tgcgel . net^blog

i cant even remember the last time i wrote something at a reasonable hour of the day...hopefully this entry will make a lot more sense and seem more cohesive than previous ones.

so, a whole lot has been going on. i know i usually satisfy myself with the trite "work and school are going well" line, but not today. lets be honest with ourselves, hm? life is quite challenging at the moment. i find myself pressed to make time for the essentials and find time to relax and enjoy the ride. its not that my classes are terribly challenging or that any one thing is time hungry. the cause of it all can not be pinpointed, because it lies scattered throughout the quadrants of my life. they are 1) school 2) free time 3) friends 4) future. school demands a lot. its my last year, i want to do well and get good grades so i can finish up my academic career with a good gpa and a good job. the main stress from school ive found comes from homework. tests arent even that bad. its just the consistent annoying assignments that are due each week. they require the most time and represent an inordinant fraction of my grade. i hate putting in hours of work for an assigment that is worth literally .5 points on my grade. my friends take a lot of time as well. i want to have time for them and i want to help them, but at what cost? i cant do everhything or participate in every activity i am invited too. i need to have free time to read and think and write and relax. ive noticed that in the past month i have done NO reading, even though i am half finished with a very interesting book. i havent had time to read in ages. similarly i find my poor journal languishing in my desk drawer, desperately in need of a good update. perhaps the most vexing issue of the present turmoil is the future. w h a t    t h e    h e c k    am i doing with my life? i dont even know! im interviewing and i really dont know what i want to do for a living. a degree in CS can land you in a myriad of fields. its almost amazing how i can apply my skills and knowledge across such a range of opportunities. a lot of these jobs would require me to relocate. is that what i want? if so, where do i want to live? for which company do i want to work? where will i be in 10 years? man...i dont know, but hopefully when the time comes to decide i will make a choice and i will stick to it; and feel good about it. im sure i will. tomorrow is a new month. ive decided that MANY changes will be made, many....most of which will involve my attitude and optimism. its time to grab life by the tail, and stick it in my pocket. im going places baby! actually i am really excited. a lot of this may seem overwhelming, or at least it did to me, but i think its good. ive had a few weeks to think abut this all and what im going to do, and im glad ive recognized these things so i can work on them and work to improve myself. things are looking up, and im excited what the future holds...

Here is the very late ACL update. it was tight...the best bands were def: muse, kaiser chiefs, decemberists, bloc party, and arcade fire. im sure im missing some, but its almost 3am and im tired. it was a really good weekend of music thats for sure. the weather was pretty much perfect, even though it was a bit hot. i had a really awesome time! school and work are going well. my boss quit last thursday, so work is a bit crazy actually as we try and figure out who is going to replace him. im still doing my tutoring italian gig 2 days a week and thats been a but stressful. i dont think im helping them very much :( um, i went to the ballet tonight with my girlfriend, and it was pretty much the most amazing thing ever. the performance was good, the music, the atmosphere, and of course the girl i was with were spectacular. :> ive been applying to so many jobs recently and i have a lot of good interviews lined up. as i go through them all i'll post how they go. hopefully i can get a running list of offers posted up when they start coming in :) but for now, i think i'll just go to sleep :) a doppo

so, much to write, but little time in which to do so. here is the quick and dirty ld: tonight i did some quick work on a facebook app startup called Swigg. Its a social networking site based around going to bars. whatever, i got paid for it. work and school are the same old same old, i took a test tonight in chem, pretty sure i rocked it, but i'll find out in the daylight hours of today. um, monday is the FoCS brunch and interviews and networking with many large computing firms. wish me luck...the real world wake up call will be starting soon. :-/ um, i also got a hiarcut and went to ACL! oh man, so much to write about that, a light treatment of it now in my semi-cognizant state wouldnt do it justice, so i will leave that for the next installment. until then, ci si vede.

I still remember
How you looked
That afternoon
There was only you


I could feel your heart beating across the grass
We should have run, I would go with you anywhere
I should have kissed you by the water
I still remember...

so more news! im currently investigating/hashing out a few new website design jobs. 3 are in the works now, but only one is for sure. semi-exciting since the pay isn't bad, and its something i can do decently well. i also got invited to a breakfast with some good companies that heavily recruit CS majors...word...gotta get my networking on... :) my hair is getting a bit long, so its time for a cut...and my classes are going well so far. im taking biology, chemistry, cryptography, and programming languages. should be a good semester, not too hard but not easy either. i'll be fine. a few weeks ago i went home to houston too. saw some pretty cool animals at the moody gardens aquarium in galveston, like penguins! Shell was having a big company party there, so it was free. wasn't bad. not a whole lot else is new...just life like usual; interesting and hectic and surprising at times. whats next on the agenda? aside from the usual (school/work) the next big thing is the career fair...look for an update soon about that...hopefully it will go well and i'll have some sweet interviews lined up. im not worried :)

so in the mess and chaos known as life ive managed to not update this for quite some time. i actually did write some posts, but i never posted them, and they've drowned and are now lost to me. oh well, i have a good memory :) so summer school is over, as is the brief vacation that followed it. i did well enough, but not as well as i would've liked. in the mean time ive managed to land more webdesign jobs on the side as well as a proctorship for the CS 356 class, computer networks. score. summer is slowly ending, but i wont miss it. this new semester has barely begun and already i am gasping for a vacation. one of my good friends from italy, gabriele cocco, is coming to visit me soon in austin. he is a professor of medieval langauges and writings at the university of padova and hes coming to a conference/seminar in austin. it'll be cool to hit up the town speaking italian again. :) ahh...che nostalgia! check back soon for some more updates...

3 days left of school...2 finals, one more homework assignment, one more project...then freedom til the vicious cycle begins anew. oh well, i'll take and enjoy my precious moments of freedom while they last. a good friend of mine has befriended a homeless person that lives down the road from me. he lives on the corner of someone's lot and his name is JJ. i think its pretty cool that she goes out of her way to bring him food and talk to him and be nice to him. what else is new...hm...i watched a crazy movie the other day called 'the science of sleep.' i really enjoyed it a lot, and it was really random in a cool way. it made some interesting points and it made me think. ive been reading a good book too called captain blood. its an early 20th century adventure novel written by an italian. i like it :) other than that, si tira avanti...

its finally nice weather: no more walking to class and work in the rain, but hello heat, humidity, and good times in the sun. ive been out to play frisbee, running, kayaking, the works, and im loving it. as much as i love the rain and the associated cooler air, i also love it when i can do things outdoors. only one more week of school, and im decidedly anxious to be done. homework and projects are getting old in the SUMMER and im getting bored with the materials in my classes. one more week....