How Things Are Goin'

Work:
Since August I've been working two jobs. Promo Wednesday-Saturday, Crazy Mocha Saturday-Tuesday. Enjoy them both a lot, but do not get paid enough and would very much like real job, normal schedule, benefits, and, well, yeah, to get paid more. =)

Friends:
Amanda's wonderful weekend visit was this past Friday to Sunday. Not enough time, but so nice to see her! We frolicked about the 'burgh in some of the most miserable weather Western PA could throw at us. I miss her already.

Travel:
Headed to London on Sunday. I know, it's been a long time (by Shannon standards). Looking forward to getting my ass off this continent for a li'l while. The 10ish days away are a much needed retreat.

Health:
Nothing to report. Still sick. No improvement. Still hopeful.

Schpiel:
Balance is the name of the game right now, and I don't have it. And the department that is suffering is definitely in my personal relationships. I just cannot be there as much as I want to be for the people in my life. Between working every single day and not feeling like doing anything when I'm not I am finding it impossible to keep in touch, catch up, and attend all the things I so desire to. I feel as though I am in a major transitional stage, but instead of it lasting a couple of months until I move home from grad school and get settled into a job and a place, I'm looking at a year or more of struggling financially and physically.

the Plan:
My desire is to land a job, a regular old 9-5 that pays around $35,000 a year. And stay in said job for a year. In that year, stay at home, pay off most of my debt (student loans will be around for a while...), and get healthy (I believe this can happen). At that point move to Tokyo for a year of teaching English. This can be followed by any number of delightful adventures, including snagging an Americorps position in the Pacific Northwest or moving to LA with friends. I'd still really like to be a roadie for a not so notable punk, rock, indie, hardcore, or whatever the fuck band. =) (Musicians will be jumping at the chance to hire me with that attitude.)

Tidbit:
I took a quiz about what kind of person you are in Oprah magazine (don't judge me!) and the results were scary-right. Here it is:

YOU ARE STRIVING TO BE SPONTANEOUS
You are an adventurer: Action-oriented, curious, outgoing, and often technically gifted, you live for new experiences. You are drawn to risk-taking and aren't afraid to fail. Generally restless, you tend to job-hop or choose a field that offers constant novelty. If you had to name your favorite place, it might be the center of attention—you're a born entertainer, and can easily adapt to any audience. While you collect many acquaintances, you're less likely to develop deep, committed relationships.What to watch out for: When you can't satisfy your thirst for variety and excitement, you may see yourself as trapped, which can lead to impulsive and self-destructive behavior—drinking, drugs, breaking off relationships, ditching financial responsibilities. Try to find value in some traditions; if you learn to appreciate repetitive experiences, you won't always feel the urge to bust free. And when a new opportunity thrills you, keep in mind that just because it sounds exciting, that doesn't mean it's good for you.Looking ahead: Life will have meaning for you as long as you feel stimulated. That might mean chasing twisters, exploring the polar ice caps, getting a degree in dance therapy, or becoming an astronaut. It might also mean reading new books, attending workshops, or letting yourself get swept up in an intoxicating romance. As a risk-lover with a lot of energy, you're a natural entrepreneur. You'll be happiest if you change jobs every so often and travel extensively. Movement is what keeps you going.

Well, that's me for sure. How funny.

Spring Break Has Kinda Begun

So, I'm not in the clear. I still have the oral defense of my comps, I'm not sure how I did on them, and there's the rest of the semester to worry about. I also haven't just breathed out this huge sigh of relief or anything either. My health stuff is still an issue and I've been so tightly wound over all of this that just relaxing is hard.

But, I doooooo feel a 1,000 times better and with comps out of the way (at least the prepping for them) I feel like I can put my energy and attention to other purposes now, which is nice.

I have some grading to do before I skedaddle outta here to LAS VEGAS on Sunday (eeeeaaaarrrly Sunday). Other than that, I'm pretty much done with work till I get back. I'm certainly not getting a jumpstart on all the stuff to come. Screw that; I've been working hard enough.

Last night was delightful. After class, Amanda and I went to Baker's Street Pub. We had way too many wings, two margaritas and an Irish Car Bomb in honor of St. Patrick. ;) I also made a complete fool out of myself in front of one of the band members who were playing. Wireless guitars are really tricky sometimes...

Anyway, feeling a lot better overall. Hoping for brighter posts in the future!

Socialite Day

Shannon desperately needed to get to work researching for her final term paper of the semester, a thirty page monster for Myth, Symbol, Media...due Monday.

She awoke Friday feeling less that thrilled about the prospects for her day--write in her apartment, write at Starbucks, write in her office, you get the idea.

But before she retired herself to boredom and depression, she decided to do the rounds online. You know the drill: Gmail, CU mail, facebook, Myspace, maybe squeeze in a little YouTube. She halted her progress when she read a new wall posting from Amanda on facebook. In great detail, Amanda laid out the ingredients for what could very well be THE PERFECT DAY:

Haircuts and shopping at the Flatirons Mall
the world's most amazing happy hour at the Mediterranean restaurant
lazy time
the gym
and out on the town!

Shannon could not resist. "Aw, what the hell," thought Dickerson, "Everyone deserves to live like a socialite one day a week...err, year."

And so socialite day commenced. Shannon got a trim and new boots, a scarf, an umbrella, a stainless steel water bottle, and a Victoria's Secret top. She scarfed down $2 tappas and sipped a $4 sangria. She watched We Own the Night lazily on Amanda's couch. She attemped jumping rope at the gym and realized that it is actually possible for a person to be bad at that. And then, the day really got heated up as it turned to night.

Everything started off pretty calm. The plan was 3 drinks, no more. Beginning at Connor O'Neils and ending up at Around Midnight. At first, it all seemed like things were going to go as was expected. Two drinks at the pub, and then their third at the club. Unfortunately, the ladies realized that they were trading off buying rounds, and therefore, an odd number would not due.

Four then? Four it would be.

For starters.

So the ladies ordered their fourth--but this time, make it shots! "We're hear to have it good time, it's socialite day after all." And here things really took the turn. Shannon decided that she had her eyes on the tender of bar who served them their shots. And so, the way to keep him around was obviously to order more.

Much more.

So, around drink # 9 (those are all the ones we can account for...who knows what the actual total may be), things were getting pretty silly. The ladies literally pounded one after another without break or hesitation, constantly making eyes at said bartender, and flirtatiously asking for him to make new and fun drinks. Upon finding out his name, Jason, Amanda-face thought it appropriate to school him on some Jason fun-fact trivia, saying that his name was the calendar months: July, August, September, October, November. (Shannon was not of sound enough mind to understand this reference until sometime today. )

Short guy at the bar, a.k.a. Frodo (you can't blame me for that; it was all Amanda) chatted our ears off, but was quite fun. The bartender laughed at Shannon's pathetic drunken attempts to flirt with him, and, though he was attentive and polite, didn't seem particularly interested. Never asked for the number. Never initiated any interaction.

[[[Not too terribly weird; I realize I'm not irresistible, people. But, well, I'll save the shocker that doesn't quite gel with the other accounts for later...]]]

Anyway, when the lights came up and the place closed down, Shannon and Amanda found themselves outside with another bartender, David. While Shannon watched in one parts amusement, one parts horror, Amanda insisted that David give Jason's phone number to them, because, "This is my friend, and she likes him, and she's really great, and, I mean, look at her. So can you give us Jason's number." Oddly enough, the stranger didn't oblidge to give his co-worker's digits to the drunk girls making asses of themselves outside of a bar at 2:30 in the morning in the freezing cold. Go figure. He did repeat several times, however, "Ladies, promise me one thing, that you're not going to drive tonight." And even their threats to do just that if we left without Jason's number were made in vain.

Not wanting the greatest day on record to end, the ladies headed to, where else, the gentlemen's club. The bartender actually recommended it to them, as it was the only place open at that time in the night, was located a mere block away, and (most importantly) didn't serve alcohol. What happens behind those doors stays there, but I will tell you Shannon stole a significant amount of their individually wrapped life-saver supply. Mwah, hahaha.

So, the rest is a bore. Home. Bed. Whatev. But here's the really exceptional part. (switching to first person)When the alarm went off and I readied myself for choir practice I started to panic a bit, not at the amount of money I had likely dropped on booze in a pathetic attempt to flirt with a service worker, but rather at the absolute horror of possibly not tipping an appropriate amount due to my intoxicated state as I had zero recollection of closing out my tab. All cards were accounted for though. Hopefully my partner in crime would have details.

Amanda and I hit up Panera for lunch later today and as we recounted the events of last night she stopped me dead in my tracks. "You know, I only paid for one round last night. My bill was fourteen dollars. And those were the first ones, that the other bartender served us." At first, I was a little terrified at these implications. Did that mean that ALL of the other drinks had ended up on my tab?

"You didn't have a tab there last night."

And then what seemed to be the impossible was shaping itself into reality. That bartender--the seemingly uninterested one--had not charged Amanda or myself for upwards of $100 in alcohol. Two things. 1. Awesome. 2. What gives?

In any event, that's my best attempt at an entertaining account of socialite day. I highly recommend that everybody take at least one. It's really...social.

zzzzzzzz...

My dad's sleeping in the room where my computer is and I don't have wireless, so I can't really type right now.

Here's some cool stuff from today, though:
Casa Bonita!

This picture is fantastic because, not only did I get the angle perfect for all of our faces, but there is a man juggling fire coming out of my head.




Dr. D's band, the CurbFeelers at Left Hand Brewery in Longmont

A (school) year in review

As is to be expected, this is a personal reflective post. I guess all I can do is apologize--yet again--and promise better content in the future. For now, I need this.

This was a fantastic little scene at the pond on campus today. There were actually 2 more on there, who startled when Ethan and I came close and jumped in for a swim.

I am done with my first year, and what a year it was. Wow, I have experienced so much and changed so dramatically. From riding in the rented car with Mom, Dad, and Eric crying about my irrational decision to commit myself to a "sprawling suburban hell hole" I had never even visited, to where I sit today, happy, healthy, accepted and better for it.

God truly does work wonders in our lives; in my life I see it.

Out here I have found foundation in a church which represents my beliefs and embraces others'. I have found relationships like I had not known before in my colleagues, professors, random acquaintances, and even students. I have found satisfaction and purpose in teaching. I have found challenge and discovery in my academic pursuits. I have found growth and change in owning up to responsibilities, making decisions, and evaluating my circumstances. I have found excitement and spontaneity in experiences with people who are not like myself, and not familiar to me. I have found fear in not knowing where I will go after this endeavor. I have found faith in my ability to accomplish anything life may hand to me. I have found hope in the reality that transition just takes time--but it does take. I have found pleasure in the simple tossing of a frisbee. I have found comfort in the sipping of cheap wine. I have found lust in unexpected encounters. I have found humility in making mistakes in front of disgruntled 20-somethings. I have found a deeper, stronger, reciprocal love between my parents and myself. I have found peace in Boulder, Colorado.

Katie and myself at Brasserie Ten Ten. Our final class meeting for Space and Materiality.

And, just for fun, some highlights:
Smoking
Boulder hating
Shanethanon, Shanthan, Shanethan, etc.
Korean Karaoke
Pub Quiz
Denver
"Undergrad" nights
Motet
AK 47
Starbucks card from Angela
Lecturing
Frisbee!
Mediterranean Restaurant
No Country for Old Men
Dark Star
The Buffoons
Around Midnight
Choir
Writing 6 major term papers (the accomplishment, not the process)
Weekend trip home
NCA
Fox Japan tour
Immortal Technique
Biking
Hot Yoga
San Diego
Santa Barbara
NYC
Photo shoots
Cartoons w/ Ethan
Just hangin' around, dickin'

FIRE!

Hellems is burning!

eh, not really. But this is the third fire drill in my building this semester. wtf?

I propose a new way of thinking. Not new as in, I originated this concept, but new in the sense that it seems no one has adopted it, and so I call for a change.
Higher education is anything but. There are few who take their education seriously. I am quite convinced of this. Undergraduates are not the only ones guilty of this. I look around me and see so many people much more concerned with CV packing and submission obsessing than their personal reading lists, projects, and intellectual interests. Of course, there is good reason for their toil--a system is in place that rewards those preoccupied with the things that do not matter. But, I feel that if we, the students and professors, abandon that practice, soon it would fade into oblivion and we would be free to formulate thought, revitalize community, and (yes, yes) actually speak to the world's problems (no lie, I have no desire to do this with my research, but, whatever, it seems everyone else does). It's just a thought...not very well formulated or even articulated here. But, hey, we all gotta start somewhere.

Party like a Rock Star (or just an undegrad)

Amanda had a Bye, Bye Radioshack party last night to celebrate her last day of work. But, the pics were taken after midnight, so it counts as today.



Let's reflect on some lyrics, shall we? Here is a transcript of the lyrics from Fox Japan's "Divorce"

Enjoy!

We'll get divorced or maybe we'll get separated.
Either way, it's strange and faded lives.
It was a downtown mall or was it just a cemetary,
a mineshaft with a dead canary.

I'm in the car, 'cause it's done, it's done.
Thought that livin' and needin' someone were one.
Now I know I was spectacularly wrong,

And I'm goin' straight on from the church to the titty bar,
Changin' at work and sleepin' in my car,
I'm savin' up and I'm tryin' to restart.

I was Hispanic, or maybe I was Filipino,
Maybe black and maybe white, so what?
You call it boredom -- there is some truth to that, maybe --
It's not really that I'm bored, it's that I hate you, baby!

I still shake rice form the pockets of my suit,
I'm tunin' out and hitting you.
I'm filing for divorce.
I look to the sky with my mouth agape
And think of this fear I can't escape.
I'm filin' for divorce.
No soccer games or comparing costs,
No loading trucks for my asshole boss.
I'm leaving and getting divorced.
Sup, oh I cannot force again, be an adult.
I'm filin for divorce.
[The one part] young [that I don't know] independent thought,
But later I'd feel different now.
I filed for divorce.
I'm leavin' town, I'm gone away, to start again, because today,
I must admit, this is no way that I can live, so I finally say:

I hate my life! I hate my life! I hate my job! I hate my wife! I hate my kids! And worse is this: it's over, it's ending, oh I'm done pretending...

That if we had a Jeep I could be happy.
That if we just lost weight I could be happy.
That if I could quit drinkin' I'd be happy.
That if we had a boy, I could be happy.

for your kids