“Kirk,” said a voice amidst the city in motion.

Cars, bikes, buses, people all determined to get from home to work as fast as possible. Horns signaled discontent if the pace slowed. I figured it was someone yelling at their demons.

Mentally unstable transients always congregated where I stood in Westlake Square—an open-air halfway house for vagrants contemplating their next move.

I continued reading the latest issue of The Week, engrossed in the story of Estelle Getty’s career, as traffic thundered by on 4th avenue.

“Kirk,” said the voice again, but louder and articulate. I realized that someone was calling out my name. I couldn’t imagine who would recognize me in the crowd of commuters waiting for buses in downtown Seattle, but I looked up.

continue reading Call from Across the Street...

The past few weeks I’ve been thinking about “my career.” At 28 years old I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Yes, it’s true. I have a bachelor’s degree and ample work experience, but still no clue about what it is that I should pour myself into. It’s cliché I know.

Yesterday I decided to pour myself into some career quizzes and personality tests that I found through Jobhuntersbible.com. I ended up at this site called Tickle, which is a social networking community for people who like to take tests. There are hundreds (probably thousands) of tests from what I’ve seen on Tickle.

continue reading Tickle.com IQ Test...

This morning I was browsing Seattle Public Library site for books to put on my list. I couldn’t remember some authors who have been recommended to me so I searched Google and found a few resources I thought would be useful for others and compiled below:

The Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction

The National Review 100 Best Non Fiction of the Century

Amazon’s Nonfiction Bestsellers List

New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers List

continue reading 100 Best Nonfiction Lists...

The past few days I haven’t been connecting with friends. For three nights I’ve had the evenings all to myself. I took the opportunity to overcome my often extreme isolationism and I called or texted some friends. They were either busy, out of the state, or didn’t get the message until too late. Of course this would happen when I try to reach out to my friends who I think are becoming more like acquaintances these days. This is 95% my own fault.

Last Saturday my wife had a couple female family members coming over to our one bedroom apartment. Although they encouraged me to stay I knew that I didn’t want to be an intruder no matter how nice they were. Plus, I like it when women get together and talk amongst themselves. I think it’s enriching just as I enjoy hanging out with my group of guy friends.

continue reading Choosing Connection Over Isolation...

Tonight I found a pretty cool series of articles on Men’s Vogue.

Why was I reading Men’s Vogue? Well, I just watched The Devil’s Wears Prada and Meryl Streep’s character in the film is supposed to be modeled after Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of American Vogue magazine.

So after the movie I poked around the Vogue site and found Men’s Vogue. Of course I clicked because I could use some fashion advice.

I stumbled upon these short articles about stylish people who are making things happen. I was suprised to learn about the Justin Rockefellar of the Rockefellars.

Check out the Men’s Vogue Life Studies here. Pretty intersting glimpses of up and coming men in various professions.

Stark cubicle
Save a Vermont calendar
Coworkers chatting

One of my nonfiction writing classmates, Bridget Lamp, writes a blog entitled From Garden to Kitchen, which was recently featured in Pacific Northwest Magazine published by the Seattle Times. Bridget tracks the goings on of her garden from planting to sprouting and I imagine eating too. Check her blog out when you get a chance, especially all your garden heads out there.

-by Andrew Sundberg—Written after staying up way to late on a work night.

Rolling out of bed, groggy and pissed
“One more snooze baby?”
Eyes lazy and resisting opening with all their might
One pant leg on
mouthwash
coffee percolating
lunch in bag – now in backpack
wash my hair
find my wallet – unplug the cell
socks now – argyle, one at a time
shoes laced
tie cinched
check hair
adjust hair
“I need a haircut”
check hair again
Gear up the iPod
stumble down stairs
Strolling into darkness
“I’ll try the 6 to the 5 train this morning – something new”
Spill my coffee in the middle of commuters’ sleeping feet
Pulling into the next station, I watch it trickle maliciously toward another army of shoes and bags
two napkins seem futile.
turnstile hits my thigh, up stairs to the dingy sprawl of the Bronx
“Damn.”
The BX-19 floats mockingly by.
a good excuse for a morning stroll I suppose
60 feet above the East River, I am in love
in love with this city – its people
a Pez dispenser head nod comes from Xavier and Alyn on the next bus – smiling ridiculously through the smudged window.
“Wake up, wake up” pours through my headphones and I heed its advice
a mob of pigeons float upward eclipsing the brick high rises towering in the distance
morning air swallows me whole
perfect morning

Crisp, clear morning.
Saw a man with a beard and a knit hat.
Orange Igloo jug and styrofoam cups.
Clipboard on top of the jug’s white cap.
Homeless men gathered around.
The man was sitting patiently and listening.

A slice of delight on a white plate.
Tall, dark, and fluffy.
Moist with fudge and whipped cream.

Each mouthful met with melancholy.
Soon this break from the daily doldrums,
Will vanish from crumb to crumb.

Sugar, flour, and cocoa so richly formed.
Circular, round, cylindrical—the shape of perfect.
An abstract painting is all that’s left on the plate.