A Day Late OR My Deepest Apologies

I got home late last night, after it was already technically Friday, and wondered how I could make it up to all you awesome people who read my blog for not sticking to my schedule this week. I'm sorry to say I can't think of anything other than an apology.

Sorry about the muff up. But let's got on with today's (yesterday's??) show!

I wanted to elaborate a bit on the Christmas Vlog I posted about my war on "stuff." (If you have not seen it, I suggest you hop over here and take a look-see).

In an attempt to continue with some of The Art of Non- Conformity's ideas, and spurred on by a friend's off handed comment, I was motivated to begin purging "stuff" from my life. But what do I mean by "stuff"?? Well, the best way for me to define "stuff" is by saying "things which no longer have value to me." And in the process of purging these things that I have to just take up perfectly good empty space, I am reassessing what I actually value. In the long run I have realized that physical items eventually lose personal value over time. It's usually around that point I begin to give these things away. And then I realized how much money I was blowing, often on my credit card, for things I was just going to give away. Although there's nothing wrong with charity, that's more debt I'm wracking up and then not doing anything about.

And speaking of debt, that is something else that has no value to me. And why should it? This has also spurred a war on my debt. In the past week, I have put almost three hundred dollars down on my credit card, including the money I had saved up for Denver. What use is grad school when I am already almost 32 thousand dollars in debt? Almost two of that is in a single credit card! To be sure, this debt is not as severe as some peoples', but it is still more than I want! And don't give me that "good debt/bad debt" talk; debt is still debt, and I don't think any of it is good.

The plan to escape my debt is simple: Attempt to sell the things I no longer value (preferably at a cheap price, just to get rid of it), and use the money to go towards my debt. Once my credit card debt is gone, then I can attack some of my school loans with the money I had been paying to my credit card (or spending on my credit card with useless stuff). And with this newfound debt-free life, I can better pursue the things I value.

So what do I value? Over time it has occurred to me that I value experiences. New experiences, old ones with new company, my friends, and food. For those of you who know me, the SCA falls under the experiences, friends, and food categories (often all at once). The only issue is there is then filling my house with SCA "stuff." So I will have to sit down and work on some more concrete SCA-related rules.

Unless that is some of you have something you can offer as a way to help me keep from building up SCA stuff?

Anyway, with this new thought process I hope to be able to do more of the things I want: Travel, write, cook, eat. And I plan to work as well; a woman can't pay her debts without an income. The challenge is finding something meaningful- that makes me happy. But this is why I'm starting everywhere. Test the waters; if I'm unhappy, find something else. Maybe I will find something that I like, maybe I'll decide self employment is what I need after all. Who knows? But if I'm debt free, and have less meaningless stuff, my job won't matter as much because the assumption is I will be having more more meaningful experiences.

Think about what you value. Is it worth what you paid for it? And if not, how could you change that?

Christmas Special Vlog: On Starting a Crusade OR My War on "Stuff"

Oh Sh- It's Thursday Already? OR Ripping off Gandhiji

I am in the midst of my own Experiments with Truth.

Will I end up being part of a massive revolution? Somehow I doubt it. But that being said, I'm still trying to revolutionize the way I live my own life. I've been getting a hold of as much literature as I can by a couple of authors who have really resonated with me (both of which I have mentioned previously- Chris Guillebeau and Joel Runyon), and have begun putting some of their suggestions into practice. In the coming weeks my hope is to try and keep track of my attempts, and to give my opinion on their effectiveness, while reviewing my sources along the way.

We begin with a combination of  my thoughts and notes compiled from Chris Guillebeau's Brief Guide to World Domination (a manifesto he published online) and his book The Art of Non-Conformity.

My notes begin with what Chris calls The Two Most Important Questions in the Universe:

1.What do you really want to get out of life?

2. What can you offer the world that no one else can?

I want my readers to consider these questions, too. I had a hard time trying to come up with something that didn't sound like some kind of hokey college entrance essay, and am curious as to what my readers come up with. Whether you believe that this is the key to truth or not, follow the path with me for a while.
Maybe it's not your truth, but it certainly sounds like mine.

The first question was easy enough to answer, at least on a grand scale. What I really want out of life is nothing more than an emotional state of being.

1. I want satisfaction. To know that I changed something, for the better. I want adventure. I want my "There and Back Again."

The second question, however, really stumps me- even now. I have an answer, but I don't feel like it's an honest attempt at answering. It's more of an attempt to fill space so I could continue reading the book and manifestos and get on with this exciting new venture.

2. [I can offer] A unique perspective, rich with advice and experience only I have had, coupled with Sociological based analysis [and, I might add, lots of sarcasm and snark].

It sounds so terribly cheesy I can hardly stand it.
BUT it's a start.

Now that I've finished the book I have time to sit down and consider what it is I can really offer to people. I know for a fact I can offer the following:

• Advice
• Guidance
• A shoulder to cry on
• I defend peoples' honor
• Kindness
• Loyalty to a fault
• I'm also not afraid to give you a reality check.

But how is this different from what anyone else can offer?

What makes me so special?

I think it's safe to say that the difference comes from this:

Give me even half of those things in return, and I will be for you whatever you need me to be. 

Most of all, I ask only for loyalty, and then I will become one of the pillars in the structure of your life. 

So what are your answers to the Two Most Important Questions in the Universe??
And do you have anything to add to my answers? Let me know!

On the Loss of My Job, OR: A Challenge

My place of employment shuts down on Sunday. Instead of being sad about my lack of employment, I'm taking this as an opportunity to step up my unconventional lifestyle (as I do believe I have mentioned).

I do intend to look for a "day job," of course. But I also plan on trying some of the tips and tricks from over at the Art of Non-Conformity. A couple micro businesses, keeping up with some of my more interesting hobbies to occupy my time, and hopefully lots of writing.

I'm considering setting up an ebay shop to not only make a couple bucks but to also continue the decluttering of my room. I have so much stuff I don't know what to do with it, and although the clutter has definitely gotten smaller over the years, I still have several knooks and crannies full of unknown and/or useless items.

Some time hopefully in the near future I hope to see Lost Marbles Publishing brought to life. A couple friends and I joined forces to unleash spectacular children's stories (illustrated by yours truly) to the unsuspecting masses. We have a couple stories finished, complete with illustrations, and its pretty much ready to go.

There is also a third option I have been considering. One that I have not put a lot of thought into yet, but something I think I should think more seriously about. I might try to expand on my artistic skills and try and do something more professional with my commissions. You know, actually put together a portfolio and all that schmancy stuff. I'm not looking to make millions, but every little bit helps. :)

I see this loss of my job as a great challenge.

Understandably my coworkers are stressed and upset. I'm in a more comfortable position that gives me a bit more wiggle room, and perhaps that's why I'm not so stressed about it. Heck, I'm downright excited. It's the excuse I was looking for to try and do something more creative with my life.

But keep this in mind:
Whether you believe in fate or not, events like this can be taken as a sign to change.

Do not believe in a world based on merit, because in the end, none of us truly get what we deserve.

Keeping a Schedule

Trying to decide on a posting schedule is difficult.
I'm going to attempt regular weekly updates on Thursdays. If that keeps up well, I might add more. I should have plenty of time at least.

A Number of Impossible Things OR What I Do in My Spare Time

Joel Runyan over at the Blog of Impossible Things released a manifesto a few days ago about doing the impossible.

Oh, what a wonderful manifesto this is. I am inspired, I am motivated.
There are so many things I want to do, but another part of my problem is sitting down and picking something. I feel so overwhelmed with ideas and plans that I stagnate, or only half finish a project before another idea comes along. I am here to prove myself that I can finish more than I think I'm capable of.

Upon joining The Impossible League a few days ago I decided to find a "small" challenge I could easily take up with little extra effort (aside from my own motivation). What I found was The 100 Push Up Challenge. As far as the impossible goes, this one will just take time and willpower, along with motivation and dedication. The challenge is to do 100 full-form push ups. The (supposed) impossibility is that I can't even do one (at least full-form). I started day one a couple days ago with push ups on my knees, and surpassed my max rep! What progress! Once I'm finished with the training as-is (that is, at half-form), I plan on starting all over again with full-form.

I was feeling motivated, and then work hit me. When I was done closing the shop, I had to walk a couple boxes down the street to a sister-shop that had extra storage for us.
Holy crap. English muffins and biscuits have never felt so heavy in my life. But anyway.
I was surprised how hard it was to get those boxes down the street a few hundred feet. But the challenge gave me energy. I had to stop a few times, readjust the boxes (mostly because I had to stack them and then couldn't see in front of me), but then I had a thought:

Could I use this challenge, and one I've been trying to get started for well over a year now, in combination with each other as a penultimate motivation? One could easily help motivate the other, while also physically conditioning me for both.
But what is this other challenge???

[INSERT IMAGE HERE]

It's authorizing in heavy weapons fighting in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval recreation society in which I've been participating for a few years now. From day one I was interested in at least trying to fight, but in my two (three??? I don't remember now) years of participating I've been to practices in the single digits. In this game, men and women suit up in armor made from everything from hand-made chainmaille to metal plates, leather or even plastic barrel and whack each other with sticks to try and recreate a medieval sense of warfare. What better way to get into some sort of shape, right?!?!

I certainly like to think so.
And with this in mind, I packed up and actually went to practice on a whim! It was wonderful! I got suited up, threw some hits, took some shots, got some advice, and generally had a great time with the guys.

But sometimes, I do need my girl time....

This whole concept of impossible things has only begun to snowball.
I learned today (officially; rumors have been spreading for days) that I'm losing my job. The whole restaurant at which I'm working is closing down in a week. Here I am with my first ever job, and it's shut down after three months of employment. I took this as a sign from the Great Macrocosm of the Universe to do something else with my life. Something more exciting. And while I work on an unconventional career I am going to try another passtime I never saw myself doing: Roller Derby. For now I will make do with a number of small "impossible" things until my big things become less impossible.

Once my job ends next Saturday evening, I'm going to celebrate by officially participating in my first practice.

Here goes nothing!

Only One Part of the Problem: OR, How Sociology "Ruined" My Life

So here we are again, folks.
Expanding on my post from last night, I thought I would share a bit more of my story, and some of the inspirations that are driving me towards change, and a more fulfilling life.

I was lucky enough to not need a job until I was 23. Because of that, I never took the opportunity to find employment. I went through high school and college without the need for work (although to my downfall, I am now thirty thousand dollars in debt from college because I refused to get a job). This experience in life has given me a very unique perspective that has seriously affected the way I want to spend the rest of my life.

Because although I wasn't working at a 9-5 job, I was working on going to school, and experiencing new adventures. My first year at a four-year university I decided to sign up for a study abroad program simply to see if I would get accepted. My friends and professors were all very encouraging, but there was of course the one very loud naysayer: My mother. Knowing that she didn't even enjoy the fact of me moving FORTY FIVE minutes away to school, I was preparing myself for the penultimate negativity.

And when I was accepted, it came.
And I told her I would make it happen.
To my utter joy, it did happen. It was an amazing experience that I would not take back for all the world. This kick started a few other experiments, some short-lived, but I still did them simply because I wanted to see if I could: I trained for a 5k with no experience in running whatsoever, and ran a ten minute mile when I started the race. I took an entire year of Hindi because I had an obsession with all things Indian, I went on a retreat without knowing anything about it because it felt right.
All of these experiences melded together in my subconscious.

And that is part of the problem.

Now that I'm an adult and out in the "real" world, it is only logical that I find employment. I have bills to pay, after all.

But the problem comes from the lack of employment.
Chris Guillebeau over at The Art of Non-Conformity mentions in A Brief Guide to World Domination that if you've been on the planet for a couple of decades, that should make you an expert at *something.* But going at employment the conventional way has only landed me at a slow food joint in my home town. Hours are terrible, tips are too, but at least I'm being a grown up and working, right? Of course I have to work at a  joint like this since I've never had a job. You gotta start somewhere, right?

Am I the only one who thinks this crap?
Or am I coming off as self entitled?

I'll leave you with this for now. I'll come back to this later.


My biggest issue is that I have always looked at life from a slightly different angle than everyone else. I was the person who never really stopped asking "Why." As I grow older, this personality trait has led to several unintentional arguments (most of them with my mother), and so for a while I thought something was wrong with me. In college, I was trained to think from a different angle for my degree. Sociology actually helped me feel like I fit in somewhere, because here are all these other people who are convinced the world is not the way it seems! (And I'm referring to the researchers, not the other students.)

But keeping this in mind, I hope to try and take Chris' advice in his book (also called The Art of Non-Conformity), to try and do what I love to make some extra income, and possibly do a few impossible things along the way. This blog will contain a few rantings, hopefully some sociological based analyses (without the stats- I hate statistics and am awful at math), and explore life after college while not accepting that this is all there is to life.

And with that, folks, I will return to you with a couple of my Impossible Things and a short review of the book (as far as I have read) in the next few days.

Our Hero Returns: In Which I Try for the Umpteenth Time to Get a Blog Going

This is in fact not the first post of this blog.
In double fact, far from it.
This blog has laid dormant for well over a year, and I decided that it was overdo for a facelift of topical proportions.
Several things have happened in my life that have created a need for this change, but the main source of these things is simply this: dissatisfaction. I am not satisfied with my life.

Now how is a blog going to change my satisfaction with life? Just wait and see. Oh, do I ever have plans for you all.

Having graduated from university six months ago, I find myself out in the "real" world.
And you know what? I don't buy it. I don't buy a bit of it.
I'm supposed to work my arse off for the rest of my life so I can retire and possibly do something cool then and there?
I have to "make do" with what I can find and work at a job that zaps all my energy and turns me into a vegetable who's only main passtime is catching up on episodes of Doctor Who? (Although, don't get me wrong....I really like Doctor Who).
No. It's bullshit. All of it.
Don't get me wrong. I value my job. I am glad to have a paycheck, to pay my bills. I'm not saying that I don't want to work. What I'm saying is what I want to do what I love. Deep down inside, somewhere, I have always loved to write. Although this blog may never bring me a penny, it will help springboard my writing and the creative process, and that, my friends, is extremely satisfying.