It gets me.
Showing posts with label optimism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label optimism. Show all posts
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Picked Me Right On Up...
Tonight my friend and I took in the Greenwood-Phinney Art Walk. It served as a good setting for some informal counseling. I am a week and a half into my first full time, career type job and while I'm fairly certain I am going to love it I am still experiencing a certain amount of anxiety, exhaustion, and general awkwardness that go along with being the new kid. These feelings of uncertainty and discomfort as I figure out what this whole work thing is all about are all well and good but it seems as if it is becomming a theme in my non work life as well. I spend my day at work trying to figure out effective work place communication and struggle to forge relationships and lately I have also been feeling this same discomfort in my personal life. As a result I have been feeling frustrated and lonely because seemingly no real connection is being made despite a true desire to understand (and of course to be understood). After walking and talking about this Alexis, said friend and counselor, found this print by Jessica Swift at Assemble Gallery and Studio that instantly cheered me up. While it might not be a connection with another person a connection was made none the less.
It gets me.
It gets me.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Embracing the Darkness
A series of events transpired months ago that have lead this OLIT to a two day spree of violent and hellish entertainment. Last night WWE Smackdown proved to be quite the spectacle but thanks to having the privlege of sitting next to an iCarly clad young man and his pierced tongue Barney doll I ended up enjoying the scene. Tonight, I am afraid, will be a different story. While I attended WWE on my own accord (a sort of anthropolgoical study of American Wal-Mart culture if you will) tonight's event is entirely dreaded...
Awhile back I was on a crusade to enrich the lives of my friends by trying to gift them with the Anne of Green Gables viewing experience. Anne Shirley was a childhood hero of mine and her love story with Gilbert Blithe still inspires. I simply wanted to share this inspiration with those I care for the most. My cause was so great that I was willing to play "let's make a deal". In exchange for adventuring with Anne I would participate in almost any activity friends could think of. The only taker of this bargain was my heavy metal loving friend Colin. He would allow me to bestow upon him the gift of bosom friendship, raspberry cordial, and carrot hair (i.e. Anne of Green Gables) only if I would expose myself to a torturous evening of ear bleeding rifts, rib crushing mosh pits, and steel toed boot bruises -- yes, a heavy metal concert. Since he had no particular concert in mind I felt this exchange seemed safe. Without a set date it might never happen and so I agreed. We watched the film, it changed his life for the better, I dried my inevitable tears that go along with Anne's story, and then moved on giving very little thought to my end of the arrangement. Oh! What a fool am I?! How desperately Colin had waited for someone, anyone, to agree to attend one of his concerts with him! He was not going to let this opportunity pass him by and soon enough he had located and purchased tickets to a March 10th performance featuring Killswitch Engage.
And now here we are. March 10th. My personal doomsday. Given the events that led me to my particular predicament I thought it only appropriate to ask, "What would Anne Shirley do?" Knowing Anne almost as well as she knew herself I can confidently say that she would immediately begin plummeting into the "depths of despair" thinking about her impending hearing loss and unavoiable broken toes (not too mention the headache from overzealous head bangers yanking on her red pigtails). But while I know beyond a shadow of doubt that this would be her initial reaction I also know that right before she deemed the event "the most tragical thing" to ever happen to her she would realize that this was the perfect opportunity to imagine her circumstances away. Due to the decibal level alone at the concert I don't think it will be possible for me to imagine this event as entirely different from what it is but I do think that I could inject it with a little romanticism simply by imagining what similarities I might share with the possible kindred spirits I will be surrounded by. A tall task for certain but I am up for a challenge. Where to start? A visual perhaps:
One thing is clear -- black is back and this I can run with. How long have I myself been dreaming of my very own blackscape? How many hours have I spent pouring over images of black kitchens, black bathrooms, any sort of black wall dreaming of the day that one can be mine? I am POSITIVE that at one moment or another the lead singer and I were both being inspired by the same images of dark luxury...
Do not be fooled. I might enjoy the lighter things in life but I too can embrace the darkness and if Howard Jones, the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, and I have a love of black paint in common then think of all the other similarities we might share? I am nervous with anticipation for the bosom friendship just waiting to be formed and so in preparation to make it through this evening's descent into musical abyss and come out with newly fostered friendships I have put together my "top 5 reasons to embrace the darkside" pictoral list:
5. The Halloween specials are my favorite Roseanne episodes...
3. Without darkness there would be no need for romantic candle light...
Awhile back I was on a crusade to enrich the lives of my friends by trying to gift them with the Anne of Green Gables viewing experience. Anne Shirley was a childhood hero of mine and her love story with Gilbert Blithe still inspires. I simply wanted to share this inspiration with those I care for the most. My cause was so great that I was willing to play "let's make a deal". In exchange for adventuring with Anne I would participate in almost any activity friends could think of. The only taker of this bargain was my heavy metal loving friend Colin. He would allow me to bestow upon him the gift of bosom friendship, raspberry cordial, and carrot hair (i.e. Anne of Green Gables) only if I would expose myself to a torturous evening of ear bleeding rifts, rib crushing mosh pits, and steel toed boot bruises -- yes, a heavy metal concert. Since he had no particular concert in mind I felt this exchange seemed safe. Without a set date it might never happen and so I agreed. We watched the film, it changed his life for the better, I dried my inevitable tears that go along with Anne's story, and then moved on giving very little thought to my end of the arrangement. Oh! What a fool am I?! How desperately Colin had waited for someone, anyone, to agree to attend one of his concerts with him! He was not going to let this opportunity pass him by and soon enough he had located and purchased tickets to a March 10th performance featuring Killswitch Engage.
And now here we are. March 10th. My personal doomsday. Given the events that led me to my particular predicament I thought it only appropriate to ask, "What would Anne Shirley do?" Knowing Anne almost as well as she knew herself I can confidently say that she would immediately begin plummeting into the "depths of despair" thinking about her impending hearing loss and unavoiable broken toes (not too mention the headache from overzealous head bangers yanking on her red pigtails). But while I know beyond a shadow of doubt that this would be her initial reaction I also know that right before she deemed the event "the most tragical thing" to ever happen to her she would realize that this was the perfect opportunity to imagine her circumstances away. Due to the decibal level alone at the concert I don't think it will be possible for me to imagine this event as entirely different from what it is but I do think that I could inject it with a little romanticism simply by imagining what similarities I might share with the possible kindred spirits I will be surrounded by. A tall task for certain but I am up for a challenge. Where to start? A visual perhaps:
One thing is clear -- black is back and this I can run with. How long have I myself been dreaming of my very own blackscape? How many hours have I spent pouring over images of black kitchens, black bathrooms, any sort of black wall dreaming of the day that one can be mine? I am POSITIVE that at one moment or another the lead singer and I were both being inspired by the same images of dark luxury...
Do not be fooled. I might enjoy the lighter things in life but I too can embrace the darkness and if Howard Jones, the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, and I have a love of black paint in common then think of all the other similarities we might share? I am nervous with anticipation for the bosom friendship just waiting to be formed and so in preparation to make it through this evening's descent into musical abyss and come out with newly fostered friendships I have put together my "top 5 reasons to embrace the darkside" pictoral list:
5. The Halloween specials are my favorite Roseanne episodes...
4. Overcast days in Seattle can be just as breathtaking as cloudless skies...
3. Without darkness there would be no need for romantic candle light...
2. The darker the berry the sweeter the juice...
1. I can think of nothing better to embrace than my dearly departed sweet Molly dog who even had a tongue of black...
Pooch Dog Molly
? 1995 - March 10, 2008
All I need to do is print a copy of this out and share it with any kindred looking spirits at the concert tonight. With an all encompassing dark list such as mine I am sure to come away from this experience with a renewed faith in humanity and a sense of unity amonst man/woman-kind.
Wish me luck.
Respectfully Yours,
OLIT
P.S. A special thanks to my cousin Alex for creating my beautiful banner!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
25 By 25
As the end of my first quarter-century of life grows near I am feeling inspired to get a few things accomplished. It is said that the part of your brain that inhibits risky behavior is not fully formed until you are 25. If this is the case than I have 12 days left to make poor decisions and blame it all on my age. But what decisions might those be? Initailly when I wanted to write a "25 things I want to do by the time I turn 25" list it looked a little something like this...
1) Pay off my standing fine at the Seattle Public Library.
2) Return overdue volumes of The Tutors to Video Isle.
3) Drink only 1 beer a week.
4) Be in bed by 11.
5) Wake up at 6:30 am and squeeze in a run before work.
6) Locate and purchase King's Crown Cranberry Candy Dish of my very own.
... I won't continue because I'm sure the reader gets the point. While these are exciting to me they would hardly constitute recklessness. By nature I am a fairly cautious individual. I don't see myself running out buying a gun, dancing on tables at clubs, and sky-diving within the next two weeks. However, despite my cautiousness, I do enjoy an adventure or two and while aspiring to well rested responsibility is all well and good perhaps these next two weeks could be focused more on little adventures that remind me how great my first 25 years were and also get me excited for my next 25. At this point I have no specific explorations in mind just the goal to see each day as an oportunity to take a chance and start a few little adventures!
Respectfully Yours,
OLIT
1) Pay off my standing fine at the Seattle Public Library.
2) Return overdue volumes of The Tutors to Video Isle.
3) Drink only 1 beer a week.
4) Be in bed by 11.
5) Wake up at 6:30 am and squeeze in a run before work.
6) Locate and purchase King's Crown Cranberry Candy Dish of my very own.
... I won't continue because I'm sure the reader gets the point. While these are exciting to me they would hardly constitute recklessness. By nature I am a fairly cautious individual. I don't see myself running out buying a gun, dancing on tables at clubs, and sky-diving within the next two weeks. However, despite my cautiousness, I do enjoy an adventure or two and while aspiring to well rested responsibility is all well and good perhaps these next two weeks could be focused more on little adventures that remind me how great my first 25 years were and also get me excited for my next 25. At this point I have no specific explorations in mind just the goal to see each day as an oportunity to take a chance and start a few little adventures!
Respectfully Yours,
OLIT
Monday, March 1, 2010
Monday, Monday
Not even 24 hours have passed since the weekend and I am already in anticipation mode for what the next one has in store for me. I have always been one to enjoy the anticipation of an event even more than the event itself. December 24th is my favorite day of the year for a reason and vilified as they usually are this is probably why I seem to have an affection for Mondays. Yes, we are left exhausted from trying to squeeze fun and frivolity into every nook and cranny of our two days away from the office and sad that we must once again be slaves to the man (or woman whatever your case may be) but Mondays give us a chance to collect our bearings after the previous weekend, strategize for the coming week, and start planning for more fun in our future!
I find myself particularly content on this Monday. After a jam packed two days I collapsed into my queen sized mattress last night hours before my normal bed time and and slept an entire extra half an hour this morning! I am glowing from the weekend's escapades but ready to get excited for what's next!
In my immediate future I am excited/hungry for some sort of kitchen creation featuring whatever vegetables I can find in the fridge, some rice, cilantro, and a healthy dose of pepper flakes and hot sauce. In the not so immediate but at the same time no so distant future I see a glorious return to treasure hunting. Itching to get back after a two week hiatus I took a little "off task" time at work to explore next weekend's happenings on EstateSales.Net. Here are a few items that peaked my interest:
Great expectations have been set! Now four days of anticipation has begun... will they be as glorious in person?? What will the price point be??!! This Monday has left me with so many questions swimming around in my head. Which leads me to the final lesson that Monday teaches us: Patience is key and as Justin Bobby from The Hills would say, "Truth and time tells all".
Respectfully Yours,
OLIT
I find myself particularly content on this Monday. After a jam packed two days I collapsed into my queen sized mattress last night hours before my normal bed time and and slept an entire extra half an hour this morning! I am glowing from the weekend's escapades but ready to get excited for what's next!
In my immediate future I am excited/hungry for some sort of kitchen creation featuring whatever vegetables I can find in the fridge, some rice, cilantro, and a healthy dose of pepper flakes and hot sauce. In the not so immediate but at the same time no so distant future I see a glorious return to treasure hunting. Itching to get back after a two week hiatus I took a little "off task" time at work to explore next weekend's happenings on EstateSales.Net. Here are a few items that peaked my interest:
Great expectations have been set! Now four days of anticipation has begun... will they be as glorious in person?? What will the price point be??!! This Monday has left me with so many questions swimming around in my head. Which leads me to the final lesson that Monday teaches us: Patience is key and as Justin Bobby from The Hills would say, "Truth and time tells all".
Respectfully Yours,
OLIT
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