Author Archives: WD
Glum
Eeeh, my mood is the color of this website. I’m feeling rather stagnant now and I just can’t stand it. I enjoy the comforts of living at home, but I feel like I’m back in High School, and that’s not somewhere I want to be back at. At TC there were always some good folks around, but here I feel pretty solo. I have no idea how to meet new people especialy that I am living at home… sigh. I guess the real problem is that I have no gay friends here. Don’t get me wrong, I love my straight friends, but it is different. There are some things you just have to be to understand. I try talking to people online, but find it endless chatter that leads to nothing (if not quick hookups – which I don’t want.) Plus that’s no real fun. I’m thinking about going to a club this thursday, but I never seem to have a good time at them, and I’ve never really gone by myself. So even though I’m feeling pretty smart and that I look good (been working out hard) it’s like there is no way for me to show it off a little. I think I understand why people do drugs… but I won’t be going there, even if that makes things harder in the short term. Well, that’s it for my first glum entry.
Magnetic Dogs
So I’m zooming down I-93 heading back from work and my wheel starts to vibrate. It’s noticable, so I slow down, roll up the windows and turn off the radio. I go a little further and then hear thum thum thum thum thum from the back of the car… damn. So I get off at the next exit and the thum thum thum is even louder, finding myself in the middle of nowhere, I look for the first public parking lot. When I finaly find it and get out, sure enough, my right rear tire is as flat as can be. The particularly annoying thing is that I had this tire repared (it was leaking slowly) just a month ago. So, out comes the spare, up goes the car, and I change the tire.
So, back on the highway, with my dinky little spare, I decide to stick to the right lane all the way home. And you know what? It was one of the most relaxing rides home I’ve had in a while. I’m sure the spacey music from Gyroscope on WERS helped, but, going at a slower pace was definitely a part of it. This all got me thinking about how I’m always rushing around. In terms of driving, I can understand rushing to work so as to not be late. But in coming home, I have no family to take care of, so what’s the rush?
But it’s about more than driving. I’m realizing that I’m rushing in all aspects of what I do…. eating, reading, walking, odds and ends. I think it is a part of my desire to be productive and accheive great things… sure that sounds corny, but I’ve come to realize that if I need / want to get something done, I have to do it. But perhaps I’ve taken this too far. Perhaps I’ve forgotten to slow down and enjoy getting it done, i.e. the means as well as the end.
Considering I’m going to have to wait X amount of months before receiving my Peace Corps assignment (up to 9 officially,) perhaps this is the time where I should start practicing my skills at slowing down a little (without losing my drive to be effective.) I’m not sure exactaly how to do this, and wondered if anyone has any little suggestions of things that keep them from rushing through something that could be great to savor. I’m reminded of a good relationship I had that took it’s good time to develop. Although I was a little younger and wanted things to move faster, the gradual development came to mean much more than any quick hookup could have. So, I’d like to translate my new effort to all aspects of my life.
And all this brought about by a flat tire.
The New England Day
For those of you who have lived in New England for a while, you will know that fall is a special time of the year up here. Today marked the beginning of fall in my calendar. While walking down Main St. in Andover after a hearty lunch, it stuck me. It was subtle but distinct; I could smell autumn. I’m not sure how to describe the smell exactly, but perhaps you can evoke it by picturing a pile of freshly fallen maple leaves still wet from a recent rain. The sky, gray but unthreatening, reassuring that the rains had come and gone. Leaves, a few in the street. Trees, still green at the core, but yellow around the edges. An invigorating coldness in the air, not bitter, rather a gentle but clear reminder. Thus came the start of fall in New England, and suddenly the pumpkins at the farm down the road and the giant bags of candy at CVS make a lot more sense.
A Necessity or Profiteering?
In one of my many trips into cyberspace, I came across an individual who noted that she was taking a course at Curry College in Terrorism. This, of course, struck me as amusing. Is Curry College an evil syndicate of al Qaeda? Had this women singlehandedly blown the cover of an American insurgent network? Well, as usual, my mind was getting the best of me, and such was not the case.
What I did find, however, was just as fascinating. Curry College is one of those many lower tier New England Liberal Arts schools. In order to be more competitive, it offers a myriad of courses, namely a continuing education program. One of the certificate programs in this lineup is called “Homeland Defense.”
In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Certificate in Homeland Defense was designed to prepare traditional and continuing studies undergraduates and law enforcement practitioners to meet the new challenges of homeland security.
To complete the program, an individual must take eight courses.
I’m split on this one. On the one hand, we certainly want individuals trained to deal with this new terrorist threat. On the other, however, the idea that Curry College is profitting off of 9/11 leaves a bad taste in my mouth. What are your thoughts on this?
Link:
http://www.curry.edu/Academics/Continuing+Education/
Certificate+Programs/Homeland+Defense.htm