14 posts tagged “personal”
What an adventure. I normally carpool with Linda but she's getting flaky at work now, trying to get fired or whatever. She took today off for her anniversary and either I forgot to let Nicole know I needed a ride or I told her while we were in the middle of stressing about the cars transmission while we were at the rental place. At any rate, she left while I was half awake so while I was getting ready to go I remembered I didn't have a ride.
I've been wanting to see how our bus system was in the desert, so I took this opportunity to indulge. Of course I had to wait because the bus doesn't stop but every hour-and-fourty-minutes on the La Quinta route. When I finally got on the bus I was 5 minutes from being late (8:25 - I had been waiting since 7:15). I got to Palm Desert after one transfer (and a 15-minute wait) and had another transfer coming up so I crossed the street thinking the bus route went both ways, and it didn't. A nice woman let me know and the bus I needed to be on was across the street at another stop already and I saw him start to pull off and then he stopped. He was getting coffee at the gas station, otherwise I would have missed it.
This loop only went one way and it went all the way to Rancho Mirage before coming back to where I needed to go even though I was only about 2-miles from work. I called Cameron to let him know I was going to be late and he said he's just pick me up since I was so close so I got off at the next stop (by the college). It was about 9:15 when I got off the bus. I estimate it would have been an hour-and-a-half for the whole trip.
How do they expect to cut down on car travelers when the bus is barely useful enough for people who don't have cars? It is so inefficient it borders on near useless. The maps are terrible, even the maps in Poland (which I couldn't read) were easier to understand. The Sun Bus doesn't even label streets it goes on, it just shows a black line and tells you a few timed locations. It doesn't tell you where transfers are. They need to revamp this and use an over-lapped map (color coded, like in London) at the very least.
I think I may have celebrated the feast of Saint Nicholas instead of Christmas. On Sunday we stuffed ourselves with prime rib and lobster bisque with plenty of cabernet sauvignon to go around. On Monday we had gnocchi and Ossobuco alla milanese with a bit more wine. Tuesday we has sauerbraaten with gingersnap gravy. Totally unplanned I found myself back at the in-laws on Wednesday where Harold whipped up some shrimp scampi florentine with gnocchi.
I'm so spoiled. It was just so great to hangout with everyone for three days straight. Loved it.
Whoever figured out how to make cars fall apart the moment your warranty expires is an evil genius and deserves to die. I swear. My warranty expired in June. In July we had $1,000 charge to fix the air conditioner. Last month another $300 to replace a belt ($300 for a belt? and it took 4 days to finish the work?). Today I find out the clutch is busted and the flywheel needs to be machined so we're looking at another $1,300 to fix that. My car probably isn't worth the amount I've put in it this year.
This comes right on the heels of both roommates moving out but we were just confident as this month began that we'd have enough to make it through January at least. Now it looks like we'll make it through Monday of last week.
Spoiler alert: I didn't die.
On Friday I woke up and started my day. I was sitting on my sofa going between watching some of my recorded TV shows and doing work on my computer. But then my gut started churning and I was in the bathroom pooping something nasty. I was back there close to every 20-30 minutes for the first half of the day. It wasn't as severe the next few days but it only subsided yesterday afternoon (a good 4.5 days). On Sunday night I developed a fever over 102 and it left me Monday afternoon. Last night, my gut stopped churning but I woke up in the night and couldn't get a lot of sleep because my elbows were hurting. Now I'm at work and my wrists are in pain.
I looked up causes and I think the best bet for me is Septic arthritis. This is when you have a bacterial or viral infection and it gets into your bloodstream and it ends up in your joints. That sounds about right.
I'm sure plenty of people have had worse vacations than me, but this one has been the worst I've had.
Nicole and I got a free three night trip to Las Vegas and she had never gone, so we went up on Sunday and walked around a bit. We got the trip for sitting through timeshare programs pitches and everything was paid for (I think we'll have spent money on gas).
We were set up at the Imperial Palace, right on the strip across from Caesars Palace. So we were able to walk everywhere.
On Monday we had another sales pitch from the timeshare people who laid the guilt-trip on heavy and it so didn't work. But something else was wrong, my foot felt like it was broken. I think I pulled a muscle in the side of my foot on Sunday night. When I stand on it, it feels like the bottom of my foot is swollen. When I walk, sharp pains are shot through the back of my ankle.
Oh yeah, and Nevada isn't California (it's East California), so everywhere you go you have ugly people smoking disgusting cigarettes and cigars and somehow we were booked in a smoking room. So we both has messed up sinuses and scratchy throats.
So I don't know how many miles I walked on this busted foot, but what I'm saying is it's adding to my "House" status. You know, Dr. Gregory House. Nicole said I'm now a smart asshole with a limp.
So I don't like nightclubs, smoke, gambling, whores and general drunkenness, so Las Vegas has nothing for me. If I had money I would have gone to see a show, but if I had the money to see a show I wouldn't see it in Vegas, I'd go to where the show originated and see it there. Vegas is nothing but whores. Everyone goes there to whore themselves out. Cirque Du Soleil whores out their name to every casino for random shows that are not their productions. Everyone has a restaurant or casino with their name on it - even Dan Marino has a restaurant at the Hooters casino. Yeah. The nightclubs are transplanted from Los Angeles or someplace else.
Yeah, so Vegas blows. I knew this already, but Nicole had never been there so now she has. We left a day early and now I'm home where my bloody Macbook has problems connecting over WiFi (a known issue with these new Core 2 Duo Macbooks and a certain 10.4.10 update that totally breaks the wireless card). I get tentative service which drops randomly and I can't access Google at all. And I'm getting ready to take my car into the shop because when we pulled into Vegas it was making a weird knocking sound which accelerates when the engine is rev'ed up.
It was nice being with my wife for a few days. But overall the vacation wasn't relaxing or fun. The best part was at the MGM Lion Habitat, one lion was playing around with this huge ball like a kitten and the other jumped up on top of the tunnel you walk through with a glass roof so we were looking directly up at the lion.
So I wrote previously about creating a gathering of artist - and by "artist" I mean anyone who's interested for everyone is interested - and tonight I figured out what I'm going to do. It's going to be a once a month gathering where an assignment will be given out and everyone will have a month to complete the project and present it the following month.
I want to stretch people both in technical ability and in their personal struggles. People have little things about them they're uncomfortable with and I want them to face their fears and become more confident people. I want to give assignments to write a song on an instrument you've never played before, or paint something, or cook something, or random things.
Perhaps we can record projects for posterity as well. And maybe if we're lucky we can have the unveiling of projects as a gallery for the public, that would push people even more.
What I want to do is not create the next John Lennon or Sufjan Stevens, it's to create the first Steve, or Josh, or David. If you understand that.
I already have a few guys interested. Could use a few girls as well.
I took Nicole to work, then I took my car to the shop. I got a ride on their "courtesy shuttle" to work, which was one of those rare moments where I actually use my iPod. Bodies in the Gears of the Apparatus and Bob Dylan entertained me for the ride. Today is a good day for Bob Dylan, so I'm listening to him now.
You need something special all right
You need something special to give you hope
But hope's just a word
That maybe you said or maybe you heard
On some windy corner 'round a wide-angled curve...
You can either go to the church of your choice
Or you can go to Brooklyn State Hospital
You'll find God in the church of your choice
You'll find Woody Guthrie in Brooklyn State HospitalAnd though it's only my opinion
I may be right or wrong
You'll find them both
In the Grand Canyon
At sundown
On Wednesday I'm starting a classical guitar class at the college, and I'm going to work on physical arts as well. I have been working on a CD layout for my brother-in-law's band, More Than This, which is a piece of work I've come to associate as my own personal "God" (the song by John Lennon). I hope to play with More Than This and to work on some other musical projects as well.
I'm also planning on getting a creative group together where ideas can be shared, and groups and artists can grow and develop their own identities. I think this would be an awesome idea.
Just in case you were wondering what a day in the life of Steve is like, I photo chronicled yesterday, 5 June 2007 (flickr).
Here are the highlights:
8:10 AM: Insoles
I'm dressed at this point and I've just put my insoles into my shoes. Insoles with good arch support make all the difference in the world.
8:15 AM: Flat tire
Well, looks like Robert did get a thorn in my tire. Now I have to walk. I usually ride my bike, so I'll be a bit late.
8:46 AM: My seat
And now I plant myself for the hours. Tim keeps telling me to get a new chair, but I like it. I have a small butt so I don't really have to get the big chairs everyone else likes, I just need lumbar support.
1:26 PM: Philly steak
Joe has an addiction with these philly cheese steak sandwiches from Alkobar. I like them, but I have to have variety, and he wants them every day. I try to expand his horizons, but he's just so unwilling for change. Of course every time I show him something new he loves it and then becomes addicted to that.
3:14 PM: Poop
I have an afternoon poop. The restroom is so old school with ugly linoleum on the floors and half-way up the walls.
10:00 PM: Sleep
Only fifteen hours into my day but I'm wrecked, I have to sleep.
Last night was pretty cool. David and I played his Wii for a while. I've played the Wii a few times and I'm really not impressed. It's really Gamecube 2.0 and the most entertaining part of it was just how terrible the games are. Caveat: I haven't played CoD3, Metroid, Red Steel or Zelda yet, but Wario Ware and Wii Sports are really awful. I was laughing just because it was so bad.
I made some rice pilaf and steamed veggies, but I totally burned the veggies. Nicole brought some chicken in from Costco because cooking something would have taken forever.
Jeff showed up and we ate and played more on the Wii.
Josh and Serena came and we did some Wii bowling while screwing around and talking. Robert came in and kicked me while I bowled.
For some reason we started talking about what our group is going to be, and I don't know what really happened after that. I just intended on hanging out and just getting the community going, especially since half the group wasn't there (they were playing music somewhere). I didn't want to decide on what the group would be when half the people didn't have a say. I don't think anything was decided, and I think if someone thinks something was decided they're probably wrong.
You see, it's hard to do something like this because we have conditioning. We don't know how to do this because we're so used to having this structure. It's comfortable, it's like when you knew what to wear to certain events, you even knew when it was going to begin based on what type of event it was. Things go in cycles. Every generation creates their own rules and the next generation breaks them - and then creates their own.
It is probably just me, but I have issues with the structures I'm so familiar with, no matter how comfortable, because I find it hinders intimacy instead of encouraging it. We get tied into achieving goals, not growing closer to each other. We're trying to accomplish something where in spirituality there isn't any accomplishment. You don't reach an end and that's it, you just change. But we need to change in the right way.
A plant grows in the direction of light. We need to be in the light to grow towards it. When we cover the light we are retarded, and we don't grow in any correct way. We don't need an artificial light either, we need genuine sunshine.
I'm not saying we don't need structure, I just think we need our own structure built from our community's needs, strengths and weaknesses. We can't use a prefabricated structure, we can't xerox blueprints, we have to build from nothing. We start with a foundation (Luke 6:48) and build on top of it (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
When I was in Poland, Nicole and I were part of a workshop on creating organic fellowship. "Organic" is the key. It lives, it has its own life. It feeds on what makes it healthy and stays away from what is harmful. It grows. It feels pain. I have more to say on this next week when everyone is there.
The leader of the workshop used a picture of Peter walking on the water. The boat the Disciple was in was his safety in the storm. It wasn't failsafe, vessels do sink, but he had a much better chance of surviving the storm within the boat than without. But Peter left the boat and only while he was focused on Jesus. The boat was used as the picture of the church, and inside the boat was the known structure of the church. This isn't to say we need to leave the boat or that the boat is bad, but when you're in the boat you can lose your focus on Jesus and not sink. It takes faith the be out in the world, touching lives and getting dirty. We need to focus on the Savior.
I'm reading Blue Like Jazz right now (and I'm almost done). Don Miller has a chapter devoted to community. He says when you live together you get under each others' skin. We are called to share our lives together. We're called to love one another. We don't always like each other, but we are called to live with each other, share our lives in a vulnerable fashion, and love each other.
I'm usually good at taking a complex statement and putting it in one sentence, but this thing is way too complex to even explain clearly in several paragraphs. I think it's vague on purpose.
After we did all this talking, David, Jeff, Robert and I did some more talking for a while, we watched the Colbert Report, and then we sort of went to bed.
I read the next chapter in Blue Like Jazz before I went to bed. It was a chapter on tithing.
