Happy Birthday

Michele, you’re one more year older today (not yesterday, sorry Internets) and I wanted to hijack your blog to properly wish you a very happy birthday. In the short time I have known you, I’ve come to realize how cool of a person you really are.

You’re definitely a gamer, which is always good for us nerd-types (yes you’re a nerd too).

You’re also cool calm and collected while being laid back, which is difficult to be in this day and age!

Dani (@maxsummers) from The Guild Community had a great little birthday project and some of your fans wanted to give you some brief birthday messages. Please click on the following image:

I am sure Michele will mention her new web series, SOLO, further as the episodes are released, but here is a picture of Michele from this upcoming series given to me by @SOLOTheSeries:

Make sure to keep checking back here and on SOLO’s website for all the info on that.

Once again, Michele, from myself and all your fans, we wish you a very happiest of birthdays, both today and yesterday. If anyone else would like to leave Michele some well wishes, please comment right below.

Edgar

Whittling down your life

I recently visited my old college town, an event which always makes me wonder what insanity would prompt me to drive back to hazy, traffic-filled Los Angeles. Why on earth wouldn’t I want to simply stay in a town where there are trees every two feet, they have honest-to-god bicycle traffic lights and campus is sprinkled with these things.

Then I realize the nearest Trader Joe’s is 20 miles away and I start to remember.

Still, almost all of my college roommates still reside either in Davis or in the very nearby area. One was kind (read:gullible) enough to offer her place to stay when I was up visiting. As was the case when we were house-mates, her house is packed with STUFF. It’s not necessarily cluttered, it doesn’t look bad, but I can see on the mantle the same knickknacks she had when we lived together. The downstairs bathroom has a half-finished puzzle on it with enough stuff piled on top that it doesn’t seem likely to be finished any time soon.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how much stuff I had owned throughout my lifetime, and what it might’ve all looked like had I not been continuously moving locations and apartments my whole life. It’s a lifestyle that necessitates the ceaseless minimizing of possessions; to keep streamlining your belongings to the bare essentials. Teddy bears get a lifetime exemption from this rule.

My roommates may have kept changing residences after graduation, but it was usually an upward mobility in the size of their living arrangements, whereas mine stayed more or less the same. Also, there’s a difference in what you choose to keep out for general viewing. Yes, I WILL hold onto that pair of ceramic dragons bought at a Japanese bazaar when I was 9, but they will be kept lovingly bubble-wrapped in a shoebox instead of being displayed on a shelf.

It could also just be a matter of personal taste. I’m the person who’s obsessed with organizing tools. I practically orgasm when stepping into the cool breeze of The Container Store. Naturally, I don’t necessarily put all of those tools into use, but the intention is there. That counts, right? Still, I have a lot of those moments where you wonder whatever happened to a shirt you used to own, or a stuffed animal that someone gave you for a birthday. Realizing they’ve been sacrificed to the Salvation Army gods comes with a minor feeling of sadness, even though it’s for the best. Do I really need to hold onto the Pound Purry I bargained for at a Hong Kong flea market when I was 8? Well…yes. And I have. It’s in my closet. But I did get rid of that San Diego Zoo t-shirt from high school!

It confers a larger sense of importance to the stuff I *do* choose to keep, I guess. But you definitely lose that feeling of nostalgia I got very strongly upon staying with my friend in Davis. It just added to the comfort of the entire place, and indeed to the overall relaxing feel of the whole weekend. Made it all the more awesome.

Hello world!

Working on this website/blog. Come back for more about me soon!