Cognitive Dissonant

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
“…this distinction may help us understand the difference between public and private spaces…”

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can…what do you touch first?
Bed frame.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
“Animatrix”

4. WITHOUT LOOKING, what time is it?
2am

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
2:07am

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear:
My upstairs neighbor’s TV.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?:
This evening, walking to my apartment.

8. Before you came to this website, what were you looking at?

www.Instructables.com

9. What are you wearing?
boxer-briefs

10. What did you dream last night?
No idea

11. When did you last laugh?
Watching Dragnet with the folks tonight.

12. What’s on the walls of the room you’re in?:
“The Great Wave” by Hokusai and a Jack Vettriano.

13. Seen anything weird lately?:
Assorted physical symptoms of feline diseases while looking for reference material for a sculpt of a healthy cat.

14. What do you think of this survey?
It updates my blog.

15. What’s the last film you saw?
“Definitely, Maybe”

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
Pay off all my debts, my Parents’ and my Sister’s.

17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know.
If you don’t know, there’s probably a valid reason and I’m not going to blow it now by proxy.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, what would you change?
Geographically: I would move Australia much closer to the states. (without changing anything else about Oz.)

Geo-Politcally: I would put everyone east of the Mediterranean in Time-Out.

Historically: Library of Alexandria did not burn down.

Ecologically: … the Automobile is abandoned in favor of walking and cycling.

19. Do you like to dance?
If you can call it that… no, even then. ;p

20. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Daughter

21. Boy?
Boy

22. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Depends on a lot of variables… but Absolutely. 

Well, lets see…

December 15th 2007: “How soon can you be in El Paso?”

December 17th 2007 - April 27th 2008: Running a store to the best of my abilities in El Paso. Beautiful store. Great kids. Dry, sandy country. Approximately 20 hours flying between home and work.  A couple of friendships that I could have done more to maintain. The relationship with my manager continued deteriorated.  Not my fault, he is an asshole, but I will probably be more successful in keeping mum in the future.

May: Transferred at the last minute to newest store working under the most duplicitous, spineless, deceitful, and sweaty sorry son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever met. Nice store. I hired several good kids.

July: Started spending more and more time with a woman my own age for once. Would have become something if not for having been misled about one relationship and another going altogether unmentioned. I was confused, frustrated and hurt. Another prime example of why dating coworkers is a bad idea.

August 2nd: Pulled aside by my store manager and warned that I might be terminated soon.

August 5th: Fired from DSW Shoes because my first go at running a store, in a remote area, for 5 months, was unsatisfactory, and because I estimated a time incorrectly and thus brought question to my credibility, and because I prioritized and did not complete two tasks requested my my incompetent store manager. [More likely because I made too much money as an Assistant Manager and promoting me would have been very expensive.]

August 14th: Began working at a staffing agency helping out with a major account. Less than a 3rd of my previous income, but with negligible stress.

August 29th: 1st date with former co-worker. Spent almost every day of the next two weeks with her.

September 9th: Wonderful date celebrating her birthday.

September 20th: Attended her bbq with complete strangers. Admired her from afar. Was completely misunderstood. She explains she just needs time. Coming from a background at times more miserable than most could imagine as well as being only 4 months distant from a broken engagement, she does not know who she is or what makes her happy. She does not want to lose herself in another relationship.

October: I end up solely responsible for hiring another 400 associates, dispite having been hired as a temp.

November: Fired from staffing agency because the client couldn’t get their facts straight. Filed for and granted Unemployment Insurance.

December: Finished everyone’s christmas gifts on time, for once.

I managed to spend quality time, and cherish my parents and sister, more than I had been able to in the last year or two.  I got to watch my niece grow. Reunited with “the girl I took to prom.” Actively working on a working replica from a prop featured in a movie, a 4′ tall Easter Island Head, a Shoji lamp, Arduino hardware and software, and 5 sun/moon jar inspired lamps.

With the exception of the last month… not the most fun I’ve ever had. Here’s hoping that ‘09 is more forgiving.