Recovery

By starting this blog a year ago I was trying to hold my composure. Move on. Progress. Be strong. After the new year… I think I was broken. I went through a lot of depression. This year throughout, my relationships suffered with family, friends, girlfriend. I have been lost. I am trying to dig my way out.

I had awesome travels in April and September to Michigan. Seeing family and friends. One of my best friends got married. Beautiful wedding. It was really hard seeing my friends progress and being stuck personally. I have to find away. In August I toured the south. I got to spend some time with my aging grand-dad. I got to see cousins. The food, so great.

Tried looking into getting back to school. I ran into a student loan roadblock. I now have to get a job to make some payments before I will be eligible for any money to go back to school. I typed out a new resume. I revamped my Linked In profile, got on Monster and Career Builder. Looking for leads and trying to get in somewhere. It’s a start. Before November really, I was doing nothing.

Chess was a coping mechanism to feel worthwhile. I played well in the Chicago Open U900 section winning six games out of seven. I played okay at the Chicago Class. I won three and a half out of five. I had an educational loss against a good SSCC player and a draw against a Naperville highschooler. An okay performance but not great. In September I swept my section at the Evanston Three x Three for a perfect three points. And last week I swept my section at the Evanston Tri – Level for a perfect four points taking clear first place in my section and a 200 point rating boost. So far I have been playing in sections fair to my USCF rating, but not fair when compared to my actual playing strength. Prior to this year, I was away from tournament rated chess for 16 years. So my USCF rating has some catching up to do to get to where I am now (1500-1900 range). Since may I gained 600+ points and I am now at a whopping 1200. I will be playing next weekend at the Illinois Class in the Class D (U1400). Small tourney, top prize is $100. Competition should have a little bit more teeth, so hopefully I will do well. It’ll be interesting. I analyze all my games and take my score sheet and input it on the computer. I plan to soon have all the games posted on here.

I am trying to make myself useful. Trying to repair my relationship with my girlfriend. I need to reach out to my family. And I need to be more of a friend to my friends. Thanks for your interest. Love.

Let’s Be Honest

Getting fired two days before my birthday this year was the best thing to happen to me all year.

Dear former employer, I gave you some of the highest quality work I have been able to perform in my life. I killed myself for you. Literally. My ankles probably have irreparable damage. My mental psyche is not the same.

I built some some hopefully life-lasting relationships in your workplace. Your customers will never forget my service. I could not be more proud of the hospitality I provided under your employ.

You dismissed me with no emotion just the same as the mundane regularity of dumping the oil on Sundays from the deep fryer. But this happening was divine. My spirit is not broken. I thank you. I needed it.

I’ve had time to rest. Gear up, strengthen up. Clear my head.

I’m going back to college. Gonna finish my degree. Did my FAFSA. Going to school on monday morning to register for Jan ’12.

So I thank you for humbling me. For forcing me to consider MYSELF first for a change. Thank you for affording me the opportunity to further myself… really. I now am free to grow spiritually, mentally, physically in a way you never allowed, and to pursue real excellence. To make a lasting and tangible contribution to the world.

Innagural, Thanksgiving, About Me Bio, Site Mission, Welcome

This is not my first rodeo friends. For those that will be new to reading, welcome. Good to meet you. Old pals, happy to see you again. I got my start drafting web log posts, coding the HTML and uploading new files to AOL’s Personal Publisher and then Yahoo! Geocities. At some point I learned to write CSS, JavaScript and Perl. Content Managment Systems like Greymatter, Newspro, and MoveableType became prevalent although less convenient than just writing the code and maintaining your own backups. Remember those odometer counters on every page? Now I’ve got a dashboard and google analytics. Alright I don’t want to get hopefully, what the majority of my readers will be (non-tech heads), lost on jargon.

With this blog I hope to coordinate my sort of fragmented social media Internet presence and showcase the newsworthy and worth noting; generally the stuff that I am passionate about: chess, current events and politics, music, the weeks ridiculousness on Jersey Shore, a few tech ramblings, life in the big city, food and Chefs and culinary curiosities. Big fan of Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night show. The Legendary Roots Crew are exceedingly surpassing A Tribe Called Quest as best ev’s, can’t wait for the new record on December 6, gonna iTunes that. I am spinning a SnazzyJazz station on Slacker Radio. Non practicing percussionist, I miss my five piece Tama set back home in the D. Die hard Bad Boys, Lions, Tigers, Wings fan. I am in tune with my faith and spirituality. I am a member of the St. Ita’s parish in the north side Chicago neighborhood Edgewater.

I am drafting this inaugural post at one of my favorite places where everyone knows my name. I went to church this morning and walked home to grab my computer and headed up Broadway to The Pumping Company to catch the second half of the Lions game. I’ll tag this as an “about me” and “site’s mission” post.

Kicking this joint off, in theme with the season, I want to talk a little bit about a few things that I am thankful for. This year has been testing. And throughout my personal challenges, my family and friends have shown their support. I have not prayed for a lighter load, but for broader shoulders. And if you ask me, I am showing my Samson hair and lettin y’all see my moxie. I have concluded my career in the restaurant industry. I am committing myself to academic excellence. Looking forward to the rest of my life. I’m thankful to be aware of the eyes and the presence watching over and protecting me. I’m thankful for the encouragement I’ve received from friends and fam. Healthy, upright, upbeat. Life is gravy right now