The Student Debt Disease

It's not every day that I feel the suffocating threat of student loans looming over me. The anxiety and worry that accompanies my student debt comes and goes, like a sickness.

Today I feel it, and I know I can't be alone. I am one of thousands of graduates that finished college this Spring with weary eyes turned to the future.

But what does the future hold for graduates like me?

There are no real immediate job opportunities for students of applied linguistics here in the states, especially when the largest focus of my degree was the application of applied linguistics to teaching English as a foreign language.

I, however, chose my degree because of my love for language - not for teaching. I also have a partner here in the states that I am not too keen on abandoning in order to go teach abroad.

So what is left?

Administrative/clerical work? I did that all through college. Why not now?

Retail? I did that through high school.

Food industry?

...

Are these the things that my expensive-ass degree prepared me for?

Am I being spoiled when I say that I don't want to do those things? That I don't want to struggle and grovel just to pay back a debt that should be a right? I want to do something I love and that isn't laced with the desire to commit suicide.

I want to enjoy this one, single life that I get - not to be worked to death in this busy little empire of ants.

I have seen article after article about how student loan debt is a burden on the economy - about how the student loan market is going to crash.

I have seen my future in these articles - student loan default highest among 40-somethings.

So this is my desperate plea to the internet:

Occupy student debt!

Forgive student loan debt!

Reform the public education system!

Education is a right, not a privilege! Help make it universal.

There has been a lot of controversy about true identity of James Holmes.

I have seen photos such as this one on multiple web sites, questioning the true identity of James Holmes: 

People are asking, based on these photos, if these two pictures are of the same man - or just two men that look remarkably similar to one another.


Here's what I think.


They are both photos of James Holmes.

It isn't hard to google and see that James Holmes, "suspect" of the Aurora Theater shooting, does indeed have green eyes. There are school-age pictures of him in which you can see his eyes are green, such as this one: 

As far as his nose and ears go, and eyes if you're worried about the shape - I think those things can be attributed to change over time, the difference of facial expression in each photo, and the angle of each photo.

Scruffier hair is covering his ears a little more in the photo on the left and the pictures were taken at different angles.

I think the comments about the nose seeming different can be attributed to the difference in angle and expression as well. When you smile, your nose naturally flares and your eyes squint.

Am I wrong?

Why I Love my HTC One V

The HTC One V just came out a couple of weeks ago on Virgin Mobile, with whom I have phone service.

I wasn't really aware of its arrival as I wasn't looking to change phones - I figured, what the hell? Every android I've owned so far has been super glitchy with horrible battery life. Might as well stick it out with the ol' Optimus Slider.

However, my partner has been in need of a new phone for quite some time so we went down to the Boost/Virgin Mobile store to check things out.

Being the gadgeteer that I am, though, I just couldn't help myself!

I found out that the shop owner would let me trade towards a new phone, so I decided to go for an upgrade.

I chose the HTC One V because, for one, I've always liked the HTC interface. This one also happens to be a nice size and weight, as well as affordable - with the $50 trade-in credit included.

The HTC One V also runs Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0). It was actually the only phone from Boost or Virgin running 4.0 in this particular shop.

Nonetheless, I was a little weary of what was to become of my new phone. In the past, I have found that androids are battery eating monsters and have a tendency towards freezing up. I decided to wait a while before singing any praise for this little baby.

But wait no longer!

This phone is amazing. It has yet to freeze or die on me ONCE!

The only trouble that I have had turned out to be a silly error on my part. One day I couldn't get any 3G signal and my GPS wouldn't work ... I was very puzzled for a while until I realized I had accidentally turned off network coverage in the settings. Gotta be careful with those touch screens :)

The camera has flash and all kinds of neat filters, which look pretty neat combined (or not) with instagram filters. It also allows you to take continuous shots by holding down the snap button.

The video quality on this phone is also amazing, and I have been thoroughly enjoying the use of my Netflix app these past few days.

I also really enjoy that my marshmallow headphones work as a hands-free device with this phone. The pick up/hang up button below the right ear piece works wonderfully and the microphone on it functions as well! This was not true of my previous android device.

This has more to do with Google software development than with Android OS, I believe, but the speech to text features on android have become amazing! Speech to text is a lot more intuitive on android that it was even a year ago. I remember trying to punctuate sentences via STT before and getting bollocks before. Fo example, if you said, "How are you today question mark," it would type "How are you today question mark" and send that as a text. Now, it knows that you want it to actually insert a question mark and relays this message instead: "How are you today?"

Isn't that nice? :P

I'm sure there are even more impressive and amazing features on this phone that I have yet to encounter, so feel free to drop me some hints or just make generally commentary!

Ello out :)

My last week has been consumed by house hunting and Korean dramas.

I have contacted at least 30 people about different properties and watched 2.25 Korean dramas on Netflix.

I have to admit, though...I am getting pretty sick of looking for houses! The nice, affordable houses are all out of reach of public transportation...and then there are the bad, affordable houses that are kind of a mixed bag of mystery - you really don't know what you're going to get!

I am realizing more and more what a sketchy area metro Atlanta is. There really aren't many places you can live close to the perimeter without the fear of your car being broken into every day or vagrants roaming into your house during a party. Yes. That has happened to a friend of mine. I was there.

So when I get really tired of trying to find okay areas to live in, I watch Korean dramas.

So far I have watched Boys Over Flowers, Stars Falling From the Sky, and I am in the process of watching Summer Scent. 

Boys Over Flowers was kind of silly and very repetitive when it comes to plot twists. It did suck me in for some reason though, and by the time I realized how redundant and annoying it was getting I was already so close to finishing it that I refused to give up.

Stars Falling From the Sky was a big improvement :) I enjoyed the character development although I did feel like some depth was missing the the story.

All of the Korean dramas I have watched so far make me wonder why Koreans are always interrupting each other and assuming they know what's going on without allowing others to explain. And why are Korean girls so vicious? And what does liking/loving someone mean in Korean culture? Why are there so many examples of loving someone from afar, even if you've never spoken to that person or only interacted with them in very trivial situations? These things are all very frustrating to me, to watch over and over. I don't really get it!

Are these all just huge dramatizations or do any of these things ever actually happen in the day to day lives of Koreans?

Is the boy mania for real?!?! Do bunches of girls choose certain boys and obsess over them like crazy and try to prevent other people from getting with them?

I would really like some answers :P

Feel free to comment or e-mail me any insights! 

This morning I woke up to find a surprise in my toilet.

This little guy:

He was just chillin' there, right above the water line and just under the seat. I actually didn't even see him until after I had relieved myself so he got a little golden shower. 

I took him out and let him go on the porch thinking he would hop away to freedom but he just kinda hung out and did his own thing.

Then I started worrying 'cause he wasn't going anywhere and I thought maybe he got a little too much bleach in the toilet, seeing as it was just cleaned yesterday. 

I ended up moving him to a tree just to be sure...

I would have hated for a bird or a cat to come by and kill the poor guy.

How the hell did he get into our upstairs toilet, anyway? :/ 

That's what I want to know. 

He was so chill, though. He didn't care how close I got to him. The only time he even jumped was when I put him in a cup to move him.

From what I can tell, his is probably a bird-voiced tree frog - possibly a hybrid because I couldn't find an exact description.

The back of his thighs were a bright orange with some yellowish spots and he was found a little south of the Atlanta perimeter in Georgia. 

If anyone knows for sure what kind he is, I would love to know, so drop a comment!

Long weekend!

Friday I went to The Masquerade to see Reel Big Fish (link to their new album) play. It was a fun show! And it was hot as balls. Everyone was sweating their asses off.

The Maxies from Greenland were one of the opening bands and they were pretty funny. They got the crowd all riled up and excited about clubbing baby seals in their "Going Clubbin'" song.

Suburban Legends and Big D and the Kids Table were there as well, possibly two of my favorites from the night.

We ending up having to leave early though, just as Reel Big Fish started playing.

The Masquerade is an interesting place. It looks like an old ass warehouse from the outside. Inside it kind of has warehouse-esque features, like big vents leading outside and it's just a huge rectangle. It does have wood floors, which gives the place a neat feel. They are kind of uneven and creaky-looking, although I don't recall hearing much creaking at all. It is funny when everyone starts to bounce during songs, though, because the whole floor kind of wobbles up and down with them.

Saturday was kind of chill, although I had to rush down to Comcast to turn in some old equipment. We didn't do much else that day.

Sunday, though, we went house hunting! We were pretty bad at it.

We drove around for a couple hours at least and only came up with two good leads. And in the end even those turned out to be dead ends.

Otherwise! I have been playing ANNO 2070 (amazon link) and I have to say, it is very addictive!

It reminds me of Civilization V, but a lot more in depth. Pretty much everything is micromanaged. Even the population.

The game is set in the year 2070 after human beings have pretty much ruined the earth's natural ecobalance. The sea has risen and continents have been flooded.

You have the choice of joining either the Eden Initiative, a group dedicated to restoring the ecobalance, or the Global Trust, which more or less seems to me to be a capitalistic venture that represents man's "I don't give a fuck" attitude toward the planet.

I always go with Eden :P

Anyway, if you like Civ. V, check it out! It's a great game. And it kills time excellently.

Hope everyone had a good 4th!

But what has the 4th of July become?

It seems sadly reminiscent of Cinco de Mayo to me these days, and what I mean by that is a chance to party for the sake of partying.

Otherwise, it's a time of national pride and celebration. But what are we proud of? What the hell are we celebrating?

If I ask the average Joe on the street, he is going to say, "America is the greatest country in the world. That's why we're proud! That's why we celebrate!"

Really, Joe?

I'm going to need a more thoughtful response here.

Pride for the sake of pride itself has no place in this world. Pride in something is earned.

What is there to be proud of here?

We have the biggest guns and the most ignorant people?

Is THAT something to celebrate?

Someone, please! Tell me what there is to be proud of these days.

Our children are becoming monsters. I know you guys read about the bus monitor in NY!

If you haven't yet, then here is a link to an article about it and here is a link to the youtube video taken by students who ruthlessly bullied this lady and made her cry.

Who knows how long this bullying was going on and how long the school district refused to acknowledge it?

And where to horrible, hateful little children like this come from?

I was recently visiting in-laws in California. My partner's godmother told me about her experience in the public education system these days. She said that children as young as 3rd and 4th graders are having sex. She said for them, it is just like kissing.

She said children, young children, are coming to school with homemade bombs and other explosives. Just because they can!

I asked her what she thought was the root of all this and she said, "The internet." According to her, kids go online and find tons and tons of information and guides for doing things that their parents have no idea about. She said parents don't talk to their kids about sex and protection. They don't give them any guidance through all of the information they are inundated with daily.

Maybe it's because this tech-savvy world of children is hard to keep up with for some adults. Maybe no one assumed, hey! I should sit down with my 7 year old and have the sex talk. Maybe they're all clinging in vain to the innocence we revere in childhood.

But all of this begs the question - are human beings innately inclined towards good or towards bad?

Think about it.

All of these little human beings have all of the knowledge in the world at their finger tips, the good and the bad. But what happens to them? They are corrupted by it.

Maybe that story in the Bible was a warning. Maybe that "God" knew that the apple (information) corrupts. Maybe he wanted to protect the children.

But slow down! I'm not saying we should censor the internet and all that. I am a stanch believe that all information should be free and accessible. I do think though that people need to figure out how to live with technology and children. How do you protect your children?

How do we face the violent and sexual themes present in the groups of children going through the public education system today?

Let me know what you think.

And answer the poll about Joe Walsh on the side!

Happy 4th, everyone!

If you're on the east coast like me, you're probably getting ready to light up some fireworks!

Anyways.

I was asking around yesterday to see how I might better learn about he world of Indic mythology from the time of the Vedas (as some of you may have seen), and someone suggested that instead of starting there that I start with the Bhagavad Gita instead. This makes sense seeing as it apparently takes a lifetime of study to understand the Vedas, and I wasn't looking into joining the Hari Krishna movement (you guys are cool, don't get me wrong) any time soon. So far it seems like I have been pointed in the right direction! The story is pretty interesting with some pretty transcendental thoughts and questions.

Why can't we learn from ancient cultures like this, that war is not worth it? That life is valuable?

I was watching The Revolution on the History Channel earlier and in the end all it did was sort of bum me out. It's been what...236 years since 1776? Look how far we have come, and how little we have learned!

We still send men and women to fight and die in meaningless wars fought only for the benefit of a few greedy people who do not mind CAPITALIZING on the deaths, and lives, of others.

We still cling to religion over rational thought, and we turn to attacks and character defamation over civil debate and logic.

Ever kept track of an electoral campaign season?

America is a reality T.V. show.

How is it possible that people can reach 40, 50, 60 years of age and remain so ridiculously ignorant?

Case in point, Mr. Joe Walsh - who finds it acceptable to criticize a woman, who happened to lose her legs i n Iraq, for talking about it during her campaign!

Here's a link to a Washington Post Article talking about it.

Let me ask, if it were a MAN talking about his service, would Sir Walsh be dogging him about it the way he is Tammy Duckworth? Does Tammy's womanhood serve as a license for her to be walked all over and discredited for her service?

Imagine Tammy was a man. Let's call her Thomas.

Would Joe Walsh be characterizing Thomas as a harping old lady who won't shut up about her war service?

I doubt it.

What do you think? Tell me in the poll on the right side of the main page!

In the meantime, please, America! Wake up! Smell the revolution. OR at least the evolution.

my whole day

has been consumed with figuring out this AdSense thing.

One thing you guys will learn about me is that I fixate on things like mad sometimes. Today it's AdSense. I had another blog I monetized with AdSense and it went fine, but since I'm using a different e-mail with this blog I have to link it to my other e-mail's AdSense... I have been trying to edit my layout and all that to see what ads will look like but they aren't showing up so I've been trying to make sure nothing is bugged, although inevitably I probably have to wait 24 to 48 hours for anything to show up any way!

Damn being impatient :/

Otherwise, I have been trying to read the Vedas. I started with Rigveda and it's all a bunch of hymns about gods I know next to nothing about and I feel like I need some kind of back story in order to understand what the hell these little lyrics are talking about. Or is it just one of those onion type deals where you keep peeling and eventually you reach a layer that somehow brings everything together and makes sense?

Anyway, here's where I've been reading it: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/.

If anyone has any suggestions about reading this or if someone wants to confirm that there is indeed a relevant text that could give me some context to go along with the hymns in Rigveda, please! By all means :)

Comment or e-mail me!

I know not all the recent grads out there are like me. Some of them had jobs lined up as soon as they got their diplomas! Some of them. But not me.

So what do I do to pass the time?

Well, for now, I blog! And read.

I woke up this morning and grabbed You Are STILL Being Lied To: The NEW Disinformation Guide to Media Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths (Disinformation Guides) to assist me in my morning poop routine. My partner bought it at the store yesterday and though I insisted it was too depressing to read at the time, I managed to find something that intrigues me a lot in it today. There is a submission in the book by a man named Michael A. Cremo called "Forbidden Archaeology" in which he discusses his book Forbidden Archaeology and opposition that it and works like it have come up against in the scientific community. In particular, his work suggests extreme human antiquity. His proposals are backed by archaeological evidence as well as a belief in the The Vedas.

This is not the first time I have heard or read of someone talking about the Vedas as evidence for ancient human civilizations beyond what we could imagine today, so I think I will start reading them soon! The link above seems like it might be a pretty good option, but if anyone has any suggestions I would love to be pointed in the right direction!

Cremo also proposes that instead of human evolution, we have been devolving from a more spiritual creature into the beasts we are today. I can dig it. Shit's fucked up. However, his pitch is a little more spiritual than I prefer, so for now I will stick to impartially informing myself through reading and research.

Another thing I did this morning was update my other brand new blog, miamdreams. It's just a little blog I intend to keep up for as long as I can stand. The plan is to wake up every morning and if I can remember what I dreamt about, then I will come make a little post about it and then go on about my business. So check it out some time ^^ Maybe you will enjoy the batshit craziness my brain cooks up at night.

Also! Don't forget to play with the poll at the top of the page. The prompt is, "Now you've graduated. How hopeful is the future?"

a tiny ass intro

Just a couple of short months ago I graduated from college (university, for you non-American English speakers out there).

Since, I have traveled the country and come full circle back to the place where I started: Atlanta, Georgia.

Now, I am just like most other recent college graduates: broke, and struggling to find a job ... or at least a job that says, hey! I can totally see why I got a degree to do this.

Unfortunately, like a lot of other recent grads out there, my degree probably has about the same marketability as a bachelor's in philosophy. I graduated with a degree in Applied Linguistics. Half of you are probably about to google "what the hell is applied linguistics," while the rest of you are exclaiming, "Why don't you go teach English?!?!" To which I reply, "Shhh...all in good time."

So? What the hell now?

This blog will be used to chronicle my days of post-graduation boredom, shenanigans, and job-seeking. In this day and age when, for the first time, my generation has dim hopes for the future ... why not blog about it?!

Stay tuned for more updates, and share your post-graduation experiences by emailing me at hello.ello.blogs@gmail.com!

Also, participate in the poll up top~! The prompt is, "Now you've graduated. How hopeful is the future?" I'll obsess over its results until I find a way to make them useful.