Entertainment

Let’s ignore the fact that I am broke for remainder of this post. After all, having no money should not prevent me from fulfilling basic needs, such as owning a flat screen television or having access to each and every form of media that I desire. Fortunately, Sommer and I were able to grab a few new additions for the house.

At the center of our viewing experience is our new 32” flatscreen. Thanks to Best Buy, we were able to finance this puppy at zero percent interest for 18 months, which is a joke considering the TV was like $400. Beside the point. We walked out the door with a free TV in my mind, and paying like $20/month is fine by me, especially considering we were able to catch some hi-def sports that very afternoon! My inner bro just came out right there.

TV doesn’t just cut it. There needs to be something extra. It is the American way to make sure that there are enough entertainment outlets available to prevent the onset of boredom or the urge to socialize or engage in physical activity. Most people go with cable, which is cool if you can justify spending a monthly fee on a few good channels and a boatload of garbage. But clearly the major networks + DVD combo is too oldschool to be taken seriously.

Thankfully there was a third way: Apple TV. Not only does it fill my desire to be a closet Apple fanboy, it allows us to stream Netflix instant movies on our brand new TV! We can also watch YouTube videos on the big screen, link up with music and photos, and even rent the latest movies off of iTunes (fuck you Red Box). I have found it to be a lot of fun, and at 99 dollars flat it doesn’t hit us month-to-month for crap we don’t need.

So there you have it. I am off to watch Moon. Out!

United Way

I have started a new job. I was hired by the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas to assist the Community Impact department with the upcoming 2011-2012 grants allocation process. Every year the United Way receives around 25 million dollars for the purpose of funding local projects that improve education, health, and incomes in Dallas county.

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Back

With a new look hopefully comes new energy. I haven’t blogged in far too long, which is sad considering how amazing the last few weeks have been. Amidst traveling, meeting new people, goodbyes, and the ever-present uncertainty of where the future will be, I am exhausted!

Fortunately things are about to settle down. I am embarking upon a new chapter here in Albuquerque which I hope will be both brief and long-lasting. While I hope to find a place on the east coast in a few months, it is here that I hope I can get myself into the shape for this new professional life I will hopefully confront soon.

That means running, push-ups, sit-ups, job applications, reading the economist, slow-cooked oatmeal, drinking less, writing more, eating healthy, saving money… all that good stuff. Basically, turning myself into an employable person, and bidding a fond farewell to the college life that has been my way for the last six years.

More posts to come, and hopefully some pictures to accompany…

Traveling Adventures

Now that school has sadly come to an end, the real world awaits! Well, not quite. My parents were kind enough to take my brother and I on a little two week vacation to my homeland: Australia! That’s right, I was born on this distant country/continent a short 24 years ago! My parents figured it would be fun to see it all again, since my three week old mind and eyes were no good at capturing much of anything then.

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Runs in the Family

Meet my brother Colin. He is a badass runner these days. He’s 16 years young and just competed at his first Nevada State Championship meet in track and field. He finished 2nd in the 2-mile, 3rd in the mile (above), and helped his 4x800 team get 4th. For those who don’t know track, that is a great accomplishment, especially for a non-senior!

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Dilemma

So, the other night I was about to walk into a supermarket when this woman walks up to me looking rather flustered. She asks if I would listen to her for just a second. Sadly, because she did NOT look like a crazy bum I chose to listen to her (what that says about me I am not all sure). She goes on to tell me that her father is not doing well, and is sitting in her car across the way. She said he recently suffered from a head injury and was dating a crazy woman who was stealing his money and abusing him and all this crazy shit. She said she lived in Grand Junction, about 4 hours west of Denver and had come down to take him out of this environment and take him back and help take care of him. The only problem was that she was out of money and did not have enough gas to get back to Grand Junction. She asked if I had any money to spare at all to help her get home. This was all amidst tears and panic and all sorts of sad looking shit.

I think about it and make a 5 second calculation that this wasn’t a bunch of bullshit so I gave her a dollar and she thanked me profusely. I then went and bought some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream…

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Album Wolf

Saw a great show last night! Sea Wolf and Album Leaf each delivered great performances for a whopping $15! For poor college students, it cannot get much better.

Up until about three weeks ago I had only heard of Album Leaf. They earned a spot on my “study mix” a few years back after I fell in love with the peaceful melodies from one of their older albums “In a Safe Place.” Seeing that they were going to be in Denver, I figured I would check them out. I also saw that Sea Wolf was opening for them, so I decided to check their stuff out just to familiarize myself a bit. Come to realize that I have one of their albums on my iTunes (thank you random music exchanges from years ago). After two straight listens through their album “Leaves in the River,” I was hooked. Amazing lyrics, chill acoustic melodies, CELLO!

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