For starters, in case you hadn’t yet heard I’m now a full-time employee at Vicon: House of Moves, where I was previously working as an independent contractor. It’s fairly exciting for me considering that I’ve been working in the motion capture industry for around 3 years now as a contractor and I’m now going to be hired on as an employee for the first time.

Also, I’ve attended two churches up in LA so far. The first was a smaller (but nice) church called The Vineyard in West LA, the other one was a big, fancy, modern Presbyterian church in Bel Air. I enjoyed some things about both of them and I’ll likely visit them both again at some point, but I’m still largely undecided and will, for lack of a better phrase, continue the hunt.

It’s been quite the experience having to make so many new decisions on my own, things like picking a health care program, choosing a 401k plan, and finding a new church to attend regularly. It’s not like I don’t have solid people to go to for good advice or that I regret having to make these decisions (they’re really quite a privileged and an opportunity), it’s just that these are things I hadn’t given much thought to before, things I just put off as being something that would happen “some day in the future.” It’s a strange feeling when “some day in the future” becomes today and I’m suddenly faced with a good deal more personal responsibility. I realize it’s all part of the whole growing up experience, it’s just not something I find myself naturally easing into. Still, I’m alright with that. I don’t expect life to be perfectly comfortable ride. I know there will be bumps in the road and, in all honesty, I expect the hardest bumps are yet to come.

On the other hand, it’s a little sad watching the last traces of childhood or even the remnants of young adulthood being swept away. I look back and recall with fondness when life was simpler. I realize I shouldn’t long for the unattainable past, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen from time to time. True, all the pure simplicity of life hasn’t departed quite yet, but it’s going to take hard, dedicate effort to retain it and even win a little back. So here’s to pressing forward and doing my best not to glance back and suffer the fate of Lot’s wife; albeit a tasty salt-lick for the animals but entirely useless and immobile otherwise.

Finally, the weather has cooled off and it actually feels like fall. Being a person who prefers a cooler climate, I love it.

Yesterday I went with a bunch of friends to Julian. We stood in a lot of lines, bought bread from Dudley’s, picked apples in an orchard, and ate apple pie. It’s been many years since I’d been there and it was a deliciously satisfying experience.

I also had a board game night at my place on Saturday. Amy kinda put it together actually. It was fun, despite a certain individual not being able to attend. I really do enjoy being the board game guy, or as I sometimes prefer “Game Master.” It’s a role I’ve grown into nicely and one I hope to maintain for many years to come, though my purchasing of boardgames and room to store them has decreased dramatically.

While working on the freelance web design job, I stumbled upon this nifty little site, called kuler

It’s pretty handy when it comes to coming up with some color schemes, and I enjoy just browsing through the ones other people have made.

So I’m officially unemployed and back home again. Well, not the eternal home, just living at my folk’s pad once more. It helps knowing that people care.

My last day of work was very good as far as last days go. A bunch of us went out for lunch and ate way too much Soul Food (why is it that many things taste so much better when smothered in gravy?). Then after work a few of us went out to this groovy restaurant/bar in downtown LA. Also, I managed to swing a little freelance web design job through my friend Mike Hicks. Really it was all as good as could be expected. I may be selfish for saying so, but it was nice to feel like people would really miss me once I was gone.

Packing up and driving home the next day felt a little surreal. I guess it just takes time for the mind to accept big changes. I’ve been living in two places for a while now and I hadn’t realized how much stuff I’d accumulated throughout my stay in LA. Fortunately, I had enough room in my car and I only forgot one thing, but it wasn’t terribly important. Also, a friend who I haven’t seen in a while called me on the drive back, which was pretty cool.

It’s odd that for a while I was looking forward to getting out of LA but now that I have to go, I can tell I’m going to miss it. Well, I’ll miss the people at least. I guess that’s life for you. God doesn’t want us to get comfortable and I’m sure that’s a good thing. Here’s to an onward and upward vision.

Also, here is a quote I’ve been wanting to share but just never got around to doing it. It doesn’t really relate to the rest of this post, I just thought it was a good one.

“People come to the altar singing ‘Just as I am’ and leave just as they were – a church that teaches what to believe but not how to live. A church that is scared of spiritual disciplines like simplicity, fasting, solitude, and chastity will not produce very good disciples.”
-Shane Claiborne

So I found out last Friday that my contract at Vicon:House of Moves will end at the beginning of October. I had some expectation that this might happen, but it was only a little while before it was actually confirmed. From what I know, it’s because of the whole situation where a company can’t keep me on as a contractor for too long without hiring me and they won’t hire me. So I’m back on the streets again (well, not the streets really).

To be honest, it’s a bit frightening and exciting at the same time. I feel like I’m full of contradictions. I’m happy to move on to something new and in some ways have been looking forward to it for a while now. Still, I have to keep beating down the worry that keeps cropping up concerning what I’m actually going to do once unemployed. I’m looking forward to being home again with my friends and family in San Diego, but I know I’ll miss a lot of great coworkers that I’ve met at HOM. It’s that whole experience of wanting to move forward to bigger and better things but hating having to leave the comfort of the ordinary. Every time I talk to coworkers or drive down the road back to my place, I think “this will soon be over.” And that’s a sad thought. It’s not always easy to look forward to an uncertain future. But I’m doing my best.

Then there’s the whole dealing with other people’s opinion part of it. This probably doesn’t matter as much to most folks, but it has a big impact on me. I get the feeling that some people are really looking forward to my unemployment because it means I’ll be back in San Diego with them again. Their excitement makes me excited. On the other hand, I feel all this pressure to go out and get a new job as soon as humanly possible. I try not to let it get to me, but it does. I mean, for crying out loud, this one hasn’t even ended yet! Now of course I want (and need) a new job, but I don’t feel like I should be constantly frantic and anxious about it. I know I’m not the type of person to be content just lazing about, unemployed, leaching off of others. So I’m really not all that worried about falling into that situation. Not to mention, the last time I was unemployed (basically for the same reason) I had a new job within two weeks time.

I think a lot of people forget that the Lord is faithful. Perhaps they say it, but they don’t really, truly believe it in the practical sense. But I know it is true. Sure, I haven’t stumbled upon desperate times where my life is at stake and God pulled me out, but I’ve been through enough to see His faithfullness in all things and I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do next.