realistic_optimist misstree is your email working? *poke poke* *lick!* 031120 ... REAListic optimIST wtshizzle... i finally answer my bajillion emails, and see a realistic_optimist page, and i'm like whoa what is this?! someone has nice things to say, or perhaps has venom to impart, either way it should be intriguing! and it was merely an inquiry as to the status of my email... hrm well i'd contribute something to this purported R.O. shrine if i had done anything worthy of it lately. alas, i've not been doing the things my godself is made of. when i do, i will post some self referential self-back-patting here. until then i'll continue not posting much around here, since i've not been too inspired, and my mind is all mucky, and instead focus on getting my quake team into the playoffs, and getting blathercon off the ground. 031121 ... misstree when i realized that i had popped your page's cherry, i froze like a deer in headlights. i felt the urge to say more, but decided to leave it to others. you know what i would have to say, tree-lookin' brother, you know that you are dear friend and creative soul and far more grounded than i, you know that the light you shimmer with will always make me smile serenely, you know that you are strong and smart and ohso gorgeous, and any more specific fawnings or zerberts or nosethumbings would simply give away your nature, and i like to keep hold of my unfair advantage. 'sides, i've written enough about you on other pages (and no, i won't tell you where) that i think i should be excused from doing it again simply to have something worth the loaf of Garlic bread and glass of wine i should be setting on your altar. 031121 ... Lemon_Soda I like you cause your stuff is fun to read or insightful, sometimes both. Also, because you read my stuff and comment on it. 031121 ... Death of a Rose hey Real, hows (some indefinable slang word used to mean, well, you know.....things)? 031121 ... REAListic optimIST well, i've been unemployed for months now, enjoying the longest vacation since i began preschool. finances have been tight, but life has been good. now i have come into a couple decent sums of money, and i believe that things happen for a purpose. therefore, either i won't get a job until after my benefits run out, and i will need the money for rent, or something bad is going to happen and i'll need the money for that, or i'm not going to be able to convince the court to take my evidence since i missed my courtdate but i will get the job for which i've applied that requires me to have a driver's license, but will have to use the money to pay fines and tickets. i guess that's the best outcome, so that's the one i will hope for. the last time i was with a girl was for about a month last july, and it was over a year before that that i was with one before even that. lately it's just been unattainable untouchable women who have been interested in me. pickiness and straightforwardness leads to lonliness but less heartache. im pretty lost in terms of my direction. i have some good ideas and a few tools in my pocket. hopefully i'm smart enough to use them, but my recent lack of progress has me feeling some self loathing. i am my own biggest obstacle. in spite of all this, i find time to be happy and to breathe and to smile, and so life is good. thank you for asking and earnestly wanting an answer. 031122 ... Death of a Rose in the words of the immortal dafremen; 'doOd', i enjoy reading your blathes and since you crave a response, this is it. i don't always leave anything behind in my wake, sometimes though i feel i can contribute. so, this unemployment is getting you down? may i ask what your area of expertise is? hope we can make this blathercon work, my brother. 031122 ... Death of a Rose oh and feel free to send an e-mail my way if ya want. and it looks like miss chaos magic has changed my status to 'moderator'. now what the hell do i do with this new role? and have you any task you need taken care of for the upcoming blathercon? 031122 ... REAListic optimIST my area of expertise? hrm. good question. i have a bachelor of sciences in liberal arts and sciences, with a major in psychology. i have experience working with chronically mentally ill, with addicts, and with criminals. i have experience in residential and community mental health settings. but i have experience elsewhere as well. i am planning to get my master's of social work i suppose, only because it seems necessary, not because i actually want the degree. i plan to study grantwriting as well. and we can do all the planning and task assignment stuff on the bigwigs group. it's a relief to have motivated help. if even half of the ideas that we have come up with work this will be a difficult blathercon to top indeed. 031122 ... REAListic optimIST (and i meant that it seemed like you earnestly wanted a response to your question, not that i was earnestly craving a response to my response to your question. just to clarify...) 031122 ... Doar thanks for the reply and the clarification Real 031122 ... seventeen can I eat your socks? 031123 ... REAListic optimIST my roommate's cat used to make love to my socks. i found that rather disgusting as she would wait until they were all sweaty. however, if my socks are a delicacy to seventeens, then let me find a pair i won't need for a bit... 031123 ... pipedream *hides behind a door and pounces on R.O when he isn't looking* hellooo! *grins* 031124 ... REAListic optimIST *rolls over and over giggling with pipedream after the initial "oof!"* pipey, you have to be the most action oriented poster here. you are always *action*ing something or other hehe. 'ello yourself :) 031124 ... seventeen do you have AIM or MSN messenger? (I'm yummychuckle for both) you should add me. eh? EH? *nudge nudge* 031125 ... REAListic optimIST ok, but then perhaps YOU should respond to my messages?! huh? *nudge* *nudge* *poke* *poke* *fwap* fwap* 031125 ... Rosie looks like we are coming for the yurts and staying for the hot tubs m'man. Rock n' Roll . 031219 ... realistic optimist i can't wait! is it summer yet? *checks calendar* setting this up will be my gift back to all of you who have affected me in ways unimaginable. i can't wait to meet all of you wonderful people! *checks calendar again* well, i have to finish decorating my apartment and cleaning up, since my mom is going to be here in a few days! *runs around the apartment, spreading holiday cheer* 031219 ... pipers woo woo, MSN? wherewhere? real-time talkin', yo ho ho! yup, i *am* pretty asterisky...i enjoy expressing affection to peeps i enjoy (except of course when it really really counts, then i get shy and tongue-tied which is a real pain because that's the last thing you'd wanta be) asterisky frisky ummm...never mind loll *gives R.O a massive hug* i looove this one :D you're a psychologist...that's really brilliant; i'm massively interested in how the mind ticks...specially dreaming and consciousness; i wrote my term paper for Human Behavior on that. how the mind is never 'asleep', and the fact that during R.E.M sleep its functioning like it does when you're awake, only its turned your consciousness off...so we can sleep talk and walk and do all kinds of things without even knowing it; the brain/mind is an incredibly powerful thing..has a life of its own. scary sometimes. 031219 ... realistic optimist sometimes consciousness seems to me to be the most important thing of all to study. it is that which allows creation, that which allows reality and paradigm shifting, and that which allows society at all. i feel that until we can determine a better way of analyzing and understanding consciousness than cognitive or behavioural "science," we will be hard pressed to solve many other subtly related puzzles. 031220 ... realistic optimist and thanks for the hug, pipey. i can really use it right now. leave it to the holidays to make one feel as if everything is coming apart. 031220 ... cymoril *LLLLLLLIIIIIIIICCCCCCCKKKKKKKK* hoopy hollydays dahlink. lick k-os and pet yer mum for me. 031220 ... pipers no probs, lurve... :) yep...consciousness should one of the supreme-o focuses of cognitive science...im rather fascinated by hyponitism too; can you hypnotise someone? 031221 ... realistic optimist i have never learned how, nor have i tried, however it is a topic which does fascinate me. i am looking into integrative psychiatry at the moment as a possible field of study. interesting stuff, bridging eastern philosophy with western medicine ideas. actually trying to get at the source of the issue instead of merely treating symptoms. 031221 ... pipers hm. what would constitute as eastern psychiatry? 031222 ... realistic optimist well eastern medicine (in my limited understanding) is more about the chi (your body's energy), and how you are living. the theory is that sickness is merely a blockage of the chi manifested by your lifestyle and thought patterns, and to fix the blockage, you must fix the way you are living your life. medicine and herbs are more secondary, and really only used as an aid to the first part. therefore, integrative psychiatry takes an approach in which the things western medicine has learned about the different parts of the brain, the biochemistry, and the symptomology has equal footing with the aforementioned eastern approaches to medicine. of course such a thing will meet a great deal of resistance, as the pharmaceutical companies are getting richer and richer, while even hospitals struggle to make a profit, showing where the power lies in the medicine machine. 031223 ... Death of a Rose just thought i'd bump your page to the recent list doOd. 040228 ... oldephebe can't believe i haven't posted to this page..yeah RO you're the cat's pajamas and no irony intended..i'm just completely out of coherent or intelligent banter or serious conversation firght now.. :) later, 040228 ... pipers i found a caterpiggle under the couch 040228 ... realistic optimist i got my new "business" cards: ------------------------------------ Realistic Optimist "Faith applied reasonably is practical magic." [name] activist Fax / Phone: (206) 339-3739 realistic.optimist@gmail.com ------------------------------------ they are so fun! i went to vistaprint and got them for free (well i had to pay shipping) if you go to the site, i got the colored pencil drawing of the tree for my background. 050302 ... me *lick!* 050303 ... realistic optimist ok. so my uncle said if i can decide what i want to be when i grow up, he will pay for a year of grad school: room, board, tuition, the works. the good thing is, i feel like i've pretty much found myself. i feel like i'm in the best position in my life to be making such decisions. scholastic background --------------------------------- several years after an undergraduate bachelor's of sciences in arts and sciences degree was awarded (with a major in psychology), and after 5+ years of field experience in community and residential mental health, and after sitting on boards to determine how this county should reshape the available mental health services, sitting on a board overseeing and helping to facilitate a performance group consisting of people in recovery, and/or who have received various psychological diagnoses. I was part of a layoff consisting of 50% of the workforce of the huge managed-care-uber-conglomorate-corp which took over almost all of portland metro area's mental health agencies. ---------------------------------- recent experience ----------------------------------- for the past year, i've been involved in public policy. at first, i was working to expand the medical marijuana law here in oregon. then lately, i've been doing canvassing and campaign coordination for a statewide environmental group. through this work, i've learned management, project management, media relations, built business contacts, lobbying experience, and several other useful skills. -------------------------------------- thoughts on direction --------------------------------------- it is important for my overall passion and joie de vivre that i morally agree with my profession, and that my profession in some way helps to make humanity more aware of our current social situation, and hopefully empowers us to transcend a bit of the bullshit structure that is locking us into the downward arc of this american empire. on the same hand, i'd really like to be able to travel the world. i love people, and immersing myself in a culture. perhaps a profession which would allow this would be desireable, as well. ----------------------------------------- things i'm considering getting a degree in ------------------------------------------ * public policy * master's of social work with a focus on management with the idea that i plan to eventually manage non-profits * environmental law * integrative psychology (a merging of eastern medicine with western psychology and psychiatry) * teaching (english perhaps?) * something else?! ------------------------------------------ honestly, i've considered lots and lots of stuff. basically, i'm working to broaden my perspective with others' insights as well as to know what schools' programs to check out. i may not go there, but even downloading a syllabus or two is useful. if i can decide by the middle of march, i win room, board, tuituion etc. and i decided i'll have a "i know what i wanna be when i grow up" party, complete with bouncy castle. help?! 050304 ... realistic optimist is there a career counselor in the house? 050305 ... misstree don't do english teaching. the money is shittier than shitty and every single person i've seen go into it says it's one of the roughest things ever, not the kids but the administration, and i think that your talents would be better applied in one of the other options. the two that really stood out to me were either managing a non-profit or going the eastern/western blend. managing is tough, and it gets you out of the trenches to a certain degree, but managers by nature have to have their fingers in everything. the blend sounds really great, 'specially for you, but i'm not sure how in demand it is (or you can make it), and there's always the burn out factor of counseling people. i just want to be a dirty old man when i grow up. keep it simple, i figger. 050305 ... mt two other things to think about. the social work degree with a side of management would open you up to a lot of stuff, and a master's is impressive in itself. also, with the integrative psychology, it's something that needs very much to exist more in this country. (what, herbs instead of harmful and expensive drugs? unthinkable! how would the pharmaceutical companies keep us hooked!) 050305 ... neesh damn i was just about to post recommending teaching english when i looked back at the page and saw mt's post... i'm an english teacher and it is true i'm completely broke. so if you're looking to earn highly don't bother reading this. in fact i wasn't paid for my last job, they just gave me a place to stay and three meals a day. i loved it though. i took the tefl training course more because i like qualifications than anything else, and after teaching about three lessons i had a huge passion for it. if you're teaching arabic or chinese businessmen then the money is pretty hot, and the money's reasonable if you're a teacher trainer, but you need a couple of years experience before you can get to either of those, and often your first job won't be a paid one. and some companies will pay you well, like the british council, but probably the better the starting pay the more you have to deal with the administrative problems that mt pointed out. i can see that being a big issue if you're working for a large company or for a government school system, but in most independent global english schools, you're more or less given autonomy (and a syllabus to follow), but if you don't like a syllabus, work for another company, there are many hundreds of them, and if you don't like a part of the world, don't work there. i've just come back from france, which i absolutely loved - the students and teachers alike were great, all but a couple of my lessons were fun - and next i'm going to teach in china. after that, chile, and i was offered a job in madagascar, another working for greenpeace in amsterdam. i think my deal with china's not bad, a wage many times higher than that of a local english teacher in china (it's rather less expensive to live there than here), plus a flat to live in for the year, plus they pay for my flights, and during the year i get a summer bonus (and more hours), 3 pay rises and 4 weeks holiday. that's with english first, who are big in china. the hardest thing about english teaching, for sure, are the hours. and that's made harder because each lesson you've got to give it your all, however tired you are. but i'm an insomniac anyway, and the longer you teach for the quicker you'll find it to prepare your lessons (to begin with it took me three hours to prepare a one hour lesson). there's a fairly formal structure to english language teaching. you start as a teacher, then you can become an assistant director of studies, then a director of studies, and then you're looking at something like headmaster. there's also teacher training, and a large market in making teaching materials (something you can do on the side, depending on how creative a teacher you are). as for the benefits of teaching, you're not only improving someone's language skills, you're cultivating a love of learning, bringing enjoyment to their lives, making close personal bonds (i'm friends with a lot of my old students), and an innate part of the job of teacher is that of role model. for your students, and if you're working in a small community, for the society as a whole (eg if you work in rural china). plus the subject matter itself is a great one. language itself, and english is a great language. i'm personally fascinated by phonetics and branches of linguistics, like psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. syllabi are generally quite loose, and there's always time to do your own things around them, or to adapt them into your own interests, whether your interests be the environment, politics, creative writing, literature, sports or whatever else. i personally love creative writing lessons, and some of the things the students come up with really make me smile... my plan isn't to stay an english language teacher for my whole life, but after uni to teach english literature primarily. teaching in a private school in england has a good enough wage to live in luxury, and teaching english language lessons in private schools in france (my "plan b") isn't awful either. but i can't imagine doing a job that isn't teaching for the rest of my life. in france i'd say i taught around a hundred lessons, and there were exactly three of them i came out of utterly relieved that they were over, but the other 97 or so i came out of absolutely buzzing, so happy with how the lesson had gone, how much fun the students were, how much they'd improved. the other real challenge of teaching is saying goodbye. it's very much the nature of the job that people come and go (students and teachers alike), and i've always been sad to leave my students. 050305 ... neesh on second thoughts english teaching is something you can come to at any time in your life (a lot of people do it for a career change), so you'd be better off trying something out first. managing an NPO is potentially huge business; some charities get billions of pounds going through them each year. but management would be very distanced from the actual good work that the organisation does, and i personally would hate to have to sometimes refuse aid on fiscal grounds. integrative psychology sounds very interesting, very holistically global. something on a similar vein to environmental law is a masters in business with ethics, which my brother teaches, and there is an up-and-coming market in ethical business consultants, because there are more business regulations on issues like recycling, environmentally and socially responsible business policies and the likes. perhaps this option (environmental law would open up a similar market but probably with a higher earning capacity) is the best balance of your personal interests and your practical interests of a livelihood. 050305 ... realistic optimist as neesh so beautifully pointed out, teaching english is mainly for the travel and experience, as well as having the ability to teach and aid in the development of so many students. it's grunt work, to be sure, but as modest as it is, over the course of one's career, the amount of influence that seemed at once slow and plodding is overwhelmingly vast. that being said, i'm not sure i could find happiness there, and i figured that it would not be a difficult path to pursue no matter what i get my master's in. i could likely switch to teaching english without a great deal of extra schooling. i don't think i'm serious about pursuing law. i may change my mind and decide to go for it, but i've just not been convinced that this would be the best use of my schooling. integrative psych will need more study to determine its fit into my life public policy remains a solid choice other ideas come and go... thanks mt and neesh for your earnest feedback and suggestions. i am drowning in a sea of possibility and your voices are like buoys. i feel like too cautious of a swimmer, but the more buoys right now, the better. any others? 050305 ... realistic optimist update: i'm looking into transpersonal counseling, with a focus in wilderness therapy, and a minor focus in art therapy. and there are only 3 shopping days until my birthday! 050524 ... smurfus rex RO, you're pretty chill. I've been in your shoes, too. Spent five years on psychology and russian in undergrad, then two years in counseling psych at graduate level, then my interest in it waned. I wanted to work with law enforcement-specific issues, but the research just wasn't there. Yeah, there was plenty of stuff on PTSD and addiction and depression and stuff you could connect to law enforcement, but nothing was done with law enforcement populations. Not that I could find, anyway. "Oh, you should go into counseling, it's SO easy to talk to you!" I get grumpy now when I think about that. HOWEVER, I have found that my experience with psych has helped me get along with lots of different people, even my most recent ex-boss who I wanted to choke to death. I would suggest to you going for positions in paths that allow you to take the lead and coach other people. I expect you have a comfortable problem-solving ability with other people which would nest quite easily with wilderness and/or art therapy. Like a guide on a ropes course or something. I will leave you with a thought from one of my graduate psych professors with regard to making money in the field of psychology: If you want to make money, be a consultant. Not private practice, not agency...consulting. When you are a consultant, you have a company paying you (usually) through a contract, in which you set your own rate. You do that in private practice too, but individuals are a bit less likely to pay you $150 an hour for your services. Okay, so THIS is the last thing I'll leave with you to think about, which is also something that I've been wrestling with myself (like, "physician, heal thyself", y'know?): Do what feels right to you. The job you take might not turn into a career, which means you were only meant to learn something that you can apply to the next job. Other people might not think you're making the right decision, but the thing you have to remember is that those people are not in your position. They don't have to live with your decision, so it's easy for them to pass judgment. Go where you want to go. 050525 ... stork daddy psych undergrad right here. now i'm slaving away in law school. make ends meet but never forget about wanting to make people happy. that's the only advice i can give. i can almost guarantee that the chance will present itself. 050525 ... Lemon_Soda From what I hear...your focus will bring you success, RO. The education and experiences are the tools. Patience helps alot. A mistake somepeople make is to choose their career. I find that people are happier when their career chooses them. It is nice to be wanted, even needed. Consider the tools you have, then add some more. Keep adding tools and evetually someone will come up to you and say "Hey, I need a _____" and you'll open your toolbox and say "here ya go." Then they'll say,"Wow. Thanks. You know...I noticed when you opened that thing you also happen to have this, and this, and this...I could really use someone who knows how to use those...care to stick around?" And there you have it. Also, tools should be toys, too. I.E. Fun to use. You don't buy tools you don't plan on using and you don't buy toys you arn't going to play with. 050525 ... u24 ra! great CD, dude, many thanks :-) strongly recommend everyone to make R.O. spend all his money posting CDs across the world (hey, I did it!) thanks, it's a good one :-) 050527 ... mt agreed and happy birfilyday 050527 ... realistic optimist thanks, guys! muh blurfday was incredible. i couldn't have asked for anything better. syncronicity and random good surprises all day. i appreciate the words of wisdom, all very well thought out and thoughtful as well. i'm going to nurse my hangover a bit more so i can go visit a winery today. 050528 ... Death of a Rose sorry I missed the well wishes RO. Double Doh!!! Happy Belated Birthing Day! 050529 ... realistic optimist thanks do0d! i hope everything is going well for you. i've been working hard at taking control of my life path, too bro. cheers! 050529 ... unhinged glad to see you again 070603 ... REAListic optimIST thanks for the warm welcome, unhinged! i suppose this would be an appropriate page to blathe about what i've been up to: i've been working at a university, bike commuting 750 minutes per week, completing an accelerated master's degree, and building a business. Between there, however, i intend to find time for blather blue, drumming, singing, basketball, and juggling. once i complete my degree at the end of this year, i hope to take a martial art. whew! i got tired just typing that. gnight, blather blue. sweet dreams. 070604 ... unhinged you people with all your energy and activites makes me tired just reading about it; still trying to make it through my first cup of coffee. i_need_coffee ;-) masters in what? 070604 ... REAListic optimIST master's in business administration with a concentration in organizational psychology and development. My idea is that I would like to be consulted to help businesses function more effectively. I intend to include in my consultations recommendations for being a more positive and effective member of the community, ways to improve the lives of their employees, and ways to be more sustainable economically and environmentally. 070604 ... unhinged tight dude i couldn't finish my masters. i admire anyone that can get through those hoops. you are putting your feet where your mouth is. that is also very admirable. 070604 ... REAListic optimIST thank you, unhinged. i haven't gotten my degree yet, but will before year's end. upon reading this page, i read words from the time when i truly had hit bottom, the catalyzing impetus for so much positive growth! if only this manifests into realization of the dream i've been building. i promise to blathe about the business idea i'm incubating and honing throughout the course of my degree program at a later time. 070604 ... LS Heh. I'm glad that your back. I very much enjoy reading your blathes and they quite often get me thinking, witch is a chore unto itself. You seem to be making good progress. Trust me, the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train or the fires of hell... Did you know we were roomies for almost 6 months? It still blows me away that we didn't hang out during that time... 070606 ... REAListic optimIST roommies? do tell... 070606 ... Akashari this is a broken blathe 070606 ... Lemon_Soda Ammittyville. I lived in the wall of the third floor. 070606 ... REAListic optimIST which side of the house? is your name also the name of a popular 80's vehicle from a tv show? 070606 ... Lemon_Soda Both sides, actually. Before Animal House opened I was in the triangle room with no door next to Tree, and then got a second floor room in animal house, down on the end. I don't THINK y name was used for a car in the 80's, but I could be wrong. Most people consider it biblical. 070607 ... REAListic optimIST i think you found one of the holes in my mammories. a reality nipple, if you will. i must be making a wrong assumption somewhere because every question I know to ask or every person I think you could be, I think the answer to it is self evidently that it can't be you, so perhaps if i tried to remember the source of my assumptions... another clue perhaps? 070608 ... Lemon_Soda Here's 4 clues... I habitually slept on one of the reclining chairs on the porch so I didn't have to get up until the last possible moment before my Unlce came to get me for work, and when I was upset at world I dressed entirely in white. The door to my room was an italian flag and I was the owner of the bearded dragon known as Godzilla. 070608 ... REAListic optimIST It appears I may lose this game. You never sold me a TV, did you? 070608 ... Lemon_Soda YOu know, it is entirely possible that you met me and forgot me the same day. It was a very busy house, and I don't think we kept the same hours. I personnally recall interacting with you *maybe* three times, so I wouldn't rack your brain over it. And no, I don't think I sold you a t.v.. Goes to show how small and big this world really is. 070609 ... REAListic optimIST i have this photo taken in the attic of Amityville in which I am the only person I recognize. I wonder if you are pictured there... 070610 ... Lemon_Soda That is entirely possible. Email me the pic and I can tell you. If not I can get yo ua link to a site that has my picture. 070610 ... Lemon_Soda hello? 070628 ... :-D hello ? 070628 ... REAListic optimIST hey. i'll try to scan it. 070628 ... phil similarities 071118 ... REAListic optimIST *whoosh* [Rushing back into his blathatar, REAListic optimIST picks up the can of digital spraypaint, and heads over to the blue walls for the first time in a long time.] "I said in my first post to this thread, that when I was on my path, that I would wander back here and post some self-referential back-patting. That toungue in cheek way of couching shameless bragging was a nice intro I gave to myself way back when. "This next month holds some interesting opportunities: I find out if my grant proposal was approved for a grant to stream live and make available the archived videos of my neighborhood association meetings for the next year. I became editor of the neighborhood newsletter. Then, I created a facebook and a twitter account for the neighborhood association. This year, I plan to increase the involvement with the neighborhood association by at least 10%." 100103 ... REAListic optimIST Whelp, now I'm president of the board for a non-profit that helps neighbors reclaim the public right-of-way for neighborhood-oriented placemaking projects. And I co-founded a local organization that works to pass ordinances granting decision-making rights to people in cities and townships. I do social media consulting, with one client so far (a production company). I do tech support for my friend's business. It's kind of like Lemon Soda said. I built a lot of tools and now I'm in demand. 140203 what's it to you? who go blather from