Community Service/Service Learnin Director's Conference

Ahh, more fun, more conferences!

I guess that is what summers are for? I am not going to complain. These past 3 days have been really awesome in both networking and presentations at the the conference.

I was there with my supervisor, Mrs. Anderson and we presented on Evaluating Service Learning which went really well and I mainly covered the data management dealing with the database design, our current implementation and my dream implementation, but also the problems that follow along with that. I also spoke on information retrieval and the types of information to gather for service learning impact research. I am by no means an expert in that area, but I am packed with ideas and have done a few things related!

I also learned some cool stuff happening at different schools: NC State has some really cool training that focuses on 'Servant Leadership' which was accompanied by a good video called, "Mama D"...Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics has a neat research service-learning class that has 3 stages, mainly 1>gateway course 2>focus/research3>capstone/poster

There were many other great institutions represented, including UNC Greensboro, ECU, Elon(of course), UNC Chapel Hill, Mars Hill, Winston Salem State, Central Piedmont Community College, Guilford College, Meredith, Peace...ahh..the list goes on, but its invigorating to know all of these schoools (via Campus Compact) are staying actively involved in shaping engagement programs that will be far-reaching and impactful!

Not to mention all the crazy amounts of food available....I am still so full!!!

Blogging about blogging!

Here I go again.

I don't know if its because my night has been idle and I just randomly
read sites I am interested in, but I am really starting to get excited
about podcasting and its potential uses. I know Brian Russell did not
invent Podcasting, but I have been listening to his Podcasts on his
site http://www.audioactivism.org and it is really cool!

There is an upcoming international conference on Podcasting at
http://www.podcastercon.org at UNC Chapel Hill which you should check
out if you want to learn more about attending and again, please visit
http://www.audioactivism.org for more about podcasting and its uses.

I personally, now that I've seen the site, am interested in helping
out with the conference and possibly trying my hand at the design
contest for the logo/banners for the conference!

I'm pumped! This upcoming week I will be in Black Mountain, NC at NC
Campus Compact's Community Service/Service Learning Director's
Conference. I went their recently because I took some college
students there on spring break, but didnt really get to hike and
explore some of the terrain. There, I will be helping to present some
technology items in data management and the current database
implementation for where I work. It will be fun and I will also get
to reconnect with my fellow NC Campus Compact VISTAs, Todd Mortensen,
Amanda Ross, and Rebecca Cole, and also Winter Brown, our VISTA leader
and John Barnhill our executive director (My Boss)...they are all
great and super people with vision.

Tomorrow though, since I am at the beach, I am going to check out the
waves and see if I can get a surf session in...(doubt because of calm
weather)...ahh, to be home!

Anyways, have a wonderful weekend/week....I know I will!!!

Calvin

Bogging, Podcasting, Oh My!! My RTPnet Conference Experience.

Well, I have to say that I have had a really good time this past Friday!

I went to the Annual RTPnet conference on community technology and truely took a lot from it. I met some really cool people, notably Brian Russel and Ruby Sinreich who are 2 very passionate people about community technology and also blogging/podcasting. To me, this phenomenon is very very cool and innovative as well. As an avid open source explorer/supporter, I find that blogging and podcasting to be a very powerful tool to get things done and also to keep up to date on many things via RSS (Real Simple Syndication). I definitely will start to try and utilize blogging/podcasting as a tool in my social betterment efforts.

I also met some other VISTAs (Volunteers in Service To America) that, I am sure, will be valuable assets to me in the future as far as collaboration, insight, and friendship. Ben of Public Allies and Melissa from National Student Partnerships!

I got some pointers on technology assessments and just got to meet many people who's main focus is technology. Until now, I found it hard to really talk about technology without obligatory explanations and navigating through explaining what I mean, instead, I got to convey my excitement and relate to other technology support/trainers on a 'glad-to-know-im-not-alone' basis.

So if any of you guys read this blog, thanks for meeting me and I look forward to learning, doing more cool innovative things!

Also, thanks to Damita Chambers of RTPnet and Laura of the Duke Univ. Certificate in Nonprofit management for 'hooking me up'!!!!!

calvin

Relationships!

hello all!

Well today I finally got to look at the database with its relationships...and its crazy that the actually queries work without taking 10 minutes to print the info on the screen. they are not really that organized and they do not really have any systematic data organization. How in the world does it work? Although, I have to admit that I felt all fuzzy inside when I actually reorganized the tables to look like they has form of order.

I feel good today, and hopefully tomorrow I will feel the same. We have our obligatory staff meeting tomorrow and I hope it turns out okay, but I have been making huge progress with volunteer recruitment.

I am starting to get professionals in their field. 2 in particular are experts in Oracle databases and one has a Ph.D. Its so awesome that I can work with them and orchestrate my mind's whim. I am a firm advocate in human potential and when approached right, you can motivate anyone to achieve what was thought not possible. So its great, things are great...now I just have to get a trash can for my apartment and a refigerator for that matter.

talk to ya later!
Calvin

Sleep early, wake up early

Yo peeps, hello everyone, hola ustedes!

Yep, i keep doing it...waking up at like 3am or 4am because i fall asleep at like 7pm or 6pm. This past week has been pretty draining for me with work i guess. That retreat earlier in the week really sucked the life out of me! But now that I am on the cusp of the weekend, my spirits are lifted.

Yesterday I volunteered all morning, picking up trash in this elderly's backyard, then spent the rest of the day trying to develop this course for database design. It seems like i never make any progress on it though because I always get distracted.

I've spent my early morning just waking up, but by the time i head off to work, I probably will be sleepy.

So here I am writing.

530am...

I suppose I could be doing work, but I'd rather not and save that fun for the daylight.

Its been a good week though...just busy...Ill write more later

calvin

All Consuming Raw...A Poem

Well, tonight I was going through some of my old poems, and I wanted to share this one because it moves me to this day with the things I've felt and the visceral feeling that still sometimes resonates today...so here it is, All Consuming Raw.

Listen to my heartbeat dripping
Bellowing, purging elastic glaze
The ebb and flow of blood, so pure
Yet filled, saturated, but unfulfilled

Apropos of nothing, but something
Cool containment contaminated
Paradoxical whisper says
What did you say?
It feels like what?

Frustration to the point of reality
Piercing the pincushion of ambiguity
Listen to the soulbeat pounding
Demanding the direction of adversity
Playing the rhythm of love

Raging rush, fleeting flush
Gravitational withdrawal
Spinning in squares, raising hairs
Momentary eternity fills the bubble of law
Give me consignment coopportunity

The secret recipe for desire
Holds a plethora of ways
To satiate the eminent coming
Of many clouded delayed, viscous days
Truncated idea explodes my song

Inward out my calling card
A truth of numb, ring, ring
Feel the pain, do it again
And pick up the phone for me
Hold on to the bill of foresight

Bruises pang, bruises blue
But my steadfast yearning still holds true
Buckle that belt of what you felt
Because it must belong to you
Give the tingling some circulation

Sickle cell, cast that spell
Anemic intuition?
Fill the void but don’t avoid
Your tempestuous ambition

Scarlet fever favors me
Velvet, fuzzy rant
Run about, crazy clout
It puts me in a trance

Meaningful life to speak so raw
With flavorful dessert
One day may I have a chance
For this romance
To see it in its splendor
But for now I must show how
To dance with my feet bended.

Staff Retreat!!!

Hi, whomever reads this blog...not sure who.

I am its late here, but I just wanted to put a blip out there on how much I hate the staff retreat I am at right now! It completely sucks! Nothing really productive is coming out of it and my advisor thinks she knows everything about technology and she has these guests that come in from the university that I would like to share things with, but she doesnt let me talk...and she pretty much is erasing everything I have been working on thus far by saying shit that she knows nothing about!!! Ahhh...the pain of being silent, the pain of being frustrated! I would like my job a hell of a lot more if my supervisor was actually doing her job instead of always talking about herself and her slant on things and not stressing all her staff all of the time.

In lighter news, my volunteer postings are starting to bear fruit. I have a referral from volunteer match and there are students interested in service at NCCU! Yippee, now i just ahve to have stuff for them to do.

Its the good part of my job. The bad part probably is better left unsaid. Lets just say i feel a lot of rage and anger towards my advisor. Thats hard for me to do, to have that sort of emotional disdain for a person.

Anyways, enough venting for now...maybe this retreat will be better tomorrow...lets hope so for my sanity.

Calvin

Party like crazy!

Hello everyone!

Well its the end of a crazy weekend! One of my good friends, Koji, came down from Detroit to hang out for the last couple of days (last wednesday night) till today. i just dropped him off at the airport. We went to UNC Pembroke, where we both graduated had dinner with Abdul, our old advisor, toured his big ass house, visited with many friends...then we partied till the wee hours on friday night..., then we came back to durham visited with another friend, Carolyn....ahhh went by so fast, tomorrow work again, fun, but work.

Sol.Net meaning

knowing me...isn't always knowing me, but one thing remains usually unnoticed; my propensity to constantly find relation and meaning in 'my' words.

Sol.Net has special meaning to me for this blog because:

1. Sol....sounds like 'soul'...which I want to convey throughout my rhetoric
2. the sound of 'Sol' is very euphonic when said and heard, soothing to me and attached to meaning...soul..evaporating, many things float through.
3. balanced with 'Sol' is 'Net' a powerful glove, catch-all for 'Sol'
4. 'Net' is somewhat direct, to the point in subjective understanding.
5. when objective definition/relation of 'Sol' and 'Net' is concatenated, they still convey meaning to me...such as..."(a corresponding unit of value).(excluding all nonessential consideration)"

Weird? probably.
meaningful? to me, at least.

slice my mind.this is what you find

examine my abstraction

ahh this is so silly because i honestly do not think anyone is going to read this post.
in any case, hope its enjoyable and not too weird

calvin

Internships abound!

Today was a pretty good day!

With my supervisor out of town on a conference, I was less pressured to do the billion 'tech support' things that usually pull me away from what I am supposed to be doing. I think its official, but I will now be administering a course this summer for students to get credit while doing SERVICE-LEARNING!!!!! Now I just need to get structured and make the class.

I am learning a lot too, while also doing a lot. the whole open-source movement really intrigues me, especially with the potential for IT innovation. I am soooo excited about meeting and collaborating with people who know technology in the area. Being Near RTP....really has its advantages.

Well, I'm off for now, gotta eat!
Calvin

Quote!

Just thought I'd share this insightful quote! I love quotes, by the way.

"Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire" -Francois de La Rochefoucauld

My new nephew, Kenneth Troy Webster!!! 

New Addition to family!

Hello everyone!

I know I said I would be out....but I wanted to share.

My sister recently gave birth to a brand new son....my nephew!! His name is Kenneth Troy Webster!

My Nephew!.... 

Just a happy face of mine 

A Blog is Born!

"Hello, World!"....ummm....yeah.

Anyways, I am going to need a venting space, a place to trace, embrace, and call home...here...online where I always seem to wander.

So now, here I am...blogging!

This is really not new for me as I have a blog somewhere else, but here...I say here. I will be.

Thanks for stopping by!

More to come...its late now.

-Calvin