2nd Week in California

Today is June 20th - a day that marks my survival of week number 2 on the west coast. Time is FLYING by. It's ridiculous. I thought it was fast before...but man. The adults weren't kidding when they said it only gets faster as you get older.

This week has seen the completion of several important tasks. First and foremost, I was able to get Internet set up at my apartment. Hooray! I feel slightly more connected to the outside world now. It's not wireless yet, which is unfortunate because I'm unable to simultaneously use the Internet and sit on my couch at the same time. My cable just doesn't reach that far. Durn.

Secondly, I was able to pick up a few pieces of furniture that have rocketed my apartment's look and feel from "Ok, you're still getting settled" to "Wow you have a nice place." I now have a dining room table, which is incredibly awesome (thanks Mom for doing the search on that one). It's expandable/collapsible and makes for a perfect drawing table. Actually it kind of reminds me of the table I used for all of my work back home. This wonderful new table has claimed the spot that my white desk was sitting in (refer to my "Moving In" blog entry for a picture), because it completely and totally eclipses the desk in terms of overall niceness and efficiency for my artwork.

There she is. You can see my artwork hanging on the wall too.

Also, I picked up these nifty little stools for the living room area (once again, thanks Mom). They're pretty sweet - great for propping your feet up to watch TV or play videogames. Not that I'm able to watch TV or play videogames yet...but I will be soon. Additionally, the tops of the stools flip over to become mini-tray tables. Dinner and a movie? Aw yeah.

Cool no?

Mmmm...footrests. Now if only I had a TV. That coffee table sure does look lonely.

On the work front, I've been able to complete several large design tasks over the last few days. Generally speaking, work has been going great. They're keeping me super busy at Graspr, and it feels good. So far I've really enjoyed everything, and my coworkers have really liked my work. I have a ton of creative freedom, and my tasks thus far have catered towards being broad, varied, and challenging. One of the main reasons I've been so busy is due to a massive deadline coming up. On July 1st, we're going live with several major updates to the site - updates that will hopefully put us more into the public eye. On a more personal level, July 1st will also mark the first time any of my professional design work will be published for the rest of the world to see. And that's a pretty awesome thought...that hundreds of people could see and interact with stuff that I've worked on. Take a good look at the site now...because I'm pushing for some pretty radical changes to happen soon.

This is called the Adobe Creative suite. It's a $900 software package that I use for a lot of my work. I finally got my own copy this week. And that makes me a happy camper. =)

On the social side of things, I made a big step towards actually meeting people out here. For the first 4 days of the week (Sunday through Wednesday), life was a bit monotonous - I would get up in the morning, go to work, come home, and make dinner/twiddle my thumbs for the majority of the evening. However, due to my appetite for activity, I was determined to change the routine. So on Thursday evening, I went to hang out with a local group of young adult churchgoers. And they were really great people! Turned out that a bunch of them were from the South too! Nobody from Atlanta, but the closest to home that I remember was a couple from Clemson. It was great to make a step towards getting plugged in somewhere...especially with people who appreciate college football and BBQ pork sandwiches.

Anyways, I think that's about it for now. I'll close this entry with a little taste of west coast economic reality. This is a picture I took at a gas station the other day. You'll notice that Regular Unleaded is $4.49 a gallon. This is the CHEAPEST gas I've found so far....the cheapest. Yeah. Could someone please go ahead and come out with a better fuel alternative? Geez.

I believe the word "yikes" would be appropriate right about now.

PS - Am really missing everyone back home. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support. I'll keep updating my blog with more info on my life out here in California! =)