LET'S GO

I am on the cusp of good news. I can feel it. It's coming. Too much is going right for me right now for this not to come through.

First of all, I've weighed in two days in a row now at 195 pounds. Progress, my friends! That's 32 pounds down with 15 to 20 more to go. God I feel so good. I just can't even begin to express it.

Do me a favor and go to my Facebook page. First, stalk a few of my photos. Specifically, look at the ones from Christmas where I'm wearing my kick-ass abominable snowman shirt. And look at my Halloween photo where I'm dressed in a Yankees uniform.

Now, look at my latest profile picture, which was taken after a softball game this past Tuesday night. That's the first new picture I've seen of myself in a couple months. What a difference!! Jesus. Look how small I look! Wow.

I'd say I don't mean to brag, but I absolutely do mean to brag. Seeing visual evidence of progress is like a shot of pure adrenaline. All I want to do is kick even MORE ass now. Still work to do. Like I just said, I've got at least 15 or 20 more pounds to lose, and I really can't wait to get there. I feel so good. Wow.

What else is going on?

Well, tonight is the end-of-season party for our softball league where they'll announce the tournament seeds and pairings. Plus, it's $25 all you can eat/drink. Sold! Man, I hate that our season is already over. It went by so fast.

We have our league-wide tournament next weekend, but then we just have to wait for the next season to start. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm going to play flag football for the N.C. State team, too, and so are quite a few of the softball folks. But man I love me some softball haha.

Flag football will be pretty great, though. I've heard the State team has been around for a while and is actually quite good. Like I mentioned last week, I think a lot of our softball team's problems came because we had no continuity from last year. There was no team last year. I think we'll be much better next year now that we have a really great group of people to work with.

But the flag football team has been around for quite a few years and apparently regularly competes for the league title. That'll be fun.

And then Sunday is going to be fantastic. First, I'll be heading to Nats Park at noon for some pre-game pre-gaming, and then a 1:35 game against the Mets. Katie from softball decided she wanted to have a "Sunday Funday for No Good Reason." Well, I can get behind that. So I'll be heading down there with Katie and, like, 17 of her friends haha.

We'll buy the cheap $5 tickets and then just hang out at the huge bar in the outfield. LET'S GO!

Man I love going to Nats games. Plus! I'll get to see Jordan Zimmermann pitch. He's a really great young pitcher who sometimes gets lost in the Strasburgmania going on here. Zimmermann is legit though. In the next few years, if Strasburg can come back successfully and Zimmermann stays healthy, a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation of Strasburg-Zimmermann will be pretty stout, man. Not bad at all.

The main event of the weekend, though, is 6:30 p.m. at the 9:30 Club downtown. REEL BIG FISH!! They are so much fun to see live. So much energy, such a great stage presence. Fun songs you can dance to, and since I know all the lyrics to all the songs, I will undoubtedly be screaming along, like you do.

I just can't wait haha. It's going to be a really great weekend.

Now, the impending good news about which I am extremely hopeful is I've advanced to the next stage with the company from last week. If you'll recall, I had a job interview last Monday, and they contacted me yesterday to invite me back for some more interviews and a writing test. Man, let's go.

So there you go. Almost everything is going right for me at the moment. If I can get this one more thing to go right -- wow. Jubilation.

The energy has been uncomfortably bottled up for more than four months now -- since I narrowly missed out after being a finalist for another position. I have to say, there's a chance I just spontaneously combust if/when I get the good news for which I'm hoping.

Bottom line: I feel good, man. Really good. Life is good. Good news is coming. I can feel it.

-BG

Patience is Overrated

It's been a trying several months. There's no other way to slice that one.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Mike said to me, "Wow it just hit me. For basically all of the past six months, you've been just waiting for things to happen."

And yes. That's entirely true.

Between job searching, relationships, potential moving decisions and a few other things -- the past six months has been a series of situations where I LITERALLY cannot control what happens after a certain point. I do what I can do, and then I can only wait for the companies to get back to me, for others to make their decisions, for my apartment to tell me they've found someone to rent my place (thus kicking me out), etc.

It's actually kind of funny because if I had to point out a weakness of mine in the past, I'd probably eventually settle on how I tend to just roll with things. Sometimes, that's awesome. But sometimes, you have to just get up and make shit happen, you know?

I'd always been able to succeed by just rolling with the punches and going about my business. Now I've been in situations where I've been effectively forced to roll with the punches, and it's driving me fucking crazy.

Like, you have no idea.

I've always been extremely patient when it comes to my relationships with other people. And I've had no choice but to be patient and wait for these things to happen now.

I go on my interviews. I send my thank you notes. I follow-up later and make sure they have everything they need. But at some point, you simply cannot just keep contacting them. You have to let them go through their process.

Enter: patience.

Fuck some patience, man. I am ready to blow the fucking roof off of something. Anything. I don't mean that in an angry or negative way. I just mean I am ready to get up and make some shit happen.

I think that's one of the reasons why I've really thrown myself into this weight-loss and working out thing. I can't control much of my job search beyond sending out resumes and cover letters. But I for damn sure can get my ass into the gym and run and lift weights.

It's been one of the few things I've had complete control over lately. So I'm killing it. I've been fluctuating between 195 and 197 pounds the past couple of days, so that puts me almost 15 pounds away from my goal weight.

I am just so ready to get out there and really kick some serious ass at my next job. I am dying to make things happen on my own and not wait for them to happen to me now. I've been waiting for things to happen to me for six months, and I've had no other choice. I'm done with it.

And the really great thing about being 30-32 pounds lighter and having clothes fit better and more comfortably is I've LITERALLY never felt better about myself. Self-confidence and self-esteem are at all-time highs, and I will have absolutely no problem taking something by the horns and running with it.

I seriously cannot wait for the opportunity. I'm just so beyond excited for the chance to make shit happen and be done with this waiting game.

Let's go, man. Let's GO.

-BG

Uncertainty is Afoot

As many of you know, I have been without a job for a few months now. If you don't know, there it is. It's all good. I'm hanging in there, and things are pretty awesome, considering.

I can't even count the number of interviews I've had. Well that's not true. I can count them. I've been on 14 or 15 interviews.

And listen, I know I should be grateful about even getting the interviews. And I am! Don't get me wrong. You never know what an interview might lead to in the future even if it doesn't lead to a job immediately. Plus, a lot of people don't even get interviews.

I get all that. I am grateful. But at the end of the day, an interview without a job offer is still a lack of a paycheck. But like I said earlier, it's all good. Financially, I've been fine. I've tightened things up, of course, but I had a plan and I stuck to it. And I have a plan going forward as well.

I've been a finalist a couple of times. I've gotten pretty far a couple of other times. I'm honestly not worried about it. I'm working hard on finding a new gig, and it's going to happen.

Here's the tricky part, though. At the end of July, it becomes fiscally irresponsible for me to continue renting my apartment. My apartment complex requires a two-month move-out notice.

I gave my notice to evacuate my apartment a few weeks ago. I explained the situation, and they said if I find a job I can cancel the notice. But! They have to market the apartment as available. If they agree to rent my apartment out before I find a job, I am -- I believe the technical term is -- screwed.

For those following along at home, here's what that means (and, for that matter, if you're looking for evidence about how ass-backwards my 2011 has been, look no further): there now exists a scenario where I find a job and then become homeless (!).

You can't make this stuff up, folks!

My contingency in case I don't find something before the end of July is to move back to Charlotte temporarily. I will continue to look for jobs in D.C. and move back here when I find one. The fact is this is where I want to be now. I really love living here.

It took me two years, but I've finally put down roots here. Plus, hello; it's a pretty awesome place to live. Never mind the wow-factor of living in the nation's capital, which is significant. It's centrally located to almost everything I want to be near. I can be in Charlotte in six or seven hours. I can be in Raleigh in four or five. I can be in New Jersey in four hours.

Also, I've done the backwoods thing. I've lived in a small southern town. It was charming. Really, it was. But I don't think this is a secret: I'm a city guy. I just am. And D.C. is a great city for me because it's big enough to be a real city, but it's not so big it's overwhelming. It's a knowable city.

Don't get me wrong. New York is absolutely my favorite city in the U.S. It's not even really close. And who knows, maybe I'll even live there one day. But for now, this is for me.

And there are a ton of jobs here. So that can't be overlooked.

But I've got a couple of really promising leads going on right now, and I remain hopeful and optimistic one of them will come through before I have to go to Charlotte or vacate my apartment. It's all good!

Bottom line is this: don't worry about me! I am feeling so, so good. I remain, as ever, totally optimistic that things will work out, but prepared in case they don't. Uncertainty is afoot for me right now, but it will be fine. You know how I roll. I take it as it comes, and I am undeterred.

Besides, all the free time I've had has led to me getting in the best shape of my life; it's led to me writing more; it's led to me playing my guitar more; it's led to me eventually finding my softball team and making some truly awesome friends.

And I wouldn't have been able to go on my nine-day happy bender otherwise. It's the little things.

So yeah. That's all I've got for now.

I'm actually really excited about this blog. I mapped out post ideas that should take me through the rest of the summer. I'm excited to write again. This feels really, really good. Thank you so very much to everyone who reads, and please let me know if you want to know anything! I am, as always, an open book. Plus, Google Analytics tells me more people want to read this blog when I write about myself. So there you go. I can do that.

Check back every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (unless otherwise noted) for new posts. And spread the word!

-BG

Back in town

I'm back from DC. Got back last night a little before 11 actually.

I don't want to jinx anything or count any chickens before they hatch and such, but I feel pretty good about the interview. I was there for almost four hours, and I met four of the five partners, plus three other people. And the fifth partner called me this morning for another short interview.

So I feel pretty good. I took their writing test, and talked with people for a few hours. I don't think they would have gone through all that trouble if they weren't interested at all, so that's good. The woman I talked to this morning said they'd get back to me within a week.

WE SHALL SEE. FINGERS CROSSED.

In the meantime, I find it pretty irrational how much I like this song. Plus, that's a pretty ridiculously fun video. I dare you not to find this song sickeningly catchy. Ready, set, GO! (Embedding is disabled, so follow the link to Youtube for the video. You won't regret it.)

I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked by Ida Maria

Oh snap!

Job interview in Washington D.C. on Tuesday!

Holy Shnikeys!

I don't want to say too much about it because you never know with the way people Google things nowadays, but it's a PR agency in DC. I got a phone call today at like 6 or so. The woman said she saw I'd applied for the position they have open and would I be interested in an in-person interview sometime next week.

Why, yes I would! Does now work for you? Oh, right, I'm not there.

So Tuesday at 1 p.m. it is then. She called back saying she'd forgotten I was coming from out of town, and we can do the interview over the phone instead if I wanted.

No way, man. All in. I'm heading up to DC Monday afternoon, and we'll see what happens.

Woohoo!!
-BG