Being short

I just got back from a Ween show tonight. I didn't really know too much about them but I had a good time. They have more versatility than most bands I have heard: anything from rock to country, jazz, punk rock, jam-band, Irish folk, and all points in between. Plus, it was way better than the last show I saw at Higher Ground (Umphrey's McGee just didn't have it), even though the crowd seemed to disagree. But I feel like most people think that the band has so much energy and is playing such a killer show at most of the shows they go to. This is just not possible because some shows have to be better than others, energy can be faked, and the crowd even more easily so. The only thing that really sucked about this show (besides a few terrible smelling people in the crowd) was the Security. Security is always annoying but this was really unwarranted. I was searched three times, had to bring back a bag of chips back, had to show my 21 wristband it seemed throughout the night, and was blocked several times.

I normally don't mind being short (besides feeling weird around tall girls) but one place I can't stand it is at shows. I am all the more aware of it and I always have a hard time standing over people. I'm not asking tall people to break their backs but when security guards on several occasions excused themselves to get by me and then simply stopped directly in front of me you would think they would know that all I could see was the back of their necks. And if I say anything I look like a cranky small guy. So I just sit there and take it making faces at any one next to me who is observing this atrocity. If I was really tall I would make an effort every once in awhile. I know if you're reading this you're probably thinking that no one cares about any body else at shows but that's not true of me. I even offered any one who wanted a ride back to downtown after the show because it was poring and I believe in the concept of pay it forward.
(actually the reality is that at the last show no one would help my friend and I out with a ride so I felt I had to make up for this. But Pay it Forward is still a good idea (check out Wikipedia if you don't know what this is)

Break from a Break

So I'm back from Thanksgiving after a large 20 person family gathering in Vermont. It was quite the event and some what stressful having so many people around needing so many different things and everyone offering me advice for the future. But now it's over and it's back to work. Well, sort of. I'm now working at the UVM admission's department. Now this job may sound like it is better than the last few but it's not much better except that it pays and it's easy. What I do for 8 hours a day is alphabetize (I also attempt to practice my Spanish with the hot Peruvian girl who works with me as well as try to find the secrets out to getting in to college or helping my buddies from home out when I find their files, just kidding...I actually got in trouble for asking some "sensitive" questions to the admissions officers, but I digress).
This job is better than the alternative of not having a job. I went one week with nothing and almost lost it (I found myself doing home art projects and playing game cube). I couldn't tell the difference when the weekend and weekday. I was (and still am) going nuts being stuck at home. Here's a good recent example involving my dad (as usual): I'm talking with my friend Maria who's in Japan and were skyping (which I just got in to and is very cool and free by the way). My dad remembers her (she's visited and just as a background point her parents are Swedish diplomats) and upon hearing her voice he tells me I should see if her parents can get me a job. I explain to him that even if I could get a job in diplomacy it wouldn't be for the Swedish government. He then counters with the fact that the Swedish were very good to the Jews in the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Wow, check mate I guess.

So I've decided to leave for Boston (again) and live with my brother, wife, and two nieces until Katy comes to visit in mid December. I've decided I need to stop being so indecisive and worrisome about my future. What ever happens happens and better that it start today rather then in a few months.

Just one last note. I'm really into Pandora right now and if you haven't heard of it, go check it out: http://www.pandora.com/
It really does a good job with suiting your tastes and its some how free. Although I'm guessing if it gets more popular and people find out about it, there will be some law suit because it doesn't seem completely legal to me.

Funny News

I can't believe this is real news:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/11/16/intv.cannonball.run.cnn
these guys are so stupid.

Hard to really tell the difference between real news and dumb news.
Also, via Khraiglist
http://www.kasperhauser.com/khmc/archives/000151.html

Does any one know how to just post videos or picture of a website in here?

Hangin' Around

(does any one know which song the title of this entry refers to?)
I just got back from Boston for my third trip in three weeks. Maybe the third time is the charm. I had probably one of the best interviewing experiences I have had yet. This place really seemed chill and we basically set around and had a nice discussion on a couch for two hours. They also told me I could take my tie off and gave me a small tour of the area after the interview. I don't know if I'll get the job but it's nice to feel like some employers really do care about people whether they hire them or not.

Since I've been back in VT without any temp. work (last week I was doing interviewing for the UVM Rural Studies Department on buying local food) I've had a lot of free time. I play way too much golf, which is the most expensive habit ever but since it could snow any day and most places are closed, I am just a bad golf addict who gets some cheap end-of-the-year deals. I miss playing more tennis but belonging to clubs is expensive, especially without a job. I have also been watching a ton of old movies lately that most people have probably already seen. A few quick thoughts on some of the films I've seen:

Quadrophenia: This is the Who's 2nd rock opera (the other being Tommy). It's not that great of a film but the last 10 minutes makes it all worth it. This very distraught drugged out British kid takes steals this scooter and rides high along a cliff for a few minutes before sending the bike (not himself) over the edge and into the ocean all while "Love Reign O'er Me" is playing. The song is already epic (Townshend said it was one of the best song's he ever wrote) and this just made it all the more powerful.
The Big Chill: I knew the soundtrack would be great but did not expect it to be so perfectly integrated with the movie. Lot's of stars in this quality movie but a little hard to follow all of the dialog and who is who.
Boys N the Hood: Really enjoyed this film and can understand why it was entered into the American Cultural Archive or what ever it was. The sad ending was so similar to the ending of many similar films (Clockers and a Bronx Tale) but the soundtrack is great and so are Ice Cube and Lawrence Fishburne.
A River Runs Through It: After seeing this movie and the Natural (among others) I really respect the talent and versatility of Robert Redford. It's a pretty good movie even if it's a little slow. Mostly, it really made me want to visit Missoula.

We'll that's about it for me except that I am really going crazy living at home. I get in the most idiotic fights with my dad. Last night we argued about whether a trip I was thinking about going on that is unisex was also homosexual (I think he was joking though) and today he really wanted me to sand our kitchen table. The problem is that I have an irrational fear of sanding. It is like bad chalk on a chalkboard to me. I don't know why but anyways, he thought I was being ridiculous. Hasn't any one else experienced a lot of discomfort hearing and feeling that terrible sand paper rub up against other surfaces?

success

...well, sort of. I was back in Boston this past week back on the job hunt. I finally got offered some jobs but both kind of sucked. One was being a travel consultant working 5 out of 8 hours a day on the phone, making $30,000, and pushing travel insurance sales on people. I also had to do a group interview for this job which sucked because people are already so fake in interviews and then you have to compete and kiss ass to other people who are trying to take your job. But the good thing was that I never really thought this job was so great and so I didn't care about the interview and did well because of that. It felt great to reject a job and tell them that I didn't take it because even though naive recent college graduates are going to take low-paying exploitative type of jobs more often than not, I could at least send a message that they should pay more. For that wage I could be slaving away in the non-profit actually doing some thing good in life. The other job was recruiting for professional staffing group for also $30,000 but with commission. But commission sucks too because whether you are a car salesman selling "lemons" or a job recruiter placing people at waste management plant and either way, the incentive is always more about yourself than the people you are supposed to be helping (as well as competing with your co-workers). Ahhh ethics and morales, what good are they in the real world?

The other thing that has been frustrating with looking for jobs is how no one takes the time to even write back to tell you didn't get the job. It wouldn't be that hard and you can always make up some bullshit reason. The people who get back to me, and usually very quickly, are people that can make money off me, like recruiters and staffing agencies (hence the commission).

So I'm not that desperate yet. It's only been two months and I can hold off probably 3 or 4 more before I accept some thing not so great. I just wish my Macalester diploma held more esteem around here. In the Midwest things would be different perhaps than my latest interviewer asking me, "oh, so you went to MAC-a-lester, what was that like?" (this is the way we pronounced the name at a group gathering before a tennis match and Tobin or Alex would say 'a-lester' after we said MAC!) I mine as well have gone to Champlain Community College in Vermont and not have thousands of dollars in debt hanging over me like a dark swarm of bees about to dive in. Wow, sorry about the depressing entry (this has truly turned into "dear diary.")

Spam and why I hate NYC

Via the New York Times, why I hate NYC.
Also, via Seinfeld:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBG-JAe24KQ

I don't know exactly how spam is generated but I had to save this one:

Subject: I'm pretty sure your house is haunted
Sender: Ghost Control