I'm sure people have seen me around, but it's pretty rare that I comment.

Also, I just found out that I've been here for almost a year (only a week away!).

I'm Jeshk0 (with a soft "J") and I mostly just lurk. There's only one other internet community that I spent a lot of time with, but it died out a few years ago. I found Hubski through a mention on reddit (probably on /r/TheoryofReddit) back in February and have been poking around ever since.

These days I'm working at a deli and planning on getting back to school in January (if all goes according to plan) after a hiatus that has lasted since March. I will be studying physics and math and hope to be a teacher one day.

I live in the Seattle area and spend most of my time with the Latvians that live here. I'm a member of the Seattle Latvian Folk Dancing Group (Trejdeksnītis) as well as the Latvian choir. I've also been thinking about posting something about my month-long adventure in Latvia, but just haven't gotten around to doing it. Maybe in the middle of winter I'll post about my summer in Latvia.

"I'm in it for the violence."

Jarlsberg is my absolute favourite cheese. It's a Norwegian swiss cheese and goes great with pickles (although you probably don't want pickle-breath after lunch).

I also agree with coffeesp00ns about Manchego. Seriously delicious stuff.

Those were my two favourite cheeses when I worked at a German deli. Some other good/popular ones are havarti (especially horseradish and chive havarti (goes great with roast beef)), buttercheese (if American cheese is the standard in America, buttercheese is the standard in Germany), and gouda (aged or smoked (although I'm really not a fan of smoked gouda)).

I used to have my background change every couple of minutes, but I decided to stick with just this one. I love the simplicity and the fantasy of it.

I never post as much as I would like to (mainly because I often don't have very much to say) and I didn't have the time to post when I saw this before going to work.

I'm in Bellevue (eastern suburb of Seattle) and it's finally warm in my room. I bought myself a space heater and a winter jacket yesterday so I no longer have to see my breath while at home. Now I don't even care how cold it is outside (~50 F)!

For the past few weeks I've been extremely anticipating Thanksgiving. I'll be spending it in Denver with friends from all over the country. It'll be my first time in Colorado and I'm excited for innumerable reasons. For right now I'm just looking forward to the weekend when I'll be helping out at my church's/community center's Christmas bazaar.

Thanks, @lil, for the topic. I love feeling more connected to the Hubski community.

Like ButterflyEffect, I also am not religious. From time to time I go to church or other service, but rarely do I feel anything close to spirituality. I am not affected by the words and music as the others around me, nor does it bother me. The closest I've felt to being "spiritual" was at a Taizé service a few years ago. It wasn't spirituality that I felt though. It was peace and tranquility. A feeling of complete relaxation and a closer connection to the world around me.

Taizé services are pretty incredible. Nobody preaches and the leader of the service doesn't make themselves obvious. Instead it's a smooth transition between simple, beautiful songs and, if I remember correctly, there was a moment to declare the people you wish to pray for, and then more songs. The service ended in complete silence.

I left the church feeling refreshed and at peace. A moment later my brother and our friend started talking about how stupid the whole thing was. Apparently I was the only one who found serenity.

It probably helps that I'm fluent in it. ;) I was in Latvia over the summer and took a bunch of pictures of the graffiti there. These are two of my favourites:

Where is this? I would guess somewhere in Latvia due to it being written in Latvian and Russian(?) right next to it.

One of my favourite books is Siddhartha and what I've garnered from that is that life is experiences. A life without experiences is a life unlived. Last night I went out dancing and it was incredible. I was with friends, we had a good time and it was something worth experiencing. Without it I would be just that much poorer. To me, life is all about stocking up on experiences and sharing it with others. When it comes time for me to die I only have two hopes: that my life has been interesting and that I've made a positive change in other people's lives. This is why I want to become a teacher; in order to affect people in a positive way. Hopefully people will learn from me and lead a better life because of it.

I've been listening to Pavement quite a bit recently. Love the singer's voice; love Slanted and Enchanted; it is an excellent album and I love the distortion.

I've also been listening to some classical music. I've enjoyed some pieces by Philip Glass and Terry Riley, but I've been mostly listening to the works of William Grant Still. His Afro-American Symphony, First Movement is a beautiful work that melds blues in with the classical tradition. The blues motif at the beginning is brilliant.

I got my iBasso DX50 through Massdrop. If I were less broke I would be using Massdrop a lot more, but I definitely like it. It's especially good if you want to know if the item is worth it. Commenters are quick to let everybody know if it's worth it, if there is someplace where it can be found cheaper, or whatever else you may need to know.

The only time I use GPS is when I'm lost and late. Unfortunately I tend to get lost pretty easily.

I forgot to share one of my favourite drinking songs last night: Džins ar toniku (gin with tonic)

Looks like I'll be looking around for some new Tripels in the next two weeks.

Ignore the spiderwebs. I'll clean them up eventually.

Senior year of high school. I was in a different point of my life. I thought I knew what was best for me. Out of the however many colleges I had applied to, four had accepted me. I had then narrowed it down to three. Two in Seattle and one slightly south in Tacoma. For some reason I decided on the most expensive of the three. Three other people from my graduating class also chose this school.

Freshman year came around and I was excited. A few months passed and I hated my life. I had barely made any new friends. I was barely keeping the ones that I already had. I hated most of my classes. The entire atmosphere was simply awful. I left after just one year and went to my local community college. Last March I finished enough credits to transfer elsewhere. Yet the mistakes continue! I ended up not finishing my application (despite the second and third and fourth chances I was given) and am still not back in school. This time I will finish my application and will hopefully be back in school in January. Better late than never.

But I am quite the optimist and don't think this was all for naught.

Accidental photo I took while getting photos for an art project last year:

From my summer vacation to Latvia:

Kithkin. Local band that me and my friends all love. Very drum heavy and makes me want to flail around like a teenager at a Minor Threat concert.

I love this book. I read it a few years ago and was very impressed. By no means is it a tremendous and earth-shattering novel; in fact the plot is painfully simple and rather repetitive, but it is most definitely worth a read. By the end you really understand Bob Slocum and his life (at least from his point-of-view). You get to see the banality of his 9-to-5 life and the tragedy of his existance. He is a man who has one thing to be happy about: his son. Something Happened is a beautitul tragedy and I highly recommend it, although it may seem boring or slow.

But one thing to remember when reading it is this: it is not Catch-22. Don't try to compare the two.

Watch out guys; I am drinking and posting. This could get ugly.

Who is this in the mirror?! Where did he come from? He is so smart. So courageous. So fit. So fashionable. So attractive. So kind.

This is not the man in the bed. The man who thinks about nothing but his life that is lost. The life that has fallen around him. The life that he has not lived up to.

This is not the man at the bar. The man who is witty. The man who is too generous with drinks and just generous enough with his dancing. The man who impresses others. And even himself.

This is not the boy in the mirror. The boy who dreamed of being famous. Being an actor Being a singer. Being as great as his father. Better than his siblings.

Somewhere, somehow things have become disconnected. The man in the mirror. The man in the bed. The man at the bar. The boy in the mirror. Why aren't they the same? There is a disconnect. But I can't find it.

The man in the mirror is everything that I am not. Where did he come from? How can I get there?

My definition of postmodern is "contrast." When I think about postmodernism I think about the movie Pulp Fiction. It blends in the high art of serious film with a script filled with cultural references to everyday life and B movies. It presents the idea that art isn't as simple as one thing. It can be found in the brutal lives of gangsters, in the conversation at a '50s diner, in a gold watch that has traveled through too many peoples' asses in order to be given to a young boxer. Postmodern is art disguised as something that is not art.

Senior year of high school. Standing around after school with a couple of friends making inconsequential conversation. I have the maturity of... well, a high schooler and make a "your mom" joke. Her mother had died a few years earlier. I stood there for half a beat before I realized who I made that "joke" to and just walked away. I like to pretend that it never happened.

Barton Fink. One of my favourite films and it really defies genres. The themes and symbolism are incredible, to say the least. There is so much to be garnered from this film that it's worth at least two watches, but probably even more. It's funny, it's sad, it's romantic, it's a murder mystery, it has action. And it's a love letter to Hollywood and the silver screen (as long as you don't know what the word "love" means).

Alternatively, Weirdsville because fuck it; it's crazy and zany and who doesn't love drug-addled slackers venturing through Canada, getting up to shenanigans and meeting a group of LARPing midgets? It's an all-time favourite of mine and my friends'.

My greatest motivation is spending a night or a weekend away from everything, away from myself. It allows me to sort of reset my brain and realise why it is I need to be working and improving myself; I want to work hard so I can spend my time doing the things that I actually want to do. Also it helps to hear what my peers are doing and knowing that they are graduating college, going to grad school and working someplace that they enjoy keeps me motivated to continue working at it and advancing in my life.

I have always been interested in having a pen pal and I would love this. I want to improve my communication and written skills, so this would be an excellent way to practice those.

I just started spending way more time on /r/asoiaf (A Song of Ice and Fire). Good discussion and it's not filled with a bunch of memes and image macros. I love the series and enjoy the the theories that people have come up with; both the reasonable ones and the absolutely absurd. There's a great community with a solid shared interest and unlike subs that are based on TV shows, this one has discussion that remains strong even during the off-season.

/r/FanTheories and /r/ShittyFanTheories are also pretty good. Or at the very least interesting.

To avoid legal problems you would need to take the path that Broforce took and slightly change the names/portray it as a parody. I would suggest "David Browie," but that doesn't fit Bowie's (magnificent) style at all.

Regardless, I think this is a brilliant idea, and now you MUST learn how to make video games in order to see this to fruition. Bowie requires it of you.

I have been listening to an excessive amount of Angel Olsen recently. It's the start of a new year so it's time to find the greatest things to come out of 2014, and the best album (objectively) of last year is Angel Olsen's Burn Your Fire for No Witness. Here's a live version of my favourite song off of the album:

Upon reading Meredith Graves' write-up of Cloud Castle Lake's Dandelion I fell madly in love. Here's "Sync" from their EP, which I've been listening to incessantly the last few days:

*Some other favourite albums of 2014 include Perfect Pussy's Say Yes to Love, St. Vincent's St. Vincent, Alt-J's This Is All Yours, Kithkin's Rituals, Trances & Ecstasies for Humans in Face of The Collapse, People Get Ready's Physiques, and others.

I wish I had time to describe how my week went/is going. I guess that's a starting point as to how to describe my week.