Goodbye 2009.

Bring on 2010. New year. Fresh start. And looking forward to an exciting year! ;-)

Holiday

2 week holidays rock.

Oahu, Hawaii was absolutely beautiful.

NYC was a nice visit, I love the new pedestrian areas they've created since my last visit.

And of course, nothing like coming home to sweet home Chicago. Unfortunately my visit was so short I didn't get to see everyone.

But overall, in the grand scheme of things, it was a "success" and the "gray clouds" have cleared.

Now if only I can post up some pictures, and have a proper workflow for the pictures I take with the DSLR...

I really should convert this into a travel blog or something to increase my post frequency. This whole "I've moved to London thing" has gone really stale and its hard to write something that is so played out and over 4 years old.

Facebook and Twitter are nice, but that limits you to a certain amount of characters, so that's lame, and twitter or facebook posts get old after a while.. I miss the days of people posting creating facebook statuses.. also, I like the fact that many people don't check this as often now so I can post whatever crap I want.

Speaking of which, I love the "block" feature of facebook... its the next best thing until they have a "Who cares!" button.. right next to the "Like" button.

4 years.

4 years have come and gone.

Its hard to believe. Its like coming in as a Freshman, then graduating as a Senior.

Lots of friends have come and gone. I'm still here.

If I had to compare London to College, or University as they call it here, it would be a "commuter" city.

Its like those colleges where no one really "stays" and "lives" on campus... they come, and they go.. I guess I'm one of the few that's living on "campus."

Why am I still here?

Its not the weather that's for sure. The weather during the summer doesn't compare to Chicago summers. (Although I've heard that the summer this year in Chi-town hasn't been that great)

I think its three things really.

1. The love of my life is here.
2. My career. I still enjoy what I'm doing.
3. Traveling in Europe. I'm a serious travel addict. (Amsterdam this weekend! 4th time since I've moved, 5th time total. Yikes.)

That said, a year from now I can apply for permanent residency, and a year after that, apply for UK Citizenship. So why leave now?

With UK Citizenship, it opens to the door, hopefully, to working anywhere in the EU.

I love America, and I miss it, but why miss the chance and opportunity to have dual citizenship. =)

If only I can stay up in the middle of the night to watch the Bears and Cubs, and sports in general. =/

Hayfever hell.

I'm officially allergic to dogs, cats, and grass/pollen. I was never allergic to anything in Chicago, but a visit to an Allergy specialist, after suffering from nasty hay fever last year and this year, revealed the true cause of my sufferings.

Not sure if anyone has had an allergy test before, but basically the doc puts small amounts of liquid on your arm, then pricks each part of your arm where he drops the liquid. Each liquid causes a release of histamine and your skin swells up if you are allergic to it. So after dropping each possible "allergy" - cat, dog, mold, dust, birch wood, pollen/grass, etc, then pricking each area so it enters my "system" I wait to see what flares up! And the winners were pollen/grass, dogs, and cats!

Damn you London.

Hopefully these steroids will help.

Anyway, off to Croatia in search of Toni Kukoc. Although, I think he's still in Illinois. =)

Where has the time gone?

Have you checked the calendar lately? Its May.

Almost halfway through the year, and thought I'd make a visit.

It looks like I've broken my streak of trying to keep this updated about once a month. It then started to make me wonder. Where did all my time go?

Inspired by HIMYM, Marshall had all these pie charts and graphs about all these statistics on certain topics.

How cool would it be if you just pressed a button on your body that told you what your "Time statistics" were.

You would have obvious categories like:

* Eating
* Sleeping
* Working

and even something like: "Toiletries" (you can go wild on this category breakdown)

And then you would have another category called, "Other" or "Free Time"

Then it would break down what the hell you do in your free time. You could have all these categories under it like:

* Family Time
* Traveling
* Watching TV or Movies
* Reading
* Video Games
* Internet Surfing (break this down to websites!)

Because seriously, sometimes I wonder where all my time goes. Why can't someone make an iPhone app for this that its so good you don't even had to log the time yourself?

As I write this, it's been over a month and a half since my last post, and I think I'd be interested in where that time has gone.

I've had a few trips outside of London, including beautiful Southern France, a recent 3 day weekend which involved me staying up till 5am for the Hatton v. Pacquiao, (what a knock out) but other than that, where has the time gone?

I think sometimes I get caught up in the "daily grind" - working long hours, getting home late, not enough sleep, and maybe, I just need to take a deep breathe and just stop. Take 10-15 minutes for myself and either just reflect, read a book or maybe even write!

Whatever my time statistics are, I definitely need more time to unwind and chill. I think my "blog posting statistics" says it all. Its pretty bad when it took me a few times to remember what my login was. Doh.

For what its worth..

Someone was kind enough to send me their address 2 weeks ago. And to keep my word, and take my own challenge, the same night I recieved the address, I wrote a letter back, about 2 pages, and immediately went to the Post Office, waited in the long queue, paid for Airmail postage, and sent it off. The letter arrived safely, as I confirmed it. It has yet to be revealed if that "someone" will have the time or make the effort to write back. =)

So what's news?

The good ol' G20 is going to be arriving here in the UK! I'm hoping to partake in the madness since their meetings are very close to where I work. Maybe I can catch a glimpse of President Obama, though I highly doubt it. Maybe I'll partake in the many protests that are bound to happen. Who knows, but it will be interesting.

Anti-capitalism protesters were handing out fake Financial Times papers around the area where I work. A copy of it is here: http://ft2020.com/

Either way, it will be interesting to see how the people in the UK will be reacting with the world's top 20 leaders meet to figure out what to do in this financial crisis.

Happy Red Nose Day!!

I've been here for almost 4 years and have never heard of this until this week! So I did my part and donated here:

http://www.rednoseday.com/

I guess its kind of like "Jerry Lewis's MDA telethon", or "American Idol" gives back or something. They have all these programs where artists perform from music to comedy skits.

Anyway, its nice to do a small part in helping out, especially if its for people suffering from Malaria in Africa. Its really sad to think about how all these children don't get the chance to live their dreams.

I think about the opportunities I've had and how lucky I've been, and to think that a little baby that has been brought into this world is too weak to survive and can't be saved because proper health care is nonexistent is just sad and unfair.

Hopefully my donation makes its way to help a mother and her baby in Africa, or any family that could use the help.

social interaction.

What the hell happened to this month?

How is it already the end of February?

I don't know what happened and I don't know what I have been doing with my time or my life for that matter, but its going fast.

All I can say is this. I've been hiding.

But I really can't. Because of the Internet. Prime example: this blog post. =)

I mean, what would we do without the Internet? I was seriously considering just completely "unplugging" myself from it. In fact, I've been trying to get off the crack they call Facebook. I'm so close to just removing any access I have to it, be it my phone or bookmarks on my computer. (IMHO, they're going to sell all your information on there at some point, so don't know why people think is so 'social.' I don't buy there BS, sorry.)

I mean, it was so cool at first, connecting to people, old friends, childhood classmates, but it can also be annoying. You can really tell the people that crave so much attention. Its the people that post their status updates every hour, or the ones that leave you hanging and fish for people to respond to their status update that sometimes I feel they just need some good ol' fashion attention. But you know what, I still read it and give em' just that. Cuz I'm a sucka.

What happens eventually is that people post status updates, and then their friends reply to them. That's the social interaction. A few words here and there, and you are pretty much caught up with a bunch of people in your network.

Now let's look at this from a bigger perspective.

Remember snail mail? The historic pastime when people use to write a letter to each other, and you would have to put a stamp on it, go to the mailbox, and physically mail it? Of course, you couldn't just write a "status update", 10 words or less, on a piece of paper and mail that. No way, that wouldn't be worth it. You had to give a bit of time and make an effort! It wasn't easy as typing a few words and pressing enter. In fact, Facebook even writes your name for you. You just have to fill in the rest in 3rd person.

Then came email. Now I love email. In fact, I actually miss it. No one emails anyone anymore. From a social perspective at least. You know why? Because this thing called "The Wall" on Facebook. See, that's even worse. People are so lazy that they don't even have time to send even emails anymore. They just post on each other's wall or respond to status messages. Granted, I'm not complaining. In fact, sometimes, if people write on my wall, I actually write on their wall too. I'm lazy and you don't even have to write that much. In fact, have you ever seen anyone write a long letter when posting to a Facebook wall? Hell no!

But what's annoying about that? The whole world sees it. (Well, obviously you can set your privacy settings and all that, but that's besides the point.) So sometimes I resort to even sending them a private message because I don't want the whole world to see what I'm up too!

So you can see the natural progression.
Snail Mail -> Email -> Wall post -> Status Update -> Status Update Response.

More frequent, interaction, high convenience factor, but less words, and less personable.

Sad isn't it.

In fact, I'll actually challenge myself. For any readers out there and wants to know what's really going on with me, email me your physical home address. And I'll write you back personally, in ink, and I will put it in an envelope, and mail it to you with UK stamps. Or in fact, as a challenge to yourself, ask my for my UK address, mail me a physical letter about what's going on with you, and I'll physically right you back as soon as I can. Personally I don't think its going to happen because its just way to much effort and far to inconvenient. (You know how long the Post Office queues are! So damn busy.) I admit it, it will be hard for me on my end to actually do this. I can't even update this damn blog!

Au revoir.

Snow Day!

From the BBC website:

The worst snowfalls to affect Britain in 18 years has led to school and road closures, disrupted rail services and hundreds of flight cancellations.

I've been here for almost 4 years and I've never seen snow like this in London. Ironically, this wouldn't be that bad in Chicago. The big difference between Chicago and London? No infrastructure!

Typically when I experienced this much snow in Chicago, my ears are usually graced with the sound of shovels grinding against the pavement, snow blowers running up and down residential driveways, and snow plow trucks trudging through the streets. The roads and sidewalks are eventually cleaned and salted, and things get back to normal.

But here, complete silence. Not much shoveling. No snow plow trucks. The street and sidewalks are an utter mess.

The closest thing to a shovel I saw this morning was a man using a sweeper upside down to scrape off snow on the sidewalk. Speaking of sidewalks, nothing is shoveled. Pedestrian feet create a beaten path to take the place of a snow blower.

The city completely shuts down. No buses, the trains are suspended, and no one can fly in and out. London is completely paralyzed.

But this didn't stop the cyclists! I was walking to work this morning and I spied multiple people crazy enough to ride their bikes in the snow, including a fellow colleague. Now that's something you wouldn't see in Chicago!

The best part of all this? I got to go home early!

Obama!

Finally the Obama years have begun.

Its so amazing how much enthusiasm there is for a President. But I guess, its now down to business. Hopefully he'll fulfill his promises. But with all politicians, I'd like to see what they actually do, rather than what they actually say.

So here's a nice website that is keeping track:
Obameter

So as January is coming close to an end, how about those resolutions?

To compare from last year, I didn't too bad.

• Golf - epic fail. Didn't even go once. I blame the fact that I don't have any golf buddies, nor a car. I did get to play on a couple simulators, but no 9 or 18 hole action.


• Ride my bike - success! Got it fixed. Had a couple of weekends during the summer when its all I did!


• Read more - success! Read 7 books as promised. It came close to where I thought I wasn't going to finish. I think the best book that I really enjoyed was Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The classic, 1984, by George Orwell was pretty good as well.


• New Skill - Salsa and French. And in fact, continuing with it this year. Taking level 2 French currently, and went Salsa dancing this past weekend!

As for this year, its going to be hard to top last year. But here it goes:

• Continue to read - Let's push the limit and bump up the goal to 8 books. I know that's lame, but I have to leave time to study French!


• Be culturally aware. What does this mean? I think just trying to go to exhibitions, plays, shows, and "experience what London has to offer" type of thing. I started this with a membership to the Tate Modern. We'll see how often I take advantage of this.


• Be Financially disciplined - explains itself


• Sleep earlier - I stay up late all the time, I need more Z's!

As the month is coming to an end, its been a very busy month. A couple of surprises this month that were very memorable. A visit from my sister, and a surprise birthday bash! And now this weekend, a childhood friend and family are coming to visit for the first time, so its been a great start to the year so far.

Hopefully it will continue and I'll have may more things to write about.

Congrats again to Obama and hopefully he'll steer America in the right direction once again.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009!

Ringing in 2009 was a unique experience. I think almost symbolic. This is the first year I rang in the new year with people in my life that do not have any connection to my hometown Chicago.

I can't say it was strange, but it was definitely out of the norm. I'm usually surrounded by old friends I've known for ages, or close family members. But this time around, I spent it with people that are important in my life here in London.

The past 3 years since I've moved, I'd come back to Chicago to celebrate the new year and it was just like old times. But this time I spent it here. At "home." It was unique, unforgettable, and different, in a good way.

What was also different was my visit to Chicago. Perhaps it was the hectic schedule with my recent visit in September, maybe it was the arctic temperatures I was experiencing, but this visit, I took time for myself and specifically my family.

I usually run around and schedule lunches weeks in advance, dinners, coffee's with as many people as I can, trying to sync up with old friends and family. But this time around I took the opportunity to just chill. I still went to a couple Christmas parties, and I did catch up with old friends when I got the chance. But I didn't constantly go out as much as I use to when I come to visit. Instead, I spent time with the parents and sister, and had family dinners as much as possible. Its weird, but as I grow older, I'm really realizing how important it is to spend as much time as possible with your family.

So what's in store for 2009? I think the new year's resolution post should be coming up soon. It will be interesting to see how I did from last year. For this year, I have a few, but I think my top one is to see if I can beat my post count of "30" from 2008, especially since I found out over the holidays that I still have avid readers! You know who you are. =)