Been a while
Can I say osashiburi without sounding weaboo? Perhaps not, ah well...
Classes have been out for a few weeks now and Summer is setting in. Did I mention in my apartment complex that I have the room the absolute closest to the pool in the whole complex? The place is constantly packed with all the "good" weather (more on that later) we've been having lately, and I'm a part of every party that happens whether I want to be or not due to proximity!
In other news I got the internship and I'm working for Kennesaw State Publishing doing research right now. It's mostly boring and involves just doing research-related stuff, combining empirical data related to book sales with things like consumer reviews and editorials based on the same books to create profiles on certain types of literature that the press is currently trying to publish. Basically it's analyzing the competition, as well as some of the failures to get a picture of the market. Funniest thing about the job so far: Google is a valid source. I literally lol'd when I heard that, and wow that makes me an English geek.
AND I QUIT WOW. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ who delivers us from eeeevvviiilll-ah!
Can't tell you how good it feels to finally be rid of it, or at least part of the addiction. I guess at the end I felt somewhat complete, virtually all my T4 set supplemented with high-end Arena gear, and 100% Kara loot aside from that - I was completely set. I mean, the next step up for me was SSC or Black Temple, and with the literal MOUNTAIN of attunement crap you have to plow through (oh wait, I'm sorry, plow 25+ people through) I just didn't have it in me anymore to log in. And no, I don't have a responsibility to the guild, lol. As a now FOUR year member, I long ago paid my dues to that place, so I don't feel bad walking away with the loot. Hell, I was the only Hunter 90% of the time anyways, and the only one worth a damn 100% of the time. Regardless, I offered my account before departing and no one took, so hey, no regrets.
I don't pay attention to large weather patterns often, but when your brother works in the environmental business, you usually catch wind of these things before others. Basically the South is having a significant drought right now, some smaller water systems in more rural areas of Georgia have almost been in emergency status if it were not for the fact that they were able to link with larger water systems - but this is only a temporary measure at best. Eventually without natural rainfall, the reservoirs WILL run dry, and when that happens, you get a large mob of angry, desperate, panicky rednecks running all over the place (except for the "smart ones" who had their survival bunker already built and stocked for 10+ years back at Y2K.)
Plenty of talk of the future with only one year left in college, but here we get into ***rant territory***. My dad is willing to help pay for grad school, which is good. It's a great opportunity that will help me the rest of my life. However, my choices are limited as an English major when it comes to grad school. The two immediate options are the English Masters of course, and Law school. An English Masters program WILL entitle you to a life of nothing but academia. It is through and through an academic degree designed to be used as a stepping stone into professorship, or academic journal writing, lit crit, etc. Law school is law school - highly competitive from the first day to the last, rife with hurdles and obstacles all along the way and a workload that is designed to weed out those not completely dedicated to the task. However my GPA is not high enough to be competitive to get INTO law school, which is the first problem among many - the others include the fact that I am indeed not fully dedicated to the idea of attending law school, at least now.
My immediate plans right now are to prepare to get an interview with either JET or NOVA and try to get out of the country for a year after graduation without paying much along the way. I can pick up experience that will back up my liberal arts degree (which you're supposed to supplement with internships anyways) and hopefully give me a good place to be when I get back to move on to a more career-oriented path. Now, what career? Good question...
When I told my dad I thought about working at Disneyworld, I don't think he took me seriously, and I wasn't serious enough to try to push him about it and REALLY call hell down myself. He already completely hates the idea of me being out of the country for a solid year, and likens it to throwing away my college education. Now I'm sure if it was in an English speaking part of Europe, he wouldn't give a damn at all. However, this is freaking Nihon we're talking about, not England. I'm sure some of his own fears and prejudices play into it, but largely it is the lack of control he has over the situation. "If you're smart, you'll stay under my financial thumb and attend graduate school." This is the last thing, the last tie he's got. Once this year is up, it's all over. I pay for every red cent and I'm free to go, or I continue to get help and plug out another three years of college for a bigger, fancier piece of paper (and ultimately a bigger paycheck).
But life isn't about a paycheck or owning expensive things. This is something my dad doesn't really get. I don't think he's ever tried to make anything artistic in his life. Granted, he is a product of his environment and experience - a completely self made man who came from absolute and utter poverty to living in the upper middle income bracket while dragging a family along with him since he was a teenager. He never had time to even think about that crap when he had a wife and kid to feed. Without getting too far off subject, he's set in his ways, and there's no changing that - perhaps not even convincing him to accept alternatives AS alternatives. For him, there is one path to success and fulfillment, and that's money. While I understand the importance of money, college has taught me the importance of sanity and how important enjoying what you're doing is when you're forced to do something for a really, really long time.
Anyways, another rant for another time. Too long and not even I will bother to come back and read it! For those of you attending the big ones (AX and SDCC) in the coming weeks, have fun and good luck!
Classes have been out for a few weeks now and Summer is setting in. Did I mention in my apartment complex that I have the room the absolute closest to the pool in the whole complex? The place is constantly packed with all the "good" weather (more on that later) we've been having lately, and I'm a part of every party that happens whether I want to be or not due to proximity!
In other news I got the internship and I'm working for Kennesaw State Publishing doing research right now. It's mostly boring and involves just doing research-related stuff, combining empirical data related to book sales with things like consumer reviews and editorials based on the same books to create profiles on certain types of literature that the press is currently trying to publish. Basically it's analyzing the competition, as well as some of the failures to get a picture of the market. Funniest thing about the job so far: Google is a valid source. I literally lol'd when I heard that, and wow that makes me an English geek.
AND I QUIT WOW. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ who delivers us from eeeevvviiilll-ah!
Can't tell you how good it feels to finally be rid of it, or at least part of the addiction. I guess at the end I felt somewhat complete, virtually all my T4 set supplemented with high-end Arena gear, and 100% Kara loot aside from that - I was completely set. I mean, the next step up for me was SSC or Black Temple, and with the literal MOUNTAIN of attunement crap you have to plow through (oh wait, I'm sorry, plow 25+ people through) I just didn't have it in me anymore to log in. And no, I don't have a responsibility to the guild, lol. As a now FOUR year member, I long ago paid my dues to that place, so I don't feel bad walking away with the loot. Hell, I was the only Hunter 90% of the time anyways, and the only one worth a damn 100% of the time. Regardless, I offered my account before departing and no one took, so hey, no regrets.
I don't pay attention to large weather patterns often, but when your brother works in the environmental business, you usually catch wind of these things before others. Basically the South is having a significant drought right now, some smaller water systems in more rural areas of Georgia have almost been in emergency status if it were not for the fact that they were able to link with larger water systems - but this is only a temporary measure at best. Eventually without natural rainfall, the reservoirs WILL run dry, and when that happens, you get a large mob of angry, desperate, panicky rednecks running all over the place (except for the "smart ones" who had their survival bunker already built and stocked for 10+ years back at Y2K.)
Plenty of talk of the future with only one year left in college, but here we get into ***rant territory***. My dad is willing to help pay for grad school, which is good. It's a great opportunity that will help me the rest of my life. However, my choices are limited as an English major when it comes to grad school. The two immediate options are the English Masters of course, and Law school. An English Masters program WILL entitle you to a life of nothing but academia. It is through and through an academic degree designed to be used as a stepping stone into professorship, or academic journal writing, lit crit, etc. Law school is law school - highly competitive from the first day to the last, rife with hurdles and obstacles all along the way and a workload that is designed to weed out those not completely dedicated to the task. However my GPA is not high enough to be competitive to get INTO law school, which is the first problem among many - the others include the fact that I am indeed not fully dedicated to the idea of attending law school, at least now.
My immediate plans right now are to prepare to get an interview with either JET or NOVA and try to get out of the country for a year after graduation without paying much along the way. I can pick up experience that will back up my liberal arts degree (which you're supposed to supplement with internships anyways) and hopefully give me a good place to be when I get back to move on to a more career-oriented path. Now, what career? Good question...
When I told my dad I thought about working at Disneyworld, I don't think he took me seriously, and I wasn't serious enough to try to push him about it and REALLY call hell down myself. He already completely hates the idea of me being out of the country for a solid year, and likens it to throwing away my college education. Now I'm sure if it was in an English speaking part of Europe, he wouldn't give a damn at all. However, this is freaking Nihon we're talking about, not England. I'm sure some of his own fears and prejudices play into it, but largely it is the lack of control he has over the situation. "If you're smart, you'll stay under my financial thumb and attend graduate school." This is the last thing, the last tie he's got. Once this year is up, it's all over. I pay for every red cent and I'm free to go, or I continue to get help and plug out another three years of college for a bigger, fancier piece of paper (and ultimately a bigger paycheck).
But life isn't about a paycheck or owning expensive things. This is something my dad doesn't really get. I don't think he's ever tried to make anything artistic in his life. Granted, he is a product of his environment and experience - a completely self made man who came from absolute and utter poverty to living in the upper middle income bracket while dragging a family along with him since he was a teenager. He never had time to even think about that crap when he had a wife and kid to feed. Without getting too far off subject, he's set in his ways, and there's no changing that - perhaps not even convincing him to accept alternatives AS alternatives. For him, there is one path to success and fulfillment, and that's money. While I understand the importance of money, college has taught me the importance of sanity and how important enjoying what you're doing is when you're forced to do something for a really, really long time.
Anyways, another rant for another time. Too long and not even I will bother to come back and read it! For those of you attending the big ones (AX and SDCC) in the coming weeks, have fun and good luck!