Hi-ho, Hi-ho…

This coming May, almost a year to the day after I cleaned out my desk at my first real job, I’m going to be re-entering the world of cubicle dwelling amidst the smell of inkjet toner and stale coffee.  When I quit my job, with the intention of knocking out a pair of masters degrees as quickly as possible, I failed to consider a few crucial details:

-Colleges don’t seem to make sure that people majoring in both tree hugging and capitalistic exploitation aren’t faced with conflicting course times.

-You can’t buy things if you don’t have money, and you can’t get money if you don’t have a job.

-I am completely incapable of focusing on any one thing for a significant length of time.

These hiccups have forced me to sketch out a plan for the next three years, namely going to grad school close to full time, working close to full time, and occasionally watching cartoons in my pajamas while eating Cheetos for breakfast.   While on paper said plan should be solid, it does leave me feeling rather uncertain.  Part of this strategery includes getting an apartment (Thanks for not charging rent Mom!), attempting to pay tuition without loans, having things like insurance and food, and keeping myself well supplied with beers.  I’m going to be working at my old job, albeit on a contract basis.  This gives me not only wonderful flexibility in terms of my work schedule, weekly hours and location, but also a big honkin’ raise.  In theory.  I’m a little concerned about my ability to put in enough productive hours to make ends meet, although I will still have the ability to lean on Uncle Sam a bit for student loans.  I’m also a little worried about being able to manage knowing that my job work, along with my school work, is always incomplete at the end of the day, and making sure I can walk that line between relaxing enough to stay sane and working enough to remain employed and enrolled.

At least I can now right off printer paper as a tax deduction.  I have a feeling I am going to become quite proficient at making paper airplanes and those little origami cranes that never come out looking like birds.

Back to the Future

This past Sunday Em and I saw the Cleveland Orchestra, which is generally regarded as one of the best, if not the best, orchestra in the country, perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It was part of my Christmas gift, and it was wonderful – I love seeing classical music performed lived, and as a Sunday afternoon show it was amusingly accentuated by the falling head of old men falling asleep. Afterward, we grabbed dinner and spent an hour exploring a used book store connected to the restaurant. Scrounging around in a basement with a painfully low ceiling, we made some amazing finds.

Out of a stack of 40-year-old National Geographics, I found issues highlighting, among other articles, global cooling, population problems, energy worries and the Apollo program. I also managed to pick up first editions of The Population Bomb by Ehrlich and Gaia by Lovelock, which along with Silent Spring are probably two of the more influential environmental books of the past century. I’m exciting to read them – my bookshelves are dominated by very recent non-fiction and pre-depression fiction, with very little crossover.

While renting a DVD, we also found a big collection of VHS movies for a buck…a melee of grabbing titles ensued. Now if only I had some free time…

Going to the mattresses

Last night, for the first time, I saw The Godfather. I had anticipated that viewing the movie would have acted as some sort of rite of passage, checking off one more box on that long list of things guys must do before we become “All that is man”. And while I did enjoy the movie, I was left feeling somewhat hollow after it ended. I didn’t feel any more manly, if anything less so, as the realization struck me that the biggest impact the movie had on me was that I finally understood a couple of comments that Tom Hanks made to Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail.

I thought Marlon Brando was impressive, but I’m not sure if that was because I actually thought he did a good job or because I’ve always heard he was amazing in the movie and adjusted my expectations accordingly. I refuse to believe everything the man did was magical…I saw The Island of Dr. Moreau. Al Pacino was better – he used to look good back when he was eating things. Didn’t realize until afterward that Robert De Niro was in the movie.

On one level, the movie did speak a lot about loyalty, respect, violence, and to a lesser degree, love. Al Pacino seemed to get over his first wife getting blown up rather quickly, but then again he stated his intention of marrying her after seeing her herding a group of kids wearing a purple dress, so who knows? I’m sure my understanding will be furthered when I get around to Part II.

(I realize that its possible to add imdb links to all of the actors and movies above. I just don’t care enough to do so.)