News from the Homefront!

The sun has come out of hibernation and so have I.  I’m currently reporting to you from sunny Southern California, in my backyard, in what I’m labeling my new “Outdoor Office.”  A lot is happening here from famil to friends to job interviews, and it’s all exciting!  Just because I’m back in the states doesn’t mean the adventure is over.

HOME

I consider this to be a stroke of genius.  This spot is sunny, has power for my computer, and has a great view of the back.  I literally feel my productivity increasing immediately upon being out here.  I think there’s something about fresh air and connection with nature in some way that’s really important to us.  I think maybe a lot of depression and problems in society come from a sort of isolation from nature and things that are naturally good.  Anyway  I’m out here with the birds and animals all over the place which makes it a pretty fun place to work from.

That said there are obstacles.  For instance it can be difficult to see the monitor in bright light, wind can be an issue, and there are also certain maurading invaders that seem to think that my office is their playground:

INVADERS

Other than repelling invasion from these odious beasts I’ve had time to enjoy the tranquility of home and enjoy some fantastic home cooking.  Below are a shot from the pond, a salmon salad dinner that my mom made, and a steak dinner that my dad made.  Of course my mom went for the salad and wine while my dad went for the steak and beer.  He actually finished his steak and then also my mom’s!  I also made a dinner for everyone comprised of guacamole and chips for appetizer, then balsamic garlic chicken over a bed of spinach and cous cous.  Also served with cabernet.  This was pretty delicious I must admit and I wish I’d had the presence of mind to take  photo.  At any rate there are more gourmet dinners to come.

Above: Protein Poetry

Above: My friends Pippa and Jen from Newscastle, England would be proud.

JOBS

In the last two week’s I’ve applied to over 200 positions, many telecommuting positions that would allow me to work and travel and many local positions that would allow me to, well, earn money.  I’ve done this with the help of technology and I’ve been able to largely automate it with RSS feeds and templates with customization as necessary.  This has yielded a range of results from scams wanting me to wire money to Mexico to legitimate writing, legal, and administrative related positions across the country.  As an example yielded an interview for an copy writing position for a conference planning company in Manhattan and today I had an interview with a mobile tech design company in San Diego.  The point is that there are jobs out there despite the economy and I’m going to find them.

I’ve also been working on building my writing portfolio.  I’ve recently completed a financial news article on the G20 summit, an op-ed which I’ve submitted to papers calling for Dick Cheney’s prosecution, and hopefully more upcoming intersting articles ranging from the outdoors to politics to finance, etc!

FRIENDS

The great thing about coming home again, aside from the sun and the beaches, is reuniting with friends and family.  Tomorrow I’ll be picking on of my best friends up form the airport.  He’s flying down for the weekend from San Francisco and we’ll be playing in a charity basketball game with a bunch of our old teammates at our high school.  I haven’t played ball in six months so let’s just say the rust will be there.  That said I’m really looking forward to it.

From there I hope to take that trip to Las Vegas in Mid-May and hopefully squeeze in trips to San Francisco and Los Angeles as well.  At the end of May I’ll be heading to, of all places, Arkansas.  This is (god knows why) where my grandfather lives and where my family will be hanging out for the weekend.  This will be awesome and I’ll also be getting a car from my Grandpa which he’s choosing to sell to me for $1 though it’s probably worth 7,000.  I don’t know why, but I know a good deal when I see one!

All in all that wraps up what’s been going on here in San Diego.  I hope to spend the foreseeable future working, going to the beach, traveling California, and meeting up with friends.  And of course planning future travel and adventures!

Matt