This journal and I are quits. If you want the fantastic newness, go here. (If going there doesn't ring your bell, you can subscribe to the RSS feed.) The new blog will be more focused, I promise you. Or more varied. I'm not sure yet.

Been writing a lot of material over the last few weeks, none of it public. Was going slowly insane so I took up a daily journal again. Turned out to be exactly the cathartic activity I needed. Also in the midst of NaNoWriMo presently and have churned out some 6,500 words for that so far. Though it seems overkill and possibly even dangerous to my art when looked at from the outside, I'm actually finding it very useful. The quotas provide a wonderful excuse to practice the craft for 4-5 hours a night.

I was tagged by Hannah, so here goes:

1. What is your current obsession?
My current obsessions are my longtime ones as well - I spend a lot of time thinking about design, songwriting, and fiction writing.

2. What is your weirdest obsession?
That's a tough one. I don't find "weird" a useful word, usually.

3. What do you see outside your window?
A large factory, a checkerboard watertower, and a cavalcade of Caltrains. In a couple of weeks, it'll be fences, cars, and the house across the street.

4. What is your favourite colour?
Brown.

5. What is your weakness?
I'm easily discouraged.

6. What animal would you be?
Either a mynah bird or an African grey.

7. What would you like to learn how to do?
So many things! Build a clock from scratch, write an operating system from scratch, sing correctly, play the cello competently, animate competently, convincingly draw/paint people and animals from all angles, take care of my car, build my own guitar pedals...

8. What do you want to never happen in life?
I'd prefer not to have anyone I care about die "before their time."

9. What is on your bedside table?
Cell phone, forgotten cups, mass market paperbacks, postcards, coins, etc.

10. What's the last thing you bought?
A blueberry muffin.

11. What do you think about the person that tagged you?
I like Hannah a lot. She's a very kind, real person.

12. What was your favourite children's book?
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg.

13. Who do you want to meet in person?
Marilynne Robinson. The hell of it is that she actually lives in Iowa City and teaches at the University of Iowa. If only I'd known about her during uni!

14. What did you want to be as a child?
An astronomer and a comic book artist.

15. What did you dream about last night?
The usual stuff. Our parrot Max started tentatively squawking just before I woke up, so my final dreams had a lot of multicolored birds circling around.

16. Which do you prefer, day or night?
Day, if I can be outside.

17. What's your favourite piece of clothing in your closet?
It's a toss-up between my red Wind-Up Bird t-shirt, my blue Banana Republic hoodie, and my brown corduroys.

18. What's your plan for tomorrow?
Dina and I are going to spend most of the day moving. Afterwards, I'm going to try to finish up my graphic design studio project.

19. What would you like to get your hands on right now?
A job I enjoy doing.

20. What is your must have of the moment?
Blood. Water. Eyesight. Hearing. Etc.

21. What's your favourite tea flavour?
Lemon or peach.

22. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
Paris. I wouldn't mind visiting NYC again, either, at least for a little while.

Tagging: I don't think anyone reads this journal anymore, but I know Doug used to. So Doug, if you're reading this, I just tagged you.

It's a been more than a year since I last posted here at The Floating Opera, so I should probably give my audience (assuming they're still around) some kind of summary/synopsis/update. Here's a short one:

I moved to the Department of Safety in Anacortes, WA, in mid-August of 2007. I was very excited about the place at first, but my always-tentative money situation and the state of the organization crippled that enthusiasm significantly by the beginning of the new year. In November, I started having long phone conversations with Dina, a girl I'd taken a class with at the University of Iowa who I'd stayed in contact with via e-mails and mix CDs. We ended up falling in love with each other and moving in together. We're living in Sunnyvale, CA, right in the middle of Silicon Valley; starting in August, she will be teaching at Fremont High School here in town, and I will be in an entry-level position at Google.

The Google thing is recent. I spent about a month looking for jobs before I got realistic, signed up with a few staffing agencies, and got this gig. It's not glamorous at all, nor does it pay well - unless I get a raise very quickly, I'm going to have to continue to freelance on the side. (This comes as a bit of a blow to me. The main reason I got a "straight job" is so I wouldn't have to freelance anymore.) Still, it's Google, and I'm psyched about that. I'm going to make the best of the situation, and who knows? Maybe it'll be awesome.

More later.

Ryan
xoxo

So long, New York City! Hello, reality!

At least, that's what it feels like. You know what happened when I went to Iowa City earlier today to drop off Alena and eat at Z'Mariks and look at trees? I felt so overwhelmed and grateful I almost cried. It was so warm and there were so many people with color in their faces. Couples were sunning in the park. And it kept happening like that... you Midwesterners don't know how green it is here. I keep touching the grass and trees when I'm walking around because they don't look real. They look too alive.

And I have a car! I don't have to stay here all day or wait around to be taken somewhere else. I can get in my car and drive and listen to music and go somewhere. I feel like a newborn.

More later!

Ryan
xoxo

I carried four 30-40 pound boxes a total of 14 blocks today; my arms, as you can imagine, are rigid with pain. But then, I suppose that's moving. I'm going to have to deliver at least two more similarly-loaded boxes a total of four blocks tomorrow. Then comes loading the car, treating my benefactors (Alex and Alena) to lunch or dinner, driving in shifts, driving driving driving. At the end I'll have to drive Alena home, and then I'll be somewhere new, officially.

Well, somewhere old, officially. But somewhere new comparatively.

It would be ridiculous to claim that I won't miss New York City. It's ridiculous in the way claiming you hate your ex from a long-term relationship is ridicuoous. It's way too complicated. I won't miss the palpable cautiousness people have here - in fact, I'm hoping it's the first attribute I'll shake off. I won't miss the noise, either. What I will miss is the access. I saw some damn fine shows, exhibitions, films, and general events here. I know I won't likely have that level of access again - that is, unless I move back, which is very definitely not in the cards at this point.

Even then, all that access, it's not that good. It doesn't square well with my nature. I like to hunt for my food, so to speak. And I like to savor it.

It's kind of awesome to be moving. I like everything involved with moving. You have to take stock of your situation in a serious way. You have to prioritize. Sometimes, as with this move, you have to travel long distances through lands you rarely ever get the chance to see. And don't forget that fresh-start feeling. When you move somewhere else, you are a blank slate to these people. If you're psychologically equipped to do so, you can become a new and wholly more effective person.

This will probably be the last entry from New York, fellas. Á demain.

Ryan
xoxo

Anacortes totally won. I move to the Department of Safety in August.
(I'm moving in with Lisa next year, though.)

Exciting? Yes. I'll reprint the details from my other journal later.

Ryan
xoxo