Okay, it's time to actually blog again.

I'm settling into Chicago life. I got myself a job, transcribing videotaped psychotherapy sessions. That I can do from home, which is *awesome*. It's this really fascinating form of self-directed therapy called Internal Family Systems (IFS). I'm not sure if I would ever practice it, but hey, whatever helps you. I don't think I should really go into it, so moving on.

I'm hoping to get a nanny position as well in Hyde Park. That would be great. However...mom said she'd call me..yesterday. I sent her a short thank you email today. I don't want to start looking for a job again! (waa, waa, I'm such a whiner) I liked the nanny job 'cause it was only a couple hours a day and it paid really well. I hope there are still a few positions on Marketplace. I'll have to look again in a bit.

I have a lot less to write about than I originally thought....so I think I might watch something on the best website ever (tv-links.co.uk) to take a much-needed break from the content on those tapes.

Wait, I do have something to say...about my lack of something to say. It seems that sometimes I need a few days to process things that may be going on in my life before I can write about them. Or, maybe there's just really no inner turmoil going on at this point :) Wow, there's a thought. I suppose it's true. I've been pretty stress free since I got here (even with a dwindling bank account and rent due next week) My main goal has been getting a job. I haven't really thought of anything else. And I don't think I will until I get one. Maybe that's why I have nothing to say. Because my thoughts have been dominated by one simple goal: GET A JOB. NOW.

I'm trying!

Deep End, Burning Man 2007

It's just too awesome not to post.

Burningman 2007 Time-Lapse

Amazing time lapse video from Burning Man 2007. 2 main things of note:

1. The first burning of the man.

2. How the playa gets progressively busier every night.

(okay, 3 things really)
3. Can't forget the REAL burn!

You know what I realized today?

That if I died tomorrow and in the afterlife, someone offered me the chance to return to this life and live it differently, I wouldn't need to. Because I am living the life I want.

Things I took for granted in Gig Harbor:

1. Great scenery.
-We had the water, trees, beaches, islands, sunsets, mountains...

2. Drive-thru espresso stands.
-You can't even get a latte in parts of Minnesota.

3. No billboards.
-From ads for Wall Drug to the Cheese Chalet, South Dakota takes the cake on this one.

4. The weather.
-It really is awesome compared to, well, anywhere else.

5. The convenience of 3 smoke shops.
-I asked every gas station I stopped at from Wyoming to Minnesota if they carried clove cigarettes, and they all asked me if that was the brand.

more to come, falling asleep...

Perpetual Evolution

It's amazing how much a person can change in the span of a mere months time.

My last post was about a month ago. Just got back from Chicago. It was weird to be home. Like I never left, but at the same time everything was different. I was different. I had that knowledge that I was getting the fuck out, that I was here temporarily.

Then I went to Burning Man.

Something I've been wanting to do for years now, I finally made it to Black Rock City. It was amazing. I'm not quite ready to write about it yet. I'm still processing my experience. But I can say that it has widened my perception. Altered it, might be a better word. Maybe widened by altering...anyway, moving on. It was everything I'd expected and so much more. My imagined anticipated world had finally come to life right in front of me, and I knew that I was right where I belonged. People say it, and it's true: Black Rock City is home. 50 more weeks until I'm home again. So little time to prepare for next year. So much to do.

So I return home, again, changed even more profoundly than when I first arrived (only a few weeks prior) and it was like the world had shifted. Or was it me?

Immersing oneself in another culture, whether it be a tiny village in a poor Asian country, or a temporary community in the desert, can't help but open eyes and make you grow.

This is why I must travel all the time. Travel as a way of life. I can only continue to learn and evolve. I am in a state of perpetual evolution, I believe is what Zach once told me.

How will my solo-cross-country drive affect and change me? What will living in Chicago for real this time do to/for me? Where will I wander to next? What will the circumstances of my relocation be? Will I just pack up and wander off? That's what I'd like to do. Wander out west. I need temporary jobs. Random gigs. No big corporate software company that pays really good. I have to give up the security of money and just live the life I want. Which I always thought required money. But I have been proved wrong. i can live the fulfilling nomadic life I've always wanted and I can do it with very little money. And I can make this money on the road.

So, Chicago here I come, then who knows. Only time will tell.