Volunteering is rewarding.

Not only because I feel I'm doing my part to help the greater good... now I get to see a sneak of Where The Wild Things Are. Dave Eggers, founder of 826 and writer of the screenplay and Spike Jonze the director will be conducting a Q and A.

The first time I saw the preview my eyes filled with tears.

Here's a link to my published article on Terri Trespicio and her recent appearance on The Martha Stewart Show:

Austin

I'm hunting for a city with beauty and personality disorders.
This city has musicians, politicians, professors, and blue collar workers. I'm going to see some shows and do some rock climbing and other outdoor activities with my good friend Megan. My summer started late and this is the last to do before I push out my thesis.

My Family's Ravoli Factory

Rock Climbing

My skinny arms, lack of coordination, and weak ankles would probably not make me the best boulderer. Yet upon my first time at indoor climbing, I found out that the security from a harness and the rope builds different strength and that climbing practiced involves much skill. It's a game of strategy and to set up some good stemming problems is as stimulating as playing a challenging crossword puzzle. The levels go from easy to severely challenging. I am yet to dangle at a 45 degree angle upside down.

After palming several rocks and climbing to the top (50 ft) several times, my arms and fingers felt gummy. If it wasn't for that there would be no reason to leave. If climbing indoors is this rewarding, I can only imagine what it would be like to do it outdoors. I can't wait to find out.

I found this podcast from All Music Considered interviewing
Thom Yorke about the music he listens to. Yorke's musical taste
is hard to categorize, but through the different genres you can
hear where he picks up certain elements in the music he creates.
Here's the link.

My thoughts on success have changed in the last year. I conducted many interviews with people discussing their careers and found a trend in their thoughts. Few people in the deepest recesses of their heart feel like they are successful, I started to question my own ideas of what it means to succeed.

The whole concept of success seems skewed, even from the beginning with the way we define it. Webster's dictionary defines success as "attaining of a desired end." It seems the way this is defined and the way most of us think about it is in black and white terms, rather it is success or it is failure, good or bad. Failure and success work hand and foot and we have little to no control over these two forces. In fact, as William James stated this pursuit of success may be a disease of our society and if we aren't cautious it may cause us harm. "What the world giveth us the world can also take it away", and frequently does. The only control we have is in our response to failure and success. We need to understand what is real success and what's not. It's a judgment only we can make.

After completing my thesis in December, I will graduate with a master's degree in journalism. When I tell people that I am student in journalism I get the same response, What are you going to do even Pulitzer prize winning journalist are losing their jobs. It is realistic to say that I may not find a job in this field, however, all my hard work and the concepts that I learned will pay-off and I view this as a success.