Bittersweet

Good weekend and a fitting end to another month in the books. I can't stop yawning...but what else is new? I'm lookin forward to the start of May and the coming "summer" months. Hopefully some pretty major changes for me in the near future. Anyway, to recap:

Today I went to the wake/viewing for Kevin's dad. It wasn't really what I expected...although I'm not really sure what I expected. I stayed for a couple hours and got to see my NY boys and Kelly from Boston, plus Jackie came (who lives in Arlington but I rarely see). We actually stood around and laughed a lot, talked about every random thing, but also paid our respects of course. I'm really glad I went...Izzo likes to give me crap about moving to NYC and sometimes I think it'd be pretty sweet to live up there and hang w/ him, Bob, Teich, and the crew. Don't know when I'll see most of them next, but regardless today was bittersweet.

Yesterday I hung out w/ Micah--just sat around talking and went to get a little lunch. That kid is my boy--he, like me, isn't totally sure what he wants to do next in life but has a lot goin on right now. I can relate with A LOT of the things he's going through--both good and bad. The highlight was him making me pay for the food 'cause I make more than him and have more in the bank, haha.

Got a short work week comin up--lookin forward to that. In desperate need of a haircut--hopefully manana. Just wrote a check for nearly $1,000--hopefully money well spent. That's all for now folks...

Life is good!

Life is short

My old roommate's father just passed away and it has kind of changed my outlook on things a little. He's a good friend, and we had a 45-minute phone conversation about everything yesterday. I purposely tried to bring up other things to take his mind off it and he seems to be doing surprisingly well--"one day at a time" as he put it. The wake/funeral is this Sunday/Monday, and I hope to be able to go.

That news--combined with finding out my step-grandma has lung cancer and the book I've been reading--just makes you think and helps put things in perspective. One of my favorite professors--and people in general--taught me that life is really all about relationships. When we leave this place, people will remember not what we did and how much we made, but how we treated people and the way we lived life. One of the main themes of The Purpose Driven Life is finding meaning in our lives and cherishing every day. I don't claim to be some omnipotent, wise preacher because I'm not, but this stuff is true and we could all learn from it.

But beyond the tragic events like death, injuries, illness, etc., life is full of minor problems that we can either stress and worry about, or conquer and move on from. I think the saying is "You never know today what tomorrow will bring"--so I try to look past the petty differences and keep a closer eye on the bigger picture. As I've found out lately, and without my own doing, the most important things can change VERY quickly whether you want them to or not. Just my 2 cents, take it or leave it...

"I guess this is growing up?"

I was feeling a little bored and inquisitive the other day so I decided to put on paper where all my friends are in their lives right now. The result was a list of states they live in (way more than I thought) and those with major changes in their lives (wives/husbands, baby's mommas, bun in the oven, etc.) I'll let the numbers speak for themselves:

Out of people I know...
-131 live in VA
-14 live in NY
-8 live in FL
-6 live in PA
-6 live in MD
-4 live in MA
-3 live in NJ
-3 live in WV
-3 live in OH
-3 live in GA
-2 live in DC
-2 live in CA
-2 live in NE
-2 live in TX
-1 lives in KY
-1 lives in CT
-1 lives in SC
-1 lives in AZ
-1 lives in MN
-1 lives in TN
-1 lives in RI
-1 lives in WA
-1 lives in AL
*-1 (I think) lives in Korea

So obviously most of my friends are still in VA like me. Here's a breakdown with the top few cities in the Old Dominion:

-H'burg: 24
-Arlington: 21
-Manassas: 12
-Richmond: 12
-Fairfax: 12
-Reston: 9
-Falls Church: 6
-VA Beach: 6
-Alexandria: 5
-Herndon: 4
-Woodbridge: 4
-Norfolk: 3

Now for the scary part. This list seems to grow everyday and there could even be others I don't know about:

-People that are married: 7
-People that are engaged: 9
-People that are parents: 3
-People that are pregnant/have had an abortion: 2

Sometimes it helps to get a better idea of the big picture 'cause life can move pretty fast. Long story short: My friends are spread apart like crazy and lots have attachments that I don't want for awhile. HOLLA

Put me in my place

So I guess I fall under the cheesy label of a "young professional"--almost 2 years out of school, held down the same job for over a year and a half now, blah blah. And I like a lot of things about what I do...but lately I've found myself getting a little too cocky for my own good.

I'm a sports editor and columnist for the world's largest Internet service provider. I mean, how cool is that? I also do freelance writing for magazines and Web sites. The point here is not to post my resume, but to enlighten people on the fact that I know I have a pretty good gig. Plenty of my friends are stuck in dead-end, entry-level jobs that they dread going to. I empathize with those people.

But when I meet someone new, it's standard for one of the first questions to be: "Where do you work?" or "What do you do?" Most folks seem pretty impressed when I give my answer, but then this weird feeling of "I have a better job than you" or "Can you top that?" comes over me almost immediately. At the risk of sounding overly cocky or smug, I try to put the focus on them and act interested in their answers. Maybe I'm one of the lucky few, although my job isn't perfect, but I'm definitely grateful and appreciative of the opportunities it's given me.

Don't you hate meeting someone who thinks he/she is better than you? This reminds me of the well-known arrogant label UVA kids have around here compared to the rest. And it also might portray me as one of those Laguna Beach-type trust fund babies--which I am definitely not. I guess I just need to have more of an open mind and realize that there's somethin out there for everybody. Until next time...

$ Makes the World Go 'Round

The world is so driven by money, it's ridiculous. It's really the ultimate divider and polarizing element in people's lives. I enjoy having it as much as the next person, but sometimes I wish it didn't play such a huge role in everything we do.

I'm about to fill up with gas, and I'm guessing the total will be in the ballpark of $38. It's creeping towards 3 bones a gallon--and will continue to rise all summer! The worst part is there's nothing you or I can really do about it. I fill up like once a week, and it seems to get worse everytime.

They say "Money can't buy happiness"...and my rebuttal is "No, but it sure can rent a good time." That said, time to go write a $145 check and sign my life away to Uncle Sam.

Comments?

Ah, the Internet. Those of us that make a living working with it know the beast that it's created. For people my age, one of the main things you can do on it is "stalk" other people without them knowing about it. I'm as guilty as the next guy of this, but today I'm issuing a challenge.

Look, I know you read my blog. In fact, you might be clicking on my profile right now and checking it for updates. I'm not saying I expect everyone to post a comment about it, but darnit all I've gotten is one comment since I started this thing a couple weeks ago! (Shoutout to SarahTTPlayavs17magazine for her saying "I'm gonna get so many chicks on the I-net"...love that girl). Just drop a line about anything and don't take the easy way out by reading my writing, wanting to say something, but chickening out.

OK that's all for today--TGIF.

Weekend

Haven't posted in over a week, mainly due to my shenanigans over the past few days. My buddy Troy and I went down to H'burg for "Alumni Weekend" and let's just say we personified our "balls to the wall" phrase. I got to see tons of people either still there or just in town for the weekend, although I didn't get to talk to a couple select people as much as I wanted (you know who you are). I seriously wonder how I'm still functioning after the types of activities we all participated in, haha. Anyway, what I remember about it was a great time and more fun than I would have had around here. Thanks to everyone I saw down there for making it sweet and I'll see y'all for grad weekend.

Bleed Purple & Gold!

Birthdays

So I just turned 24, and so far it's been really good. The celebration lasted more than a week, and it's finally settled down now. Which got me thinking...I've always thought a lot of people had birthdays this time of year, but I never really knew how many.

Among people I know, 22 different ppl have had their birthday between March 1 and today. That's pretty ridiculous...so if you subtract 9 months from mid-March, that means a whole rack of parents were gettin' busy in the month of June. A little premature July 4 fireworks? Celebrating the start of summer? Hmm...I think I'll stop there before I get grossed out about how I was conceived but it does make me wonder why March/April and September/October seem to be the most popular for birthdays. But I guess people are born everyday, right...

On that note here's a pic from how I celebrated my 23rd last year, by taking a trip to L.A. w/ my bro. It was sweet and I will definitely go back. Birthday shoutouts to all the spring babies out there--just another reason why it's the best season of the year.

Tired...

No real point to this post except to vent a little about how much I dislike Daylight Savings time. If it ain't broke, why fix it? I woke up too early today and really hate losing an hour of sleep. I guess the extra hour of daylight is alright, but when your job keeps you inside who really cares?

I read a story that Bush signed a law changing it from April and October to March and November that will take effect in 2007. Good for him. By the time we get used to the change in hours, it's almost time for it to change back again! I just think it's worthless and something our society could do without. OK I feel better now...time to go change my clocks.