The many RRRRrrrRRR's

Tomorrow will be Day 40 of having no classes to attend and no occupation to work at. By Choice.
I've definitely had a few glares directed to me at the mention of this, as if to say "You Lazy Son Of A Bitch You Are Scum I Hate You!"
I've also had several people say "That Is Really Great Enjoy It While You Can Have Fun Relax!"

To be fair, I totally understand why some people would see me as being lazy as far as school and work go. I have my own schedule and no one to answer to, no papers to write and no punch card to keep, while the majority of other people at my age have most or all of these.

But I definitely am not being lazy by any means. I am exercising every day, always cleaning and keeping things neat and helping around the house, traveling and seeing family and the state's beautiful landscapes as much as possible, making music, and reading a whole hell of a lot.

After the initial "I can do whatever the hell I want"-shock I felt after the field season ended and I dropped this semester from Sacramento State, I decided that I would make this time off worth it...be productive, active, and to make it a healthy and memorable stage in my development.

To make this goal more Dr. Phil-friendly, I decided to make them into a rather long-winded and only slightly less intelligible acronym... the RRRrrrrrrrRRR's....

Reading, really relaxing, reeling in right-thinking, and reflecting, while also responsibly, rationally, and sometimes redundantly regenerating and re-rendering life's requests.


In the time I've had off: I have visited family in Dayton, NV and came back into California exploring and fishing in areas of the Sierras I had never seen. I've taken numerous trips to San Francisco, gone to shows, gone to see family in San Diego, and on the way home drove through the California Deserts in thunderstorms, had revelations at the Manzanar Internment Camp, saw the wonders of the Eastern Sierras, including the towns of Big and Lone Pine, Bishop and Lee Vining, and on the same day witnessed the beauty that is Mono Lake and Mt. Whitney and the Panum crater and Yosemite National Park. I have read several books recently and am working on several more. I've listened to lots of new music and discovered new artists I would otherwise not have heard. I've spent more time with my two dogs than I have in such a long time, am catching up on the sleep I lost over the course of the summer, and am reflecting on the year and my on life in general. And in so doing am readjusting priorities and reassessing goals, both personal and professional. I'm also planning on going up to Susanville, CA to stay with family for a few days then back through Reno and into Dayton once more before the storms hit.
I am finding new inspiration and motivation everyday, all of which I doubt possible while working full time and going to school at the moment.

So in short, I am enjoying the time while I have it, and am really looking forward to the new experiences and revelations I will have in the coming days...even if they do occur in a lounge chair while I'm in my pajamas...

Tomorrow I'm going for 22-25 miles on my bike, going to see Bill Maher's "Religulous" at Tower Theatre, going to the independent book store across the street to grab some E.O. Wilson and possibly a S.J. Gould book or two, then chill in my backyard with some tea and let the words flow through me.

I do plan on, and indeed will be attending school and working in the near future...I will be back to full time units at school and full time hours working some odd job and busting ass to move out and make end's meat...

...but while I have the funds and resources to take a break from it all, I'm going to allow myself the indulgence while I can have it.