I am on a quest.

As most everyone knows these days, I have been, well, a bit disgruntled you might say. Restless. And just a few weeks ago my life sort of switched gears a little (see previous post). And by a little I mean alot.

And by restless I mean anxious. And by anxious I mean ready for something. What? I'm not sure. I nice ice cream cone perhaps. A walk. The new Nickel Creek Album. More likely though, I am ready for a change.

You see, I fear change. I dare say most people in my family aren't too keen on it, and I am a wonderful example of that lack of keenness. In fact, I might have the opposite of keenness for it. I'm not sure quite what that is, but I think I have it. A type of anti-keenness born of a whole bunch of change thrown at me like a wet blanket when I wasn't looking.

Change #1: I am considering a break from school. At least, my current program. Not a permanent thing, mind you, and not until this time next year, but a change. I have been in school for 19 straight years now. What's next, you might ask? Not sure. I'll be applying for the Rhodes (again) and a Fulbright fellowship. Maybe I can be a roadie on the next Nickel Creek tour. Maybe I'll go to more school, just for something else. Like Medical School. Why, Joe? You might ask. Well, this is because of change #2: Grandpa's death. I went to Grad School to help people with strokes. Through an unfortunate and unforseeable sequence of events, I haven't done that for the last two years. And it looks like where I am now is not the best place for it. And my sudden enthusiasm for personal challenge sprouts partly from change #3: Jenn's breaking up with me. To be completely honest, I was forming the next few years around being able to be with her, and being able to follow her. Since this no longer applies (see previous post), I am more gung-ho about getting out there and doing something else. "Out there" could be many places. "Something else" could be alot of things.

But anyway, back to the quest: All of this has inspired in me a sort of want-to-be smarty-pants-ness such as I haven't had since attending my dear old Alma Mater. There I began a classic, liberal arts education. The problem is, I don't think I finshed it. So my quest is to at least continue it by reading. I am (no joke) currently working my way through Einstein's Relativity and need more once I finish. I am thinking things like Cicero, Augustine, Virgil, general histories of things (like presidents) and the like. You know, things I probably have no business reading. Any suggestions are most welcome, about any of this. Let old Joe know.

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Its very odd what things can bring consolation in bad times. The other night Nick and I went to Buffet City, a resturant of epic portions. You see, my brother Peeg was the Mayor of Buffet City when he was here in T-town; naturally Nick and I had to go and attempt to make at least councliman. I think we succeeded. And during the process I felt ok about things for a few minutes, other than the growing lump of delicious fullness developing in my stomach.
Felt ok about what? you may be asking. Well, I have posted some pretty personal things here, as my readership is mostly if not all family and friends. So if you are neither, than you might find the following neither amusing nor particularly happy. I'd find another blog to read.
On saturday after my cousin Danni's baby shower, Jenn called from Colorado and broke up with me. Yep. I wish I had more to write about it, but I'm still, well, I don't know. Thats just the point. For a person who loves to talk and can usually comment on anything, I can't find words for this. I am, well... these are bad times.
I've kept up with work, though not too effectively. If anyone has any sage advice for me, I welcome it. Take note that there was no animosity between us, that she is one of the best friends I have ever had, and that my feelings for her have not changed. Her feelings for me changed, though. And this is the result.

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

My very good friend David came to visit last week. We did many fun things, including my first viewing of Napoleon Dynamite, and my introduction to one of the most rediculously entertaining flash cartoons ever. Be warned: you may never get this out of your head.

Ever.

That said, Go Here.

We had an excellent time. As a reference to the above link, David would intermittently pet Julie (a cat) while softly singing, "Its peanut butter kitty time" to himself.

A good time.

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

There is so much to say in this post that I feel I should prepare a lecture, with charts and graphs and a bulleted outline, so that each point may be covered in a full and fair manner.

But I won't.

Instead, I'll ramble. Those of you who know me well understand that this is a gift of mine, the rambling. And, usually, this leads to some great conclusion that invloves many of the fractious parts leading up to it. This, then, is in what I consider to be come vague correlate of temporal progression. Onward, I say.

1) Peeg and Stacy came to visit. For more complete accounts of what happened, see their blogs (linked on the right of this page). All I have to say is that the day they were in T-Town we had the perfect eating day: City Cafe for Lunch, Dreamland for Dinner, and Krispy Kreme for dessert. Oh my yes.

2) I finished my second year of graduate school. I pulled a 4.0 this semester, and my thesis will be done by the end of the summer. I have my comprehensive exam paper underway, and a dissertation idea is a-brewin'. AND I am still alive.

3) I saw Will get his Master's degree. Let me tell you something: my brother is an amazing person. In one year (thats the number 1) he has quit his old job, had a son with Meghan, gotten his Master's degree, and gotten a new job. AND he's still alive, too. Also LIAM IS THE BEST NEPHEW AND CUTEST BABY EVER. No contest. Seriously. Cutest. Ever.

4) Jenn and I celebrated 2 years together. I am a lucky, lucky man. She has yet to get tired of me, and the fact that we live four hours from eachother (She's at Vanderbilt Divinity School) hasn't stopped us either. And yes, you can enter the audience "awwww" track here. Mushy mushy.

5) Jenn and I went to Colorado for a week! We had an unbelievable time. I learned a few things from the trip, too. First, Kansas is flat. And long. Second, I can wear sandals above the fire ant line! Third, I want to teach at CU. Fourth, I love to hike and camp. I never really had the chance to find that out until I got to a place where I wasn't staring at the ground the whole time, looking for ants. And there's a lot to see besides the ground where we went. Like Lost Lake and Lily Mountain. We also stayed in a little Mountain Town called Nederland. Everyone there drives some sort of Subaru. No lie. On the day we left the town I counted 15 just on our way out. The whole reason for the trip was to drop Jenn of in Rocky Mountain National Park, where she's a Ranger in the Back Country Permit office. I hate that she'll be gone for three months, but I love that she's living out a dream of hers. It would be like someone paying me to play basketball or to be in a band with Will. She's been there now a week, and the last time I talked with her she said "I'm happy" in about the happiest voice imaginable. And I don't blame her. You should see the view from her cabin. We took many pictures, and I'll post some as soon as she can get them to me. She's looks purty nice in that uniform, I tells ya. Even if the pants are from 1983.

6) For number six I will put the many things I have inevitably left out. Fell free to fill in the blank here with adventures of your choice. But not too many. I have alot to do this summer.

And a few belated things for my relatives: Happy Birthday to Aunt Gayna, and Happy Anniversary to Will and Megahn.

Hmmmm... what else. Just now I ate some "Tabasco Hot and Spicy Cheez-its" as my afternoon snack in the office. They are good.

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe