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?

Things have been real busy and chaotic the past month. I thought I’d just post something real quick before the month is up.

Biggest announcement: I got a job! ::does a happy dance:: I start July 1st, and I’ll post more about it then.

In addition to getting back into work this week, I got these things to look forward to:

- Dan and Trav are dropping by Chicago today. Excited to see what shenanigans we’ll be getting into!
- Flying to Maryland for the weekend! It’s July 4th, but also my birthday weekend! I really have no plans this year for it, but I’m really psyched to see friends back home. Still haven’t decided where I want to celebrate, but I’m kind of leaning towards Annapolis right now… we’ll see.

Stay tuned!

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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.

Oh 2008, I knew thee well. Lots of hardships, lots of blessings.

In the past year I…

was broke.
was unemployed.
fell in love.
was heartbroken.
got over it.
fell in love again.
realized how not in love I really was.
became sad and lonely.
decided to not take things so seriously and personally.
became really happy and positive.
got back into banking.
got a steady paycheck once again.
rebuilt my savings.
got addicted to WoW.
made some new friends.
got a new digital camera.
said goodbye to Lola.
experienced some of the greatest disappointments one can in the span of one night out.
experienced some of the greatest successes one can in the same night.
was able to quit WoW cold turkey.
went on some horrible dates.
went on some awesome dates.
learned that 2+2=5.
paid off some credit cards.
made the decision to take control of my life.

And it wouldn’t be New Years without some resolutions though, right?

• Get a new job (A must.)
• Get my own place.
• Keep in touch with my friends.
• Update the blog more consistently.
• Here’s a typical one: Go to the gym and get back in shape.
• Stop bullshitting around and be more honest and straightforward.
• Continue to make new friends.
• Re-read the A Song of Ice and Fire books.
• Learn at least one of these things.
• Watch Gossip Girl already.

As the last post had noted, I already put my two weeks notice in at work. I’m leaving. I’m moving on. I’m ready to start something new and see what I can accomplish on my own. It’s looking to be an exciting year.

“What’s to Stop Me?” from We The Robots

This little web comic strip from We The Robots perfectly describes how I feel when I go to work. Not that I don’t like work… I don’t love it, per se. But I am really eager to make the jump to Chicago. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that before. I’ll be moving to Chicago! At least, that’s the plan. I got the savings and a place to crash at. The only thing holding me back? The job situation. I don’t have one lined up. I feel like I can do a better job getting one once I’m over there. However, I can’t just bail on my current job, just like that. I could. I really could. But it just wouldn’t feel right to me to leave them hanging. Hence, the feeling that I’m stuck there right now. But after some pep talks with some friends who provided some choice words of encouragement, I’m determined to hang around just a bit longer. At the very least, I’ll be staying in Maryland until the new year.

The whole adventure of moving out of state and starting something new in an awesome city just gets me excited! The day I make the jump is coming closer and closer. I don’t expect it to be without its rough patches, but I can feel that this is something that I truly want. I guess we’ll see how it goes in the coming months…

PS: I also quit World of Warcraft a couple weeks ago. I’ll post about that later.

The vacation was great. Chicago yearns for me to return, perhaps to make a life out there. Florida had welcomed me back again with its warm embrace, reminding me that there will always be a place for me to relax.

The day I returned to work was quite a surprise: they gave me a promotion and a raise. Kind of unexpected, but I feel great from getting some kind of recognition for my hard work and enthusiasm with only about a month into the job. I can probably say now that I feel a little cocky. :smirk:

Continuing the good vibes… a cute girl gave me her number the other day. My feel good level has risen quite a bit, hehehe.

Other tidbits:

• Finished Crisis Core. Wasn’t wowed by the gameplay, but the story itself is kind of interesting. It’s really weird to see Sephiroth before he went crazy. And I change my mind about Cloud + Aeris. I am now all about Zack + Aerith.
• Spreading the word on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Yeah, I totally blogged about it here.
• I got a new digital camera before my trip, Sony Cyber-shot T300. I love it so far.
• I have some cards/a gift that I have been meaning to send out for a couple weeks now. I feel bad that I got really lazy about it, but I had gotten really busy with work and then the vacation. Eh, no excuses now, right? Note to self: Get on that.
• Dammit, my cousins and I were trying to catch Dark Knight at the IMAX in Chicago. Freakin’ SOLD OUT all opening weekend. I’m grumpy for not having seen it by now. I should have seen it opening night like a true Batman fan. Grrrr…
• Random: I’m starting to like Diet Pepsi more than Diet Coke. wtf.

What have you guys been doing the past couple of weeks? We need to catch up asap, cuz I really miss ya.

Dad: Excuse me, I have a question.

Girl: Sure!

D: What do you do for fun around here?

G: Oh! There’s not really a lot of places here. The only worthwhile places are the strip clubs.

D: You go to strip clubs? Wow, I didn’t know girls like to go to places like that.

G: Oh yeah! It’s a lot of fun! Me and my friends go to [I forgot which one she named], but if we want some flavor, we go to Cheaters.

D: Flavor?

G: Um, you know… flavor! The other club is mostly white girls, but we love to go to the other one for the flavor girls.

Ok. So, two points about this conversation were a surprise:
1. There are girls who enjoy strip clubs.
2. The term flavors I have never heard before..

Life is interesting like that.