I work in a parking garage as a work-study job while I'm in school. Not the most glamorous job but I get paid to do very little work which is great for college. I can do my homework, watch movies, and there's wireless internet in the garage so it's nice. As customers leave the parking garage they pay me for parking, so I see a lot of people every day. Most are nice, some are mean (then again, parking is shockingly expensive so I guess I'd be mad too but still...it's not MY fault! haha) but I've noticed that increasingly there are so many people on their cell phones as they leave. Some people don't even acknowledge me they just shove money at me and drive away. Today an SUV drove up and there was a woman who had headphones on and she was talking on the phone and the guy in the passenger's seat was listening to his ipod with headphones in. The two sitting there in their SUV with no acknowledgment of me or of each other struck me as a little funny and very sad. Scary how cut off from each other we all are. Sometimes I notice the same thing when I'm riding the bus. Almost everyone, or at least the ones under 30, have headphones in or they're on their cell phone. No one talks to each other anymore. You can't just strike up a conversation with a stranger, they'll look at you like you're crazy. How strange society has become. Also, the other day I was in a coffee shop and there was a man sitting in the corner, talking to himself. Whenever someone would walk by he'd say "hello what's your name?" Not one person told him their name. One woman awkwardly turned around, looked at him, said "oh, uh, hi..." and walked away. He came up to me and asked me my name. I told him, then I asked his name. His name was Charlie. He smiled at me and then walked away. He wasn't doing any harm, didn't ask for money or anything, just being friendly. Maybe he had some kind of mental disorder going on but hey, there's no reason to be ignoring him. I had that simple little interaction with a random stranger and it was nice. I met someone new. How often do we meet someone new just on the street or on the bus or in a coffee shop anymore? We just cut ourselves off from everyone around us. I do it too. Sometimes I have my headphones in when riding the bus home or walking to class on campus. Sometimes I will consciously leave my ipod at home just to leave myself open to any random conversations or interactions that might happen along my way.Well anyways that's my random thought for the day. Last weekend was a fun one. Friday night I met Kira at a place near my apartment that has all kinds of awesome tea and I tried bubble tea for the first time - quite an experience! It's not your average tea but it was pretty good once I got used to the tapioca balls at the bottom of the cup, haha! Saturday I drove up to Fort Collins for a "sustainable living fair" which was pretty cool, and then Sunday I went to the Journey of Hope concert/benefit thing at Red Rocks, also very fun. Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea spoke at the event, as well as a bunch of other people, and there was music, and tea...all kinds of good stuff. It was cool, and definitely made me want to go out and help people around the world! Hopefully someday I can get to the point where I can do some traveling and helping of others.This week I've started to feel kind of sick so that's unfortunate...and the weather is getting much cooler (it snowed a tiny bit yesterday...what?! It's September!) so it definitely feels like fall. I'm ok with that though. The summer was too hot...I'm ready for cooler weather.
Unfortunately the reason I haven't posted a blog in a while is that there really isn't that much going on in my life right now. Well, there are always things going on but I couldn't think of things to write about. I'm going on my fourth week of school for this last semester of college. The time's flying by! And good thing because I'm starting to get restless with being in college. My classes, though, I love. My School and Society class is my favorite. It's really interesting and I find myself being able to speak in class during discussions which I don't normally do in class. I actually have an intense dislike for speaking in class and have never found a way to remedy it. I've had professors assume that if you're not speaking during class discussions, you must not be engaged and you are therefore not learning. On the contrary! I enjoy sitting back and listening to what people say. Plus, just because I'm not saying anything doesn't mean I don't have opinions. I'm not a generally outspoken person but I'm fairly strongly opinionated, at least with things I am passionate about. When it comes to education I feel knowledgeable enough to participate in discussions and I feel like I have something to add to the discussion. I mean really, shouldn't we all have opinions about education? We all went to school. Seems like education should be something everyone can discuss, and it is indeed something everyone SHOULD discuss if we are going to help each new generation of children become educated, intelligent, thoughtful, and caring adults.Anyways, although I'm enjoying my classes, the overall atmosphere of college seems to be fading away from the image I have of myself. I'm ready to graduate, but never ready to stop learning!! :-) I know certain family members of mine that would be proud to hear me say that.What comes after graduation? I've decided to work for a while to try and pay off some student loans before I pursue other things like travel, grad school, or anything else that comes along. After graduation I will work in Boulder for a few months to save up some money and enjoy the awesomeness that is Boulder in the spring, then the tentative plan is to try out a new place and new people for a while and see how I like it! The place of choice is Portland, Maine. I hope to move sometime late spring. It's not a set plan yet but the way I figure it, it doesn't really matter where I live as long as I can make some money, have some adventures, and live my life and enjoy it! Maine is a beautiful place, I have some great friends there, and the East Coast has always captured my interest with the friendly people, beautiful landscape and the closeness of so many exciting places! Hopefully it will work out to try out Maine for a while and see how it fits for me! It seems like things in my life have been coming along at just the right time. Part of it is just a matter of having dreams and goals but knowing when to pursue them. I knew I couldn't leave Boulder for college because not only could I not afford to go out of state but I also wasn't ready to leave Boulder yet. I took my time through college and I am graduating a semester "late" because I could tell I wasn't quite ready to be done with college last May when most of my friends graduated, and now I can tell that I'm ready to move on to the next stage of my life and put the college experience to rest along with all the other awesome experiences my life has brought already.
For example, this friend dresses like she's going to her 1985 prom!
Best conversation of the week:I was talking to my mom last night about my graduating in December and I said "I hope you're not disappointed but I'm not going to be one of those people who graduates college with 5 job offers, picks one and gets dressed up and carries a briefcase to work and makes lots of money..."...and my mom said "I'd be disappointed if you were one of those people ":-) I love my mommy!Also this week:Went for a hike/adventure on Sunday at Chautauqua with Paras. We got a little lost but decided to explore. We found a great view of Boulder from one of the flatirons and then re-found the trail. It threatened to rain but mostly didn't so it was a successful and fun hike!
Me above Boulder at Chautauqua on Sunday
SUCH a pretty sunset last night. The sun was red!! Possibly due to the fires in California. Boulder has been a little hazy today.
