Sure. One of the things I'm doing is working to expand my general knowledge of other countries, world politics and the U.S. constitution to prepare for the Foreign Service Officer exam. The process of becoming an FSO is fairly convoluted and takes a lot of time, so it's really a back burner plan. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to learn more about countries I might like to teach in. Jumping off of that, I've been considering other plans of what to do in the meantime. I think NGO work might be a good stepping stone, so I've been writing to friends who work for or have worked for NGOs in the past to get an idea of what to look for in a quality experience. I've also been in touch with a family friend who is trying to put me in touch with his clients who have NGO experience and even some people involved with the UN.

I've also been working on getting back into poetry. You might have seen some scribbles and first-draft kind of stuff I've put up here, but I'd like to get back to a place where I feel like the writing is publishable and maybe even worth performing. One of the friends I wrote to is has been more faithful to poetry than I have and now we're discussing a collaborative project. With another friend, I've been tinkering with the idea of recording some of my older poems and I've been thinking about maybe getting a website together, so I've been learning a little bit about that.

I feel like it's important to stretch myself out in a bunch of directions and to go with what sticks, while always trying out new things and finding ways to leverage them into other possibilities. It's no fun being painted into a corner, but when that happens I guess it doesn't hurt to try walking on the ceiling, you know?

Thanks for the well-wishes. I hope something takes a turn for the better on your end as well.