shawn farner|*feeding* the social media obsession

Hmm… not quite what I had in mind.  Summer is fast approaching, though, so I think it’s probably a good idea that I get things figured out as soon as possible.

I’ve already decided I’ll be hanging out here in Indiana a bit longer than I should; May 12-May 30, so I can take some LBST class about Iraq.  At the least, it’ll make my Fall semester much easier.  After that, though, things start to become foggy.  I’d like to go on at least one trip this summer, that is for sure.  At the same time, I need the money to fund such a trip.

Enter job!  One of the perks of this blog is that people can find me pretty easily.  One of my former employers (one of the sweetest jobs I’ve ever had) came across my site and asked me if I’d be interested in doing more work.  Fo ’sho.  Well, maybe.  If I can’t get placed in an easy job that pays better this summer, I’ll take it.  I should be okay on that front.  I only plan on working from June 1 til August 1, though, so whoever hires me needs to respect my authoritah.

What about my spare time?  Well, I’ve recently applied to intern for a small NYC start-up that has launched a service similar to Last.FM.  So we’ll see where that goes.  I also plan to (re)start a little project of my own.  Last semester I created Be of Service, which was going to be a blog about community service.  I’ve since decided to relaunch the site with a different focus - to organize service projects in the Harrisburg area and get interest volunteers in the area to help out.  I’ve submitted the idea to ideablob to see if it catches on, but who knows ;).  Vote for me if you want.

I’m leaving the month of August (until the 21st or 22nd, when I’ll be forced to return to IUP) for relaxing and vacationing.  If anyone has any suggestions, I’m open to them!  I’m now going to return to apartment cleaning and Last.FM-listening.  Have a great night.

First off, I would just like to make my plea to anyone on campus at IUP.  Ron Paul is speaking in Eberly tomorrow at 2:00PM, and as much as I’d like to skip class and go, I can’t.  If anyone at all could attend and maybe take some video/pictures, that would be incredble.  It honestly breaks my heart that I’m going to miss it, but there isn’t much I can do.

Secondly, I’m going to quote possibly one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard in my whole life.  I’m currently taking a class called African American Literature, and a lot of the class has to do with breaking down stereotypes.  In class today, we’re talking about a Jamaican store owner who shot a black man because he thought he was being robbed.  There is some really good (the key word being some) really good discussion and debate about the circumstances.  However, someone thought it would be a cool idea to roll out with this:

“Since when do Jamaicans freak out about anything?”

Any laughter that followed was not at the joke, but how much of a douchebag the guy was for even saying it.  For just a few minutes, my faith in humanity was restored.  If the fall of the giant-tool-who-tries-way-too-hard happens in my lifetime, I could die a happy man.

I wish more than anything that Twitter would work with AIM.  I really think that is what is holding it back from reaching a wider audience.  About 98% of the people I know don’t use GTalk, Jabber or anything of the sort.  They use AIM because that is what all their friends are using.  I know for sure I could definitely convince more people to join Twitter if they knew they could receive updates via AIM, but until that day comes, Twitter will probably just stay in the “geek” kingdom.

News flash: I’m either looking for a job/internship in the Harrisburg or Pittsburgh area for this coming summer.  I’ll probably Tweet this out in a little bit, but if you miss it for some reason and happen to see it here, get in touch with me.