stubborn flipflops cause cold feet I have an old friend named Julie and if I recall right one thing we have in common is that we both loathe to wear socks. It's become fashionable among people over the past 6 or 8 years to wear flip flops around, and while I recall wearing flip flops for years before noticing others doing so it is still a very comfortable fact of life for me. It's not that I do so to be fashionable or be cool, but because I generally hate wearing white socks. Athletic socks are okay, thick wool socks are nice, but plain white socks are just uncomfortable. I've worn them inside out for a few years now, and that helps with the strip across the feet, but just slightly. Back home in TX you could more or less get away with wearing flip flops 10-11 mos out of the year. Up here in RI however it's a little more of a struggle to do so. Little more chilly...yet I push on whenever I can, my big toes out for everyone to see. I'm a VISTA and I work for a nonprofit; we don't have a strict dresscode unless of course the situation deems a certain appearance (fake!). I'm not sure what my office policy is on flip flops, or maybe I do and I'm choosing to ignore it, but occasionally as it's warming up I find myself sneaking in with the flip flops on more and more. Don't get me wrong, I try to be pretty conscious of my dress but I don't do the suit and vertical striped shirt or whatevers fashionable (no money for that stuff). Still I do wear the slacks, usually khaki and un-ironed (sorry Mom) and a shirt tucked in, with my sweet blue shoes (not exactly tennis shoes, not exactly suede either). If it's cold I wear the warmer, thicker socks, and as the day progresses my feet sweat and by the end of the night my feet begin to smell. Just the name of the game man. But I don't like smelly feet, and while I like warm feet I'd much rather take cold feet over smelly feet any day; so when I can I default to flip flops as often as I can.

Somedays when I go to work I show up with an un-tucked shirt covered by a fleece or a sweater of some kind. And somedays when I dress like that I wear my baggy cargo pants and my flip flops. Pretty casual, pretty typical for people my age. I dressed like that today and at one point I was in my car thinking about my appearance and realized maybe it wasn't as professional as I could be, but A) I didn't need to be and B) I was pretty darn comfortable.

I don't like being told to dress a certain way, although I will and usually default to dressing relatively presentable when left to decide on my own. I just like to be comfortable...and I like to be young. I think part of the reason why I dress this way still is that if I were to dress otherwise it would force me to be someone I'm not yet ready to be. Maybe I know who that is, maybe I don't. But I know who I am right now, and that's what matters. I tend to think about things too much, and when I can just throw on my flip flops and wander around town comfortable (and yes, usually with cold feet) it reminds me that I'm still young and it helps me in my own little way to take life a little easier. Somedays it defines my entire day. That seems pretty stupid, but it's true.

Hey! I'm going home tomorrow! Can't wait to see my family, it's been almost six months. I think this beats my record by about a week or two of the longest I've gone without seeing them. So excited...but I have to be at the bus station downtown to catch the bus up to Logan at 5:45 am! It's about a ten minute walk from my house, although having a suitcase might add a few minutes. I'll have to leave wicked early. Yikes...I need to go to bed soon.

"wicked early." like that, ya'll?  ¶ 5/23/2006 08:47:00 PM 3 comments

  National Hurricane Preparedness Week Here we go again...  ¶ 5/22/2006 11:35:00 AM 2 comments

  "For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius." Earlier this week I heard a clip from 'Young Frankenstein' featured on a NPR news report, and for some reason I started laughing so hard at the clip that I almost had to pull over. Then this morning at work a particular violin concerto came over the speakers and it reminded me of the something I had heard before, and I realized I was thinking of the music featured throughout "Young Frankenstein". I started thinking about the movie again and just busted up laughing. I couldn't stop from laughing out loud at thoughts of Gene Wilder and the late, great Marty Feldman and all the hilarious moments from that movie. It was great, I went on for like 20 minutes with random moments from the film just popping into my head and I would start laughing again. As I'm typing, it's happening again! I left my copy at home, I have to pick it up next week when I go back.

Oh yeah, I'm going back home to Texas next week. But before that I have a busy weekend. I've been attending a pretty cool church here in Providence for a while, and tonight and tomorrow I'll be joining some friends and the pastors to discuss the starting up of small groups throughout the community. We'll be doing some training. etc. towards holding different leadership positions in the groups. They asked me to come along, and I really feel honored and excited. I'm really interested to find out what they have in mind...what God has in mind...and see where we're taken over the next few months.

I was just sitting outside reading for about an hour and it got cloudy and remained overcast, and finally my feet got cold so I went back inside. A few minutes later the clouds moved on and as the sun started to shine through and the sky once again grew light it began to pour down rain. It was awesome.  ¶ 5/19/2006 05:55:00 PM 2 comments

  not New England 2006, but Hong Kong 2001. flooding + clowns = scary as hell   ¶ 5/18/2006 10:27:00 AM 3 comments

  zen and the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman (picture the Pacific Northwest coast, at 6am, awakening to a gentle rain underscored by quiet Beethoven) I have been feeling very zen-like this week, and it's all because of a classical music station based out of North Carolina. Well that and God (but then again what isn't because of God?). Ignoring the fact that I was actually in Raleigh last week, Monday morning when I was all alone in the back half of the office I really needed some relaxing music to underscore my return to work and the gray/rainy day outside. Windows Media player had a few suggestions for classical music, and since the one in Washington state was playing a German march (it was like 5 am out there, who listens to German marches at 5am?!), I decided to try the next one, which came out of Raleigh and defined my day perfectly. All day long I was just in a state of calm (could have been also that I've been hopped up on Sudafed for 4 days), which was very helpful. I have never been one to have classical music playing in the background of life. I knew a girl (once) back in college who could do this very well. But now I think I'm sold on this concept. Plus despite the flooding (these New Englanders are crazy), I like the gray skies and rain, at least while I'm stuck in the office. What fun is sunshine if you're stuck in front of a computer, anyways? Just temptation. No, serve me rain and Mendelson please.

So I'm not one for excessive gore in movies, but the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character in M:I:3 (I know, two colons? Who does that Cruise think he is? I'm not going to make a joke, it's too easy) was just lame. SPOILER ALERT: THE BAD GUY DIES AT THE END. I mean one minute he and Cruise are rolling around on the ground and then the next minute he's just dead, hit by a truck passing by, and you never see him again. The more I think of it the more I was upset about it, but then again the movie was just a lame excuse for a James Bond movie. Ving Rhames had some good lines and it was nice to see Hoffman do something other than just be an incredible actor, but other than that it was just exotic locations, beautiful women, loads of explosions, sneaking in and out of Vaticans and skyscrapers, and lots and lots of sweat. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but Casino Royale is so going to be the best action movie this year, and maybe the best Bond in a while. And I liked the Brosnan ones. Check out the trailer. Eh, Rob?

I was at peace again today, but I was also yawning a lot. Peace despite my low cashflow and the ol' car giving me trouble again--I got a notice from AAA last week letting me know I've used up my four free services for the year already. Plus now the driverside lock is broken, so my key just turns when I put it in...I have to walk around to the passenger door and manually unlock the drivers door from that side. Oh well, as long as it runs through the year. But then I came home and took a nap, and awoke to sunshine. Very odd based on the weekly forecast, but have no fear! Clouds are moving back in.

Hey speaking of Have No Fear, did I mention that they're filming the live-action Underdog movie here in Providence. My friend Nate told me that Jim Belushi was in town over the weekend to film a cameo. Nice!  ¶ 5/16/2006 06:53:00 PM 2 comments

  slice o' life, yo I always pack too much stuff when I go away. Too many clothes, even when I think about it ahead of time. One of these days I am going to pack the perfect suitcase/duffle bag. Maybe I'll need to join the Army to do so (and some days I think I need to join the Army for other reasons alltogether unrelated!) but I will pack the perfect amounts of t-shirts and socks.

I'm not enlisting, that was a lame attempt at humor.

So I don't have any breakfast food at the house and I need to go to the store, but I'm hungry. Shopping when you're hungry is the worst. This is going to be a huge test of self-control.

The West Wing is ending tomorrow night. It'll be the last conversation/re-cap I'll have with my parents about it. I'm going to miss those more than I'll actually miss the show. After this week I think I'm going to unplug my TV and put it away for a while.

I met some interesting people this past week; a lot of ministers. Religion is just a huge part of disasters (response). Also had a few job...suggestions, shall we say for next year. Networking is a pretty nice perk of these things. Maybe I didn't do enough, who knows? But I feel pretty confident in the people I met and the information I picked up to take back to the people I work with here in RI. I think they are going to be very happy someone, anyone, represented the state at the conference. It was very important for our organization, internally and externally.

Overheard a very interesting conversation on the plane back to RI between a doctor/med school professor and a private relgious school principle. Southwest let's you pick your seats at random, but this was no random circumstance.

And to leave the warm and sunny South to return to the cold, rainy and windy Northeast...even if though I like the rain, there's something wrong with this picture.

Hey so that's pretty current for me this morning. I just like writing sometimes, for anyone and no one to read. I don't care, it's just kinda fun to put my life down in a few sparse words/ideas.  ¶ 5/13/2006 11:17:00 AM 4 comments

  It's raining to the South, in Raleigh The title of this statement about sums it up for today. As I'm writing this I sit in a chair looking out of my 5th floor hotel room to the beauty of not-too-distant a North Carolina treeline, topped off by a lovely gray sky.

For some reason, and I blame Hollywood (although I did see MI-3 this past weekend), I am surprised at the representation at this conference from the Church of Scientology. There are quite a few Scientology ministers and disaster relief team members here. Also there are Menonites, Baptists, Presbytarians, Moslems, Lutherans, 7th Day Adventists, Moravians, Methodists...

I could very well live in North Carolina. My grandparents lived here for a while and I was fortunate to visit them twice, where they lived was close to the Great Smokey Mountains. It was one of the most beautiful parts of America I have been fortunate enough to see. Although granted that list is pretty long. But even here, in the suburbs around Raleigh where I am staying, if you ignore the typical buildings that stick out among the trees, it is a very green place. I like that a lot. And the state supposidly has some very beautiful beaches out East. One day I'll have to check that out.

I'm getting sick. I don't know if it's the travel or the change in environments or the being indoors for the past few days, but my throat is scratching and phlem is appearing. So I'm afraid I'll be Day-Quilling it up tonight, writing a few e-mails and staying in the room. My alternative is a dinner and dance downstairs, but the consensus among what aquaintances I have here is that attendance is going to be sparse. And I don't dance. So no worries in my mind. I need to digest what I've been soaking in anyways. There's actually a lot I need to do, but we all know I'm just gonna lay down and watch 'My Name is Earl' and 'The Office.' After all I have a long day of sitting in the Raleigh-Durham Airport tomorrow.

On a final question, just curious: is it breaking the 10th Commandment if you don't notice her ring until the conversation is already over? Just wondering, as if that was the only commandment I'm worried about breaking. Yeah right.

It's raining on my window now.

(updated, one hour later. sunshine on a building.)  ¶ 5/11/2006 06:14:00 PM 2 comments

  social outcast Well I'm here in beautiful, beautiful North Carolina, sitting in my room at the Hilton after a full day at the NVOAD (Ntnl Volun. Orgs Active in Disasters) Conference. It's not too bad, I'm really glad I got to get away from RI and attend. I think the information I pick up and share with my local VOAD will be very relevant for the state. So I hope my time here is well worth it for them. Plus, it's great to hear Southern accents again! And breath that southern air. Hey, porter.

The hotel is nice. Room service makes a good reuben. I'm meeting many people but seemed to be all alone when it came time to split for the day and find dinner for yourself. Go figure. Nevertheless I told myself that I needed some time this week to also have some time to myself...something rare in RI. Time by myself there is either when I'm at work, when I'm driving, when I'm jogging, or when my rommates are being loud right outside my thin, old bedroom door--and my TV is usually on, so I'm really not that alone at all. Time to myself back in Providence is relatively nonexistant, even in all of these scenarios. All the times when I am alone walking down the street and sitting around the house...
I didn't realize that until on the flight down here yesterday. I needed to leave Rhode Island to realize what was distracting me back there.
Should I go back? I'm gonna order a reuben and mull it over.  ¶ 5/10/2006 08:07:00 PM 3 comments

  May showers I can't explain it, but I just found myself on The Weather Channel and they were discussing severe thunderstorms moving across Southwest and Central Texas...and I felt more homesick than ever have before. Watching the red and yellow and green blurs move towards Austin and the Metroplex...

This week has been a little rough, but mainly because I've been making it harder than it had to be. I don't know why I've been doing this. Today I had a discussion with my Exec. Director about a quarterly job report I typed up earlier in the week. It made me think that I have perhaps been being too hard on myself. But as this is the first job I've had post-college, and the first job ever that I really cared about my outcomes for more than a paycheck...maybe somedays I'm not being hard enough on myself. Plus we're having minor issues with a co-worker...and unfortunately he's pretty unaware of the situation. But then again...he's pretty unaware of most situations around him. Maybe a nice guy, but unfortunately might not be in the right place for himself right now. So we'll see what happens.

But this afternoon after work I was lying down on my floor, the evening sun shining through my windows, Counting Crows on the speakers, and I remembered that I was going to North Carolina next week for a conference. It all started to get better after that. I can't tell you how much I look forward to the break.  ¶ 5/04/2006 10:09:00 PM 1 comments

  Finals Week It's raining in Providence. Most everyone I encountered today seemed to be in a bad mood about it, but I tend to find it rather nice. Gray skies go with my mood today. And what a day it was; another busy one that fimds me still at the office tonight at 5:30 still needing to send e-mails and prepare for a early morning meeting. However keeping with this schedule I'm usually able to swing some time off on Friday afternoons, so that's nice. If I don't have any pressing work, of course.

This is a very strange time, as many people I have just began to know are cramming for exams and preparing to leave for the summer, of forever in some cases. This is the first year in 17 years where I am not on the "academic" calendar. I'm kind of looking forward to the summer though, maybe life might be a little slower paced than it has been of late. Maybe. Everyone builds up Providence summers'. But boy, I don't know.

So Rob called me over the weekend, he and Kasey are out in California now. For those of you that are geographically inclined--apparently according to a disturbing new study from the National Geographic Society that is a whole lot of us!--California is on the West Coast. Of The United States. In the Western Hemisphere.

I thought earlier of many random thoughts I wanted to write down today, but that was in the car before a rather hectic afternoon and extended phone conversations with both my sister (who turns 18 this weekend and is attending her prom! what??!!) and brother (who's determing majors and messing with life and love and the right soundtrack to accopany it all by), so it's all gone from me now. Oh well, maybe it will come back. If it's important, it will. Like friendships; if they're important, they'll never actually leave you, and even when they seem to have dissapeared...they will always come back to you.

I just remebered one: how cool would it be to be at the New Orleans Jazz Fest this week? Hearing the music of Fats Domino and the New Orleans Social Club just makes me just wanna start Walkin' to New Orleans...  ¶ 5/02/2006 05:24:00 PM 2 comments