Waiting

It has been a long summer already and we are still in June. This is not a good sign. So much of my time has been spent waiting, waiting, waiting, and I'm getting a little stir crazy. I had to wait for James to get back from Arizona to do job training. I had to wait for the schools to let out so that the summer programs would finally get into full swing. Right now I'm desperately waiting for July 1 to roll around.

On July 1, two very important events happen. First, my job switches over to a real position meaning benefits, sick days, vacation days, and all those bells and whistles that are supposed to be part of a job you get after graduating college. More importantly, I can finally say to people that I am starting my grad program next July instead of the wordier "not this July but July 2009." I'm still not regretting my decision to defer because I so could not afford or handle moving right now. But now I can't stave off boredom by pretending to buckle down to write that personal statement or researching programs. Instead I just get to think about what I could be learning now and will now have to wait twelve months. Not exactly boredom reducing.

The boredom and stir craziness is starting to get to me, though. I saw this article last week and I'm honestly a little spooked. My initial reaction after reading this was, if the findings of this study are consistent with my biology (since I have not had a brain scan) and the hypothesis presented is correct, then I have wasted so much time. I was told a few months ago that the switch for sexual preferences flips on at the age of 8 or 9, and my reaction when I heard that was remarkably similar.

I feel like I'm losing the passion for the things in my day-to-day life. And as much as I wait for something to jump start my enthusiasm, it just isn't happening. It's a long time until September.

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Politico

I got home from work tonight expecting to write a tongue in cheek post about what happened during my shift, but then I saw on Yahoo news that Tim Russert had died. I'm watching Frank Rich and Keith Olberman talking about it now. I simply cannot believe it.

I was a huge fan of Russert. I found his approach to be incredibly accessible, not necessarily simplifying political issues but keeping the conversation of topics easier to understand. His enthusiasm reminded me of my friends and family on election night. I recall on election night in 2004, he had a small whiteboard where he was keeping track of electoral votes and the nerdiest grin on his face as he dissected all of the possible outcomes with the remaining states.

It is so sad that we will be going into this general election without Tim Russert's knowledge, enthusiasm and insight.

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