Posts (page 2)
Wow. So today is the last day we're going to be in Kalamazoo. I have to get up in about 5 hours to finish loading up the car, but I'm pretty full of adrenaline and thoughts right now... so going to sleep is going to be hard.
Today was good but difficult at the same time. My parents visited for a "one last dinner together" which was nice. Also, my friend Josh came over to say goodbye for the last time. Everything was going great until I helped him load things into his car... and things kind of hit me again.
I mean, this was the last time that I'd see him for a while. When Curt left the other night it was the last time I'd see him for a while. And the party last week was the last time I'll see Dustin or Fisher for a while. And suddenly the knot in my throat wouldn't go away. Josh and I hugged it out, and it was hard to choke down the emotions.
You know, something that I make a point to say to my close friends is that they're like family. Unlike most of them, I was an only child. And while I've been blessed with good luck meeting new people, there are a rare few that not only touch your life, but stay in it. And those guys have stayed with me through a lot of times... good and bad. Saying goodbye isn't just a farewell to the person, it's saying farewell to the promise of more times with that person.
And it's hard. Because my brothers are here and I'm moving. Because I've never had to really let go of friends this close before. But the things that are important in your life... you tend to hang on to. And I have no intention of letting them go.
I was with Curt when he went through a bitter divorce years ago. I laughed at Dustin's wedding as a groomsman. Josh was there at my wedding. Fisher and I have known each other since we were six years old. These are not just friends. They're so much more than that. And I owe them my strength and humor, and so much more.
Thankfully, it's much easier to stay in touch now than it was years ago. We can talk on the phone, send each other e-mails, and talk on Facebook (yeah, I finally caved. I'm completely addicted to D&D Tiny Adventures, by the way). Even my completely bad ass ex-neighbors Derek and Becca keep in touch with us, which is awesome. So distance doesn't have to be as final as it used to be.
Well, this post was more sad than I meant it to be. Cristina and I are very excited about the move, and love the possibilities that Seattle represents for us. And I have faith that things will work out. I guess the feeling that I have is like the first day of school: part of you is really excited about all the new people and the things you'll see... and the other part is terribly afraid that you'll piss your pants in front of the other kids. Cause, you know, then they'll call you pee pants.
Well. It's official. I'm moving to Seattle. I'm really, really moving.
The moving company took all of our stuff a few days ago - over 52(!) boxes worth of clothes, books and DVDs... the latter two which my wife laments the greatest. We still have a surprising amount of things in the apartment, including a dresser and twin sized bed which will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, but none of the standard fare in the way of tables and chairs. That should prove problematic this weekend for our goodbye party but my friends are a clever bunch; we'll come up with something.
This last weekend I played possibly my last D&D game ever. That makes me sad in and of itself; playing tabletop roleplaying games is a tradition in my circle of friends. We've had basically the same group for over 5 years now, including two friends from college and even one from high school. I know that it will permanently spoil me against my next group of players; like a baseball mitt, it takes years to wear-in a solid group. I'll miss the hell out of them as people, my friends are my family, but at the superficial geek level I'm kind of screwed here. =(
But the show must go on. They've already started a new project; a shared campaign setting with rotating DMs. If I get the time, I think I'll write them an adventure to play in my absence. If I get time...
While I'm waiting for my last day at work to come to a close (only five more days left!) I've been amusing myself with old episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway. Man, I loved that show. And in the plethora of crap television that has come and gone in the last few years, I have to honestly ask why did they ever cancel it? I bring this up for the very slight seguey into the fact that Ryan Stiles lives in Bellingham, Wa and the next very slight seguey into the fact that we might actually see him live the weekend after we get to Seattle!
The official Little Big Planet website is holding a design contest! You download a template and just create. If your design in chosen, it will end up in the game! The whole thing is pretty fun, and is a great way to spend a half an hour.
You aren't allowed to use character designs from other companies, but I think mine could slip under the radar. SOTC is actually developed in-house by Team ICO, and this really was a logical marriage of ideas for me. SOTC is such an amazing game and Media Molecule has a massive hit on their hands with LBP.
Go check out the contest! Meanwhile, I'm going back to dominating inferior species in SPORE.
This is probably the third or fourth time that I've made an attempt to maintain a journal. Years ago, I kept a livejournal running for a long time; it served as more of a diary for difficult feelings than anything constructive. At the time, I was struggling through a relationship that was... to put diplomatically... not the right one. So, basically, I just bitched a lot. And nobody wants to read that.
But! I've now been married since March of last year. And things are going great. We're about two weeks away from moving to Seattle! The fact that I'm leaving Michigan has really just started to hit me - and the relentless teasing by my friends about the move has really helped to keep my mind off things; they love to insinuate that the reason I am moving 2000 miles across the country is so I can get Chinese Food delivered.
Unfortunately, that is the reason. And there's just no other way around it.
Oh, yeah! This is the point where I should mention my sense of humor can be a little dry. I'm not really moving for the Chinese Food. I've always wanted to move to the Pacific Northwest but my college education was in the way, my family didn't want me to go, couldn't find a job there online, never saved up quite enough money, was too worried about my girlfriend cheating on me (which she most often times was), and a myriad of reasons that may or may not have been valid.
But all that changed this year when my wife told me to MAN UP and she was offered a position in Seattle with her company. And suddenly, things were moving in the right direction. That's my little angel; always kicking me in the crotch at the right time.
We're going to drive across the country starting in 14 days. And I'm gonna miss my friends like crazy.
