I've only blogged once this month, and that was about an event that actually occurred in May. Before welcoming the month of July, let me provide a June update.
First things first, talk about Bjorkman basketball karma. Steve and Jeff’s Spurs become NBA Champions for the fourth time in, what, nine years. Then the Portland Trailblazers, with less than a 6% chance of winning the number one pick in the draft lottery, do just that and proceed to draft Greg Oden, ensuring Steve can transition from rooting for the most dominant big man of this past decade to watching the most dominate big man of the coming decade. Unbelievable. Karen and Eric’s Seattle Supersonics provided further Bjorkman basketball bliss by winning the number two pick, selecting Kevin Durant, AND unexpectedly trading
Although I've done a poor job maintaining my own blog, I've been quite the blog reader this summer. Yes, I still follow family and friends' personal blogs closely, but I've really gotten into topical blogs from official news sources. See updated links sidebar for some of my favorites. It's so convenient to have relevant information gathered and condensed for me on my topics of choice, namely: politics, capital markets, other business news, world events, music, and basketball. I'm still looking for decent travel and cooking blogs, so if anyone knows of any, do tell.
Blog reading, though, is really only complementary to my summer sport of online periodical reading. It's been interesting transitioning from the LSE where students live for their weekly dose of The Economist or daily "pink paper" (FT) reading to the south where the weather, traffic, and weekend plans receive the majority of conversation air time. To be honest, I crave the London life I once had and somehow reading the Journal, Times, Economist, and Post I feel connected to a slice of that life.
BBC and NBC's "The Office" basically sums up my summer internship and, apparently, everything we need to know about corporate America. So far the 'ship has been laid back with intermittent projects and has provided the opportunity for some serious independent (career related) study time. I still don't have the software I need to really do my job due to a few paperwork missteps and my hard drive crashed two days ago. Hopefully all technology issues will be resolved by Monday, especially since July is typically much busier than June, so I'll have plenty to do then.
In other employment news, I'm fulfilling the "you can take the girl out of Europe, but you cannot take Europe out of the girl" cliche. In my spare time, three or four nights a week, I am a server at Cafe Europa. It's something I've always wanted to do and I recognize that 1) I have discretionary time this summer for such an experience and 2) the probability that I work at a restaurant after graduating from university is low. So far my little plan has turned out quite well. I absolutely love the job-- the hustle and bustle, the multitasking, the interaction with locals/coworkers, and the culinary environment. Plus, the whole faux European summer experience is a lovely bonus.
Last but definitely not least, I would be remiss to give a June report without writing about this month's most important holiday, Father's Day. I am eternally thankful for Dad, for the person he is, and for all that he does for me. I am thankful I have a father who always encourages me to improve and is very loving and direct in helping me to do so. "Andrea, we love you, you do a lot of things well, BUT..." I am grateful for the tremendous amount of intellectual and academic support he has always given me. Last time I checked, not many people have a father who would take the time to sit down and read Milton's Paradise Lost one-on-one with their daughter during the end of her junior high years. More importantly, he is an excellent spiritual example and very good about teaching me to prioritize the more important things in life. I listen to what everyone has to say, or at least try to, but Dad belongs to a small circle of people whose opinion and wisdom I particularly trust. These days, he is especially good about reminding me of my Idaho and Republican roots. Mom and Dad are the two most honest people I know and Dad continually backs his claim that attorneys are "seekers of truth" with his actions that speak louder than words. I admire him for being very intelligent and very good at what he does, yet always modest and humble. I appreciate his love for reading, photography, Switzerland, and the great outdoors. Even though contrary to his predictions, I most likely won't marry a farm boy and settle in Driggs Idaho, I value mountain lakes because of our daddy daughter date fishing trips. I enjoy his quick wit and especially take pleasure in discussing ideas or current events with him. Dad truly is Boxer Bjorkman, always working harder and making personal sacrifices to provide for his children. All in all, I'm a tremendously lucky--no, blessed--daughter who could not ask for a better dad.
2 comments:
Great post. That was so sweet about your dad. He really is such a good man. Also, I wanted to tell you that we were out of town all last week so we just barely got your message. Tom will probably call you this next weekend. Sounds like things are going well. I'm glad you're keeping so busy this summer.
You are so eloquent in your writing and it is fun to read your posts. It sounds like you had an absolutely amazing time in Europe....Russell and I are planning on moving to Europe for a couple years sometime in the near future, so we will have to talk to you about places to visit while we are over there.
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