So, as I was browsing bluefly.com for a dress for an upcoming wedding, something struck me as odd:

Black dress

I'm getting a new job! Actually, it looks more like a new career at this point.

Some background:

I came from vacation in Mexico (see: got engaged) to find out that my boss, Darcel, whom I admire like few other mentors in my life, was leaving my company to achieve greater things at another association. I was buuuuuummmed to say the least. I wasn't thrilled about staying here without her as she has been the greatest catalyst for my personal and professional development, and frankly, my company now is small fish. I would probably still be here, though, if it weren't for the fact that the day I casually starting looking at jobs and the job market, a pastor I know called and asked if I had ever considered youth ministry. This was one of the most amazing aligning of the stars I've ever been privvy to. I had, indeed, been interested for some time, but always thought business was the wise choice.

Well his phone call turned my entire world upside-down. After quite a bit of counceling from all my various mentors and much prayer, I have decided to jump in with both feet. For the month of September I'm going to be working here for forty hours a week and doing ten at Living Water, my new church home. AND this is going to be further complicated by the fact that I have:

Started my MBA! Tuesday night was my first night of class and I think I was really freaking out over nothing. It was a lot of fun. There were definite differences from my undergrad program, but I'm going to enjoy going to school with only adults who are there to better themselves like I am.

So, in review, this is my life as of late:

1. Got engaged
2. Started my MBA
3. Starting a new career

It's rather crazy right now, but I'm really REALLY excited for all these things, and I have my fiance's and my family's support, which means the world to me. Thank you, all.

So, I’ve never been the kind of guy that needs the latest gadgets.  I didn’t own a cell phone until 2002.  I don’t replace it every year with a new model.  I don’t download games or take pictures with it.

I was slow to get an iPod and use iTunes.  I mean, I was a PC-guy.  I had a trusty Dell that came with MusicMatch Jukebox.  It worked fine.  I’ve used a PC at work my whole career.  Microsoft products?  Why be a hater?  Word, Office, Excel, Powerpoint, Project – like falling off a log.  I’m quick with the right-click.

We were like those guys

This is in contrast to the Beloved, who having come more from the academic world than my corporate-dominated life had gravitated to Apple products.  Look how beautiful, she would say!  (Look how expensive, I would retort)… Look!  No viruses, she would cheer! (Protection software works fine, I’d grumble).  I was sticking to my guns, dammit.  Apples had always seemed a little too much style over substance, perhaps and there was a whiff of “hippie” that kept me resisting.

Then, I got an iPod a couple of years ago, and realized that ok, sure – iTunes is really a lot easier than what I had been using.  Fine.  But I could use it on my PC with no problems.  It wasn’t like I was giving in, right?

And then my Dell started getting a little long in the tooth and there were noises about getting a new computer for my birthday.  And then about a month ago – despite my protective software – there was a  bad bad virus infestation.  My trusty old Dell ground to a halt, and the choice was made.

Pretty

So, I welcomed a new gadget into my life – a gorgeous 20” iMac.  It’s big, shiny, pretty and super-fast.  This weekend I spent some time moving over files (music, photos, financial, etc.) from the Dell to the new computer.  Pretty easy.

In File Transfer Exile

Now only if I could stop myself from right-clicking.

until someone stops taking HOT ass photos of this man.

Cori, stop drooling, and Jen, take a cold shower:)

Michael

Here is a fascinating little blurb on the Chinese reality of the Beijing Olympics:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3542649

Please read it. It's very clever.

Lest we forget about the other side of Michael Phelps...

Phelps please

Ringo H.W. Chiu / Los Angeles Times

Vegan sandwiches and smoothies at the Vegan Spot in Silver Lake

E-mail Picture

IF YOU think vegan junk food is an oxymoron, you've obviously never had a dairy-free "Twinkie" from the Vegan Spot. So great is the public desire for them that Silver Lake's newest vegan destination -- it's been open for three months -- regularly sells out of the golden-cake tubes filled with rich white frosting.

"I hadn't had a Twinkie in probably 25 years," says the restaurant's co-owner and chef, Sara Radovanovitch, about her first taste when the baker brought them in. "It was amazing. I'm eating something that totally tastes like my youth and it's not going to give me a heart attack."

The 31-year-old Radovanovitch has been a vegetarian for 20 years and a vegan for 10. Her robust complexion, tan skin and long, shiny blond hair repudiate the old myth that you'll waste away if you don't eat meat or dairy.

Still, Radovanovitch found she couldn't shake a hankering for all the forbidden foods she grew up with in the Midwest.

Like many vegans, she spent much of her time cooking for herself and became an expert at making what she calls "vegan comfort food."

She opened the Vegan Spot with her friend Miranda Megill, who owns a popular vegan restaurant near Sunset Junction called Flore. Radovanovitch was waiting tables there when the two hit on the idea of opening another restaurant with more playful, less straight-up healthful leanings.

At first glance, the menu makes die-hard vegans feel guilty just for looking at it. Roast beef and cheddar sandwiches, Philly cheese steaks, corned beef Reubens, turkey dinner sandwiches, nachos and French bread pizza are listed alongside a lengthy roster of salads, wraps and shakes that include decadent-sounding flavors such as orange cream and chocolate-banana-peanut butter.

Radovanovitch says the most popular menu item is the roast beef and cheddar sandwich. Made with homemade seitan (gluten flour and seasonings), sliced deli thin and marinated in a browning sauce to give it a beefy color, it's served on a crusty French roll and smothered with a cheese sauce made from nutritional yeast, flour, pureed carrot and soy margarine.

The result is eerily addictive but pleasantly light.

As Radovanovitch says, "I want to give people what they miss and what they crave. Only I want to give them a healthier version."

Vegan Spot, 3206 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A.; (323) 667-0116. Sandwiches, salads and wraps $8.95 to $9.95; shakes $4.95; street parking; open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; delivery available.

You know what. 

What is it about this kid?  Oh wait.  I know.

Yes. Please

Yesterday marked my second anniversary blogging here on vox.  The title refers to the number of posts that I’ve written during that time.  Wow.  That’s essentially one every-other-day for two years.  I don’t think there is any other conclusion after having started from a “Let’s see what this is like” experiment, that that I’ve grown to like this stuff.

Two

I did a little tag-archeology to look at what have been the top-10 most popular topics over the last two years – which I think is a pretty darn good summary of me:

San Diego – I like the town I live in
The Aerie – I  like the house we moved into in the spring of 2007
Philadelphia Eagles – I love/hate them
Science – I don’t talk about work, but that doesn’t keep me from weighing on things I think are cool (or not-cool as the case may be).
Travel – we like going places
Piano – not as many posts as year-1, but its still going on and getting incrementally better!
Books – yep, always like to read
Family –  usually traveling to them and receiving them as visitors, or reminiscing.
Happy Hour – I like a good drink
Moving – it pre-occupied the first 6 months of 2007, but that’s ok, I’m never moving again.

How’s year-2 been different than year-1?  Mostly, I think it’s summed up before – I’ve grown to really like doing this – and rather than some sort of novelty, this has become an integral part of what I do on a day-to-day basis.  And as such, the relationships formed here have become as real and important to me as those from other spheres of my life (school friends, work friends, and now blog-friends…).  And like friends from other parts of life, you expect some to flourish and some to fade, and that’s ok.

So, from Hapalove (who was the first person to leave me a comment that I didn’t previously know IRL that’s still in my hood) to Cat (my newest neighbor from Oz), thanks for coming along with me.  You're very much appreciated -- You guys are the best!