We're Not Nuts!

Confirmation: The Farmer and The Yogi are not insane! Well, maybe we are, but our choice to drop the expected life of full-time employment (7 whole months ago)and hoarding clothes and knicknacks is no reflection of that insanity! Hooray! Every day we're introduced to more and more folks who have done the same and more and more opportunities keep popping up! 

“You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~ Andre Gide

As we close in on our 'Austin End of Days' (less than two months away, if you can believe it!), we are faced with big decisions- not about what we CAN do, but what, of our millions of options, we WANT to do.

We're exploring our options. We're halfway through a course that will *hopefully* give us a leg up in the overseas job market- as teachers of English as a foreign language. The course is online, so we're supplementing our experience with weekly volunteering sessions with a local nonprofit (more on that below).  We've looked at possible positions in South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Turkey, and more. We're looking at live-in housesitting/petsitting opportunities, caretaking jobs, and work exchange positions worldwide. Which ever opportunity we take will be the right one- it's all adventure, yeh?

As for what we've been up to lately, here's a quick rundown:

We've become regulars at the Austin Ballet (people- keep your student IDs...they can work wonders for you!). Just two nights ago we witnessed Cult of Color: A Call To Color. I've honestly not ever done acid, but the costumes, colors, and movements gave me an idea of what I've been missing! It was a hallucinogenic experience, I do believe...and I rather enjoyed it!

Austin traffic seriously blows...

when they say 'everything's bigger in Texas', they might be talking about the horrendous traffic jams! It's okay, though...to avoid the proverbial 'sit in your car all day' experience, we've been keeping it local...that's good for the environment, the economy, and our wallets!

Tina and Her Pony hit us up on their Tour! 

Two dear and talented friends blew through town on a badass national walkabout promoting their musical duo-ship....it was so good to see 'em, hear 'em, hug 'em.....they've been touring nonstop for a year, i think...maybe more. Take a few moments to tickle your eardrums and your happybuttons....more about them here: http://tinaandherpony.com

 

 What else, you ask? Volunteering our time has gotten us some pretty sweet perks and the good vibe that goes with knowing we've done somebody a solid... the farmer volunteered as a film projectionist at South by Southwest (or SXSW for you hip and happenin' folks)...I saw lots of SXSW film festival films for free (because i was the one projecting them!), met some film industry insiders, and earned the highly coveted music badge (that crazy thing costs like 800 bucks)! It was a crazy time, but I'm so happy I got to experience the wonder that is Southby....

big pimpin' farmer stylee...

yogis think they're soooo cool

The Farmer and The Yogi volunteered to help with taping Austin City Limits and got to see a Vampire Weekend concert for exactly zero dollars! Holler! It was a lot of fun and we're excited to trade more of our time so we check out a handful of other interesting performers coming to ACL this spring. BOOM!

As far as The Volunteering Without Direct Reciprocity Department goes, we've been prepping to teach English overseas by volunteering in an English as a Second Language class at a local refugee center. It's awesome. Really! We've met amazing teenage and adult students from Cuba, El Salvador, Sudan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Myanmar (thas' Burma, yeh?), Nepal...and plenty of other places I can't think of right now. And every one of them is so ridiculously sweet and kind and thankful for our help that I am at a total loss for sarcasm in this paragraph. True story. Who knew THAT could happen?

We've been hitting the local parks a lot...they're a beautiful, free spot to read, nap, lunch, freeze, sneeze, bake, or par-broil.

she sets in the west.

The weather's been erratic at best, murderous at worst- yesterday I woke up to 40F temperatures (had to turn the heat on and everything!) but by afternoon it was so hot we couldn't last even an hour at the park! 

murdery capsules of anaphalactic doom!

The oak trees love our bipolar weather though- as evidenced by their constant spewing of pollen into the air, onto cars, and into our eyes and lungs. If you saw M. Night Shyamalan's epic weirdness 'The Happening', then you know what's up. They's gon' kill us.


*end transmission

 

-the farmer you know