funemployment

if you can afford to do it, i highly recommend not working for a season of your adult life. i don't speak these words lightly since i know that for many, the razor thin line between "making it" and "not making it" is a really big deal. frankly, i'm not thrilled to be living the next 1.5 years of my life on borrowed money (more on that later in the week), but i have just had to make peace with my decision to go back to school ... in new york, the most expensive city in the country ... in my late 20s, when i should be saving and preparing for a family. i've made peace with it. really, i have. really.

ok, not fully yet, but i'm trying.

that doesn't mean, however, that i am not fully enjoying my time off of work. i ended my job last friday and don't start classes until Aug. 20, so i have a full month to do stuff! yes, i have some plans (moving to new york, visiting my family, prepping for school, building a professional website, etc.), but i'm also going to indulge myself a little with all this free time :) here's what i've been doing this week:

went to my friend's kid's soccer practice

watched "you've got mail" about 3 times

                                      played guitar

packed!

There is still so much left to do before we move on Sunday, but we are getting closer. My room is starting to get that "empty space" look. it's strange to be leaving this place. there were so many good memories here! moving is tough man. so many people and places to say goodbye to.

Looking Back

in a bout of (planned) spontaneity, Chris and I invited our friends Ryan and Erica to come with us to Pittsburgh for a weekend trip. We reminisced about our old college days, ate a lot of delicious greasy food, went to the Feist concert on Saturday night, and stopped by Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water house on the way back to DC. it was such a great weekend and it was nice to know that even when you leave a place, it moves on, but also stays the same.

The squash courts on campus where Chris and I first became friends.
One day in the school paper's newsroom, I told him I was taking 
a squash class and he asked if we could play together. I had a 
mondo crush on him at the time, so of course i said yes!

Chris convinced the gym staff to lend us racquets
and a ball, even though we didn't have student IDs

Erica and I played some rounds. She was so good for a first-timer!

From L to R: Chris, Jeannie, Erica, Ryan

We rode the Pittsburgh Incline to the top of Mt. Washington.
During the height of Pittsburgh's steel era, workers used the
incline to get to and from their homes at the top of the mountain,
to the factories along the rivers.


Panoramic view of Pittsburgh from the top of Mt. Washington

Chris and me at the Feist concert! Brief clip of her performance to come.

the next day we visited my old dorm, Mudge House,
where I was an RA for 3 years. so many good times
were had in this building. looking back, i realize
how good we had it. community is hard to find.

on our way home to DC, we stopped at Falling Water,
a beautiful house by architect Frank Lloyd Wright
made for the Kauffman family (their department store
chain, Kauffman's, later became Macy's). this is a shot from
the visitor's center.

it had just rained and would rain again. we walked down
a short path through the forest to reach the house.

beautiful light through the trees

smile chris!

the house seen through a clearing!
it's essentially a glorified cabin in the forest.

personally, i think we look a lot happier than brangelina.

charlie rose interviews terry gross

highlight:

Terry Gross: I tend to write up my questions not word for word, but i try to prepare a narrative so it's not just like a questionnaire with a random sampling of questions. it has a structure, it has a story. It's more interesting if the questions add up to a story than if it's just, you know a questionnaire. 

Charlie Rose: Yeah, I keep telling people that what makes this fascinating for me, and for anyone who does it as well as you do, is a notion that you're telling a story. you're simply taking someone who's sitting across from you and you're telling a story. you're looking at the world through their life and through their experience, and the collision of my curiosity and their experience. and that's a story. 

Terry Gross: Mm hmm, and I find that I learn a lot about myself when I hear people talk about themselves.

they are an inspiration. the notion of a hardened journalist has never appealed to me. but listen to these two talk about their work! they're as moon-eyed and rapturous as two teenagers in love. i'm so excited to join their club, even if i remain a junior member for the rest of my life ... frankly, it's nice to have people who do it better than you. it's nice to have a dream. and I hope to always maintain my "real, honest curiosity," as terry gross puts it, come what may.

big changes underway

so, here's the news: i'm moving in less than two weeks to Brooklyn, NY! Can you believe it? I can't.

It's really a shame that the internet is so public because I've wanted to post about this entire process from the moment it started, over a year ago, but I had to keep things under wraps until everything was certain. now i can finally, publicly tell the world that come aug. 20, i'll be an enrolled student in the city university of new york's graduate school of journalism. (not to be confused with nyu)

how did this happen?

well, i'm not quite sure myself, but this is a perfect example of how a million tiny little decisions can lead to a major course correction in your life. did i move to dc four years ago thinking, at the end of this i'll be in j-school? hell no! when I took my magazine job, i was in it for the long haul. and i've spent countless hours turning the events around in my head, trying to figure out what exactly happened there. i still don't know, but that's neither here nor there. as my friend evelyn says, there's no room for regret in God's economy.

what i'm thankful for is that leaving my magazine job and going into communications made me realize that a) i don't want to be a magazine editor; and b) i don't want to do communications! HA! i shake my head at the time it took for me to realize this.

here's the thing that killed me about being an editor. we'd spend all this time brainstorming amazing story ideas that were so timely and interesting. we'd look at an issue through a prism, separating out every color until we decided on our publication's perfect angle. this process is so rewarding and fulfilling -- that's why i still think sojourners is one of the best damn publications out there. you should totally subscribe.

but, we'd craft this perfect story baby and then hand the baby over to another writer! no longer. I want those story babies. I want them. (wow. those are the two worst sentences ever published on this blog)

so that's why i'm going to j-school. i'm so excited to get on the streets, talk to people, ask questions, figure out a neighborhood, figure out how the city works, find stories, tell stories, all in the fine city of new york. actually, i'm pretty sure ny is going to kick my butt numerous times over, but i'm going to do my best to keep strong.

so -- that's it! that's the news. i'm scared, excited, nervous, happy ... mostly scared. haha. but i'm thankful for all the support from my family and friends, including you, reader. hope you'll stick with me through the next phase in my life! get ready for a lot of public online cryfests.

houjeannie

Chris found this old video that we made in the columbia heights best buy while checking out the macs. it is dated may 16, 2009! I find this pretty freaking hilarious. how about you?

scary thing, though, is we look pretty young in this video! remember when you'd look in the mirror as a kid and will yourself to look older? now I look at photos from 2 years back or 3 years back and I'm like, who is that girl? and why do I look so haggard and weary nowadays? ooooh adulthood. so wonderful, so stressful, so confusing.