Niether Sleet Nor Snow Nor Dark of Night...
Jenn and I went to an Earth Day celebration this weekend in Nashville, and old Ma Nature was in a bit of a drisly (is that a real word?) mood. But did we get discouraged? No! We wrapped up against the rain and ate funnel cake, hot corn on the cob, and learned about houses you can make out of staw and mud. On top of all that, we saw Mindy Smith for the second time in as many years, but this time she was only like 15 feet away. The rain chased most folks off, so we laid a blanet down (it was water-proof) right in front of the stage, and watched her and her band stick it out in the cold and wet to put on an awesome show. And we didn't even know she was going to play when we decided to go.
The next day (Sunday) I went to see Jenn's choir sing Mozart's Requiem at her church. Sakes alive, that little man sure could write the music. And sakes alive, my baby sure can sing. It was beautiful. Especially the Lacrimosa.
On another note, as many of you know (and if you didn't before, you do now) I am thinkning about getting into end-of-life care in my current studies. So, against my better psychometric judgement, I took an online personality test to see what I should be. Here are the results:

Outgoing (E) 72.22% Withdrawn (I) 27.78% Imaginative (N) 60% Realistic (S) 40% Emotional (F) 57.89% Intellectual (T) 42.11% Organized (J) 58.82% Improvised (P) 41.18% Your type is: ENFJ You are a Persuader, possible professions include - entertainer, recruiter, artist, newscaster, writer/journalist, recreation director, librarian, facilitator, politician, psychologist, housing director, career counselor, sales trainer, travel agent, program designer, corporate/team trainer, child welfare worker, social worker (elderly services), interpreter/translator, occupational therapist, executive

Take Free Career Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

So, all you friends and loved ones out there... does this seem to fit me? Or should I chase my lifelong dream of becoming Mr. T? (umm, yeah.)

Suggestions and comments are most welcome.
I hope everyone is doing well.
Peace,
Joe

White Smoke today.

I'm not sure what to think, either. God Bless the new pope. I know that his election came from a great amount of thinking, praying, and consideration of the church's direction in the future from a great many holy people.

But I point your attention to a paragraph from the above - linked article. It reads:

"In the Vatican, he (the new pope) has been the driving force behind crackdowns on liberation theology, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional moral teachings on issues such as homosexuality, and dissent on such issues as women's ordination."

Not exactly progressive. Hmmm.

His predecessor in name was influential in WWI. Here's a short description.

Being a young, western Catholic in the modern world can be a confusing thing. I wonder what will come of this new time in leadership.

Off to read...

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

After many moons of waiting, I got an email today from the National Science Foundation. In december I asked them for a whole bunch of money. Today they told me, ummm, no.

It seems that my application may have been disqualified on a technicality. I hope that they dismissed me on the lack of personal merit, not on whether I put my name in the right place. I have placed an inqiry. I guess I'll post when I find out.

This is all to say that I'll have to go back to selling Lemonade and picking up cans off the side of the road in order to fund graduate school. I'm not bitter. But the Lemonade might be.

Stupid academic world of jockying for money. At least with a 9 to 5 job I'd know how much I was making at the end of the day.

::sigh::

::audience laugh track lets out a big "awwwww"::

I hope everyone is well, and not at the monetary mercy of a large government agency.

Peace,
Joe

Imagine, if you will, a small animal that looks a little like a dog.

Its wearing a shirt that says "Work."

Now imagine that the small dog-like animal would not leave you alone no matter what you did. No treat or amount of coaxing will lead it astray. Yelling in frustration makes it get closer.

I am in that situation right now, and have been now for many weeks. Please, if you know how to get rid of this, let me know.

Outside of this unfortunate stalking, I have some thanks to hand out:
1) Thanks to Jenn for my super stylin' clothes for my birthday. I now own more stylish shirts than I think should be assigned to me, and can look more like I belong next to my beautiful girlfriend.

2) Thanks to my siblings, who got me an iPod Shuffle for my birthday. It, in one word, ROCKS. Along with my new clothes, I exert an overall style that could have many people fooled as to my actual incredible nerdiness.

3) Thanks to my Aunt Gayna, who got me a Mandolin (I have the sunburst finish) for my birthday. I have learned two songs, three chords, and one full scale. I hope to have a song or two ready for fiddler's this year so I can go on stage and pretend that I am Chris Thile.

Also, congratulations to Jenn for getting a summer job at Rocky Mountain National Park at the back-country permits office. Those are some lucky hikers, I tell you.

AND Happy Birthday to:
David
Drew
Carl

and many more to come...

Remember, if you know how to get the small dog-like creature to even let me sleep, I'll pay you like a bazillion dollars to let me know. Or a few of my canadian pennies. Whichever.

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe