i can step. i just don’t lock down said steps into mundane patterns and routines.” so it is a big dilemma for me right now. just thought i would share.
Filed under: random
So thank you all for your feedback it was very helpful. I am not feeling so crazy anymore. Just so you know here is the downlow on where i am at as far as school to eventual job:
So since i am such a diligent student in the classroom taking so many difficult courses at once i will be finished with my AA degree at the end of winter quarter in march. this is exciting. I will then be poised to transfer to one of the many 4 year universities looking for a double heater like myself. I am still unsure of where this 4 year might be but i am obviously open to many opportunities. At this point i think that studying for a degree in international relations is something i might like to do and from there i am exploring the possibility of going on to graduate school or something. I just wanted to say thanks and let you know my current plans and you should make sure to check back tommorrow when i want to do something completely different.
Filed under: Addis Ababa
an interesting list of things that happened before we elected a black man as president:
1. astronauts got wireless internet in space
2. we put 2 rovers on Mars
3. the Catholic Church updated the seven deadly sins
4. Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar 
5. a new spork was invented 
6. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura were elected into office 
7. the Red Sox won a World Series…or two
And most ridiculously of all.
8. Hell Boy 1 & 2 were made, released, and successful…apparently 
Filed under: Addis Ababa
So i would like to think that i have finally learned an important lesson: listen to your mother.
I thought that i had learned this already but unfortunately i was wrong. Growing up she was always the one who would warn me to check both ways when crossing the street. Over and over again she would tell me it and for a long time i thought she was waaaaaay overprotective. I had such good ears i knew that i would be able to hear any approaching vehicles. so with her i would comply but by myself i would do it the fast way, by ear.
somehow i didn’t die which is great but years later i remembered this belief i had and was shocked and confessed it to my mom. and then i repented of my foolish prideful ways, or so i thought. but history repeats itself.
Another lesson my mom was keen on reminding me of was of making sure to mark down credited purchases to keep track of them. but i said “nah. i will just remember what i bought in a month.” what i fool i was.
recently i was having money issues, as in i thought i should have more money in my account than i did. upon more exploration i found some charges that i didn’t remember. some were even from the time when i was in Ethiopia and wasn’t using my card. after google-ing it i found out that these charges were coming from some scams. so i reported it to my dad and he looked into it and found that the charges went back to 2006. They came from some scams from when i bought flowers online (which were worthless anyways) and when i bought airplane tickets.
so all this to say. don’t get scammed! and listen to your moms. she is smarter than you. and she is waaaaaaaay smarter than me.
Filed under: Addis Ababa
So i met with an advisor at my school today to figure out what classes i should take and our conversation went sort of as follows.
She: so you are taking some science classes would you say you are more science oriented?
me: yeah i am better at math’s and sciences
She: well let’s get you on a transfer program for science then
me: no i kind of hate science. i am good at it but i don’t like it
She: okay well what do you want to major in?
me: i am not really sure
She: well what kinds of classes do you like?
me: i am not really sure nothing stands out, thats why i am doing all these different classes
She: well what do you want to do as a career?
me: i don’t really know
and then i realized that i was wasting her time, and possibly my own. and not just wasting my time by going to see the counselor but also in being in school at all. so i made an appointment to meet up with her next week after i had done some research on possible jobs or majors i would want to do. And after twenty minutes of surfing around the internet i am losing my mind because of the stuff i am finding looks really stupid. i don’t want to do anything with communications or using computers or learning about economics. all the jobs and internships i found were for communication and PR stuff and marketing and i think i hate all that crap. so please help me in my brainstorm. Here is what i want to do:
i want to do actual relief work. working with actual people who need help. i want to physically provide a service to them in some way. i don’t want to be a pastor. and i whatever my job might be i don’t want to be in school for 6 more years to do it. is there anything that fits that or should i end it all now? please let me know. comments or emails or whatever will be appreciated.
Filed under: Addis Ababa
Well i think that the real Seattle fall has finally set in today. We had a good stretch of sun. It was like one long sun break for the last couple weeks. Don’t get me wrong, compared to the nice places in the world it has sucked but for Seattle i would call it incomparable. But with the falling rain many of Seattle’s beautiful things get drowned.
Goodbye Cascade and Olympic Mountain Ranges. it has been cool having you around the last couple of weeks.
Goodbye crisp morning walks. I used to look forward to my treks to school.
Goodbye basketball. I know i haven’t really been with you much but i can promise you that i won’t be paying money to be with you.
Goodbye clean shoes. You guys were really looking good, and you even took me along for the ride. Thanks!
Goodbye sunlight. It has been nice waking up next to you. But the combo of daylight savings and thick cumulonimbus is going to be a chasm between us.
Goodbye frequent spurts of joy. Your random appearances have been a pleasant spice to my life, bring on the drear.
Well i guess i will see you all next summer!
