TGIF

It’s Friday again and I’m not quite sure where all of the time went. This week marks the third month I’ve been in JVC and in some ways it feels like I’ve been here forever, and in other ways I still feel like I’m just getting my feet wet.

For the most part I like to try and write coherent posts, but this is a blog and currently I have no coherent thoughts, so I’ll just give you a quick re-cap of the week.

It rained on Monday, and since I only wake up with exactly enough time to grab a quick shower, throw on clothes, inhale breakfast, and bike to work in exactly seven minutes, walking was not an option unless I wanted to be thirty minutes late. Also, I don’t own an umbrella. So, I put on my raincoat and braved the elements. It turned out to be a pretty enjoyable experience, though drying out for the next three hours at work wasn’t quite as much fun. But you know, saving the planet from dangerous greenhouse gases is a 365/24/7 job, not just like when it’s nice outside…

Tuesday was quite an historic day with the election of Barack Obama. There was a definite sense of excitement in the men’s center and Oakland in general. One of the older guys told me that he voted earlier in the morning for the first time in his life, and this was a man who spent twelve years in the armed forces.

From about the time Obama was officially declared the president-elect until I fell asleep shortly past midnight the sound of cars whizzing through the streets, honking their horns, filled the air. One of my roommates and I decided to join in the celebration and opened up a bottle of wine as we watched the speeches of McCain and Obama, and afterwards we went joyriding around the block! I kid.

Along with all of the hope and excitement there was a slight sense of melancholy and nostalgia as I thought back over the past eight years and all that has happened, both as a country and personally. It felt a bit like New Year’s Eve. Cheers, America.

On Wednesday I cooked dinner for my housemates and another former JV. I made chicken, stuffing and creamed corn--I’m a little excited about Thanksgiving. Also, the former JV was kind of enough to bring over mint chocolate chip ice cream, which is quite the treat these days.

On Thursday a former professional wrestler came into the men’s center to use the computer and get a cup of coffee. He pulled up an old clip of himself from Wrestlemania II which was pretty awesome--he was shirtless and wearing purple tights. I’m really hoping he never acts up, because I certainly won’t be intervening, but luckily he seems like a gentle giant.

Aside from that, Thursday was a fairly routine day, though I was a little tired. When I got home from work I laid down for a quick nap and about thirty minutes later I woke up feeling disoriented, thinking it was Friday morning and I had overslept work, but unlike the time I did that In elementary school, I didn’t get in the shower.

Tonight I’m headed over to the JV house in San Francisco for a “dress like you’re in your forties” themed party. I should be looking quite dapper rocking a collared shirt and sweater and I’m currently debating whether to wear some nice dress shoes or go with the old man cross-trainer look.

"The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of some superhuman accomplishment, and the ego likes to keep it that way, but it is simply your natural state of felt oneness with Being. It is a state of connectedness with something immeasurable and indestructible, something that, almost paradoxically, is essentially you and yet is much greater than you. It is finding your true nature beyond name and form." -Eckhart Tolle