Well, in2cn, it's been fun. But the time has come to move on. It's not that I'm done travelling, but i'm not in the wind anymore. The time has come to bring my Travel blog to a close.
Now, I am a professional. And that means one thing: getting a professional blog.
Yes, its suits and business cards for me. My resume needs to be online, so I can link to it on a business card. My general musings needs to be pro ice and wicked. This will be, in all likelihood, my last misspelled post on this blog. I think I'll keep the fiction blog though. From now on, if y'all want to know whats up in the lifestyle, check danphipps.blogspot.com.
It's been real, it's been raw.
27.8.08
10.8.08
Just to be perfectly clear:
Lexi and I are not in Georgia any more. And, while we're happy to be safe, we'll be watching the news and hoping everyone else gets the same luxury.
3.8.08
Last Night in Tbilisi
We went to the baths and had kinkali and enjoyed our dang selves. its my last night in tbilisi and at midnight i am home. and now its less than 11 hours before i go back to america. Its hard to say just how i feel about this.
still, i'm doing better than karadzic.
still, i'm doing better than karadzic.
29.7.08
End of Line
And so I find myself looking down the barrel of a trip home, having snuck up rather a bit quicker than I was expecting (of course). Things around the house are fairly chaotic. We've got rapid-fire guests coming through and a farewell party to plan before we bust out the mops and clean up this business. Everywhere is stuff that needs to be packed sooner or later. Lexi and Kate are wrapping up their last-ditch interviews to squeeze that last drop of research out of the country. I'm still looking for jobs and, lazily, applying for them. A lot of craigslist time. A lot of jobs that just suck. Right now my best options are all in writing/editing or sales/bizdev. Tragicly, I haven't done much else! Such is life.
I'm starting to look at higher education again, for a year or two down the line. Its kind of a Venn Diagram, where 1 circle is "Things I Am Interested In" and the other is "Things I Would Be Good At Maybe". It seems that, in spite of my wishes, the intersection between those two groups is, shall we say, wee.
The trick, it appears, is coming up with a question. If one wishes to pursue a brief spurt in academia, you need to think of a REALLY GOOD question that nobody's asked before, but there's enough research AROUND the topic that you can find out the answer. Or, you could just truck out and start doing interviews (which means MORE good questions). Let us describe this track as Track A.
Track B is the practical approach. While Track A is a kind of "I am interested in XYZ thing, I'm gonna get a MA in it and then after that someone will hire me", track B operates in the reverse logic. I want to be an X so i will study Y. Doctor - Med School. Lawyer - Law School. Clown - Clown College. ETC.
This is, of course, a gross simplification. One must burn the candle at both ends. So, there's like a million factors (or, 3) that you have to keep in mind. It needs to be something interesting, that I'd be good at, that ends in an employment I'd like. Economics is interesting and I think i'd like to be an Economist but I doubt i'd be very good at it. I think I'd be a good Lawyer, and it certainly pays the bills, but Ye Gods: Law School! And then there's that infernal question! The question i'm supposed to dedicate my life to answering, then write a book about it. The hope being that I can find a job in some way related to all this, and get started on my long and illustrious career doing whatever.
meh. We'll see what comes of it.
I'm starting to look at higher education again, for a year or two down the line. Its kind of a Venn Diagram, where 1 circle is "Things I Am Interested In" and the other is "Things I Would Be Good At Maybe". It seems that, in spite of my wishes, the intersection between those two groups is, shall we say, wee.
The trick, it appears, is coming up with a question. If one wishes to pursue a brief spurt in academia, you need to think of a REALLY GOOD question that nobody's asked before, but there's enough research AROUND the topic that you can find out the answer. Or, you could just truck out and start doing interviews (which means MORE good questions). Let us describe this track as Track A.
Track B is the practical approach. While Track A is a kind of "I am interested in XYZ thing, I'm gonna get a MA in it and then after that someone will hire me", track B operates in the reverse logic. I want to be an X so i will study Y. Doctor - Med School. Lawyer - Law School. Clown - Clown College. ETC.
This is, of course, a gross simplification. One must burn the candle at both ends. So, there's like a million factors (or, 3) that you have to keep in mind. It needs to be something interesting, that I'd be good at, that ends in an employment I'd like. Economics is interesting and I think i'd like to be an Economist but I doubt i'd be very good at it. I think I'd be a good Lawyer, and it certainly pays the bills, but Ye Gods: Law School! And then there's that infernal question! The question i'm supposed to dedicate my life to answering, then write a book about it. The hope being that I can find a job in some way related to all this, and get started on my long and illustrious career doing whatever.
meh. We'll see what comes of it.
18.7.08
The Theatre
So, last night was Micael's big project. The culmination of a year's work and the past several weeks working 18 hour days putting stuff together.
I helped set up tables!
It was a fun evening. I got to schmooze with rich and powerful people who decide which grants are worth pursuing which was fun in a socialite sort of way. The presentations themself were pretty wild, a bunch of armenian, azeri and georgian collaberative projects which, if you haven't been reading up on your Caucasus history, is a pretty big deal. The ideas were all interesting, the food and wine were good, and the music show afterwards was pretty wild at that. Fire Dancers are always a good way to end the evening. There are pictures, and once again i need to get off my ass and put those on line.
Outside of that, life has been pretty status quo. Preperations are being made to make packing less of a chore, and to travel a bit. Who's got two thumbs and might be going to Yerevan? (This guy!). Most of my big nasty electronics are packed up, and i'm loading up the ol' PSP to the brim in anticipation of the long road home. Out side of that i've been back to writing, going on more runs, and generally being oh so good, oh so fine, and oh so healthy in my body and my mind. You know. The usual.
Tiny update whut?
I helped set up tables!
It was a fun evening. I got to schmooze with rich and powerful people who decide which grants are worth pursuing which was fun in a socialite sort of way. The presentations themself were pretty wild, a bunch of armenian, azeri and georgian collaberative projects which, if you haven't been reading up on your Caucasus history, is a pretty big deal. The ideas were all interesting, the food and wine were good, and the music show afterwards was pretty wild at that. Fire Dancers are always a good way to end the evening. There are pictures, and once again i need to get off my ass and put those on line.
Outside of that, life has been pretty status quo. Preperations are being made to make packing less of a chore, and to travel a bit. Who's got two thumbs and might be going to Yerevan? (This guy!). Most of my big nasty electronics are packed up, and i'm loading up the ol' PSP to the brim in anticipation of the long road home. Out side of that i've been back to writing, going on more runs, and generally being oh so good, oh so fine, and oh so healthy in my body and my mind. You know. The usual.
Tiny update whut?
15.7.08
Author
So I randomly got some praise for the moon fiction blog, so i'm gonna start updating that again. Consider it a hiatus? I was running out of good ideas for it but now I feel a little bit more hip to the new sounds. Go check it out! Tell your friends! Right now i'm just trying to introduce a cast of characters. I won't bore you with details, but it feels good being able to say i pumped out 500 words of fiction today. Makes a man feel clean.
Anyways, I'm still amped on caffeene and misspellings, so i'll have more constructive things to say later. Lexi got home safe, things are generally winding down, things are neither wild nor crazy.
Anyways, I'm still amped on caffeene and misspellings, so i'll have more constructive things to say later. Lexi got home safe, things are generally winding down, things are neither wild nor crazy.
11.7.08
Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Things in Tbilisi are going okay. I'm moving all the money out of my CaC started account just in case they get any funny ideas (and plus i have to do it anyways cuz i don't want open bank accounts here in sunny georgia), running a lot, and writing (also alot). Its easy to get lazy, what with the temperatures being in the low 30's, and i've got to keep drinking water or else i will shrivel up like a prune. I've been wandering around the city a lot, but a lot of time is spent with my head in the clouds. I'm mostly just trying to see things and spend little money until my return, phoenix-like, to america. With politics being what they are, i'm pretty excited to be headed home.
What is it about the knowledge that your house has ants that makes you think that any slight irritation on the skin is one crawling on you? It's developing into a paranoia.
Anyways, I'm trying to enjoy my time here. In fact, i'd go so far as to say i AM enjoying my time here. It's just hard to take things for what they are, and not for what i'm putting behind me in a few weeks.
What is it about the knowledge that your house has ants that makes you think that any slight irritation on the skin is one crawling on you? It's developing into a paranoia.
Anyways, I'm trying to enjoy my time here. In fact, i'd go so far as to say i AM enjoying my time here. It's just hard to take things for what they are, and not for what i'm putting behind me in a few weeks.
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