I Hate Titling My Posts

Clearly, Friday wasn’t a good day for me. So like any self respecting young male, Saturday I went out and got into a couple good fights. Nothing like wheeling around and throwing your flipper in somebody’s face to get over a bad mood right? Three points for me.

Karate has been good to me here in Chile. It keeps me sane, focused, and is my main resource for meeting actual Chileans. I capped off a good stint here with a second place finish in Saturday’s competition (with just a 1-1 record in the newby division… shhh, don’t mention it). The test for my yellow belt is next week, and with any luck I’ll keep practicing back in Ann Arbor in a few months.

Speaking of which, I have to decide once again whether or not to keep writing this blog after I leave in a little over a week. I’m not going to lie, it still feels really weird every time I sit down to write an entry. I’m still surprised every time I hear that people actually read this. I just keep yakking about my life or the stuff that runs through my mind, and 90% of it to me doesn’t seem all that interesting. Plus, going back and living in Houghton for a bit will probably make it even less so. I’ll decide soon enough.

However, I do have to say that I’ve gotten a lot out of this. I like writing, even when my writing sucks, and this has given me a lot of practice and confidence in doing it. Actually, I’ve got a micro-announcement to make: I’m starting a website. I’m putting this on paper (or screen) here just for the sake of putting pressure on myself to actually follow through and do the dang thing. I’ll be creating the best travel writing pieces I can create to document my experiences in South America and encourage people to travel here, provide trip ideas, inspiration, etc. The end goal will be to sign on a couple of non-obnoxious affiliates and create a set-and-forget micro-income stream that way. I’m trying to convince one of my friends who has also travelled a lot here to help out. It’s basically zero investment (=low pressure) except the time to set it up, and even if nobody shows up it will still be a worthwhile experience. For now the goal is to have most of the content created by the end of summer and a working website up by Christmas. We’ll see how it goes.

Finally, a congratulations to my cousin Laura on her marriage this weekend; hope everything went well over the weekend, best wishes all around!