First Boston Snowstorm

Snowy pictures...

Change is possible

I want to change the world. This simple fact is part of what has propelled me into the field of social work, even before I realized that was the path I was on. This might sound like a naive, idealistic sentiment - wanting to change the world. Or maybe it's been said and thought so much that it has lost it's meaning for many of us. For me, however, the sentiment behind this statement is incredibly meaningful. I know that I can make a difference. We all impact the lives of others in ways that we are often not even aware of. How many of us can think of a teacher, supervisor, or friend who has made a difference in our lives? Do these people know the impact they've had on us? Have we told them or thanked them? Sometimes, yes. Often, no. Sometimes we don't even realize the difference people have made on our lives until we think back on it many years later. Anyone can change the world. We change it one person at a time, one moment at a time. We change it with our attitudes and our behaviors. We can change it in our personal lives and our professional lives. Sometimes though, it doesn't feel like enough to cause change one person at a time. Sometimes the circumstances and social institutions with which individuals must contend on a regular basis seem like obstacles too large to overcome. This is when we want to change the larger societal issues rather than just help the individuals. As long as people have problems like poverty, racism, sexism, and homophobia to contend with, helping the individual can only bring us so far in the realm of change. We need to help people on both the individual level and the larger societal level. And this brings us to my current dilemma: where do I want to start?

You know you go to a Catholic college when...

I am not happy about attending a Catholic university right now.

On my way to class this evening I was in my own little world, listening to music and thinking about who knows what, when I came across many small white crosses standing upright in the grass near my classroom building. I was immediately curious what message they were intended to send. Then I saw the large sign that went with them. It stated something along the lines of "Each cross represents 10 women and children who are victimized by abortion everyday." I read the sign three times before it fully computed. I kept getting stuck on the word "victimized". The crosses were supposed to be grave markers I realized. Yes I am pro-choice, but my issue with this anti-abortion imagery is not that it is pro-life, but rather that they appear to be going for shock value rather than voicing a message of substance. I find the imagery and the message on the sign to be offensive and problematic. This idea that women are being "victimized" by abortion is condescending. I think what bothers me most though is that the college must have endorsed this demonstration. People have the right to voice their opinions, but I also have the right to go to class without being accosted by offensive imagery. Hold meetings, share information at them, advertise for the meetings, but do not use shock tactics and do not force me to view your offensive imagery by putting it where I need to go to get to class. Your right to express your views should not impinge on my right to go to class without being harassed.

Prop 8

I found this image here and had to borrow it. It seems like a great way to sum up what happened with Prop 8 in California. Speaking of which, this Saturday, November 15th, cities across the country are engaging in protests of Prop 8 at the same time (1:30pm EST, 10:30am PST). Check out this site if you want to learn more.

Fall in New England

These are a little late since it's almost winter now, but here are some pictures of the beauty of a New England Autumn. This is definitely one thing that the Northeast does better than the Northwest!

Obama: President of... the world?

Wow. I knew that Obama getting elected was a big deal, but I had no idea how big it was internationally.








People in various parts of Africa reacting to Obama becoming president:

Fruit flies, autism, and Sarah Palin

Wow... so I didn't actually know that fruit fly research is contributing to advances in understanding of Autism, however, I'm not the VP candidate who insulted fruit fly research on national television! Check out the clip...

Obama and McCain at the Al Smith Dinner

Obama roasting McCain and others at the Al Smith Dinner



McCain roasting Obama and others at the Al Smith Dinner

That's so gay...

Amazing. TV ads with Hilary Duff and Wanda Sykes spreading the word that it's not cool to say "That's so gay" and mean "That's so stupid". I'm a little bit in awe that these ads are actually out there. Here's the site, check it out.
http://thinkb4youspeak.com/

Register to Vote!

The Election is Coming...

Vote!



Is it the news or saturday night live? Who can tell when it comes to Sarah Palin...?

A Full-Time Job...

I miss working. Two years ago, right after graduating college, I never thought I'd say that. School was what I knew, and the concept of working 40 hours/week for more than the three months of summer was a completely foreign concept. Now I find myself looking forward to my internship. It's my favorite part of the week! One great difference between a job and an internship is that instead of them expecting you to know things, they go into the whole thing planning to teach you. I hope that when I finally get a part-time job I'll enjoy that too... Classes are tough to deal with. Some of the info is interesting but a lot of the presentation is not. Same with the readings - some are interesting, many are not. I'm starting to think that I should take people's advice about grad school and just focus on the things I find interesting. It's so hard to sit and listen for so many hours! Seriously, I'm not cut out for this student stuff any more. I want to do things. Interact with people. Be outside of the classroom. Making money would be a plus too... :-) Is it bad when it's September of my first year and I'm looking ahead to the end of the program?

Boston. Seattle. Life.

If I approach my time in Boston with the mindset that I want to go back to Seattle after I graduate, will that prevent me from giving Boston a chance? I don't hate Boston. In fact, some aspects I really enjoy. I love subways. I really do. As far as public transportation goes, subways are by far my favorite mode of transportation. I love New England. On some level I think it will always be home for me. Not the cities quite as much as the towns though. The small towns and lakes and beaches and mountains. But I miss Seattle. I'm homesick for it a bit I think.

I'm settling in here though. It's week two of classes and I'm hanging in there. The reading is a bit overwhelming though and I haven't even begun my field work or a job that I will hopefully get very soon. My room is getting more set up. Hopefully I can finish with it by this weekend. The rest of the house is slowly, but surely, getting more furnished as well. Our landlord is kind of amazing. We currently have $1500 rugs in our place that he is letting us use, because, as he said, it seems a waste to just keep them in storage. Yeah. What kind of landlord does that? Anyway, back to reading about human behavior and communities...

Choices and Debt

It's hard for me not to question my decisions. Some might call it overthinking, but it's just always been a part of how I work. I've been trying really hard lately not to question my decision to enter a grad school program that will put me in extreme debt as I get a degree that does not generally allow for a high level of income. It will, however, make me qualified for a variety of different types of work in human service fields. I just keep telling myself it's worth it. I discovered last night in a moment of financial panic that there are many, many options for dealing with large amounts of school debt. I think my social work degree will prepare me for a many different jobs and different situations in life, and if somewhere down the road I choose to change careers, that's okay too. Maybe for the next career I'll try to minimize the debt though :)

Street Signs: The Drinking Game

The question of the day: Is it that hard to label streets? Answer: Apparently it is in Boston. Driving from Somerville to Brighton and back again has been an adventure over the last couple of days. I bought a street map of the entire Boston area and it has been a lifesaver. I have, however, still missed many turns while attempting to follow my carefully laid out directions due to the ambiguous, confusing, or completely lacking street signs that I have encountered during my travels. Seriously, what's the problem here. This shouldn't be that difficult. It could be a great drinking game really - take a shot every time there is a poorly marked intersection. If it weren't for the fact that drinking and driving is a terrible idea, of course. I bet this idea could be adapted though. Create a map of how the streets are actually marked, make it into a board, and let the drinking board game begin!

Long time, no update

It has been a long time since I last posted on here and quite a lot has been going on. I drove across the country with my sister. I saw good friends and incredible sights along the way. I will post some pictures one of these days. We went to Manzanita, OR; San Francisco, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Zion National Park, UT; Grand Canyon, AZ; Mesa Verde National Park, CO; Colorado Springs, CO; Grinnell, IA; Cleveland, OH; and back to good ol' New Hampshire. It was a whirlwind of activity for about 10 days. Lots of driving, not a lot of sleeping, seeing many different places, and driving some more. One thing I discovered: The west coast is very possibly the most beautiful part of the country.

Right now I am sitting outside under a tree at my new college, where I will be starting classes in a week. My housing situation fell through, unfortunately, so I am currently looking at possible apartments with my future roommate. The goal is to find a place in a residential area populated by grad students and professionals (ie no undergrads!), near school and public transportation, for not too much money. And we need a Sept 1st move in date. Oh and we want to find it in the next couple of days. Yeah... wish us luck!

Right now I'm staying with Jo and Jess in Somerville (thank you, Jo and Jess!) so that I am in the general Boston area rather than up in NH. I very much appreciate all the people who have let me stay with them, but I'm really looking forward to having my own space again soon, hopefully. I have been bouncing around staying with different people since the first week in June!

home is where...

This is a sampling of the results that came up when I googled the phrase "Home is where..." :

-happy memories grow
-we park our house
-the dirt is
-the heart is
-the airport is
-the cash is
-you dig it
-the wind blows

And the countdown has truly begun. 22 days until I leave Seattle. 22 days until I leave my home. Or am I returning to my home? Almost exactly two years ago I moved to this city. I'm not sure when Seattle truly became home. Somewhere along the way during those two years it just seemed to happen. Seattle is the first place that I lived on my own as an adult. Seattle is where I had my first post-college employment. Seattle is the first place that I just up and moved to for no reason other than to move somewhere new. I will miss my friends here. Yes, we can keep in touch, but relationships change and some that are important on a day to day basis fade though years and distance. No matter what happens with my friendships, there are some things from Seattle that I can't take with me. I will be leaving behind the view of the Cascades and Mt. Rainier that I marvel at as I drive across 520. I remember very clearly the first time I caught a glimpse of Seattle. I was driving my car on I-90, coming over the bridge, when I saw the mountains and the water. It was in that moment that I new I'd made the right choice by coming to Seattle. Now here we are two years later and I'm getting ready to leave.

Is Boston home? No, not yet. But New England, the Northeast... that is still home in many ways. That is where my family is. Many people I was friends with from elementary school through college are still there. I'm getting ready to make Boston my next home. Maybe it will happen faster this time.

Internship!

Things seem to be falling into place. I have an apartment to live in when I move, I am registered for classes, and... I got the internship with the Big Sister Association! Now I just need to find a job. And figure out just when it is that I expect to sleep... Rugby is seeming more and more unlikely when I move. I really want to do some other active things with the limited free time I might come up with. I want to go kayaking (I've never been!), climbing... get a bike... maybe I could learn to snowboard!

Or, y'know, I'll be so busy doing school and work that I won't have time for anything else.

Regardless, I'm getting ready to leave. Just a little over a month to go...

Not Ready

I'm not ready to say goodbye. The first of the goodbyes is this week. Then four weeks left of work and two more weeks in the northwest before packing up the car and driving east. Leaving is going to be hard. This is the first place i've lived on my own. It took some time, but I've come to call this place home. It's almost time to leave home again. I can't help but wonder, will I continue to think of this place as home? Will I make my way back? Or will I continue to make a new home every couple of years? For how long will it be important to me that I am able to fit all of my possessions into my car? I'll just have to wait and see...

Course Crisis

Registration for courses opened on June 2nd. I was kind of distracted by various things in life and forgot about that for a few days. When I went to register for classes on June 6th, I figured I might have to settle for not the best times, but thought that I'd be able to work it out okay. What actually happened? I tried to register for courses and discovered that every section of every course I'm supposed to take my first semester is closed. Yup, that's right, I can't register for any of my courses because they're all full! Now, of course, after a stopped freaking out a little I realized that they have to let me into courses - I mean they accepted me into the school and they're trying to get me a field placement, obviously I have to be able to take classes. Still though, kind of weird, don't you think? I left a message and emailed someone at the school but since it's the weekend I will have to wait until monday. Wish me luck...

Beer Olympics!

My teammates and I are the reigning roboboot champions in the beer olympics! Jeannie and Anita, co workers of mine, along with Caitlin, a friend from NY, joined me in some olympic fun. We had a western theme for our team, and I found some pretty sweet accessories at a costume store. These accessories included animal print cowboy hats, sheriff stars, squirt guns, cap guns, and a whip. I was pretty psyched that I actually managed to put together a team without rugby players. Non-rugby friends, who knew?

Tough Job

You know that you have a tough job when a police officer tells you so.

Today was a good day. We went on an outing to an arcade type place that is kind of like an older kids' version of Chuck E. Cheese's. I played a couple of games of laser tag with the kids and by the second one wasn't worried about what they would do. They almost seemed like normal kids. I saw some great coping skills and friendship skills and a bunch of kids with big smiles on their faces. This was not a normal day at work for me.

After we returned to school and it was time for the kids to go out to their rides, one of them started to have a hard time. This is not that unusual unfortunately. Many of the kids do not want to go home at the end of the day. This situation, however, had to do with a fishing pole. He wanted us to give him permission to bring his fishing pole to school next week. He was not satisfied with the response he received and proceeded to leave the classroom and go from a boil to a full explosion. At the point that I became involved, primarily as a spectator, he had already been contained on the floor in the hallway by five staff members. The plan in place by other people involved in his care is that when he blows out, the police are called and he is admitted to an inpatient unit. Since this is not normally our first course of action, I have never actually seen this occur. Students have been taken out by police before, but I've never witnessed it. Within seconds of the police arriving and handcuffing him, he went from raging, rambling, and banging his head on the floor to crying and asking to please just be allowed to take his ride home. His first response to the police and the handcuffs was to say despairingly, "No, not again..."

I deal with crazy things every day. The frequency of some types of events starts to make them have less impact on me. It's amazing what we can get used to when we try. Every now and then though something makes me stop. This was one of those moments.

road trip planning

I have been working on figuring out my road trip back east. I will be driving from Seattle to Portland to San Francisco, through Death Valley area to the Grand Canyon. Then on to Mesa Verde and Colorado Springs. From there I'm not sure - what is there to look forward to in Kansas or Missouri...? Then Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and on to New Hampshire. I've booked a couple of campsites and am continuing to figure things out - it was pointed out to me that campsites fill up in National Parks and such areas during the summer, which was a good point, so I'm trying to get it all together... Getting pretty excited for it.

memorial day weekend

I had a fantastic weekend. It really helps when what was supposed to be a cloudy, rainy weekend turns into a sun-fest. The entire weekend was beautiful, warm, and sunny. I played kickball, went out, hung out at a lake, BBQed, played backyard games, went to folklife, went to goodwill, packed, took a friend to buy a bike, played apples to apples with the largest group of people ever, ate salad and boboli pizza, and pretty much had the best weekend ever. I'm going to have very high standards for future weekends after all that... Going back to work was a little tough.

rookie skit

The rookie party was fantastic. The rookie skit was pretty much amazing. In fact it was so amazing that we continue to sing the songs on a regular basis. It was basically a broadway musical it was so good. It was, in fact, a remake of the Sound of Music featuring such songs as "My Lesbian Things", "The Lonely Homo", and "Anal Vice". Words can't really do it justice. Suffice to say we were all very entertained. At the end of the skit they sang the goodbye song to those of us who are leaving. It made me kind of sad - I think that was the first time it really hit me what and who I'd be leaving behind. I've been thinking more and more about the idea of coming back here after grad school. I mean I know it wouldn't be the same, and I also know that there's no way I can make plans for two years from now, but I still keep thinking about it. I really like it out here in the lovely northwest...

Moving again and again and again

I have an apartment in Boston! As of Sunday afternoon I have a place to live when I move to Boston in August. I will be living in a three bedroom house with two other grad students. The room looks like it's about three times the size of my current room (keep in mind that my current room is basically a closet). The house has a garage for my car (my future roommates don't have cars). It has a porch with a large gas grill currently on it (woo BBQ!). It's super close to multiple T stops and it's on the shuttle route to school. Oh and the rent is super cheap for the area! Um yeah, pretty much amazing. My future roommate is into holistic stuff like yoga and meditation, organic food, and no TV, which would probably be good for me. I still will probably have a TV in my room, or maybe just my computer, but still. According to her there's a great produce market a few blocks from the house too! And a whole foods! I'm psyched. I should be getting the lease in the mail soon. Woo hoo!

My current roommate is moving at the end of the month and since I can't afford rent myself and I'm moving away in a couple of months, I'm moving out at the end of the month too. This means that I will be basically living out of suitcases while staying with two different friends for the next couple of months before I actually pack up my car and drive east. I'm not super excited to pack up my room. I have less than two weeks - 13 days and counting - until I have to be out... So much to do! I didn't really think I could have accumulated that much stuff in the two years I've been here, especially given how small my room is, but somehow I seem to have found a way. I've decided that the best method is going to be that if I haven't used it or worn it more than twice in the last two years then I don't need it. Time to sort through my clothes...

I <3 Craft:

I love doing crafts! This weekend is our rookie party for rugby. We give gifts to our rookies as part of the party and this year we decorated tote bags. We used spray paint with stencils, puff paint, ribbon... so much great crafting! I've decided that I want to get together with some friends and a bunch of craft supplies and make some commemorative items before I leave the area. Such a great idea.

I feel like I've gotten more creative as I've gotten older. I used to have a hard time coming up with ideas for arts and crafts activities, or anything creative really. Some of that was, I think, perfectionism and some was insecurity. I think that as I've gotten older I've gotten more confident in myself and have learned to care less about what other people think than I used to.

The moral of the story? I want to make more puff paint totes!

onward and eastward

Two years and three weeks after moving out here to the lovely city of Seattle, I will be moving back east to the land of small states and big cities. I will be arriving in red sox country in early August in order to begin two years of grad school. Masters in Social Work, here I come! I'm pretty excited to be back in the land of Dunkin Donuts, although it is going to be kind of weird to not have a coffee shop or 12 on every block. And I will definitely miss the view... No commute will ever be the same after my drive over 520 with the Cascades in front of me and Mount Rainier to my right. And then of course the Olympics in front of me on the drive home. I will miss the mountains. I wonder if I'll keep moving every two years or so. I mean it's not necessarily my plan, but it could be. Will I want to stay in Boston after my two year program? Hard to say at this point. I'm psyching myself up to get extremely in debt in order to be qualified for a low-paying white collar job. It's funny actually given that I can say in all seriousness that one of my reasons for going back to school is to make more money. Being a social worker for the money. Ha.

This comic is pretty much the best thing ever. This is how I want to start approaching my life as a grown up.
I got it here http://xkcd.com/150/

Who to choose...

So we are one day past Super Tuesday and there's still a real race going on! The Washington Caucus is this Saturday and it actually matters. Crazy. Now here's the question, how do you decide who to vote for? My gut feeling is Obama, but as I try to actually differentiate between him and Clinton it gets harder and harder. I mean really, what's the difference in their views?? Their voting records are nearly identical in recent times for what I can tell. He's missed a lot more votes than her, but that's not really that huge in terms of swaying my vote. She wants to make health insurance mandatory and he just wants to insure children. I'm kind of leaning his way since I think his plan helped adults who want insurance but can't afford it to get insurance as well. Either way, these are pretty minor differences. Hows is everyone else making this decision?

Getting on the political bandwagon

I haven't really felt much of an urge to blog before now. What inspired me? Politics. I will never claim to know very much about politics, but as a former NH resident I felt a suddent pang of guilt for having done little to no research on the candidates so late in the game. Yup that's right, for NH residents it's late in the game as the Iowa caucuses are over and the NH primary is next week. However, as a current resident of one of those big west coast states, I've learned that primary season means much less here. It is January 3rd and I have seen only one political commercial out here. One! During the week that I spend back in NH I probably saw about 5 for every half hour of television that I watched. I just recently learned that my state of residence has not only a primary, but also caucuses. Why both you might ask. I know that was my question. And then I learned that the democratic primary here is a waste of time and money. Again you might ask why I say that. The reason is that the democratic party pays absolutely no attention to the outcome of the primary. The caucuses, however, they pay attention to. Weird. In contrast, the Republican party chooses 51% of its delegates from the primary and 49% from the caucuses. Weird state.

So despite the apparent ridiculousness of participating in the primary process here, I'm going to try. That is if I can figure out what the differences between Obama, Clinton, and Edwards are. Their stances on the issues seem awfully similar. Somehow though, I seem to keep leaning towards Obama. And now, having just read about his impressive victory in Iowa, I see that many other people are experiencing the same inclination. Is it just that after 8 years of Bush we want someone as different as possible? I mean, a young, inexperienced, african-american man campaigning on the promise of change is about as different from George W. as one could find in politics in this country I imagine. I've been watching some episodes of of The West Wing in the political spirit of the time. Matt Santos for president anyone?

Huckabee also won in the Iowa. I'm not sure what this means for the possible Republican nominee. A little too hard to say this early I guess. All I know about him is that he is evangelical and got that vote out in Iowa, and that his is the only political commercial I've seen out here on the west coast. It was a commercial with Chuck Norris supporting him. It was ridiculous and funny and definitely clever. It's really nice to feel like the Democrats might actually have a viable candidate to put against whoever the Republicans nominate. In fact, I think they might have several.