I'm going to get these

3 more weeks...364 days to go..

So I turned 23 yesterday. Another year older, another year wiser, and another year closer to retirement. Lately, I've been doing some serious thinking as my time at Fresno State starts to dwindle away slowly but surely. I'm not all too sure where my life is headed. That freaks me out, but excites me at the same time because I've always tried to be three steps ahead of the game. People tell me that I'm going to do great things. Some days, I can see it perfectly. On other days, I can't.

It's been a little hard living life day by day not knowing what's going to happen. But that's what gives all of us the zest in our life to live it to the fullest.

Like I said, yesterday was my birthday. I had an awesome birthday this year. My mom was in the country (unlike last year), I got an awesome birthday present from my brother (KanYe West tickets to the show in Sacramento), and celebrated with great friends.

At the KanYe West Concert, he gave out his book that he first published called "Thank You and You're Welcome." The book is pretty concise, to the point. It gives out basic tips that everyone thinks, but can't say. The book I thought was really neat. One thing that really struck me in the book was he talks about friendships/relationships with people. He makes it a point to say that every situation you're in, you can control. It's just up to you as to how you go about it. I know people out there who always complain about how things aren't going right for them, and how much they hate this town, and so on and so forth. I really feel blessed that I've got great optimism in my life knowing that I can control my own destiny, not others. But even more so, that I've got that motivation and fire to make a difference in not only my life, but other's as well.

At my birthday dinner, I felt very blessed that I've got friends who push me to be better than I was the day before. Despite the fact that we're all so far away from each other because some have graduated or some have careers, I love that when we all hang out, we never miss a beat. I feel that in life, it is important to surround yourself around greatness. Being good in my life isn't good enough. Being great is what I strive to be. Greatness brings out greatness in others. It's that desire to not only make yourself happy with your success, but others can enjoy it with you also knowing they'll say "See, I knew he'd do it."

Friendships are important in my life, as you may know already. I find it hard to believe that when you let someone into that door that is your heart, mind, and soul, they'll quickly walk right out without saying goodbye. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't upset this happened, but it did. The lesson I learned from this all was maybe I shouldn't give so much of myself anymore. Maybe I should let people earn their way in. I guess the moral of the story is, when someone gives you a lot of themselves to you, and vice versa, don't be so quick to write this person off and walk away. To me, walking away has never been an excuse. Rather, they walk away because it's what they've done their entire lives. When shit gets tough, they can't handle it, so they fold their tents, and move on. I don't want people like that in my life.

Anyhow, that's enough for today. Til then, enjoy and remember..bow to the presence of greatness.

Here we are

Well, here we are..

Almost three months since my last post. I really don't know what to say to be honest. I suppose I'll just type as the words come to me.

I just pulled up my calendar and counted the week til it's officially my last week of school. 7 freaking weeks. I shouldn't put a timeline on everything, but lately that's what my life has felt like in the last few months. Deadline after deadline after fucking deadline. I know years from now I'll look back on this and laugh because my life was so simple. But really, if this is as good as it gets, I'm a little freaked out about the future.

I'm sitting in my office staring at piles of paper. Not any sort of insignificant piles of paper, but rather graduate and law school applications. I've decided to take a break from staring at my screen and take a break from writing in general to kind of reflect on a lot of things. In class today, I got into it with one of my good friends over google talk. I know, I should be paying attention but I know all the stuff in the class already. Anyways, we talked and he flat out told me that I would probably be a happier person if I didn't try so hard with women and just focused on what was important in life. He said that Fresno women aren't worth it.

I digress...

I saw a movie I hadn't seen in a long long time. The movie was Jerry Maguire. I don't like to compare my life to movies, but in a way mine is kind of like how his was in the movie. He's at the top of his game and then it's all taken away from him. But he finds a way to rebuild himself back up. I suppose that's what life really is about. Learning from your shortcomings and making sure they don't happen again.

I can't believe I graduate in 7 weeks. I feel like I've accomplished so much, yet there's more out there that I must achieve.

I ran into an old old friend today on campus. For those of you that read this and went to Clovis High, he went to HS with us. He was a senior when I was a freshman. This guy was one of the nicest, most genuine guys you'll ever meet. His name is Sam Duran. When I was walking to grab a bite to eat, we were talking about what my plans were after graduation. I told him that I was applying to law and graduate schools. After I told him why I wanted to go to law school, he said I should totally do it. It's always great hearing from people who've known you for a long time and they encourage you to do those sorts of things after not seeing you for a while.

Anyways...more to come later..

Hello 2008!

Well hello there! It really has been quite sometime since I've written in this. A lot has happened in the past few months so I guess I'll get started.

Last time I wrote, my friend Chris had cancer. Keyword there is had. He's beat it and things are fine now. I was pretty sure I was going to law school in the fall, but that looks like it's going to be put off for at least a year or two just because I'm not mentally ready yet. I've made some amazing friends and ended the year on a good note, but started the New Year on an even better one. 

Christmas was fun, as always and ended up being pretty fun. We didn't go out of town and I hung out with a friend of mine whom I haven't spent much time with this last fall. At any rate, we had a lot of fun, ate dinner with her parents, and went to a movie. 

January has literally come and gone. Just this last week, I was in Nevada (not pronounced Nevahduh for you non-Californian's). I was an intern/volunteer for the Barack Obama Campaign there. As many of you know, him and Hillary were tied coming into Nevada. Hillary won the popular vote, but Senator Obama won the delegates which is all really that matters. 

During my week's stay there, I met some incredible people that I really hope to keep in touch with. So if you're reading this, let's all make it a point to be in touch with each other. I really hope this fun continues until November and keeps happening for the next four years. 

While I was in Nevada, like I said, I met some awesome awesome people. One of them whom I'll talk about is my incredible field organizer (FO), Brenna. The moment I knew why I do the things I do really opened my eyes when she said, "Its so great to see all of you here. I love getting involved and getting people involved." I'm almost 100% that's not verbatim what she said, however it was along those lines. Seeing her passion for what she did made working for her fun. When things were not going so well, she would always be there to cheer me up and keep encouraging me to go out there and work that much harder. The moment I knew that I was going to give more than 100% for this campaign was Wednesday of the trip. we had all been up since 5:30am because the Senator was making an appearance and we were going to help work the event, see him, and eventually meet him. We had been canvassing a neighborhood for quite sometime and the weather was getting the best of me. I told my friend Matt that we needed to head back because it was getting too damn cold for me. When we got in the car, I knew what I had done was wrong. I felt horrible. When we were halfway back to the office, I told him to turn the truck around, and head back to our precinct to finish what we started because Hillary was not going to win the state that I've worked so hard in. 

So the internship has come and gone. Hillary won the popular vote and Senator Obama won the delagates. To me, that's all that matters. Tomorrow is officially my first, last day of school as an undergraduate here at Fresno State. It hasn't exactly started how I pictured it many years ago, but to say the least, the ride has been fun. 

I'm going to get this poster framed tomorrow that I took from our office. The poster is from the rally that was held by the Washington Monument when Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. In the picture, it says "Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better." In the spirit of Dr. King, I use that to keep me motivated to do good things in this world. Even if it is one door knock or phone call at a time.