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The problem with website stats is one can actually see how many people have fleed. I guess I better think of more interesting things to write about…

When I told my college marching band director, Heidi Sarver I was going to go work for a certain drum and bugle corps’ organization, she frowned. They don’t know how to have fun, she said. I started with the organization in 1998. In 2000 they started trying to have fun. In 2002, this past weekend in Philadelphia they finally figured it out. My boss there wasn’t always someone I agreed with, but he did write a good short story about the show, and I agree with everything he had to say.

One weekend, two drum corps shows, several job offers? Well, job invitations really. Do I want to throw my hat in the ring and teach again? New Jersey? Connecticut? The starting salary for teachers in Connecticut is higher than what I’m getting paid now… but we know it’s not about the money… It’s about being in front of the students and sharing knowledge and making a difference in the lives of young people. I guess it won’t hurt to send out my resume.

I saw this article several months ago. (Apparently MSN recycles its articles pretty often. I wonder if this is due to the American tendency to have a short “MTV” attention span. Hm. Now what was I talking about? Oh yeah, the article.)

I saw this article several months ago and came across it again today. It describes the peculiar phenomenon where people pay $1,000, $5,000, even $200,000 for personalized matchmaker services. Here’s a quote from the article, quoting a high-priced matchmaker:

“I don’t think the women who are coming to me want to meet a starving artist,” Winston says, with a refreshing candor. “They want a provider. And I feel bad because, in my photography business, I represent a lot of starving artists — and they’re great guys.”

I went to see the New York Philharmonic perform (for free) in Central Park last night. It was a bit of a fiasco as Darren already explained, and we missed all of the William Tell Overture and some of a ‘cello concerto. We did hear an entire Rachmaninoff symphony which was actually pretty good. (I’m not normally a Rachmaninoff fan though I like the other Russian composers.)

Today I got to work early so I can leave at a time decent enough to get to Westchester to see a drum and bugle corps show (for free).

Sigh [of relief]. It’s good to be “in control.” A year ago around this time I was in debt, and continually spending more money on things like bills and transportation and rent than what I was being paid, and having a horrible experience with people at work. I was looking for reasons to get out of that situation, but the reasons kept staring in my face. Even my friends told me I had to get out of there as it was just doing horrible things to my psyche.

Well, after a few months of no rent payments thanks to my father and his girlfriend, and thanks to a job that provides a salary that at least makes sense, the only debt I have left is a few thousand dollars on a student loan. They tell me that student loans are good debt, so I’m not worried. Even better, I am able to afford all of my monthly payments and still have money left to put into savings. That’s a first for me since I started working.

Now I can start saving for things that are important to me, such as future kids, future family in general, future “retirement,” future vacations, and the future in general.

So, now that I am in control, I feel much better than I have in years. I’m happy… and it’s not just the money issues. I just feel good in general. Sure I still have some questions about where I’m heading, but now I know that I am in control of that.

I haven’t really said a lot about me lately. I’m not sure why that is. Perhaps it’s just because I haven’t really had a lot of time to myself lately. When I was “visting” my father and his girlfriend for a few months earlier this year, I had a lot of time to myself. I read good books, I watched a lot of Nick at Nite, I worked out a bit, I programmed, I even thought about my life. Now that I’m working full time plus, and spending almost the entire time I’m not working with other people, I don’t really have that much time to myself. In fact, since within the next week or two I’ll be moving in with three friends, I’ll have even less time to myself (unless you count the time sitting on the train in the morning and the evening).

When I have had a chance to think, I’ve been contemplating too many different things. I think about leaving New Jersey; trying to find another job in another part of the country… but it’s hard to just leave and start new somewhere else without any sort of leads or connections, unless I want to start at the low rung of the ladder… again. I’ve been thinking about what my ultimate goal is, and I haven’t come to any conclusions. I love music, I love computers, I love learning, but where does that get me? I’ve been thinking of going back to school… but if I do, it would have to be for something big. I’ve been toying with the idea of being some sort of “music lawyer” (not a courtroom type of lawyer). I know that being a lawyer isn’t an idea that people “toy” with, but yet I still toy with the idea. I’ve taken a look at bits of the LSAT, and I am confident that I can do very well on the exam with practice.

But maybe it’s not for me. If there were only a way for me to do something that involved all of my crazy interests, and to be paid well for doing it (someday I want to be able to help provide education for my future kids)… but I guess that is everybody’s dream.

According to a Princeton Review report, my father’s grad school, Cooper Union is the toughest school in the country to get into, beating out Harvard and Yale. Who knew?

Ford Motor Company is taking the first step to sanity. Let’s hope that other car manufacturers follow suit. (You might have to register for the NY Times article, but it’s free and they don’t spam.)

Somehow I let seven months go by without a redesign. I don’t know that one slipped by me. Simplicity is key now.