Life Update

Because I enjoy reflecting on my own life, here's a quickie update.

• My five year plan was to be the head of an education department of a museum. Instead, I'm the head of the Elfreth's Alley Museum. Tons of responsibility, but I love my job.
• I have an amazing apartment in Fairmount. Only my parents' house can compete with it for the nicest place I've ever lived. It's fantastic.
• I'm going to LaSalle to get a certificate in Non-Profit Management. Once I'm done with that, I'll start working toward a Master's Degree. I'm still leaning toward the Global & International Education program at Drexel. 
• Things are going well with the What. I'd like to turn a profit with it sometime in the next year. 
• Jeff is the first of the grandchildren to get married. Super-stoked to be in the wedding!

Success!

I saw it has been awhile since I posted, so I thought I'd toss out a quick update. I've come to the realization recently that, in one way or another, I accomplished almost all of my goals/dreams this year. It's a pretty amazing feeling. Because I'm too lazy to go into detail, here are some examples:

• Saw my name in the credits. Not in a movie theater, as I had envisioned it, but on prime-time national broadcast television. It was a good feeling, seeing that.
• Taught. Granted, I was a subbing, but I still got up in front of a classroom and gave it a whirl. And with what's on the horizon, it won't be the last time.
• Got in shape. I lost 45 pounds so far this year. Most of it before summer, at which point I started eating more and working out less. I'm still in good shape, I've only put on two pounds over this entire summer of eating, drinking, and being merry. I think I can knock off another 25 or so before I'm 27.
• Get published. I started off with trying that Examiner thing, which had way too many limits for me. So I started my own local blog/magazine thing here, which led to me becoming a writer for Primer Magazine. I actually have three articles coming out soon with two more already in the works for the winter. It's a blast.
• On a smaller scale, last year I mentioned that moving out of the South and into a city would be great, hoping to make new friends (especially couples), try new things, go out a lot, go to concerts, join an intramural team, and live a more active lifestyle in general. Well, I'm out of the South, still working on the city part, making a ton of new friends (including several cool couples), trying as many new things as possible, going out a bit too much actually, seeing some fantastic concerts, not only played on a team but won a championship, and I can certainly say I've been very active.

Clearly things have been going well since my last update. Granted there have been some personal and professional setbacks along the way, but I'm apparently pretty resilient and can take plenty of the bad along with the good. Regardless, the point is that things are good, and on the cusp of being even better. So in seven months when I get around to another update, I expect to be doing alright!

Drunken Lullabies

Yes, it's that time again. Time to play eight of the nine Irish songs I have for a week. The ninth is a Christmas song, thusly disqualifying it from the mid-March rotation. My goal this week, is to have as much free beer as I can on Wednesday. You see, I've been blessed with sharing a name with the biggest beer holiday of the year. For that reason, many bars give one free beer to patrons (pun intended) who share their name with Saint Patrick. Should it be that this is not the case with money being tight, I am guaranteed at least one free beer at PYT. Lucky indeed.

I must say that calorie counting has been a remarkably educational experience. It has been quite enlightening to find that some foods are much higher than expected, and others somewhat lower. Again, luckily enough for me, I haven't really given up many foods, I mainly just exercise restraint when it comes to portioning and snacking. At any rate, it seems to be working. With my first month of calorie counting and my own little workout routine, I have managed to shed 21 pounds. I now weigh what I weighed at this time last year. My goal is another 41 pounds by 12 June. I think it is doable.

I applied for a few on camera gigs this week. They are quite different in format and location. One is based in NYC, the other in DC. I would honestly be happy with a call back just so I could get an interview. Any excuse to get to either city would be fantastic right now.

Am I the only person who enjoys a good bagpipe version of "Amazing Grace?" Could be. After all, I was the only person who enjoyed the short-lived Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. On an unrelated note, I just had one of those moments in which typing a normal word seemed odd. "Strip" just looks weird to me now. On another unrelated note, I overuse the phrase "on an unrelated note" as a segue.

That being said, my goal continues to be finding a decent job in New York or Washington. It's frustrating to see all of these freelance and short-term gigs on Craigslist and not be able to take them. I also am going stir crazy. It has been over a year since I last lived in a city and I can not wait to move back into one. Granted, I was fed up with Philly and I don't have any grand desire to move back, but NY or DC would be fantastic.

Final thought: i should be substitute teaching within the next two to three weeks. Very excited for that.

I'm Yours

So 7 March has come and gone and while I may not have Abby's feet on my lap, I do have my feet in the door. I scored a three-day gig with Dancing With the Stars. Not too shabby.

Also, I applied for a wicked cool job based out of NYC, which of course is the place dreams are made of.

Finally, I'm 20 pounds lighter than I was when I wrote that last entry. Only four pounds away from my goal weight for when Abby comes up for a visit, which is less than three weeks away. Looks like I'll be even lighter than I hoped. Sweetness.

I am now off to enjoy this beautiful, almost 60-degree weather we're having.

Bon vivant

Wonderwall

On 7 January, I sat on the couch in our living room with Abby's feet on my lap. I wonder where I'll be on 7 March and what I'll be doing. I can't imagine it'll be more satisfying than the previously described moment. Regardless, I hope the next 30 days are more positive than the 30 that have just passed.

As for an update, haven't heard back from my interview. I have applied to several more jobs and expanded my search to include New York, Pittsburgh, LA, and Atlanta. Oh, and Germany. On Tuesday I'll be able to get my fingerprints done, pick up my transcripts, and get my other W2. Hopefully I can get my taxes filed and get that refund ASAP. I think I'll continue expanding my search.

Dominoes

My goal, right now, is to get a job and an apartment in the DC area. I've applied for several, and they all look like they'd be a good fit for me. One of them actually helped me realize that I had been leaving things off of my resume that could be valuable. My hope is to get one of these jobs, move down there, and get to work. Once I'm caught up with my student loan payments and settled, there are a few workshops and "boot camps" led by different media companies. The one I'm interested in is with the Travel Channel. What better way to build connections for the travel show I want to do than to actually train with the Travel Channel? Should I find myself with a free weekday, I'd look into subbing there, as I really want to find out if I would be a good teacher.

Should I not get hired there, the process for subbing here is moving along. I get fingerprinted on Tuesday and I'll have to schedule a physical for next week as well. While I have yet to hear back from anyone else around here, it is good to know I'll at least have something. Regardless, DC is my main focus.

In other random news, the final season of LOST started a couple of days ago. It was mind-blowing, as usual. Last night I finally got to PYT at the Piazza with Buddy, Mary, Roberta, Adam, and Alyssa. It was a pretty good time. They have bingo there in which the prizes are burgers, beer, and other food. Sweet deal.

Despite the moderately busy couple of days I've had, I still miss Abby. Being apart this time has been more difficult than I had expected. I hope we figure out a way to be closer together this summer. I miss my best friend.

Those are my thoughts for now. There's a blizzard coming, which will likely mean an extra dose of cabin fever for me this weekend. Times like these make me wish I had friends in NYC, DC, or Boston that I could stay with for a weekend or something. All of my friends either are in Philly or hundreds of miles away. I need to work on the area in between. Well, wish me luck with DC and have a lovely day. I'm off to download "Sound of Da Police."

Everlong

Because I have yet to, and likely will not, express it vocally, I just would like to say that the past few weeks have been among the worst in my life. That being said, I believe I made somewhat decent strides towards amending that today. I also take a small amount of solace in the belief that a lesser person would have long since cracked under similar circumstances. Hopefully, having now expressed this here, I can rein in my wandering mind and focus on the letter of intent I am trying to write.