9.28.2008

The Sine Curve of Life

I think everyone would agree with the statement that life is generally tumultuous. You go through periods of time where things are really great, and then you hit a month or two of rougher, more challenging life experiences.

This spring and summer I would venture to say was a low point in the sine curve of my life. I found myself in a rut starting in March, and I couldn't shake my slump. I moved into an apartment with more problems than I could shake a stick at, I was hopelessly bored with all my free time (note to self: get a summer job) and my attempts to meet new people were futile. This is not to say that all my experiences were a complete bust, but collectively I've had better times.

I'm happy to say, though, that recently things have started to get a lot better! This year at school is in some ways more intense because of my schedule, but it's also familiar and fun. I've started taking a French class that has tons of friendly people and an amazingly sweet French teacher (not to mention the institute where the class is at has a ton of fun, free, French related activities). One of my best friends moved to the area and I am having so much fun seeing her. I think I might learn to play the guitar. My savings account is somehow growing to unprecedented heights. And while I still haven't mastered the art of making a million friends, I'm slowly getting there one person at a time.

Oh, yeah - and my sister is coming to visit me! And my grandmother sent me the funniest card which involves a chicken, an egg, and a lot of shoving of foreign objects into body caverns. Life is great these days!

Though my sine curve is generally heading uphill these days, today I did have a bit of a cafuffle. There was a significant fire in our building and while everything in our apartment was fine, I was suddenly reminded of my intentions to purchase renters insurance as well as fire alarms. If anybody has any suggestions for either, please let me know!

9.23.2008

I Get Paid For This?

Today I spent my day drawing planets, making an animation of a car zoom across the screen, and looking up animal pictures on Google. My job is the best!

9.21.2008

Satya

Someone I was fairly close to mentioned to me a while back that they often felt that I was never quite honest with them. They said to me that it was okay to be angry with them, and they could always tell when I was holding back a part of the truth (how they could tell I was never told). I told them that I wasn't being dishonest, but that I was just careful about how I worded things and that I tried really hard to always say exactly what I meant (and only what I meant). My pauses to think were not me holding back, but just me contemplating the best way to relay my thoughts to them.

Today I was reading a trashy teenage romance novel, and for the first time ever in my life I read something in the awkward, angsty teen romance that was actually really valuable. The main character brought up a yoga term called Satya, which roughly means "truthfulness in kindness." I wish I had heard about this idea a long time ago so I could have used it to more clearly explain my lengthy reflections to this person.

This web site states that Satya requires one to speak the truth, but also reminds us "to consider what we say, how we say it, and in what way it could affect others." I can't explain what I was trying to do in a better way: by not blurting out what I was thinking or feeling immediately, I wasn't lying or holding back the truth... I was simply trying to convey the truth in the sincerest way possible.

Like most people, I hate it when people are not honest with me. I have found that knowing the truth is always better than being fed a lie or being kept in the dark, even when the truth hurts. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say they are going to do something or tell me something simply because they think it is what I want to hear, and then I find out later that they weren't being honest with me.

This web site adds to the concept of Satya by saying:

In this modern age, it is commonly accepted for people to commit to various things and to have no intention of keeping their word, the feeling being it is more important to tell someone what they think they want to hear rather than simply telling the truth.

[...]

While telling the truth it is important to speak in a positive way so as not to cause hurt, yet at the same time be as straightforward and sincere as possible. To many people it might seem impractical or too difficult to always be truthful, but if practiced over time it becomes easier and many stumbling blocks along the path are removed.

At this point in time, I feel truer words have never been spoken.

I think I just might like yoga. Who saw that one coming?

Game Night, Take 47

We had a game night here at oour apartment and as always it was lots of fun but also strangely bizarre. I laughed, I cried, and I got relatively drunk (something I rarely do). These days people seem to need a lot of high tech equipment to entertain themselves, and I just wanted to mention how much fun I have when my roommates, my friends and I get down with our bad selves and a deck of cards - what a great time.

9.16.2008

Sleepless Nights

I don't think I have had more than 3 hours of sleep a night for the past week and a half. Now that I am working, this is a particularly big problem. So I decided last night to take matters into my own hands and drug myself into a coma.

Ok, not really, but I had heard that Tylenol PM did wonders. So off I went to the pharmacy to pick up some of this sleep-inducing miracle drug, and last night I took some and promptly fell asleep.

Now it says to give yourself 8 hours of sleep time, or your life is going to be miserably yawn-ee (if you will). I went to bed at 9 and had to be up at 6:30, so that was plenty of time... or so I thought!

This morning when I woke up I looked at my clock and it said 6:43. How was that possible? I checked the alarm volume (all the way up) and then I double checked the alarm had been set (check) and checked to make sure it had been set for 6:30 (check again). Since I did not wake up, I've come up with two possible conclusions - either my phone alarm malfunctioned, or I really was passed out!

9.12.2008

First Week of Classes

I can always tell which classes I need to do a better job teaching in, especially in the first week of class. I just rate my performance on the number of drop-ees in every course. So far, let's just say that Animation could be better and Computer 2 needs some definite improvement. I also think I may have scared my high school class with my overenthusiastic discussion of color...

But despite that, everything else relating to school is going smoothly. This year some of my classes are really small which makes it that much easier to teach. I've also been having some great waves of project inspiration, so hopefully this year will be more interesting for my students, as well as more productive. We shall see!

I Freaking Loved College

I was looking through some photos just now of friends from college, and it dawned on me that college was the best time of my life. I had all my closest friends within a 5 minute walk of my room. We all suffered together with papers and exams, and when it was over we all got together and acted crazy (or, you know, acted crazy through the thick of it). Best of all, just when you were almost sick of each other you got a nice long 3-month break and a good dose of family to make you realize just how much you wanted to be back at school.

Those were the days. ;-)

9.04.2008

Welcome to Work

Sometimes when I am bored at work I mess around in Photoshop. This is today's creation. Nothing special, but I had a good time. Ah, it's good to feel tired at the end of the day!

9.03.2008

Words of Wisdom on an Animal Control Vehicle