So I'm thinking that I've finally come up with my REAL career. No, it's not Private I (that'll be a hobby, along with writing, fighting crime, and hitchhiking.) It's a job where I can choose my own hours, work where I want, hone my skills, and talk to really awesome people. And it's dang simple! How did I find this miracle job, you may ask? Let me break it down for you:
My first challenge was trying to convert a 5-gallon bucket into a backpack. You see, there are few practical backpacks that can hold a huge bucket, some pots, and a bag of drumsticks very well, so I decided to just use what I had and carry everything in the bucket. Not able to find any nails or sharp metals to poke through the resilient plastic, I resorted to a lighter. Heating up the plastic enough, I used the back end of a spoon to push through, creating four holes. Next I hijacked some rope and looped two sections through the holes, creating a way to secure it to my back.
The hardest part of the night over, I bundled up and headed downtown for the night. Traveling by bike, I made my way through the city, by street and bridges and paths, through neighborhoods, by power plants, and over rivers. Arriving on the 16th Street mall at 11 PM, I set up shop across the street from the ESPN Zone and the Cheesecake Factory. Bike, jacket, and bag set aside, I whipped out my best pair of drumsticks, put a pot out onto the sidewalk, flipped the 5-gallon bucket over, and had at it.
It's quite easy, really. You just have to remember that people only see you for 30 seconds to a minute, so there's no need to come up with a dozen different routines... Three or four will do just fine (remember you can always mix them to create interesting combos!)
It was a bit disheartening at first, because few people even paid attention to me, and there was little foot traffic at all. But after long, the Rascal Flats/Jessica Simpson concert at the Pepsi center got over and the traffic increased significantly. At the end of the first hour, I had a respectable amount of change and dollar bills inside my little pot.
At about this time, Nick and Austin (my RA and one of my RARs) caught up with me. You see, the two of them are pedicab drivers, so they spend their weekends peddling bike-drawn carriages around Denver for tips. Nick told me that a lot of people were over on Larimer Square.* I packed up and headed out, making the short hop over to Larimer. I was kicked out of the square due to a city ordinance, but the policeman informed that I was allowed to play right across the street, in Writer's Square. So play I did, for about an hour or so, exchanging words with a few impressed pedestrians.
Finally, approaching 1 AM, I decided to give Larimer another try. As I was setting up, however, the same ploiceman came up and chased me off, but not before informing me that a real good spot was just down the street, at the corner of Market and 14th. I made my way there and set up, doubting the officers words... there was little foot traffic.
But then at about 1:30 AM, the bars and nightclubs began emptying out.** I made about half of the night's wages in that 45 minute time slot (1:30 - 2:15 AM.) A virtual army of drunk people came staggering by in small detachments, dazzled by the quick-paced rhythms and simple but fun rudiments. The pot filled up quickly and I had to start pocketing some dollars to avoid an overflow. As is synonymous with drunk people, ridiculous behavior followed. Some lady completely tripped over herself, eating it on the sidewalk in front of me. A man with a thick hispanic accent looked me straight in the eyes as if he were on his deathbed and said, "Follow your soul, man. I'm not even American, but you gotta follow your soul." He then proceeded to walk out into the busy intersection, though the glowing red hand protested. A very short women came up to me, almost in tears, and dropped 5 dollar bill in, saying, "God bless you. My brother does this. You gotta have some real balls. God bless you."
By 2:15, the streets were deserted so I packed up and met Nick and Austin at Writer's Square to head home. We enjoyed completely car-less ride through downtown*** to the Car that Nick and Austin drove in earlier. We hooked our bikes onto the rack and headed toward CCU.
I dunno if it was during the peaceful ride through downtown at 3:00 AM or on the cramped car ride home during our awesome story-swapping session or when I counted my money to find I had made $81.50 and a can of Copenhagen in 3.5 hours, but sometime during that night I decided that this would be an excellent job.
So basically, it’s the ideal career choice for me. I can have fun, be out late, and feel free all at the same time. I guess all that remains would be to change my name to something more adventurous...
Thanks for reading,
-Dan-O The Bucket Boy, Street Musician
*Larimer is where tons of bars/nightclubs are located.
**Places that serve alcohol must be closed by 2 AM in Denver.
***Seriously... It was like I Am Legend. No one was on the streets, so they were completely open to us... Weaving between lanes, through red stoplights, and up one-way streets.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tales from My Life.
The following events take place between 6:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Thursday, February 19th 2009:
The scene opens: the setting is mine and Cameron's room. Clothes, books and paper litter the floor. The blinds are closed and the light is off, causing the pale pre-dawn light to filter through the vertical slats and highlight various features of our room; Cameron's dresser, two drawers standing open, frozen in mid-vomit, clothes spilling onto the floor. My computer; standing open and in sleep mode, resting after a night of singing a playlist entitled "Sleepytime." Cameron's longboard; propped against the wall by our door, deck stained with shoe gunk from weeks of riding. My alarm goes off and I roll out of bed, stumbling on a discarded pair of pants and taking out the stack of books on my desk in mid-fall. I think we need to tidy up a bit.
Cut to Public Speaking class: I stand up in front of a room of 28 college students - people that back in August I would have been scared to death of talking in front of - and calmly deliver a rather uninspired speech on the dangers of multitasking. I work in a bit where I display the optical illusion of a goblet that can also be two faces looking at each other and comment, "they're having a staring contest of Biblical proportions." I think I received bonus points for being 'attention grabbing.'
In Chapel now: While waiting for the campus-sponsored event to start, I'm using an inflatable beach ball (a prop from my speech) as a volleyball. I spike it at my friend sitting three rows below me but miss and peg a rather nice-looking girl in the back of the head. Acting quickly, I sit down and enter conversation with two friends sitting behind me. I think she's still dusting for fingerprints.
At Cross Country conditioning: In the middle of our two-mile cooldown run, I find myself catching our lead runner, who is taking his time due to a prior leg cramp during the lifting segment of conditioning. As I approach him from behind, I overhear him humming the theme from Braveheart.* Knowing what it's like to be caught talking or singing to ones self, I start to back down on my pace to put distance between us. Yet as I do so, he glances over his shoulder and then looks forward again. "Just imagine you're running in a kilt," he says, not breaking stride. I think running in a kilt would be hard to pull off in a Colorado winter, but it's a freeing thought.
-Daniel K
*Which, honestly, I wouldn't have recognized if we hadn't watched a clip from Braveheart in Philosophy Class the other day...
The scene opens: the setting is mine and Cameron's room. Clothes, books and paper litter the floor. The blinds are closed and the light is off, causing the pale pre-dawn light to filter through the vertical slats and highlight various features of our room; Cameron's dresser, two drawers standing open, frozen in mid-vomit, clothes spilling onto the floor. My computer; standing open and in sleep mode, resting after a night of singing a playlist entitled "Sleepytime." Cameron's longboard; propped against the wall by our door, deck stained with shoe gunk from weeks of riding. My alarm goes off and I roll out of bed, stumbling on a discarded pair of pants and taking out the stack of books on my desk in mid-fall. I think we need to tidy up a bit.
Cut to Public Speaking class: I stand up in front of a room of 28 college students - people that back in August I would have been scared to death of talking in front of - and calmly deliver a rather uninspired speech on the dangers of multitasking. I work in a bit where I display the optical illusion of a goblet that can also be two faces looking at each other and comment, "they're having a staring contest of Biblical proportions." I think I received bonus points for being 'attention grabbing.'
In Chapel now: While waiting for the campus-sponsored event to start, I'm using an inflatable beach ball (a prop from my speech) as a volleyball. I spike it at my friend sitting three rows below me but miss and peg a rather nice-looking girl in the back of the head. Acting quickly, I sit down and enter conversation with two friends sitting behind me. I think she's still dusting for fingerprints.
At Cross Country conditioning: In the middle of our two-mile cooldown run, I find myself catching our lead runner, who is taking his time due to a prior leg cramp during the lifting segment of conditioning. As I approach him from behind, I overhear him humming the theme from Braveheart.* Knowing what it's like to be caught talking or singing to ones self, I start to back down on my pace to put distance between us. Yet as I do so, he glances over his shoulder and then looks forward again. "Just imagine you're running in a kilt," he says, not breaking stride. I think running in a kilt would be hard to pull off in a Colorado winter, but it's a freeing thought.
-Daniel K
*Which, honestly, I wouldn't have recognized if we hadn't watched a clip from Braveheart in Philosophy Class the other day...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
At The Movies.
Tired of Valentine's Day activities* and completely bored, Big Mike and I decided last night to head up to Arvada and see a movie at the Elvis Cinema. It's one of those theaters that plays movies a couple months after they debut, so we payed $3.50 and headed inside to see Marley and Me.
The entrance was packed full of junior highers kissing each other, big families crowding around the candy displays, and serious-looking teenagers buying popcorn for their oh-so-clingy Valentine dates. Big Mike and I plowed our way through the crowded lobby and had the un-enthusiastic ticket taker rip our stubs and point vaguely off to his left, muttering, "theater four." Walking into the darkened room, we made our way to some empty seats and sat down just as the movie started.
Marley and Me. It's basically a movie about a young couple starting their family, who first decided to get a puppy who grows up to be a rambunctious and out of control best friend. The story line follows the couple and Marley as they have first one, then two, and finally three kids. I won't say how the movie ends for safety reasons,** but I can tell you that it was one of those movies where you walk out thinking about life and its mysteries and complexities.
Those are the best movies, in my opinion... Movies that make you see new beauty in previously mundane thing. Movies that make you look at your own life and wonder, "Am I worth making a movie out of?" Movies that spur you on to write yourself a story worth re-telling once you're gone.
When I die, will anyone want to look back and trace my life's course through time? Will I be in history books? In the minds of the people? Will there be any movies made about my life? Will what I do while here on Earth echo after I leave?
During my winter term class, Prof. Hartwig said that his favorite quote regarding leadership is this: "Leadership is not measured by what you do, but by what others do because of you."
So this brings me back to the here and now. I think we have to ask ourselves, "Is what I'm doing worth anything? Is how I'm learning or speaking or interacting with others counting for something?" And more importantly, I think we have to make sure it is. We should live our lives realizing that making history or changing the world isn't nearly as impossible as the books and movies make it out to be. Everyone starts somewhere insignificant. Everyone knows of other more famous or distinguished people who have come before. Yet everyone has a chance.
Thanks for reading,
-Daniel Kenneston
*Or lack thereof
**Ruining Harry Potter for Mingy is something she'll never let me live down, so I've learned my lesson.
The entrance was packed full of junior highers kissing each other, big families crowding around the candy displays, and serious-looking teenagers buying popcorn for their oh-so-clingy Valentine dates. Big Mike and I plowed our way through the crowded lobby and had the un-enthusiastic ticket taker rip our stubs and point vaguely off to his left, muttering, "theater four." Walking into the darkened room, we made our way to some empty seats and sat down just as the movie started.
Marley and Me. It's basically a movie about a young couple starting their family, who first decided to get a puppy who grows up to be a rambunctious and out of control best friend. The story line follows the couple and Marley as they have first one, then two, and finally three kids. I won't say how the movie ends for safety reasons,** but I can tell you that it was one of those movies where you walk out thinking about life and its mysteries and complexities.
Those are the best movies, in my opinion... Movies that make you see new beauty in previously mundane thing. Movies that make you look at your own life and wonder, "Am I worth making a movie out of?" Movies that spur you on to write yourself a story worth re-telling once you're gone.
When I die, will anyone want to look back and trace my life's course through time? Will I be in history books? In the minds of the people? Will there be any movies made about my life? Will what I do while here on Earth echo after I leave?
During my winter term class, Prof. Hartwig said that his favorite quote regarding leadership is this: "Leadership is not measured by what you do, but by what others do because of you."
So this brings me back to the here and now. I think we have to ask ourselves, "Is what I'm doing worth anything? Is how I'm learning or speaking or interacting with others counting for something?" And more importantly, I think we have to make sure it is. We should live our lives realizing that making history or changing the world isn't nearly as impossible as the books and movies make it out to be. Everyone starts somewhere insignificant. Everyone knows of other more famous or distinguished people who have come before. Yet everyone has a chance.
Thanks for reading,
-Daniel Kenneston
*Or lack thereof
**Ruining Harry Potter for Mingy is something she'll never let me live down, so I've learned my lesson.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Poppycock and Tom Foolery
I've been thinking a lot about death. Kinda weird considering I'm 19, in good health, and living in America, right? But I can't get it off my mind recently.
I think about how it's the one thing every single living organism on this planet has in common. How it's inevitable, unpredictable, and, a lot of the time, feared. It's the ultimate punishment. It's a sobering threat. It's a serious matter. It's an ominous predicament.
It's kind of boring to think about, really.
I guess more specifically, I've been thinking about my own death. I wonder how it will happen. I have certain hopes, of course. For example, I kinda hope I don't die in my sleep. This is due mainly to the kind of life I have dedicated myself to. It'd be pretty anticlimactic to lead a life dedicated to changing this world, to reaching out to the farthest places of the earth to bring hope and life, and then fall asleep one night and never wake up.
Don't get me wrong, I want to die at an old age.* I've still got a lot of life left in me to be hoping for a car accdent tonight. But I want to die doing something I love, y'know? And although I do love to sleep, I want something more... substancial.
Defending a village from raiders, perhaps? Spreading the Gospel? Delivering relief supplies? I dunno, but something cool like that. I see how dieing while asleep appeals to some, but to me it seems like a bunch of poffycock and tom foolery.
Also, I wonder what my funeral will be like. If we go based on the D.O.D. (death on duty) form I filled out for the fire crew last summer, I would have Ben Stein read my eulogy and I would leave all my stuff to Sarah.** But that doesn't really tell us anything.
A good friend of mine, Chase, said he went to a funeral over Christmas break. He described it like this:
"The first half was mourning. Everyone really missed him, so we were all in and out of tears, holding each other and remembering all he meant to us. But then the second half was bizzarre. We realized that we knew where he was, and that we'd catch up with him before long, so there was laughing and dancing and singing of his favorite songs."
I want my service to be like that. Because here's the bottom line: I know where I'm going. I realize this is a sketchy statement to a lot of you reading this blog, but I don't know what else to say. God is a real and living Being, far greater than anything we can even imagine. I've become convinced of this and I try every day to live my life accodring to this.
And I guess the reason I've been thinking so much about death recently is because I'm no longer afraid of it. It's still a strange concept, don't get me wrong, and I'd be lieing if I told you I wasn't a little bit apprehensive. But, I dunno, I'm kind excited for the day I get to see what it's like to walk in His presence.
Thanks for reading,
-Daniel K
P.S. Another reason I've been thinking about it is because I'm still trying to find a way to get into the abandoned Gates Rubber Factory here in Devner. Google image search it... it makes American Flats look like a merry go round.
*That is, of course, assuming the world doesn't end in 2012.... Dun dun duuuun!
**Except my pack of wolves. Those belong to the Mammy.
I think about how it's the one thing every single living organism on this planet has in common. How it's inevitable, unpredictable, and, a lot of the time, feared. It's the ultimate punishment. It's a sobering threat. It's a serious matter. It's an ominous predicament.
It's kind of boring to think about, really.
I guess more specifically, I've been thinking about my own death. I wonder how it will happen. I have certain hopes, of course. For example, I kinda hope I don't die in my sleep. This is due mainly to the kind of life I have dedicated myself to. It'd be pretty anticlimactic to lead a life dedicated to changing this world, to reaching out to the farthest places of the earth to bring hope and life, and then fall asleep one night and never wake up.
Don't get me wrong, I want to die at an old age.* I've still got a lot of life left in me to be hoping for a car accdent tonight. But I want to die doing something I love, y'know? And although I do love to sleep, I want something more... substancial.
Defending a village from raiders, perhaps? Spreading the Gospel? Delivering relief supplies? I dunno, but something cool like that. I see how dieing while asleep appeals to some, but to me it seems like a bunch of poffycock and tom foolery.
Also, I wonder what my funeral will be like. If we go based on the D.O.D. (death on duty) form I filled out for the fire crew last summer, I would have Ben Stein read my eulogy and I would leave all my stuff to Sarah.** But that doesn't really tell us anything.
A good friend of mine, Chase, said he went to a funeral over Christmas break. He described it like this:
"The first half was mourning. Everyone really missed him, so we were all in and out of tears, holding each other and remembering all he meant to us. But then the second half was bizzarre. We realized that we knew where he was, and that we'd catch up with him before long, so there was laughing and dancing and singing of his favorite songs."
I want my service to be like that. Because here's the bottom line: I know where I'm going. I realize this is a sketchy statement to a lot of you reading this blog, but I don't know what else to say. God is a real and living Being, far greater than anything we can even imagine. I've become convinced of this and I try every day to live my life accodring to this.
And I guess the reason I've been thinking so much about death recently is because I'm no longer afraid of it. It's still a strange concept, don't get me wrong, and I'd be lieing if I told you I wasn't a little bit apprehensive. But, I dunno, I'm kind excited for the day I get to see what it's like to walk in His presence.
Thanks for reading,
-Daniel K
P.S. Another reason I've been thinking about it is because I'm still trying to find a way to get into the abandoned Gates Rubber Factory here in Devner. Google image search it... it makes American Flats look like a merry go round.
*That is, of course, assuming the world doesn't end in 2012.... Dun dun duuuun!
**Except my pack of wolves. Those belong to the Mammy.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Wintermester.
Class: COM 297 - Leading Effective teams
Instructor: Ryan Hartwig
Dates:01-04-09 to 01-09-09
Location: School of Education 103
Required Reading: "Creating Effective Teams" (Wheelan, Susan)
It's weird how that's what a class looks like on paper. Weird because it tells you everything you need to know about the class, but nothing you need to know about what really matters. As it happens, a lot of what I learned in "Leading Effective Teams" matters.
On the first day of class, Professor Hartwig introduced us to a quote. "The true measure of a leader is not what you do, but what others do because of what you do." Prof. Hartwig kept reinforcing that statement with one of his own: Your actions matter. What you do now echos in the lives of others, rippling out across our world. Thus, how you lead a team (whether for school, work, church, or whatever) matters. And how you are a member of a team matters. And how you react, how you speak, how you love, how you hate, matters.
I know this has the tendency to sound kinda fruity or idealistic, but think about it for a little bit. All of our lives are built on a series of events. Like the extremely well-done scene in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, if one thing had happened slightly differently, our whole lives would be changed. If, for example, you had not chosen to sit down and read this blog, perhaps you would have instead gone to Starbucks and bought a coffee. While at the coffee shop, you could have witnessed a fender bender and seen how the two people reacted. From seeing their reactions, you could have decided "Wow. That was really ridiculous. I will never react that way to a simple fender bender."
And just like that, your life has changed.
Yet we never seem to take this into consideration because we are only present in one reality. Our minds would explode if we were constantly thinking about all of the possibilities of our actions (or sometimes more impactful, our nonactions.)
Prof. Hartwig reminded us on several occasions throughout the week that our actions matter. This tied in wonderfully with the next huge point he made on the last day of class: saying something is 'natural' is the enemy of innovation.
We were discussing the dark side of teamwork when this topic came up. You see, a lot of people (especially in today's society,) attempt to paint teamwork as a utopian idea. Two heads are better than one, right? Teams, composed of multiple individuals, are far superior to a singe individual, right? Yet when we work in teams, the team can become our harsh master. If you are in a team on the job and your task is to get a certain project done by tomorrow, yet your day went haywire and you find yourself at 5 PM (the end of your work day) without that project done, when will you do it? In you own time, of course. The team is relying on you... you've set up norms of getting work done on time, no exceptions. So you work that night, cutting into family time or football time or Starbucks time or whatever.
Wait, wait, wait. You just worked overtime for no pay. Would your boss ever require you to work overtime with no pay? Not legally! There's no way you would do that! Yet you just did. The net of peer pressure and norms set up within the team forced you to do something completely absurd.
And the worst part? We don't even think about it that way. What do we think? It's natural. You always have to make a sacrifice like that to be in a team. It's natural. It's always been that way... people have always had to work overtime for no pay to get a team project done on time. It's natural.
It's not natural. The 9-5 workweek - 8 hours a day, five days a week away from your family, friends, people who may need you - is not natural. Two parents holding jobs that force them to leave their kids in daycare with strangers in order to pay for created needs such as iPods or TVs or computer games is not natural.
We have to think about this stuff, y'know? We can't go through our lives accepting these created concepts as natural, otherwise we are doomed to live a bland, by-the-letter life. As soon as we consider these things to be natural, it kills any innovation. We can't be innovative enough to change a tree's composition or the color of the sky, because those things are natural. Don't think for a second we can't change the composition of a 9-5 work week.
I want to end this blog with a quote by Prof. Hartwig that has been occupying my mind nonstop since Friday morning:
"If we created it, we can change it."
Thanks for Reading,
-Daniel K
P.S. I changed a few things on my blog to make it more open. Even if you aren't a registered Blogger.com member, you are now allowed to comment and otherwise participate. Thanks for your continued readership!
Instructor: Ryan Hartwig
Dates:01-04-09 to 01-09-09
Location: School of Education 103
Required Reading: "Creating Effective Teams" (Wheelan, Susan)
It's weird how that's what a class looks like on paper. Weird because it tells you everything you need to know about the class, but nothing you need to know about what really matters. As it happens, a lot of what I learned in "Leading Effective Teams" matters.
On the first day of class, Professor Hartwig introduced us to a quote. "The true measure of a leader is not what you do, but what others do because of what you do." Prof. Hartwig kept reinforcing that statement with one of his own: Your actions matter. What you do now echos in the lives of others, rippling out across our world. Thus, how you lead a team (whether for school, work, church, or whatever) matters. And how you are a member of a team matters. And how you react, how you speak, how you love, how you hate, matters.
I know this has the tendency to sound kinda fruity or idealistic, but think about it for a little bit. All of our lives are built on a series of events. Like the extremely well-done scene in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, if one thing had happened slightly differently, our whole lives would be changed. If, for example, you had not chosen to sit down and read this blog, perhaps you would have instead gone to Starbucks and bought a coffee. While at the coffee shop, you could have witnessed a fender bender and seen how the two people reacted. From seeing their reactions, you could have decided "Wow. That was really ridiculous. I will never react that way to a simple fender bender."
And just like that, your life has changed.
Yet we never seem to take this into consideration because we are only present in one reality. Our minds would explode if we were constantly thinking about all of the possibilities of our actions (or sometimes more impactful, our nonactions.)
Prof. Hartwig reminded us on several occasions throughout the week that our actions matter. This tied in wonderfully with the next huge point he made on the last day of class: saying something is 'natural' is the enemy of innovation.
We were discussing the dark side of teamwork when this topic came up. You see, a lot of people (especially in today's society,) attempt to paint teamwork as a utopian idea. Two heads are better than one, right? Teams, composed of multiple individuals, are far superior to a singe individual, right? Yet when we work in teams, the team can become our harsh master. If you are in a team on the job and your task is to get a certain project done by tomorrow, yet your day went haywire and you find yourself at 5 PM (the end of your work day) without that project done, when will you do it? In you own time, of course. The team is relying on you... you've set up norms of getting work done on time, no exceptions. So you work that night, cutting into family time or football time or Starbucks time or whatever.
Wait, wait, wait. You just worked overtime for no pay. Would your boss ever require you to work overtime with no pay? Not legally! There's no way you would do that! Yet you just did. The net of peer pressure and norms set up within the team forced you to do something completely absurd.
And the worst part? We don't even think about it that way. What do we think? It's natural. You always have to make a sacrifice like that to be in a team. It's natural. It's always been that way... people have always had to work overtime for no pay to get a team project done on time. It's natural.
It's not natural. The 9-5 workweek - 8 hours a day, five days a week away from your family, friends, people who may need you - is not natural. Two parents holding jobs that force them to leave their kids in daycare with strangers in order to pay for created needs such as iPods or TVs or computer games is not natural.
We have to think about this stuff, y'know? We can't go through our lives accepting these created concepts as natural, otherwise we are doomed to live a bland, by-the-letter life. As soon as we consider these things to be natural, it kills any innovation. We can't be innovative enough to change a tree's composition or the color of the sky, because those things are natural. Don't think for a second we can't change the composition of a 9-5 work week.
I want to end this blog with a quote by Prof. Hartwig that has been occupying my mind nonstop since Friday morning:
"If we created it, we can change it."
Thanks for Reading,
-Daniel K
P.S. I changed a few things on my blog to make it more open. Even if you aren't a registered Blogger.com member, you are now allowed to comment and otherwise participate. Thanks for your continued readership!
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