onwards and upwards

one other thing to mention - been thinking very seriously about leaving nyc. it's something i've been wanting to do for awhile and now, with my boss gone, seems to be a good time to do it. basically my plan would be to move home to the cape while i looked for my next job. the idea of not being employed is really scary but the need to make a change is strong and i think it would help put some good things in motion. would like to see if working remotely is an option, but either way i think i'd go ahead and make the jump.

the more i've been thinking about it the more things seem to be in motion in nyc however - been contacted by several recruiters over the last couple weeks and i've been taking phone interviews for the practice and to determine my worth in the marketplace. a couple interviews have moved forward a bit so i'd like to see how those play out but hopefully making a decision in the next week or two.

i've been in nyc since graduating, as this blog has chronicled, and the thought of leaving is definitely strange, but it's also a good argument for making a change and seeing what else is out there. will keep you posted just as soon as i figure it out myself.

recap

well friends - lots going on. it's supposed to monsoon in nyc today and i am so happy to have a day where i can stay inside and be cozy. it's kind of pathetic how excited i am about it. i am sort of craving ihop - a bright cheery diner-type place with bottomless coffee and blueberry syrup is good on a rainy sunday - but sadly the closest one is on union sq and i have no one to go with. :(

i played in a company softball game on friday night in central park and i am sad to say that i have been ridiculously sore as a result for the last two days. i go to the gym, i exercise and stuff and still muscles i didn't even know i had are incredibly painful to move. i should also note that i was playing catcher and took a softball to an unfortunate area of my lower body mid-game. it's okay, i don't need to have kids.

went to nyc's resident boston bar 'professor thom's' on saturday with julia to watch the red sox game (aka blow a 9-0 lead and lose to the yankees) and won first row tickets to a sox game at fenway in a couple weeks in a raffle. the game is at 7:30 on a tuesday night, so we'll be taking a half day to get up to boston for the game. guess i was in the right place at the right time. we also got professor thom's t-shirts which i may be even more excited about than the tickets. but #winning.

i do want to say a bit about my london trip that was a few weeks ago at this point. as you could tell from the pictures a few posts ago, we had a fabulous time. really good mix of tourist and relaxation. some of the key highlights:

• had a mad-hatter themed easter tea at the savoy hotel. the little bottle labeled 'drink me' was delicious
• rode the london eye at dusk so big ben and parliament were all lit up
• checked out the war rooms - the top secret rooms the ministry of defense used as headquarters during world war 2. the map room walls were literally covered in maps with thousands of pin points indicating the positions of convoys all over the world. i'm fascinated by world war 2 and it was so neat to be in the underground rooms where the major decisions that determined the outcome of the war happened (in other news read 'the eye of the needle' by ken follett for a fantastic ww2-era spy novel)
• had two cadbury creme egg flurries at mcdonalds. omg they were so delicious
• walked a bunch - over the tower bridge, through the food markets, over to buckingham palace, portobello road, and through harrod's (though there were no puppies in sight. boo)
• had brunch at vin's coworker's apartment. he was from spain and had imported all this spanish food back to london so it ended up being a brunch of delicious spanish delicacies 
• climbed to the top of st. paul's cathedral. had 'tuppence a bag' from 'mary poppin's stuck in my head'
• cocktails at the 'experimental cocktail club' - a speakeasyesque cocktail joint in chinatown
• rode a double-decker bus

all in all, a total blast. vin was a fantastic hostess and london (and the world really) are just so so cool.  got me thinking about where i want to go next! i'm off to los angeles next weekend to see kevin and hopefully a good friend from high school as well.

nothing ventured, nothing gained

risks don't always present you with results that can be read like test scores. we tend to think of a risk as something that will either completely succeed or completely fail. but sometimes the outcome of the risk takes the form not of a final verdict, but of a pendulum that shifts daily, maybe even hourly.

in the end there's a strength to be gained from an ambiguous outcome. it gives you more to think about. it gives you some mistakes over here, some triumphs over there, some setbacks to keep you humbles, some strides you didn't think you were capable of.

one thing i've learned is that when you take responsibility for the choice you've made; when the person you've kept up nights is yourself, even the worst outcome won't make a victim out of you. you're only a victim when you're reducing risk to a sub-zero game, when you're not respecting its subtleties and hidden agendas, its remarkable ability to restore your faith just moments after it has ripped out your heart and tossed it into a cornfield.

beta sigma

with all this hazing frat/sorority nonsense going on it's worth revisiting beta sigma - the sorority we created during rush b/c rush was full of crap (and making us blow fuses in richardson 309 b/c the three of us were blow-drying our hair at the same time).

back in the days when facebook groups were cool we created 'beta sigma' - so the original mindset and credo can still be found (we were really into the bad girl's guide to getting what you want):

once upon a time, during rush, the presidents of this group decided that they were taking the rush process a little too seriously. in response, they created Beta Sigma - a greek organization that seemed to fit their needs a little better than one currently in existence. observe:

Our Credo:

1. to peform community service in the form of throwing parties for the campus
2. to buy alcohol for freshman
3. to make good erg mixes

we convene around our zen water fountain and follow the bad girl's guides when in doubt. we always came for the waterbed, there is always a black lace bra in our freezer, we're young, we're beautiful and gosh darn it! people like us, silence is golden but shouting is fun and also, you're drunk!

movies i watched traveling to/from london

• mission impossible: ghost protocol
• sherlock holmes: game of shadows
• the hangover 2
• mission impossible 3
• harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2
• a lot of the big bang theory - i'm becoming a fan

well-done continental/united (not sure if they're done merging yet)

London Calling

Out and about with Vin!

this one's number 1000

this post is less depressing than the last one - this post lucky number 1000. that's right - it only took me six years and about four months to get there. then again, this blog has lasted about 6 years longer than the average blog does, so that's saying something. no real new reflections that i haven't already touched on on the blog's anniversary or similar, just what a long strange trip it's been. i suppose in the future having your life chronicled electronically - be it blogs, twitter, or even your gmail archives - won't be strange, but it is a little weird to go back and re-read stuff i wrote so (relatively) long ago. feels like reading about someone other than me.

i know i've been mia and i'm sorry - life has been a little crazy with work and traveling - but blogger did just come out with an iphone app so i'm going to try to post on the go, or at least upload pictures, a little more frequently. i'm sure part of it is just low motivation as saturn's return is doing a number and i'm trying to figure out what's next for me in life. sort of feel like hiding in a paper bag until death comes but it will work out somehow.

speaking of pictures, i was, as you can tell, in miami for five days for work a few weeks ago. was skeptical initially but miami was a blast. we were hanging out with our coworkers so they took us to where the locals go - didn't hang out in south beach at all. miami was like a chi gam dance party on steroids - music everywhere. danced my face off - stayed out til 3 on the thurs night and 6 am on the friday night. so much fun. we ate amazing food too - peruvian, cuban, mexican. i learned a lot about hispanic culture and i can safely say that the trip was a success from a business standpoint as well as a personal standpoint. i'll post my list of new favorite music below - i was shazaming everything the dj's played.

some gem miami-related tweets from yours truly over the last few weeks:

• 'I know you're a New Yorker but let me lead' - my Telemundo co-worker on dancing
• Just saw a flat iron machine in a bar. $3 for two minutes.
• Thank you Dartmouth for training me to dance and drink with the best
• Cuban coffee - that stuff is like rocket fuel'  - am officially hooked but where can i find in nyc?

in other fun travel news i'm often to london to see vin on thursday night. relatively short trip - flying overnight on thurs and back on monday night - but we've got some fun things planned. haven't been to london since a family trip when i was a freshman in high school so it's really been awhile (hi that was 15 years ago). excited to spend some time with her and do the touristy thing. europe just sounds so cool you know?

that's really about it - less fanfare than the 1000 post probably deserves but that's just where i'm at these days - feeling my way through and wondering what's next. as always, stay tuned.

recently added playlist:

• nothing to lose - k'naan
• and we danced - macklemore
• wild ones - flo rida
• i'm a goner - mike & sue
• she doesn't mind - sean paul
• titanium - david guetta
• werk me - hyper crush
• midnight city - m83
• we run the night - havana brown
• naked - dev & enrique
• lamento bolivian - jayro bolanos
• finish line - yasmin
• bon bon - pitbull
• ven conmigo - daddy yankee
• si no le contesto - plan b
• makes me wonder - tronix dj
• de musica ligera - soda stereo
• loca people - sak noel
• dutty love - don omar
• call me maybe - carly rae jepsen
• what makes you beautiful - one direction
• somebody that i used to know - gotye
• work out - j cole
• blackout - breathe carolina
• international love - pitbull
• young, wild & free - snoop dogg
• we're the shit - cady groves
• starships - nicki minaj
• tonight is the night - outasight

this one's depressing guys

from an article about 'the fourth turning - what the cycles of history can teach us about the future' (hint: it's not good)

The ruling class and opinion leaders are dominated by linear thinkers that believe the world progresses in a straight line. Despite all evidence of history clearly moving through cycles that repeat every eighty to one hundred years (a long human life), the present generations are always surprised by these turnings in history.

The next Fourth Turning (aka Crisis period) is due to begin shortly after the new millennium, midway through the Oh-Oh decade. Around the year 2005, a sudden spark will catalyze a Crisis mood. Remnants of the old social order will disintegrate. Political and economic trust will implode. Real hardship will beset the land, with severe distress that could involve questions of class, race, nation and empire. The very survival of the nation will feel at stake. Sometime before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War, and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II.”

“The nation could be ruined, its democracy destroyed, and millions of people scattered or killed. Or America could enter a new golden age, triumphantly applying shared values to improve the human condition. The rhythms of history do not reveal the outcome of the coming Crisis; all they suggest is the timing and dimension.

the whole thing is worth a read: http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=32217