Alchemy
I was standing in the Allentown Bus Station today trying to discern the incomprehensible schedule they had posted on the wall. I had to get to JFK ... and that was all I knew. The rest was a smudge on some yellowed paper that had been hanging since the bicentennial.
After a minute or two, a man came up and stood beside me. He was about four inches taller than me, bald, Hispanic, and had an impressive goatee. My eyes caught his tattoo, massive arm, and gold chain before I glanced up at his face.
"Where you going?"
Uh, JFK- trying to figure out when I have to be here to catch the bus on Wednesday.
"JFK Airport?"
Yeah.
"Hell, man, no problem. Wednesday? Check this out- match Allentown, Wednesday, JFK ... here you go, man. 9:15. You're here at 9:15, you're going to JFK."
Wow ... cool. Thanks a lot.
"No problem, man."
I thanked him, then walked over and bought my bus tickets. When I turned around, he was gone.
When you want something, all the world conspires in helping you to achieve it.
I think I met the King of Salem in Allentown today- and I think it's time to get on the road.
See you July 6th.
June 23, 2008
June 13, 2008
The Road Goes Ever On and On
“What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss.”
-Joseph Campbell
Going to Lehigh was a hero journey, as was marching with the Cadets. Both times I was lucky enough to find the boon and return home safely. There were others, as well, of varying types and degrees … some were bliss, some were fiascos.
I think part of the reason I’ve been so listless lately is that I haven’t received a new call to adventure that I actually want to answer. Working full time as an engineer would be a hero journey of sorts, but I have little interest in pursuing it. The test in that adventure would not come from a desire to pursue excellence but from the endurance and patience I would need just to get up every day. With the options and years arrayed before me as they are right now, I will not go down a path that I know will be a struggle of the worst kind. At least, I won’t without some sense of absolute necessity attached to it.
That’s why, after grad school is over, I’m hoping to answer the call and stage a real, global hero journey. My quest will be to travel the world; my boons will be a greater understanding and awareness of this planet, a greater understanding of myself, and a new sense of purpose for where I should go next. With the money I make next year, it might be possible to live that way for six months or more, bouncing from continent to continent with a backpack, The Alchemist, and my trusty Chewbacca action figure. One always needs a copilot, right?
Fun fact: when you type in “chewbacca” in MS Word 2007 without capitalizing the first letter, the program autocorrects and capitalizes his name. How goddam cool is that?
So yeah … one more year of hiding on Old South Mountain, and then it’s time to make the decision. I say “hide” because that’s exactly what it is. I actually have very little desire to get a Master’s degree, but staying is so much easier than leaving and that MS is my ticket to do so. Some might consider it a cowardly decision- after all, I have the chance to take my current education and go earn a solid salary somewhere. I could have an apartment, fill it with things, have my friends at work that I share beers with on Friday, watch the Phillies on TV during the summer, and come home for holidays. It would be an existence that a lot of people would relish. But cowardly, selfish, lazy, or otherwise … the 9-5 office space gig just isn’t what I want to do, possibly ever.
This year, I guess that will be my real hero journey … to figure out what I can do with my life after the bubble finally pops. After all, you don’t have to join Obi-wan on some damned fool idealistic crusade in order to make a journey. You don’t need to spend ten years in the Mediterranean dodging whirlpools and snake monsters. Even dropping the One Ring back into the fires of Mount Doom seems like a huge pain in the ass. Some of the most important adventuring you can do happens while sitting on the roof of your shitty off campus house and watching the stars, journeying right there within yourself.
Happy Friday.
“What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the fiasco. There's always the possibility of a fiasco. But there's also the possibility of bliss.”
-Joseph Campbell
Going to Lehigh was a hero journey, as was marching with the Cadets. Both times I was lucky enough to find the boon and return home safely. There were others, as well, of varying types and degrees … some were bliss, some were fiascos.
I think part of the reason I’ve been so listless lately is that I haven’t received a new call to adventure that I actually want to answer. Working full time as an engineer would be a hero journey of sorts, but I have little interest in pursuing it. The test in that adventure would not come from a desire to pursue excellence but from the endurance and patience I would need just to get up every day. With the options and years arrayed before me as they are right now, I will not go down a path that I know will be a struggle of the worst kind. At least, I won’t without some sense of absolute necessity attached to it.
That’s why, after grad school is over, I’m hoping to answer the call and stage a real, global hero journey. My quest will be to travel the world; my boons will be a greater understanding and awareness of this planet, a greater understanding of myself, and a new sense of purpose for where I should go next. With the money I make next year, it might be possible to live that way for six months or more, bouncing from continent to continent with a backpack, The Alchemist, and my trusty Chewbacca action figure. One always needs a copilot, right?
Fun fact: when you type in “chewbacca” in MS Word 2007 without capitalizing the first letter, the program autocorrects and capitalizes his name. How goddam cool is that?
So yeah … one more year of hiding on Old South Mountain, and then it’s time to make the decision. I say “hide” because that’s exactly what it is. I actually have very little desire to get a Master’s degree, but staying is so much easier than leaving and that MS is my ticket to do so. Some might consider it a cowardly decision- after all, I have the chance to take my current education and go earn a solid salary somewhere. I could have an apartment, fill it with things, have my friends at work that I share beers with on Friday, watch the Phillies on TV during the summer, and come home for holidays. It would be an existence that a lot of people would relish. But cowardly, selfish, lazy, or otherwise … the 9-5 office space gig just isn’t what I want to do, possibly ever.
This year, I guess that will be my real hero journey … to figure out what I can do with my life after the bubble finally pops. After all, you don’t have to join Obi-wan on some damned fool idealistic crusade in order to make a journey. You don’t need to spend ten years in the Mediterranean dodging whirlpools and snake monsters. Even dropping the One Ring back into the fires of Mount Doom seems like a huge pain in the ass. Some of the most important adventuring you can do happens while sitting on the roof of your shitty off campus house and watching the stars, journeying right there within yourself.
Happy Friday.
June 06, 2008
Camera Mugging
Much to my chagrin, there aren’t too many similarities between where I work now and The Office. The show has a distinctly more dramatic and sitcom-esque style to it, and the characters there are much more exciting, intense, and full of life. Every so often, though, I do get one very Office-like experience: a classic mug-the-camera moment ala Jim Halpert. It’s not overly common for something ridiculous to happen around here, but when it does I just find myself instinctively searching for a camera crew with which to share my joy/mirth/sadness/scorn/general emotion.
And, fortunately for me on this wonderful Friday morning, I recently experienced one such moment.
So I walked into the bathroom at 7:30 AM and heard loud talking. As I rounded the corner I found no one standing there, leading me to believe that there must be two guys in stalls having a conversation. I made a quick check under the doors because now I was curious about who would engage in a loud, ongoing conversation while taking a shit. What this revealed, however, was that there was only one other guy in the bathroom. That’s when I realized … this dude was on his cell phone while dropping the kids off at the pool.
Undoubtedly, the best part of the event was when I heard the topic of his conversation. Here’s a rundown of his dialogue and my responsive thought process as I used the urinal on the opposite side of the room:
“Whatever you want, go ahead. Those details don’t matter that much to me.”
I can’t believe he’s talking on his phone while taking a dump.
“Honey, really, just pick out the ones you want and I’ll look at them when I get home.”
Is he on the phone with his wife? Does she know he’s in the bathroom?
“I do care. I really do. But I’m just saying that you don’t need to wait for me before you make this decision. Pick out the placecard design online and submit it.”
Placecard design? Wait a minute, he can’t be discussing-
“Yes, I care about this wedding!”
Jesus Christ.
“Fine- if you want we can wait until I come home from work and take care of it all this evening. Honey, really, that’s fine.”
She can’t possibly know he’s crapping during this conversation.
“Hang on one sec.”
…?
[light splash]
“Sorry, I’m back.”
… are you fucking kidding me?
And with that, I bid you all a very happy “Friday Morning Following Tequila Thursday.” If your morning was anything like mine, it’s already been tempered by a headache, intense lethargy from only getting 5 hours of sleep, and more than a little disgust at hearing a guy punch the toilet while making wedding plans.
As for the rest of the day, I think it’s time to take a page out of the book of Creed … which, in this case, means I’m going to spend the next 8 hours figuring out what the hell it is I actually do here.
Here’s to summer.
Much to my chagrin, there aren’t too many similarities between where I work now and The Office. The show has a distinctly more dramatic and sitcom-esque style to it, and the characters there are much more exciting, intense, and full of life. Every so often, though, I do get one very Office-like experience: a classic mug-the-camera moment ala Jim Halpert. It’s not overly common for something ridiculous to happen around here, but when it does I just find myself instinctively searching for a camera crew with which to share my joy/mirth/sadness/scorn/general emotion.
And, fortunately for me on this wonderful Friday morning, I recently experienced one such moment.
So I walked into the bathroom at 7:30 AM and heard loud talking. As I rounded the corner I found no one standing there, leading me to believe that there must be two guys in stalls having a conversation. I made a quick check under the doors because now I was curious about who would engage in a loud, ongoing conversation while taking a shit. What this revealed, however, was that there was only one other guy in the bathroom. That’s when I realized … this dude was on his cell phone while dropping the kids off at the pool.
Undoubtedly, the best part of the event was when I heard the topic of his conversation. Here’s a rundown of his dialogue and my responsive thought process as I used the urinal on the opposite side of the room:
“Whatever you want, go ahead. Those details don’t matter that much to me.”
I can’t believe he’s talking on his phone while taking a dump.
“Honey, really, just pick out the ones you want and I’ll look at them when I get home.”
Is he on the phone with his wife? Does she know he’s in the bathroom?
“I do care. I really do. But I’m just saying that you don’t need to wait for me before you make this decision. Pick out the placecard design online and submit it.”
Placecard design? Wait a minute, he can’t be discussing-
“Yes, I care about this wedding!”
Jesus Christ.
“Fine- if you want we can wait until I come home from work and take care of it all this evening. Honey, really, that’s fine.”
She can’t possibly know he’s crapping during this conversation.
“Hang on one sec.”
…?
[light splash]
“Sorry, I’m back.”
… are you fucking kidding me?
And with that, I bid you all a very happy “Friday Morning Following Tequila Thursday.” If your morning was anything like mine, it’s already been tempered by a headache, intense lethargy from only getting 5 hours of sleep, and more than a little disgust at hearing a guy punch the toilet while making wedding plans.
As for the rest of the day, I think it’s time to take a page out of the book of Creed … which, in this case, means I’m going to spend the next 8 hours figuring out what the hell it is I actually do here.
Here’s to summer.
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