Going in for a face to face tomorrow morning for my dream job. Got to start packing for our move down the street December 1st. Things are happening fast. Can't turn to vices for relief. Gotta stay focused. Stressed out. Just want some piece of mind for me and mine. Soon.
Good luck to you, I hope the interview goes well! I've got one on Friday that involves flying clear across the country tomorrow and a half-day process on Friday.
Wow, that sounds serious. Good luck to you too. For what it's worth just try to keep positive and remember to breathe.
You and ButterflyEffect, just remember that people hire people based on many factors, but I've found two to be the most paramount: 1. They hire "easy." -Meaning that they hire the person that they have to manage the least. Self sufficient, team players. That's what they're looking for. 2. They hire "passion." -Meaning that they want someone that will be positive, enthusiastic and well... passionate about the job. Nobody has ever left an interview saying to a colleague, "well, he/she was great, but they were just a bit too passionate." Good luck to you both!
Thanks! I'm excited for the interview. Not for the flying. Which is happening soon.
Thanks! I think it went well, it was all behavior and personality based questions and a plant tour, and I connected with all three people I interviewed with. But the other three people who were interviewing did a great job too, I'd imagine, based on talking to them throughout the day. Return flight time. Still don't like flying.
What is it about flying that you don't like? Also, I'm glad to hear that it went well.
Yep, _refugee_ is once again spot-on with how I feel about something thenewgreen. Things I dislike about flying: The pomp and circumstance of being able to actually board a plane. The fact that I know if something does go wrong, I'm probably going to die from it, and the biggest reason why I dislike flying is that I have absolutely no control or even illusion of control for the entirety of the flight. That is the worst part about it and it brings out the most anxious parts of me.
How about the stress of going through airport security? Even if I know I am clean, I worry. Of course, if they find anything, no big deal - just throw it out and proceed, for the most part - but still, that's a definite stressor. I imagine if you have something truly bad or illegal they would stop you, but I've only been found in possession of lighters and bottle openers in my time, neither of which merits more than a "toss it, then re-try" sort of approach. Control freaks unite.
Exactly, your dad is spot on. The old phrase is, hire hard and manage easy. Meaning, take the hiring process very seriously, do your due diligence and then your job as a manager is much easier.
I got scammed. It was a few weeks ago during lunch hour, and as I realized what happened I sat down to write an e-mail about it to keep myself from going back outside to look for the guy. Here's the message: I just finished getting soaked for another twenty while walking back from Subway. As before, as each minute passed from the completion of the transaction, my confidence in not having been scammed dropped from about 90% to something below 50%. I record this story as a case study with the goal of forming actionable goals should this situation arise again. So I was on the short walk to the office on E Street from Subway on a nearby corner, wondering why cash register drawers still pop open at the conclusion of a credit card payment, as they have since I worked in retail. A guy positioned himself alongside my path and began talking directly in a way I would have felt awkward to ignore. I noticed roughly in order: a complexion compatible with playing a race card, a jean jacket, some kind of dark shirt beneath, a neck lanyard of the kind worn by government employees and contractors, clean shoes and a generally kempt appearance. He was talking somewhat rapidly, though politely, and, one might say, smoothly. He works at the the Department of Homeland Security or some such agency. He was driving his wife and kid and hit a curb and got a flat tire. He doesn't have a credit card, or "they" don't take them, and he needed some weird anchoring number like $18.97 to something something resolve the problem. His name was something something and he would give me his information and pay me back tomorrow he was coming down the road and made a U-Turn and struck the curb (here seeming to gesture at E Street, and my mind processing between the fact that E Street is one-way but yes sure enough there are tire marks on the far curb) and the wife and kid So I interrupted to ask something like "So what are you trying to do?" I am a legitimate and fair mark because to give my mind a moment to process I interrupt the patter, but only to ask him for a boatload more patter. He had "currency" and pulled out a small wad with a twenty on the outside and says he is short for the tow and to buy a spare tire. I was already hooked, he knew, but he still had to reel the fish in. I had stopped walking to listen, and now turned back the way he had looked when talking about his stranded loved ones, and I said "Let's go take a look." This suddenly was not practical, he was actually parked in front of something something monument and something. I am getting a little annoyed now typing this but want to put it down for science. I was long since decided on what I would do even though my mind was in some complex eigenstate on the truth value of this guy's proposition, so I walked a few steps to put my drink down and told him I would give him my contact information. For some reason that seemed like the better way to do it. I pulled out a vanity card which won't get him more than my cell number, name, and if he is clever about WHOIS my previous home address. I passed it over and then the banknote and nodded and probably shook hands and he said I would be hearing from him and I said "That's great, good luck" and before or after that he said something like "okay I can get the other four pretty easy now" like some kind of attempted upsell. There is some consolation in the fact that I didn't put on a convincing display of credulence and could plausibly have felt sorry for a random dude who resorts to trickery to score lunch (or other) money. He had a cell phone in his hand at some point, another data point that may or may not mean anything. What I did that was good: • Suggested my own method of verifying one of his claims. • Turned a bit aside while retrieving the ransom, to make a smash and grab operation marginally less obvious. • Did not loan him my credit card or cell phone or get into any enclosed space with him or give him much more than what a lesson in street smarts might plausibly be worth. • Gave a needy person money? What I did that was bad: • Became utterly mesmerized by his patter while trying to understand him and his situation. • Failed to recognize that he immediately dissuaded me from gathering intelligence that would bolster his story. • Gave a conniving jerk money? Action items for future encounters: • Slow down. If you are in a hurry, grunt an apology and move on. If you stop to talk, deliberate. Any time pressure from the other side smacks of tactics. • Remember the lesson of the Wason selection task. Disregard confirming evidence and seek disconfirmation. The scammer selects only information that is consistent with genuine need, and this information is useless in making the important determination of honesty. • Tune out the patter. Ask for clarification. Don't rush. • Think of some piece of evidence and ask for it. Ask to see the called number log on his cell phone. Ask what kind of car it is, then ask to see the car keys. Something. • Recognize high-risk cliché scams. Car trouble, but no visible car. Short on money, need an uncomfortable but not worth calling authorities amount to pay some urgent need.
Had a guy come through my apartment complex once, knocking on doors. Claimed he was related to a specific person on a specific floor at the end of the hall - do I know her (of course not, but plausible). Needed to get home because he was babysitting specific person's kids in an hour when they get out of daycare because specific person was in the hospital HYPNOTOAD HYPNOTOAD HYPNOTOAD Which is how I drove a very friendly homeless person 10 miles into the heart of Compton and gave him $40 for his trouble. It also gave him a 40-minute opportunity to steal everything of value from my place since I wasn't going to be there. And despite my calling security on my way back (we left as rush hour was cresting; I returned during high tide), it took them half a fucking hour to respond. On the plus side, we no longer have that security company here and I learned a valuable lesson about trust and gullibility. On the minus side, I'm that much more jaded about Los Angeles.
Wow, this guy doesn't live near a rest area in Virginia does he? Sounds like we have had a similar week. Please report back if you receive a phone call or email from him trying to pay you back. That would be interesting, and would help to dissuade my growing cynicism.
What a crazy week. I drove 12 hours to Michigan from NC on Friday and drove back yesterday. All with a 4 year old in the car. She was great though and we hardly used the iPad. Lot's of singing and chatting. It was nice. Around 6:30 last night we stopped at a rest area so that my daughter could "go." When we were getting back in to our car a man approached us as I was putting my daughter in her car seat. He said, as he approached me with my back facing him, "excuse me sir, my alternator broke on my car, my wife and children are in it and all our credit cards are missing, can you help me out?" My first inclination was, my daughter and I are vulnerable right now and this guy is likely full of shit. The man looked distraught and had I been alone I would have engaged him in conversation and attempted to help. However, I was alone and the parking lot was pretty empty and I had my daughter with me. I said, "I'm sorry man, it's just me and my daughter. Good luck." I shut my daughters door, got in the car and drove off. I felt like an asshole. What should I have done? What would you have done?
Honestly, I wish there was just a way to break the cycle of deceit. I hate the feeling of prying into why someone needs money and even detecting whether it is a "worthy cause " on my part. The way I see it, someone is asking for money typically because they need money. Like, hustling/panhandling is not steady/reliable/repeatable to a degree that you can do it forever as a means of income and maintain a normal or healthy lifestyle in any way. You do it cause you have to (albeit there are case studies where I'm sure someone has done otherwise, however, this far from the norm), but you can't really just tell someone "I need to pay back my credit on my pill habit" or "I need a fucking 40 so bad I'll totally do this humiliating thing until I am numb to the effect it is having on my psyche, thanks due, in turn, to the liquor itself" or "I have undiagnosed and untreated schizophrenia/bipolar disorder/substance abuse issues and I need money just acquire basic necessities". The only times these transactions have ever gotten aggressive are when they were aggressive from the get-go, they have never "turned" aggressive in my experience. And I, as a smaller, fragile enough looking "faggy" white boy, definitely get accosted aggressively more than most. I pretty much just adhere to a couple rules that have done me well: -No sob stories. I just shut them down. If someone is doing a long, dragged-on thing to eventually influence me to give them some money that didn't seem like it at first, I just say "hey, you coulda just asked, but now you've wasted my time." -max $5. that's it, just give it and walk away, maybe with a "Good luck and stay safe". - I will buy you food or some direct resource. Just be cool about it. -You're never an asshole, neither of you. You are both caught in the maelstrom of influences that is outside of your control that manifests itself into the scenario, and you absolutely retain the right to not participate. I don't have much input for someone with a kid, though. I would take faarrrr less risks if I had a 4-year-old right there depending on me, especially if someone walks up to me with my back turned. Maybe his story was true, but so was yours.
Those are good rules and I would have absolutely been more patient with the fella had I not had my child with me. There are certain unspoken rules and he kind of broke one. It was late, and just me and my kid. He saw that and should have respected it. Had I been alone or with another adult, I would have likely helped out and given him a few bucks.
You and your daughter were alone, and your first priority is to her. Even if the guy was genuine I don't think you did anything unreasonable. This is the second story here about people being stopped for help with "car trouble." Is this a common thing? I don't live in the US and I don't drive so I don't really know what it's like, but is this what you do when you have car trouble? Just ask random strangers for help?
if you have skillz and money, you call AAA or google "roadside service." Here's the trick: we're empathetic to trouble, we've all been there and into this chasm parachutes the con artist. Think about it: If you have any sort of social net, you call your social net. If you have no sort of social net, you rely on paid services. If you have no social net and no ability to rely on paid services, you're staring into the abyss of homelessness. And nobody wants to be the person who pushes another human being (or beings) into the abyss of homelessness, so we try and help. And we lose money and sometimes worse.
It's amazing how some things work. Every Saturday I take my daughter to dance class in downtown Durham. There's a coffee shop below the dance studio. I normally sit there and work. Today, a man approached me and asked me if I could buy him a coffee and a cookie. I gladly did. His name was Tony, we talked about the weather, it's a beautiful fall day here. Sunny and about 50 degrees out. Tony was worried because winter is around the corner. It was a pleasant exchange and I was glad to help. He approached it in a legit way. Everyone should be able to have a cup of coffee. I now feel someone exonerated. Edit: I'm still sitting here in the coffee shop. Some others in here saw him ask me and saw me buy him the coffee. A woman have him a couple of dollars and another couple bought him a gift rad for the coffee shop. -Tony is cleaning up today!
When owning a car, there are certain things that will just occur. For example, you will get a flat tire, your battery will die etc. These are things that it is not uncommon to ask a stranger for help with. Why? Because all it takes is a bit of sweat and no money to accomplish. Strangers have jumper cables, strangers may be better at changing a tire. However, asking a stranger for money to fix your car is not common.
I think you did the right thing. The story is fairly suspicious and cliché: car trouble, loved ones stranded, obvious solution via credit cards ruled out before anyone asked. If he is mechanically savvy enough to know that his alternator is broken, he should know that you can drive a good while with a dead alternator; I've done so. Realistically, the most you would have done is pass him some cash, right? That wouldn't solve his car troubles, certainly not at that hour; maybe it would get him a taxi ride somewhere nearby. If he can call a taxi, he should be able to call a friend instead of hitting up strangers. If he has no friends nearby and no credit cards for a hotel, giving him a little cash probably isn't going to help much. Make it a point to help somebody else out instead, somebody that you recognize as having a need. I probably would have done what you did, or I might have done something else.What should I have done?
What would you have done?
Moving from the city to the burbs has some pros and cons. One of the biggest pros is not being harassed for money literally every single day of my life. After a while your reflex just takes over and you blurt out, "I don't have any money," whenever anyone who looks like they're the type to ask for money comes within 20 feet of you.
The theme of this pubski seems to be truth and lies (and cold). In addition I just read this story posted by scrimetime about a huge liar - a well-known reporter who made up stuff and published them in magazines and then got caught. (Example: a story about a convention of Monica Lewinsky memorabilia.) Along with the theme, here's what happened in my world: My students were giving a presentation today on "Building Trust" as a necessary component of effective team work. We were in our secondary room (a large, long room) found for us by the university when they bump us from our fancy more desirable room. When I arrived at the room at 8:30 this morning, the students who were presenting had moved all the desks to the edges of the room and stacked other desks on top of them. All that was left was a circle of 60 chairs. At noon the next class started to arrive, so we cleared out pretty quickly. As I was leaving, the next teacher, looking quite disgusted started commanding her students to put the desks and chairs back in rows. She said to me, "Was the room like this when you got here?" "Yes," I quickly answered and slipped out as she mumbled about how inconsiderate everyone at this university can be, etc. etc. For a moment, I felt guilty. I lied. My class had altered the room. My students were waiting to meet me. I told them that I had lied and there was a ring of Hell reserved for liars. And mid-story -- I stopped. "Wait a minute." I said, "I didn't lie. The room was like that when I got there. I was responding honestly to the question." I felt better knowing that I hadn't lied outright. (I think the default for desks should be some round or semi-circular configuation -- if you can even find a room these days with movable desks -- however, no one much agrees with me.)
Every Monday morning I have a team call for work at 8:30am. At the outset of this call, we discuss what we've all done with our weekends. I'm the only person on the call that didn't spend their entire Saturday/Sunday focused on football. People say things like, "my panthers did really well this weekend..." etc. I cannot relate to this at all and it makes me feel sad that so much time and energy is dedicated to this, especially from talented people.
I'm with you. I just don't understand people's obsession with professional sports. The NFL is pretty much one of the worst organizations to ever exist, filled with and led by documented liars, thieves, child abusers, animal abusers, spousal abusers and addicts of all kinds. The players are caught up in a culture of 'Spend more than the guy next to me in the locker room,' and even if their career isn't cut short by a dramatic, visible injury, they are almost guaranteed to develop Alzheimer's at an extremely early age, in addition to depression, dementia, psychotic rages, and all sorts of other mental stuff. And these are our heroes? These are the best of us?I cannot relate to this at all and it makes me feel sad that so much time and energy is dedicated to this, especially from talented people.
Talk about Hubski like it's a sport "Eightbit had a great pass to OftenBen last night"
Yesterday was my 25th birthday. It is the first one where I didn't have some sort of party with drinking and a bunch of friends, except for some cheesecake and red wine with my grandma. It was also the end of my second week at my new job (PhD etc.) and I have to say that I am not enjoying it very much. It's that sort of thing where you have so high expectations that you have to be disappointed. My disappointment comes from my boss. My first impression was that he is a fair guy that does good research and listens to the suggestions of his students. He does listen to his students, but still decides to do things his way because "we have always done it this way" (aka the worst thing you could ever say in science). Then I found out that he doesn't send his students to conferences. He thinks that they are a waste of time and is afraid to be scooped. Then I also found out that he keeps details to experiments we do secret, so that no one could get such nice results (a method to cut nerves nicely so you can stain them). This comes in addition to the unsocial colleagues I have (never had so much trouble to connect to other people, ever). All that and a bunch of other things (the fact that I am not really doing research) puts me into a position to make a decision again. Should I stay or should I go? I was hoping that it will turn out good :( And not knowing anyone in this city (because of no time during the week...) doesn't make it better. /whine
You are two weeks younger than I am, precisely. What are your options? If you went, where would you go to? Conferences are really important in grad school. It's very unfortunate your boss doesn't see their value. There are some problems you are likely to face anywhere - unsocial colleagues, for example. There are others, like the conferences, that you really shouldn't face in your type of job typically. In short, I wouldn't encourage you to leave a job just because your colleagues aren't very talkative or similar to you, (since you'd just trade the devil you knew for the devil you didn't in such a move) but I would encourage you to leave if you aren't being given the opportunities & respect you both deserve and should generally receive elsewhere.
If I left, I could go anywhere, really. Apply for PhD-positions around Germany or Europe. This conference thing is really bugging me. Specially because we don't have any contact to other researchers. And I don't see anyone of the students take any of the classes provided by the graduate school...
I've heard of poisonous grad school programs. I certainly would say to keep your eyes open and be aware of the situation as it progresses. I want to ask if this guy who's against you guys going to conferences appears to be leading any sort of cult of personality at the school. I don't think it's conducive to a good education to close off from others in your field - in fact, the opposite, really. He seems like he might be a bit egotistical (keeping his techniques to himself so others can't do as well) and wants your unswerving attention (afraid others will 'steal' away 'his' students/assistants/what-have-you). By keeping you from conferences, etc, he's also potentially preventing you from developing a name and reputation for yourself which you could do via networking, presentations, etc, at such venues. He is establishing himself as your only/main educational resource, and denying you the ability to pursue others.
Well, I've gone on a few dates with women I wasn't necessarily attracted to physically, but in the end I was glad that I did because they were generally pretty cool in their own ways. Also, flipping through page after page of attractive women that the machine tells me I am compatible with and finding more and more of the same descriptions of likes/dislikes has helped to re-emphasize how important personality is. Another thing that I've learned via online dating is that white people in particular FUCKING LOVE HIKING. Why were you "terrible" at internet dating?
Internet dating is weird. I haven't done anything other than Tinder but I've looked into other options and it all seems like a lot of time and effort just to maybe meet somebody. That's really the only part I'd be interested in, the entire game leading up to that point is an inefficient drain. Kudos to you for seeming to have found a way to make it work.
Hm. So I clicked this and it copied your text a bunch of times instead of just once. Weird. True, all my relationships have been a result of some completely off-chance encounter where things just fell forward from there, so any real work is well...work. I met a lot at house shows in the area, and through other people. Edit: I should clarify that my "time and effort" comment is directly related to what ref is talking about when she describes it as being a proscribed process.
Ever seen OKCupid's The REAL ‘Stuff White People Like’?Another thing that I've learned via online dating is that white people in particular FUCKING LOVE HIKING.
I was shocked to see "Zappa" on there, and in relatively large font.
I'm the reason why I sometimes think users should be able to review other users on dating sites (before I realize what a terrible idea it really is). I was terrible at internet dating because, in general, I stood up dates. This wasn't always true and I had a boyfriend or two that I met wholly from internet dating. I guess I went on my fair share of dates, but I also stood up more than one or two people. At one point I "grounded" myself from OKC because I didn't think it was fair behavior on my end and I figured I shouldn't even bother talking to people until I was reasonably sure I'd changed my behavior and would show up if I committed to something. There were probably a lot of factors that went into that behavior. I spent a fair bit of time trying to tease it out. I tended to get extremely anxious/nervous before a date, and would let that get the better of me. I also suspect I wasn't really connecting with most of the guys I never met up with - if I was really interested, I would have made it, right? For me there's some kind of mental hurdle in the formalized online dating kind of progression between "talking" and "first date" - it feels very proscribed in a way, very different from meeting people in person and kind of organically, without labels, spending some time together. As a writer sometimes words mean too much to me and the phrase "first date" definitely is one I think I took too seriously. OKC in general was a shitshow that felt like a meat market, and of the people I did meet through it many of them were a little cuckoo and some in some rather off-putting ways, but in general it was an interesting experience. There's definitely one or two guys that I talked to on there for extended periods of time and in retrospect I'm glad I never met up with. One was a guy 20 years older than me located somewhere in NY who was an assistant professor. I guess that doesn't sound so bad, but now when I think about it it weirds me out that I was 19/20 talking to a guy twice my age who wanted me to drive up to NY just so we could bang - and I actually seriously tried to figure out how to make it happen once or twice. IIRC at one point he didn't live anywhere, was floating between situations. He offered to drive down to see me and live in the woods for a week. We actually had some really valuable conversations in which I started to figure out things about myself, but I'm just real glad we never met.
Also, hiking is pretty bad-ass. At least, half of me thinks so.Well, I've gone on a few dates with women I wasn't necessarily attracted to physically, but in the end I was glad that I did because they were generally pretty cool in their own ways
-Did you become attracted to her as you got to know her? Do you continue to date her or is she friend zoned?
I am always envious of my friends that are able to you utilize online dating. I wish that had existed back in my day... Sounds awesome
Oh. This school has such crappy heating. I'm sitting in the bathroom of the literature building at the end of campus because it's the only place with a solid heater. I'm running two instances of Bioshock Infinite to make my laptop hit 100 C while I do homework, that's how down to the wire I am. I found out I had written 300 pages worth of my journal, and spent the evening yesterday reading all of it. It is amazing seeing how much my writing has improved, and how my views on things have changed, and how I've emotionally matured. I'm glad I haven't stopped writing in it, the retrospect makes it worth it. Been writing a lot, which makes me happy, not right now, though, my fingers are freezing. And I beat Binding of Isaac on my second try with the Rebirth remake, which is basically unheard of. A video that is being criminally under-looked by Hubski right now: The nice part about turning 21 next year is that at least I'll be able to get into Pubski without having to sneak in.
I posted it here but I'm not sure how many saw it. I don't have very many followers but I tagged it #comedy which is a fairly popularly followed tag.
I am gob-smacked that there is a video game called "Binding of Isaac" and that it's played by someone whose religion teaches that it was Ishmael, not Isaac who was almost killed by his dad. I imagine there's a whole world of Biblically-titled shooter games.
There aren't, really, which is kind of a shame. Games focused on religion would be a really interesting idea to explore. In Binding of Isaac the titular character is about to be sacrificed by his mom, who watches too many Christian Info-TV Shows and thinks she hears a voice from God. It's...really, really weird, you unlock characters like Cain and Azazel and kill things using your tears. You're not into videogames I'm sure, lil, but you should check out Indie Game: The Movie, which is a documentary about a bunch of independent game developers, one of whom makes Binding of Isaac. I'd like to hear what you think of it.
i totally just saw this. I'm loving rebirth right now, especially because vanilla Issac just ran like shit on my macbook. You are obviously better at video games than I am (just recently beat mom's heart, but before then I was at a -37 winning streak).
I actually ended up switching to controller because using WASD/^<v> was inflaming one of the muscles in my hand really badly. Inflamed hand muscles are not so good for playing double bass, so I plugged in my controller, and ended up being REALLY happy with how it controls. I ended up having to play around with how all the ephemera was set up (buttons for bombs, pills, "spacebar" items, map button) a little bit, but now i'm at a place where I suck, but at least I can't complain about it being the control scheme's fault!
Calle me Ishmael also, kind of an interesting project -
This is a neat post for several reasons. I broke out my sleeping bag last night, got in it, then got in my bed (which is just a mattress), then covered myself in blankets. My little room gets at least 20 degrees colder overnight than the rest of my apartment -- no exaggeration. I have guesses as to why but there's nothing I can do about it.
I was just back in Michigan and it was about 40° F outside. It felt very, very cold. It already looks like winter, all the leaves were off of the trees etc. It was very interesting driving back home, to North Carolina. Each state became progressively warmer and more colorful. Right now, the autumn colors are still vibrant in the trees and it's about 60° outside. It was nice to return home. However, I have a lot of work ahead of me this weekend blowing leaves etc. I have a large dead tree in my backyard that needs to come down. It's beyond my expertise and I have to hire someone. Guess how much it cost to take down a tree?
I feel like when I come back home, I'll be so used to the Arctic temperatures here that I'll just walk in a t-shirt there. We had a similar situation with a tree back home. It was already cut down but the last bit of trunk and the roots needed to be removed. That was way more expensive than I'd thought.
Big day yesterday. I went to bed around midnight monday with a slight catch in my throat, and a good bit of anxiety about the following day, as I have a solo. I'll skip any dramatic descriptions, but I didn't sleep well and woke up coughing several times throughout the night. Decongestant, a gallon of tea, and a big bag of cough drops got me through the day, and I managed to keep enough of my voice through 2 rehearsals to not completely botch (Actually I did quite well) my solo. The concert as a whole was really good, I cannot express how much I enjoy Glee Club. No other ensemble has ever made me feel so welcome and regularly performed with the excellence I have come to expect from them. Something spectacular happens when a group of young men sing with confidence and pride.
I was part of a soli for America the Beautiful. Quartet with full choral backup. I can't find any super recent videos, but I'm in this one somewhere
So today was pretty nuts. We finished up the final of the 3 weekend concerts we'd put on as the department and of course went out for drinks to celebrate. We ended up at this old little tradition pub with 3 old guys playing guitar and singing away in the corner. Then we met this very outspoken old man. He spouted some very contentious views, but bought us all whiskey and was generally good natured. Then the pub suddenly got very busy, a folk band (of course, all of the older generation) turned up and started playing music. The place was filled with all their friends and family and it was great. After too much rum I was somehow swayed into playing/singing a song. Well, it was my very first public performance in which I used my voice. I'd performed plenty of time before without singing though so it wasn't terribly bad. I fucked up halfway through (likely due to the alcohol), but held it together and finished it on a good note. All in all I wasn't too bad and I got a good applause at the end so that was nice! All the old geezers were very supporting which was awesome and I was invited back. First public singing performance out the way! Only upwards from here I guess. On the negative side of things, I lost a £20 note and we were doing rounds, so now I am very poor and overdrawn. Crazy day though.
Woah I'm kinda coming late to Pubski this time but oh well. Update on my college situation is that I may end up dropping out just a tad early. Hopefully I'll get the details ironed out by the end of the week but I'm getting tired of being hopeful all the time. Cheers everyone.
I'm counting down the days to a bunch of things right now. Hanging out in this Medieval history class is killing me right now. I just want things to fast-forward two weeks, where I'll be on the road towards the important things in my life.
I discussed Netherlander composers the generation after Josquin, and compared their musical qualities to him, while also looking at how long they stayed in Italy. Not explicitly terrible, but I've got my next appointment on the road to HRT ove rhte thanksgiving break, so i'd rather be doing that.
hopefully not that much longer. I don't know how this appointment is going to be. I'm working on social transition, and my immediate family knows, so that usually looks good to them, but idunno if they're going to want me to do more therapy, or if they are going to need to do bloodwork that will take time to analyze. Hopefully there will be as few stumbling blocks as possible. It took me 6 years to figure this out about myself and come to terms with it, so I feel like i've been waiting long enough.
I'm heading towards female. Not voyeuristic at all. I'm pretty open to questions about stuff. Thanks for the the support and good luck!