With the economy in the tank and the cost of just about everything going through the roof (let's not kid ourselves, people), we're seeing a downturn in business here at work. I don't mean to say I'm not busy or I have a lack of things to do, it just seems like it all comes in bursts. I could go two hours without doing anything, only to be slammed moments later with stuff that keeps me working every minute until 5:00.
So during this morning's slow period, I was tooling around Amazon.com, which feels a bit traitorous because of the way they treat small publishing companies and authors. I bought a handful of books (I'm a sucker for books) because the pocketbook speaks louder than my principles when it comes to books. But the real point is how amazed I was at the way the company tracks your purchases. These days we're no strangers to having what we do be tracked, from what we purchase at the grocery store to what university programs we might be interested in (after expressing interest in one university, I've been inundated with others offering similar programs).
I'm sure privacy advocates hate it, but I'm personally not too concerned about it. While I was going through the recommendations that Amazon.com was giving me, they made a link between the Kitab-i-Aqdas and the Qur'an, saying that if I purchased one I would be interested in the other. It just makes me curious about what kind of criteria they use for this sort of thing. Is someone manually doing it? Given the volume of books they carry, I find myself doubting it. It was just an unusual connection. Not necessarily wrong, just unusual.
Last week, I went to see the Thursday night midnight showing of "Dark Knight," the new Batman movie. I didn't get home until 3:00 AM and asleep until 4:00 AM, but it was certainly worth it. Keeping the TV off and not reading the news very often for a few months has kept me somewhat isolated from pop culture and I was in Africa when "Batman Begins" was released, so I didn't fully appreciate the magnitude of the movie's release.
The theatre was packed, and there were 5 different midnight showings in addition to a 3:15 AM showing, which only a crazy fool would drag themselves out of bed to go see. All of the shows were sold out. I struggled with my exhaustion at some points in the movie, but overall it was a great, great action movie. A co-worker loaned me his copy of "Batman Begins," which I watched last night, and it was a bit disappointing after watching "Dark Knight." That isn't to say it wasn't a good movie, but it paled in comparison. I should have watched them in the correct order like everyone else in the world!
Plans for moving back to Little Rock are right on schedule. My petition for re-enrollment (a so-called reapplication application) was accepted. My FAFSA was processed by the government in record time, leaving me to wonder why they move like a sloth on everything else, and now the actual decision will be left to the university to decide (now begins the sloth-like movement). I spoke with my aunt about the whole issue of moving around, and I'm consulting with my parents about logistics (when, how to move). The only bad thing so far has been the higher than anticipated price of apartments after some more in-depth research. All of the reseafch I do online is useful but in the end I think it's going to be a feet-on-the-ground type of expedition that will be the most useful.
24 July 2008
We Have Recommendations for You
18 July 2008
A Purpose Driven Life
"...these Northern nights are dreary, and my Southern heart is weary...."
- "Smoky Mountain Memories," Dolly Parton
I've decided I've missed the therapeutic qualities of blogging, so I'm going to pick it back up. I never really intended to drop it in the first place, but apparently when you enter the so-called "real world" a lot of small things get sacrificed on the altar of "I worked all day, and I'm too tired to do XYZ."
Up until a week ago, everything here was business as usual. I'd drag myself across the street every morning and life went on as it always does. However, a week ago I decided this was a mistake. It was a nice, grand experiment in independence from which I've gleaned a number of insights and learned a number of lessons the hard way but all (good?) things must draw to a close. It started by resigning as the cluster institute coordinator, a job for which I was ill-suited in a cluster like this one, and then the more momentous and life-changing decision to pack up my bags and move back to Little Rock.
When I returned to Africa in May/June, I didn't really have much of a purpose in going beyond taking a vacation, visiting with Hossein & Mitra and giving May Saba a really big hug. But apparently my mind was hiding a larger purpose (it's amazing how often and how well we can trick ourselves): I was sitting near a roundabout with Mitra in Morogoro, drinking a Fanta Pineapple, waiting for the mechanic to fix a puncture in the tire and looking up the Uluguru Mountain shrouded in clouds when I blurted out that I had come back to Africa to see if it's where I belonged, where I wanted to be.
I think I surprised myself with my admission more than I surprised Mitra. My whole itinerary shifted after that. I spent more time sitting in Mitra's office grilling her about the intricacies of her non-governmental organization and the Tanzanian Baha'i community than I did traveling to exotic beaches and remote locales. I shuffled around the house in my pajamas thinking about the impact of a life in Africa - the good, the bad, the ugly - and the sacrifices it would take to pursue that life. All that isn't to say I left fun by the wayside (I can't remember laughing more) but the trip turned more contemplative than I'd anticipated.
When I came back home, all my ruminations were put squarely in the back of my mind by the daily 8:00 - 5:00 grind (who actually works 9:00 - 5:00 anymore?) and the pace and demands of the American lifestyle. In the quiet of the evening in those moments right before sleep I'd see the thoughts emerge and some energy put into sorting them out. "Sorting them out" would eventually lead to only a vague understanding of what I wanted and even that would be burned away like fog in the morning sunlight. Fruitless attempt after fruitless attempt to engage my own self in an earnest, internal discussion about the direction in which I needed to go eventually led to prayer (the Tablet of Ahmad was a favorite).
One morning I woke up with such a distinct clarity of purpose that it made me giddy inside. I've always envied those people who knew what they wanted, when they wanted it and how they wanted it and for once I was experiencing the same feeling (although those people likely have no corresponding emotional rush - they are simply who they are).
It seems like I've taken the most circuitous route to get to this point, but the burst of clarity forced me to realize that if I'm going to go back to Africa, if I'm going to dedicate my life to helping other people in any way then the first prerequisite is finishing college. Before, going to school just seemed like one of those things you did - the next step in the life you're supposed to pursue. But now that it's very clearly a means to an end for me, I feel like I've been fired and tempered with a purpose. I think the blacksmith could have been a little gentler with me, a little faster in getting me to this point but I think now when I have that paper in my hand it won't be a hollow degree.
Staying here in Chicago and finishing school was not an option. I will be assuming debt to finish my degree, and there's not much sense in amassing piles of debt struggling in a place like this when I can return to Arkansas and attend an admittedly "lesser" institution without sticking it to my future self 20 years from now still struggling to pay down all the loans. Some part of me still feels like it's giving up to tuck tail and leave after only a year here but those thoughts are usually fast trodden by the sense of purpose that's now driving me.
The logistics are now falling into place. I've informed the Baha'i Publishing Trust that I will not be here beyond the end of November, which was taken a little harder than I anticipated. I'd originally committed for two years but I don't feel the need to be overly apologetic or kowtow to that commitment when the way forward for me is so clear. I'm going to do everything I can to help the transition go smoothly for my replacement.
I've had to reapply to the university because I was not enrolled for some time, and the arduous task of filling out the much loved FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is now behind me. When I have a response on these two then I'll be able to move forward with more long-term planning. As it stands, my parents will come up to help me move (again - God bless their souls) around Thanksgiving so I'm out by the time my lease expires on 30 November. They've graciously offered some living space for me until I've secured the funding for housing in Little Rock, which I've already begun to search for. As an aside on the cost of living on the North Shore, it's appalling to see I can rent a two bedroom apartment in a nice neighborhood in Little Rock for considerably less than what I'm paying for my one bedroom here in Wilmette.
It's nice to move forward. It's nice to have a purpose!
25 January 2008
Imagine!
Last week I managed to get two parking tickets in the same day. Officer George is now my sworn enemy. Apparently he patrols Linden Avenue without mercy! You would think my out-of-state license plate would have persuaded him to give me some slack, but apparently not. So I have to pay the Village of Wilmette $50 and see how many days I can survive on Ramen noodles until Friday (pay day). I'm about as fiscally responsible as I am domestically responsible, although I am learning the former far faster than the latter, mostly because of the difference in severity if I don't.
Sometimes it's really sort of lamentable that I work in the Publishing Trust building instead of the National Center. I don't get to see or meet all of the people over there except at general staff meetings, which is hardly a time for socializing. But one of the nice things is that the Publishing Trust houses the records and staff of the Temple Conservation Office. Last week I saw a picture of what the inside of the House of Worship was supposed to look like, according to Louis Bourgeois's vision. Although it's only a picture of one of the sort of panels that would have been inside, which would basically have followed the lace-like appearance of the outside, one of the staff members explained to me that he originally wanted ribs going up the side of the Temple embedded with sapphires and rubies, etc. Imagine!
14 January 2008
Survival
At times, the quality of the raw lake water that enters the water plant is affected by the opening of the locks operated by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC), or from runoff from the use of fertilizers and herbicides on area lawns and golf courses.Anyway, I digress. When I was lifting up the water pitcher to pour the water, I realized too late that I had leaned an open box of linguini against it. In the process of trying to save the box of linguini, it spilled all over the floor along with the water. And I had just cleaned the floor this morning. The moral of the story is that I can't even pour a glass of water without some small disaster occurring.
The MWRDGC owns and controls a set of locks located in Wilmette Harbor that are occasionally opened during heavy rainfall events to release sewer overflow into the lake. These contaminants, however, do not affect the quality or the safety of the finished water that is delivered to consumers.
Although its followed my pathetic attempt at cooking bacon and eggs (the bacon looked like two thin strips of licorice), I do have a minor success to report. I made a meatloaf! All right, all right. I admit it's no triumph of culinary greatness but it's the most edible thing I've made to date. Also the oven did not send out billows of black smoke this time, which was really more exciting than the success of the meatloaf. The only complaint I have about the meatloaf is that it called for some brown sugar for some reason. I initially thought it would be nice, but in the end it just made it too sweet. And I also put in too much pepper. I'll figure out this spicing thing in the next decade, I'm sure.