Are You In?

It is now May 21, 2009.

About four and a half months since my last post and I've had several of my close friends request that I pick this back up again. I never intended to stop, I just found myself in a constant flow of events and writing about them on this forum never came to fruitition. I have resolved to change that however... so here goes nothing.

Much has happened in the past four months. Let's see if I can catch you up without taking up too much of your time.

I still work @ 5th Avenue and am making strides towards becoming a Genius. For those of you who don't know, as pretentious as this position sounds, a Genius is a member of Mac technical support, responsible not only for handling hardware but also for repairing relationships between user and machine. So I have that going for me... which is pretty nice. I'll keep you posted.

Beyond work, other opportunities have come and gone with little to show for it. But what is interesting about that is I'm not feeling rushed into anything. While I came to this city for a reason, I have come to the understanding that I have time and other priorities I need to satisfy before I can dive headlong into my dreams. 

On top of that, I have tapped my passion for music and am seriously pursuing guitar. I had an interest in the instrument before this (please see my college days wasted on Rock Band and/or Guitar Hero) but never TRIED. And I must say that after a few months, I think I'm making progress... I only say that because just this past weekend I was able to do something I had never done before: play in front of an audience and sing.

Last month, I noticed a posting at work that mentioned a talent show that was to be held at Apple SoHo and thought nothing of it, certain that anything I did couldn't possibly compare with the extreme talent that surrounded me. (Seriously, in case you haven't noticed, most of my coworkers are really f-ing talented) Fate had other plans. Into my circumstance came a friend of mine from Florida who (without even realizing it) encouraged me to pick up my instrument and to just PLAY. Play for the purpose of creativity, for self-preservation, for the hell of it, but simply to play and love it. So I did. 

One day, while sitting in my room, I was listening to Coldplay's "Parachutes" and it hit me... one of my favorite songs of all time, "Sparks," would be the perfect song to learn. In a creative tantrum, I scoured the interwebs for chords progressions/ tabs/ sheet music and struck gold. The following weeks consisted of the guitar becoming a new appendage. I brought it with me everywhere I could, playing whenever I had the opportunity, and even made some money without intending to while playing in Central Park and in the plaza of Apple Fifth Ave. All this building up to becoming the closing act at the talent show this past Sunday. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I did, mostly because I was enjoying myself so much. Many thanks to those who made the trip out to SoHo to see it and to those who performed as well. All in all, it was a great success and really look forward to trying my hand at public performances again soon.

Well, I'm sure you're tired of reading (at least momentarily). Would you like some photos?

Central Park and its surrounding area

From my fire escape

As you may notice, I am still trying my hand at photography. Hope you like what you see.

Yankee Stadium 5/2/09 Yankees v. Angels

Elverson, PA (an abandoned rail bed)

Looking to the coming weeks, I turn 23 and following that comes a summer of weddings starting with a trip to Baltimore for my good friend Desi's ceremony. Then at the end of June (as most of you might be aware), I am taking a trip down to Florida for what will become a statewide tour. Starting in Miami, I will travel to Orlando, then to Sarasota for Kristina's wedding on the Fourth, then to Gainesville for a few days and then flying home from Orlando. If you find yourself around these cities and have some spare time, I'd love to see you. Let me know what you're up to.

For now, that's all I've got. Thanks for taking the time to check in. Hope you've been well these past few months and look forward to seeing many of you soon. I miss you.

Such A Rush...

Happy New Year to everyone!

If you're still out there...

If you are, welcome back. It's been a while, hasn't it? 

But since you're here, pull up a chair. Have I got some stories for you.

So last we spoke, I had been to my sister's for Thanksgiving. Good times were had and memories made. Always good to see family you haven't seen in a while. :) The following weeks were more or less what my daily routine has become; waking, showering, dressing, and working. As mundane as that may sound, the days off are totally worth it (just as each shift is equally freeing. I have many friends at work that make each day enjoyable).

I ended up working until a few days before Christmas when I made a trip out to Stephanie and Ron's place in Elverson, hoping to finally catch the holiday spirit. For you must understand that up to this point I had seen wreaths, Christmas trees, carolers, SANTA even, yet I could not muster one drop of Christmas cheer.

Going to Stephanie's house has become my escape. I go there and clear my mind... I do think I'd go daft without it. The sight of her Christmas tree and the decorations lit a spark in me and with the care of good company and my family's amazing bond, I settled into Christmas. I apologize now for the lack of photographs from this trip. I'll have to get those from you, Ron.

Highlight of the trip: I have a real bed now.

I know. Amazing. I'm practically an adult now.

After having "Christmas" with family, I returned to New York to a visit from a good friend, Jerome. He had arrived a day earlier than me and Brittany had given him the key to get in. Certainly this holiday would be far from ordinary... 

And I was right.

On Christmas Eve evening, we departed into Manhattan in hopes of seeing some holiday cheer in the final hours of the night. We strolled about and soaked it in. 

Bergdorf Goodman had amazing window displays on Fifth Avenue

Then to Rockefeller Plaza for the tree and the skating rink...

And after our adventures, we needed to refuel. 

And thank God Mike's Diner is open 24 hours.

Christmas Day was very laid back for me. I rose late from bed, called family, and went to work just like any other day of the year... except it was Christmas.

Work was uneventful overall, but fun with some of my friends working alongside me. The real fun lie at the end of my shift. Ryan was coming up to visit for a week or so. I was really looking forward to seeing him. It's hard moving away from a place you called home for four years and leaving someone who was such a large part of that behind. I missed him, so I was pretty pumped to catch up and make some new stories.

Along with Ryan and Jerome, Josephine came up as well. Three Gainesvillians staking claim in New York for a week... you knew that had to be trouble. Needless to say, we have tons of laughs, one-liners, and memories to share. It was so great to see all of you. Take care and I hope to see you again soon.

New Year's Eve was the same situation. We had all decided to intoxicate ourselves in celebration of a New Year. Mission accomplished. Please observe the facebook albums if you need proof.

On January 5th, everything returned to normal around our place. All our visitors had returned home and we were recovering from a week-long party (or so it felt).

Today, January 9th, 2009, is a glorious day. The University of Florida won the National Championship last night over Oklahoma. Congrats to them and all of us who are part of the Gator Nation. I am very proud to say I attended UF even more today than usual.

These days, I'm at work and still chugging along. 

It's not always easy living here but I'm trying. Gomez moves up here in a couple of weeks and starts his journey...

Which makes me think, what have I done in 5 months? 

You know what? That's a whole other post.