So in the time I was gone, the background for my LJ seems to have disappeared. Would any of you design-savvy LJ friends of mine be willing to help me out with a new layout?

Looking forward to a weekend that is rapidly filling up with for real plans and things without anything feeling too pressing or urgent for the first time in WEEKS! That excites me more than it probably should.

Also, I feel bad for this dude for having gone through a brutal time with his daughter dying. I also feel bad that his name is Woody Johnson.

Ouch.

Five weeks since my last update...that's got to be a record. I feel like I'm justified in not updating in a while though, the past month has been terribly busy. I could go into explicit detail as to how, but here's the long and short of it:

+Christmas was fun. Spent the day with my family, spent the weekend with Julia's family and made merry.
+New Year's was fun. The same 9 hour drive as last year sucked only without as much angst (I actually have a job this time around). Had more fun on the whole as far as the trip went until...
-...Julia and I both caught stomach flus on the way back. Lowlights include puking into a bucket while getting passed by semi-trucks doing 50 on I-68. Had to take a day off from work, but recovered.
+Moved out of Silver Spring into a sweet new apartment in Rockville. Had some awesome help courtesy of Rachel, Tony, Mary, and Caleb. We're more or less settled in now and have been accumulating new furniture for the place. So far so good.
+WE GOT A KITTIE. 'Nuff said. Pictures will follow at some point.

That's about all the interesting stuff going on for the past month. Work has been fine in a rather busy way which makes me happy. Upheaval's happening in my company, but according to everyone there I've talked to, my team is pretty well-insulated from it. I have my paranoia, but they're probably right.

I'm considering delving into some of the affiliate marketing Julia's company does to make some extra money for myself on the side. It's apparently very easy and a very effective way to make some extra money.

I didn't make any New Year's resolutions, but I've decided that I want to start writing more and really make a go of my metal website and podcast. My goal is to get a music/podcast site and an affiliate marketing site both up by the end of the month. I'm working out the details, but expect big things this year.

That's all for now, but expect more frequent updates. I know I always say that, but I think I mean it this time...hopefully.

Another week, another week without updating. Honestly though, I feel like it's justified as I haven't done much to speak of.

I'll get around to doing something with this thing eventually. Can I go back to bed now?

You Are Balanced and Thoughtful

You view people with optimism. You have many meaningful relationships in your life. You had more conflict with your father than your mother. Your relationship with him was healthy but challenging. You deal with stress in a fairly normal way. Stress presents a struggle for you, but you're usually able to neutralize your emotions. You require a lot of calm in your life. When things get too hectic, you need to step back and reassess things.

Funny how the quiz had options detailing what the ink blots were. Seemed to defeat the purpose of the test.

So I've resolved to update more frequently with shorter, less essay-like posts so I can still feel productive and update people with what's going on without seeming boring. Here are some highlights of my day:

+Work went well. I'm getting better at killing people. I killed off about a dozen alums and former folks, including a famous person I'm not at liberty to discuss. You probably know who it is though if you pay attention to the news at all.

+I listened to a shit-ton of Dream Theater at work. Honestly, I never thought they were that good until a couple weeks ago. A couple dozen plays of the "The Glass Prison" later and I'm a fan.

+Went to the gym for the first time in months and ran a bit. My office doesn't have much of a gym, but membership to the really nice gym on campus is only $36 a month. I think I may need to hit that up.

+I rewarded my resolve to go to the gym with a beer or two. Fuck yeah.

More later...maybe.

Going to see Misery Index tonight at the Marble House which should be fun (and CHEAP), but I'm trying to think of other things to do this weekend. I'm hous-sitting for my parents, but that's no big deal as long as I feed the dog, otherwise my weekend's wide open.

Any auggestions? Anyone in the area want to hang out Saturday or Sunday? Please let me know!

So as I said in my last entry, I got the job that I applied for at Georgetown. In another few weeks, I will be working as a Records Assistant for the Department of Constituent Records a the school's Office of Advancement. I'll be maintaining the school's donor database and helping them make decisions on who to go to for money and such. The office is nice, the people are cool, the money's good, and the opportunity is VAST. The school offers awesome tuition assistance after a year for employees seeking to continue their education at Georgetown or elsewhere. This means that I could receive serious help in getting a Master's while still earning.

I'm excited, relieved, and just happy overall. It feels so good to finally have a job I wanted want me back.

The timing is also great since Julia lost her job last week. I won't go into details, but in the end they didn't have the money that they thought they had to keep her. She's doing well though and already has interviews lined up. As proud as she migh be of me, I'm proud of her for the way she's handling things. I feel pretty good about our chances in the world.

I GOT THE JOB AT MUTHAFUCKIN' GEORGETOWN! HOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHIT!

*collapse*

First and foremost, Happy 4th of July to everyone out there in internetland. I hope you all enjoy the day and take the time to revel it up. I'll be heading out to the actors' cave here in a bit to hang with them for the fourth, I'm thinking about bringing Zoey along, but I'm still on the fence about it.

The past year or so, I find that I've been doing all my journal-updating late in the week or on the weekend. I figure I have very little to talk about during the week as I tend to just go to work, come home, and hang out, lather, rinse, repeat. This week's been rather busy though, so I figure I'll talk about it.

I wound up getting not one, but TWO call-back interviews, the first at Georgetown and the second at Foxes. Now I know I said I wasn't interested in the place, but it sure seemed like they were interested in me even after it seemed like the one owner wasn't impressed with me at all.

I wound up having both interviews on Thursday after a half-day at work. The interview at Georgetown went pretty well and I'm pretty sure I impressed the people I needed to make an impression on. I've sent my thank you's and should be hearing from them as soon as Monday or Tuesday. The interview at Foxes went really well and made me more interested in working there. I apparently have a good shot at getting the job there according to the other owner I spoke to. I should also be hearing form them next week, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

4th of July weekend's been fun so far. Saw Public Enemies with Julia yesterday, which was good but disappointing. We went over to my mom's place near immediately and stuffed our faces on BBQ. I should be doing the same a bit later here.

Cheers and happy holiday all!

Another week, another update about the past week/weekend. Been pretty busy all things considered.

I wound up missing out on the clusterfuck of an accident that happened on the red line on my way home from work although I did wind up getting stuck at Fort Totten for a brief period. I felt popular though since I was the only one who knew anything about what was going on thanks to my mom (she does insurance for Metro). Commuting into work was pretty effed as a result, but it could have been a lot worse. I was thankful no one I knew was hurt, although some folks came damn close; one of my friends missed the train that collided with the stationary train at Fort Totten.

Work's gone pretty well so far. I like the folks I work with, the work itself is pretty easy data entry stuff, but I still feel like I'm doing something of some consequence. There are almost 100,000 attorneys who practice law in DC and they all have to work their way past me before they can practice. I also help operate the call center there, which has been more fun than I was expecting. It's nice getting to work with people again after doing strictly office shiz for the past year or so. Still, I know this is temporary and am trying my best not to get complacent. I'm still looking for ideal permanent work and am confident something will come up soon.

Speaking of which, I had an interview over at Foxes Music in Falls Church which turned out to be a big waste of time. It's too damn far away, the place is too damn cramped, they don't pay enough for all the driving I'd be doing, and the owner rubbed me the wrong way. No worries though since I still have lots of irons in the fire. I have a second interview coming up over at Georgetown's Office of Advancement on Thursday and a number of interesting-looking direct-hire jobs from the temp agency I'm currently working for. They apparently have no problem with their temps breaking assignments to get full-time employment which is nice. Not something I would ever expect from Trak, so Contact 1 FTW.

Had a pretty busy/fun weekend involving the pool yesterday, lots of napping and chilling out, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", and the Linganore Wine Festival with Rob & Holly and Julia's parents. Pretty fun times.

Been playing a fair amount of guitar lately, lots of noodley original stuff and resolutions to parts I'd come up with before. Also been listening to lots of Megadeth, new Darkest Hour, and new Killswitch Engage. New KSE's really doing it for me at the moment, very catchy. Not sure if I like it more than their previous releases as it's a little more "accessible", but I find in my old age that I care less and less about that as long as the songs are good.

I think that's all.

So another week goes by without a real entry. This one's important though since I started my first day at a new job today! That's right, I GOT A NEW JOB! It's another temporary gig that I got last week through Contact 1 over at the DC Bar Association. I'm currently working in their Member Services department. My main responsibilities will be processing dues and updating the member database. Everyone at my office seems nice and the atmosphere is generally pretty collegial and laid back. I have no delusions or plans for it to be a permanent thing though as the contract expires on September 1.

Things have picked up on the job front since my last entry. For one, I interviewed for a Records Assistant position at Georgetown's Office of Advancement and will be interviewing at Foxes Music in Falls Church for a Registrar position. I also have a lead from Contact 1 on a Development Associate position at a local DC non-profit. I should be finding out about all these things soon. I'm confident that I'll have something or that something will be in the works for sure by the end of the month.

I apologize to those people on my friends' list who read this thing, but I haven't been up to much lately and when I've been busy I haven't wanted to talk. Truthfully, I've been depressed the past month or so. I've been doing a lot more purpose-searching than job-searching and I haven't felt comfortable sharing the thoughts I've had with other people.

Or maybe I'm just lazy. Your call...

More on other things later.

Had a busy week, hence the late entry. Job searching is finally starting to yield some results as I might have a gig through Contact 1 as a Research Assistant for a non-profit org and I got an e-mail yesterday from the Director of Constituent Records at Georgetown asking me to interview for the Records Assistant job there. Either ones would be pretty cool.

Had an impromptu party shindig last night with not very many people coming, but good times still being had by all. Beer, pizza, gaming, conversation, and finally Quarry House made for fun times with good people.

I'm fixing to go to the twins' house today to jam and re-break in my Marshall that's FINALLY repaired. I can't effing wait, yo!

Wow. So I went two weeks without updating only to leave a short little thing saying that a real update would be pending. I then proceeded to let it sit there for 5 days. Oops. :P

I have been very busy all things considered though. While I haven't been working, I have been job-hunting and more importantly, purpose-hunting. Most of my time has been spent frittering time away trying to determine what I really want to do with myself and what I need to do in order to accomplish this. Thankfully, I have some leads and a better idea of what I wanted than I had a few weeks ago. In order to accomplish these things, however, I still need to be able to work somewhere to at least make rent and contribute in some fashion. Even if I can't find something though, I have at least three different temp agencies helping me out, so the possibility of at least temporary employment is there. In addition, Julia just got her dream job and will soon be working there, making more money, and getting benefits, so we're not in any danger of being thrown out on the street anytime soon.

I've been making strides to finally getting my podcast up and running. My mom offered to pay for the licensing which was super-nice of her and really awesome since that was the only real hurdle I encountered aside from mastering Audacity. I have my first episode mostly complete and am looking to update it via MySpace and itunes initially before getting my own web space. I'm hoping that doing that for a consistent length of time and getting some listeners will eventually result in an awesome job doing New Media things down the road, but I'm having fun in the meantime.

Been to a lot of shows these past few weeks. Here's a brief list of the bands in order of the shows I saw them on and what I thought of their performances for anyone who may be interested:
5/8 - Protest The Hero = B-
Misery Signals = B
5/11 - Lamb Of God = A
As I Lay Dying = A-
God Forbid = A-
5/12 - Mastodon = A-
Kylesa = B
Intronaut = B
5/26 - Testament = A
Unearth = B
Lazarus AD = B

Other than that, not too much has been going on. I've been super-thrifty lately, which is good, but still have been having fun. I keep wrestling with being stressed out about the job situation. The hardest part is really not having a purpose or being able to truly commit myself to any one job that I've had so far. I don't have anything that I really want to do above all others and nothing I feel truly passionate about as far as work goes, so getting a job has been rather tough. Whatevs though, I'll figure it out.

Wow, so it's been two weeks since I last updated. I haven't disappeared folks, I've just been rather busy.

I'll provide a proper update here soon. Bye for now!

Sometimes I wonder why I still use this thing. Truthfully, I don't know, but it's awfully amusing to see what people write on occasion.

Speaking of amusing, this is some funny shit if you haven't seen it yet:
You're Going to Need a Dick Army

Not too much going on to report. Still no word from the ABC, but I'm planning to give them a call a bit later to see what the deal is. I also heard back from History Associates yesterday and it seems they're looking over my resume for a possible Research Historian gig. Could be awesome or it could be nothing, but I'm going to work my ass off on the remaining materials I need for the place until I get in.

My days at WilmerHale are officially numbered and my last day is May 4th. Honestly, I couldn't be happier. This job sucks. I'd rather be at home, looking up jobs and living off my savings for a while than doing this work.

I'm trying to think of ways to be naughty for my last few days here. I've thought about clipping my toenails on the job, gutting a fish at my desk a la Office Space, and bringing a guitar in to work. Any suggestions?

So it's been a week since I last updated, but it hasn't been wasted. I've had a busy week.

Expect a more thorough update later.

Got the weekend off to a good start with catching Watchmen at the Uptown after work. On the whole, it was okay but not great or awesome. Here's what I thought...

( Here be spoilers )

Despite my gripes with it, I still enjoyed the movie. It was visually gorgeous and kept my attention for all 2 hours and 40 minutes. I also felt that the end resolution was a nice touch that made enough sense considering the what limits they were working under. Still, for a movie this highly anticipated and a story that good, I was hoping for more.

Not that anyone would care that much, but here's my list of my favorite albums from 2008. All in all it was a great year for metal, but not so much for anything else. These are based more on how much I enjoyed the albums in question versus artistry or supposed quality. The way I see it, it's already quality if I listen to it, so why not just post a list of my favorites?

1. Protest The Hero - Fortresss
2. Testament - The Formation Of Damnation
3. Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle, Part 1
4. Opeth - Watershed
5. Enslaved - Vertebrae
6. Cynic - Traced In Air
7. Ihsahn - AngL
8. Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God
9. Burst - Lazarus Bird
10. Arsis - We Are The Nightmare
11. Meshuggah - obZen
12. Intronaut - Preshistoricisms
13. Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe
14. Textures - Silhouettes
15. Darkane - Demonic Art
16. Shai Hulud - Misanthropy Pure
17. To-Mera - Delusions
18. Keep Of Kalessin - Kolossus
19. Gojira - The Way Of All Flesh
20. The Rotted - Get Dead Or Die Trying
21. Death Angel - Killing Season
22. Sevendust - Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow
23. Misery Index - Traitors
24. Mirrorthrone - Gangrene
25. Metallica - Death Magnetic
26. Daylight Dies - Lost To The Living
27. Boris - Smile
28. Mercenary - Architect Of Lies
29. Hollenthon - Opus Magnum
30. The Sword - Gods Of The Earth
31. Withered - Folie Circulaire
32. Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery
33. The Haunted - Versus
34. Lair Of The Minotaur - War Metal Battle Master
35. Sahg - II
36. Soilwork - Sworn To A Great Divide
37. Austrian Death Machine - Total Brutal
38. Abigail Williams - In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns
39. Bleeding Through - Declaration
40. Torche - Meanderthal

Of course I listened to more than this list all year, but most of them aren't really worth mentioning that much about.