Monday, May 16, 2005
My fan base is expanding!
I am back from Florida. It was sunny and warm and relaxing. It was the first time in a while where I got to see my family and no single family member was occupied with a normal work routine. I also can appreciate the simplicity in relaxation that's involved in taking a trip somewhere where the main feature is a beach and not much else. If you're a restless type it gets boring, but if you just want an incredibly scenic backdrop to do nothing productive and be happy about it, you can't do much better than a coastline.
The only downside to the trip worth sharing to the blog-reading public is that on the way home on the CTA train I lost my cell phone. However it was a one cent cell phone that came with the T-Mobile plan I signed up for 3+ years ago. I am always very careful on vacations and travelling to check all my pockets, etc. for really important items so I might have subconsciously decided to not worry about that phone too much. A slight inconvenience, because there are a few obscure phone numbers I'll have to find again. Don't reach me on my cell number folks out there who know it! Do the apartment number thing for a while, or e-mails!
Back to good news, I am very happy that my blog-reading audience has expanded to two more people. Big welcome to high-school era buddy Bione, who has multiple blogs, including this one on blogger . And a big thanks to Mellissa from my Drake University and post-graduation era, who has yet to start a blog, but that's no big deal.
I'm glad you sent me a hello and I will post life tidbits to keep you updated on my goings-on.
As for goings-on, Bionne asked me why I'm in Chicago, so for a little pat-myself-on-the-back goodness here's a short bio:
I am currently in Chicago studying for a Master's Degree in Urban Planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago. My first semester was this last one, and I should have 1.5 to 2 years to go before I have a degree that will hopefully open many career paths. Before moving to Chicago at the end of December I had a variety of short-term positions, which included extra paid research at my undergraduate institution at Drake University, anti-sprawl activisim with 1000 Friends of Iowa, a legislative assistant to super nice guy, state representative Ed Fallon , who is running for governor, and for the month before the Day of Unfathomable Sadness, aka November 2, 2004, I worked as a canvasser for Americans Coming Together, an anti-Bush voter mobilization group. Currently the position I get a paycheck for is as an intern at the prestigious Woodstock Institute.
As for that internship the other piece of good news is that after a month of uncertainty as to whether this internship was going provide me more or less challenges than my other previous jobs, I was given my first comprehensive writing assignment today. It seems impossible for now, but its challenging in a good way, not in a way that will make me watch the clock on the bottom right corner of my computer every 5 minutes waiting for 5:00. That's not the way my previous internships / jobs were. Nope. Who knows who's reading this now? I should probably not be so smug.
So, things are looking up! The summer is beginning in Chicago and there's all sorts of festivals to check out and enjoy, and work won't be mindless drudgery, and people read my blog! There's other good things I could dig up, but I take what I can immediately perceive and appreciate for now.
The only downside to the trip worth sharing to the blog-reading public is that on the way home on the CTA train I lost my cell phone. However it was a one cent cell phone that came with the T-Mobile plan I signed up for 3+ years ago. I am always very careful on vacations and travelling to check all my pockets, etc. for really important items so I might have subconsciously decided to not worry about that phone too much. A slight inconvenience, because there are a few obscure phone numbers I'll have to find again. Don't reach me on my cell number folks out there who know it! Do the apartment number thing for a while, or e-mails!
Back to good news, I am very happy that my blog-reading audience has expanded to two more people. Big welcome to high-school era buddy Bione, who has multiple blogs, including this one on blogger . And a big thanks to Mellissa from my Drake University and post-graduation era, who has yet to start a blog, but that's no big deal.
I'm glad you sent me a hello and I will post life tidbits to keep you updated on my goings-on.
As for goings-on, Bionne asked me why I'm in Chicago, so for a little pat-myself-on-the-back goodness here's a short bio:
I am currently in Chicago studying for a Master's Degree in Urban Planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago. My first semester was this last one, and I should have 1.5 to 2 years to go before I have a degree that will hopefully open many career paths. Before moving to Chicago at the end of December I had a variety of short-term positions, which included extra paid research at my undergraduate institution at Drake University, anti-sprawl activisim with 1000 Friends of Iowa, a legislative assistant to super nice guy, state representative Ed Fallon , who is running for governor, and for the month before the Day of Unfathomable Sadness, aka November 2, 2004, I worked as a canvasser for Americans Coming Together, an anti-Bush voter mobilization group. Currently the position I get a paycheck for is as an intern at the prestigious Woodstock Institute.
As for that internship the other piece of good news is that after a month of uncertainty as to whether this internship was going provide me more or less challenges than my other previous jobs, I was given my first comprehensive writing assignment today. It seems impossible for now, but its challenging in a good way, not in a way that will make me watch the clock on the bottom right corner of my computer every 5 minutes waiting for 5:00. That's not the way my previous internships / jobs were. Nope. Who knows who's reading this now? I should probably not be so smug.
So, things are looking up! The summer is beginning in Chicago and there's all sorts of festivals to check out and enjoy, and work won't be mindless drudgery, and people read my blog! There's other good things I could dig up, but I take what I can immediately perceive and appreciate for now.
