Monday, May 7, 2007

A new stage of blogging life demands a new look, don't you think? I think so. Although I haven't quite worked everything out yet (for example, the title stinks, and I'm well aware of that, but nothing more witty comes to mind, so I'm not going to force it), I'll get there in a few days. I'm pretty sure my brain has checked out and gone on vacation since I've graduated. That, at least, is the excuse I'm using for producing a second-rate blog for a short while. That or I'll just continue to be second-rate until you lower your expectations and I can get away with it long-term. Either way, we ought to have a lot of fun.

So. Back home, at last. It's been quite a week, to say the least. In fact, I really have no idea where to begin with the storytelling. It's a tough balance for me: on the one hand, you're here of your own free will, so you probably don't mind hearing the occasional story; on the other hand, some of the stories that I think are interesting probably aren't. I'm trying to tread the line between giving you some entertaining and pithy anecdotes and just being another blog about the boring details of my life.

Well, at least I'm back to the philosophizing again. Looks like my brain didn't completely shut off after all. Except for making up words. Or is "philosophizing" actually a word? Let's see what Microsoft thinks of it: yep, we're good.

Anyway. It's hard to believe that last weekend, I was graduating from college. It's been such a crazy week that it feels like that happened months ago. Maybe that's the natural process of compartmentalization that just happens with major life events. Put it in a box, seal up the box, and file it away next to wedding and delivery-room memories.

This week's been so crazy, in fact, that I still don't feel like I've had a chance to reflect on the fact that I'm actually done with school, at least for now. My unfinished degree has been such a defining thing in my life for the last 10 years that I've come to think of it as an old friend. An old friend who always makes you pay for lunch and steals all your clothes. And now that old friend is gone. I'm not sad to see him go, but I am going to miss him, warts and all.

So here I sit, back in my living room in Langley, having this odd feeling that nothing has changed, and everything has changed. Coming back and slowly settling back into the old routines has a familiar sort of comfort to it, and yet the routines just seem a little different when they're filtered through the matrix of what I've learned over this past year and the experiences I've had. We do the same things now that we did before, but they've taken on a new sense of significance and meaning having been away. It's hard to quantify, really.

Maybe it's because I feel like the last chapter of my life is still finishing up while the next one is in the process of starting. I know that a full-time job lingers just around the corner, and that jumping into it will require yet another re-writing of the familiar routines, so I hold back somewhat in the present moment while I wait. Although I've graduated and we're back, my station in life hasn't really changed just yet. It will soon enough, but that almost makes it harder.

And yes, there are some promising things happening on the job front. I'm not going to mention them at all in the blog, mainly because of what happened when I last mentioned a job opportunity, but they are there. This week will bring more clarity in that sphere, so hopefully there will be something to report in the very near future.

Moving on in the usual manner, which is sharp and without appropriate segue. It's funny how blog postings acquire a life of their own, and morph and change over the time it takes me to type them. I had gone down a whole different track with this one, and went back up to the top to re-work the beginning, but I ended up re-writing the whole thing. Of course, that means that it's now pretty late, and my wife is probably wondering why I'm not in bed yet, which also means that it's time to stop for the evening.

By the way, I said last time that I had a plan for this blog, and that plan would be revealed today. Well, if you were waiting for some kind of big announcement, you're going to be disappointed. Aside from a redesign, I don't think anything will change. How's that for boring? I'm still going to make an effort to get a posting up here every weekday (written the night before to facilitate extra confusion), and that's about it. It might be a tough go for the first little while--things are a little crazy in the house right now, what with all the boxes around and our internet-connected computer in the living room (it's a long story that involves my mom-in-law staying in the room that is our office, which houses our computer. The machine I'm using right now is hers, and it's downstairs. Of course, it doesn't have my personal touches that I like so much, like Firefox instead of IE, but it'll do for now). I will, however, make the valiant effort.

Coming up this week, then, it's stories from grad and our trip home. The short version: I graduated and we came home. For the longer version, stay tuned.

I'm glad to have you back along for the ride, and I hope you're looking forward to continuing along this journey with me. See you tomorrow.