I have just returned to the splendid little home of brother Aaron and his lovely fiancé Danielle after…a day at work? For some last minute bonding time, and to help Aaron speed through the day, I helped him out at work. I guess today was ‘Take Your Brother to Work Day.’ I was an Anheuser salesman today, despite the fact that I quit my job with the Anheuser distributor in Johnson and Miami Counties a week and a half ago. When Danielle is ready, the two of us will hop on the road, with Aaron an hour or two behind.
Tonight will be sort of a grand hurrah in the Kansas City area. The brothers and Dad will be joining me and a group of friends at the bars on this evening. Talking of times of old, times of now, and times of the future; there should be some pleasant bonding.
Friday 21 September 2007
Wednesday 19 September 2007
My Difficult Goodbyes
So on my recent week and a half trip through the Midwest to say my goodbyes; I actually said very few goodbyes. I am bad at them, and my apologies to those friends I never gave farewells to, never hugged goodbye. Thinking about it on the road during the day and night, I have realized that this kind of goodbye has never been on my battlefield. Maybe I avoided them in hopes of there never being any real departure, or separation. As I think of it now though, it may be difficult for some of us to reunite...but I guess life is filled with difficulties, all of which are nothing more than additional challenges to conquer.
With these recent understandings I have decided that it is of importance that I give some phonecalls and send some messages to some individuals, to give my personal feelings. I am leaving in about eight days, and I have still not come to a complete realization of who I am leaving. There lies a great adventure, and I plan on taking you all with me in heart. Thank you and all the best.
With these recent understandings I have decided that it is of importance that I give some phonecalls and send some messages to some individuals, to give my personal feelings. I am leaving in about eight days, and I have still not come to a complete realization of who I am leaving. There lies a great adventure, and I plan on taking you all with me in heart. Thank you and all the best.
Thursday 30 August 2007
Conversations with Roman
It is less than a month now to when I set off to Ukraine, and I am now beginning to think about relationships. There will be great one to be made, but that does not concern me, it is the relationships i currently hold that sit on my mind. Last Saturday I had a farewell party with my family and friends of all ages. Of course there are many that were unable to attend, but that is more than alright, I still have a month to hop on the friendship roads.
Wether or not I am able to visit and say good-byes to all the friends before my departure, there will still be wonderful reunions, be they two years, ten years, thirty years from now in person, on the phone, digitally, or any other form of communication. I have this wonderful understanding that the greatest conversations can resume even after the greatest pauses known.
One friendship that has surprised me with its continuation is between myself and Beverly (mother of my ex-girlfriend). She recently put my in contact with a retired Ukrainian doctor and I had the great fortune of meeting him yesterday. The conversation between Roman and myself brought it to my attention to how little I know about Ukraine. His stories of corruption in the government, watching his in action during WWII, his emotions of thoughts in the east, and the tales of his love for Ukrainian music and dance all showed to me the wonders of first hand conversation opposed to book and internet research. These meetings, as he has insisted, will happen several more time before my departure. His excitement for throughout the conversation intrigued me. His daughter and her friend video recorded our conversation, as apparently, he rarely talks about his life in Ukraine. I have many thanks to Beverly and Roman.
Now that my trip nears, my blog involvement should be increasing. Unfortunately, we have lost internet in the Schwieterman Manor, so I may be throwing numerous blogs up at a time for a while.
Wether or not I am able to visit and say good-byes to all the friends before my departure, there will still be wonderful reunions, be they two years, ten years, thirty years from now in person, on the phone, digitally, or any other form of communication. I have this wonderful understanding that the greatest conversations can resume even after the greatest pauses known.
One friendship that has surprised me with its continuation is between myself and Beverly (mother of my ex-girlfriend). She recently put my in contact with a retired Ukrainian doctor and I had the great fortune of meeting him yesterday. The conversation between Roman and myself brought it to my attention to how little I know about Ukraine. His stories of corruption in the government, watching his in action during WWII, his emotions of thoughts in the east, and the tales of his love for Ukrainian music and dance all showed to me the wonders of first hand conversation opposed to book and internet research. These meetings, as he has insisted, will happen several more time before my departure. His excitement for throughout the conversation intrigued me. His daughter and her friend video recorded our conversation, as apparently, he rarely talks about his life in Ukraine. I have many thanks to Beverly and Roman.
Now that my trip nears, my blog involvement should be increasing. Unfortunately, we have lost internet in the Schwieterman Manor, so I may be throwing numerous blogs up at a time for a while.
Thursday 12 July 2007
Invasions on Inter-Neighbor Zones
So once again I have found a way to revert back to my childhood after long lulls from certain actions. Today I took some time to mow Dad’s lawn. Now this task, be it a pain in the ass, a work out, another simple chore, or any other notion you may have of it, is something I volunteered to do today after work. What is seemingly different, or the forgotten same, is the non-stop new trains of thought that came to mind during my trek.
The first of these was thoughts was the excitement I had for it. When I was first allowed to mow the lawn as a chore, the event was adventuresome. I wanted to mow the lawn, and at the time, I assumed that pleased Dad, as he no longer had to make the zig-zags around the house. Today though, as I made my own marks in the green (and brown) earth, I began to think that maybe it was not a blessing, or a sense of relief to my pops when I cut the lawn in the past. It was sort of me signing my name on his domain. He does much work on that lawn (don’t mention the brown spots, they are new and seemingly incurable this summer), and I imagine he takes some pride in his work. He may also enjoy the time he can cut the lawn with an unintruded train of thoughts (for the same reason I love my jogs).
While I considered my actions of the past and present as being an invasion on my father’s work, I watched the lines I was drawing creep into the neighbors landscapes and realized it was not my father alone of who I was invading upon, but my neighbors and possible allies. I cannot be fully to blame, there has never been a line drawn on the soil to my knowledge declaring whose bit of land belonged to who, but I am pretty sure that I crossed such a line. I am now considering that there be a possible foot each direction that could be declared as inter-neighbor lands. With this possible ruling in action, I am fine for my ventures into unowned lands.
The last of my lawn mowing thoughts that I will confess to this evening are the changes in the lines of the land. I aimed at mowing in a different patter that father dearest, and I think I may have. Of course, he has been doing this for a long time, so my current creativity may just be a copy of what was done further back in the past. Oh well, it was nice to mow the lawn again.
Oh yeah, I would like to have one of those gas-free lawn mowers...with an odometer.
The first of these was thoughts was the excitement I had for it. When I was first allowed to mow the lawn as a chore, the event was adventuresome. I wanted to mow the lawn, and at the time, I assumed that pleased Dad, as he no longer had to make the zig-zags around the house. Today though, as I made my own marks in the green (and brown) earth, I began to think that maybe it was not a blessing, or a sense of relief to my pops when I cut the lawn in the past. It was sort of me signing my name on his domain. He does much work on that lawn (don’t mention the brown spots, they are new and seemingly incurable this summer), and I imagine he takes some pride in his work. He may also enjoy the time he can cut the lawn with an unintruded train of thoughts (for the same reason I love my jogs).
While I considered my actions of the past and present as being an invasion on my father’s work, I watched the lines I was drawing creep into the neighbors landscapes and realized it was not my father alone of who I was invading upon, but my neighbors and possible allies. I cannot be fully to blame, there has never been a line drawn on the soil to my knowledge declaring whose bit of land belonged to who, but I am pretty sure that I crossed such a line. I am now considering that there be a possible foot each direction that could be declared as inter-neighbor lands. With this possible ruling in action, I am fine for my ventures into unowned lands.
The last of my lawn mowing thoughts that I will confess to this evening are the changes in the lines of the land. I aimed at mowing in a different patter that father dearest, and I think I may have. Of course, he has been doing this for a long time, so my current creativity may just be a copy of what was done further back in the past. Oh well, it was nice to mow the lawn again.
Oh yeah, I would like to have one of those gas-free lawn mowers...with an odometer.
Wednesday 11 July 2007
No TV Make Curtis Something Something
So this weekend I bade farewell to the flicker box which stood in my bedroom since grade school. Sure, it has grown, added additional elements, and gave more options throughout its career, but I decided it was time to escape TV land. It is nice to go TVless again. The last time I had experienced it was a couple of summers ago when I lived with Jessie, her and I were able to get much more done without the ol’ boob tube. The remaining portions of this summer (while in the house) will consist of listening to music, reading the news, reading my stack of books-to-read, working on the Ukrainian language, returning to more consistent yoga, and hanging out with the parental units I call Mom and Dad.
This is a removal of one of those elements that plays little positive role in my day to day life. I still use my parents TV for SportsCenter and BBC World News. Then again in the evening for Lou Dobbs and BBC World News. Am I removing myself from common and/or pop culture. I’m not sure, but I am uniting with another set frame of thought, so all will be well. It has been pleasant thus far, and I expect it to continue on.
This is a removal of one of those elements that plays little positive role in my day to day life. I still use my parents TV for SportsCenter and BBC World News. Then again in the evening for Lou Dobbs and BBC World News. Am I removing myself from common and/or pop culture. I’m not sure, but I am uniting with another set frame of thought, so all will be well. It has been pleasant thus far, and I expect it to continue on.
Enough With the All-Star Break
Of my travels last night, none of them went to the MLB All-Star Game. I can no longer bring myself to watch that game, and no, it has nothing to do with Barry Bonds. My problem lies with two aspects of the game: 1. Every team has a representative; 2. The winning league takes home-field advantage of the World Series.
I am a Royals fan, I grew up in the KC area, and I love watching my brothers in blue being regarded as all-stars, but this year was not a year we deserved representation (along with a few of the recent past years). I do feel Gil Meche is a great pitcher, and well worth the money that is being spent on him, but he does not necessarily sit on the board of all-stars. I understand that each team having a designated player would give each team a player to root for and therefore watch, but I feel that All-Star games should be played by all-stars.
I feel that the new rule (2003) declaring that the winning league of the all-star game receives the benefit of home-field advantage may have changed the mindset of the players and coaches. A game that was before a simple game of fun, there now stands much more importance in winning. This may alter who plays and for how long. Lets loose the seriousness for a little while.
I am ready for the break to end. It is a tough schedule for the Royals following the break, but I am hoping for a single ticket to one of Kansas City’s games when I am in Beantown.
I am a Royals fan, I grew up in the KC area, and I love watching my brothers in blue being regarded as all-stars, but this year was not a year we deserved representation (along with a few of the recent past years). I do feel Gil Meche is a great pitcher, and well worth the money that is being spent on him, but he does not necessarily sit on the board of all-stars. I understand that each team having a designated player would give each team a player to root for and therefore watch, but I feel that All-Star games should be played by all-stars.
I feel that the new rule (2003) declaring that the winning league of the all-star game receives the benefit of home-field advantage may have changed the mindset of the players and coaches. A game that was before a simple game of fun, there now stands much more importance in winning. This may alter who plays and for how long. Lets loose the seriousness for a little while.
I am ready for the break to end. It is a tough schedule for the Royals following the break, but I am hoping for a single ticket to one of Kansas City’s games when I am in Beantown.
Sunday 8 July 2007
Greetings and Salutations
This is the starting point of my involvement in the blogging world...outside of the small amount of vlogging that I have already done, but, being that I currently lack a video camera, I will travel on with the use of text.
One of my purposes for building this site is to share my experiences while in Ukraine for the next couple of years, but I do imagine that its use will go much further and will prove to be more fruitful than simple communication.
At this point I am just setting this up the blog, but there will soon be some explanations of my future travels, my work with the Peace Corps, and my general daily thoughts. All the best.
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