Highlights: Departures, Offers, and Swimmers

Keeping tabs on my 2011 goings-on. Let's see if I can do this.

On January 4, one of my good friends, who I will endearingly call Gogo, left for France. What that means is I was in kind of a funk for a couple days. I gave him the best going away present though -a Texas license place! Straight from my car!

On January 10, I got a full-time offer from Facebook! What that means is I can carry on with my final semester at UT without having to worry about employment upon graduation. I feel very, very fortunate.

On January 16, I went to my first swim meet, which turned out to be a pretty legit one that had world class swimmers participating. What that means is I got to see Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte (among other big name Olympians) swim. It was pretty legendary.

Hoping that other funtastic things happen in 2011! I'm hugely optimistic :)

2010 Recap

Just a quick note to help me remember why 2010 was such a great year.

• I made some life changes after realizing that I do things because I think they'd be good for me and my future and not because I like doing them. After making an important academic decision, I lifted a heavy weight from my shoulders and I became happy again. Thanks, Professor Adams!
• Spent the summer in Sunnyvale, CA and fell in love with San Francisco
• Met a lot of great people while I was in California, including but not limited to Geetanjali (Berkeley), Mai (North Carolina), some Canadian folk from Toronto (Waterloo), and my roomie Evan (who now works for HP). I definitely still keep up with a lot of them and I'm glad that I made such good friends while I was there.
• Worked for Palm / HP - my first paid internship ever. I'm still incredibly thankful for this opportunity and grateful to my hiring manager, David, who gave it to me. I applied thinking it was a longshot, but I ended up getting it. That I'm a fan of Wes Anderson, that I blog, and that I'm a UT student helped I think (he's a UT alum). They paid for my flight, my apartment, and lent me a bike. Best thing that's happened to me so far.
• Saw Lady Gaga live in concert for free. Tickets cost $200! The experience was such a blast.
• I had a guy fall in love with me, ask me on a date, and pretty much creeped on me for a week. I'm definitely not used to that and I was really uncomfortable then, but now it makes for a funny story.
• Met a lot of great people in the Fall 2010 semester, including a lot of foreign exchange students from Europe who I plan on visiting if I ever find myself over there. Hugo & David of Toulouse, France; Veronika of Prague, Czech Republic; and Mads of Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Went to New York for the first time ever and got to see a lot of Manhattan and some of Brooklyn.
• On December 14, I got out of the subway and found myself in Bryant Park, where I checked my messages and found out that a company wanted to extend to me an offer for full-time employment. Ecstatic, I called my mom and told her the good news. It was freezing balls, but it was such a great moment. I won't forget it.
• Finally, I got all A's in the Fall 2010 semester, the first time since +/- system went into effect.

I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of things that made the year so great, but I think I've highlighted the major events.

2011 is starting off a little slow, but I don't doubt that it will a great one, too. 2010 might be a little tough to top, but I'm optimistic. Very optimistic.

Icons - Hi

Hi.

Day 28, 29, 30: So Long, Lonesome

This week has been super weird. But that's the way Silicon Valley works apparently. Changes happen, people come and go, and the world keeps spinning. Nothing's within my control.

Today, we had a little fiesta celebrating the end of Palm. I don't have any pictures from it, but I do have the images inside my head. Motivational speech by Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein, a short little movie made by the MarCom guys. One of those things. Got a little commemorative t-shirt from the event. I also got to pass out t-shirts... cause I'm a marketing intern.

Tomorrow is Day 1 of HP. We'll see how that goes. I don't expect to see any massive changes right away though...

Like that one guy in that play about the witches...

I've found that I've grown largely dependent. I hate myself (I don't).

Death, and the Arrousal of Key Issues

This whole death of the grandmother thing seems to have brought down a wall between my parents and me. For the time being, communicating is a little easier. Of course, I'm not sure how long this will last. Is it temporary or permanent? Is this a normal side product that typically occurs after the death of an immediate family member?

In any case, it doesn't really matter. Achieving one resolution is a significant accomplishment.

It's all water under the bridge now, baby.

Today, My Grandmother Passed Away

A sort of repost from my other blog.



World Cup 2010, Germany - Australia, 4-0
Brother's graduation, Lewisville High School, Class of 2010
The passing of my grandmother, Wichita, Kansas.

Rest in Peace, Mildred.