Another Easter has come and for many it is simply another excuse for a long weekend. Don't get me wrong, I too appreciate an extra day off from work, but Easter is much more than an excuse for a holiday. However, when I'm honest with myself I feel conflicted about Easter. On one hand it is the most significant event in the history of Christianity and in the life of the Christian. As the Apostle Paul once wrote, if Jesus is not risen, then we are to be pitied above all men. One cannot difinitevley prove or disprove Christ's resurrection, one must accept it on faith.
But now I find myself watching the third season of Battlestar Galatcita and I recognize the courage and valor that is depicted on the screen and I can't help but compare and contrast that with my own actions and thoughts. This is what has me feeling conflicted concerning Easter. I see in Christ the courage of self sacrifice and moral integrity and I can't help but see myself being found wanting by comparison. Of course everyone is found wanting when compared to the Christ. That doesn't mean that one should be blind to their journey or fail to strive to improve one's being. It is at Easter that this distance between the perfection of the Christ and my own flawed humanity seems most apparent. So while one half rejoices another half laments.
***
After three years and seven months I received an email from my ex-wife. I hadn't talked with her or seen her since August of 2004, when we finalized our divorce. I had heard about her from others, I knew she was remarried and that she had had a child. Which is I why I was not only surprised to hear from her but for her to claim to have been happier with me than she is currently. I couldn't help but wonder why she would tell me that. What difference would it make to me? Was it supposed to make me feel better? Was this another effort to hurt me? In the final analysis I don't care. She has her life and I have mine. If she is unhappy with the choices that she has made that is a burden for her to bear not I, not any longer. The question I am left with is whether I should communicate to her whether or not I forgive her. Which of course leads to another question: do I forgive her?
***
The To-Do List ... Updated
1. go camping
2. go paintballing
3. visit Diane
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Relationships
Recently I've been discussing football with several other Oakland Raider fans and I've had a hard time understanding why some people can't see the relationship between the disorganized nature of the team and its horrid record with the reality that they have to overpay for talent. I really don't understand how people can't see the relationship that exists. This of course leads me into the topic of women.
I was recently perusing the October 2007 issue of Cosmo magazine (please don't ask why) when I came across this section called Totally Cosmo on pp. 178 - 182. Its a series of results from a "major survey' conducted by the magazine in order to gain a better insight into today's modern woman. Here are some things that stuck out to me.
59% say women wear the pants in most relationships
92% say women are more in charge of relationships now than in their parents day
76% say it's harder to have a good relationship today than it was in their parents' generation
82% think that their generation will have a higher divorce rate
Does anyone see a relationship between these statistics? So if women are more in control of relationships today than their mothers were, and it's now harder to have a good relationship than for their mother, do they think that there is some sort of causal link between these two facts?
I'm no sociologist, psychologist, therapist or any other such -ist but I think that these statistics should make someone ponder what is really happening. Is there a correlation between the level of female dominance in a relationship and the rate of relationship survival?
***
41% think it's fine to have one night stands occasionally
37% don't always practice safe sex
That works well with the recently released study conducted by the Center for Disease Control which found that 26% of American females between the ages of 14 and 19 have an STD.
***
75% would not be bothered if they had slept with more people than their mate had
27% have lied to a guy about the number of people with whom they've slept
No it doesn't bother the woman to know that they have slept with more people but they know that it bothers the man so they lie. Makes sense considering that men, if they are serious about a relationship, don't necessarily want a woman that may be deemed to have been promiscuous in their past.
To use a crude analogy, it's like going shopping. If you in Wal-mart and your looking for something, you ask the person in the Wal-mart uniform, not the person in the security uniform or the person in the Burger King uniform. People put on uniforms through their behavior. If you want to party you find the bar-star or club-rat. If you want to have sex, you find the promiscuous woman. If you want a wife and mother to your children you find the person who acts accordingly.
I was recently perusing the October 2007 issue of Cosmo magazine (please don't ask why) when I came across this section called Totally Cosmo on pp. 178 - 182. Its a series of results from a "major survey' conducted by the magazine in order to gain a better insight into today's modern woman. Here are some things that stuck out to me.
59% say women wear the pants in most relationships
92% say women are more in charge of relationships now than in their parents day
76% say it's harder to have a good relationship today than it was in their parents' generation
82% think that their generation will have a higher divorce rate
Does anyone see a relationship between these statistics? So if women are more in control of relationships today than their mothers were, and it's now harder to have a good relationship than for their mother, do they think that there is some sort of causal link between these two facts?
I'm no sociologist, psychologist, therapist or any other such -ist but I think that these statistics should make someone ponder what is really happening. Is there a correlation between the level of female dominance in a relationship and the rate of relationship survival?
***
41% think it's fine to have one night stands occasionally
37% don't always practice safe sex
That works well with the recently released study conducted by the Center for Disease Control which found that 26% of American females between the ages of 14 and 19 have an STD.
***
75% would not be bothered if they had slept with more people than their mate had
27% have lied to a guy about the number of people with whom they've slept
No it doesn't bother the woman to know that they have slept with more people but they know that it bothers the man so they lie. Makes sense considering that men, if they are serious about a relationship, don't necessarily want a woman that may be deemed to have been promiscuous in their past.
To use a crude analogy, it's like going shopping. If you in Wal-mart and your looking for something, you ask the person in the Wal-mart uniform, not the person in the security uniform or the person in the Burger King uniform. People put on uniforms through their behavior. If you want to party you find the bar-star or club-rat. If you want to have sex, you find the promiscuous woman. If you want a wife and mother to your children you find the person who acts accordingly.
Monday, March 10, 2008
The to-do list
Over the past year I've really slowed down on my blogging. I can't point to one specific thing as to why. I am in school, which does tend to take up a bit of my time but I wouldn't say that that is why. It seems to be a collection of things one of which is my inherent laziness about such things. Oh well, hopefully that will change as I have enjoyed blogging over these past few years. I understand that the number of people who actually read these words approaches zero quite consistently but I find that it helps me to work through some things, and it also provides me with an opportunity to express myself without unleashing it all on one person.
Recently I've been investigating the possibility of going over to Korea for a year or two after I graduate. I've been in my job for too long now. I find it very depressing and it just constantly wears on me. Not so much the work but the atmosphere. It's very negative, very corosive. Once it happens I'll be so happy to be out of here.
I had been trying to work out whether or not I should worry about trying to figure out a way to go on to the supply list in May once I've completed all of my placements and class work. In some ways it seemed a very daunting thing. Supply work would pay me more than what I currently make, but its not like I could afford to quit my job in May and bank on supply work to get me through. Besides, what would I do during the summer if I were to quit? So I figured that worrying about the supply list this spring wouldn't be worth the headaches and the hassle of it all. But what about the fall? The same problems would still exist.
It could all work out if I were to magically land a full time or even an LTO (long term occasional) position starting in the fall but that would be magical indeed. I figured that if I were to place myself in such a situation I would either have to turn down supply work because I couldn't get out of my current job in time or I would have to call in sick to my current job every time I wanted to take a supply day. Obviously teaching would be my priorty but I would run the risk of simply pissign off my current employer to the point of getting fired. Alternatively I could upset the supply people enough that they only call me as a last resort. The problem is money. I need to pay my bills and as such I can't afford to simply rely on supply work to get me through at this point.
This is partly where Korea comes in. The very practical thing about teaching abroad in Korea is that one has the opportunity to save up a decent amount of money over the course of a year. I have one friend who is currently in Korea and he estimated that he would be able to save twenty thousand plus in his first year there. If I could duplicate this I would be debt free in a year. That is a strong lure to be sure. If I were debt free then the need for a consistent full time job would dramatically decrease and living off of supply work a couple days a week would be a serious possibility.
The other aspect about going to Korea is the opportunity to travel. Travelling is something that has been a growing desire of mine for the past several years. I've gone on vacations a few times in my life. I've been to Florida twice, Chicago, Las Vegas and Jamaica. I'm not complaining but none of those really provided me with any insight into life or a different perspective on life. Well, Jamaica did for a moment. The one time we ventured out of the resort I was admittedly taken aback by the level of poverty, but this was brief and fleeting once I was back in the safe and cozy confines of the all-inclusive resort. I know that there are different perspectives on life and its challenges. I know that there are different ways of doing things and tackling life, but neither where I live or my limited travelling experiences have provided me with much in that regard. I want to get out and see the world, and to see how other people live. I know how Canadian's live, I want a different perspective, I want a perspective that comes from getting to know another culture and life perspective.
Korea provides me with both things. A vehicle that I can use to save money and get myself out of debt and a way of experiencing the world and life. So to that end I have contacted a couple of recruiters, one of which arranged to have a phone interview with me this past Friday. From my perspective the interview went well, but that doesn't mean anything. I now have to wait for a couple of weeks to find out if I passed or some such thing. I hope that things go forward from here as the job and their part in it sounded appealing. So hopefully by the end of the summer I'll be jetting off to Korea to finally start an adventure.
So this brings me to the to-do list. I was thinking the other day about things that I'd like to do before I leave. So I thought that I'd create a list of things and see how far I get.
***
THE LIST
1. go camping - I haven't been camping in years, since I was a kid in fact, and I'd like to spend a few days out in the wilderness.
more to come ...
Recently I've been investigating the possibility of going over to Korea for a year or two after I graduate. I've been in my job for too long now. I find it very depressing and it just constantly wears on me. Not so much the work but the atmosphere. It's very negative, very corosive. Once it happens I'll be so happy to be out of here.
I had been trying to work out whether or not I should worry about trying to figure out a way to go on to the supply list in May once I've completed all of my placements and class work. In some ways it seemed a very daunting thing. Supply work would pay me more than what I currently make, but its not like I could afford to quit my job in May and bank on supply work to get me through. Besides, what would I do during the summer if I were to quit? So I figured that worrying about the supply list this spring wouldn't be worth the headaches and the hassle of it all. But what about the fall? The same problems would still exist.
It could all work out if I were to magically land a full time or even an LTO (long term occasional) position starting in the fall but that would be magical indeed. I figured that if I were to place myself in such a situation I would either have to turn down supply work because I couldn't get out of my current job in time or I would have to call in sick to my current job every time I wanted to take a supply day. Obviously teaching would be my priorty but I would run the risk of simply pissign off my current employer to the point of getting fired. Alternatively I could upset the supply people enough that they only call me as a last resort. The problem is money. I need to pay my bills and as such I can't afford to simply rely on supply work to get me through at this point.
This is partly where Korea comes in. The very practical thing about teaching abroad in Korea is that one has the opportunity to save up a decent amount of money over the course of a year. I have one friend who is currently in Korea and he estimated that he would be able to save twenty thousand plus in his first year there. If I could duplicate this I would be debt free in a year. That is a strong lure to be sure. If I were debt free then the need for a consistent full time job would dramatically decrease and living off of supply work a couple days a week would be a serious possibility.
The other aspect about going to Korea is the opportunity to travel. Travelling is something that has been a growing desire of mine for the past several years. I've gone on vacations a few times in my life. I've been to Florida twice, Chicago, Las Vegas and Jamaica. I'm not complaining but none of those really provided me with any insight into life or a different perspective on life. Well, Jamaica did for a moment. The one time we ventured out of the resort I was admittedly taken aback by the level of poverty, but this was brief and fleeting once I was back in the safe and cozy confines of the all-inclusive resort. I know that there are different perspectives on life and its challenges. I know that there are different ways of doing things and tackling life, but neither where I live or my limited travelling experiences have provided me with much in that regard. I want to get out and see the world, and to see how other people live. I know how Canadian's live, I want a different perspective, I want a perspective that comes from getting to know another culture and life perspective.
Korea provides me with both things. A vehicle that I can use to save money and get myself out of debt and a way of experiencing the world and life. So to that end I have contacted a couple of recruiters, one of which arranged to have a phone interview with me this past Friday. From my perspective the interview went well, but that doesn't mean anything. I now have to wait for a couple of weeks to find out if I passed or some such thing. I hope that things go forward from here as the job and their part in it sounded appealing. So hopefully by the end of the summer I'll be jetting off to Korea to finally start an adventure.
So this brings me to the to-do list. I was thinking the other day about things that I'd like to do before I leave. So I thought that I'd create a list of things and see how far I get.
***
THE LIST
1. go camping - I haven't been camping in years, since I was a kid in fact, and I'd like to spend a few days out in the wilderness.
more to come ...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)