Dishes

Amazing, those dishes took a long time, didn't they? Well, now that those are out of the way I have been quite happy lately. I have found a renewed store of energy for the process of applying for teaching positions and have really situated my position in my head in a pleasing way. Sure, I will have to cut my teeth a new system that does not know me and through which I have no real track record. It is a system, however, that has eyes to see and ears to hear and from what I can tell, and this is not just spurious logic, it uses its senses to look for and reward hard work.

Some of the logic I have been deploying lately relies on the interrogative question; "where isn't there?" Meaning so many of the problems that come up in daily life and the potential down sides to my current prospect are all almost, and this might be a little spurious, universal. For instance; I don't like a particular thing about the town I am in, well chances are most cities have that problem, a similar one, or one equally troubling that would merely be a replacement; this part of my future job prospects is less appealing, well what job doesn't have such and such an issue, or again something that is an equal replacement. Sure, I will be gaining experience in a new system that has problems of its own, I would be doing the same thing in a program and with a bit more pressure and a lot more research ;) heh.

Needless to say it has/will take a little time to refocus my efforts and energy, but once I get things lined up, I can't wait to get started.

New Prospects

Boston's reply was not favorable. This means many things and I think it will take more time than I have to write about right now. It does mean that I will not be going on for a PhD in the near future. I am excited to explore our other options.

For now, however, I have some dishes to attend to.

Late Night In Folsom

Just waiting up; sad that my love will not get here until tomorrow. Staying down here for the last half of the week. The weather could not be better and my Dad and I got to rent some cool Wii games. Hope to see some best friends this weekend, finish relaxing, and hopefully hear from Boston.

Other than that, my mind can't think of too much at this late hour. Thinking of getting a MySpace account: Just because, after talking with Budiak, it seems that it might be a necessary social component (such as cell phones) and as such almost unavoidable.

Dodged it for one more day...

It comes to this...

I now know that I will either be going to Boston University or beginning my career path in another direction. The two other schools sent letters on Monday. More to come as I process my thoughts and feelings. I am happy about the situation that stands now: for it will either be a top ranked University or new and exciting career choices. The experience has been a lot to adjust to, however.

And then there were three...

The schools on the list have lost another friend; U of Texas at Austin conveyed their disappointment that they were not able to offer me a place at their school earlier today, in an email. They are the first to have done so and I suppose it does work in the information age a step of progress; it is just odd to get that kind of news in digital format, especially when all the rest (to my surprise actually) used hard copies.

So, chart that as an (X) next to U of Texas, Austin.

Numbers

The NCAA may be in the sweet sixteen, but as far as schools go for me it's the Final Four. Haven't checked the mail yet today but I am eager to. If there is any real big news I will post back up soon.

Latest News: Schools Off the List

The following schools can be removed from the brackets:

I regret to inform myself that I will not be attending the following schools -

SUNY Stony Brook
Indiana University
University of New Hampshire

If you are keeping track at home - these should be the schools left on the list of hopefuls:

U of Texas at Austin
Boston University
U of Massachusetts at Amherst
SUNY Albany

Go Oregon!

That was a great game to watch against Winthrop; coming up - the big UNLV.

I know, crazy, I have March Madness. Well, I suppose I just love Eugene, OR.

The Beautiful Hotel

Just a quick post from the free wifi in the wonderful Larkspur Landing hotel in Folsom, California. A fine wedding anniversary if ever there was; our cake was preserved to perfection, the room here is perfect, and we have both had an amazing time of fun and relaxation.

We fondly remember all of our friends and loved ones and have enjoyed reminisces of that wonderful day, one year ago tomorrow, that we saw so many of you on the happiest day of our lives. The wedding was a wonderful moment to celebrate God's bringing together my love and I. It is truly something that is worth celebrating.

Cake and coffee in the room; hard to get much better than that.

With reluctance...

I must add two more schools to the list of non-admittances. I will not be attending Tufts or Missouri. Those were excellent schools, but I am persisting in my faith that God will place me where it is best for me to be.

So - if you are keeping up on the brackets - that is an (X) by Tufts and Missouri. In the numbers that leaves seven (7) more to hear from.

Family is on their way

Woo! The W's are paying a visit to Chico. Just had to post up because I am trying to keep myself busy while I await their arrival. It's quite a task; good thing there was a new Lost episode on the web to keep my mind entertained and not so skittish.

Well - on with the waiting - it's going to be an awesome weekend.

Rice University - Off the List

With much reluctance and the obvious disappointment I have to announce that I did not get into Rice University in the beautiful city of Houston, TX. I still maintain my faith in God that he will place me where it is his will for me to be. It sounds so noble to do so, but it comes hard at times and when I succeed in giving him all my hopes, which I do believe I have been succeeding at lately, it comes as a quite peace and comfort.

But alas; I have not Rice.

Quick Update

Not much info yet, not enough to start the bracket graphics yet, but I do have a slight update on the school situation.

First response is back and it is official, I will not be going to the U of Connecticut. I heard that part of the country is beautiful. Worth mentioning because it's the first response I have received; eleven more to go.

Tre' Cool D&B

Check it out, some good stuff from Kharm - free player sampler - very nice stuff.

Drum & Bass from the UK

Bring it UK, it always does. Where would the underground dance scene have been without you? Still in the Disco era, that's where.

The Romantic Heart

I think that there are times when the romantic heart needs to be by itself for a while. There are certain conditions, well, perhaps only one, that need to exist for this solitude to be beneficial. That condition is love, love in the exterior sense to the romantic's world. I suffer, from time to time, from melancholy; in the truest most poetic of ways. From Goethe to Keats and then on to Prevost; I feel it is a deep part of me and as part of my German heritage.

But the alone factor and its need for a close love is what concerned me most today. I think being alone with a melancholy heart is often a bad thing. It's solipsistic and very often self-defeating. But if there is love, close and interwoven beyond one's self near, then it knows there is better. There will be a person to which feelings of heartache and despair make room for redemption and joy (redemption is a word so battered around by pop society, esp movies and television that I hesitate to use it, but do in spite of myself).

I have that and cherish it so dearly. My woe or trouble is always borne with the knowledge that I am loved; loved eternally by my heavenly father and by those who encircle my life. To them I own every joy I have ever experienced.

Yes indeed, it comes out this Monday for the Virtual Console. Never played and pretty tempted to.

Oh yeah, and that guy below this post; his name it Lycidas, score one for English poetry references. Milton wins! And there's a good chance he would play WoW also.

 

So I has come to this. Juss about a month left on my 60 Day that L got me a little while ago and I have just managed to get a level 13 Rogue going on. A good use of time, it's quite entertaining, but wow, level 13, that certainly isn't much is it? Should have done better than that, but what can you do. The downside I think to MMOs, by and large, is that there is actually less of the feeling of accomplishment than other game types. Kill a boss or defeat a dungeon only to know that minutes later everything will respawn and you have really done nothing except work toward the progress of your single and autonomous character that interacts as a separate entity within the game world.

There is a lack of events I think, or perhaps I am just coming off of the Zelda:TP high and everything else seems dull by comparison. The true enjoyment and reward comes form playing something with L that she enjoys and allows us to interact imaginatively and creatively. It's been quite a joy.

Weekend Cheers

It's the weekend; time for fun and frivolity. I say a grand hello and good times to everyone and may your weekend be blessed with excitement, friends, and, perhaps if we are lucky, some well needed repose in which to ponder and meditate.

All the Best,

Rick

Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con

The title I took from a Simpsons episode and I think it works with the Albuquerque one I just went to. Although, come to think of it, it certainly isn't bi-monthly. It is annual, but An-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con just didn't seem to work. It was a superb trip, although the city of Albuquerque is in need of some serious downtown revitalization. Businesses there closed very early; the Schlotzcke's Deli was open from 12-4 and that was it. Even the Starbucks, which shared a door into the hotel lobby, was only open until 5, till 5! How can that be?

Luckily the PCA/ACA people are tremendous and the hotel was providing coffee, sodas, water on tables throughout the complex during peak presentation times. I was well taken care of.

My panel was very cool and went quite well. It was actually well attending seeing that it was at 8am, a hard time to make I know. My paper was well received, I enjoyed the other panelists very much, and a good discussion on a variety of our topics followed the papers until our entire alloted time was out. I was greatly flattered to have people take such an interest and was impressed by what the other two brought to the table.

The other panels I attended were quite well done as well. I should post, at a later date, some of the ones I attended and what their strengths were.

Enemy Within

I was thinking today that I often forget that there are more than polar opposites pulling for my soul. There is the enemy of my soul, of whom is a mystery and terribly fearful yet something we are protected from by God's grace, and there is His heavenly spirit that gives voice to God's will and direction, comfort, and consolation to our soul. There is also that which lies within. There is a part of me that is an enemy toward the best God would have for me; some part of me that is selfish, deceptive, and low. I think when we make all those internal feelings to be something that is purely from Hell and has nothing to do with us, an outside influence only, then we become more susceptible to our own cunning and decay.

I have to acknowledge that there is a part of me, "ME," that is unhealthy, worldly, and sinful. They are not just impulses fed to me by dark minions. There is something there, in my soul, that they can tug on, some ground they have access to. You see, in thinking of it that way it is easier to defend. By knowing that there is territory to which I am weak, a part of me that is faulted deeply, I can support it and defend it more accurately.

There seems to be this great urge to think otherwise. If that were the case, we could feel happier being the neutral party to this cosmic spiritual war. But that is not the case; we are very much involved. I am not just selfish because the enemy plants seeds of that nature and whispers thoughts into my head, empty as it were if that were the case. No. I, the internal me I call I, is selfish and decaying. I must call upon God to aid and support a broken vessel, not just mend what someone else broke. There is a greater calling there; a higher realization and hope. There is a fuller image of my humanity in that thought that gives me food to ponder: to ponder, to prepare for, and to plan.