More astute readers will be quick to point out that I have not updated either blog for a while. It's been a hell of a week. But, I have come out the other side the stronger for my efforts. Sparing you the ugly details and drama, as of right now i am unemployed with zero job prospects. My employment with both the DoT and CAC went out with a whimper rather than a bang, and i woke up today with 1 month left in Georgia and absolutely no obligations whatsoever.
Today has been a great day, and i briefly forgot what those were like. Woke up, layed in the sun, write a story, listened (like REALLY listened) to Exile on Main Street, had Mac n Cheese, was a good boyfriend, and got back in touch with my friends out here again. And its only 2:30.
Next week Lexi's in DC, as the official Fulbright representative of the entire region, so I'll be on my own to entertain myself. I'm kind of jealous, but it'll be good to have confirmation that america is still there.
Anyways, I've been out of touch, and now I find myself at loose ends. To write a DnD Campaign setting or a story (or both), find the Zoo in Tbilisi, and get my suit finished while wearing my refurbished soviet watch. Oh and apply for gobs and gobs of jobs, as per the norm. Gotta stay in shape, after all.
Anyways, overall things today are pretty :)
peace,
D to the izzan
6.7.08
30.6.08
17.6.08
Everything Aches: Borjomi National Park
A 2-day hike in Borjomi National park seemed like a really fun time. And, truly, it was. Having returned from the experience I feel cleansed. However, when I awoke this morning I found that it quite simply hurt to move. Its a testament to my tough-as-nails demeanor that I was able to get out of bed. To understand how we realized this exciting aspect of my life, lets go over the past 48 hours, shall we?
After taking a Marschutka to the city of Borjomi from which Borjomi glass and Borjomi mineral water comes, we had a quick lunch and found our way to the ranger station of the National Park. We had paid for a guide, the "tourist shelter", sleeping bags, and mats upon which to sleep. We did not have to carry the guide, thank goodness. He would walk himself. Nor did we have to carry the Tourist Shelter, which was already at the designated collapse point. We did, however, have to carry our sleeping bags and mats - an eventuality we had not planned for. Lexi and I, being h4rdcore to teh max, had managed to put all our stuff into one bag which we would then trade off carrying. However, there was not enough room for this bag to hold two sleeping bags and two rolled mats. In retrospect, maybe we should have had two light bags. Ah well. We maintained good humor, and set off.
Borjomi Park was beautiful. Our guide, whose English was quite good, explained several plants to us. The mighty Oak, Elm, Maple, etc. Then, we went uphill. For about four hours. And not like Black Butte uphill but we're talking Cliff Face with a Hill hastly added in and a trail about the width of a matchbox uphill. for FOUR HOURS. Surrounded by natures majesty but constantly aware of the potential to fall to our collective deaths and die. Well, I take that back. Kate just kind of breezed up the damn thing like she was on a segway while I found myself gasping for breath. Apparently Lexi prefers heavy to awkward, so she carried the backpack while i worked with the sleeping bags and mat. Everything worked out okay because after a while time had no more meaning to me, and the repetition of walk 4 steps, look up in wonder, take it in for a sec, take four steps, etc. Which is good because I immediately pulled my groin as soon as we started going uphill at a 45 degree angle.
So we trekked and trekked, the four of us with a stiff upper lip to rival the most anglo of saxons and, tapping into our reserves of strength, made our way up to the top before sundown. Well before sundown, actually, at about 5 pm. For dinner: bread and cheese. Our guide had brought nothing to eat, but he DID have a knife with which to cut things.
We learned 2 things from our guide:
"You are the fastest group."
And
"I forgot to bring vodka. Now I regret."
He told us that if we wanted to go uphill and walk for another 3 or 4 kilometers we could find some Shepards who would happily provide us with georgian moonshine untill we fell over in a pool of our own vomit. We decided we were too tired for this and immediatly went to lie down and rest our eyes.
Kate managed to stay up until sundown. The rest of us fell asleep at about 7 pm, the sun still high in the sky, on hard wooden bunks with a centimeter thick mat which was about as hard as the wood. Harder, possibly. On those hard, hard beds we slept for 12 solid hours. possibly 13. It was kind of amazing to wake up and feel as though I had been beaten with sticks, yet fully refreshed.
The way back was equally majestic, much steeper, and downhill. I practically had to run. Lexi compared it to skiing. It was hard. Mad hard. I thought my knees were going to collapse. But by god, we made it. Pics to come!
And now everything aches, and I have the most important job interview ever in 6 hours and i am FREAKING OUT now so that I can be a cool cucumber later.
After taking a Marschutka to the city of Borjomi from which Borjomi glass and Borjomi mineral water comes, we had a quick lunch and found our way to the ranger station of the National Park. We had paid for a guide, the "tourist shelter", sleeping bags, and mats upon which to sleep. We did not have to carry the guide, thank goodness. He would walk himself. Nor did we have to carry the Tourist Shelter, which was already at the designated collapse point. We did, however, have to carry our sleeping bags and mats - an eventuality we had not planned for. Lexi and I, being h4rdcore to teh max, had managed to put all our stuff into one bag which we would then trade off carrying. However, there was not enough room for this bag to hold two sleeping bags and two rolled mats. In retrospect, maybe we should have had two light bags. Ah well. We maintained good humor, and set off.
Borjomi Park was beautiful. Our guide, whose English was quite good, explained several plants to us. The mighty Oak, Elm, Maple, etc. Then, we went uphill. For about four hours. And not like Black Butte uphill but we're talking Cliff Face with a Hill hastly added in and a trail about the width of a matchbox uphill. for FOUR HOURS. Surrounded by natures majesty but constantly aware of the potential to fall to our collective deaths and die. Well, I take that back. Kate just kind of breezed up the damn thing like she was on a segway while I found myself gasping for breath. Apparently Lexi prefers heavy to awkward, so she carried the backpack while i worked with the sleeping bags and mat. Everything worked out okay because after a while time had no more meaning to me, and the repetition of walk 4 steps, look up in wonder, take it in for a sec, take four steps, etc. Which is good because I immediately pulled my groin as soon as we started going uphill at a 45 degree angle.
So we trekked and trekked, the four of us with a stiff upper lip to rival the most anglo of saxons and, tapping into our reserves of strength, made our way up to the top before sundown. Well before sundown, actually, at about 5 pm. For dinner: bread and cheese. Our guide had brought nothing to eat, but he DID have a knife with which to cut things.
We learned 2 things from our guide:
"You are the fastest group."
And
"I forgot to bring vodka. Now I regret."
He told us that if we wanted to go uphill and walk for another 3 or 4 kilometers we could find some Shepards who would happily provide us with georgian moonshine untill we fell over in a pool of our own vomit. We decided we were too tired for this and immediatly went to lie down and rest our eyes.
Kate managed to stay up until sundown. The rest of us fell asleep at about 7 pm, the sun still high in the sky, on hard wooden bunks with a centimeter thick mat which was about as hard as the wood. Harder, possibly. On those hard, hard beds we slept for 12 solid hours. possibly 13. It was kind of amazing to wake up and feel as though I had been beaten with sticks, yet fully refreshed.
The way back was equally majestic, much steeper, and downhill. I practically had to run. Lexi compared it to skiing. It was hard. Mad hard. I thought my knees were going to collapse. But by god, we made it. Pics to come!
And now everything aches, and I have the most important job interview ever in 6 hours and i am FREAKING OUT now so that I can be a cool cucumber later.
11.6.08
Its lexi's burfday!
So go to Her Blog and wish her a happy one! We are both now 23 so I can't lord my life experiences over her any more - an aspect of life i am sure she will miss. So far Georgia has decided to show its appreciation for Lexi by cutting off power to our house and raining, which she informed me was a first. Still, I think she will have a good day.
As a present to me, I got myself a phone interview with one of the jobs i just applied for and actually really really want. I'm kind of a-twitter. Although now that I think it, I gave them this blog address so they might read it. If they are, I am sure I want to express a cool, confident knowledge that I am the most qualified for the position. Oh yeah. So I'm trying to focus on not getting all hyped out so that I can come off as a classy dude.
The fiction blog is coming along fine. I am going to continue to hock it on you. BLAM! I was totally in the regions on Monday and so the 3rd update was a little late. I'm pretty happy with how its turning out though! So happy I'm not going to bother changing this extra-long link so that if you just randomly click around odds are you'll find yourself at the doorstep of my MAGNUM OPUS.
Anyways, I've been having a pretty good day and hopefully I can transfer that to other people. Also, this blog is getting close to 100 posts! Move over, Gawker Media Empire! There's a new blog on the scene and it is mostly whining about jet setting! Because I am a Jet Setter.
Anyways, things are pretty jazzy out in Georgia, I'm doing Oh-Kay, and i think i'll get a haircut today!
Peace,
Dan
As a present to me, I got myself a phone interview with one of the jobs i just applied for and actually really really want. I'm kind of a-twitter. Although now that I think it, I gave them this blog address so they might read it. If they are, I am sure I want to express a cool, confident knowledge that I am the most qualified for the position. Oh yeah. So I'm trying to focus on not getting all hyped out so that I can come off as a classy dude.
The fiction blog is coming along fine. I am going to continue to hock it on you. BLAM! I was totally in the regions on Monday and so the 3rd update was a little late. I'm pretty happy with how its turning out though! So happy I'm not going to bother changing this extra-long link so that if you just randomly click around odds are you'll find yourself at the doorstep of my MAGNUM OPUS.
Anyways, I've been having a pretty good day and hopefully I can transfer that to other people. Also, this blog is getting close to 100 posts! Move over, Gawker Media Empire! There's a new blog on the scene and it is mostly whining about jet setting! Because I am a Jet Setter.
Anyways, things are pretty jazzy out in Georgia, I'm doing Oh-Kay, and i think i'll get a haircut today!
Peace,
Dan
6.6.08
Lonely
Every day this week I came into work at about 10 am so's i can leave earlier, and every day I've been alone for at least two hours. This has made it easy for me to update Moon Fiction again. These past two updates have not been particularly exciting, but I feel like I need to establish and infrastructure. Its kind of an alternate history, set into motion by one man's obsession. On monday I promise we'll start having proper adventures on the Moon. I've got a pretty big buffer to choose from, I just want to establish a general timeline before I get started. I had my doubts but actually, i'm finding a blog an interesting medium to write in. Its like a coloring book. I've got this overarching general Idea, and because i can just label each post with what year it happens I can just color in the general idea until its done. The only problem is I seriously doubt this is going to turn into real money. But then, that was never the point. I can write in chapters, its fun.
Work is good, everything's good, one of my classes is ending on thursday finally thank god, and i'm writing again. Its becoming clear that I need structure to my life. I've been a lot happier ever since i started coming to work at 10 am every day. I have to get up a little earlier but it just is so much easier for me to find a rythem when everything is in order. I go to work, I write up cover letters for completely sexy jobs I'll never get, I write fiction, I look up news about DnD4, I write about Georgia, and then i Go teach English. Everything is as it ought to be. All thats left is my jonesing for whatever misc. nerd hobbies i had. Pen and Paper RPGs, Rock band, and modding my PC.
Christ, I need to get a life.
Work is good, everything's good, one of my classes is ending on thursday finally thank god, and i'm writing again. Its becoming clear that I need structure to my life. I've been a lot happier ever since i started coming to work at 10 am every day. I have to get up a little earlier but it just is so much easier for me to find a rythem when everything is in order. I go to work, I write up cover letters for completely sexy jobs I'll never get, I write fiction, I look up news about DnD4, I write about Georgia, and then i Go teach English. Everything is as it ought to be. All thats left is my jonesing for whatever misc. nerd hobbies i had. Pen and Paper RPGs, Rock band, and modding my PC.
Christ, I need to get a life.
4.6.08
Why did I write a whole bunch about governments a few days ago?
Because my work has gotten boring, and I need something to engage myself. Which is why I am finally going to do something. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday i'm going to update moonfiction.blogspot.com with about 500 words of story. This is more for me than it is anything else, but I need a schedule or else i'll stop entirely. That's been the theme so far anyways. The story takes place kind of randomly over the course of about 200 years, from 1901 to 2101. Given time enough, it will describe a timeline from the decision to terraform the moon, the launch itself, the colonization, the massive industrialization of earth and the fight for independance. I've got a pretty big buffer worked up already, so that's good. Anyways, the first bit is up there, which I think sets the tone pretty well. Hopefully I can keep this up for a while!
Dan
Dan
29.5.08
What else should I be?
I've gotten a few questions about the last blog post. Aw shucks, didn't know you cared.
I've got a sinking suspicion that my job schedule is going to finally even out next week. odds are, i'm just plain wrong, if the past is any indicator. Ah well. Came to work at the DoT today and I was the first person in the office, which is always a funny feeling. Whats odd is that I haven't been able to really do anything at work. Usually when I'm slacking off I'm trying in vain to write fiction or one of the two thousand cover letters that demand my immediate attention so i can get a job doing wheelies on the moon riding a motorcycle made of tigers, or whatever else dream job i'm being offered. At the end of the day most of my real world work experience has been teaching English which is fairly remarkable in a place like anywhere but western Europe and north America but guess what that is where i want to live. And, much like a bachelors of the arts in psychology, it applies to everything and nothing. Its a zen Buddhist resume I've got. Aside from 1.5 months of search engine optimization I've got half of nothing to point to on my resume except enemies from china who are, coincidentally, stealing a box of my shit as we speak and if it weren't for Marcel I'd be S.O.L. and I'm not talking about the nearest star.
It's almost June. I've got my may paycheque a-comin' and and 2 more after that. Saving money is harder than I had though :(. Still, I could live off my wages from teaching before, I'll be able to do it again and now that I've got other work that means I should have something of a nest egg to come home with. After that, well, we'll see.
Rock on over chicago,
Dan
I've got a sinking suspicion that my job schedule is going to finally even out next week. odds are, i'm just plain wrong, if the past is any indicator. Ah well. Came to work at the DoT today and I was the first person in the office, which is always a funny feeling. Whats odd is that I haven't been able to really do anything at work. Usually when I'm slacking off I'm trying in vain to write fiction or one of the two thousand cover letters that demand my immediate attention so i can get a job doing wheelies on the moon riding a motorcycle made of tigers, or whatever else dream job i'm being offered. At the end of the day most of my real world work experience has been teaching English which is fairly remarkable in a place like anywhere but western Europe and north America but guess what that is where i want to live. And, much like a bachelors of the arts in psychology, it applies to everything and nothing. Its a zen Buddhist resume I've got. Aside from 1.5 months of search engine optimization I've got half of nothing to point to on my resume except enemies from china who are, coincidentally, stealing a box of my shit as we speak and if it weren't for Marcel I'd be S.O.L. and I'm not talking about the nearest star.
It's almost June. I've got my may paycheque a-comin' and and 2 more after that. Saving money is harder than I had though :(. Still, I could live off my wages from teaching before, I'll be able to do it again and now that I've got other work that means I should have something of a nest egg to come home with. After that, well, we'll see.
Rock on over chicago,
Dan
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