Shit: A Tale About Getting It Together

Every once in a while, we are told that to focus is lend to moving forward.

In the onset of July 14th, 2009, I am going to attempt to do this in order to learn something.  Let’s see if it works.

• In space, Disruption Tolerant Networking is yielding the possibility of soon making the world wide web one ‘w’ less. Because when you’ve got internet off-world, it’s not ‘world’-wide much anymore.  It’s just… wide.
• In relation to space, we still have a Japanese Experiment Module playing a game of Waiting for Godot for the much delayed Endeavor.  But in the end, better to send Endeavor out safe than sorry.  Take all the time you need, Kennedy Space Center.
• On earth, we all seem to still not be getting along. Death toll in China ethnic unrest rises to 184. 6 Baghdad churches bombed. Neda’s name still the icon of resistance. Deadly month for British troops in Afghanistan. More fighting erupts in Somalia. Gay rights in India in question. Drug wars in Mexico about to break last year’s records for death toll.  It’s a sad state of affairs when the human unrest is business as usual.  Maybe we are designed to push on one another when given the opportunity.  Or maybe not; maybe we can learn a thing or two from Canada and Australia — and all things considered, maybe we should.
• Here in the states, 10% of people (at least in my state) are on unemployment.  We’ve still got a shitty economy but we seem to be done bitching about it and just dealing with it.  We’re mildly distracted by the death of a historic music figure who truly made a global impact in his lifetime.  Democrats are going “woohoo!” for Sotomayor and Republicans are going “ehhh…” We’re still in a really tangled healthcare debate that is slowing our reform of the system. But all in all, we’re less scared than we were a handful of months ago. Some people say Americans are spoiled with their good fortune. If we are going to ignore the 12-17% under the poverty line in the US, I’d say that to an extent, much of that is true.  But past all of the ostensible complaining we do as part of our highly competitive national zeitgeist, I am finding that talking to people in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, yield conversations that do take time to mention an appreciation for what we have regardless. And there’s something to be said for that.
• California definitely is business as usual, especially with minor earthquakes and stuff still being on fire. But it’s not all bad news.  Some news is bad-ass, like this young lady pilot.
• Los Angeles has been having ideal weather lately.  It has been clear, warm, and dry; and despite what troubles we might have on the ground, the sky is full of healing rays.  I should take more time to enjoy the warmth I’m often too distracted to notice.  I’m also ready for the upcoming summer concerts.  It’s warm out at night and I’m up for dancing and supporting local musicians (okay, the drinking is also an incentive). An added amenity to this year’s summer is Los Angeles’s recent upsurge of food trucks, brought on no doubt by the Twittering Korean BBQ taco truck.  Oh, to live in an age where I can say those words in the same sentence. Love and tacos, LA.  Love. And. Tacos.
• Though my best buddies have spread out to the far reaches of the earth like to Arizona and New York and New Jersey and Wisconsin and Japan, my little Los Angeles network has lately been making some great strides in adulthood.
  • I have a friend about to get married, making me shuffle through my address book to decide on my +1 (email me if you think it should be you?).
  • I have another friend who has made me oh, so proud, when he quit his soul-sucking day job to become what I believe will be a kick-ass science teacher.
  • Another friend, though weathered from 2 part times to make a full, is producing more art lately, making me increasingly jealous of her talent.
  • Another friend is finally putting his long-dormant skilled pen to good use, and is working on his first screenplay.
  • Another friend has become just as much as workaholic as I have become, but he has also found his niche in the video game development community.
  • Another friend is finally playing more shows and will release an EP soon, which is good since I’ve been waiting for that thing for quite a while now.

  I’m watching my friends in their mid-20’s, and I’m finally starting to understand why people make sitcoms about this age group.  The point is not that it is a struggle to stay sane in a world gone mad, rather, the struggle is to stay crazy while the world is trying to strap us down.  Before I forget: yes, I even have that friend who fails at romance, too, but we’ll leave her out of this.

• My family is still adorably nutty.  Imagine all the witty banter you could get from any sharp-minded folk, but with Filippino accents.
  • nicopolitan: Mom, I have a freelance check coming here, can you let me know when it gets here?
  • mamapolitan: Why this address?
  • nicopolitan: Because I move at least twice every year, it just makes sense for my invoicing if the address stays in one place.
  • mamapolitan: Do I get commission?
  • nicopolitan: Wh… for what?  You didn’t do anything.
  • mamapolitan: I gave birth to you!  And fed you for at least 18 years.
  • nicopolitan: And you’re going to charge me for that?
  • mamapolitan: Hey, it’s a recession.
• I’ve been crashing with my family since the interminable flea problem, and over some dinner conversations, I have now come to the firm stance that I would like to GTFO of the house I’m renting. I already moved out half of my stuff so that I could effectively vacuum the place in hopes of quelling the flea issue. I only like the house moderately. I don’t care about the nearby vegetation. I could deal without the steep hill parking that is killing my car’s brakes. I’m really not a fan of the poor air circulation and the heater that does not shut off.  Location?  Not close enough to my work and not close enough to shit that I want to do.  And the house is old.  And my landlady is hard to understand.  And I hate having to bother her to reset the internet connection when it craps out.  Sure, the landlord and his mom, the landlady, are nice people.  They like me and I like them enough.  When my roommate bailed, they let me stay in the house by paying only my half of rent instead of inheriting both bedrooms’ rent.  So I helped them try to find renters who would pick up the entire tab. We’ve been working together for almost 6 months to find replacement tenants.  I posted on Craigslist and Westsiderentals religiously to find prospective tenants, drove over from my office to open it up to show people the place while I was still living there. I am sick of my living condition being on the verge of moving out every month so that everything is in boxes but they don’t go anywhere. I am pretty sick of putting effort into this house. I can rent a nice 1 bedroom for the same price I’m paying now because I don’t need a lot of space and after living there alone, I’m starting to get weary of living with people. Fuck it. My last month on the lease is August and I do not plan to renew.
• Work… has been eerily manageable lately.  Not since I had started at this company have I been this light on projects.  The projects I have are all internal so the deadlines tend to be soft.  I am making progress but there are no metrics by which to measure success.  That is making me antsy.  That is probably the workaholism talking.
• I have one show left at the bar.  And then I no longer “work at a bar on the weekends.”  I will be the guy who “used to work at a bar on the weekends.”  That is a huge and gratifying change for me.  There are things I will miss, for sure, but they will be massively outweighed by the things I am getting back, eg., my weekend social life and my creative intentions.
• My musicianship has recently gotten a well-deserved kick in the pants.  Results soon, I hope.
• Romance is hard because I hate dating.  And I have a habit of evaluating romantic interests against friend criteria.  And I would rather not date any of my current friends.  Maybe it’s time for new friends?  Ok, sure.  Now that I think of it, meeting people has been easy lately.  Yes, even in LA.  The secret: do things you like to do more often and with more people. Networking is a nice side-effect.
• Again, I find myself in the room I grew up in as a kid, which had been converted into a guest room long ago when I first moved out of here.  But what is strange is that hidden in the shelves and boxes and closet corners are remnants of the kid that used to live here.  Photos and flyers of local shows.  Demo cassette tapes of his high school band.  Sketch books.  R.L. Stine collections.  Mountains of CD cases.  Stacked boxes that once contained computer hardware and software or music equipment. Little trinkets in shoeboxes from world travel. I wonder whatever happened to that guy… Oh, yeah.

Hm.

Perhaps “getting my shit together” is an illusory idea.  Maybe shit falls together more conveniently than someone in their 20’s gives it credit. Wants and needs are different, but they’re just as present as they were at the beginning of my 20’s.

I wouldn’t call it a rut, but I would call it consistent.

Business as usual.