The best thing about being in Seattle are the weekends. Natilee and I really didn’t leave her apartment until about 5pm today. And the reason we left was to go to dinner. We went to a little Greek Italian (Greek people cooking Italian food) restaurant in Lakecity. It was an awesome place. The food was really good. But what made the place so great were the people in the restaurant. All kinds of people; nuns, prom couples, children celebrating a birthday, senior citizens and of course the friendly greek people cooking Italian food.

After dinner, we went to the local comedy club called “Giggles.” It was very encouraging to see how terrible some of these comedians were. Makes me believe that I can be a comedian. Actually, it’s probably a bad thing that I get inspired by bad comedians not good ones. Maybe that should be telling me something.

Next weekend is Valentine’s day. Oh boy…

One thing about Seattle is that I sleep a lot less. I really don’t show up to work in Los Angeles until about 9:30. Here everybody has to be at work by 8:30. And in LA, I live about 10 minutes (on bike, mind you) away from the office. Here in Seattle, it’s about 20 minutes by car.

I wrote letters to my two little sisters and my buddy Alex yesterday. I really am a terrible older brother, hence the letters will make for a nice change. When it comes to Alex, I have to say that it’s absolutely and completely his fault. What a great best friend the guy is? You can’t reach him by phone or email. I even set up an email address for him and he managed to let it expire. I could be sitting here with my heart broken, or God knows what, and Alex wouldn’t have a clue. So now I am trying the letter thing again. We tried that a few years ago, but it obviously failed. If a guy doesn’t talk on the phone, how do you think he goes about writing letters.

Regardless, at least he will know that I am alive.

Today was a pretty bad day for me. I have been kind of in a low mood for a little while and today might have been the all time low for this year. Not sure why.
Regardless, I signed into MSN messenger and ran across many good friends who I haven’t talked to in a while. I guess sometimes one gets so busy that he forgets about one’s ability to communicate with people all over the world. It’s amazing. Really, you don’t have ever have to feel alone again. All you need to do is turn on your computer and sign on in one of those messenger programs. It’s great. Just today, I talked to Terry, Molk, Trick, Elisa, Rick, Katie and Sebastian. All great friends of mine. I wrote a letter to Alex and my little sisters and talked on the phone with John and Diane. I really appreciate all my friends. And family. For you, I consider myself to be the luckiest person in the world.

Big news. My host-brother Shawn is getting married. The wedding will be in Thompson Falls Montana and you bet, I will be there. People only get married a few times in their life.

BTW, I lost all my data on my hard drive at work. Nobody knows how it happened, but my laptop is fried. Darn Apples. Hence, I have lost all my contacts, birthdays etc. It would be great if you could shoot me an email, so I can start keeping track of them again. And trust me. This time, I will back up.

Looking back at this past year, I wonder where exactly it is that I belong. Just about a year ago, I was sitting in my old room in Germany, wondering what my next stop would be. Quite truthfully, at that point, I felt like Germany was the place to be for me. My home. My parents live in Germany, I still have some amazing friends, two little sisters and a book full of childhood memories. Still, I decided to go back to Montana. Another place that holds many great memories and wonderful friendships for me. From there to Seattle. And then to Los Angeles. Quite truthfully, at this point I don’t really know where I belong.

I like Los Angeles. The weather is nice. My job is fun and there always is stuff to do. But I just don’t have the same kind of personal connections that I have in other places. Truthfully, moving to LA was the hardest thing I ever had to do.

I love Montana. And all the great people who live there. But, chances are that I will never live in Montana again. At least not for a few decades.

Germany. The place I used to call home. I think that I could go back to Europe and it wouldn’t take long to fall back into the local lifestyle. The problem is that at this point, that life just doesn’t sound appealing to me. Other than the professional soccer games of course.

Seattle. I have a few good friends here. One great friend. And a wonderful girlfriend. When I first lived in Seattle, this place felt more like home than any other. But I am not sure how it feels now. I know it’s Natilee’s home. Can that make it mine?

I am 22 years old. Have a great job. Wonderful friends. And a girlfriend who holds something that I don’t want to part with.

Yet, I have no clue where home really is.

My laptop at work died on me today. Bummer. I have only had it for about 6 months and it appears that I will lose all my data. It’s amazing to see how attached one can grow to a bunch of emails and pdf files. That is on top of all the birthdays etc.

I got a gym membership today. The place is called Seattle Fitness, is located on the second floor of our building and I used to work out there when I lived here before. It’s probably my favorite gym of all times. Nobody works out there and it’s only an elevator ride away from where I work. That means I will be going back to working out at lunch. Sweet.

Natilee and I went to eat in some chinese restaurant last night. I once again found an insect on my food. Last time it was a Vietnamese restaurant, serving roaches. I am not sure what exact species this fellow was, but that probably doesn’t matter so much anyway.

I am thinking about flying to China for christmas this year. My friend Terry lives and works there. Random?

I will be staying in Seattle for yet a little longer. I just finished the biggest project of my recently started professional career. A 75-page response to a state RFP. My bosses decided to keep me in Seattle for yet a little longer. Probably at least for a few more weeks. I am now at a point of my life where I get to expense clothing purchases. Someone must have caught on to my rather non-existent shirt rotation. Anyway, more time in the rainy Northwest. I am actually going to get a gym membership for the remainder. Otherwise, none of my existing clothes will fit when returning to Los Angeles. Thanks for the encouraging comments.

This will probably be my last weekend in Seattle. I am just about to finish the first phase of my project. I love this city, but I can truthfully say that finishing this project will add immense gratification to my everyday life. It has been kind of cool to be living on expense report. I get to expense all my meals (at least up to a certain price point). I still get nowhere near spending all of my daily stipend. That’s probably because I am one of the cheapest eaters out there.

Natilee and I went to the Olive Garden tonight. Usually we always wine and dine at the cheapest, most “whole in the wall” kind of place. Well, maybe not the cheapest places, but we really never go to any kind of franchise restaurant. Still, the Olive Garden is awesome. Definitely one of my favorite places, as I just simply can’t get enough of the “all you can eat” salad and breadsticks. Natilee obviously was in complete agreement.

I literally have been wearing the same four shirts for the past two weeks. It’s amazing as it still doesn’t bother me at all. Even though, I bought a pair of jeans today. $15, you just can’t beat that.

On Friday night I was trying to give away a couple of tacos to the homeless. I asked at least five homeless people if they wanted my four, fresh and wrapped tacos. All of them declined. What’s wrong with this world.

Tonight I once again learned what real freedom means. I had a pretty long day at work and felt somewhat caught up in things. Things have been going really well, yet somehow I felt like I was losing control over life. Wandering around without any particular direction.

Then I came home and went on a long run. That was all I needed. I think that’s all anyone will ever need to gain perspective. Running clears your mind, gets the right hormones flowing in your body and allows you to gather your thoughts again. And it makes you feel good about yourself. Running rocks. Go do it. Or go on a long walk. Ride your bike. Work out in the gym. Climb a wall or go on a swim. Sometimes we all feel bad about things. Exercising will turn things around. Wherever you want. And whenever you want. That’s freedom.

My good friend Chris just got hired on full-time at Google. Congratulations Chris. You deserve it more than anyone. Keep me posted on that fun life over at Google. And make that trip down to Southern California to visit me.

I have been in Seattle for the past two 1/2 weeks now. It has been quite the trip. I never expected to be able to stay for that long. It’s been great, as I have been able to spend lots of time with Natilee and see many of my old friends. In a way, it also makes me realize how nomadic my lifestyle has been these past couple of years. I moved to Seattle almost exactly a year ago. Since then, I have started my job at WONGDOODY, moved to Los Angeles, and now I am back in Seattle. Living out of a bag again. Just like I did when first moving here a year ago. Sleeping on Elisa’s (who I had never met before) floor and starting the mario blog. A year has passed since then. Fortunately, I am not sleeping on any floor anymore (for the record, I just had my mattress on Elisa’s floor.)

Still, it’s amazing. A year ago, I didn’t know anyone in Seattle. Nor did anyone know me. Now, I am back to visit my friends and Natilee, who I seem to have known for a long time. But really, it’s only been a year. For that, I consider myself to be the luckiest person in the world. It’s awesome to look forward and imagine what the next 10 years will bring along.

Things in life change much faster than one thinks. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes bad. Regardless, it’s a fast ride.