21 days later...

Not too much has happened, but here's a quick rundown before rant-a-licious thinktype:

1. Dan and Bahia got married! It was a wonderful service for a wonderful couple. I was overjoyed to perform Lullabye (Goodnight my Angel) by Billy Joel, and I made people cry. It was great.

2. I've worked around 10 meal shifts at saga (my campus's sole dining hall) and I'm starting to really get into the swing of things there. It's hard work, and so not worth the pay, but I'm milking the free food for all it's worth (free food whenever there's a meal being served).

3. I'm taking voice lessons and Alexander Technique lessons with Dr. Moham
(whose headshot is recent as of 2 weeks ago). She is PHENOMENAL and half of why I haven't left IWU for less expensive pastures.

4. My apartment and roommate, Monica, are pretty fantastic, though our air conditioning is being a pain.

So life is pretty dang good. I have a lot of free time, which is a stark and enjoyable contrast to the entirety of the previous 12 months of my life. I've been shuttling back and forth between Oak Park and Bloomington quite a bit, since my schedule changes every week and I often have several days off at a time.

When Dan and Bahia got married, I really started to wonder about family: my standing within my own family, the creation of new family, the destruction of old, and how we build a landscape of people around us apart from our blood relatives and how for some, these friends mean more than our genetic relatives. What does "family" mean anyway? Can't a family just be those who are closest to you? I have friends I've known less than 3 years and I can honestly say that they're as close as siblings to me.

And what about a traditional family? Is that something I'd even want? A significant other and kids, a house somewhere safe and nice, a dog and a cat and a big kitchen where I'd make dinner every night and live the 1950's ideal... Nah, not for me.

But we're so programmed to want it anyway, aren't we?

Sometimes I wonder just what the world would be like if we could learn to separate the worlds portrayed by TV, movies, etc. from our own, and to learn that one ideal isn't necessarily our own. Would we have less biology majors trying to be physicians just because they think that's the best career?

On another note...

Randy is one of the adult full-time workers in saga who works in the dish room, and he and I shared an interesting conversation while scrubbing dishes a few days ago. Randy is a humble man, missing his two front teeth, and has been working his particular job for a number of years. He's a sweet man with a die-hard love of optimism. I casually called myself dumb for not realizing something small while clearing trays, and he told me that he doesn't like that word. Randy doesn't believe that anyone truly is stupid. I say that I'd agree, that nobody is truly stupid, but those who we'd label dumb just say and do illogical and ill-informed things. Randy agreed. He went on to say that he strongly dislikes judgment and that he gets flak from his family and people in his life for his optimism.

I don't quite think that Randy has told me all that there is to tell about these discussions, but a simple man can really bring you back to the basics of humanity: equality. If Randy can understand and regularly implement the basic principles of equality in his life, can't we? I'd rant about racism, economic inequality, liberalism, conservatism, christianity, judiasm, baha'i-ism, islam, Iran, Iraq, politics, oil, the arts and gay marriage, but you've probably heard it all before, and in words more eloquent and better-informed than I can give you.

I find myself wanting choir again. Badly. Desperately. And it gets me thinking about why. I'm sure I love the music, but there has to be something more. The essence of collaboration, the creation of beauty, the joy of reaping the rewards of hard work, but most of all being an integral part of something undeniably successful. Co-choir is pretty darn good, and without question it's due in large part to Dr. Ferguson, but to really be an essential part of what comes as close to a religious experience as I've ever had is amazing.

I want it.

I need it.

It's why I'm paying $40,000 a year to stay in Bloomington.

It's worth every penny.

Hugs, lolcats and too many links,
Joe