Always a siren ...

Woah ... posting on this thing feels weird now.

Where the hell did all my angst go?

FUCK HILLARY CLINTON!!!!

But not literally ... ewwww.

Nothing of real importance to say. I finally finished reading Stardust. I am pretty 50/50 on comparing the book to the movie ... I think they each have their strengths. I do very much like the version of Stardust that I have though: a nice hardcover book with plenty o' pretty pictures.

Works is perhaps even more hectic ... I keep telling myself, that after this, I could probably handle just about any job in existence, and I imagine it would look good for trying to get future jobs.

Sort of along the lines of work, and life in general, I am trying to work on reducing my stress, or more specifically, perhaps changing how I deal with it a bit. I was going into work about an hour early and working through all my breaks and skipping lunch, but I'm done with that. I've realized that where I am at now, no matter how much work you get done you will never be caught up. I get rid of one application and get 4 more. So, if I'm going to be behind, I might as well be a bit more behind, but at least have a slight bit of my sanity.

I am thinking that after I get things relatively ironed out and I feel a bit more relaxed in general, I am going to start some project ... not sure what yet, but something.

More on this later.

Also, I am getting really tired of sitting around the house on the weekend. I need someone to do stuff with. My dad again offered to get me a mail-order bride for my birthday in November ... some days that doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

So, being away from the stresses of work (well, mostly, I am still getting news from work even on vacation, and let's just say it won't be pretty when I get back on Monday) has given me a bit of time to do some reflecting.

Lately I have been thinking that perhaps I should go back to school, but for a completely new undergraduate degree. Why undergraduate you may ask ... well, I have come to the conclusion that grad school is more or less impossible for me at this point since it has been a while since I was last in school, and it's not as though I really knew any of my professors that well when I was there. Makes trying to get any sort of academic letters of reference a bit on the difficult side.

But then I get to thinking ... am I already too old to do something like this? I know it sounds silly at first, but at 24 (will be 25 in a few months or so) I am already a good 4 years or so older than your average college kid. Furthermore, after I graduate ... well what the heck would I do then? All the things that kids tend to do after they graduate (mostly tramp around in random projects) are geared toward recent college grads, which I would tecnically be, but age wise it just wouldn't work.

Not even entirely sure what I would go back for. I'm finding that I have become pretty dissapointed with my current job. I was hoping there would be some element of helping people out, but it has turned out to be much more impersonal and factory like. I am expected to interview someone and then get them out the door. As soon as they get their verification to me, process them and pass on the case. As Dave put it one time, I feel more or less like a glorified computer terminal. I would like to actually be able to talk to these people and try and figure out why they need help and what can actually be done to help them other than throwing some benefits at them, but there just isn't time. The workloads keep getting bigger and you are expected to do more and more with less time. You really don't have the luxury of caring about your Clients, because that just results in you using up more of your time. I think this is partially why I am so backlogged: I spend too much time on Clients, and trust me, what time I do spend on them seems pretty insignificant to me, but I can see how it has already screwed me over in terms of getting behind on my work.

Anyway, what would I go back for ... I have been trying to figure out what exactly interests me. I was thinking that maybe I should go in for some kind of international studies major as one of the few things I actually enjoy is getting to see/study new places, world cultures, etc. I keep getting horrible cases of wanderlust (I have been in this job not much past half a year, and already tired of it), I feel as though I need some kind of change.

I'd like to think that if I do go back to school, that I would be more involved this time, as it would be a decision that I made completely on my own. Not that I didn't want to go to college before, but I know a large part of it was my parents (particularly my dad) pushing me to get in school right away after graduating from high school. I'm not sure I had enough time to really think about what I wanted out of the experience, I just did it.

So, thoughts anyone (all 3 people who will read this)?

Welfare is hell.

And what a glorious day it was!

I went in looking to pick up the 2nd collection of Exterminators and some more Walking Dead, but unfortunately they were already cleaned out of them. I wasn't going to let that stop me though. Trades were at 20% off, so I figured I had to find something to take advantage of the deal. Talked to the guys there and they recommended that I pick up Invincible (same guy as Walking Dead) and 100 Bullets. So, got the first 2 collections of both of those and then picked up the 3rd collection of Ex Machina.

Tons o' comic reading awaits me for the rest of the weekend! Oh, the store also did a drawing for random stuff, that unfortunately I did not win, and they had free food there and some guy drawing pictures, and he is really really good. Oh yeah, and I got some free comics as well.

w00t!

And in closing, Nic, you still have some of my comics. If you lost them (which you probably have) I will kill you.

Well, I think Spiderman 3 is pretty darn good. Yeah, I agree with those who say it is a lot for one movie, and it would have been good if they could have drawn some aspects out (after all, you have 3 villains in this movie and a number of different plot lines), overall though, it's great stuff. I definitely liked the ending, it did an excellent job of bringing everything together and resolving some key issues. You walk out of the theater wondering what will next happen to Peter/Spidey, but it's a satisfied wondering, if that makes any sense.

Also, some sequences in that movie are beyond hilarious, and I wasn't expecting that. A nice addition.

Also, also, I wish the movie MJ was real, because she is the greatest, ever. My weakness for redheads strikes again! Seriously though, she is about the perfect combination of sweetness, girl-next-doorishness, and beauty ... for me at least. So if I could find a real girl like that, I'd be set. Well, actually I wouldn't, because she would be with someone else.

Anyway, good times were had by all.

I swear, if Rocco unloads on the carpet just one more time, I'm turning his fuzzy arse into patties and frying him up on the grill.

His cuteness won't help him when he is wrapped in a bag and stored in the freezer.


Grrr.

So, I just found out about CSA today (see subject), and I think it is pretty damn cool.

For those who don't know what I am referring to, I will try and sum it up without butchering the concept. Basically, a group of people get together and pay a certain amount to a local farm to cover that farm's budget for the growing season. The cost each person pays will vary of course, depending upon how many members there are and how many shares are being sold, but from what I have found out during my little amount of research today, at least around central PA, it is very reasonable.

Anyway, so each person pays however much up front before the season starts, we will say $400 for one share (it seems that generally, a share will feed a family of 4). Each week (this is the typical time period) you go to a drop-off point (depending on your location, there are often in-city drop off points, or you can always go to the farm), and pick up your share. What you get for the week is going to depend on what the farmer has growing at that time. Vegetables and fruit are the most common of course (and logically, what is available will depend on where you live), but some places will also do shares with meat, eggs, milk, etc. Unfortunately, the ones around Harrisburg seem to be all vegetables and fruit, but that isn't going to stop me from trying.

Many places will have partial shares available, and it seems a lot of places will even let you do some work on the farm to get a reduced rate! I think I would just go volunteer some time for the heck of it. And of course, it seems most farmers are more than happy to have you visit. This method seems to create a real sense of community, I like that.

So, yeah, this has me very excited. It is great for the farmer, who then has a chunk of uncertainty removed from his expenses, in that he knows a fixed amount of cash coming in is coming in. This in turn helps cut down on expenses and produces better quality food, as the farmer doesn't have to devote as much time to marketing, and can spend more time on growing. This method also helps smaller, family-owned farms stay competitive. The consumer gets a supply of fresh fruits and vegetables each week (this stuff is going to be on average much better than anything you will find in a grocery story -- also, while not guaranteed to be organic, in my research it appears that most places are organic and free-range to at least some degree), and you are helping out the environment by significantly cutting down on the mileage that was used to get you your food. I was reading today that for the average American, your meal has to travel 1500+ miles to get to you. That's a lot of gas and pollution right there. The one CSA I am looking at is 20 miles away from where I live. I like those numbers a lot more.

Anyway, if you want to look into things, as always, Wikipedia has some great info.

Also, look here:

http://www.localharvest.org

On that site you can search for any CSAs near you, in addition to searching for farmers' markets, grocery stores, restaurants, etc that use locally-grown food. It's a really great Web site.

So, go check it out already!

p.s. Assuming I find a CSA to get involved with, I will update on my experience once the growing season is in full gear.

What the hell does it say about our country and our society when the top news story for the past couple weeks has been freakin' Anna Nicole Smith.

For pete's sake people, there are more important things going on in this world!

Fuck our obsession with celebrities.

And really, people: the chick is dead.