aah something or another
I dreamed last night that a relative of mine, still alive in real life, has died, and we're arranging his funeral. YAG performs a bunch of songs in his honor, and I'm going to give a speech. I am dressed in my bathrobe, and self-conscious about the fact that I'm not wearing a suit. Girls who have seen me perform keep coming up to me and hitting on me. After the YAG performance, which was a little sloppy, I look for YAG students to thank them for their participation, but they have all left.
Throughout the dream, I am honored to do the speech, and I feel that it is good, but I also feel like everything is out of my control and a little overwhelming.
A few nights ago, I dreamed I was back at my last student teaching placement, and everything was going all wrong, and I was embarassed.
Last night, I dreamed other stuff that I forgot.
Merry Christmas, or whatever you may celebrate.
My Xmas was pretty nice, spent with my mom and uncle. Xmas Eve at around 3 was tree-getting time. Our tree is small and pleasant. It's a weird tradition to cut down a tree and bring it indoors to decorate, but it seems to continue in this household for now. Interesting that we use "X" as an abbreviation for "Christ" in only one context, "Xmas." Nobody ever writes "Jesus X" or "X the King" or some such thing.
I wonder if I'm going to continue celebrating Christmas when I have my own family. I guess it will depend on the religious leanings of my wife. I think it's a nice enough holiday, but being a non-Christian, it doesn't mean to me what it's probably supposed to mean. It means, y'know, gift-giving, family, warmth, etc. There are some important memories associated with it. The birth of Jesus isn't something I'm especially inclined to celebrate, though.
It would be nice to do something around this time of year, some sort of celebration of family and life. It would be a shame to leave our children out of the festivities.
This is very hypothetical, by the way, as I have no children and no wife.
Ok, anyway, I've been enjoying my relaxing winter break. I've been reading an excellent book called
The Molecules of Emotion by Candance B. Pert and taking lots of baths. They go together well. I'm waiting on both my iBook and my mandolin to arrive in the mail, so it's been good to have something different to do. Tonight, there's a little get-together for the watching of
Napoleon Dynamite, which has recently been released on DVD. I'm wondering about what exciting stuff might happen on New Year's, too, and I'm sure that will be discussed tonight.
I'm looking forward to going back to school and finishing off my degree. I wonder if things will feel much different my last semester. I wonder if it will be depressing sometimes. It's almost pointless to get involved in anything new. I've been thinking about starting a Go club, but with one semester left, I don't know if there'd be any point. And, of course, I'd like to meet an amazing woman to spend time with, but even that would be potentially pointless, with so little time remaining before I go off and do who knows.
It's also pointless to think this way, because it would be impossible to enjoy anything with thoughts like this guiding me. I'm usually pretty decent at "living for the moment," so that'll probably have to be the focus.
I'm also very excited about actually getting a teaching job and starting to get settled somewhere!
So I'm in Troy for the next month or so, and I've been having fun. So far, I've visited YAG, hung with lots of friends, started some projects, and played some games. Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot, not surprisingly, is a hit around here.
Apparently, some people meet at Borders every Monday night to play Go, and I'm going to check it out with Teo and his dad this evening. I'm definitely still a beginner, so if I play with anyone, I'll probably lose badly. I can't wait!
In the Capital District somewhere and wanna hang out?
Give a call!
Much love to all,
Andrew
Finals week, as usual, is generally entertaining and not too stressful for me. Played some microtonal music tonight with Joel. Saw some of season 4 of Mr. Show with Dan and Chris also. Looking forward to going home, sort of, although I'm going to miss my excellent game partners. Winkler and Joel have been coming over for games and staying the night. We play Nomic, and Bunnies, and 3d connect 4, and Sorry, and Tuf-Abet, and story games, and so on! Games are a wonderful diversion. We're going to play Nomic through email over winter break.
So there's this girl. I can't say much about her, because I don't know much about her. I'm interested, though, and so is she, it seems. I asked her to dinner, but she had to cancel, giving me a raincheck for next semester. It would be a lie to say I'm not feeling down about this. I didn't have incredible expectations -- I tried to have none at all -- but I at least thought we'd be able to spend some time together this semester. Maybe it's for the best. I don't know. Eric's coming over to play some Go, and that will be a nice distraction.
