Vote

Ok, I’m trying to get back on the blog. I know, you’re all probably super-excited. In any case, I have a legit request: vote.

For the second year in a row, Sacred Heart University finished on top of the charts for the ONE Campus Challenge and received yet another $1,000 grant to make poverty history in our area.

Now is your chance to help out! Head to http://www.one.org/projects/ and vote for Sacred Heart’s final project! It took a lot of work and planning, but it came together nicely! Check out our video and see the impact we had – from financing 8 incredible individuals around the world to petitioning our Senators to support the International Affairs portion of the FY2010 Federal Budget.

The winning school will be chosen based on a panel of judges as well as the “popular vote”, and the winner will gain incredible recognition as the number 1 poverty fighting school in the country!

We’re still in 9th place at the moment, but please vote and pass this along to any faculty/staff/coworkers/friends/family that would like to get involved! Anyone can vote, and you don’t have to be affiliated with SHU or any other unversity to do so!

We’re not asking for your money – we’re asking for your voice. Use your voice and VOTE FOR SHU!

Don’t Vote

Civil rights, health care, human rights, abortion, women’s rights, gun control, gas prices, social security, welfare, education, minimum wage, the war, the economy, global warming, the first amendment, the second amendment, all the amendments…that stuff sucks. Don’t vote.

Send it to 5 friends. And, don’t forget to vote.

Who Needs Sleep?

I’m determined. I’m vowing from here on out, for the rest of my life, to never sleep for more than 8 hours. Why? I think I waste a lot of time sleeping, and even though sleep feels amazing, a lot of other things make me feel equally awesome (being awake, for example). In any case, that’s my new resolution – and it’s been working out really well.

At first, it was a little hard to go from 9ish hours to a flat 8 or less, but after a few weeks at it, I’m having trouble sleeping for more than 8. Next question: is it healthy? Yep. How do I know? Newsweek told me. They say we need 7 hours of sleep to function properly, and since I figure that 9 is way too much, 8 is a perfect medium. You never know though, maybe I’ll ween myself down that far at some point.

This BBC article says that sleep varies person to person, which I think has got to be true – but I think it’s working out. Like Gustav Graves says in Die Another Day, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Seems like a much more effective use of my time, no?

Traveling Salesmen

I’m pretty sure everyone in Bridgeport knows how to fix a car. Unfair stereotype based on socioeconomic conditions? Maybe. But I swear, there’s not a single other place on earth where I can drive my (understandably damaged) car around and be hassled by people trying to fix it for me.

Generally, a man much larger than myself will drive up next to me, maybe in a parking lot, or in sitting traffic, and ask if I’d like my car fixed. I get an inquiry, no joke, at least once a week. The conversation typically goes something like this:

“Yo, you need some body work. I’ll give you a good price.”

“Umm, no thanks.”

And that’s the end of it. But today, my life wasn’t that easy. All I wanted was a delicious Honey Mustard Chicken sub from Quiznos, and this is what I got instead.

“Yo, you need some body work. Let me fix that up for you.”

“Umm, no thanks.”

“Come on, I’ll give you a real good price.” Whoa. Now he’s breaking the monotonous conversation cycle. Clearly no side-walk salesmen etiquette to be found here…

“No.”

“Why not? Why wouldn’t you want to get that fixed?” (To clarify, my car has a few noticeable dents from collisions that were seriously not my fault, the least of which not being my bent hood, which is being held onto the front end by a gun lock.)

“Too many miles,” I say, now trying to pull up the window despite the 90 degree humidity in a vain attempt to escape.

“Oh, so you want to sell it.” (He wasn’t asking a question – he clearly thought that “too many miles” translated into “why don’t you take it off my hands” or something.)

“No, I just, don’t want any body work done.”

I pulled away after that, completely breaking eye contact with him. It’s the nice person in me that feels guilty about it, but then there’s the jerk that knows I never would have been able to refuse the business card I’m sure he was pressing between his fat fingers had I not been so quick to put my foot on the gas. Sometimes, being nice just doesn’t pay.

So Long, Sweet Summer

My summer is over a week from tomorrow. That’s the cold hard truth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to go back to Sacred Heart and start doing some more….productive….things. Yet, I can’t shake this feeling of inadequacy. It’s like I’m parting with so many things – high school friends, co-workers, family, etc. I think the most alive I’ve felt all summer was sitting in the Hotel Grand Paris in La Ceiba, Honduras underneath a palm tree, sipping a Coca-Cola out of a glass bottle. Some feelings you just can’t shake…

So, I decided to make my last week of summer my best. In the past week, I’ve had more obnoxious customers at the restaurant, gone to more parties, and talked to more people than I have all summer. I’m going to double that this week.

What else have I done this summer? I completed six credits, with six more on the way plus an internship. 15 credits in a summer isn’t too shabby. I went to Honduras, Los Angeles, New York, and a multitude of other places. I’ve also been reading a number of books, the most recent being Charles Bukowski’s Women and John Irving’s The Fourth Hand. They’re both fantastic novels that I haven’t been able to put down.

I’ve also been writing, drawing, thinking, playing the piano, and watching tons of movies. Great blockbusters this summer, by the way. Iron Man, Indiaian Jones, Prince Caspian, The Dark Knight, Pinapple Express, Wall-E - nothin’ better than those. I’ve even been riding my bike, which I’ve decided will be accompanying me to my new house in Fairfield. All in all, it’s been a good summer. I’m just sad to see it go…

Random Acts of Kindness

I was on my lender page for Kiva.org and was looking at some of the amazing folks around the world I’ve been able to have contact with. The six I’ve loaned to so far range from Cambodia to Kenya and are truly working for better lives for themselves. It’s just amazing to me that through micro-loaning, in increments as low as $25, you can really change someone’s life. I’m not exactly raking in loads of cash, but $25 really isn’t that much money – and yet, it’s helping someone else a world away tenfold of what it would have helped me. It just started me thinking on random acts of kindness and whatnot, and how such little things can really change the world…

As an aside, this was what I saw on my New Yorker desk calendar this morning:

Published in The New Yorker May 15, 2006. Copyright Pat Byrnes.

It made me laugh. Oh, New Yorker, you and your comedy…what will we do with you?

Waiter Rant

I’m a damn good waiter. I’m attentive, have a great memory, and can talk for hours about the extensive menu. In no way do I intend to stay in the industry for very much longer, but it’s a great paying summer job. The toughest part about the job, really, is putting up with customers. I’m not anti-social. I’m not condescending or inconsiderate. I just can’t wrap my head around some of the conversations I’m forced to have.

Customer #1: I’d like an Iced Coffee.

Me: Sure, not a problem. I’ll be right back with that.

Customer #1: (When I return) – There are ice cubes in here. I don’t want ice cubes.

Me: Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you asked for Iced Coffee.

Customer #1: Well, yes, but not with ice in it. Who gets ice in their coffee?

Me: *Blank stare*….. Can I do anything else for you then ma’m?

Customer #1: You can take these ice cubes out.

Me: Sure, let me just go get you a new cup.

Customer #1: Can’t you just do it here? You just have to take a spoon or something and lob them out…

Me: We don’t….do that here… *Sigh*

Later in the day…

Customer #2: Do you have anything like a hamburger here?

Me: Unfortunately we don’t serve hamburgers, but we do serve an Antelope Cheeseburger which is very similar. It tastes a little sweeter than beef and it’s not very gamy.

Customer #2: But what is it made out of, pork…or beef?

Me: No, it’s Antelope.

Customer #2: So is that venison or something?

Customer #2: Ma’m, no, Antelope is an animal. It’s…just a separate animal.

Customer #3 (sitting next t Customer #2): It’s like a gazelle, or an elk or something.

Customer #2: It’s got to be really gamy, then, right? Where do they come from, Africa?

Me: No, it’s not gamy at all. And our Antelope is domestic and comes from out west – it’s all free range.

Customer #2: Oh, there’s so much going on in Africa and Iraq right now – who knows where that elk has been. I’ll just have the Cobb Salad.

If you’re a fellow server and need to satisfy some of your pent up customer induced rage, visit the Waiter Rant website. I borrowed their name for this post, and I have to admit, sometimes I wonder if he has it worse than I do…