Last Thursday

Last night i went to "Last Thursday" and had a really good time. Last Thursday is a street festival on the last Thursday of the month. The people take over Alberta St. using signs and ridicule to keep cars off the street. They block off the road for about 15-20 blocks and people have several different concerts (techno, bluegrass, dark synthesized weirdness, and dance party), sell art, drink beer, and eat food. It's basically the Oregon Country Fair (see previous post) in Northeast Portland. But, more fun. There were people on stilts, a fire juggler, and belly dancers. This place is so weird. It's like a city full of theatre majors. If i didn't love it here so much, i'd really hate this place.

Bad news: my credit card expired, so i'm not really sure how i'm supposed to have any access to money.

Good news: i already bought a nifty pair of headphones (noise canceling: not Bose but supposed to be comparable except in price) and they should be here tomorrow.

This morning we had to be here early, so i've been dragging ass all morning, but we got to learn about advanced targeting. I fought so hard to stay awake during class, but it wasn't because i was uninterested. Afterward, i introduced myself to the guy doing the presentation, Kevin Looper, and told him about some of my stats background. Caitlin, our program director, told him that i want to be the next Josh Berezin. Kevin is Josh's boss at Our Oregon and Josh does all kinds of data management and cool statistical analysis. I think his official title on their website is "Data Geek." Kevin's response to Caitlin's comment was, "We're in need in that area." He gave me his card, so i will be emailing him today. It's nerdy, but i think it's a cool in, doing good work, and there may even be a little bit of money to be made. During his presentation Kevin got a call from the Secretary of State. That has to be pretty bad ass, right?

In a similar vain, all of us got offers to do PolitiCorps Year. They have to choose from whoever would be interested. The program is basically a year long term of service of what we've been doing. I'm sure that it would make me far more of an expert in some aspect of politics/campaigning than i already am. There's even opportunities to go work with other groups that are part of the Bus Federation. I explained to Caitlin that it's a must that i go back to finish my MA (see entry bellow), but she said that the offer would be open for me when i was done. Networking is the most important part of college because it is the most important part of success/job searching. Aunt Mary and Uncle Jay, look at all of these Plan Bs! Love you guys. All of you.