an anniversary of sorts

monday marked one month since my arrival in california.

give me a second to process that.

one month. do you remember when a month used to feel like an eternity? in some ways, it still does, but in most, i find myself wondering what happened to all of those days. what did i accomplish? how did i fill my time? did i make the most of it?

often the answer is a disappointing no, but in this case, i feel 'yes' is appropriate. maybe not a resounding yes, but a yes nonetheless.

i've spent a good deal of time job hunting or job pursuing. the bay area job, as i expected, was an option. on wednesday of last week, i had made the final decision not to continue the process, and informed the recruiter of such. what i didn't expect was just how much the company wanted me. on thursday and friday i considered to receive phone calls from various vps at the company...some trying to talk me into accepting the job, some just wanting to find out what reason i might have for not wanting it.

on paper, it was fantastic. a lot of money at a great company. my budgets would be enormous, my clients even more so. so how do you explain 'it just doesn't feel right.' i gave all of the logical reasons i could come up with, but i'm sure they all remain a little baffled. to a certain extent, me too.

but my decision has been confirmed, at least by my own reasoning. friday, i got a call from a company i had submitted my resume to about a month ago. i can't explain what about this particular position or company appealed to me, but as i've carefully tracked all the positions i've applied for, this one somehow stood out. i sent my resume to them three times...just in case.

the short of it is that i interviewed with them on tuesday. i had mixed feelings about how the interview went (the woman was completely unreadable!), but did feel strongly that it would be a good fit all around. the job itself is right up my alley--a corporate event position that seems to have everything i'm looking for...right type of events, right salary, right location (just over 10 minutes from my cousin's house).

the company is looking to move quickly. i have a second interview on friday, and i'm very optimistic. keep your fingers crossed!

so when not job hunting, i've been trying to make new friends and reconnect with old ones. i have been pleasantly surprised to find that in the former case, people here are friendly and open. i haven't met anyone yet with whom there was an instant 'click', but there is definite friendship potential all around. in regards to the latter, i have had a chance to spend more time with my high school friends--brandon and michelle in particular.

a couple of weeks ago, when the party discussion turned to 'buffy', it was suggested to me (as it has been many times over the years) that i really needed to see 'firefly', also created by joss whedon. so last friday we began the marathon to be continued tomorrow night.

it has been immensely fulfilling--the rekindling of these friendships. i have been fortunate enough to have maintained contact with a few old friends. though there are notable exceptions, most of my closest friends are people i've known for a decade or more. i can't help but wonder if that's not because the core of our personalities is formed very early on, so the self of our youth, is the purest self we ever are. we add experiences over the years. we pick up baggage and mature (hopefully), but perhaps the people that resonate with that self of youth, will always have the ability to do so. it's an imperfect theory, i realize, but in my case, i can't think of one close friend from years gone by, one who i chose consciously or unconsciously (not as a result of circumstance, but actual choice) who i think i couldn't/wouldn't be friends with today. and i have most certainly reaped the reward of my imperfect theory.

i got a call from brandon last night, and i didn't get the message until late. michelle sent an email today saying she'd like to chat, and when i called her, i was devastated to learn that last week--the day after our firefly marathon part 1--brandon was diagnosed with cancer. though he has been back in my life for all of two weeks (at least the physical presence part), the news came as an absolute shock. the good news is that it has been caught early, though they don't know yet exactly what they are dealing with. they know it's malignant. they know it's in his lungs (ironic, since he has never been a smoker), but they also know it did not start there. tomorrow morning they will be doing a more invasive procedure to determine the origin and the extent.

needless to say, there are a lot of prayers being said. tomorrow is a big day all around.