So many things happened, good and bad. Mostly good. Chicago has been really good to me, and I’m so grateful for all the opportunities and fortunes it has given me. The apartment has been slowly but surely becoming my own. The job has actually become even more rewarding with more responsibilities and satisfying activities. The social life also improved as I resolved to be more active in meeting new people, experiencing different things, and making plenty of wonderful memories. I’m actually pretty happy with the goals I was able to accomplish within the past twelve months.

And now it’s time for another new year, full of possibilities. It’s also time to set new goals! I admit, I’ve been setting the same ones the past few years, but I gotta keep setting them. Hopefully I’ll be able to knock some more out this time around:

• Learn guitar.
• Learn to swim.
• Get a tv for the apartment.
• Finish my portfolio website.
• Launch a startup.
• Put more into my savings account.
• Get a pet!
• Exercise more (well, duh)
• Build a new computer.
• Read more books.
• Go to Harry Potter World!
• Get a tattoo…
• Get a motorcycle license.
• Learn more recipes to try out.
• Have a vacation in a state I’ve never been in before.
• I’d love to visit Japan…
• Learn how to shoot a gun (for the zombies, of course)

I’m ready for you, 2011!

I’m thankful for…

• my family that love and support me.
• my friends that make me happy.
• my best friend who I enjoy talking and listening to almost everyday.
• my independence for the last 2 years.
• my job that I absolutely love and enjoy doing.
• my apartment that I have slowly but steadily furnished.
• the CTA for providing me with transportation everyday.
• my laptop for without it, I’d be lost!
• CSS3, jQuery, Ubuntu, Chrome, VLC, and Eclipse (to satisfy my inner computer nerd).
• Tumblr for providing me with hours and hours of enjoyment and distractions.
• Netflix and its instant streaming for providing me with hours of television to watch.
• Joss Whedon for Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible, and Dollhouse.
• my newfound love for free movie screenings.
• J.K. Rowling for HARRY FREAKIN’ POTTER.
• the finale of Lost.
• Schubas and Lincoln Hall for having lots of awesome shows.
• Chicago Comics for being my local comic book shop.
• Fables and The Walking Dead for being consistently entertaining comics.
• relationships; even though they can be turbulent, they still provide lots of good memories.
• the city of Chicago for being a wonderful place and giving me a home.

What are you thankful for?

Sorry about that.

You know the usual excuses: work, life, laziness, etc… I’ve been more dedicated to microblogging; posting on my tumblr and twitter. Also, my readership has increased by like 2… and they’re from work. And that makes me a bit more wary about the personal stuff I post online, even though they’re pretty cool about most things.

So updates: work has been awesome, joined a softball team in the spring, had a fun summer, had an AWESOME birthday, and most recently been starting to go to movie screenings. I also met a girl… but I don’t think it’d be appropriate to blog about that right now.

I decided to finally update the site theme as well as make this post. I’ve been really lazy about updating this site, and my friend really berates me for it. So here you go: one new blog entry!

I have some draft posts actually with only one or two really interesting ones. I’ll try to post and write more, especially with what’s going on in my life. Until then, thanks for sticking around!

So I’ve been looking up upcoming shows and added them to my calendar. I am determined to go to as many of these as I possibly can.

• 01/24 – Timbaland at House of Blues
• 01/27 – Everclear at House of Blues
• 02/02 – Utada Hikaru at House of Blues
• 02/22 – Jack’s Mannequin at House of Blues
• 03/05 – New Found Glory w/ Saves the Day at House of Blues

So yeah, all those are at the House of Blues. I’ve been there to see Gavin Rossdale, the place is good for concerts. I like to see other smaller, unknown bands and artists as well, but these are the bigger ticket ones I want to keep an eye on and buy tickets before they’re sold out.

If anyone else knows any other cool bands I should check out, let me know!

02/04 Edit: Also gotta see Switchfoot at the House of Blues on 02/16!

So I guess I should probably check in with how life is going! Pretty exciting, I should say for the most part.

First and foremost: I got my own apartment! This was back in the beginning of October actually. Such a momentous occasion should have merited a blog post almost immediately, but again, I was just so damn busy with settling in and work. It’s a one-bedroom apartment in a building that was previously a brewery. The layout of the building is a bit awkward because of the conversion, but the place isn’t too shabby. I don’t have much furniture: a mattress and a chair. The living room is a very barren place. -_- I’m still saving up for a trip to IKEA or something. Maybe I should just check craigslist. That’s actually how I found both my job and apartment… so why not?

Also, a couple days ago, I was finally offered a full time position at work! YESSSssss!!!!! I’m very happy there, and the new position will be giving me more development experience that I’ve been wanting for a while now. AND I’ll be getting a nicer salary! AND BENEFITS! Oh, how I missed you, health, dental, and vision coverage… So yeah, looks like things are starting to take off!

I’m quite proud of myself for getting this far on my own. Independence is awesome. Also knowing that I accomplished this on my own merits and abilities makes it all the sweeter. But again, a HUGE BIG GIGANTIC thank you to my cousin and her boyfriend for letting me stay at their place while I looked for a job and my own apartment. I seriously wouldn’t have had this awesome opportunity without their generosity and support. I took a risk leaving my last job and coming here to Chicago, but I’m very glad I made it. There were many reasons for wanting to leave, and perhaps I’ll share them here one day, but let’s not dwell on the past, hm?

And just because I got a sweet job and my own apartment doesn’t mean I can slack off! My New Year’s resolution: Go to the gym and get back in shape! Yeah, that’s such a typical resolution, but now I actually do have time and money go, so no more excuses! And I also saw a friend over the holiday break who’s been hitting the gym like crazy—and she is looking GREAT. I’m quite motivated by that actually, so I have a LOT of catching up to do. So come next week, I’ll stop by the gym around my neighborhood and check it out. I got one more resolution, but I’ll post about that later…

Have a safe and happy new year! Hope you had a great 2009, and that the next year will bring you more happiness than the last!

On the ride down, I share a conversation with a fellow from the support team. Small talk ensued:

“Are you from Chicago?”

I respond, “Nah, I’m from Maryland.”

“Isn’t it really cold out there?”

“Yeah, sometimes, but it’s not as cold as it gets here.”

We were about to discuss the current weather (it already feels like winter, where the heck did fall go?!) when we reach the bottom floor and go our separate ways.

I exit the building, walk west on Jackson until I reach the Jimmy John’s. I enter the small vestibule and then attempt to push open the door to the food place actual. It doesn’t budge. I see two young girls ahead of me through the glass pane. They look at me, but to my luck, don’t seem to laugh at my inability to operate a door. I push slightly harder and it finally snaps open. I step forward and give a slight nod, raised eyebrows, and light smirk to flaunt my triumph. One of the girls smiles and I proceed to the line to get my meal.

In line, I look back at the girl, she looks to be in her early to mid 20′s, blonde, and cute. It might be my imagination, but I think she is eyeballing my book, Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I start to imagine myself approaching her, saying some witty line about my struggles with doors that seem to have vendettas against me. Instead, I am snapped out of my musing by the cashier who takes my order.

After I pay for and receive my sandwich, I look back and see that the two girls have left. I walk back to the entrance to return to the office and see that one of the girls had forgotten her scarf nearly fallen on the floor, dangling off the lower footholds of the highchair. I exit outside and try to find them walking away, thinking I could catch up to them and bring them their scarf. It takes only a minute and I see them rounding the corner of Jackson and Franklin. I could try to run after them, but I had failed to grab the scarf myself since my hands were full with my book and food.

I stood there outside for a minute thinking I could valiantly rush in, grab the woolen scarf, run after the girls, and return it to them safe and sound. I contemplate the chivalrous nature of going out of the way to return something lost to a beautiful lady. I always wanted to do something impulsive, quixotic even.

I turn in the opposite direction to go back to the office, where I eat my lunch, uneventfully.

Then I think to myself, “Damn.”

Since regaining employment, and I hardly have the time to go visit any of these places. And I am a bit reluctant to go on weekends. I’ve learned that I really enjoy visiting during off hours, when there are hardly any crowds. It’s a more relaxing and enjoyable experience, for me at least.

I’ve been tinkering around with the idea to buy annual memberships to the museums. Basically, I pay a one time fee for a year’s membership; and I can visit the museums as many times as I would like. With a membership I would ideally go visit an exhibit after a day at work, maybe look at one exhibit for an hour or two, then go home. Instead of visiting all the exhibits in one day, I can see them all when ever I want at my leisure. I also think it’s great to support the museums themselves.

Once I get settled into my new place, I’ll definitely be looking closer at the membership criteria. What do you guys think?

So, yeah, I’m finding it a bit more difficult to figure out what it to write about. Looking back at old posts about 2 years ago, when my blogging frequency was up to almost 5x a week, I put up little blurbs like youtube videos or pics, etc. But I do that with my tumblr now. And then I used to write a little bit more in-depth posts with more substance. And then I moved to Chicago. And the posts kept coming later and later…

I can probably attribute the lack of posts to my job hunt, then my new job, and then the apartment hunt. I was fully focused on those goals, but still microblogging in between.

And now things are coming along more swimmingly. I got a job. I’m doing pretty well in it, and I’m really happy doing what I’m doing. And I also signed a lease for an apartment! This was about a week ago, so I haven’t exactly moved in yet. I’m really really excited about living in my own place for once. I am pretty sure this will be the first time I’ve ever lived alone by myself. I’ve either lived at home with family or at school with roommates. I felt like a total scrub. >:(

But I’ve gotten a surge of freedom and independence since I came to Chicago, and now I look forward to the next step as I move out of my cousin’s closet (yeah, did I mention that? I live in a CLOSET. LOL) into my own apartment.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the rest of my belongings from Maryland as well as start to furnish the place. My taste style in furniture and home decorating seems to be set in modern/contemporary… which probably equals to spending a lot of $$$. I’ve been collecting ideas on this other tumblr actually.

Cool… now I look forward to writing a new piece tomorrow. And I can’t back out of that now, cuz I am committed to getting back into the blogging scene.

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So now I can tell people what I’m doing, show them pics (via Flickr) or videos (via YouTube or Vimeo) of what I’m doing, and also share where I’m doing things. All this and I’m not even getting into posting my web activity. But why would I want to do this–putting my every little deed for out there for all to see? I mean, aren’t we always valuing our privacy? Well, I guess you can look at it as a reach for attention. Maybe a little bit of exhibition? For me, it’s actually a way to kind of keep a record or journal. I actually pay attention to privacy settings on these sites, so not everything is being put out there in public. But, I also like to share my experiences. I do have a friend or two who like to keep tabs, and thus I try to make it interesting for them once in a while. I wish most of my friends were active in this way as well. I mean, it beats having to actually send letters, or e-mails, or even make a phone call.

I sort of promised myself that with this new chapter in my life beginning in Chicago, I’ll better document it for memories and reflections. I’ll have my camera and phone to take pics of the new places I’ll discover. I’ll tweet any interesting experiences. And if you’ve got a Twitter, Brightkite, or even a Flickr account, add me! I’m addicted to reading and responding to other’s microblogging.