Miniature Life Update

Dear Blog,

I have not written an entry for quite a while. I apologize for that. I hope to get back in habit soon. Here is a miniature life update. And by miniature, let's just say there's a dash of school and the entirety of my summer.

I've graduated! Huzzah! I graduated Cum Laude from Missouri State University with a B.A. in Psychology and English. I'm actually proud of myself. I didn't care about walking to get my pseudo diploma, or the incredible number of photo ops and graduation decorations my mother had for me, but to be able to lay claim to a college degree is definitely an achievement.

I also earned the "Graduated with Honors" hidden achievement.

I'm not heading straight into graduate school, though. I first volunteered with the Waynesville VISTA Summer Associate AmeriCorps program. Essentially, I was a teacher's aide for a Kindergarten class in morning, then a summer counselor of sorts for fifth graders in the afternoon. It was all volunteer work with very minimum pay. But I enjoy immensely. I've received several compliments on my skills with children. I was often asked where I got my teaching degree from. Because I guess being great with kids means I've received formal training? Who knows? But I definitely loved the month of June, full of aiding Kindergartners and guiding fifth graders.

July was a month of "other" work. I say "other" because all VISTA Summer Associates did different things. Some volunteered at churches, some to the gold course, and then there was me. It was Part II of our volunteer service and I really wanted to volunteer at the high school for a bit. There was AC and computer work (both things I enjoy in the summer). And I was chosen to go to the high school. But alas, because of my excellent work in June, my boss handpicked me to work with her at the elementary school that housed the kids doing Club TIGER (the afternoon summer camp). Then she went on vacation. So for the first week and a half, I built shelves and organized the storage room and painted the hallways and restrooms of the school. Nothing exciting, but at least there was AC and my fun work friend Shelby. When my boss came back, we were tasked with computer work and I excelled. I made a newsletter, an exceptional brochure, created interesting themes, and I was generally awesome.

That service ended July 31st and on August 1st, I started training as a full time volunteer for the district. Then time I will work for a year, essentially doing what I did over the summer. I imagine the experience will be great, the resume will get a boost, and I will earn some extra cash for my future savings. All in all, work wise, life hasn't been too bad.

I should mention that my dad had a double bypass on his heart early in July. That was a stressful time. I won't go into the details because, well, I don't want to. He was in the hospital for a bit, some rough patches at home, family tensions arose. But it's all good now. He's healthy and happy and doing great now. He no longer smokes and he's healing up just fine.

Simple bypass example

My girlfriend and I have been doing rather well. We talk every day; we spend time with each other every few weekends. Our most recent weekend included seeing The Dark Knight Rises, plenty of arcade games (including Star Wars Podracing), eating at White Castle, going to the Saint Louis Zoo, seeing Goldfinger on Art Hill, playing Munchkin, hanging out with peers, and going to the Saint Louis Science Center. It was a lot of fun. I think a Six Flags trip is next on our list, mainly since I have training the whole month of August.

Other smaller things in my life include trying to rearrange my room, getting an awesome new computer, trying to motivate myself to accomplish my blogs and start vlogs, and more novel reading. I have so many books that I haven't touched or need to revisit. I just can't get myself to do the things I want to do. In a way, I've hit the doldrums of summer. I can't pull myself away from the TV or my computer. I feel like writing blogs would be fun, vlogs would be something interesting, reading would expand my writing skills, and hopefully I can write some fiction of my own and get something published once. And my room just needs a change. It's been the same for years now.

A treadmill desk would be awesome in my room, no? Photo taken from http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com/  and features John Green, an author and VlogBrother

I hope that I can report back something of interest to you. As of late, my sporadic Facebook posts and Twitter tweets have been my only viable Internet footprints, so to speak.

Until next time!

-Daniel Golden

To the Beat of a Dubstep Lullaby

Dear Blog

Poetry is the representation of some aspect of beauty or intense emotion in a form of art. It’s created by people. Poems are written, pictures are taken, movies are filmed. But life also has its own poetry. Not only the biological concept of life (though the colors, the symmetry, and great physical attributes of nature is amazing at times), but our everyday lives. The day to day interactions we have with our environment. Well, my life is oddly poetic at times, I should say.

Example. I love Taylor Swift. Like, a lot. I love her music, I love her looks, I just love Taylor Swift. I have an affinity towards female vocals. Selena Gomez, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Adele. Yet even when I play stations built around that style of music, a style of music I find most pleasurable, I skip tracks every now and then. It’s to be expected, true. Internet radio isn’t perfect and I’m bound to dislike a song.

Screenshot from the music video "Story of Us"

But here’s the twist. I’ve found myself these past couple of weeks listening to dubstep. I typed in Skrillex, a popular dubstep artist, and I have yet to skip a song as Pandora plays for me. Here is this very aggressive, jagged, loud, low-on-lyrics music that I shouldn’t like at all. It’s in direct contrast to the stories of unrequited love found in my arsenal of ballads. But I like it. I haven’t heard something that repels me as the station spins its tunes.

This logo conveys the attitude of dubstep.

I tried to explain dubstep to my father recently. I commented that dubstep sounds like it is a mad scientist’s twisted answer to popular music. What he lacks in guitar skill he makes up with Tesla coils and the synthesized machinations of the cries of his tortured robots.

That duality, those opposites, that is the poetry of life. Fiction must be credible, real life doesn’t have to fit that bill. It can be as wonderful as wants to be, as dull as it feels like. No rhyme or reason required.

Page from 1917 Mark Twain Calendar
published by Sully and Kleinteich of NY
by arrangement with
Harper &  Brothers
from the
Dave Thomson collection

So to the beat of a dubstep lullaby I write these simple musings of life. I try to find that mystical force that drives us forward despite the contrasts that persist. The murderer hailed as a hero and the Samaritan sued for a kindly act. Of course, I’m not going to find an answer. Not one can be applied to everyone in the human race, anyway. Maybe I can find one that applies to me? A rationale behind liking Skrillex and Taylor Swift at the same time. But I don’t even that I can figure that out.

That elusive quality makes life interesting. An unanswered question followed by an unknowable future. It’s frustrating at times, but aren't all things worth experiencing frustrating to a degree? The long trip to see the Grand Canyon, the scuba equipment to swim along the Great Barrier Reef, the massive amounts of fuel needed to propel a select group of men to walk upon Earth’s only natural satellite. The risk and work create rewards that are well worth the effort.

Image Credit: NASA

You may argue that life can be predictable for some. Day in and day out daily grind. Work, eat, sleep.  But life can still throw a slight curve ball if you let it. And I say why not let life throw curve balls? I’d rather live in a world in which something exciting can happen than know it all at once. Some of life’s pitches won’t be pleasant. That’s the risk of living. A car could smash into me as I work the front desk or my bed could burst into flames as I sleep. But life can also show me pictures of nebulae light-years away and introduce me to music that oddly captivates my pensive self.

That’s what I’ve gathered in my short time on this planet. You have the option to live life to the fullest, taking in the glory of surprises, both wonderful and tragic. Or you can stay stationary. Stagnant. Hold onto a supernova as it stretches the lengths and breadths of time and space or sit in a swamp. Life won’t come at you unless you make the first move. So I dare you to shake up life and I will do the same.

Until next time!

-Daniel Golden