Girlfriend

At the beginning of the semester my girlfriend and I ended a relationship of about a year.  Unfortunately, I ended it for the worst possible reasons.  She is perhaps one of the best people I've ever had the pleasure to meet; almost to the point where I don't understand it.  Her sole purpose in life is to love other people, and she's made a career out of that as a social worker.  My relationship with her has made me completely reevaluate what my priorities are.  To quote John Lennon, "Love is all you need".  I had no idea what that meant until I met her.

Fortunately, we have been working out our issues.  A perpetual theme throughout my life the past few months has been to be in the moment and appreciate what I have.  It's scary sometimes because you don't even realize what a blessing something or someone is until it's gone (as cliche as it gets), but it's true.  So here's to hoping that works out for me.

New Roommates Part 2

The last time I posted I had just moved into a house with a couple of new guys.  Unfortunately, that didn't work out because of some conflict between the two.  Since then, I have found a new place with three guys that has been great.  The relationship between everyone in the house is always positive and communication is always open. I think that was a major problem with the last situation because both guys just let their problems build until everything boiled over.

I've come to appreciate being able to observe that type of relationship because I don't take for granted the awesome situation I have now, plus it's one of those learning moments that you can apply to any other relationship you have.

Islam vs. Christianity

The relationship between different religions has caused much grief over the course of human history.  ISIS is continuing that trend by persecuting Assyrian Christians in the Middle East which is most likely going to more barbaric acts such as decapitations and people being burned alive.  The constant clash between ideologies frustrates me more than anything.  Most religions, especially Christianity  and Islam, at least the sane versions, promote religious tolerance and peace.  But religion is completely open to interpretation which has led to perpetual violence with no end in sight.

So the question is how do we repair this relationship? Maybe it's not even totally religion's fault but the grounds on which it's being invoked.  There's so much going on politically that some are using religion as grounds to retaliate or do inhumane things.  I honestly don't see the violence ending any time soon.

Oscars

With the Oscars just now ending there has been a lot of buzz around celebrities such as their outfits, jewelry and their relationships.  If you walk down any hall at Southern Miss you're likely to encounter some kind of Oscar/celebrity gossip.  "Did you say Jay Z & Beyonce?", "John Travolta was such a creep (and he was)".  Maybe I over-analyze these things, but people's obsessions with the lives of celebrities is taken too far these days.

Granted, celebrities keep elite company, make a lot of money and appear in cool movies/make cool music, but the people I see are totally avoiding their own lives wishing they could be in somebody else's shoes.  I guess celebrity obsession has always been a thing, but never more than now considering magazines, internet, cell phones etc.  In my opinion, it gets to a point where people lose their relationship with themselves.

Relationship with Roommates part 2

After a month and a half of living in a house I recently began to rent with two other guys, I am officially moving out of the house because their relationship completely deteriorated almost instantly.  It's interesting how two people who are best friends can eventually hate one anther over the smallest personal differences.  In this case, one guy couldn't deal with the other's lack of hygiene and dog.  He throws a temper tantrum that almost ends in a fist fight.  Instead, it ended with both guys wanting to move out and me left int he dust.

The same thing happened to me when I first moved from home.  I moved into an apartment with my best friend who I spent the majority of my time with.  Within a month of living together we wanted to kill each other.  By three months he was gone and our relationship hasn't been the same.  Disregard the fact that we spent a lot of time together beforehand, but as soon as you become roommates with someone it adds a dynamic that is totally unpredictable.

U.S. and Cuba

Another relationship that I find interesting is the one between the United States and Cuba.  To much attention, President Obama and Raul Castro decided to mend the U.S./Cuban relationship in an attempt to better Cuba's economy and improve U.S. relations in Latin America.  Recently, however, Castro has publicly stated his concerns related to the true motive of the U.S.  He, and many others, are labeling this move as a power play by the U.S. in order to establish a permanent presence within Cuba.

I definitely consider this a power play and one that is no different from any others.  Politically, it's probably very wise to establish a presence in Cuba.  But it also seems like it's a tricky goal to accomplish considering Cuba is already skeptical and events such as Russia invading Ukraine and our ongoing Middle-East war.  I think the global climate concerning moves like this might be wary making some fancy political maneuvering necessary.

Relationship with Patrons

I started bartending at Keg and Barrel about a year ago and I've begun to pick up on a skill that I think will benefit me in public relations.  I'm getting pretty good at being nice to and pretending to like people that rub me the wrong way.  Basically, I can form a fake relationships without the other person ever suspecting a thing.  It sounds bad but I have zero tolerance for fools.  Especially when they're drunk.

I told myself I shouldn't be hard on these people, but when you come in and give me a hard time three or four nights in a row a hatred will inevitably begin to brew.  I hope I don't have to use this new-found skill in my new profession, but realistically there's gonna be that one person that gets the fake relationship treatment.