I work for the Mafia

During the lecture in class today, part of the notes listed the jobs that were associated with particular religions of Spain during the time of Don Quixote. This made me start to think of some of the jobs or professions associated with certain religions or races in the United States today. The first thing I thought of is Indian/Pakistani people and being doctors. Over winter break I worked valet at a university hospital and it seemed like half of all the med students and doctors were of Indian background. Another link that I've noticed is between Jewish people and lawyers. This may not totally be the case, but in the couple of times in my life that I've encountered or dealt with lawyers, they've been Jewish on both occassions, and I often see billboards for lawyers with Jewish names. Also, as discussed in class, there is the immediate connection between Mexican immigrants and landscaping/restaurant jobs/anything that is hard work without great pay. Then the final correlation that came to mind is Japanese people and tech savy jobs/engineers. I wonder what the stereotypical job would be for a person with a background of Irish, Italian and Lithuanian/Polish..(me)? I guess another stereotype would be an Italian that either is a)in the mafia) or b)owns a deli or pizzeria.

Persona

If I were to be an actor, I forget what the term we used in class was it was some russian or polish name regarding to a school of acting, but I would want to be that. It was the style where you completely become the character. I'd think that after a while I would become so familiar with the way the character acts that I would also know how others react to the character and how to make the character obtain the appropriate reactions. During junior high and earlier in high school I would have fun by just acting like a totally different character and playing it out until my friends would get really annoyed. I thought it was real cool though and I'd change my voice and everything. Sometimes I would even unintenionally start talking like the character because I'd pretended to be that for so long. For the most part people would get a kick out of it until I just drove it into the ground. This was around the same stage when doing prank phone calls was the rage and I was always the best at that. I'd call people in one of those goofy voices and play out an outrageous story until the person would hang up or the voicemail time would run out. I remember one of my best ones was when I would pretend to be a young refugee from Chechnya and I would call this same guy that had the old Papa John's pizza phone number and I'd act like I was leaving a message for my Grandmother and that I had no idea it was the wrong number. Yea, I was pretty lame. So I guess thats one of my experiences with a persona.

Spicoli

I was thinking about what we were talking about in class in regard to if we could be any identity, what it would be. For the longest time, I've always been facinated with characters like Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High and total burnout but happy-go-lucky characters in fiction. I think it would be a whole lot of fun to be a person like this in real life except for that a person like this wouldn't exactly be successful in the academic world or business world which is also something that I aspire. But if there was a way that I could make a lot of money and provide an awesome life for my kids while being real chill and happy-go-lucky I would totally take advantage of it. I really enjoyed the people in highschool that would show up to school just to make people laugh and have a good time and be people persons. It seems like people like Spicoli or the characters in Dazed and Confused really just enjoy their lives to fullest, however its likely that most people like this in real life just turn out to be burnout middle-aged men. So I guess I'm caught between my fun ambitions and economic ambitions. Thats why I think it would be awesome to just be that kind of chill beach bum but also have a bar and a boat and some kind of service to people. Another down side to the 'chill dude' image is that people would immediantly label this identity as being either a 'pothead' or a 'burnout'. But this is definitly not entirely true. I would want to convey the attitude of a laidback beach dude but would definitly not be a 'pothead' or 'burnout' even though some may tag me as that. "Ahhh Gnarleyyyyy!"

Snowed In

THIS POST HAS BEEN DELETED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT RELEVANT TO ANYTHING SOMEONE WOULD FIND INTERESTING WHILE BLOGGING.

I Am Who I Am

I am who I am

I guess I'm a different person to different people and in different situations. As for who I think I am personally, I guess it changes depending on my moods or who I'm surrounded by or even the time of the day. So I'll describe how I see myself when I'm in different situations or under varying circumstances. It feels weird writing about myself and if I were to write in paragraphs it would be more weird so I'm just going to let this flow without them. To start off, I feel like I am two different JD's when I am with my own family and as I was growing up. My parents have been divorced since I was 4 years old and I grew up in two totally different environments while at my mom's or my dad's. Through my whole life while around my mom, step-dad, and step-brothers and sisters I've always felt like I'm the one the look up to and expect to do big things. I guess when I'm with them I've always felt like I've been the leader, more so I have always felt like instead of me looking to please and make my parents proud, that it has always been my mom trying to please and make my proud. On the contrary, when I am with my dad I feel like an ordinary person with an ordinary family. I've always looked up to my father and he is who I always go to for advice and in my mind he is the wisest person in the world. So when I'm living with him I would describe myself as being an ordinary happy-go-lucky kid that will have his mess ups, but also generally do well. Another situation that I think really changes the type of person I feel about myself is whether I have a girlfriend or not. I've found that generally, when I don't have a girlfriend I feel much more social and to have much more of a connector personality. It also seems to me that I find happiness in many places and much more fun-loving when I'm single. I still have just as much fun and enjoy my life as much when I have a girlfriend, but I find that I depend on that person extremely much and hide part of my personality that normally everyone would see, so that only they can see. It makes me feel comfortable when I have a person that I can share the more funny and carefree side of my personality its like something special I share with them. But, it also worries me that I can't be this way toward other people, which would make me much more sociable and so on. Sometimes as much as I don't want a girlfriend when I have one I just can't end it because I become used to that comfort zone. I could probably write about how I feel about myself for pages and pages, but I'll leave it at those two examples.
I'm not entirely sure what people think about me because I cant read minds or anything, but I can tell you what I think people see me as being. My parents probably see me as being very motivated and eager to be successful in whatever endeavor I pursue. They probably also still see me as the same charming child I was. A significant other would see me as being totally weird and unique. They appreciate my weird since of humor and spontaneity and admire my sincereness. My friends of childhood and high school see me as being a leader that has always been reliable. These have been the guys that have seen me go through many things while growing up and know how well-rounded I am. My friends I've met in college also know how well-rounded I am and also appreciate my randomness. However, I feel that they've yet to see what kind of leader I can be and may think that my personality fluctuates between boring and insane. My college friends also have seen a broad range of JD's considering there aren't places to hide or be unseen within Shorney Hall. Co-workers that I've had see me as a leader and a team player, but probably not as much as a friend. Strangers either think I'm quiet and reserved, or they think I'm outward and fun-loving, depending on my mood during our first impressions. Some people may see me as a tough nut to crack, but those that have taken their time know that I am reliable and good-hearted. To a casual friend I seem very consistent because I don't show much outward emotion, but good friends and family can see through to my vulnerabilities. I like to always display myself the same, almost as if extreme emotion is a weakness, but those who really know me know that I'm typically a happy guy and they can notice it easily when I'm not. Overall, I feel that people respect me, which is precisely what I want.