ADD, extraintro and age

I think I may have ADD. Well, no not seriously, but I definitely cannot multi-task. I oftentimes find myself starting a bunch of tasks and then forgetting to finish them. This will not be good when I get older...I have started cooking a few times and leaving some water to boil and then going to read or do another task. Well, 30 minutes later I'll come back to a blackened and burnt pot. bad bad.

Like, right now I've been trying to get out of the kitchen and off the computer to go do some errands but between making lunch/breakfast, typing and reading e-mails, job-searching, facebooking, and blog-reading I have not managed to get fully dressed yet (although, mind you, I have brushed my teeth, done some laundry, finished some e-mails and job-searching and eaten breakfast/lunch). Our minds work in crazy ways sometimes do they not?

This whole reflection is a random (or not-so-random but seemingly that way) potpourri of mixed priorities.

I have intended to write for a few days but I am either a.) not in the mood to write or b.) too busy doing things outside that I haven't gotten a chance to.

I have been in San Diego for about 12 days and I keep on thinking of a good way to describe my experience so far in one word or two but I cannot. I'll just say I've experienced and explored a lot in a short time.

The first few days were pretty lonely and I have been learning more about the extravert/introvert/social nature of myself--although it's still a complex mystery to me. I see myself as a VERY social being and I know that I am at my best when I am in the company of some great people. I also realize that it takes me a long time to get really comfortable with people although I can meet people and get involved rather quickly. I also know that I am both introverted/extraverted depending on the context and people but I still haven't decided if I am more one or the other. For right now I just consider myself an extraintro--a solid combo of both.

What do you think do you think of yourself more as an introvert or extravert? Do you think that God is more of an introvert or extravert?

Now, onto a thing about age. I had the pleasure of sitting down to coffee with some truly sagacious young "old people." They are in their 60s or 70s but they keep their bodies, spirits and souls more active than most people I know that are in their 20s or 30s. They have such a positive outlook on all things and it just amazes me how involved they are in taking care of their community, work and family at an age when it would be extraordinarily easy and understandable if they were just on a lake-home fishing and expecting their family and community to take care of them.

I would much rather be physically old but mentally and spiritually astute than physically young and mentally and spiritually dull.

Okay, off to do errands...finally.

Roadtrip with God

I want to go on an adventure with God. Putting him in the driver's seat and seeing what a crazy trip that He'll take me on. He's a much better driver than I am, and unlike mwa, He won't get me lost but will lead me in the right direction.

I am yIN San Diego and, for the moment, groaning

I've been in San Diego since the evening of last Thursday, the 19th. I hit the road driving on Monday, the 16th.

I have never driven so long by myself before. It was a crazy, exhausting ride. The second day, when I was driving through Colorado I hydroplaned (it was sporadically raining intensely and then dry as a gumdrop) going at least 60-70 mph. The whole experience was much like bungee-jumping: sheer terror for 5 seconds and then everything is fine.

God was DEFINITELY sending his angels to watch over me that day because, miraculously, not only was I not hurt at all but my car somehow escaped unscathed saved for a flat tire (I was going so fast that I had lodged some grass and shrubbery into the rims of my right-side wheels, which led to the leaking of the front one and the popping of the rear one).

I called Progressive and had a spare put on the back and the front tire was fixed in just the nick of time by some very kind CostCo workers who did so free of charge to me.

Besides that minor mishap, the journey to San Diego went pretty smoothly.

I was exhausted once I arrived. It was very odd for me, being a very social person, not having much contact with people over four days time. I did get a chance to catch up with some awesome friends who saved me from being bored to death (thank you guys (and girls)).

So, I've been in San Diego since Thursday; I've been away from Saint Paul for a week now and I haven't had much contact with people at all. I am feeling rather lonely.

I am hypervigilant whenever I feel lonely or down for a few days since I know what it is like to slide into SAD and being down for awhile. I don't think that's what this is, at least I hope it's not. It's probably just adjustment and missing good company.

Anyways, it's funny how cyclical life can be and it's awesome how there is meaning and opportunity in every difficulty and hardship and unpleasantness that we go through.

Life is in Christ and nothing else really matters...everything is an opportunity in Christ to grow.

Change the world, bit by bit, one random act of kindness at a time.

SaYIN Diego

I am hitting the road tomorrow morning. I am off to San Diego!!!! Woot woot!!!

I will try to drive around 12 hours and make it to Denver by the end of the first day. On the second day of my trip I am going to try to make it to the Grand Canyon by sundown and set up shop and sleep there.

On the third day I am going to get up early and spend as much time as I see fit hiking the muy grande Grand Canyon. I've never been there but always longed to go. So...i hope so.

After hiking the Grand Canyon, if I have enough time I will try to drive the remaining 8 hours that is left and make it to San Diego by sundown on the third day. We'll see how this goes.

I'll probably be blogging in the near future and find that my trip went 1% as planned and 99% crazy-style (I'll probably end up stuck in Mexico for a few months or something).

I am excited...excited! All I know is that I am going on an adventure with God and I don't think i'm ready but He was born ready (actually I don't think He was ever born, but...)

I have a crazy story about an, literally, everlasting gobstopper that I'll have to post about sometime soon. not tonight. too tired.

it's been a good week. it's been a good life. friends and love and God and travels. seven and seven. seven in root to root seven. lucky slevin. lucky sleeping. good luck sleeping. good will hunting...i'm tired and it really show. :))))

adios amigos. i'll catch you once i'm in "america's finest city" (one of san diego's nicknames).

Ratatouillie in San Diego

hello. good morning. saw ratatouille (sp?) yesterday. like some others I was pleasantly surprised. when i first saw the previews i thought "what a joke. gimme a break. the premise is a rat who becomes a great cook by puppetteering a human aka pinocchio style." also, the previews didn't --as shania twain might say-- impress me much. i didn't find anything in the previews particularly laughworthy or attention-grabbing. however, when the reviews started coming in-A, A-, A, A- and a good friend told me how she was dragged into the movie with the same mindset as i but left pleasantly surprised i started to think that maybe ratatouillie was worth my 5 bucks.

then, once i determined that i wanted to see ratatouille i started to get excited and anticipate it. i didn't want to get too excited though because from past experience i know that if i get my expectations too high up then no matter how good a movie actually is it will not fail to disappoint and not live up to my impossibly sky-high expectations. inevitably though, the more i tried not to have expectations the more i DID have expectations. but surprisingly, ratatouille still not only lived up to my expectations but far surpassed them.

maybe i'm just on a high after watching this pixar delight but right now i'm going to say that it's so good that it's tied with "finding nemo" as my fave pixar pic. i laughed and (almost) cried and in the end i must say it was better than "cats" (at least until i actually see "cats")

so i'm getting ready to move to san diego pretty soon. i'm excited but also nervous. i know that the past doesn't always repeat itself and i also know that what we expect, anticipate and believe makes it more likely to come true (aka self-fulfilling prophecies) but a part of me is still dreading the fall and winter since i have been low-energy and down during that season for as long as i can remember. however, i could be standing on the brink of the cliff of an exciting and radical change for the better and just can't imagine what the freefall will be like until i actually experience it. who am i to predict the future? looking back and then flashing forward would i ever have guessed an inkling of half of what i would enjoy, learn and experience during the past four years? not a sumo wrestler's chance in a marathon. i have no idea what the next week holds let alone the next year.

the best way to approach uncertainty is with an eager expectation of hope and faith. what happens when the faith and hope don't feel that eager and natural coming though? well, then you think back and remember in the depths of your being what past experiences of faith and hope were like and then you accept by faith, with a confident assurance of things not seen that they will be well...and that all shall be well whenever you choose to meet whatever you may meet with, not your own, but God's life and love.

that sounds cliched but it's true. actually it's become very cliche to say it's cliched but true. what would really be original is to say what's true without having to falsely apologize with "this may sound really cliche but..."

oh, i almost forgot! i just found out recently that one of the most intelligent, charismatic and ebulliant men of the 21st century has his own blog.