I realized yesterday that it's been three months since I last posted. This should give some insight into the craziness of the last few months for me. I finished and defended my Thesis which was definitely harder and waaaay more stressful than I imagined. Finishing it took some long days and longer nights. The defense wasn't too bad. I had one committee member that asked some questions that caught me off guard. I passed and all was well. I never felt that moment of relief, but it was definitely a weird feeling to not have to work on or have the need to work on the project hanging over me.

I started applying for jobs all over the place after Spring Break. I had some phone interviews over the next couple of weeks. I had one that went really well and they invited me to come out and see the school, meet my coworkers, and give a demonstration lesson. This is in Fort Worth, Texas, by the way. We scheduled it and the following Friday I went out there and taught my lesson on The Berlin Wall. I was really happy because the lesson fit perfectly chronologically into what they had just covered. It went really well and the students were very responsive. Honestly, I forgot that the principal was there observing me. It went over by about 30 minutes, but apparently when they said that was ok they meant it. After the lesson I took a vocabulary test and wrote a writing prompt on the teacher that most inspired me. Then I interviewed with the other 7-8th grade teachers. It was really informal. There were a lot of back and forth questions and just talking. It was really nice because the atmosphere was one in which I could tell they really wanted to get to know me. I was able to relax and just be myself. I realized after that it seemed to be very important that the person they hire mesh well and they be able to get along with them. It was a lot of fun. After the meeting the principal gave me a tour of the school and debriefed me. He told me it would more than likely be June before they knew what the next step would be because they had to interview three more people. I left feeling really good about it and settled into the fact that I'd be waiting a little bit before they got back to me. The principal called me four days later and offered me the position. I was flabbergasted! How does three weeks become four days? I like to think it was a mutual love affair. So, I called half a dozen people who've been adults way longer than me and sought their advice. To a person they told me to take it. At 8am the next morning after getting some questions answered that's exactly what I did. I'm the new 7th grade Texas and 8th grade US history teacher at a school with 250 kids of which I will teach about 60. There are also history trips to sights in Texas and Washington D.C. Pretty cool, eh? The whole process took exactly TWO WEEKS from first interview to signing and sending of contract. God is good indeed. Sometime in July I'll be moving to Fort Worth. I'm thinking about things I've never thought about before and slowly making decisions. Yay adulthood?

The day after I sent in the contract was graduation. I spent the morning cleaning up my apartment and getting dressed. My mom got here, I dressed in my cap and gown, and headed to graduation. We spent about thirty minutes just hanging out, talking and taking pictures. It took longer for people to process in than it did for the 29 of us to walk across the stage. I definitely had moments where I couldn't believe it was happening. I had worked so long and so hard over the last year that I was sure they'd tell me there was something else I needed to do. That's the way this program had been. They gave us our diplomas after we walked off stage. It was official. May 18, 2012. Third time around and a job this time. It's like I tell people I have one Masters for fun and one for money. After a very long graduation there were more pictures and then Trey and his family and my mom and I went to get lunch. It was a lot of fun. Telling stories and having our moms tell stories about us. Then, we went and did some shopping before moving me into the place I'll be in for the next month or so before I move to Texas.

Yesterday, a big group of us and our families went out to brunch. It was great to meet the parents of the people that I have been so close to for the past year. It was hard to leave everybody, but we will still have time to hang out.

It was a long, hard, frustrating road, but in the end it was worth it. I now have three degrees and a job. I'm nervous and scared, but also excited. :) Prayers and good thoughts appreciated.



Joseph Ryan Moore, M.A., M.A.T.

In the hustle and bustle of the candy, dinners, hugs, and lovingness of St. Valentine's Day something, for me, was amiss and I wasn't able to put my finger on it. I was reminded tonight what it is. Today is the feast day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, evangelizers to the Slavs and creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. It's hard for anyone that studies the Slavic lands/languages not to respect and admire these men and the chutzpah they possessed to create a new alphabet, Cyrillic(get it?), to spread the gospel. If people were calling me a heretic, as they were when Cyril and Methodius began to preach the Slavic mass they wrote, I don't know that I'd have the courage of my convictions. I hope I would. For me, as a Slavophile and Christian, these guys are heroes. It is because of them that a huge part of Eastern Europe is Christian. This includes Poland which is one of the most devoutly Catholic countries around. From Poland comes Pope John Paul II, another one of my heroes. A Slavic Pope who also considered these men such heroes he wrote an encyclical called, Slavorum Apostoli, about them. Crazy, eh? It is because of Cyril and Methodius that this was possible.

Why a Slavic mass? Why not just let them figure it out? Because it's annoying and makes your head hurt! Oh...that was supposed to be rhetorical..sorry! They wrote a Slavic mass and got Papal permission to use it for the unity of the Church. They bucked the system and said if you want people to be able to understand and for belief to be real then they must be able to say mass in their own language.

For the unity of the Church....because there is so much more that unites us than divides us

I can get behind that.

Lord Jesus Christ, at your Last Supper you prayed to the Father that all should be one. Send your Holy Spirit upon all who bear your name and seek to serve you. Strengthen our faith in you, and lead us to love one another in humility. May we who have been reborn in one baptism be united in one faith under one Shepherd. Amen.

Ryan

Anyone's that's talked to me for very long since the beginning of December has heard about Audrey Assad. I'm intensely loyal to my favorite musicians including Audrey. There's something different about her though. I don't always feel like I need to share my favorite musicians, but after listening to Audrey's album, The House You're Building, I bought 5 or 6 copies for people as Christmas gifts. Her lyrics are beautiful and honest. Her voice is amazing. Today she debuted her new website and preorder for her new album, Heart. I'm so excited about this new album. There are two major reasons: 1) She cowrote "Blessed Are the Ones" with Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken and 2) "Sparrow" is one the album. Did I mention I am stoked about this album!!!

You should watch the video and then pre-order her new album. Then, we should compare notes! Because that's what the musically addicted do, right? Right!

By the way if you can't wait to hear her then pick up The House You're Building and/or Live From SoHo. They both have good reasons for buying them. Soho has a couple of covers that are awesome and "Sparrow", but THYB has all the songs from Soho and then some. Do it!!!

Heart on Amazon
Heart on Itunes

I recommend the Itunes albums simply because they have extra songs. This is especially cool on the THYB Christmas edition because she sings O Come All Ye Faithful in Latin.

Love you guys!

Ryan

I'd never heard this speech of Dr. King's before this morning. His premise is that we all have the instinct to be drum majors. Drum majors are the best and the most important. We believe we are the ordained drum major because we're white, black, blue, or purple polka dotted. I am better because I'm a historian versus an English scholar, right? Well, of course. ;) Watch the whole sermon if you can...but if you can't go to 16.30 and hear what King wants people to say at his funeral.

"I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody."

So he did and so should we all.

Ryan

"I wish I had an answer. A sort of spiritual band-aid for the great gaping hole between my theology and my practice. I believe in God. I believe he is enough for me and yet some days...a lot of days I live like I just don't get that. We wrote this song believing, but also hoping that our restless is a door to the heart of God because it reveals just how desperately we need him..." - Audrey Assad

Amen.

When I went to bed it was a two man race with Ron Paul relegated to third place and Romney and Santorum battling it out in the Iowa caucus of 2012. Rick. Santorum. Where the heck did he come from? His poll numbers had been increasing coming into the caucus and I knew he could well be the dark horse. The shocking thing is that it came down to eight...count them...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 votes! Mitt Romney "won" but honestly what did he win? He's been campaigning since 2008 and has a massive organization and war chest. Santorum on the other hand has been running a shoe lace campaign with little money and far fewer people on the ground...and yet...8 votes. Romney actually got 6 votes less than he did in 2008. It seems he may have found his glass ceiling in Iowa. In my opinion Rick Santorum is the winner here.

It'll be interesting to see what New Hampshire holds especially because that's Romney's backyard. I see at least two drop outs in the next week: Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry. As for John Huntsman, whom I really like for his foreign policy experience, I don't think snubbing states no matter how inconsequential you think they are is a good idea.

The party has started...and I'm excited.

Ryan

She is mine and I am hers. Once a Nole always a Nole. This place...these people..have shaped me in ways that I'm still figuring out. As I walk around I find many things comfortably familiar, but just as I start to act on autopilot there's something that's changed that brings me back to reality. The arrangement of Wesley has changed, my FSUID no longer gets me into Strozier..I am a "guest"(but my name and pass still work for FSU wifi), the standard Wesley wifi passwords no longer work, a friend's office is in the same place, a new Subway, and the bookstore is completely rearranged. Subtle changes, but changes that remind me that I am no longer here everyday. Yet, there are many things that are familiar and remind me of wonderful and amazing times and the people I have shared them with. Thanks be to God that many of them are still here to reminisce with me. It's like we never missed a beat. There is indescribable beauty in the knowing between old friends. Life has moved on without me and yet I'm part of the tribe. It's crazy that I think of these guys as old friends...it's been three years and some change. Craziness.

I took my old route to class as the sun was setting and I let the nostalgia wash over me as I took this walk I took a million times in two and a half years. A wave of memories flooded over me as I walked. I walked around Bellamy(my old building) and the feeling comfort only increased as I went by a friend's office along with my old department office. I loved it.

Now I'm sitting in the library for a second. It's crazy that I'm here with no work to do because I almost never came here unless it was crunch time. It's the day before classes so it's eerily quiet. I used to come in here between classes and have to search for a free millimeter of space to sit down and hurriedly type a paper due in a couple hours. I cranked out some great work here.

It's been so great to see my friends and hang out with them.

I'm constantly reminded of so much I took for granted while I was here. I thought it would last forever and then it ended. Now everything and everyone is more precious. It's just different when you leave a place. I am more proud to be a Bulldog now that I'm gone than I ever was when I was there. Likewise, I am more proud to be a Nole now than I was when I was here. I think graduation helps that a lot. There's a sense of ownership there.

Tallahassee and the garnet and gold are good for the soul, indeed.

Enjoy the video...I know I do.



Ryan

It's been a great year for a year that started out with so much uncertainty. I was walking through campus at LSU the other day and thinking about what a crazy year it has been...fast and yet interminably slow at points. I graduated from FSU in December of 2010 and was at ends coming in to 2011. The first day of the spring semester I got to work on preparing to get my alternative certification through LSU. My papaw joked that I couldn't stay out of school and I just had to go back. This time though I had found the quickest route to where I wanted to be. I interviewed for a couple teaching programs, and was accepted by one. By June I'd be at LSU ready to dedicate the next year of my life to becoming a teacher. As of this writing I'm 2/3 of the way there! I'll graduate in May and then we'll see just what life has in store. I do know this I have this incredible itch to use my passport. I was looking at a facebook profile this morning that made me so homesick for Central Asia. I miss it.

I started the year collecting books and looking for things to do and ended it hoping to be able to come up for air. I developed a great group of friends in my program and we've gotten each other through this far. :) I student taught from August to October and that was an awesome experience. I loved being able to actually get in front of 130 kids in a day and teach. Not learn about teaching but actually get in there and mix it up a little. It was an awesome and very reaffirming experience. It was easily the highlight of my year. Tiring for sure, but I really enjoyed working with the kids.

Christmas this year was great. I was able to hang out with my family and enjoyed some time off. I got some awesome Christmas gifts from clothes, to books, to dvds, to a new briefcase type bag for work. It was nice to be home for a while.

On the whole it's been a bad year to be a dictator and a great year for freedom. That is all.

There are a little over 8 hours in 2011 and I'm off to enjoy them. Talk to you guys in the new year. Have a blast tonight and be safe. Here's to the year that was and the year that will be.


Ryan

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Il is Dead -- again watch the videos(especially the first one)



It's become a fact of life for me. If there is a major news story either I'm going to break it to my Papaw or he is going to break it to me. So last night when my mom handed me the phone and said "someone I don't know is dead" I knew it was him and I figured it was big. I was right. Kim Jong-Il, leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea(don't get me start on the cruel irony of that name), died Saturday night at the age of 69. My contempt and dislike for this man, who lived a life his countrymen couldn't dream of while they starved all the while believing that their country is the best on Earth and their dear leader looking out only for their best interest, is immense. He has done horrible unspeakable things to his countrymen in order to maintain his own power and their ignorance of life outside the hermit kingdom. North Korea has always fascinated me and a big part of that fascination comes from the fact that it one of a few vehement and unrepentent communist nations on earth. Not to mention that it is a virtual black hole where information is concerned. I've watched everything I could find about the DPRK especially any secret videos that have been made. Two of the best are: National Geographic's Inside North Korea and The Vice Travel Guide to North Korea. They are both very interesting for different reasons and worth a look if you're interested in life in North Korea. It's no secret that Kim Jong-Il had been sick for quite some time. Within the last couple of years his youngest child, Kim Jong-Un, had begun to be groomed as his heir-apparent. Now that the reins of power have transferred to Un(or his regents anyway) it will be interesting to see if the rigid repressive status quo is maintained or reform might indeed be possible in North Korea. Only time will tell.

Two things struck me about KJI's death. One was that it happened on the heels of the death of Vaclav Havel. The irony of the death of man who was admired and loved around the world as one who fought for the freedom of his country versus the death of a man who was reviled around the world and repressed his at every turn was not lost on me. Secondly, I saw the video in the CNN article and people were evidently moved by the man's death(granted the clip is of state television). The North Korean public is genuinely upset over his death as I would expect after the cult of personality that has built up around him overthe years. I had flashbacks to pictures of Stalin's funeral and the masses of people who attended it and the stories I heard of the massive outpouring of grief in the days after his death. I wonder what Kim Jong Il's funeral will be like.

Personally, I think the old saying "prepare for the worst and hope for the best" fits well here. Now we wait and watch.

Ryan

The Death of Vaclav Havel -- watch the videos



I've always been a huge admirer of Czechoslovakia(CZA) and Vaclav Havel. CZA was the only country in Central/Eastern Europe with a truly democratic government in the interwar years. The interwar years were a period in which the Fascists and Communists swooped in like vultures. Then, there is Czechoslovakia. I've always been predisposed to study Poland(a fact that a Czechophile friend at FSU was always dismayed by), but CZA and its democratic heritage always intrigued me. I first really studied CZA in Eastern European history at Tech. The democratic tradition in the country and the Prague Spring fascinated me(by the way CZA is the only country in which the Communists came to power legally).

Havel fascinated me because he was a contemporary of and a lot like Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and a voice for freedom. I am endlessly interested in those who speak out against injustice. These men interest me because they did this in a part of the world in a time where heroes were in short supply and yet desperately needed. Both were relatively quiet and yet charismatic and able to lead. Charter 77 was at least partially the catalyst for Havel's rise to prominence. Charter 77 was drafted in part as a response to the imprisonment of the members of a band called The Plastic People of the Universe and in part to hold the CZA government's feet to the fire over human rights abuses. Havel would become the voice of his people and eventually lead them into the post-communist era. He and his movement would be an inspiration for those who would attempt similar movements in other parts of world.

His country and the world are a better place for having had him.

Ryan