Commercial I saw recently that I liked.

Lots of things happening. I’ll post about it later if I can find the time.

That’s right, if you buy a GTI, you’ll not only have fun, you’ll save the environment! And it comes from a very reliable source: Jeremy Clarkson from the famed British BBC show Top Gear.  So without further ado… the video:

Top Gear’s Review of the new MKV GTI

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And yes, I’m terribly busy and I’m doing generally fine. (Albeit busy.)

So. I accidentally left my phone in my pants and washed them with my clothes. Now I have a freshly washed brand new phone that doesn’t work. If I don’t answer my phone for the next few days, you know why.

Thanks to everyone for all the positive comments of encouragement.  I’m still exhausted from the drive, but I’ve arrived in LA safe and sound and my lease application was accepted so I have a place to live (albeit one I share with other people). It’s a great place to live for the time being, whilst I get settled. (Thanks to my cousin David helping me obtain it.) I have to admit, FedEx out here is a completely different experience than back east. Unlike my somewhat unpredictable work hours in the past, my new schedule is Monday through Friday, always about 7 in the morning until 6 or 7 at night. There’s much less pressure, much less stress, and much less of the hectic need to rush constantly. It all takes a little bit of getting used to, but as I adjust, I feel more assured of the fact that I made the right decision for myself for this point in my life.

Tomorrow is the day I embark on my long journey across the country, onwards towards my uncertain future. I’m not sure what’s in store for me, but I know that the people who care about me are happy for me and stand behind me in my decision to do what I feel is right for myself. And if nothing else, if I do decide that being out there is not for me, I always know that I can return back here again someday. So until that day comes, I venture out into the world on my own, to seek out my destiny.

“A person needs, at intervals, to seperate from family and companions and go to new places. One must go without familiars in order to be open to influences, to change.”
-Katherine Butler Hathaway

Ok, so a lot of my stuff is packed, I’ve made a bunch of major preparations, and done a bit of research to the things I’ll have to do once I get there. Only major thing now is trying to find a place to live. I’ve been relentlessly sending out emails to try and find a temporary roommate type situation to last me a couple of months, but I haven’t gotten a single reply back. I guess the fact that I’m on the opposite side of the country and unable to arrange a face-to-face is something of a minor setback in that respect. Hm. I guess I’ll just keep trying. I have a whole week and a half to figure it out.

The closer the actual day looms, the more I think it’s hitting me how big of a change this is and how much I’ll miss this hellish place. But, as they say, life goes on.

So it’s final, the details are set, and I’m moving to LA by the end of this month. Am I nervous? You bet. I’ve never lived anywhere outside of this area before. And you know, there are a lot of doubts in my head; A lot of things I’m not sure of; A lot of things I think I might regret leaving behind, but what’s done is done and I firmly believe you cannot live in fear of making the really tough decisions. California, here I come.

Currently I’m sitting in a warehouse in some town outside of LA, listening to my cousins’ band practice in the next room. They’ve improved since the last time I heard them (which was a year ago). Right now there’s a lot of things going through my mind about where my life is going from this point forward. I’ve visited the station in LA that I’ve applied to and my chances of getting the job look favorable. I’ll find out for certain sometime during this upcoming week whether or not I’ve gotten it. I guess there’s always fear whenever you’re faced with the unknown, especially when it comes to doing something new or going somewhere with your life that you’ve never ventured before. Although I’ve lived in many places in New York and New Jersey, I’ve never made a home for myself outside of the two states that I consider my native territory, and the notion of just picking up and transplanting myself across the other side of the country where I know only my family can be a frightening thought at times. Even so, I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. Whatever happens in the next few weeks and months, I’m sure it’ll be for some greater purpose that I’m as of yet unable to discern within the larger picture that composes my life.

I also learned that day that love is not about being happy, having fun or admiring someone’s best attributes or achievements.  It’s about loving them at their worst, because in this world while there are none that are infallible, there are also none that are undeserving of love.
-franksabunch

I read a great entry today by franksabunch about his father and the lessons he’s learned from him. I’m thankful for every day I get to spend with my father, and for all the things he’s taught me. In many ways, he’s my greatest inspiration. I don’t claim to be perfect, nor do I claim to be infallible, but if there’s one thing I have learned it’s that the quote written above is so very true. I heard in a movie once that we like a person for their good qualities, but love them for their flaws. (Paraphrased. And no I don’t remember which movie. It might’ve been Life or Something Like It.) Feel free to read his entry, it’s good stuff.

In Other News

I’m on vacation this week (woo, vacation.) and I’m planning on using my “Airline Employee” benefits to fly roundtrip to Cali for $68. That’s right, FedEx Express employees are considered airline employees because we’re actually one of the larger airlines around. (We just happen to fly boxes instead of people.) Only downside to this is that I have to fly on a space-available basis, which means if there’s no space, I could wind up stranded in Cali. (Which almost happened to me last time.) But I guess there are worse fates than being stuck in L.A. for an extra day or two. My aunt insists I should rent a car. I’m still pondering the financial feasiblity of that, though. A new position has opened up in LA, and I’ve applied for it. I guess we’ll see how the winds of fate blow for me.

I’ve always maintained that generally, it’s usually much harder to do the right thing than it is to do the selfish thing. It takes hundreds of men thousands of hours of work to create a building, and yet the same building can be destroyed with as little as one person in just a few brief seconds. It can take hours, days, even weeks of hard work to create art, music, and writing, but only a few brief moments to ruin it. It takes months to build up a close friendship and a real trust, but only an instant to shatter it. In our quest to find fulfillment and gratification, we often think of doing good as stopping those who would destroy what already exists, but in doing so, are we not simply maintaining the status quo? Is it really so great and kind hearted to keep things the way they already exist? Truly doing good doesn’t come just in stopping the bad, but also in creating those good things and giving of it willingly to others.

It’s easy to destroy something. It’s harder, but still not all too difficult to keep things as they are. The hardest thing you can do is to create something, and harder still to share it once you’re finished. We’re so conditioned to accept and find comfort in the familiar, that we make great efforts to keep things as they are, unchanging, never growing, because we fear what we do not know and the uncertainty of change drives us to resist what may even be beneficial. It’s just that we wouldn’t know it even if we saw it, because we’re trying so hard to resist, to hold back, to deny it of ourselves. We measure so much by what we don’t have, by what we don’t do, by all the don’ts that we follow and try so hard to resist that we never stop to think that maybe life isn’t about what you don’t have, don’t do, and don’t own. Rarely do we actually measure a person based on what they haven’t done. The measure of a person is on their actions and what they have done. You get no credit for resisting the urge to do something you know is wrong, but rather in choosing to do something you know is right.

“I think we can’t go around measuring our goodness by what we don’t do, by what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think we’ve got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include.”
-Chocolat