Switching blogs

I like blogspot, sure, but I am using wordpress for my journalism class and thus it has become the primary blog. Check it out. http://paulrolfe.wordpress.com/

It looks more professional maybe?

At least I don't have a kid

My current reporting project is on student parents at MU. A recent survey, 2006 I think, found that 75% of student parents had a GPA of 3.5 or higher. And a lot of them are graduate students, which I think says even more. Grad school is hard.

So, what's the correlation? Having a child makes you smarter? No. In fact, I might even say having a child in college makes you dumb. I say that because it adds so much more work, more costs, takes away time and friends, making life extremely stressful. But these people are staying strong.

In talking to them, I found that although I am right about how much busier and more difficult life is, they seem to have it figured out. They have their priorities straight. Other college students go out and party, they put off doing work, and their work suffers for it. They do that because they can, but as a parent there is no putting homework off. If they find a moment where they aren't sleeping, playing with their kid, eating, or going to school, they are doing homework.

So who am I to complain about getting up at 8am for class three days a week. Who cares if I have to stay up a little later and submit homework before deadline? I am living the life: going to school, relaxing, and doing essentially anything I want.

So next time you feel busy just remind yourself that you don't have to take care of a child. And if you do have to take care of a child, remind yourself that kids are awesome and that you rock. Maybe that will help...

Nervous to be back

I apologize to everyone who I have been with since I got back that has asked about Argentina. I don't know what to tell you. Everyone wants to know my favorite part, the adventures I had, what my internship was like, and so on. And I have nothing to say still. I knew I wouldn't and I do not.

Here is the truth. I was just living there for three months. I didn't have huge adventures or do anything crazy. I didn't get a whole lot from my internship. I didn't have a favorite part. I enjoyed myself and lived like someone else for a summer. How do I explain this, without making it boring and miserable and brief? Because my description cannot be brief. People expect five minute stories about the things I did, I need to wow them with my South American journeys, I need to make this epic for them.

Here's my plan: brainstorm two good stories to tell. Sea Salt and the action at La Boca.

And say this: It was an experience I needed. I found my passion for planet earth, was able to live in someone else's shoes, and speak Spanish the whole time. I don't have concrete lessons to give you, it will have to suffice to say that I grew.

On my internship: I didn't do anything journalistic at all. I did some editing and studied the art of event highlights videos. More importantly, at Greenpeace I learned that for all of the problems there are we can actually do something. Before this I had always felt the worlds problems were beyond fixing, people just don't care enough. But now I see that they can care, if they know, and then we can do something. I feel like I'm being very idealistic sometimes when I talk like that, so I still have that hopeless part of me apparently. Yet I have the desire to make changes now. I am starting to see things differently I think.

Is that sufficient?
Too vague.
Perfect.

Whispering harms vocal chords more than yelling

My heart beats so hard it shakes my whole body when I lay on my stomach. I wonder why it beats so strongly, obviously for me, but now I just feel like I'm being full of myself.

I can't tell if I'm tired. I think I'm just tired of thinking about the task of writing the paper which is due in the coming days. Perhaps it would be a bit easier if I didn't think about it so much. My 7th grade english teacher said that even though you aren't consciously thinking of something it is still back there somewhere "incubating". I'm going to allow this paper to incubate the rest of tonight. I had it on the front burners all day so far. That prompted a page of worthless crap, a headache, and a feeling of worthlessness. Needless to say, one of my better days?

Here are some things I was writing earlier, that I enjoyed:

I miss old friends. What would happen if I tried to connect to them? Could I? Am I interesting enough to make it worth their time? Probably. I just don't know in what way.

To Español:
I love you. Let me hold you. Let's be alone together. We can make out all day.

"I whispered sweet nothings into sweet nothings."
-Paul Rolfe

Córdoba, the Oviedo of Argentina

I should preface this with the following statement. I went to Oviedo, Spain for a month last summer and I loved it. I shall list off some similarities I noticed between Córdoba, Argentina and Oviedo, Spain.

The club we went to was small and you could actually dance, and it rocked. Just like Oviedo.
You can walk everywhere if need be, or you can take a taxi when in a rush. Just like Oviedo.
Córdoba is full of college students. Just like Oviedo.
The center of town was a big Cathedral where everyone met. Just like Oviedo.
I loved it there. Just like Oviedo.

I wonder if I took any pictures that capture it. I will see.

Argentina and Me

I got off the plane, I got on the plane. The brief eternity in the middle was enjoyable

These two first months have gone by fast, in the sense that they are over and I am now in the present. Everything seems fast after its over. And I still have four more long yet brief weeks left. If you know what I mean.

Here's the deal. I'm in Buenos Aires and I am working at a pointless internship and taking pointless classes. But the most important part of what I just said is that I am in Buenos Aires. Just being away gives a whole new perspective and way of life. It's something I am finding very hard to express. When someone asks me what I did here and what my favorite part was. What do I say? Being there?

I got a sense of what life is like in another place. And I have traveled places before, lots of places really and nothing has been as different as this. Living for three months in a giant south american city has been eye opening really. I have found my passion for planet earth and found motivation to do something. I can understand another way of life and I also really think I am supposed to do something important. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

However, I will inevitably get the question, "What was your favorite part?"
I will have to come up with a response by the end of this trip.

I also say "I" a lot.

It's been 11 days

You may have heard by now, I am Greenpeace Campus Coordinator at Mizzou for Climate Change. I started by contacting pre-existing groups on campus, namely Sustain Mizzou, to offer a partnership. Also I predict I could use some help from them getting Greenpeace a foothold on campus. Especially as far as registering with ORG and stuff. I don't even know if I'm supposed to do that.

Watchtvsitcoms is amazing. I am currently watching Quantum of Solace. Sure I have to load it for 20 minutes to watch 5, and sure it sometimes just stops loading, but it is still free movies and tv shows. That's all I need. That and a more varied diet.

My pee smells funny. All these empanadas and ham and cheese medialunas are creating a stench in my system. Also I haven't been exercising as much. An overall health breakdown, something that doesn't concern me too much. I'm still young and fit.

In conclusion. I am glad I will be doing things next semester. Other possible hobbies might include LOST club, boardgames club, and continuing volleyball (?). I have become a green-environment-efficient-energy nut, and sorry if I begin informing the whole world all about it. They just gots to know.

Note to self: Next time I want to talk about my Argentina experience in specific a little more.