Hey so here's the deal. My "Entrepreneurial Summer" is coming to a close in a few short weeks, and I have to say, I have done very little in the Entrepreneurial sense. Boy was that easy to predict.
I have put thought into, and writing down of, many different ideas. And there has been made some headway into these things. So, lemme just give you the bolded items, you can scan for the interesting ones, and then you can let me know what you think. OH BUT FIRST!!!
Piano Playing in Geneva!
I managed to find a video in which I am playing! This is part of the narrative where I meet Helene and her sister. Look, watch the video... my clip starts at 3:08 if you want to go right to it...
At 3:40 in the clip, you can see me in the background with my big backpack on, giving good-bye kisses to Helene's sister. actually, that may be hello kisses? Not sure.
But, just wanted to share that, because I thought it was really cool to find myself on the interwebs aside from NTS and things I put up there. Flattering and fun. Also, really good camera work. You can even see all of the colors in my beard.
Moving on to the things I was going to do this summer, and the status of them:
5 day back-packing trip with Randy Pierce
Check! Well, this was good, but I didn't reflect upon and write about the experience as much as I could have or wanted to. So perhaps through the year I will. I don't know yet. I do know that if the mood possesses me I will do a lot of different things in my house/room/apartment in Newmarket because I now can. Look, I have things I want to talk about. I swear it. One of them is how it was helping to guide Randy (the blind hiker) up a mountain. Another is watching Randy and Quinn, his guide dog. Another is how I ate too much elbow macaroni and had my worst food-related experience on any trip (and I need to chew my food when I eat). Still another is reflecting upon "leadership" on long trips and how the very idea of "leadership" is a social construct that creates roles which we can either fit into or not...
Clearly, a lot to think and talk about. Let alone choosing pictures and videos to tell the story! Yeah. But, moving on.
21 Days in Europe Adventure
I certainly have done some discussion on this, and a few updates... but come on, 21 days of completely new experiences, with hundreds of pictures and over 100 video clips? I should have something MORE for you to look at, read, and watch! Which I plan to do. But I have faced some setbacks. One of them is not having the flashdrive that I had finally organized all of the clips and pictures on... my friend Paul misplaced it, and I no longer am positive as to its location. Although as I think about that, perhaps he did give it back to me and I personally misplaced it. Regardless, I now have to track down the files which are (fingers crossed) backed up in a few different places. Just more work I didn't think I'd have to do.
And there are some things that happened there that I probably cannot blog about. Sorry about that.
Week at Heads Up Hartford
I have not done this week or this camp any justice in any of my discussions in the blog. I think that one would make a neat reflective piece. I don't know if I would make it straight writing like the rest of this, or perhaps something anecdotal, or perhaps something more poetic? I don't know.
Sometimes I think my writing is not easy to read through when I am not being "funny" or short with my sentences. As in, I am long winded. As in, I am breathing heavy as I write this because of how long-winded I can be. Okay, not true. I am a heavy breather regardless.
Canvassing in Boston
So I did this. Went back to Public Outreach for retraining and an evaluation period. I was convinced that I would have the job, no problem. At least I was at the beginning of the summer. After the first day back, and without having changed my approach to canvassing, I realized that I wasn't going to make it back on staff. In some ways I think it's perfectly okay, and that God had his purpose in that. In other ways, I have a lot of things I want to say about canvassing, fundraising, non-profit work, donations, the morality of asking people for their money, and then we get into the idea of "money" being given away in the first place. Actually we get to the idea of people earning money, how they do so.
Basically I could write a whole blog based around the experiences that I have had canvassing, and that other canvassers have. I think it'd be fun, interesting to read, and full of unique anecdotes... but for me, I need something more than that. I'll explain another time.
CatFro Printing
This I didn't expect to do too much with once the summer began, especially not after I saw that Kyle was working in Tampa with a mission down there, and just so happened also to be living with a printing shop in his garage. As in, he was learning a lot of different techniques, and I wanted to have a longer conversation with him about things before trying to expand the business. We'll be getting into it as the semester comes in. In fact, he informs me that we already have 2 separate orders I need to fill before the end of August. That's a great problem to have!
I may have to change the blog title and URL so that I can keep on blogging about Catfro and my other entrepreneurial ideas (admittedly this wasn't my "idea" so much as Kyle and I enjoying a profitable hobby).
Woodworking
The extend of my woodworking this summer has been to shuffle my two half-finished music boxes around from the wood shop to Camp for a few days to my house in Reading and now to my place in Newmarket. I hope to have these babies done before the end of August. Here's to hoping!
Otherwise, I didn't get to find a place during the summer at all where I could go in and just work on stuff. I did get to do a little sanding and painting up at camp, but that wasn't nearly the type or amount of woodworking I wanted to do. You'll see pictures and probably a video of the music boxes when I get them done. I'm excited about this being part of my life. I just wish I had easy access to woodworking tools! and a mentor with me at all times. Heck, if things don't work out... I would LOVE to become a full-time woodworking apprentice.
Audio/Video Recording
Well, this was sort've a crapshoot as to what would happen this summer. The great news? Cory McArdle, the former lead singer and guitarist for High Quality Noise, is building a recording studio in his garage in Woburn. That's a $14 train ride from campus. I will hopefully be going in occasionally to help him out with tracking and mixing, and even more hopefully will be helping from afar! I love the chance to get into recording more, to learn nuances and tricks of the trade, and to develop a good production skill that I can share with many people. That's really the point for me... yeah I want to record my own stuff and make a little bit of money off of my "talent", but for the most part I want to help others achieve their dreams of doing the same, and working together, collaborating with other artists, to achieve great results. I know of a guy Drew from fusion community Church that works in a studio as well, and I hope to get in there with him at some point just to observe the whole process.
Needless to say, I am excited about any and all opportunities to do recording stuff. And involving other people in my learning is just going to make me that much more motivated and thrilled to learn! Baboom! I don't know why I just said that.
InterVarsity Staff
The big interview day is tomorrow. I have a lot on my mind for this one. And my heart. And on my soul. God, if you do exist, I need you. (We'll just let that last sentence sit there, because I think this whole entry and blog hinge on the feelings and experiences that are behind that whole sentence.)
New Student Org and UNH Staff
This is also a work in progress, but progress is being made. This week should see a few more lunges in that direction, if not more than a few :-) You will be updated!
Guiding and Scouts
There is a whole lot to say about this one. I had a successful trek with T15 Attleboro with some exciting hail on our way down from Mt. Washington. Lots to go through here. I'll have some videos up hopefully by the end of the week for this one. Let's see, this should be a VERY productive week!
Okay, that's not all of the things I had written, and there are more considerations that are somewhat new (like how Tobi and I are going to start revising some of our stories we've written to submit to a few literary magazines... love that process and thought.)
Being graduated is awesome. I have to admit that. There is freedom in everything that we do. And beyond that, if you have no solid job, then you can choose to do things that you find meaningful, exciting, and important. That's what I have going on for me at the moment. We will see.
I love you, and I pray that you are safe as you read this. God watch over you and your actions, and may you walk in peace.
Amen
~Sean
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