Bradley Woodrum Bradley Woodrum Bradley Woodrum

Up to what has Bradley Woodrum been? An excellent question, Brad. Among other things, I have been engaged whole-heartedly in a campaign of Passion, a journey of Excellence, and noble pursuit of Americanism: I have been trying to get a million cat/kitten images to appear in a Google image search (GIS) for "Bradley Woodrum" and "Brad Woodrum."

Step one of this devious plan is to, you guessed it, write "Bradley Woodrum" or "Brad Woodrum" in blog-posts featuring cats slash kittens.

My less-noble, more-boring, recent pursuits include:

1) Teaching my ESL classes in Chinatown. Helping out at Cornerstone.
2) Doing some freelance editing for McGraw-Hill.
3) Finishing up my last few RU classes.
4) Writing for DRaysBay, where they treat me like, eh, maybe the son of a demi-god? Yeah, not great or anything, but they at least recognize me and say stuff like, "I think I kind of like your writing."
5) Polishing up a short story for a writing contest.
6) Learning how to write the word "meow" in Chinese. 咪.

My ESL Classes
I feel very fortunate to say I love the place I'm in right now. I really like teacher -- even though it can be a real strain sometimes -- and I suspect I'm decent at it. I can easily picture myself teaching for a while. And, with the possibility of decent income coming my way via freelance writing/editing, I should be able to work at the Pui Tak Center and still put noodles on the table.

Jamie and I have also taken leadership roles at Cornerstone (the church that formed out of our old church in Chinatown). We really love Cornerstone! It's a collection of great friends and genuine, God-fearing and God-loving people. Jamie has started helping with Hospitality and Greeting, and I'm currently serving the Children's Ministry and Worship Ministry (they want me to learn more keyboard, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!).

I really have a burden for the Youth Ministry, though, but unfortunately we don't have any youths. So, since half the church is under age 13, the plan is to help with and learn from the Children's Ministry while we wait for the kids to get older, which can take any unknown amount of time. I'm told children age at different rates, but they don't seem to be aging at all. Go figure.

Summer Schools and Summer Jobs

This is my desktop background at work.

Hey everyone!

By now, a few of you know that I recently found employment in Chinatown, but I'd like to elaborate on the details. Basically, about two weeks ago, some of the Americorps workers at the Pui Tak Center -- where I volunteer as an ESL (English as a second language) tutor and pronunciation teacher -- told me they had a summer internship position opening and suggested I apply. Well, I almost forgot about it, but applied at the last second and got the position! The job is about 30 hours a week with a $2000 stipend, plus a $1000 tuition waiver upon my completion of the program. With the tuition waiver, it works out to about $10 an hour -- and a big bonus to my resume.

My focus at the Pui Tak Center is twofold: (1) build a foundation of curriculum for future pronunciation teachers and (2) conduct an ACT Prep class for ESL high school students. I'm much more excited about objective (1), especially since they didn't tell me anything about number (2) until after they hired me.

In the meantime, I'm taking two classes this summer, which means I should be able to finish my masters degree by December. However, teaching at the Pui Tak has led me to reconsider pursuing my doctorate. It It's something I'm still quite wary of, but I'm becoming less and less off-put by the notion of teaching as a career. I've looked into the program at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and I think there's a very good chance I could not only get accepted, but go entirely for free.

In addition to opening teaching opportunities, a PhD also means I will: (a) have a better shot at working for the Federal Reserve, (b) have a better opportunity to become a published researcher and writer, and (c) possibly price myself out of working for a baseball team. I'm not so sure about point (c), but it seems probable -- and disheartening.

Anyway, if there was one thing I would want everyone to pray about, it would be about this -- about school. I almost feel like God deliberately kept me from other job opportunities this summer (I turned down two jobs, and didn't hear back from dozens of others) so he could specifically get me to teach.

Outside of that, I shaved -- as many of you already know. Each day I wake up and say, "I'm going to grow my beard back today." And then I go shave again. I really feel like my hair is getting too long to not have a beard, but it's so hot outside!

Mom, when you get here, can you help Jamie give me a non-Mohawk hairstyle? We don't know how to do it.

In other news, Daniel graciously paid for this month's MLB.tv subscription! For those of you using that service, please be sure to thank Daniel! I've become too poor of late to afford that extra payment -- also our internet asplodes about every ten minutes.

I'm so excited about mom, dad, and Jessica coming to Chicago! Jamie and I keep talking about all the places we want to take our family, and now we will finally have a chance!

As March Nears an End

Here's a maine coon kitteh I've been stalking on Craigslist.

Hey everyone!

Today, Jamie and I registered for a 5k run in Chinatown! It's about 3 miles, which I run about once or twice per week, so hopefully I won't collapse in a quivering ball of shame. My main goal is to beat Jamie and all her friends. Because they are women.

In other news, I've started teaching a pronunciation class at the Pui Tak Center, and though I'm a nervous wreck going into every class, God usually blesses the time and we have a lot of laughs. I can only hope they learn something, too.

Also, I had my first baseball game last Sunday. It was really fun (photos should be forthcoming on Homebody and Woman), yet really windy and cold. I didn't start the game, but came in to play right field in the 4th inning (or thereabouts). I finished the day with a walk, a stolen base (yeah, you read that right), a run, and a groundout. I also dropped a pop up, but was able to throw the runner out at second base, so we'll say it was a fielder's choice, not an error. (We fought admirably, but lost 6 to 16ish... To an art school.)

Recently, I've been spending my days searching for internships, applying for jobs, and wistfully looking at pictures of cats on Craigslist. I've sent applications to a couple of places, and even had some friends from church look into a few opportunities for me, but right now God is having me wait. Maybe this means there's some incredible job just around the corner... Is there such thing as a Kitten Tester?

The big news, however, is that the refurbished XBOX 360 Daniel ordered for me arrived sometime yesterday. As I write this, Jamie should be collecting the package from the office downstairs (I'm at work right now) and preparing it for the coming era of Brotherly Video Game Jubilation!

***

UPDATE: I've meaning to mention this book: When Wanderers Cease to Roam by Vivian Swift. I bought it in January with a gift card from December, and have been loving it through March! It's like an illustrated diary and it's just wonderful. Jamie and I are really liking it, and have decided that:

Janelle would like the cats.
Jessica would like the art.
Dad would like the art, too.
Mom would like the art and cats.
And Daniel would like the fact that there's a lot of pictures to go with the words, but still wouldn't read it.
Matt would possibly dislike it because it lacks beards and meat.

I like the cats, art, and cats.
Jamie likes the cats, teacups, and travelling.

(Oh, and just kidding; Matt would like it too.)

Mmm... I'm Hungry!

It's past noon and I'm still in my pajamas. Of course, I should do homework, but Brad has rubbed off on me, and now I'm getting into the habit of reading blogs! Mine are mostly craft blogs though. Since I have the extra time (job hunting is surprisingly difficult) I want to learn to do something like quilting, or paper crafts, or knitting. I just don't know where to start. I really really want to learn to quilt, but I can barely sew right now, so I should probably take it one step at a time. Maybe I should just try knitting...or weaving...or watercolors....blah!!

Tomorrow, our group from church is having a Valentine Social/Potluck. The guys are making the main courses, and the women are making desserts - my favorite! So tonight, a few of the women are hanging out, making a two-tiered cake for the social, and eating spaghetti. I'm thankful for little opportunities like this to get to know some of them better.

This is Bradley and I having lunch at the church...yes, it was delicious :)