May-day

A lot has happened since my last update back in March. I turned 24. I found out my "sprained" ankle is actually a stress fracture. I changed positions at my work. I went on vacation. It's been a crazy few weeks. Time to find some clarity in the midst of all the mayhem, my daily soul searching that has me closing my eyes when I hear certain songs and leaves me staring at my screen saver as pictures from my past scroll by.

My birthday was an eye-opener. Apparently at 24, I can't hold my liquor like I use to. After a crazy week filled with shows, a drama filled night downtown, reggae fest, and a not so fun-day Sunday, I realized that celebrating birthdays stops being as fun once you hit 21. Now instead of that seemingly never-ending upward journey towards "maturity," its just a depressing reminder that life comes at you fast, and you need to cherish the moments you get with your friends, family, and loved ones, and maybe not let the alcohol consumption throw a dark shadow over the bright light-hearted fun you had imagined. I was thankful for the eye-opener, because at 24 I learned that I'm far from being grown up, and that's okay... but that maybe doing a little bit of it now wouldn't hurt anything. Growing up is a weird, ironic journey. But I'm here trying my best to learn and grow from it everyday.

May came, and with it came a new position for me at Mercedes Benz of Austin. I am no longer the Service Cashier, or helping out in loaner cars, but am now the photographer for the Sales side. I essentially shoot photos of all the new and used cars we get into inventory and upload them onto our website, cars.com, autotrader, etc for customers to browse our selection before ever coming into the dealership. Although I lack professional photography experience, my bosses at MB realized I'm a pretty quick learner, and after a week of training I was on my own left with nothing but a $3000 camera and a studio to start perfecting my shots and getting on par with what they want. I'm really enjoying the position so far, as where instead of dealing with customers all day I spend most of my time alone in a studio with my iPod, camera, and whatever $50k+ car I have on the turn table. I eventually hope to get more into the website side of things, as well as potentially becoming more involved with the social-networking the company does (since obviously I like to do that already), so I feel that the move is a beneficial one for me. I just hope I can continue to improve, learn, and grow, since I'm still one of those college graduates who isn't using his degree and has no idea what he wants to do with his life. I live in the town I want to live, make enough to live on my own, attend all the concerts I want to, and still have enough left over to try and spoil my better half, so I can't complain. Everything happens for a reason, and with enough patience I think eventually I'll find something perfect for me, but for now this is a good fit.

With the arrival of May, some amazing concerts also came, including Arcade Fire, Rusko, and Fleet Foxes. Arcade Fire put on one of the best shows I've been to in a long time, easily in my top 5 performances ever to see live. Rusko had Stubb's rockin and yet again dubstep did not disappoint in providing a fun night. Fleet Foxes filled my eardrums with their sweet melodic tones at Stubb's during a cool evening. The rain that night subsided just in time for them to put on an great set. I've seen so many amazing performances since I've moved to Austin, and I'm eternally grateful for the opportunities I've had in my life to see some truly unique and unforgettable concerts.

Friday the 13th arrived (my notoriously "lucky" day) and with it came a long awaited vacation to Portland, Oregon. Despite a few hiccups along the way thanks to flying stand-by, me and the lil lady managed to make it to Portland late that Friday night. Saturday was filled with walking around beautiful downtown Portland, checking out a farmers market, eating some good "cart" (what we in Austin call "trailer") food, lots of vintage shops, a 3 story H&M, a few record stores, and an awesome cook-it-yourself "Hotpot" dinner at Lauren's uncle's house. Sunday we ate with my aunt, uncle, and cousin and did some more vintage shopping and walking around cool parts of Portland, and got lost in the massive bookstore called Powell's. Sunday night me and Lauren went to dinner at the fancy Portland City Grille. On the 30th floor of the tallest building downtown, it was a perfect place to enjoy some amazing food and take in the beautiful view of Portland. Monday, after we tried the world famous Voodoo Doughnuts, where I had the best donut I've ever had (it had maple bacon on it) we ended up getting stuck in Portland for another day (so sad right?) and got to go see Bridesmaid's and I ended the trip with a beer-flight of 10 amazing beers at a cool brewpub my uncle and aunt took us too. All in all it was one of the best trips I've been on in a long time, and it was nice to experience a unique and beautiful city like Portland. Austin is still home, but if I ever decided to relocate, Portland is high on the list of potential places.

This weekend I head to New Orleans for Chance's 25th birthday, and considering the Portland trip was the first time I had left Texas since going skiing in Colorado before moving to Austin last January, I think another trip out of state is still in order. Just the fellas on this trip, so hopefully we don't get into too much trouble. The following weekend I'll head to Free Press Summerfest in Houston to see some great bands like The Black Angels, Yeasayer, Beirut, Cut Copy, and Weezer just to name a few.

Summer is finally here, and with it is the inevitable river trips, amazing concerts, and the 100+ degree days Austin is famous for. I'm thankful for how great 2011 has been already, and I think Summer '11 in the ATX will be no different. I don't know how much longer I'll be in a place in my life where I can be selfish, do what I want whenever I want, and only be responsible for myself primarily, so with those thoughts in mind that is how I anticipate spending the rest of 2011. Hopefully once my ankle heals up I can start training for half-marathon number 2, which I also hope comes before the start of the fall soccer season for my club team Celtic. Already anticipating my second Kid Cudi concert in July, and looking forward to what else the summer has in store. One thing about living in Texas your whole life, you learn to enjoy those hot summer nights, where your skin is tinted tan and red from a fun day in the sun, and the breezethat hits you makes you close your eyes and reminds you how thankful you are that you have a cold beer in your hand and good friends laughing around you.

"And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is." - Kurt Vonnegut