Day 3: Shopping and Living Cheap

I went to York again today, 1) to see it decked out in its Christmas finery (got some pictures for you), and 2) to go Christmas shopping, not that I would’ve needed to go all that way just for shopping but I did get what I think are some good presents for my parents. Now I just need to figure out how to mail a box, oh, and get a box, too; all things I hate doing. Measuring and weighing and calculating and hauling are such a pain. They really need to make international shipping more convenient, just like they need to make sending money overseas easier. I hate those processes like I hate trying to get a job.

But I’m doing it again, jumping here and there, wherever my scattered brain takes me, failing to pay any heed to flow, continuity, and conciseness. Sorry. Sometimes I feel like a comedian swinging from joke to joke, earnestly trying to find something that makes the crowd laugh, and when such a line is found, he sticks with it, expounds (yes that is a real word) on it, repeats it, and generally ruins any humour the joke originally possessed. I’m tempted to go into a comparison of British and American stand-up, but I refrain – I do have a preconceived list of things to report on tonight, I promise.

Oh, I also went to York to be social, as I expected a sizeable group of my classmates to be going. That proved to be a faulty assumption. But it was still enjoyable.

The first bit of my London adventure prep is taken care of: I bought the bus ticket to get down there. As simple as that may sound, there were actually some temporarily-worrying complications, which I’ll get to right after I do a bit of plugging. A big part of this blog is to help you, after all; maybe not replicate my trip exactly but have adventures similar to it, should you be interested. That’s why I went into detail about Pandora and Hotspot Shield yesterday; I’m talking about Megabus and Couchsurfing today (and many other days, no doubt), and I’ll get into some ways to transfer money overseas cheaply within the next few weeks. World travellers gotta help each other out.

Yes, after being dismayed at hearing the exorbitant prices for taking trains or coaches down to London, I was overjoyed to find out about a service called Megabus. From what I’ve heard it definitely has students in mind – no frills but no extra costs, just getting you from point A to point B in a cheap and hopefully, hopefully (considering all this snow we’ve been getting) timely manner. I suspect that every country has something like it; during my year in Philadelphia I took the ‘Chinabus’ from the Chinatown there to the Chinatown in Washington D.C. for cheap. It was sketchy, yes, especially as I was arriving in the dark evening, as I seem to always do, but since I was surrounded by students for most of it I felt fairly safe.

We shall see just how plain the ‘no frills’ bit gets – I have heard some derision against Megabus – but I’m not particular. Oh yes, the complications. I was on the website, having finally decided on a day to go (leaving a day for a possible complete Star Wars marathon right after uni breaks up, that would be awesome), but when I went to put in the dates and get the times, the site decided to go on the fritz. The booking feature would not budge.

This isn’t actually as interesting a story as I thought it might be when I started telling it (don’t you hate it when that happens? What’s that? You don’t start telling stories you know won’t deliver? Ah.) but I did wonder if it was a sign that I shouldn’t be opting for Megabus. Let’s hope it wasn’t, because they got the website working again just in time for me to be late to meet my friends, and I bought one ticket for me and one for my flatmate.

So we have our way in. Whether we, once down there, will be staying on lush bedding in a wonderfully hospitable host’s home or sneaking Z’s in a gay bar somewhere (no, I’m not, I just heard that they’re safe places to spend a night – not sure I want to test that suspicious-sounding theory though) remains to be seen.

I’m not trusting that point to chance completely; I have been surfing the Couchsurfing archives for potential couchsurfees. I even got a message from a friendly-sounding guy which I will pursue to see if it’s an option. People, this isn’t as sketchy as it sounds! There’s a whole reference system and everyone who’s done it seems to love it. You’ll see. You’ll see.

I’m being too picky, though; like job applications I just need to send loads out there (personalised, of course) and see what’s even an option. I’m sure there’s loads of people CSing over the holidays, so places will be few, just like the hostels, which I foolishly continue to wait to reserve. Oh man oh man. Why do I do this to myself.

But it will all work out and pay off massive, it always does. I made it here, after all. And into a wonderful job last year. And a wonderful uni the year before that. There’s a precedent.

So that’s how things stand right now; I’ve done some Christmas shopping, I have a way into emerald city (poor choice of metaphor?), accommodation options are slowly availing themselves. I need to get money, I need to finish my essays on the UN in Cambodia and British citizenship, respectively, and I need to stop boring you guys, right?

And I need to publish this before the clock strikes twelve.

Bradford City Hall by night, and night-shot mode.

Metaphor Isn’t My Strong Suit Yet, Nor Is My Real One

Well guys, it’s been too long. That’s a standard greeting in conditions of long absences, but it makes absolutely no sense in this particular context seeing as I created the absence and nothing whatsoever forced me to do so. It is completely my fault that I’ve so totally neglected this corner of my galaxy and chased after petty things.

But tonight, I came home from work and didn’t turn on the TV (though it is on now at the hand of my father…thanks, dad). Not that I often turn on the TV. More to the point, I didn’t come home and start downloading another episode of Scrubs or The Big Bang Theory, or worse yet, start watching it instantly on Megavideo (yes, I can tell you where to get access to every show and movie ever created, for free, and no, I won’t be held accountable for the damage to your mind and soul. I’ve already suffered enough at the hands of myself).

That Hulu commercial was absolutely right when it said that TV turns your mind to mush, and Hulu will do an even quicker job of it. Well, I’ve got something far better than Hulu. Online TV archives are quite possibly the most insidious attack on the intellect yet.

But tonight I did not go straight to that. I may yet later, but most likely there won’t be time, because when I get started writing, I can go for hours. Maybe even days. It would be interesting to see how long I could continue writing without breaks of any significant length. A few nights ago I did a power-writing session, starting with five minutes (no rest allowed, you must continue typing for the duration – needless to say, content is secondary) and increasing. Actually at about the third time I just let loose and went for about thirty minutes. I’m not sure about other people, but for me, writing is as easy as secreting enzymes (yes, I admit the first bodily analogy to come to mind was a bit grosser than that).

That’s no boast, because like I said, quality is not the issue here. What is the issue is blatantly laying in front of your all-too-forgiving eyes the ridiculosity (should be a word) with which I’ve conducted myself these past few months.

Here I have the means to express myself in any way I please, with just as little censorship as I please, and not even proofread the entries, for crying out loud! What could be an easier set of requirements? All I had to do was write, and write I could not. The term writer’s block comes to mind, but that actually sounds legit so it does not apply here. What I had was a seriously illegitimate case of laziness and distraction.

I’ll cut to the chase. I lost sight of my goal. That’s why my quality of life in virtually every arena plummeted. I set out on this year determined to make enough money to go to university in England in September, get better acquainted with Japanese culture (yeah, I heard you in the back say otaku. That’s why you’re in the back), practically apply what I learned last year, and learn how to handle myself out of formal education. That’s a long list, but the first one is the one that counts. The one that matters. The one I lost sight of.

I was so excited about this year because I was excited about next year. When I step off that plane in Heathrow (maybe) [actually it turned out to be Leeds-Bradford. 3/11/10] in just a few months, my life course will shift. My life won’t change that instant, but the direction of things will; that’s where everything will start. So I need to bring my present self to a closure of sorts, and prepare. I was so excited.

But I got a wonderful job that was nevertheless fairly demanding, and I lost sight of the reason I got the job. Teaching English, despite being a chance to meet interesting people and have interesting, albeit stunted, conversations, is not something I could do for a living. Far from it. On its own, it would drive me crazy. It already is. How can a poet be expected to teach English communication? I don’t operate on that plane, and I say that not out of arrogance, but desperation. Any of you, even if this is the first article of mine you’ve ever read, can see that. Right or wrong, and most likely wrong, I make people come to me, I don’t go to them.

But going to them is exactly what I’ve been doing since November, because that’s what teaching takes. That’s a fact, a necessity, and not an evil – as long as I had an ulterior release. But I succumbed to things of temporal pleasure – visual entertainment, social activity (including solo excursions based on the premeditatedly-known-to-be-false premise that something good might actually come of them), what have you. I gave up the higher things, the things that take time and effort to reap the fruit of, such as reading, research, meditation, and expression. And these cheap trivialities that came at such a high cost for collateral damages failed to replenish the energy I needed to pour into a different me, a professional me.

Because if you’re going to fake it in any area of your life, you need the authentic areas to work double hard to supply the self-affirmation and determination necessary to pull the dead weight along. In other words, a double life is not an impossibility, but only if one can keep his balance hopping along on one foot.

My authentic areas were very energizing, particularly Hi-B.A., but they didn’t occupy enough of my time or I didn’t pour myself into them enough to keep the engine running. And I was lazy with my me-time. That’s where the consequences hit the hardest. What do I do when I have no external pressures placed on me? Not much, it has become clear.

So did I come crashing down, tripping over myself and my gimp leg? Actually, no. I switched hopping legs. It was a physical relief at first, but inevitably felt unnatural. I ignored the feeling, resolving to keep on, but it wasn’t meant to be.

I’ve lost track of what I’m talking about – the metaphor has worn out its welcome; outlived its usefulness. I got carried away from the meaning. Sorry about that. A proper writer would delete the refuse and rewrite, but it’s late and I’m determined to at least post something to turn the tide of block/silence. For your sake, I’ll wind down.

Make no mistake, I fully believe that the idea is to run with two legs. There’s meant to be a consistency, a fullness in all proper areas of life, and my job is a proper area, for I was blessed in a time when I needed precisely all that it had to offer – good pay and a flexible schedule, to name but a few. However my poor choices and shortsighted, narrow-mindedness set the two at odds.

That’s where I’ll end for tonight. Remember, the author is not responsible for any views or experiences expressed herein, nor any interpretations, conclusions, assumptions, bloodlust, or taking to the streets by alleged readers that may commence as a result of passing by or ingesting these contents.

-Brad, and it’s good to be back, empty room. This post totally didn’t go where I thought it would or meant it to, but…whatever.

Blog Formative Years

As always, I’ve been perusing our dear Internet for ideas on how to improve this place’s visibility and appeal. My findings were quite useful, probably because I’m such a noob that nearly anyone’s advice is more than I already know. Check out this neat quote I found:

“Blogs are often too internally focused and ignore key usability issues, making it hard for new readers to understand the site and trust the author.” -Jakob Nielsen

This is the summary of an article on the top ten weblog design mistakes. I’ll interact with several of those points here, but you can click the link if you want it ‘from the horse’s mouth’. As they say. Sounds kind of offensive to me. Some of the points, while valid, were ones I chose to ignore because I’m not running a professional blog. I have strong preferences too, and where better to exercise them than on my own website? But I do care about you too. How can I serve you?

The first mistake was a lack of author biography on many blogs. Which I’m guilty of. I’ve been meaning to update that, so I’ll do that now. I’m supposed to write something that will get you to trust me – my expertise and my sincerity. My natural instinct is to let the writing speak for itself, but I guess it makes sense that you would want to know more about where I’m coming from.

I’m going to take a rain check on the author photo, however (I don’t understand that idiom either, could someone who runs a blog explaining such things enlighten me? I’m too lazy to Google it. My, my). I prefer to let your imaginations roam freely, but I will start you off by disclosing that I have brown hair. Do I have a peg leg? Is my hair naturally brown or just dyed currently? Am I Asian? Indian? Hmm…stick around.

Apparently my titles are inadequate. They’re too cute and humorous (aw, thanks for saying I’m funny! See, what you don’t understand is that I’m practically a prostitute for humor permeation. An out-of-business prostitute, ugh). Titles should be far more informational, for they’re the most valuable words I type. People on average only read the first three or four words of a title, according to the article. And they don’t want to be messed with. I think I may politely decline on this point too, however. I like my titles. I’ll count on the tags to pull you guys in.

I haven’t done too much with links yet (although you’ll notice an increase already in this article), but because I plan to this next warning is also useful. I need to be clear about where my links lead. I like this line: “Life is too short to click on an unknown.” How true. And yet not…one could argue that life is too short to only click on what you know. Those “life is too short” arguments are typically fallen. But point taken. I think I’ve been doing a decent job; you’ll find on my title page that I explain the difference between clicking on the tabs at the top and clicking on the categories list to the right. I also detail how to subscribe to the RSS feed, because up until recently I myself did not know about this feature and its capabilities [ooh, actually I recently took the explanation down because I thought people could figure it out for themselves. 3/11/10]. Even now that I know about it and use it to keep up with the news (in theory), I’m terrible about checking it. I’m sure you’re more diligent, so to be added to your subscription list would truly be an honor.

Good reminder to keep my most popular posts accessible, so new readers can get the best first, and also to link to other posts from entries that reference them, so readers can get the whole picture. Obvious stuff, but like I said, I’m a noob. I’m also completely guilty as charged of “mixing topics”. But I did tell you in my disclaimer that I wouldn’t keep these linear. I will completely knowingly wander around a bit, or a lot. I want to, so like always, the desire will trump the logic. I hope you’re okay with that. If you ask nicely, I could write a really focused post on a topic of your choice.

Here’s a helpful hint for Mac users: When clicking on links, hold down the command key to open that link in a new tab so you don’t lose the original article. There’s no telling how long a simple ‘Back’ function will take. If you have a PC, I’m sure there’s some equivalent. I’m not a hater, I used Windows for eighteen years of my life. Yes, I was using a computer from the day I was born, yes.

Mixed topics are, at present, a characteristic of this blog. You get a little of everything. I have been told it makes the entries seem more ‘real’. You may think differently. Never fear, I plan to diversify. At least I’m not putting posts in numerous categories. I would not have thought that anyone would be guilty of that, but there wouldn’t be a warning if there weren’t the mistake, right?

Funny story: I was at the contract-signing for my new job (English teacher, detailed here) and as we were going through the contract, the staff member mentioned that every clause in the document is there because some past employee has attempted said activity. That’s hilarious, considering how comprehensive the contract was. For example, I’m required to wear a dark suit to work. “It doesn’t have to be black – it could be navy, or dark ash…we just ask that you don’t show up looking like a pimp.” Haha. I would’ve liked to see that. Maybe not a funny story? Okay. Mediocre recollection of an amusing occurrence.

I’m supposed to write like my future boss will read this. Or my future wife (that wasn’t in the article but I think it goes right along with boss and might be even more worthy of consideration). I understand that. But I take it with a grain of salt. The chances that either of them will ever view this is quite low at present. The chances that they’ll be offended is significantly lower. I tend to think I’m a naturally inoffensive guy, except to easily-offended people. But on the other hand, I can never know what someone will take issue with. I do have strong opinions. You can call me out if you want. We can talk.

And finally, having a domain name owned by someone else. Yes, WordPress. I’m alright with that. Sure, it screams newbie. I’m not doing this for a living; I don’t consider it worth paying any money for just yet. At least WordPress is better than Geocities. What the heck is a Geocity.

Those are the top ten weblog mistakes I found, as told by Mr. Nielsen. I’m sure there are many more I’m committing as we speak (merely an expression used here for endearment). Ah well. Live and learn. Live and earn.

Before when I was in the bathroom I had a great idea for a new wing I could add to this building. I’m really excited about it, so maybe it’ll already be started by the time you read this. I’m thinking about calling it ‘Introductions’ [a.k.a ‘Links’. 3/11/10].

Nice to meet you.

-Brad