"I want to write about the moment when your addictions no longer hide the truth from you. When your whole life breaks down. That's the moment when you have to somehow choose what your life is going to be about."
"People use what they called a telephone because they hate being close together and they're scared of being alone."
"Find out what you're afraid of and go live there."
"If you don't know what you want, you end up with a lot you don't."
And my all-time favourite:
"What we don't understand we can make mean anything."
31 March 2009
22 March 2009
Countdown
Anyone who's ever experienced New Year's Eve (and that should mean everyone, sans those who fall asleep before midnight and just wake up in the next year) knows that the most important part of the night isn't the booze, the food, or even the umpteen number of resolutions that immediately follow.
No, the most important part of New Year's Eve is the countdown, the anticipation of the ball dropping in Times Square, the feeling of hope that accompanies those last few seconds before a new year arrives.
Five.
I just got back last night from my spring break trip to New York City, and I'm still reveling in the remnants of what had to be one of the best decisions I've made thus far in life. New York felt like a dream not just because it was a whirlwind of interviews and coffees and dinners and wanderings, but because it was a snapshot glimpse of what my life could be like in just two months' time.
Four.
I bought the tickets for the trip back in January with the idea that it would be a great way to explore NYC and really discover what it was about the city that drew me to it ever so much. I wanted to prove to myself that the city I was always drifting toward had more to offer than just a romanticized escape from the familiarity of Los Angeles. And I discovered that indeed, the two cities are too different to compare, and it's not that I prefer one over the other, just that one is probably better for me at this point in life than the other. I'm going home.
Three.
In two days, I had five interviews, and each one of them went a lot more smoothly than I had expected. The reality of actually picking up and moving to New York really set in when every one of the recruiters/editors asked when I would be coming to the city. It wasn't even an "if." It was a "when," and I didn't miss a beat when I told them: "June." There. I said it. There's a time element to this move and I'm going to make it happen.
Two.
Regardless of what happens in the next six weeks as I try to secure an internship or job out on the East Coast, I'm content to know that making that first move is a very viable possibility, and beyond that, a very real next step toward a city that is bustling with promise. Chalk it up to circumstance, destiny, luck, hope. It's not every day that I find myself talking to the news director of TIME or giving an elevator pitch to one of the executive editors at Entertainment Weekly. Or that I tap Elle's creative director on the shoulder and strike up a conversation. Or have coffee with the executive editor over at Time Inc.
These things aren't meant to happen, but they do. It's positive thinking to the extreme.
In NYC, and in life, anything is possible. Whether you think you can or you can't you're always right.
One.
I can.
No, the most important part of New Year's Eve is the countdown, the anticipation of the ball dropping in Times Square, the feeling of hope that accompanies those last few seconds before a new year arrives.
Five.
I just got back last night from my spring break trip to New York City, and I'm still reveling in the remnants of what had to be one of the best decisions I've made thus far in life. New York felt like a dream not just because it was a whirlwind of interviews and coffees and dinners and wanderings, but because it was a snapshot glimpse of what my life could be like in just two months' time.
Four.
I bought the tickets for the trip back in January with the idea that it would be a great way to explore NYC and really discover what it was about the city that drew me to it ever so much. I wanted to prove to myself that the city I was always drifting toward had more to offer than just a romanticized escape from the familiarity of Los Angeles. And I discovered that indeed, the two cities are too different to compare, and it's not that I prefer one over the other, just that one is probably better for me at this point in life than the other. I'm going home.
Three.
In two days, I had five interviews, and each one of them went a lot more smoothly than I had expected. The reality of actually picking up and moving to New York really set in when every one of the recruiters/editors asked when I would be coming to the city. It wasn't even an "if." It was a "when," and I didn't miss a beat when I told them: "June." There. I said it. There's a time element to this move and I'm going to make it happen.
Two.
Regardless of what happens in the next six weeks as I try to secure an internship or job out on the East Coast, I'm content to know that making that first move is a very viable possibility, and beyond that, a very real next step toward a city that is bustling with promise. Chalk it up to circumstance, destiny, luck, hope. It's not every day that I find myself talking to the news director of TIME or giving an elevator pitch to one of the executive editors at Entertainment Weekly. Or that I tap Elle's creative director on the shoulder and strike up a conversation. Or have coffee with the executive editor over at Time Inc.
These things aren't meant to happen, but they do. It's positive thinking to the extreme.
In NYC, and in life, anything is possible. Whether you think you can or you can't you're always right.
One.
I can.
08 March 2009
07 March 2009
06 March 2009
A New York state of mind
With Spring Break fast approaching, I'm getting increasingly anxious just thinking about the prospect of going to and physically being in New York City. I've already determined that this trip is turning out to be more of a business trip than an actual vacation, but I don't mind because to a large extent, when I think of NYC, all I can imagine is the very real possibility of having my dream job working at a mag in the middle of the bustling city. And when it comes down to it, that's not really work at all.
The past few weeks have been a bit crazy, balancing work at the Daily Trojan (and the drama of the USG elections) with class work with Bamboo Offshoot's first-ever A&E issue with the job hunt with several side projects with some semblance of a social life with ... life. The funny thing about the situation is that I never feel justified being stressed out, since everything that's keeping me up at night is just a manifestation of my desire to get somewhere in this crazy journalistic world. So I don't stress, though sometimes I think a little stress would be beneficial, healthier even.
I'm not realistic in my quest for my dream job, I'll be the first to admit. But I push forward anyway. There are too many reasons not to do something, but the one reason anyone should ever really take a risk and do it anyway trumps all those other reasons: You do it because you wholeheartedly want to.
If Hollywood and the media have taught us anything, it's that breaking free from a stilted norm or set of circumstances is how people find true happiness - Zach Braff did it in "Garden State." Will Smith did it in "The Pursuit of Happyness." Heck, even James McAvoy did it in the horrendous Matrix-meets-300-meets-Fight Club mash-up "Wanted."
The moral of the story being, in all three instances, that if you don't like your circumstances, change them. Destiny will only wait around on the steps of the Royal Ball for so long before you have to run up and meet her.
Foolish as it might seem to diving headfirst into a new city and a new lifestyle, I'm excited about the prospect of taking charge of my future. I can't for the life of me understand when people complain of boredom - being "bored" is a state of mind, nothing more, nothing less. And it's no one's job but your own to work your way out of it. Therefore, every day is busy not because I have heaps of work chucked at me, but because I knowingly usher in all these tasks and stories and assignments. Willingly.
At the end of the day, I want to be able to say with absolute confidence that I put in as much effort to attain my successes as Destiny put in to ensure that I get to wherever I need to be.
When stress and work start to pile in, and I feel like I can't handle the obligations, responsibilities and problems anymore, nothing's more satisfying than picking up a shovel and finding my own way. It's a NY state of mind.
The past few weeks have been a bit crazy, balancing work at the Daily Trojan (and the drama of the USG elections) with class work with Bamboo Offshoot's first-ever A&E issue with the job hunt with several side projects with some semblance of a social life with ... life. The funny thing about the situation is that I never feel justified being stressed out, since everything that's keeping me up at night is just a manifestation of my desire to get somewhere in this crazy journalistic world. So I don't stress, though sometimes I think a little stress would be beneficial, healthier even.
I'm not realistic in my quest for my dream job, I'll be the first to admit. But I push forward anyway. There are too many reasons not to do something, but the one reason anyone should ever really take a risk and do it anyway trumps all those other reasons: You do it because you wholeheartedly want to.
If Hollywood and the media have taught us anything, it's that breaking free from a stilted norm or set of circumstances is how people find true happiness - Zach Braff did it in "Garden State." Will Smith did it in "The Pursuit of Happyness." Heck, even James McAvoy did it in the horrendous Matrix-meets-300-meets-Fight Club mash-up "Wanted."
The moral of the story being, in all three instances, that if you don't like your circumstances, change them. Destiny will only wait around on the steps of the Royal Ball for so long before you have to run up and meet her.
Foolish as it might seem to diving headfirst into a new city and a new lifestyle, I'm excited about the prospect of taking charge of my future. I can't for the life of me understand when people complain of boredom - being "bored" is a state of mind, nothing more, nothing less. And it's no one's job but your own to work your way out of it. Therefore, every day is busy not because I have heaps of work chucked at me, but because I knowingly usher in all these tasks and stories and assignments. Willingly.
At the end of the day, I want to be able to say with absolute confidence that I put in as much effort to attain my successes as Destiny put in to ensure that I get to wherever I need to be.
When stress and work start to pile in, and I feel like I can't handle the obligations, responsibilities and problems anymore, nothing's more satisfying than picking up a shovel and finding my own way. It's a NY state of mind.
04 March 2009
03 March 2009
YIKES.
The good: Got out of production for the DT before deadline, returned home before midnight, which hasn't happened yet since January.
The bad: Tons of work to catch up on this weekend, in addition to preparing for NYC, all piled on top of furthering progress on the magazine.
The ugly: Currently just starting to shuffle through my law midterm essay questions, and am posting this blog instead.
...back to work.
The bad: Tons of work to catch up on this weekend, in addition to preparing for NYC, all piled on top of furthering progress on the magazine.
The ugly: Currently just starting to shuffle through my law midterm essay questions, and am posting this blog instead.
...back to work.
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