Journal entry for July 27, 2006,

“I so want to stay in Seattle but I don’t know if I am supposed to. I may have been speaking prophetically to myself earlier when speaking of field of dreams [the movie]. Maybe I’m not supposed to be asking what’s in it for me. Maybe this is a God thing and the next stage of my life isn’t here in the area I love. Maybe I have to leave to really find what God is calling me to be. I have defined myself for such a long time by how others see me and what my friends think that maybe it is time for a change.”

Someday soon I will hopefully be finished moving. Today was a good day for getting things done though. I was able to move pretty much all the rest of the large, heavy items I’m going to take with me. I was thinking about taking one of the dressers that is still left in Blackberry but it’s really not in that good of shape so I’ve decided I’ll just make due with one for now and start looking for a nicer one on CL or make a trip to Ikea in the next month or so. I need a coffee table to so an Ikea trip is definitely in the running. Right now the biggest thing I need to work on is unpacking and cleaning up the mess from all my various boxes, as you can see here.  I’m just glad I finally have my desk set up so I can start using my computer again.  I like uploading pics from Vintage asap so they are available if anyone needs/wants them and the fact that I wasn’t able to even edit them until last night was frustrating.   I still need to get my blinds hung but that is on hold until I can pick up a drill to replace the one that died.  Hopefully that will happen on Thursday, though it might happen tonight.

Comcast will be coming out tomorrow to hook up our cable and internet and I’m surprised they are doing it that fast.  Last time I moved it took them almost a week to send someone out.  Apparently the guys who came by to verify our address know people who know people, or something like that.  I’ve actually had really good experiences with Comcast when it comes to transferring service.  At least when they are making you pay an arm and a leg for service, they give you good customer service.  Anyway, my battery is winding down and I’ve done what I need to for now.  Time to get some dinner and head back to the Man-Pad.  Ciao!

As part of getting moved over to my new house I’ve been talking with Comcast to get them to set up my cable internet and tv.  Unfortunately they can’t find my address so it is going to be a few days.  Fortunately I was able to set up my cell phone as a bluetooth modem tonight so I will have at least fast enough access for email, blogging, and limited surfing.  Now I just have to figure out what I am going to do for getting internet to the Xbox.  If I put my modem/router in my bedroom then I will have to either buy a 100′ ethernet cable or a $100 wireless adapter for the Xbox.  The other option is to put the modem/router next to the Xbox and then use my old 802.11b adapter on my computer for now.  I’ll have to think about that.  It would be a waste of a big fat pipe to throttle everything through a wireless-b adapter to my computer just so I can plan Halo 3 and get killed by some 12 year old.

So getting my phone to work as a modem was the small victory I accomplished.  The epiphany I had is that I can no longer move by myself.  I have way too much stuff to move with just myself as the man power.  Even having Danny help me move the bigger stuff, it seems like a never ending task to get moved over.  When I move back to Seattle, I definitely am not going to be moving all of my stuff.  I would have a yard sale to get rid of things before I make that kind of a move or I would have professional movers come before I would try to do the whole thing by myself.  I wouldn’t say I wasted today because I did get a good amount of stuff moved but I still have a desk, dresser, kitchen counter, two chairs, a coat rack, a cloths rack, a steamer trunk, a computer and large monitor, and a whole bunch of random other boxes of “stuff” to move before I’m finished.  I was hoping to be finished with the move this weekend but I think it will be Monday night now before I can finish.  I know that there are now people waiting to move into my unit but I would have to kill myself to be completely moved out by tomorrow night before church.  Some stuff I do need to throw away but a good chunk of stuff I just have accumulated over the course of time.  And there is stuff I would still like to get, like an actual bed frame (which I started looking for on eBay).  Anyway, I’m feeling pretty tired and I still have some organizing and cleaning to do before I do more moving tomorrow.  I don’t know how I would ever move a whole house full of stuff.  Yikes.  Being an adult isn’t so much fun right now.

So I got off work today and asked a friend from work to help me move some of the bigger items I couldn’t move myself. It took us about two hours to move my bed, love seat, tv, and a book case. When we finished, I was exhausted. I’m not tired so much, I can just tell every muscle in my body is tired and weak. I know already that I am going to hurt come Saturday morning. It’s good to be about halfway done with the move though. I’m able to start moving things around and deciding how I want to set up my stuff. Hopefully I’ll get to talk more with Kevin tomorrow to see if he has an entertainment center we can use and any other furniture. I need to get a van again tomorrow to finish moving some of the larger items still left, like my desk and dining room table. I’ve already scheduled the first party we are going to have for next Wednesday. It will be the second “Man-Fest” to coincide with the wedding shower that is going on that night. It is kind of fun to be hosting events like that for guys to get together and hang out. We had a bunch of fun last time playing Fight Night boxing on 360. I’ve got a couple people psyched up already to play Halo 3 next time.

Speaking of Halo, I beat the game. It was once again shorter than I thought it would be, just like Halo 2. Fortunately this time though, there wasn’t a “throw your controller at the screen” ending. The second game ends so suddenly and at such a high point that you wanted to scream and play the rest of the story right then. Bungie definitely comes through and cashes in on letting you “Finish the Fight.” The ending does, as many have said, leave the door open for more games in the future featuring Master Chief, which would be very welcome if you ask me. I think the character of Master Chief might be the greatest video game character ever created. Certainly characters like Mario and Sonic (maybe others?) have sold more games and been much more successful when it comes to number of titles moved, but do either of them feature the rich back story and “bad-ass” mentality of Master Chief? One of the things I love most about the game is that they nailed the sense of scale. When you are playing as Master Chief (which you fortunately spend the entire time doing in Halo 3) you are a full head taller than any of the earth marines and when jumping or running, you clearly outclass their physical ability. The way the NPC’s in the game (both human/Elite and Covenant) react to your presence is perfect. The story is also set up perfectly and paid off perfectly. When you finally rescue Cortana, you truly feel a sense of release and like you/Master Chief are whole again with Cortana back in your head. The way that Master Chief acts around Cortana (and vise versa) is also telling, they have a crush on each other, at the very least they share a special connection. The Master Chief knows that no human woman will ever understand who he is or what he has done and Cortana knows that Master Chief is the only living being that will ever live up to her expectations. Any one else would have failed to save her from the Gravemind but Master Chief makes good on his promise. I watched a review of the game today where they talked about how this isn’t a perfect game, but it is a 10 out of 10 because it is everything you want a great game to be. The story draws you in and makes you want to keep playing. In the first two games, there are too many levels where you are just mindlessly killing flood with no real purpose or goal other than to survive. This time around, you feel a sense of urgency as you play through the game, you know what’s at stake and you know you can’t fail. Bioshock may have been more “shocking” (no pun intended, well, may it was ) and surprising in how good it turned out to be, but Halo 3 (from the series that set the bar in each of it’s previous releases for what a great game should be) once again delivered what it promised and once again establishes itself as the measuring stick for what great games should be like. Anyway, I’m back to the “Man Pad,” as Brenda named it, to do some more unpacking and settling in before my big push tomorrow. I’ll post pics on flickr as soon as I get everything set up. Ciao!

So Comcast finally came out yesterday and hooked up my Internet so I now can watch tv and surf the web at home. It was really getting boring down here. I’m just happy that I will be able to watch the baseball playoffs now.

I also went out to Costco today and signed up for a membership. Then I bought a 1000watt Philips home theater system. It is probably a little over kill for my smallish apartment but the sound is great! I now have most of what I want before having people over for an open house. I have no idea how many people I might invite for that. If I actually had a bigger place I wouldn’t hesitate to just send out an open invitation but since I can really only fit about 8 people max before there really isn’t room for people any more it might be kind of tough to have over more than just Reg. I’ll figure that one out. If word gets out there would be fudge though I might have to fight people off with a stick! Anyway, things are still going pretty good here. I keep waiting to feel really lonely and I haven’t yet. It is pretty amazing how fast it feels like I have been accepted into the community here. Even at SPU it always felt like there was some part of everyone that was fake but here everyone just is so real and cool.

We had my first staff breakfast today which doubled as my first all staff meeting. One of the things they talked about is how after doing an employee survey last year the board realized how many part time and temporary employees work at Mount Hermon and they decided to be more intentional about including them in staff activities. I just thought about how frustrating some of the aspects of being a temp employee in Seattle were and thanked God that I now work for an organization who knows that the small things really do matter. It really wouldn’t have hurt SPU to include temp staff in their staff breakfasts and other staff meetings. To me, not including them is just reiterating the fact they don’t matter cause they will be gone in a few weeks or months.

Anyway, it is time to head to bed. Gotta put togeather a new playlist and then hit the sack. Ciao!

I’m currently having lunch at the Mountain Roasting Company in Felton, Ca. I’m on my lunch break from working in the Registration office at Mount Hermon so I decided to do a little bit of exploring. I have been having a great time so far. Probably the most fun was moving into my apartment and getting to set things up how I want. I am almost completely unpacked but I still have a few things to take care of. One thing I have discovered is the fact that I have way, way too much clothing. I’ve filled four dresser drawers, an amoure, and two milk crates and I still have another suitcase full of tshirts. Maybe it is time to start paring down! I still have a couple of things to take care of before I am totally moved in though. I have to get the pilot light lit on the stove and a couple of screens for some of the windows.

At work it is kind of funny because I am something of a celebrity, for the moment at least. Since Mom grew up there and all these people know who she and Grandpa are they have all been coming by to introduce themselves and tell stories. I told Dad the night before I arrived that it wouldn’t suprise me if they had a big welcome banner when I arrived on campus! Anyway, I had better be getting back to work. I’ve finally got logged onto the computers so I should be able to start doing some real work!

So I’ve made it to Newburg, OR on my way down to Mount Hermon for my new job. I realized today that I enjoy the journey as much as I enjoy the destination. I was driving down the road just past Portland and realized that I could just keep driving. I almost had the urge to just go straight through and not stop before getting to Santa Cruz. Mom is kind of worried about the long drive and the fact I will be alone but I am totally cool with it, in fact, I’m excited about the trip. That said, it really would be nice to have a bigger car for the trip. There are several things that got left behind because there just wasn’t room for them. My guitar and my record player both got left and also another box of random pens and guitar stuff. Nothing vital but I wasn’t actually able to move everything simply because we ran out of space, and we even packed way more stuff into the Achieva than I thought we would. Oh well, at least it will be easier to unpack when I get down there.

I still don’t know where I will be living and if I will have any roommates or not. Either way is fine I guess, I would like my own place but having roommates would mean that I automatically have someone to hang with. Speaking of roommates, it was kind of weird to leave Seattle knowing that I probably live with Colin and Adam again. I have to admit though, I’m looking forward to the possibility of living on my own in my own place and being able to decorate it any way I want. Anyway, I’m hoping to post pics of my place when I get down there. I will definately have some new material for photography, now I just need a better camera!

Wow, it is hard to believe I only have 6 days left in Seattle! I have living in this city for the last 12 years of my life and it is going to be hard to leave it. There are so many ways in which the two of us are tied together, so much of me is tied to what this city is. Fortunately I am going to a place that shares many similarities with Seattle but it won’t be the same. I will miss the rainy days and the cold, crisp winter nights. Our neighbor once asked why my brother couldn’t come out and play on a rainy day since it was good weather for flowers. If that is the case then I must be a flower cause I love the rain. Don’t get me wrong, even I will start feeling a little depressed after a month or so of drizzle, but there is just something so beautiful and perfect about rain. I love to sit near an open window when it is raining and feel the cool moist air flowing past me. When we get a good summer rain after a long dry spell I will run outside and just stand in the falling water, feeling it bounce off my skin and breath deep the lingering smell of the wet pavement.

It will be a strange adjustment to a city and a region that gets much hotter and is more about tans and tank tops than gortex and flannel. This will also be the first time that I will be the “outsider” when it comes to being somewhere. I am used to being the one who shows people around and talks about all the fun things to do in Seattle. Now I will have a whole city to explore on my own. I know that there will be a good community built in at Mount Hermon but I do hope that I find a good group of friends to settle in with. I think that will be a good part of why I get involved with a church down there. Maybe I can find ways to use my computer/sound tech/camera skills to help some place. Those skills are becoming more and more common however and I am basically moving to the computer capitol of the western hemisphere. Well I have a full week of packing and good byes ahead of me so I’m sure it is going to be an emotional roller coaster (though probably not as fun as the old wooden coasters in SC)!