No, I have not forgotten about you. Unfortunately I am now both without job and without unemployment. Why? Because I live in the first state to reduce the number of weeks a person is eligible for unemployment. And because I am living in what, as I’ve been told, has become “known as a welfare state.” Yippee, just what every person who’s ever worked their whole life wants to hear; no one wants to hire you full-time because they can reduce costs by making you go on welfare. Oh, and the fact that you’re middle-aged? That’s not good. We want young people and in some cases we (potential employers) are either so naive or so brazen that we will actually tell you that to your face. Good luck though.
In case I seem bitter, you might wonder why I haven’t been venting via my blog. The reason is that I don’t want to wallow in my misery or share it with the world (yes, I realize that I just did anyway). That was it though. I’m over it and now we are on to new things and better futures. If they (the so-called infrastructure that we have erroneously been taught to depend on) will not provide me with what I need the “old-fashioned” way, I will create my own future my own way. It might not be easy and it might take some time, but I’m down, not out. Onward and upward, I say.
And this leads me to the topic of today’s blog post: goals. Do I still want a “day job” until I can figure something else out? You bet. I don’t want to be on welfare. I began working when I was in eighth grade and that was a very long time ago in my mind; why should I stop working now? I didn’t win the lotto (obviously, or there would not have been any complaints) and I have not reached retirement (when I say “middle-aged” I’m not referring to the new-improved “middle-aged” that Baby Boomers call seventy!) so I need to continue on with my life. That, at least in my mind, involves contributing to society in whatever way I possibly can. If the “only” contribution I can figure out to make right now is blogging, then I certainly hope that my words provide some measure of sustenance for at least one (and preferably more) person out there.
My goals for July:
I have two main goals for July. For those of you who read my earlier posts, it should come as no surprise to you that I am entering the Office of Letters & Light’s Camp NaNoWriMo this month. And, slow learner that I can be, I am once again attempting “too much.” I do not plan to use the blog to do all my writing for the month (I think I’ve learned that lesson but only time will tell for sure) but I do plan to blog during the month. Along with my writing goal of fifty thousand words this month, I have one other main goal to tackle too.
The Three Week Esperanto Challenge
I’m sure that there are more sites than this which are completing such a challenge, but I really happen to like Languages Around the Globe so I am using this link for anyone who is interested.
I first heard about Esperanto probably thirty years ago. Back when I first heard about it, I got really excited about the possibility of a “universal” language (also known as a Conlang or constructed language) that all people from all over the world could learn to communicate together. And then I learned that the concept had fallen apart and “very few” people took to the idea. I decided that I didn’t need to learn Esperanto because no one spoke it. Little did I know…
Fast forward thirty years: Not only is Esperanto the most successful Conlang in history, but it lays claim to well over one million speakers (estimates vary widely) distributed all over the world. But what’s the one thing that you can guarantee about anyone who speaks Esperanto? You can guarantee that anyone speaking Esperanto is interested in language learning. And since I am interested in language learning, I already know that we have one thing in common.
Why the sudden interest in Esperanto? Well, in case you haven’t already heard, Benny Lewis of Fluent in 3 Months fame espouses the idea that by simply studying Esperanto for a mere two weeks, you will increase your ability to learn any other language that you choose to learn. And since Benny’s blog is one–if not the–most popular language learning blog on the web, his word tends to get a lot of attention. Couple that with the release of his book by the same name (Fluent in 3 Months), interest in Esperanto has taken a leap that I would guess it has never seen before. (Note: if anyone knows where I can find any facts for the popularity of Esperanto over time, I would love to know! Please post in comments if you do.) To top off Benny’s recommendation of Esperanto, many other language learning websites and blogs (such as mine) along with social media sites are also amping up interest in this Conlang.
If you are interested, you can always Google “learn Esperanto” or something similar and find an array of various free courses and materials to learn Esperanto. One site that includes quite a few options in one place is right here at Bright Hub Education. I recommend this link as a one-stop location for free resources but I also would suggest that you visit Amazon.com for free and low-cost Kindle materials. Keep in mind that if you don’t have a Kindle, you can still download free Kindle software to read any material that you purchase. (Note: In case you are new to Kindle, even free items are considered “purchases” and will need to be transacted as such, even though you will not have to pay anything. If you are looking for free items only, be sure that is what you are getting before you click “buy.”)
If you are even the slightest bit interested in either writing or language learning, I highly suggest that you join me in one or both of my goals this month. Even if you “fail” to accomplish your goals, the very act of trying ensures that you learn something new and there is no failure in that.
Good luck in the pursuit of all your own goals.
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