Two days left

I never thought I would feel at all nostalgic for Orange County.  

I don't, not really. I mean, for one thing that would be somewhat premature, since I haven't left yet.  But truth is, I did suddenly realize last night that although I haven't felt like my life was all that great here -- it wasn't OC's fault.  

True, when I move I'll be more connected to "my kind of people".  In theory, at least. And I've plenty of friends there.  And I figure my chances of meeting Monica Raymund, Eliza Dushku, Morena Baccharin, Eva Mendes, et al and sweeping them off their feet are considerably better in LA county than Orange County.  

But the thing is, I have to admit I didn't make much effort to forge new bonds here.  Of the new friends I made in the past four years, I considered the best of them people from MySpace (and there's certainly some truth to that).  

Over the past week, however, I've had to say my goodbyes and it's dawned on me how many people I do know and like here; I somehow hovered on the edge of a large social scene without ever plunging into it.  It's not OC I'm going to miss, but there surely are some people.

If I'm going to be honest with myself, I have sort of been that way my whole life. My "crowd" usually only consisted of maybe three or four really close friends and everyone else was, well, everyone else.  

I think that can change now though. I am a different person now in many ways.  Not to say I'll become some kind of shallow social butterfly, but come on. It's time to have a proper social life, damn it. 

In three days' time I'm going to be starting a very new chapter in my life, and everything about me is going to change or start to change. New job, new digs. I've already got a new haircut (by employer request, ha ha), and I know I'm going to get in shape, so new body of sorts.  I can embrace my evolving personality and become the guy I'm supposed to be; I can cast off the expectations and preconceived notions of others, step out of my family's shadows (which have dogged me for years) to marked extent.  I'll live my own life -- for real and true. 

In three days. 

I can hardly wait.

What a day

Well, I'm exhausted. 

Today was eventful.  I took a "personal day" so I could drive up to LA for a job interview and to check out a room in Tujunga.  

My appointment was at 1pm in Pasadena, so I didn't have to leave the house until around 11.  And that was just in case traffic was bad -- as it often is (and was).  I figured I'd get a little extra sleep, then start the day off with some webcomics and whatnot before Mapquesting directions. 

Well, our ISP was having glitches and service was, as it turned out, down in the entire neighborhood while they sorted it out.  Somehow, miraculously, I was able to access Mapquest in spite of this and get the directions I needed(!). 

Then I messed around for a while figuring out what to wear. This was mostly a matter of deciding which tie to wear, since I've only got one suit per se. Well, and what shirt. I went with the blue one. Big surprise, ha ha. 

Driving to Pasadena was kinda stressful, more or less as usual.  Since my DUI, I get a definite, instinctive sphincter clench whenever I see a police car anywhere on my road.  It doesn't matter than I'm not speeding, etc. etc. -- I just get really tense, my knuckles white on the wheel and pulse thundering in my temples.  That happened twice on the way there.  Not pleasant, but nothing happened.

But by the time I got to Pasadena, that was mostly forgotten. It was a lovely day and Old Town Pasadena is very quaint. It's kinda dirty, yes -- but it's LA, so that's to be expected. But there's a lot of cool old architecture (as well as some more modern stuff) and it's just a really nice place. That's where I'll be working if they take me on. 

The interview went really well -- so I think they will. I hope they will -- I really like the office, the kind of work I'll be doing, and the people there seem like good people to work with. 

After that I went to a prospective living space -- a room in a house in Tujunga.  And THAT looked really good, too! I mean, it's not "my own place" but it's a foothold and it's a really nice house, in a fairly nice area, and the guy I talked to was a really nice guy.  Plus they have a cat! And an exercise room with gadgets! And a really nice backyard! The rent/utilities amount is a little scary but only a little. I can handle it. 

I'll know by the end of the week whether the company will hire me. If they do, it'll be an upgrade in many ways.  I should say WHEN they do -- I really think I killed at this interview, and frankly I'm super-qualified for it.  They'd be fools NOT to hire me. And they didn't seem like fools. 

So yeah, once they hire me, I'll give notice at my current job and in two weeks, I'll be living my own life -- on my own for real, not cloistered or with family. That's simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying. But I figure hell, dumber, less capable people than I have managed; I can too. 

N is for...

Nachos. 

Two weekends ago, I was at one of my haunts and the people at a neighboring table gave me a free plate of nachos.  They'd ordered them but decided they were too full to eat them. So they gave 'em to me. 

That was the most exciting thing that happened that night. 

Sadly, I haven't been having any awesome dance experiences, no righteous makeouts, no bone-bruising liaisons, and no mind-blowing parties lately.  I'm okay with that.  I'm sort of saving my money for my move, which is happening within the next few weeks. Well, I'm trying to. All of a sudden, as mentioned in an earlier blog, people are even more eager to take my money than usual.  

The only reason I've been going out at all is to try to say my goodbyes to the few people around here who will actually give a shit that I've gone. Sadly, most of those were bartenders. 

That's going to have to change when I move. I won't have as much disposable income unless I can get a few things straightened out. But it'll be worth it in many ways. For one thing, the fact that I'll only be able to afford to eat ramen for every meal will allow me to lose weight quickly! In a few months, my skeletal appearance will be a guaranteed chick magnet. And naturally I'll be in LA, where the cool people live.  So who cares if I can only afford a room in the basement of a flophouse.  The kind of chicks I'll bring in won't care about the peeling wallpaper, or anything else -- as long as I can score them a hit. I figure I can lie about that. 

Okay wow, that went way darker than I set out for, ha ha.  No seriously, I've got some really good prospects. I'm going up there tomorrow to check out a couple of rooms that seem reasonably priced, and also -- more importantly -- to have my job interview.  Which I'm gonna rock. And it's a really good company in a lot of ways, so I think I'll be in good shape. 

I will definitely have to watch my money a bit closer but with everything I've got going on, I figure that'll be a temporary issue. Because soon... SOON I will rule the world!

Excuse me. I just finished watching an outrageous B movie. Heh.