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Dec 17 2010

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

 

(and yes…I actually own this album on vinyl from back when I was a kid)

The priest at my church has been telling us about how he hasn’t been able to get into the Advent spirit this year (for those not up on churchspeak…Advent is the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas that marks the beginning of the church calendar).  I’ve been right there with a similar sentiment this year.

My holiday plans of course were thrown upside down with the breakup right before Thanksgiving.  I ended up at my parents house for Thanksgiving instead of my original plans to spend the long weekend in Portland.  Because of that unexpected trip though, I’ve decided not to go home to Oregon for Christmas.  This will be the first year since I moved down to LA that I won’t be going home for Christmas (though it was also the first year I was home for Thanksgiving).

As for my plans for Christmas now…I’ve got an invite to go over to play video games and hang out in the afternoon on Christmas day from one of my friends.  Other than that, my Christmas and New Year’s plans are open.  I did cancel my vacation request for the week between Christmas and New Year’s though.  Figured I’d save those hours for an actual vacation sometime later. 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2010/we-wish-you-a-merry-christmas/

Dec 17 2008

Sketch 50

The year winds down, and so do the activities.  A couple of my friends left town for the holidays over the weekend.  So a few less partners in crime are around.  I’ve also been trying to be frugal in my spending to compensate for the unpaid week next week (gotta love temp work).

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about where I am in life.  How many of my friends, who are younger than me, seem to be much further along in life.  They’ve got good jobs that they love or graduate degrees.  They’ve got homes. Are married.  Heck, some are even divorced (not that it is a good thing).  But even then, they’ve experience marriage and the love that drove them to it in the first place.

It all seems so far away to me.

Its hard being 32 and not really having anything figured out.

I’m leaving for Oregon Friday, right after work.  It’ll be nice to be home for the week.  Catch up with some friends and family.  I’m taking two days to drive up, planning on stopping somewhere around Sacramento late Friday night and finishing up the drive on Saturday.  Saturday night is the annual Santa Pub Crawl in Eugene.  It’ll be a cold crawl this year as the temps are predicted to be below freezing, with possible snow showers.  No matter how cold it is, it’ll be a nice welcome home.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/sketch-50/

Nov 02 2008

Thinking of home…

I’ve been homesick lately.  It is compounded by the uncertainty I have about whether or not I’ll be able to go home for Christmas as well.  The problem is, I started a job through a temp agency in August.  I was supposed to be on the normal 60 – 90 days temp-to-hire schedule.  However, a month and a half into the job, one of the executives I was assisting left the company.  A few weeks later, the other guy, decided his assistant needed more of a legal background.  So that assignment ended.  I was quickly reassigned to a new position in the company (only missing two days of work), but that also restarted my temp-to-hire schedule.  Which means, no holiday pay…no vacation pay (though that may not have happened anyway).

The company’s Holiday schedule for 2008 has Christmas Day and the day after for the “official” holiday days.

My sister (and her boyfriend) are going to be home the 20th – the morning of the 26th.  Airfare is already almost prohibitively expensive…even flying in and out of Portland.  If I have to work on the 24th…then my only option to get home in time to see my sister is to fly.

I’m thinking about seeing if I can take that entire week off.  But there is risk in that, as they could decide just to not have me back after that week.  Even if they said it was ok beforehand.

Anyway…one of a few things in my life that I wish was different.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/thinking-of-home/

Sep 18 2008

Sketch 37

Oh my…its been a busy week.  Which explains why I’m a couple days behind this weeks sketch.

Most of the business comes from having to find a new apartment.  In the end, I saw nine different places.  I liked four of them (well I actually liked a fifth place, but the other people wouldn’t have been a great fit).  I’m moving into a place that is Mid-City, so pretty much right between the current location of my office…and the future location of the office.  I’m not sure exactly what there is within walking distance to it…but its pretty centrally located otherwise.

Saturday, my friend had a birthday celebration at her house in Whittier.  We were celebrating a bunch of us who had birthday’s at the beginning of the month (including me).  There was scuba lessons, football watching (Oregon pulled out a squeaker), lots of conversations, and millions of bubbles.  It was a great time (and totally worth the drive to Whittier).

After church on Sunday, I had lunch at Papa Cristo’s, an LA institution that has been open since 1948.  Another LA landmark crossed off the list.

Tuesday, I went to a screening of Rachel Getting Married.  By the time I got there, the line was pretty long and I ended up sitting pretty close to the screen.  That ended up not being a good thing.  The movie featured lots of hand held camera work, which made for some jittery shots.  By the end of the movie I was feeling pretty nauseous.  This coupled with the fact that it could have used to be about a half hour shorter (at least) meant that I bolted as soon as the film was done (again skipping the Q&A session).

I took my car into the shop on Wednesday morning.  My car is interesting, because it has a vacuum system that controls the “power” locks as well as the engine cut of switch.  Well somewhere in the system there was a leak, which was causing the engine not to shut off when I turned off the car and removed the key.  This wasn’t a huge deal for awhile, as there is a cutoff switch on the engine itself, so I only needed to pop the hood and press the switch.  At least until the little tab that helped un-latch the hood broke over the weekend.  Suddenly opening the trunk involved a little more work (and needle nose pliers).  Anyway, I took it in to see what it would take to fix it and get an oil change.  Well it turns out, that I also needed new brake pads and rotors.  So that was almost $450 I wasn’t expecting to be spending.  But again, I can’t really complain, my friend did give me the car.  Picked up the car this morning and the car shuts off as its supposed to do.  Right now the “power” locks don’t work on the right side of the car, but I can get that fixed later.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/sketch-37/

Sep 05 2008

The Joys of Renting

I opened up my email this morning to a note from my roommate.  She is apparently getting married and her new husband-to-be will be moving into the apartment.  Which means, that I need to move out.

So now, its time to scour craigslist for a new place to live.  I’m going to try to find a place in the Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silverlake, or Downtown areas.  Mainly because that will keep my commute at a decent minimum.

Good times.

Looks like the laptop purchase is to be postponed for the moment.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/the-joys-of-renting/

May 04 2008

Falling into place

Things are beginning to fall into place for my time after Canterbury.  I’ve found a new apt.  I’ll be living with a cool girl who is my age and teaches yoga.  I’m excited (and the main reason I went to see the place) because we won’t have a tv.  The majority of ads I saw on craigslist all featured their tv’s and semi-large cable bills.  I’ll be paying double rent for the second half of May, but it’ll totally be worth it.  She seems really cool (at least from the one time we talked when I saw the place).  So I’ll be moving in on May 15th.  Time to start packing.

I also started training at Cafe Corsa as a barista last Friday.  Its only part time, and I definitely need a second job quickly, but it is something.  So far I’m enjoying it, I’ll be training through the end of next week and then I’m on my own.  I’ll be working in the afternoon/evenings a few nights a week and Saturdays initially.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/falling-into-place/

May 10 2007

Running to Stand Still

On Tuesday, I found out that I did not get the internship in LA.  While I’m quite relieved to at least know, I’m still a little bummed that I didn’t get it.  LA isn’t my first choice of a place to live by far, however I think the year there would have been very good for me.  What it has done is put me back into a brainstorming mode of what my next move is.  Right now I’m blessed with a great job and boss so I’ve at least got that going for me.  But it also doesn’t get me any closer to where I want to be.  So I’ve got myself some time set up to talk to a friend and do some brainstorming on Monday morning.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to come up with some good ideas from there.

What I see myself doing this week though is pulling inward.  I’ve got no appetite for food, though I’m eating better this week than I did over the weekend.  I’m going home tonight for Mother’s Day weekend, but that is also part of what is on my mind.  A couple weeks ago, my parents were in town, and didn’t tell me they were coming up, and when I talked to them after finding out…didn’t make any time to see me.

I feel alone.  If it wasn’t for one of my best friends, I might not have seen anyone outside of work this week.  I barely even see my roommates…one of whom is a lame duck roommate as he’s moving out at the end of the month. So I also need to be searching for a new roommate, but I have no motivation for that either.

Tonight, 80’s Night at John Henry’s in Eugene.  That will be fun.  It’ll be good to see my Eugene friends and forget about everything else going on for a few hours.

Saturday, I get an eye exam.  I don’t think my perscription will have changed, but its been long enough I need an exam to get new glasses.  I’m going to get my Dolce & Gabanna frames relensed (I lost one of them) and I’m looking for new frames that are flamboyant and competely different from the three frames I already have.

Sunday is Mother’s Day.  I haven’t decided what I’m going to do for her (other than give her the last installment of money that I owe her).   

I’m also looking forward to watching the Planet Earth DVD’s on my dad’s HDTV. 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2007/running-to-stand-still/