Posted by Joel
Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:29:23 GMT
Almost forgot, my birthday was January 19th (as usual). So, I'm now 26. It's been a very important year for me and I've changed a lot as a person. I sincerely feel like I've matured so much in the past year, more than any other year, but I still see I have a ways to go. The path feels much more identifiable, though, and I think I'm going about things correctly for once.
To celebrate, I got together some friends, and we went to Nihon, a "Japanese whisky lounge". Altogether ten of my friends showed up, many of them from Zurb: Mark Otto and his girlfriend, Aiden and Gianna, Robert, Andres, Ryan, David and Katie, my roommate Megan. It had some great food and drinks, and was expensive, but my friends graciously picked up the tab, much to my distress.
It was a real pleasure to have so many of my friends around, and to even realize for the first time how many friends I had here in the Bay. It's amazing, considering how difficult and lonely life was for the first year or so I was here.
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Posted by Joel
Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:08:00 GMT
I haven't updated in a while so I'll give you a brief run-through of what's happened in my life.
The most important thing to happen to me is that my company, Affinity Labs, was acquired, by Monster. To be blunt, it means I made and will continue to make a considerable amount of money due to the stock I held in the company. You're likely curious as to the exact amount but I'm not sure how appropriate it is to give that information out. It's a life milestone of sorts, and with it has come a lot of varying emotions and experiences. I always feel bad when I know I've been boasting, but at the same time I want to celebrate my success with my friends and family.
And that should transition elegantly to the next two things, Christmas and Thanksgiving. For Christmas, I went back to the Chicago suburbs to spend time with my dad and step-family, as well as my childhood friends, mainly Hans, Bill, and Dave. I spent some great time with Katie and also Matt as well. New Years Eve was actually a fairly great one in recent memory and I'm really glad to see how my friends are turning out, and I miss them a lot.
Thanksgiving I went to LA. My grandfather, fully aware he is not long for this world due to his ailing health, has been very appreciative of us. I want him to feel good about his family, so I'm going to do what I can to visit him this weekend for his 80th birthday party.
Aside for these events, my life has consisted of fairly enjoyable, stress-free, and productive work days. In my off hours I like to study politics, the economy, and finance and discuss them with my geeky friends online, and sometimes actual people I know, although they typically aren't as interested.
I was a Ron Paul supporter, and still think he's a good man. However, I ultimately am maintaining my Democrat registration and will vote for Obama in the primary. If it comes down to it I will vote for Hillary in the general. My key issue is the Iraq and Afghanistan occupation. I will try to go into more detail on my re-evaluated political positions, having been focusing on them so much during this election. I'd like to make more focused posts on this site, and not just discuss my life.
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