Since June 22nd

Well, I've been living in Brooklyn since June 22nd and it hit me like a ton of bricks this afternoon. I really love New York.

Working construction with my Granddad often feels more like hanging out. Living with this side of the family feels long overdue. A few days ago I bought a bicycle. July 4th was amazing on the Hudson River. My good friend Jon Ladd was visiting NYC just this last week and we got to hang out. Swing dancing in Manhattan officially kept me out all night (just once). And I'm reading and writing a lot, and its all stuff I'm encountering for myself, free of any degree-binding patterns.

That's pretty much how it's going. I'm dreaming of home a lot when I sleep, and when I'm awake I'm flooded with (somewhat hazy) memories of an AMAZING sendoff party with friends and family I feel so grateful to have in my life.

In a mountain of tiny simple ways I'm very happy.

That being said, some bigger issues are in need of being worked out in the near future. I realize that today is a difficult time for most people to find a job, whatever their profession. It's just that sometimes I feel a little funny having just graduated and leaving to do something seemingly unrelated. I went to the NY Dept. of Education this week to see if what I had read and added up matched the real requirements to teach in this state, but to no avail. The state is on a hiring freeze for teaching... even substitutes.

So as I feel a need to professionally develop, I am comforted by that mountain of tiny important things. I am trying to remember that my education was about forming my intellect first (and remembering to be always forming), then my profession. And then my Grandfather told me that it took him a long in his life to really understand that whatever the trial "If you act right, things are going to be alright." With his commanding tone, it's difficult not to feel his conviction- and besides, who would argue with that?

So I guess, in a broad sort of way, that's my plan.