I met this girl, Gina. We really like each other.
We met at a barbecue last weekend and talked until 2:00 in the morning. We exchanged numbers and met up for coffee on Tuesday. Turns out we have a lot in common. It's been a long time since I dated anyone, but she makes me comfortable enough to just be myself.
Alex and Ben came over to see my house on Saturday. It was the first time Ben saw it, and the first time for Alex since we painted a couple weeks ago. We had dinner at Bastone in Royal Oak, and came back and bar hopped around Ferndale for the night. We slept 'til past noon and had a very late breakfast at the Fly Trap before they went home on Sunday. I then went over to James' to help him pack. I gave him my May mix CD, as well as all of my mixes from 2008 to listen to on the long drive across the country. After that I called Gina and she came over and we watched the movie of Slaughter-House Five.
Today I feel overwhelmed with things to do. James ended up giving me his lawn mower, and even though I wanted to put together and use the reel mower that I bought (I had started to put it together before I helped him pack Sunday), I'm thinking I might be better off taking it back and getting the money. I spent so much this past month on stuff for the house, I'm practically broke for the first time in a while. Obama needs to hurry up and mail me my First-Time Home Buyer's Credit check. I guess with it being rainy today I don't have to worry about mowing the lawn, but when it does get nice out again, I should really do some yardwork. I'm planning to have Julie and Laura over to see my house now that Julie is back from Africa, and Nick and I are hopefully going to go out for a drink sometime this week.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
less pink
Last night was my first night in my new house.
The weekend of the 9th and 10th was entirely given to refinishing the hardwood floors. The final coat of finish didn't go down until 5:00 Monday morning. At least I was able to take my parent's to Como's for a Mother's Day dinner.
Last week I helped out with some Online jobs while other Assistants had the day off. It was nice to do some of the work that had been so routine for the past year but that I had been away from since I started working with Chris. I took Thursday afternoon off to pick up paint and supplies. Friday I left work a little early and decided to paint the enclosed porch as a surprise to my parents when they showed up Saturday morning. Alex came out to help, and we were able to paint the entire living and dining room areas as well as the kitchen. I chose an olive green for the kitchen and dining room (the kitchen in a semi-gloss finish) and a matching brown for the living room. I have a flair for very saturated room colors. I really enjoy the natural look of the green and brown together: much better than the light/pink decor that the house had before I moved in...
Sunday my dad brought his truck over and we moved all of the large furniture into the house, and after they left I made several trips in my car to bring over all of the essentials so I could stay the night there.
Today I am going to paint the inside of the kitchen cabinets that we weren't able to do on Saturday, and then I can put all of the cabinet doors back. I also need to replace all of the light switch covers and hang my pictures. My best friends Alex and Ben are going to be the first friends to stay the night this upcoming weekend, so I'm hoping to have everything moved in, unpacked, and in place by then.
I'm planning to have a housewarming party in June. Hopefully, I'll be able to host the June family get together during the day, and then in the evening have friends over. I want to have as many people as possible over, so if you want to come and there are any dates in June that won't work for you, let me know. I especially want Julie and Laura to make it, but they have a lot of wedding activities in June, so there's a chance it might even get pushed back to July. I've missed Julie, and she isn't even going to be getting back from Africa until June.
The weekend of the 9th and 10th was entirely given to refinishing the hardwood floors. The final coat of finish didn't go down until 5:00 Monday morning. At least I was able to take my parent's to Como's for a Mother's Day dinner.
Last week I helped out with some Online jobs while other Assistants had the day off. It was nice to do some of the work that had been so routine for the past year but that I had been away from since I started working with Chris. I took Thursday afternoon off to pick up paint and supplies. Friday I left work a little early and decided to paint the enclosed porch as a surprise to my parents when they showed up Saturday morning. Alex came out to help, and we were able to paint the entire living and dining room areas as well as the kitchen. I chose an olive green for the kitchen and dining room (the kitchen in a semi-gloss finish) and a matching brown for the living room. I have a flair for very saturated room colors. I really enjoy the natural look of the green and brown together: much better than the light/pink decor that the house had before I moved in...
Sunday my dad brought his truck over and we moved all of the large furniture into the house, and after they left I made several trips in my car to bring over all of the essentials so I could stay the night there.
Today I am going to paint the inside of the kitchen cabinets that we weren't able to do on Saturday, and then I can put all of the cabinet doors back. I also need to replace all of the light switch covers and hang my pictures. My best friends Alex and Ben are going to be the first friends to stay the night this upcoming weekend, so I'm hoping to have everything moved in, unpacked, and in place by then.
I'm planning to have a housewarming party in June. Hopefully, I'll be able to host the June family get together during the day, and then in the evening have friends over. I want to have as many people as possible over, so if you want to come and there are any dates in June that won't work for you, let me know. I especially want Julie and Laura to make it, but they have a lot of wedding activities in June, so there's a chance it might even get pushed back to July. I've missed Julie, and she isn't even going to be getting back from Africa until June.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
change one thing...
I've said it before, and it still rings true: change one thing; change everything. Or, at least change so many things that it sure feels like everything.
So, I have the keys to the house. Last Thursday I drove to Dearborn for the closing. I got there at the same time as the seller, which was a good ten minutes before everyone else showed up. My mortgage lender walked me through everything, which was really great. I'm sure the closing agent would have done the same thing, but it was nice to have someone I knew walking me through the process. I meant to do a mental count of the number of times I signed my name, but I would guess it was around fifty. The whole process took a little over an hour, and afterward I drove straight the Ferndale city hall to register the title. The first thing I did when I got inside the house was start pulling up the carpet. Once I got down to the padding, I realized that it had been on for so long that the padding was stuck to the finish and about 1/3 of the finish had to be scraped away with the padding. My parents came over on Saturday and we removed all of the remaining carpet staples, the tack strip, and scraped away 99% of the stuck padding. As it turns out, we're going to sand the floor down to wood and refinish, which is going to take another weekend - hopefully this upcoming weekend. Once that's done, we can really get moving forward moving in furniture and painting.
As for other notable changes... I've been able to keep up reading. So far in the past month I've read four of Vonnegut's books: Bluebeard, Breakfast of Champions, Galapagos, and Slapstick. I just started on Player Piano, his first novel. I decided to completely change over my bank accounts, so now I have everything at Chase. I went to BestBank today to close my account, and I felt kind of bad doing it. They gave me all of my money in cash so I went straight to Chase to deposit it. I've also decided to grow my hair out until after I've finished moving. It's already longer than it's ever been, and I haven't completely decided if I'll cut it at the end of the month, but chances are I will.
Anyone who's interested in helping me paint/move: most of it will be taking place on May 16th and 17th. It sure can't come fast enough for me!
So, I have the keys to the house. Last Thursday I drove to Dearborn for the closing. I got there at the same time as the seller, which was a good ten minutes before everyone else showed up. My mortgage lender walked me through everything, which was really great. I'm sure the closing agent would have done the same thing, but it was nice to have someone I knew walking me through the process. I meant to do a mental count of the number of times I signed my name, but I would guess it was around fifty. The whole process took a little over an hour, and afterward I drove straight the Ferndale city hall to register the title. The first thing I did when I got inside the house was start pulling up the carpet. Once I got down to the padding, I realized that it had been on for so long that the padding was stuck to the finish and about 1/3 of the finish had to be scraped away with the padding. My parents came over on Saturday and we removed all of the remaining carpet staples, the tack strip, and scraped away 99% of the stuck padding. As it turns out, we're going to sand the floor down to wood and refinish, which is going to take another weekend - hopefully this upcoming weekend. Once that's done, we can really get moving forward moving in furniture and painting.
As for other notable changes... I've been able to keep up reading. So far in the past month I've read four of Vonnegut's books: Bluebeard, Breakfast of Champions, Galapagos, and Slapstick. I just started on Player Piano, his first novel. I decided to completely change over my bank accounts, so now I have everything at Chase. I went to BestBank today to close my account, and I felt kind of bad doing it. They gave me all of my money in cash so I went straight to Chase to deposit it. I've also decided to grow my hair out until after I've finished moving. It's already longer than it's ever been, and I haven't completely decided if I'll cut it at the end of the month, but chances are I will.
Anyone who's interested in helping me paint/move: most of it will be taking place on May 16th and 17th. It sure can't come fast enough for me!
Monday, April 27, 2009
almost there
T-minus three days.
The time has relatively flown over the past week. Looking back I am very happy, because even being really busy this week, Thursday is going to take forever to come.
Last Monday I came home from work to find J.P. and Aaron hanging out in Julie and Laura's part of the house. I was glad to have people there, because after they left Sunday night, the house felt very lonely. Thursday at work WOMC radio came by with Tom Horton's coffee and doughnuts, as part of a promotion that one of our accounting ladies had won for us. By coincidence, one of the girls who came from WOMC was a girl I had met last fall at Trader Joe's in Royal Oak named Paula. We both recognized each other, but it took us a few minutes to place where from. After we realized, we exchanged numbers and agreed to hang out. After work Thursday I went to the Russell Industrial Center for the AIGA Design Re:View that featured some projects done by my coworkers. Afterward I went with a handful of friends from work over to the Northern Lights Lounge, but I was feeling very tired and didn't want to drink too much and drive home, so I took off around 11:00. Friday after a terribly slow day at work I drove to East Lansing to visit Ben. J.P. had invited us to go to Crunchy's where Aaron was celebrating his birthday. It was cool to see friends I met through Julie and Laura in a setting outside of our house.
On Saturday I met my parents in Commerce Township to pick up some furniture I found on craigslist. It's an entire furniture set: a couch, loveseat, and ottoman. They are a really grey olive green, and microfiber: absolutely awesome. They are exactly what I wanted for the living room at my house. That night I met up with Paula and her friend and went to Luna in Royal Oak. We had a great night dancing and getting to know each other... turns out we have an incredible amount in common. She was the first person to see my tattoo and recognize the album it's from! Sunday I went for a jog, took some bottles back, and went to Ferndale High School for VegFest. I got to sample a ton of great food, and I saw my friends Gregg and Anglea from Detroit Evolution Laboratory give a raw food demonstration. Afterward I drove out to Paula's house and we hung out for the evening, getting to know each other more. She is a really great girl, and I certainly want to spend more time with her.
Today, I started working on a campaign that James had flown to L.A. to work on for the past couple weeks, and was now being worked on here at RingSide. I have spent the day assisting Noah, an editor who lives and works in L.A. He is a really great guy who basically just brought along his laptop and set it up in an empty edit room. I think this independent, self-sufficient editing style is the kind of position I want to be in myself. We are going to be busy for the rest of the week, and even in to the weekend on this project. I have taken Thursday off to close on the house, and Sunday because of a family get-together. I am hoping, however, that with my parent's help we'll be able paint around my work schedule on Friday and Saturday, and finish up Sunday.
The time has relatively flown over the past week. Looking back I am very happy, because even being really busy this week, Thursday is going to take forever to come.
Last Monday I came home from work to find J.P. and Aaron hanging out in Julie and Laura's part of the house. I was glad to have people there, because after they left Sunday night, the house felt very lonely. Thursday at work WOMC radio came by with Tom Horton's coffee and doughnuts, as part of a promotion that one of our accounting ladies had won for us. By coincidence, one of the girls who came from WOMC was a girl I had met last fall at Trader Joe's in Royal Oak named Paula. We both recognized each other, but it took us a few minutes to place where from. After we realized, we exchanged numbers and agreed to hang out. After work Thursday I went to the Russell Industrial Center for the AIGA Design Re:View that featured some projects done by my coworkers. Afterward I went with a handful of friends from work over to the Northern Lights Lounge, but I was feeling very tired and didn't want to drink too much and drive home, so I took off around 11:00. Friday after a terribly slow day at work I drove to East Lansing to visit Ben. J.P. had invited us to go to Crunchy's where Aaron was celebrating his birthday. It was cool to see friends I met through Julie and Laura in a setting outside of our house.
On Saturday I met my parents in Commerce Township to pick up some furniture I found on craigslist. It's an entire furniture set: a couch, loveseat, and ottoman. They are a really grey olive green, and microfiber: absolutely awesome. They are exactly what I wanted for the living room at my house. That night I met up with Paula and her friend and went to Luna in Royal Oak. We had a great night dancing and getting to know each other... turns out we have an incredible amount in common. She was the first person to see my tattoo and recognize the album it's from! Sunday I went for a jog, took some bottles back, and went to Ferndale High School for VegFest. I got to sample a ton of great food, and I saw my friends Gregg and Anglea from Detroit Evolution Laboratory give a raw food demonstration. Afterward I drove out to Paula's house and we hung out for the evening, getting to know each other more. She is a really great girl, and I certainly want to spend more time with her.
Today, I started working on a campaign that James had flown to L.A. to work on for the past couple weeks, and was now being worked on here at RingSide. I have spent the day assisting Noah, an editor who lives and works in L.A. He is a really great guy who basically just brought along his laptop and set it up in an empty edit room. I think this independent, self-sufficient editing style is the kind of position I want to be in myself. We are going to be busy for the rest of the week, and even in to the weekend on this project. I have taken Thursday off to close on the house, and Sunday because of a family get-together. I am hoping, however, that with my parent's help we'll be able paint around my work schedule on Friday and Saturday, and finish up Sunday.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
rediscovered motivation
I spent an unfortunately lengthy, and yet widely distributed portion of the past three or four months laboring through Sons and Lovers written by D.H. Lawrence. Similarly to how I am inspired to do so many things (through popular culture reference), I heard D.H. Lawrence's name in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and decided that I'd like to have reading one of his books as an accomplishment under my belt. While browsing the used book store at the end of my block, I noticed the plain-looking hard-covered copy of Sons and Lovers that I would spend the next three or four months carrying. This purchase coincided with a decision of mine to buy a number of books which I have had interest in reading, as well as some which I have read before and wish to claim as part of a presentable collection. I intended Sons and Lovers to be just the first in a line of novels which I would quickly absorb during the cold winter months I would be trapping myself in my apartment. As it turns out, I spent more of that time watching movies and eating popcorn than I seemed to spend with Sons and Lovers. I managed most of my page-turning on weekend mornings when I stayed in bed with a couple cups of coffee and an empty agenda for the day. Even in those idealistic conditions, however, I was only able to manage a half-hour or so of solid reading. I worried that I was losing my ability to enjoy quality time with a good book. I feel, now that I have finished, that it was only the book that was hedging my interest. I have since shifted to Kurt Vonnegut's Bluebeard and in three days have almost 200 pages behind me and a rediscovered motivation to continue reading and consequently do some writing of my own. So, this entry is serving as a sort of exercise of my literary talents. I haven't been opening the notebook I'd started in October as routinely as when I'd started, but in the weeks remaining until I start painting, carpeting, and in other ways decorating my house, I hope to indulge my creative production.
Monday, April 13, 2009
more than a month's maturing
I feel like my understanding of the concept of growing is growing. I have been trying to assimilate myself into this whirlwind of change that's taken over my life. Some things I don't really want to talk about, some things are just exhausting to talk about (namely the house stuff), and some of it I don't even think I should talk about if I wanted to. I have to admit a feeling of isolation hasn't exactly been the dominant theme of my feelings, either, as independent as I've been acting. I feel like events are coming to a head, though. It'll still be another two and a half weeks before I can officially set foot in my house, but by the time that comes I think I'll have a different kind of excitement than is gripping me now.
A sign of culmination came this past weekend when I spent some quality time at Cass Cafe with my friends Dan and Ron. It was a great thing that I was able to think about our time talking together without worrying too much beforehand about what exactly we'd talk about. I've found myself exceptionally worried about the future, which I suppose isn't the worst fear to have. My concern is that it's not allowing me to enjoy the present. So Ron and I bantered about the past and the future, thoughts and feelings, modesty and selfishness, and other enlightening topics. I reflected on the position Ron assumes as a sort of mentor to me and how I often adopt the same role towards my friends. It was that morning at the end of a yoga practice that I cried when Gregg, our teacher, asked us to thank ourselves. I realized the trouble I had been having with self-appreciation.
My first major job working with Chris is winding down. It allowed me a nice, long, relaxing weekend. Friday I met up with some friends from work down in Detroit for the Opening Day festivities. I started at Nemo's with Heather and Scott, and followed them to the Detroit Beer Company where I ran into J.P., Rambo and John (who I met through Laura and Julie), Chad, who was out with a ton of his friends, and James and Rob who came out after I told James where we were. Darren joined us, and him, James and I went to Centaur before meeting back up with Rob and having dinner at Oslo. (EDIT: I ran into Mike, the Creative Director we'd been working with the previous couple weeks at Centaur. I didn't mention him because I was afraid he'd read this and I'd be embarrassed to have mentioned him - turns out he did read this and called me out for not mentioning him!) Afterward we all drove back up to Ferndale and went to the Loving Touch. There we ran into Jason, one of our clients, and his wife (who was really cool!) I made my way home around eleven, after about twelve hours of drinking. The next day I felt terrible (mainly because of all the smoke I had breathed into my body), and reflected on the fact that I had only paid for half of the ten drinks I had. In the afternoon I went to the Mayflower Bookshop in Berkley and found an amazing Buddha statue making the two mudrās I had really wanted to find (the right hand held up to shoulder-height with the palm open forwards: a symbol of protection, and the left hand on the knee with the palm open upwards: a symbol of charity and compassion.) It will have a special place in my house once I have finished decorating.
Sunday I relaxed until Julie and Laura returned from Coldwater, where they had been staying with their family, and we spent some time hanging around outside. I started reading Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, and am really enjoying it. After a few hours of reading Sunday I am already 1/5 the way though it. I celebrated Easter by watching Dogma Sunday night, and I realized that it is one of my all-time favorite movies, not only from a production standpoint, but also for it's great story and message.
Today one of our major clients had a holiday, so we weren't very busy. Chris went home early, so I'm just watching the Tigers try to rally from four runs down. I got into a fantasy baseball league with some of the guys at work, and I can already tell that it will make this season more interesting.
A sign of culmination came this past weekend when I spent some quality time at Cass Cafe with my friends Dan and Ron. It was a great thing that I was able to think about our time talking together without worrying too much beforehand about what exactly we'd talk about. I've found myself exceptionally worried about the future, which I suppose isn't the worst fear to have. My concern is that it's not allowing me to enjoy the present. So Ron and I bantered about the past and the future, thoughts and feelings, modesty and selfishness, and other enlightening topics. I reflected on the position Ron assumes as a sort of mentor to me and how I often adopt the same role towards my friends. It was that morning at the end of a yoga practice that I cried when Gregg, our teacher, asked us to thank ourselves. I realized the trouble I had been having with self-appreciation.
My first major job working with Chris is winding down. It allowed me a nice, long, relaxing weekend. Friday I met up with some friends from work down in Detroit for the Opening Day festivities. I started at Nemo's with Heather and Scott, and followed them to the Detroit Beer Company where I ran into J.P., Rambo and John (who I met through Laura and Julie), Chad, who was out with a ton of his friends, and James and Rob who came out after I told James where we were. Darren joined us, and him, James and I went to Centaur before meeting back up with Rob and having dinner at Oslo. (EDIT: I ran into Mike, the Creative Director we'd been working with the previous couple weeks at Centaur. I didn't mention him because I was afraid he'd read this and I'd be embarrassed to have mentioned him - turns out he did read this and called me out for not mentioning him!) Afterward we all drove back up to Ferndale and went to the Loving Touch. There we ran into Jason, one of our clients, and his wife (who was really cool!) I made my way home around eleven, after about twelve hours of drinking. The next day I felt terrible (mainly because of all the smoke I had breathed into my body), and reflected on the fact that I had only paid for half of the ten drinks I had. In the afternoon I went to the Mayflower Bookshop in Berkley and found an amazing Buddha statue making the two mudrās I had really wanted to find (the right hand held up to shoulder-height with the palm open forwards: a symbol of protection, and the left hand on the knee with the palm open upwards: a symbol of charity and compassion.) It will have a special place in my house once I have finished decorating.
Sunday I relaxed until Julie and Laura returned from Coldwater, where they had been staying with their family, and we spent some time hanging around outside. I started reading Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, and am really enjoying it. After a few hours of reading Sunday I am already 1/5 the way though it. I celebrated Easter by watching Dogma Sunday night, and I realized that it is one of my all-time favorite movies, not only from a production standpoint, but also for it's great story and message.
Today one of our major clients had a holiday, so we weren't very busy. Chris went home early, so I'm just watching the Tigers try to rally from four runs down. I got into a fantasy baseball league with some of the guys at work, and I can already tell that it will make this season more interesting.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
house inspection
This Sunday I had my house inspected. The guy who did it was really great, and we spent over three hours going over everything. The best part is there are very few things that need fixing. The garage isn't in the best shape, but there is virtually no structural damage to the house. All in all it was a very satisfying inspection. I took along my parent's digital camera, so allow me to take you on the first tour of my house...
inside the front door to the right is the living room/dining room
with hardwood floors underneath!
to the left is the kitchen:
also on the ground floor is a bathroom, two bedrooms, and a sun room:
upstairs is one large room:
and it has a finished basement:
inside the front door to the right is the living room/dining room
with hardwood floors underneath!
to the left is the kitchen:
also on the ground floor is a bathroom, two bedrooms, and a sun room:
upstairs is one large room:
and it has a finished basement:
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