Wanting Family is a Normal Human Trait.

 And I guess I forget that sometimes... as if most of the people I know don't also share that sentiment in some way or another.

It was nice to be reminded of this thing as I began to know a fellow I've know of for a while but have never met in person. He's a jolly fellow but definitely said in a very sober, clear way that family is a very important thing and that he understood my drive to find one. It was refreshing but almost entirely unexpected... sadly.

Now my resolve has become somewhat greater. I need to work hard and put myself into more situations for luck to manifest than ever before.

Travelling and Enjoying the World.

 I have a very lucky life. Certainly I work hard to do what I do but I am quite lucky I get to enjoy what I do because of it. The world is a big place full of incredible, wonderful people. It is always my privilege to share a bit of time with them wherever they may be.

The Underground of the Arm Wrestling World.

 It's always fun to see a new competition format in the arm wrestling scene. Today it was the first time "The Underground" took place and it was a barrel of fun, indeed. The style of the tournament was single elimination with each round being "best of 3" format so every puller got at least 2 pulls automatically. There were 8 total pullers so it was 3 total rounds but Bob Brown, the host of the event, also threw in some "fun" matches with various members of the audience and the refs themselves. The physical environment was a sort of "dungeon"-style setup, for lack of a better way to describe it, and the crowd was quite enthusiastic all the way through.

Personal Rating: A+

Certainly it wasn't perfectly executed and there's definitely a fair number of ways the whole experience could be improved but all-in-all this was a strong start and I hope they make this a regular event going forward.

Making the Move Commitment More Real.

 Today I got a storage unit and unloaded a bunch of the stuff I've been traveling with into it. It's in a nicely central location and I expect I will likely have it for a while.

It feels a bit different now. I have committed some of my money into the concept that I will be landing my home here in the area. I hope it means I will soon find a partner to share it with... but that is always on somebody else's timeline. Far from my personal control at all.

The new chapter of my life began today. Who knows when this chapter will end?

Getting Back in the Swing of Things.

And now I am starting the tedious transition from Washington to Utah. I have a month to make it happen. I have a decent amount of cleaning and organizing to do when I get back... SO much cleaning and organizing. 

Holy Super Busy Week!

 I've basically been on overdrive since the last entry was written in here. Tons of stuff to do to pull off the event and even though it wasn't perfect we basically got it all done. Sure, I could've polished up my graphics work to make it more smooth in general but I filled every minute I could to get it working enough for the show.

Now... I'm back in the real world and ready for a new month! Sleep, round 1, is coming!

Holy Super Busy Day!

 Basically on the go from the moment I woke until now. Solid flow almost the entire day. Lots of progress in many crucial areas and projects. All kinds of positive momentum. Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

A couple long days of driving.

 Good for the soul? Maybe.

I always enjoy seeing the beautiful scenery basically everywhere I've ever driven. Sure, there can be some boring stuff from time to time but the contrast of that is what makes the beautiful elements that much more enriching and captivating. And the boring stuff isn't really that bad, even... just common.

We have hit the road running here in Arlington. So much to do in so little time. There are going to be a lot of crazy memories to make over the next several days, I expect. Arm fun mixed with people fun! Woot woot!

Connecting the Past to the Present.

 I have a few friends in my life who I have been friends with since before I was the age of ten. Most of them are fairly loosely engaged with the happenings in life these days... but there's at least one or two that still bear a greater portion of the weight in my current emotional space. It's a strange, rare, very cool, highly appreciated thing to experience. I'm not entirely sure why it feels so valuable, outside of all the obvious things one could state about it, but it's yet another reason to be super grateful for the incredible blessings in my life.

Long and Boring and Productive.

 And sometimes that's just how the day goes. It's not necessarily a bad thing but it can feel kinda weird or annoying at times. "The grind" can sometimes be unnecessarily glorified... but the intensity of "the grind" is really where it should be assessed for its relevance, quality, or importance. Keep it just out of the self-destruction zone and you'll be in good shape, I'd say.

I am so grateful for the help of my friends and family!

 And I guess it's such a simple statement that there probably isn't much I can say to elaborate effectively.

No man is an island. Even me.

Strong Potential Landing Spot.

 I have a lot of cleaning to do of all my gear and garbage before I actually do any sort of move... BUT... after having a solid conversation about the state of the production industry in the Utah Valley I am starting to feel quite confident it would be a good place to give it all another go.

Things are a little slow at the moment, as they pretty much are everywhere I can get a sense of, but there seems to be a lot of potential on the horizon. It's exciting to me about the possibility of joining the fun.

So... Time to start looking for a place to live. I probably should have been doing this all along but I have definitely been busy with my work so it isn't for a bad reason. I hope to find a place somewhere near Lehi... we'll see how it all shakes out.

Getting Things Done.

 Staying in the cave and plugging away at the tasks at hand is often boring but definitely needed at times. I have a decent little chunk of stuff left to do but I'm always happy to have some of the more difficult elements completed.

Beyond all that, not much else to say. A quiet day of progress is almost always more valuable than a loud day of nonsense. Ha.

Positivity is Attractive.

 Which might be the exact title I have conjured for a previous blog entry but I am not really sure... but I don't mind if I am echoing such a deceptively valuable statement. I say deceptive because it probably seems quite obvious from the outside. Even like a dumb thing to say. But I think it's deeper than what it appears. I'll lay out a few ideas about why I think that.

Positivity can show resilience. The ability to rebound from challenging times, negative situations, or otherwise detrimental behaviors. Resilience is a kind of toughness and also a kind of steadfastness. It can be a key ability making personal change in life.

Positivity can show intention. It is not typically a natural behavior in many settings but expresses a person's decisive intention when it manifests in those settings... even more so when it stands in opposition to the negative settings we experience.

Positivity can show self-control and strength of will. This might be the most attractive element I can see among these qualities. Maybe it is because they are qualities I seek to have within myself the most. The qualities that I admire the most in others. Qualities which you can build as a foundation where other qualities and grow from.

Anyway... I felt like exploring the topic a bit because I was offered a bit of positivity in the online dating world today. Some people write songs... I write blog posts. Ha. It's a different kind of art, I suppose. So sue me!

Travel Always Makes This Challenging.

Even now, I am typing this laying forward on the bed. An uncomfortable typing posture for sure. Ha.

I guess the other main challenge of doing this arises from the fact that I don't exactly have my normal routine while I'm traveling, too. I am somewhat settled here at my sister's house but I still don't have quite a normal routine.

Anyway... here is my attempt to find my usual groove a little. It isn't all puppies and parades... but it'll do, 

Meeting All the People.

 I can't remember the last industry mixer that I attended. I especially can't remember the last one as well-attended as the one I went to tonight. Tons of people! Fun!

It was pretty cool to meet many of the people I have seen in online interactions but have never met in person. It was cool to meet people totally cold and learn something new from a few of them. It was cool to mill about in all the noise and have a bunch of good laughs and some chips and salsa from time to time. It was good to hand out some of my contact details and maybe it'll turn into a little bit of future work.

I definitely want to make sure I get to this sort of thing more frequently in the future. I do best in person and I think I made some decent connections that are important to my line of work. All around a groovy old time was had for sure!

All Kinds of Overtime!

 I'm not sure the cause but I have had several days of deep overtime in the last couple or so weeks. Whacky and well-paying! Ha. I am not complaining, either. Maybe I'd like even more?

I slept a meager three-ish hours last night... worked almost 15. What a strange sleep to work ratio. Kind of a flex, I guess. Other than any of the nights I didn't get any sleep at all I have to guess this would be close to the most whacky ratio I have ever done.

So, now I go hit the sack with a full body attack. Snack!

Whoa... Post number 2,000. Cool.

 I was once quite consistent at this blog thing maybe 15 or so years ago and somehow I let it get behind me. I think of this as the easiest way to communicate through the written word because I type way faster than I write and it allows me to flow a bit better... so it occupies a semi-important role in the productive communication experience in my life. In a way it kind of seems like I get to be a bit more creative. I am not sure that necessarily means it is any higher quality than the rest of the things that I do(journal writing in handwritten form and vlogging) but it is definitely different and so I guess it has a different meaning to me.

I think I started this whole blogging journey sometime around 2002 or so. I asked the question rhetorically to myself(and maybe to the reader) - "Am I a blogger?' and sort of fancied myself a bit of a creative in that way. I've always thought of writing as one of the more noble forms of communication so maybe it seemed like blogging was my own personal way to jump on that bandwagon. It is a thing that basically anyone can do but, for whatever reason, it doesn't seem like many people actually do it these days. Not outside of social media posts, twitter, or whatever is like that.

I think thoughts are important. I think taking the time to express things is also important. I've learned in the many years since I started that there are proven beneficial effects that come along with this kind of habit, and maybe that might've seemed like an obvious thing to me back then, but it's a nice confirmation to hear it does good things and certainly helps to motivate me to do more of it.

So... this is post 2,000. If I compare myself to the more consistent or intense or prolific writers of the world that probably seems like small change but I don't really care. I am not them, nor they me. Maybe I have technically covered the entire gamut of my potential life's topics in one form or another and have even repeated some of them multiple times. None of that matters either. I am a different person every time I address anything because my view is newly informed by every experience prior to it. They all have different meaning to me. All 2,000 of them.

Familial Recognition and Legacy.

 It's always a humbling and unexpected thing when somebody who knows my family or parents somehow recognizes me because of them. It is because of this that I also hope I am representing them well, that I somehow meet that person's expectations of what a member of my family does and is. Maybe another phrase to illustrate the feeling I have... "with great power comes great responsibility." It might seem like a poor comparison but it still reflects the feeling well.

A Day of Profound Quietness.

 I think it was a bit of an oozy, slow Sunday. I went to bed so late last night that I basically just sloshed through the day at about half speed. I made my progress on the various things I took time to focus on so that was nice. Beyond all that I interacted extremely little with the outside world. The descent into my man cave has been thorough, indeed.