People are fundamentally bad

Well, my car stereo has been stolen for a second time.

Will play/write/record/edit music... for money.... in Chinese

So here's the deal.

I am not unhappy at my current job. It is fine. I am salaried and have the opportunity to make commissions, which is a very nice set-up. It's just not what I want to do with my life. In my heart of hearts I don't yearn to be a Washington real estate mogul (or as my friend Jeremy would say, "real estate mongrel.")
So I seek employment elsewhere. I speak (less and less) Mandarin Chinese. I know a fair amount about music. I can play a bunch of instruments. I have a working knowledge of Protools recording software.

Anyone have any ideas? I have been pretty vigilant with Monster.com and Washingtonpost.com, but to no avail. I would love to find a job in the music industry in any respect, but not for no money. And there don't seem to be a lot of ads that say "we are looking for a guy who knows a little about many aspects of music."

I would even be happy with a job in which I could make use of my linguistic skills. Problem is, I don't know too much about China or about what's happening in the world in general. I was always very interested in Chinese literature and in the language side of things, not in using the Chinese I have learned as a tool to get me toward some other goal. Chinese is the end for me, not the means...

So I implore you, people of the internet, to make me employed. Just think how great it would be to be responsible for putting someone on the path to his dream! You can do it. I know you can. Ready.... go.

(Incidentally, part of the impetus for this renewed job-search fervor is this awesome book, Love Me You should read it. )

As much as....

...a man can platonically love another man that he has never met, I love this man. Pedro, pitch well tonight, buddy.



Also, the mets can apparently fly.

Fitness

So, in light of the fact that:

a) I am a fat crap
b) It seems that all of the men in my family develop life-threatening heart problems (that is, if the cancer doesn't get us first!)

I am joining a gym.
Thanks to the help of one enterprising Ms. Chilton, I managed to get myself to the Washington Sports Club and sign up for a week's free membership and was offered a neat promotion if I sign up for a real membership. I got to work out without waiting, and I got to watch the Red Sox play the Orioles while I did it! I am enthused about working out regularly and about eating right (goodbye, sweet fried things).

Your job, friends and acquaintances, is to police me. I am weak. I may falter. So kick my ass if you see me lying down and eating a French fry sandwich.

I want to live!

I Miss Beijing

Just a taste of what you see when you walk around in Beijing.

To be fair, this was a 2-minute bike ride away from my dorm at Beijing University.

WHY?!?!

Ok, unless you are a Red Sox fan, you may not care about this, but I really need to vent.

The Red Sox have recalled Byung Hyun Kim from Pawtucket.

In case you don't remember BK Kim (a nickname which uses the "K" from "Kim" twice, thus giving me a second reason to hate him, the first being that he is awful) here is an article about him being recalled

Oh, but don't worry:

"We won't activate him unless it's the right thing to do," Epstein said. "Unless he's ready to contribute and be a good teammate."


I have news for you Theo: it will never be the right thing to do. He sucks, especially against the Yankees. And who is the team against whom we will have to play well, either to capitalize on the slim slim chance of winning the pennant, or in the more likely event that we win the wildcard and have to make it past the ALCS????

THE YANKEES.

Welcome!

It has come to my attention that all the cool kids are setting up their own blogs. I thought "Hey, maybe I have something to say." Only time will tell. Hopefully some of you will come along on this little journey.