aufgenomenJournal of audio recordings and other infrequent updates

Don’t expect much from me here. I’m really sorry. I still feel like I haven’t had enough time to really decompress and reflect on my year in Germany. I will say that I never expected that coming back from living abroad would be harder than actually being there. This year was probably the most difficult I’ve ever experienced, for reasons more that culture shock. I have had a lot of positive things happen too, no doubt. A lot of love, ideas, and growth. I have a lot of material–from recordings to notes taken–that has accumulated over the last two years. Let this be an ice breaker that gets me sharing some of that again.

Michael

What a date to finally post a new blog! Sadly I am not doing any special worshiping…though I continue to succumb to the evil, glowing computer. Oh save my soul!!! Please I’m serious.

anyway

I moved in to a new house in north portland, my fourth move since being back and with all hopes the last in a long while. Before I could move anything of size, I loaded up my bike trailer with a sleeping bag, pad, my computer, speakers, and a bottle of whisky (bushmills from dad). It was really exciting setting up camp in my new room, and it feels great to finally be sharing a place with some really awesome people (besides Manny who I’ve stuck with all along). My room is huge. Huge! Call it three mini rooms: a closet big enough for my bed and clothes, another closet cozy enough to make a really inspirational studio space for all my multimedia and noise making tasks, plus the main center-room space which I am leaving fairly clear for a very special lady who is moving in at the end of June!

Even though classes are coming to an end this term (OMF*G!) they are worth mentioning again. For [ESL] Methods 1 I have been tutoring two Saudi Arabian students which has been very interesting, trying, and educational. I also have been observing ESL classes, which is awesome and probably my favorite + most effective way to learn (understanding your personal learning styles is also a big part of this class). So in general I have been around a lot of people with English as a second language lately, and enjoy it! In my struggles to find support from native peers when I was selbst an exchange student, I vowed to really put out a hand to some international students this year. Nothing too “hey-your-foreign–be-my-friend” over-the-top, but I have made a conscious effort to ask exchange students how an assignment is going, organize study sessions, or just allocate some extra time when I ask what’s up. I know how it is to have questions about everything, or want to talk to more native speakers, but always feel like a burden or irritating for people to talk to. In Germany I knew I could ask for help or if I could tag along to something, but I wanted so bad for someone to just take me by the hand for awhile and show me some cool shit! and genuinely be interested in hanging out too. So since Fall I have made a couple great friends studying here from Japan, and meeting with them has been one of the most academically helpful strategies for me this term!

Oh and then there is History of English and 20th Century German Literature which are great, but what I really want to get to is the new toy I bought for my birthday…

and actuall for 20th c ger lit… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … working on it, sorry! soo much goodness to come though… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Hey it’s FINALS WEEK! Ahhhh!

Outside of school I have been spending the majority of my time working on web development. I invested in an great advanced CSS book (from the brit pack) and another from simplebits in hopes of becoming a better and esp. faster coder by this summer so I can finally make some $$$ (ooh, need this one too. and this one!) I really love it too. The mixture of problem solving in code and design works my mind in a really satisfying way. It also can make five hours feel like fifteen minutes, and I am doing my best to balance out my computer trance out with basketball and planting pansies. As usual I don’t have many finished products to show off, rather too many projects still in process. Check out my sister Skye’s website/portal the Accidental Library (of course, still under major development).

P.S. If your sad that I don’t have a place to leave comments, I am too! There is a non-technical answer, but I’ll just say it kind of feels radical for the time being. I’d love if you’d email me as much as you like though: notbot@gmail.com

Looks like I am averaging one post a month. Here is a photo recap of this one. Holy teez dabadooidly nuts, I can’t wait till spring break.

from artist Nicolas Lampert.

here is me after I finished that crazy economics paper that almost killed me! It took a week before I felt well enough to make this.

Studying with Ashby in Seattle. She was helping me recover from what I think was my first real mental breakdown. Journal article by my professor John Hall and his colleague Udo Ludwig.

as always, more to come. here is another sweet r ‘n b track in the mean time.