Oh yeah, I have a blog! - Free Pictures Inside!
BLOG UPDATE - I found an apartment!!!So because of the screwup with blogger, ( you know, that time when I emailed like 20 blog entries to them and they entries were never posted so I had to blog all 20 of them at once like a month after they happened) I took a little break from blog mania. Now I'm back in the USA, found an apartment in Chicago, and I have one month to chill out in California before the madness of business school begins. Am I excited? I'm excited about a couple of things:
1) Having an apartment - Oh how I have missed my furniture! My old bed, my comfy couch, the matching bench ottoman, my wine stand, all of my glassware...the list goes on and on.
2) Having all of my clothing - Don't get me wrong, I have gotten used to living out of a suitcase, but the ability to go for several weeks (maybe even months) without having to do laundry is very appealing to me. I'm worried that I will get into my clothing and realize that most of it in downright unwearable. The saddest part is that after 6 years of banking I have accumulated a bazillion button down collared shirts, all of them overpriced and few of them that fit just right. Sadly the fancy italian shirts weren't fitted. Meanwhile my $10 chinese shirts are are lovingly tailor-made.
3) Cooking for myself - OK, not much to get excited about, but there is definitely appeal in being able to control my own diet 100% of the time.
Things I'm NOT excited about:
1) Being a student again. I'm not one of those people who looks back longingly on college thinking "wow, I miss being in school." College sucked. OK, the partying and the chilling with friends didn't suck, but working all the time, obsessing over grades, writing papers, feeling guilty about wasting time...all of that sucked royally. I'm not looking forward to having no free time...as opposed to banking!!! OK, i'm starting to talk crazy-talk, but my 1-year adventure has made me lazy in some ways
2) Debt - 'nuff said
3) Chicago winter - Although I did buy my giant shun da yi, which should protect me from the elements whilst making me look like a fool. LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!
Anyway, I DID find an apartment in Chicago. Its in the Gold Coast, which is a pretty decent area close to downtown. The good news: The apartment has a gym in the basement, a pool, a free WIFI cafe, and get this: free breakfast. Who does that!? The bad news: frightening proximity to both Giordano's and Gino's East...to of the best Chicago deep-dish pizza joints. I was in Chicago looking for apts for 6 days and had deep-dish pizza THREE TIMES. I may have a problem.
Picture Time!
So I had to post a photo to my grad school for their "first year facebook". We all remember the facebook in college right? It basically served 3 purposes:
1) So you could figure out what your roommate looked like before you showed up to school
2) So you could point out to your friends people that you thought were hot
3) Provided hours of entertainment by literally BROWSING the facebook for attractive people
Given this, I recognized the crucial importance of the facebook photo. Unfortunately the photo had to a) be 2"X2" and b) be just of me. Who takes a SQUARE PHOTO?! I absolutel;y ridiculous. So I had to thumb through all the digital photos I have on my computer, crop out some 2X2s, and try to figure out which one makes me look the hottest and yet also the most respectable just in case some prospective employer alumni is thumbing through the book. So I sent an email to some of the women I know that have lots of good taste and judgement, and they gave me feedback. Here are the photos. Guess which one they ended up endorsing the most highly?
BEER
The consensus was that I shouldn't include a picture that shows me with beer, even though it was weak-ass Chinese beer.
These two were dinged because of the quasi-obscene japanese finger gesture. The concern was that I would look foreign. We wouldn't want that.
Evil - The concern was that this picture looked to evil, or that I was trying to look sexy. Ironically this picture was taken by mistake when I was trying to figure out how to self-timer my camera. Maybe I look evil/sexy in my natural environment. HAW HAW HAW
THREE FINALISTS
HappyTuxedo
Fleece
Guess which one was the winner? Thats right, it was "Fleece", airbrushed to perfection! The problem with the happy picture is that perhaps I look a little TOO happy? The tuxedo picture has a weird light issue on the left that makes it look like i have either a white sideburn or something stuck to my face. Fleece is just poor enough resolution to hide any noticeable skin flaws. Sadly I lost the fleece in that photo, which I bought in Australia for US$10. Sniff sniff.
