Dallas

Took a trip to explore the far reaches of the place modern scholars refer to as "Dallas, Texas." on Monday. The three of us—Rachel, Ryan, and myself—adventured, basically, to downtown.

This view is from the top of the Reunion building. The weird stick-with-a-ball-on-top building. Pretty high up, as you can see.

This was some kind of horse made out of old automobile bumpers. Oddly, it was tail-less.

Some dinosaurs I was really excited about. Also made from old chrome bumpers.

Me sitting, quite awkwardly, on the dino's nose.

Rachel apparently got her hand stuck in its mouth. Agonizing indeed =]

And now for our trip to the aquarium. My camera and I are mortal enemies, so some of the shots came out frustratingly fuzzy.

This fish was TINY, which is deemphasized by the large type. Nevertheless, it was a tiny fish and my camera does pretty well with close-ups, as long as I can manually adjust the focus. The sea-anemones were quite small too, and I was impressed with how they came out.

Some kind of weird rock-looking fish. I walked by thinking there was nothing in the tank. There were a bunch of "rocks" which were actually fish. Must be God's sense of humor because, seriously, they just look ridiculous. I think that bump sticking up is one of the little guy's eyes. Hmm, could do with losing a few pounds as well.

Ryan was gracious enough to drive us around too, because neither Rachel nor myself had any clue where anything was. Overall, after the experience, I must say I'm still a proud Austinite.

Melli's Donuts

I new tradition has surfaced in Jonathanland...in Marlin, TX:

Not content to sob, mope, and moan about Krispy Kreme's (aka "The Kreme") recent expiration, matters were taken into our own hands. Yes, we ventured to Marlin, one of the many third-world towns that dot the rural areas of these fine United States. What is there? Not much, really, besides a sizeable population of rural/semi-rural poor. Much more to the point, however, was the existence of Melli's DONUTS. Soft and glazed, like The Kreme's, these have a slight vanilla flavor, bursting with doughy goodness.

We went a little donuts.


That's my buddy Choong-kun. He's 100% Korean. From Seoul. Todd drove us.

Street level, this is a typical sight in Marlin:

So poor, sadly, that that we weren't charged sales tax—neither at Melli's nor the nearby gas station. Which reminds me: Those fighting poverty shouldn't forget that poor folks don't just live in big cities...it's counterpart, rural poverty, in the small towns across the U.S. is alive and well, and receives very little attention from both the media and from aid groups.

Grateful

Well, I reclaimed my seized vehicle last Monday, after a quick little exchange of $241 (apparently, they did not round to the nearest day for the extra $20 impound fee)—which definitely came from Visa. So perhaps a begrudged thank-you is warranted to Visa for it's efficient money-lending services. With interest, of course.

I had a short discussion with a close friend last night regarding our different employers' many thanks to us for our services. Whether it be working in a dorm, Starbucks, or the library it always amazes me how appreciative my various employers have always been in response to my performance at work. In D.C. this summer, constant accolades for my work and ability. At the library this semester, many thankyous and compliments abound. I even received a gift card to Wal-Mart as a token of their goodwill. At Starbucks from more than a year ago, my manager continues to herald my "achievements", which, rather inconspicuously, remain outside of my performance at Starbucks; there, I remained a simple barista for nearly 3 years—largely, mind you, because of school considerations and my perceived disinterest in pursuing the position of
"shift supervisor," on which, I must say, few achieve and maintain.

At any rate, we decided that we perceive as being overvalued at work is not necessarily overvaluelization, but rather the great value placed on being responsible, working citizens. While I admit to not working as hard as I might under the "perfect" working conditions, I will say that it is ingrained in me to work for whatever dollar I make, whether I view the exchange of services as equal or not. Indeed, we concluded that our employers are grateful for the most basic of services, which, apparently, are of a kind of rare occurence: showing up on time, being responsible, taking one's own initiative, and pursuing high quality in one's performance.

Sure, I might be flattering myself a little in discussing this, but the point remains: work hard and it pays off.

Hijacked

So my truck was towed from Sterling last night. I should get it back tomorrow for the small some of $281. No visitor's parking spaces available? No problem! J&J's Towing will be glad to take care of it for you.

Oh no, I'm already starting to reflect on Baylor - heh, not that that hasn't happened already

The last day of class was today. Only one more semester! I will miss it, to a certain extent, but I've always felt a little held back by Baylor: the culture here, the sheltered conservatism, the wealth. Not that there's anything wrong with those things in their own right—only that the down-to-earthness and level of what I term social maturity is much the same as in high school for many of the students I have observed. And I observe like a hawk, let me tell you. Not in a nosey, stalker-like way mind you. But it is more than apparent when people are obviously only willing to let so much of their personality out in full view of the world—though I will readily admit to occasionally harboring such a dasterdly habit—that the real "they" as nice as they might appear, remains shrowded in mystery—saved—perhaps, for a few close friends or their significant other. Insecurity, if you will, that isn't dealt with until after college.

There is nothing wrong with this on the surface, I shouldn't think, but underneath and in the longterm, this poses some difficult—and one in particular—questions about how one will emerge out of the warm, fuzzy environment of college and enter a world where being open, easy going, and willing to branch out gets you places. I've heard the stories, of course, to support this claim. Each year, potentially hundreds of popular (and unpopular), well-liked graduates of this school cautiously enter the "real" world. The real world, is, unfortunately, full of swearing, vulgar joking, drinking and everything else under the son, including, rather stupidly, the propensity of early-twenty-somethings to go to bars to find a good girl or a good man. This I simply do not understand, and is something to which I will adapt, but as a rule avoid.

So there's some thoughts for today.

Christmas is close, my friends, so raise your glass!