Tag: roommates

Nov 05 2008

Sketch 44

It has been an interesting week.  Of course the big happening of the last week was the election (if you couldn’t tell from my earlier posts today).  Over the weekend, I saw two shows by Ray LaMontagne (in San Diego and Los Angeles respectively), look for more on that in a future post though.  A friendship has changed (sadly).

I am hopeful this week though.  I’m still in disbelief in some ways about the election.  Both the fact that Obama was elected President, and that the state of California pass Prop 8, eliminating the right of marriage for same-sex partners.  I am hopeful though that eventually all of the citizens of California (and the US) will be treated equally when it comes to marriage.

I’ve been in my new apartment for about a month now.  I’m really happy there.  My roommates are great.  The only bad thing is I’m watching more TV now…but oh well.  I do want to get back to some more creative pursuits however.  I need to make that a goal this month.

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Sep 05 2008

The Joys of Renting

I opened up my email this morning to a note from my roommate.  She is apparently getting married and her new husband-to-be will be moving into the apartment.  Which means, that I need to move out.

So now, its time to scour craigslist for a new place to live.  I’m going to try to find a place in the Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silverlake, or Downtown areas.  Mainly because that will keep my commute at a decent minimum.

Good times.

Looks like the laptop purchase is to be postponed for the moment.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/09/the-joys-of-renting/

May 28 2008

Sketch 21

Things are going pretty well these days.  I’m really happy with my job at the coffee shop.  I’m really happy with my new apartment and roommate.  Mainly, I’m just pretty happy at the moment.

Last Friday I saw the new Indiana Jones movie.  I won’t say much about the movie, but its Indy and cheesy…but fun.  I met up with a bunch of people I didn’t know to see the movie.  My connection was the friend of one of my old middle/high school friends.  We met at a restaurant called the Hungry Cat, which is right around the corner from the Arclight.  I only had a cocktail, which was good, but also $12.  Welcome to Hollywood.

Saturday was a pretty lazy day.  I did some reading, watched a movie at home, and pretty much nothing else.  Sunday was more of the same, except for church and buying groceries.  I’ve been going to this new service at church.  It’s cool, its an alternative eucharist, that looks nothing like the service from the prayer book.  I like the service itself, and the people leading it, but…I think I realized whats been missing for me at Beverly Hills.  I just don’t feel connected to the church community.  I’m sure some of that is my own fault (and how busy I was during the school year), but still its just not working for me at the moment.  I’m thinking that I’m going to check out Pasadena sometime soon.  Since I already have some friends going there, maybe I’ll be able to connect easier.

Monday was a pretty full day.  I walked over to Sunset and Vine to have a late brunch with a friend.  It took about a half hour, a doable walk, but probably better as a bike ride.  We went to The Waffle, a newish upscale diner.  I wasn’t really that impressed.  The staff/management wasn’t prepared for a busy day (it was Memorial Day), so they were all a little frazzled.  The waffles weren’t that exciting and the portions were pretty small for being over $10.  If they had been in the $5-7 range, it would have been ok.  After, brunch I went to the beach for a little bit to read.  I didn’t end up staying terribly long, because it was pretty windy and the tempature started dropping after 5pm.  Later on, a friend came over to see the new apartment.  We hung out and watched movies and drank wine.  It was nice and relaxing.

Yesterday I was pretty excited to be able to work.  I know…crazy…I was excited to work.  While I was at work, my roommate texted and let me know she was having some folks over for dinner and asked if I wanted to join.  So our first dinner party happened pretty impromtu like.  It was great.  Good food, good conversations, good time (and yes more wine).  One of the guys who stopped by was a professional hula hooper.  Now that is a niche job.

Did I mention that I’m happy?

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May 04 2008

Falling into place

Things are beginning to fall into place for my time after Canterbury.  I’ve found a new apt.  I’ll be living with a cool girl who is my age and teaches yoga.  I’m excited (and the main reason I went to see the place) because we won’t have a tv.  The majority of ads I saw on craigslist all featured their tv’s and semi-large cable bills.  I’ll be paying double rent for the second half of May, but it’ll totally be worth it.  She seems really cool (at least from the one time we talked when I saw the place).  So I’ll be moving in on May 15th.  Time to start packing.

I also started training at Cafe Corsa as a barista last Friday.  Its only part time, and I definitely need a second job quickly, but it is something.  So far I’m enjoying it, I’ll be training through the end of next week and then I’m on my own.  I’ll be working in the afternoon/evenings a few nights a week and Saturdays initially.

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May 10 2007

Running to Stand Still

On Tuesday, I found out that I did not get the internship in LA.  While I’m quite relieved to at least know, I’m still a little bummed that I didn’t get it.  LA isn’t my first choice of a place to live by far, however I think the year there would have been very good for me.  What it has done is put me back into a brainstorming mode of what my next move is.  Right now I’m blessed with a great job and boss so I’ve at least got that going for me.  But it also doesn’t get me any closer to where I want to be.  So I’ve got myself some time set up to talk to a friend and do some brainstorming on Monday morning.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to come up with some good ideas from there.

What I see myself doing this week though is pulling inward.  I’ve got no appetite for food, though I’m eating better this week than I did over the weekend.  I’m going home tonight for Mother’s Day weekend, but that is also part of what is on my mind.  A couple weeks ago, my parents were in town, and didn’t tell me they were coming up, and when I talked to them after finding out…didn’t make any time to see me.

I feel alone.  If it wasn’t for one of my best friends, I might not have seen anyone outside of work this week.  I barely even see my roommates…one of whom is a lame duck roommate as he’s moving out at the end of the month. So I also need to be searching for a new roommate, but I have no motivation for that either.

Tonight, 80’s Night at John Henry’s in Eugene.  That will be fun.  It’ll be good to see my Eugene friends and forget about everything else going on for a few hours.

Saturday, I get an eye exam.  I don’t think my perscription will have changed, but its been long enough I need an exam to get new glasses.  I’m going to get my Dolce & Gabanna frames relensed (I lost one of them) and I’m looking for new frames that are flamboyant and competely different from the three frames I already have.

Sunday is Mother’s Day.  I haven’t decided what I’m going to do for her (other than give her the last installment of money that I owe her).   

I’m also looking forward to watching the Planet Earth DVD’s on my dad’s HDTV. 

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Mar 24 2007

spring begins

Spring has begun in typical Oregon fashion, with rainy days.  The combination of grey rainy days and missing my housemate that moved to Japan last Sunday has left me in a general state of melancholy all week.  I’ve been half-heartily searching for a new roommate all week, and my other roommate hasn’t been around to do interviews (at least as much as I’d like), so that hasn’t helped either.  I’d like to get the whole roommate mess sorted out before I leave for LA on Thursday, but I’m not sure that’s gonna happen.

Wednesday night the video card in my desktop computer decided to commit hari kari.  I’ve got a new one on the way from Newegg, which will actually be a pretty significant upgrade.  Until then, I’ve got my desktop running headless so I can stream music off of it on my spare laptop.  But it is alas an unplanned expense.  Fortunately, for one of the first times in my life, I’m in a place I can absorb it.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2007/03/spring-begins/

Mar 20 2007

the last day of winter

After only a short hour and a half on the phone yesterday, I’ve reworked my flight schedule to NYC in April (Delta changed our intinerary on Sunday).  We’ll be leaving PDX earlier, laying over in SLC for almost 4 hours, and arriving in Newark…instead of JFK.  But at least I will get into the NYC area in enough time to make it up to New Haven and check out Yale Divinity School.  In compensation for doubling our travel time (and the hour and a half I spent on the phone mainly on hold)…we are recieving passes to Delta’s Crown Room (which may not even arrive in time, because they have to get sent out via the corporate office).  They also offered us $50 travel vouchers, however as neither my friend or I plan to fly Delta anytime soon…they would pretty much be worthless (plus apparently you have to take them into a Delta ticket counter to even use them).

Now I must figure out how to get from Newark airport to New Haven.  Yummy.

My (old) roommate made it safely to Japan, where she is spending a week in Toyko for unpaid training in a shitty hotel before moving to a small city of 50k north of Toyko.

I rented a car and went to the coast with a friend on Sunday after we dropped the (old) roommate off at the airport for her flight to Japan.  While the weather decided not to fully cooperate, I still had a good time, got my feet sandy and wet, and felt refreshed after the trip.

This week will involve yet more interviews trying to fill the empty room in our apartment.  So far, I haven’t been that excited about the responses to my Craigslist ad.  

I’m excited for Spring.  I feel like this year spring and summer are going to be really good. 

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Mar 18 2007

When it rains…(or I love it when a plan falls apart)

We just dropped my roommate off at the airport for her move to Japan.  I’m really happy for her but I am sad to see her go.  We managed to have a pretty good going away gathering for her Friday night.  I got a keg of Rogue Hazelnut Brown and she invited over her friends for one last hurah.  Most everyone showed up and seemed to have a good time.  Lauren said she did and that was the most important part.

So already a little meloncholy, I return home this morning to recieve an email from Delta notifying me of a change in my itinerary to NYC next month.  Our non-stop flight from PDX to JFK has been canceled and they’ve rerouted us through Atlanta.  The problem is, now we’ve got an almost 4 hour layover in Atlanta and I won’t get up to NYC in time to drive up to New Haven to check out Yale as planned.  Ugh…I guess one of Monday’s plans will be to call Delta and see if we can get an earlier second leg of the flight.

Girls are confusing the fuck out of me right now.  I don’t yet have the words to explain it. 

Can I have a redo on this weekend? 

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Mar 14 2007

march on

Change is afoot.

One of my roommates is moving to Japan on Sunday.  I’m really excited for her, but I’m sad she’s leaving (and a little jealous).  This week is a series of goodbye gatherings though…its a little bittersweet.

I’ve applied for an internship in LA.  It would start near the end of August. If I get the internship, I’ll have to get my car fixed and insured again.  I’m anxious to find out what happens with the application.  I’m a little on the upper end of the age range for the internship and hope that doesn’t work against me.

I’m getting a little stir crazy here in town.  The last time I left town was for an afternoon in early February to drive down to Eugene to get a letter of recommendation for the internship application.  Sadly, It doesn’t look like I’ll get out of town until I head down to Southern California at the end of the month for a conference I’m staffing.  I am however looking forward to going to New York City in April for a long weekend. 

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Apr 24 2006

what’s ahead (at least in the short term)

So I’ve had some time to think about the options for the next few months that I was considering last month.  I have decided that the Los Angeles option is not going to happen.  While it would be a great opportunity, now is not the time for that path.

As for the other option of pursuing some sort of mission work with the church…that is still on the radar, but as an attraction.  Its something that I will explore more if for some reason my current discernment process stalls for some reason.  For now I feel what is best is to keep going down the path I am already on.

It definitely did help that my roommate (and one of my best friends) has decided to stick around for awhile.  He was considering moving back to where his family lives (St. Louis).  So for now the status quo will remain in effect.  Though we do have start looking for a new third roommate as our temporary roommate from Quebec is leaving mid-May.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/04/whats-ahead-at-least-in-the-short-term/