Home is where the heart is...

This past week I was in this amazing mood. I didn't hit the lotto or have the week off from doing the significant amount of work I needed to get done or anything like that. I was in a great mood because I reached this epiphany of sorts. A pretty big one actually.

Anyone who has known me for more than a year is aware that there is one thing I am constantly focused on: moving. When I first came to area to work, I made a quick group of friends my age and still had college friends not far away finishing their education. After about 3 years, all of those people moved. Since then (around 2002), I have pretty much sworn I would be moving somewhere other than where I am now, anywhere just outside a big city, like NYC or Boston. I had been focused on it. I even got my boss to agree to allowing me to work from our NYC office if that's where I wanted to work, even though no one I work with regularly is in that office. About a year ago, I was even looking at apartments. Moving has always been a definite, it was just a question of when. Along the way, things like getting my black belt, job commitments, or other things would delay my urgency to move, but all along it has stayed strong in my mind. Until about a week ago. I've come to the realization I don't *need* to move. It's not that I won't ever move should an opportunity arise or circumstance change, but I'm not going to make it a focus otherwise. As long as I'm happy with me, I can be happy anywhere.

I was telling this to a good friend and he asked if I just woke up after all this time and "BAM!" this hit me. It wasn't like that. Basically, there have been a few events in the last year that all came together and it made me examine my life and why I wanted and didn't want certain things. It also ties into me being more goal-oriented again this year. Long story short, I realized that I was looking at moving as some kind of quick fix, almost like NYC or any bigger city was this magical utopia where I'd find this great social and career happiness. Truth is, that can be found anywhere if you're open to it, for me anyway. I've found that I'm adaptable to environments and social groups, and I'm happy with the majority of things in my life. As long as that's the case, I don't *need* to be anywhere. I can be wherever things lead me and not focus on a particular location to lead to those things. So all this got me thinking about how happy I was, hence the good mood. :D

So, I've decided that by end of 2009, I'm going to be in the position to buy a house. I need to do some things first to make that happen, but once I do, I'm buying a house (hopefully a condo). Whether that house will be bought here or 2 years from now it'll need to be somewhere else, I'm going to make sure that either way, whatever location, I'm ready for it.

Black woman on a snowboard...

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, I set several goals at the beginning of this year, and high on my list was finally going skiing or snowboarding. This past weekend I achieved that goal! I was THE black woman on a snowboard at Sno Mountain in PA this weekend. Really... the only one. I did see like 8 black people total maybe, out of the (easily) 1000+ at the place but they were on skiis. I had absolutely no experience and I braved the snowboard... which meant having to go flying down a slope with both my feet attached to a board. I was nothing but excited about it before, and after doing it, it was even more fun than I had imagined.

Thankfully there were lessons offered at this place so I got to learn all the basics. I think the lesson was the most tiring part. I was sweating hard after an hour of it. But I got to get the hang of the thing and learn all the terms. After an hour lesson I was feeling pretty good. I was ready to go!

They should have spent more time during the lesson explaining how not to bust one's ass coming off the lift. 'Cause I busted it bad every damn time. Whoever decided to stick a HUGE dip right as you get off a moving seat obviously did so without beginners in mind. I think it's especial awkward for a snowboarder. Anyway, after getting off the lift the first time I set up to go down the hill. After strapping in and getting up, I set off down the slope. I was flying! I didn't do any carving (making a "S" as I went) because I didn't want to break the flow. When I got near the bottom I did the proper stop and didn't fall! It was one of the most fun things I've ever done in my life, and I did it without falling first time down the slope. I screamed like I won a million dollars, and people looked at me like I was crazy. Unfortunately that wasn't the time I got on camera.

I continued to go back up and bust my behind coming off the lift, but I did realize I would fair better if I sat on the left side of the lift rather than the right (though I still fell but not as quickly). I was very proud of the fact that I was only falling when trying to avoid people falling in front of me. We were taught how to turn and whatnot, but when you see someone go down in front of you, the immediate thought is not 'turn ever so gently' but your mind instead goes 'STOP!!!' So that's what I'd do.... and I'd fall. But falling is actually fun on a snowboard. The adjacent photo is right after a "stop!!" moment. You can see a girl in light blue lying down on the left behind the people who I was trying not to hit. BUT before I stopped, my snowboarding partner got the good part of my trip down the slope all on video, but I don't have it yet. Though I am definitely going to post it and send it to *everyone* I know :). I don't care it was only the bunny slope, I was a pro and I'm proud of it!

Anyway, I was cold and exhausted after not too long and went inside and got drinks, which I have to say is a great part of the ski resort experience. Having an alcoholic drink while watching everyone ski and having a live singer/acoustic guitar player was awesome. The whole experience was awesome. I definitely plan to go again and next time I might give skiing a shot, but I have a feeling snowboarding is more my thing.

Soooo, next up, indoor-skydiving...

Stand Alone... a good thing

Some more details are out on The X-Files movie coming out this summer. (yay!) It's going to be a stand-alone storyline. (yay! again) Those were always my favorite X-Files episodes. I enjoyed the alien mythology theme that persisted and required that you keep up with every episode too, but it was a stand-alone episode that convinced me 2+ years into the series it was worth going back and watching from the beginning. While I think this might annoy some hard-core X-Files folks, I'm happy with it. Plus after so many years since the series, it's just not logical to try and pick up where they left off, nor would that help bring new people to the film.

Another thing I loved about The X-Files was the relationship between Mulder and Scully. I loved it when they really explored and developed that in episodes. Give me that in a standalone ep, and I'm good. So I was so happy to read this latest article on the movie and see the creator say things like, "For me, The X-Files has always been a romance. They had an intellectual romance that's very rare and restrained compared to so many relationships on TV. I think that's what appealed most to the fans." SO TRUE. I get my stand-alone story AND the romance. I'm good. Seeing the new stills from it is exciting too. Can't wait for the release.

In other Sci-Fi movie news, the teaser trailer for the next Star Trek movie will be at the beginning of the movie Cloverfield released tomorrow (Friday). I have no interest in seeing Cloverfield, but I do want to see that teaser. I guess I can wait till it's released to the internet a few days after. But I do wonder if some people will see this movie just for that teaser.

I say "Wiiiiiii!!!!!!" 'cause it's fun...

I recently made an excellent purchasing decision by getting a Wii. My main objective was to bring it to work, and re-establish office game breaks (like we once had for foosball, Streetfighter, etc.), which had evaporated as our company got smaller in size. Not only are game breaks back and better than ever, but I'm having a blast on games like Guitar Hero on my Wii. I recommend anyone thinking about getting a Wii to get one.

Aside from it's game power, the Wii has a lot of researchers using it to play around with cool things like Virtual Reality head tracking. This allows flat interfaces to move as you do in relation to your perspective and appear 3D. If you haven't already seen it, check out the video below. (I forwarded it to a friend who then told me that just the day before someone at his job had sent it to his whole company, so it's making the rounds.)



This guy is one of a bunch of people doing similar things, and with a quick search of YouTube you can uncover several other videos just like it. The concepts behind it are pretty basic but the results are very cool. I can't wait for Wii to develop some 3D games using these concepts (with technology they already have available).

So about finding this Wii... good times. No really. I enjoyed the process. I made the genius decision of wanting a Wii in December, the worse possible time to get one. EVERYTHING was sold out. Even online. Getting one became a case of luck/timing or getting to a place like Circuit City at 2am on a Sunday morning to wait in line. Thankfully, I'm a lucky person with good timing. :-) I walked into Target at 2pm the day after Christmas and they had just gotten a shipment. There was a stack right at the counter. I was so shocked I even asked, 'Are you selling those?' Even though it was just after Christmas, those suckers were gone in an hour. So I got my Wii. A manager at my job later asked if I saw one again that I pick one up for him. I haven't seen it at any store since.

So once I had my Wii, I needed games and an extra controller. I went back to all the stores in the area and controllers were sold out because now all the kids that got a Wii for Christmas were out buying up the accessories. The next day I did get an extra controller, the last one at Kmart. But now I wanted a Guitar Hero. This was harder than getting a Wii. Stores get them, if they get any at all, 12 at a time and in random shipments. So you essentially have to luck out and check on the right day and the right time. Fortunately, I'm a lucky person with good timing. :-) I walked into Circuit City after work and saw someone walking around with a Guitar Hero. I didn't get my hopes up because at all the stores there were plenty of Guitar Hero games for every gaming system BUT the Wii. But as I got closer I saw it was the unique Wii guitar with a slot for the controller. So I then literally made a modified sprint to the game section and saw the last 2 sitting there. I grabbed one and the other went shortly after. As I purchased it, the checkout person said his girlfriend also has a Wii and had been waiting for the game to come in, so she had him on lookout for whenever he was working. She had apparently just been at the store buying one since he called her up to get it.

Now if I had just gotten a Wii in maybe April, this would not have been an issue. But I have to say it was fun and rewarding looking and finding it during a high demand time. I know people still looking for a Wii and/or Guitar Hero for Wii. Someone I worked with actually paid a store to hold a Wii for him, and I still got mine before him and without any additional cost. And I didn't even have to try that hard. :-)

New Year!: "Get right, or get left"...

It's 2008! Seems like yesterday I was throwing back champagne and greeting in 2007, and now it's all over. Aside from achieving my martial arts goals, I don't feel I achieved much of anything last year and feel like I am at about the same point I was this time last January. But I'm going to work on that this year.

I don't make resolutions, but I'm always about setting goals... life goals. There's this writing making the email rounds by TD Jakes called "Let It Go". I let stupid mess bother me way too much, so the message in that of letting crap go is definitely one for me in the new year. This year I'm going get back to traveling more. I'm usually hopping in my car every other weekend to go places, and last year that fell off. Not this year. I'm going to see new places and make sure I see all the friends and family that don't live near me. I'm even going to reduce my overall martial arts participation to do so. Life is short; gotta see the loved ones regularly. Whenever I get moody, I'm going to go running. I don't particularly care for it, heck, I hate it but after I always feel great. And cardio is important, so I feel better AND extend my life. :-) Speaking of extending my life, I'm turning 30 this year. I'm realizing there's too much stuff I haven't done yet, so I'm going to make sure I go skiing/snowboarding, (indoor) skydiving, and maybe fit in going on a cruise, to name a few. As far as work, I'm going to get my stress levels in check and bring out all the parts I love about my job and where I work as much as possible.

I'm looking forward to a happy, productive new year.