A Real Post, But Mostly Just Recap
In my ever dwindling use of lj, I have set a new record. In 2008 I recorded a mere 6 posts. And man, the years do fly, because it was 2007 when I left the country for around 5 months - in 2008 I was here the whole time, although I did still travel quite a distance. As soon as I post this I'll already be up to 2 for this year... odds are this year will represent the first upsurge in yearly posts ever in my long history of lj.
Anyway, as at least I can tell by the already rambling nature of this post, I am here again because I have time to kill and because I have posted so little of substance in so very long. Let's begin with some recap: In November I posted a series of thoughts about possibly needing to come home to Boston and face/update myself, more or less. Shortly thereafter we (me, Matan and Justin, my two roomates in California) were informed that the home we were leasing in Newport had been sold, and boy it'd be great if we vacated within 30 days. At the same time I was in discussions with Eric and Aaron about an apartment they were shopping for in Boston, a deal I was very eager to keep my toes dug into. In the end, we were to vacate our apartment by Dec. 31 and Eric and Aaron wanted to move into their new apartment as early as Jan. 1. At that point I realized the timing was fate and that it was time for me to get out of California. My work at Ross was drying up, I always knew I wanted to live in Boston with friends one day, and I hadn't really gone to California to do anything - hence I had done everything I came there to do. My time in Cali was up, and it was back to Boston for me. Matan and Justin found a nice 2BR, I bought my plane ticket home, and on Dec 31 we said our fond goodbyes.
On the way home I stopped in New Mexico. Earlier in December I was trying to think of what I could do for new years, and I was choosing between a couple of "probably" options back in Boston (if I came back before the 31st) and celebrating in LA with a friend of Matan's (if I came back well after the 31st). While I was still deciding, I received a surprise message from Melanie Lidman on facebook. She was looking for phone numbers, and after I supplied her with mine I asked her on a whim what she was doing for new years. She promptly replied her company does a crazy party on top of a mountain, and at that point I was sold. She was working in Santa Fe, and I couldn't think of a cooler new year's than celebrating on top of a mountain in Santa Fe. Although she later told me the mountain thing wasn't happening and she wasn't even sure where she ever heard about it, I still ended up visiting her for about a week. I got there on the 31st, and we went to various parties and bars, and I had a great time before I proceeded to get sick, throw up in her bathroom, come down with a cold and a fever, and then as soon as I started to feel better I gave all my symptoms to Mel. Needless to say, this trip went worse than expected, and I felt awful for getting Mel sick. However, I made the best of it that I could, and even though I still feel like my presence caused more misery than joy thanks to the sickness, I'm glad we had what good times we did. Did you know Santa Fe was 6000 feet up in the air and drenched in snow during the wintertime? I didn't, and that's a large part of the reason I got so sick.
Coming back from Santa Fe I stayed with my parents for about a week while I finished recovering and "repacked" (read: took the dirty clothes out of my suitcase, leaving the rest of the contents alone, washed the clothes, and then stuffed them back in the gaping holes they had left) in preparation for my next move. I worked a day for my father, went bowling at Westgate, hung out with Canton kids (all of whom have actually moved out of Canton, exciting little town that it is) at Tom's new place, saw my brother and sister in law for shabbat, bought a new mattress (in Cali I inherited a queen, and no, you just cannot go back to twin after sleeping on a queen for six months and relishing in how your toes no longer slide over the edge when you stretch out), and spent two entire days moving furniture in two separate U-hauls. Then, on Thursday the 15th, our lease officially began, and I spent my first night in my new pad in Somerville. This place is pretty sweet. The rooms are all a decent size (my room is the 3rd smallest of 4, and it fits my queen/desk/dresser/nightstand/bookshelf set easily), we have a keggerator for nonstop fresh beer, and our fourth roomate which Aaron and Eric pulled off of Craiglist seems pretty cool. I am beginning to appreciate the location, having already gone to the harbor without too much difficulty, but next week I'm probably going to ride a bus within Somerville, T to Harvard, and maybe also try and get to JP by one means or another... if I can do all that without significant hassle, then I will truly love this location indeed. I already found a burrito joint that, while it pales in comparison to the delectable Chronic Tacos of Newport Beach, is just as close as Chronic was and is pretty darned tasty. Can't wait to try them out a few more times to find what's best.
Right now I'm still working for LaptopLogic.com and Laptopical.com, and I've added some LogicBUY.com work to my repertoire as well. Despite getting sick and taking liberal vacation time around Christmas and New Years - they were very unclear about how much time off I got, so I just guessed - I was recently given some encouraging news, as my direct superior told me the company thinks very well of me and wants to keep me on and keep me happy. He told me he likes my writing, my consistency, and most of all, the fact that I want to do it (and nobody else on staff does). This company conducts business weirdly, which concerns me a little because I don't think they're going to make enough money to pay me more, but also makes me happy because I feel like it's so easy to keep this job that I love. I mostly mean that they hired me sans interview based on my roomate's recommendation, my roomate being a coworker of the original founder of the site. This same roomate hates working for the company and I get the impression that for most of the other freelancers, this is simply low priority side-work. For me, I want to make this my full time job and live off the salary. So basically, they're ecstatic because I actually want to do the work, even though I'm some nobody that they never interviewed and has no credentials outside of a BA in English. But if they hire me full time in the immediate future, then hey, who am I to complain? We'll see where it goes... my workload has been light since I've been moving but I'm going to try and take on more now that I'm settled and in not too long start pressuring for that raise to see how much they really do like me. I'm also going to try and work one day a week for my Dad, and keep my eyes peeled for other job options as they come.
As for where my head's at... I'm back in Boston now, which I love, but it needs to be different from last time I was here. I don't think that's going to be a problem in Somerville, but I haven't been back long enough to have enough experiences for a comparison. That's simply my latest thought.
Today is the first day that I put my hair up in a ponytail, excepting Halloween when I used gel. It's a really high, awkward ponytail, but it keeps the hair out of my face nicely. Outside shot that I start doing this more often as my hair continues to get longer. Also, Obama got inaugurated today. I slept through the real thing, but I watched a replay of his speech. That guy sure can talk an inspirational game.
Anyway, as at least I can tell by the already rambling nature of this post, I am here again because I have time to kill and because I have posted so little of substance in so very long. Let's begin with some recap: In November I posted a series of thoughts about possibly needing to come home to Boston and face/update myself, more or less. Shortly thereafter we (me, Matan and Justin, my two roomates in California) were informed that the home we were leasing in Newport had been sold, and boy it'd be great if we vacated within 30 days. At the same time I was in discussions with Eric and Aaron about an apartment they were shopping for in Boston, a deal I was very eager to keep my toes dug into. In the end, we were to vacate our apartment by Dec. 31 and Eric and Aaron wanted to move into their new apartment as early as Jan. 1. At that point I realized the timing was fate and that it was time for me to get out of California. My work at Ross was drying up, I always knew I wanted to live in Boston with friends one day, and I hadn't really gone to California to do anything - hence I had done everything I came there to do. My time in Cali was up, and it was back to Boston for me. Matan and Justin found a nice 2BR, I bought my plane ticket home, and on Dec 31 we said our fond goodbyes.
On the way home I stopped in New Mexico. Earlier in December I was trying to think of what I could do for new years, and I was choosing between a couple of "probably" options back in Boston (if I came back before the 31st) and celebrating in LA with a friend of Matan's (if I came back well after the 31st). While I was still deciding, I received a surprise message from Melanie Lidman on facebook. She was looking for phone numbers, and after I supplied her with mine I asked her on a whim what she was doing for new years. She promptly replied her company does a crazy party on top of a mountain, and at that point I was sold. She was working in Santa Fe, and I couldn't think of a cooler new year's than celebrating on top of a mountain in Santa Fe. Although she later told me the mountain thing wasn't happening and she wasn't even sure where she ever heard about it, I still ended up visiting her for about a week. I got there on the 31st, and we went to various parties and bars, and I had a great time before I proceeded to get sick, throw up in her bathroom, come down with a cold and a fever, and then as soon as I started to feel better I gave all my symptoms to Mel. Needless to say, this trip went worse than expected, and I felt awful for getting Mel sick. However, I made the best of it that I could, and even though I still feel like my presence caused more misery than joy thanks to the sickness, I'm glad we had what good times we did. Did you know Santa Fe was 6000 feet up in the air and drenched in snow during the wintertime? I didn't, and that's a large part of the reason I got so sick.
Coming back from Santa Fe I stayed with my parents for about a week while I finished recovering and "repacked" (read: took the dirty clothes out of my suitcase, leaving the rest of the contents alone, washed the clothes, and then stuffed them back in the gaping holes they had left) in preparation for my next move. I worked a day for my father, went bowling at Westgate, hung out with Canton kids (all of whom have actually moved out of Canton, exciting little town that it is) at Tom's new place, saw my brother and sister in law for shabbat, bought a new mattress (in Cali I inherited a queen, and no, you just cannot go back to twin after sleeping on a queen for six months and relishing in how your toes no longer slide over the edge when you stretch out), and spent two entire days moving furniture in two separate U-hauls. Then, on Thursday the 15th, our lease officially began, and I spent my first night in my new pad in Somerville. This place is pretty sweet. The rooms are all a decent size (my room is the 3rd smallest of 4, and it fits my queen/desk/dresser/nightstand/bookshelf set easily), we have a keggerator for nonstop fresh beer, and our fourth roomate which Aaron and Eric pulled off of Craiglist seems pretty cool. I am beginning to appreciate the location, having already gone to the harbor without too much difficulty, but next week I'm probably going to ride a bus within Somerville, T to Harvard, and maybe also try and get to JP by one means or another... if I can do all that without significant hassle, then I will truly love this location indeed. I already found a burrito joint that, while it pales in comparison to the delectable Chronic Tacos of Newport Beach, is just as close as Chronic was and is pretty darned tasty. Can't wait to try them out a few more times to find what's best.
Right now I'm still working for LaptopLogic.com and Laptopical.com, and I've added some LogicBUY.com work to my repertoire as well. Despite getting sick and taking liberal vacation time around Christmas and New Years - they were very unclear about how much time off I got, so I just guessed - I was recently given some encouraging news, as my direct superior told me the company thinks very well of me and wants to keep me on and keep me happy. He told me he likes my writing, my consistency, and most of all, the fact that I want to do it (and nobody else on staff does). This company conducts business weirdly, which concerns me a little because I don't think they're going to make enough money to pay me more, but also makes me happy because I feel like it's so easy to keep this job that I love. I mostly mean that they hired me sans interview based on my roomate's recommendation, my roomate being a coworker of the original founder of the site. This same roomate hates working for the company and I get the impression that for most of the other freelancers, this is simply low priority side-work. For me, I want to make this my full time job and live off the salary. So basically, they're ecstatic because I actually want to do the work, even though I'm some nobody that they never interviewed and has no credentials outside of a BA in English. But if they hire me full time in the immediate future, then hey, who am I to complain? We'll see where it goes... my workload has been light since I've been moving but I'm going to try and take on more now that I'm settled and in not too long start pressuring for that raise to see how much they really do like me. I'm also going to try and work one day a week for my Dad, and keep my eyes peeled for other job options as they come.
As for where my head's at... I'm back in Boston now, which I love, but it needs to be different from last time I was here. I don't think that's going to be a problem in Somerville, but I haven't been back long enough to have enough experiences for a comparison. That's simply my latest thought.
Today is the first day that I put my hair up in a ponytail, excepting Halloween when I used gel. It's a really high, awkward ponytail, but it keeps the hair out of my face nicely. Outside shot that I start doing this more often as my hair continues to get longer. Also, Obama got inaugurated today. I slept through the real thing, but I watched a replay of his speech. That guy sure can talk an inspirational game.