Showing posts with label spuds mackenzie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spuds mackenzie. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Two Years Ago...

A lot can change in a couple years. Friends get married. Other friends graduate from school. The first African American president in our nation's history is elected and sworn into office. The freaking Arizona Cardinals make the Super Bowl. You move once twice three times (with a fourth pending). You gain people. You lose people.

Things aren't necessarily better...but they aren't necessarily worse. They're just different.

Living
Two years ago, I lived in an apartment in Reseda with ARob. We'd pretty much just moved out of the house on Lanark, and he already had an eye toward purchasing another house (which, of course, would turn out to be the one on Cohasset). A few months later, we moved into that house, and for a year and a half, it was game on. The keg flowed. The grill sizzled. The music room blasted. It was the party house. Parties, hookups, illegal fireworks, magic shows...it was a little bit of everything.

Then Tania moved back to SoCal, which was awesome, but it was also clearly the beginning of the end of an era.

I love them both to death and am happy that they have each other and are able to share their lives together...but at the same time, once it was time for a ring, it was an implicit eviction notice for me. So the first great craigslist hunt began, and it led me to the apartment in Woodland Hills with my first random roommate. All who know me, know how well I fit in there. So after a month and a half of not being able to freaking stand it, the second great craigslist hunt began. This one led me to the much more amicable living situation (at least for the time being) with Annette and Spuds Frankie. W

Friends
One major driving factor in my decision to move out to Ventura, though, was the fact that I was not going to be on an island out there. I had, of course, the C-Squad. Previous trips I'd made to the VC had been fun adventures, and I figured, 'Why would a move out there be any different?' The one obvious drawback was moving further away from the fam and my valley friends, but as it's turned out, they've been more than happy to follow me out here for weekend shenanigans. And in one case, the follow resulted in a relationship and a desire to take the added step of a complete relocation. Worlds colliding...can be a beautiful thing.

Speaking of serendipitous meetings, there is the random occurrence that led to this friend and I wandering back into each other's lives. Who knew a game at CSUN would become a key turning point in life? Jordt and I had gone over there to see Ollie play and ran into Nick Grant. After a short discussion, we realized that all three of us were living in the valley and had no further plans for later that day. That's how it all started. None of this existed two years ago. W

Family
Nor did anyone at Wade Stadium have any idea that life existed without my brother working there for the summer in some fashion, but then he took the LSAT and moved out west for law school. Now he's "Looking California" but still has days of "Feelin' Minnesota." It's not the ideal close option that we had hoped for, and he'd always been an IM or a phone call away, but now it's coming from the same time zone. Furthermore, for adventures this summer, it's a two hour drive--without the three hour flight in front of it. Love it. Also, while mom and dad are further away (boo), they do love Ventura, so they'll visit (yay). WW <--like sweeping a double header

Work

Another thing my readers know about me is that I spend inordinate amounts of time in my office. With the account shuffling, it's been a struggle to keep up, and I've been on the fringe of burnout for...oh...about four months now. This is the same four months that I've been a Sr. AE. I've been in a constant state of chasing and feeling like I'm drowning. While I haven't caught up per se, I haven't drowned either. I still have the same great guidance and help coming from my superiors at the agency. I do need every day of vacation that I'm taking in the next two months, though. All of it non wedding-related. Thank God. W

So, here you have what are essentially the dimensions in my life. The one gaping void, of course, is a relationship (L). It's just something you just can't chase. You can drive yourself crazy worrying about it, or you can just let it ride. Maybe I'm too laissez faire or overly cynical by approaching it this way, but even when you think you've found the right one and you've got it all figured out, sometimes the rug gets pulled out from under you and its gone. The people who are most important stick around. That's what i found out...two years ago.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Verdict

1. East Ventura, roommate: Annette
2. Newbury Park, roommate: Brandon

Eliminated
4. Simi Valley, roommate: Janelle
5. Oxnard Shores, roommate: Terri
6. Newbury Park, roommates: Diane, Miko

Wildcard:
- Port Hueneme, roommate: Tim

After all that, it's right back to the place I saw last Friday before I hit the F Word. Should that fall apart for some reason, Brandon in Newbury Park is my contingency plan, so I'm not telling him no yet. Tim in Port Hueneme was solid, but it felt like a college apartment to me, and the room was entirely too small for all my crap.

Plus, none of them have Spuds. So there it is.

New Place Power Rankings

1. East Ventura, roommate: Annette
2. Newbury Park, roommate: Brandon

Eliminated
4. Simi Valley, roommate: Janelle
5. Oxnard Shores, roommate: Terri
6. Newbury Park, roommates: Diane, Miko

Wildcard:
- Port Hueneme, roommate: Tim

As it stands, the place I went and saw last Friday before the F word journey is the leader. It's the best combination of the pertinent factors: roommate, setup, location. I am a big Annette fan, and her dog is NOT Venus. He's mellow...and looks like Spuds MacKenzie. (More Spuds here, here and here.)

Brandon is a pretty mellow guy with a nice place that is right around the corner from work. The problem? It's right around the corner from work. There is NOTHING to do in this area. There's Borderline, and that's about it. I would have to decide if I'm willing to trek elsewhere to do stuff. Right now, the answer is no.

Omid is probably the best match of a roommate, as he is a drummer. (I think those of you who know me, know how this one works.) However, he is renting out another room to someone with whom I would be sharing a bathroom, which is not the case in the other two places. Additionally, the location has the same issue as Brandon's, but it's a possibility.

The next three in the rankings have been eliminated for various reasons but primarily bad parking situations (Janelle's) to dynamics that I just don't see myself fitting into (Terri's and Diane's). The parking thing is self explanatory, and the gist of the other two is that I would be the loud/obnoxious roommate. I'm not trying to throw ragers in the middle of the week or anything, but I would feel awkward sneezing. No bueno.

The wildcard round includes two places I have yet to see. The one in Port Hueneme is right on the freaking ocean, and I'd be living with a CSUCI student. He seems cool at the first glance, but I'll see when I meet him tonight. The other place is with two people, which I'm guessing, means I would be sharing a bathroom. I need to check with her, but if that's the case, there is probably no shot I even go out there to see it.

Anyway, there it is. I'll probably have a decision by tonight. It pretty much hinges on the requirements for this place in Pt. Hueneme. If it's a good fit, and I can move in April 1, it could be a done deal. Then comes the actual moving...which is the part that sucks.

ADDENDUM: Update from midday. Decided that I am eliminating shared bathroom options. Shared bath in Ventura place.

- Ventura, roommates: Lisa, Josh
3. Camarillo, roommates: Omid, Alfredo