Just a quick note...

Saw this on a friend's Facebook page and thought it had quite a bit of feeling and meaning behind it:

Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.

Wednesday, January 27th

I can't believe it's almost February. We're 5 days away. 11 more months left in 2010. I'm sure a Loy has happened since I last posted, and since I was demanded to update (Caitlin) then I should. I've had a couple visitors up here since my last post. My awesome cousin Adam came to visit. We went to eat at a couple places that have been seen on Man vs Food. They have their own special challenges in food eating and how much can you eat in a certain amount of time. Like for example, Lucky's has a sandwich that's meat, tomato, cole slaw, and french fries, all ON the sandwich. If you can eat 3 of them in an hour or less, you get your picture framed up on their Wall of Fame. We did not try, but someday when I have $21 to spend on 3 huge sandwiches, I'm gunna try. My uncle Jim came up to see me also. We had a good time walking around cold Chicago, eating at Ed Debevic's, playing trivia at BDubs, and walking around the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond. I wish I had a lot of money to gamble, I would have!
The most exciting thing recently to happen was the Colts beating the Jets in the AFC Championship, and now getting to play in their 2nd Super Bowl in 4 years, both in Miami. The Colts are gunna beat the Saints!!
Banana Republic is still going pretty well. I'm slowly getting more hours each week, but I'm hoping to find a second job soon to make more. Bills are expensive, ya know?
I played trivia at Halsted's Bar and Grill Monday with Andrew and his 11-person trivia team :-P
I was the token straight of the group. We had a lot of fun though. We ended up winning that night. As a 13 person team should, right?
I got invited out from a co-worker to come over for a chili night this upcoming Saturday, which is really cool because I still don't know many people up here, nor have I hung out with anyone from work, so it should be fun!

Other than that, I don't really have much to update you readers on.

Until next time...

The Squeakquel, Celeb Birthdays, and Holidays

On December 23rd, Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel came out in theaters. This was the first movie I worked on as an extra out in California. Andrew and I went and saw it on opening night to see if I was visible in the scene I was in. And believe it or not, SUCCESS! Near the end of the movie at the final concert, there's a dance group then a singer. When that singer starts her song, they show her then the camera pans to the audience. In that shot, I'm right there, front row, almost dead center in a yellow polo. Seeing that was awesome. I was on the big screen. Even though I wasn't featured, I was still right there on a movie screen. That's crazy, but awesome. We saw me another time a little later, but the first shot is the better of the two. So if you want to, or were already planning on seeing it, look for me!

It's January 8th, and that means Happy Birthday Elvis! But let's not leave out Stephen Hawking and the great David Bowie. And anyone else out there who's birthday it is, a very Happy Birthday to you!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I was fortunate enough to spend my Christmas and New Year in my hometown with family and some friends. Living far away really makes you appreciate any and all support and family and friends back home. It sometimes gets hard being away from all the people you know, especially when you don't know too many people in the city/state you move to. Luckily I'm only a 3-hour drive away. Of course with all this snow now, it could end up being a longer drive.

Overdue Update

So I thought I'd do better on this blog, keeping up on it regularly and such. But obviously I've failed on that. But I'm back, so here's what I can talk about, that I can remember. These past couple days I've been super hella bored. And I know, this is Chicago and all, and there's plenty to do, but I'm low on gas and low on money, so I'm keeping myself inside the apt for those reasons. I've been re-watching The Office seasons I have on DVD. I have 1-4 and I'm currently on disc 2 of 4 on Season 3. Go me. That's pretty much the highlight of my life here currently. However, last night and today and tomorrow have been/will be fun. Last night Andrew and I ate at a chilled little place called The Chicago Diner. It's a cool vegetarian/organic/all-natural restaurant. You have to see it to understand the look of it. Just know it's a fanastic place, and it should be visited by anyone coming to Chicago. Today I went to church at the church Andrew attends, Broadway United Methodist. It's definitely different than what I'm used to at the ol' Catholic masses I attend. I did however feel very welcome at his church. After the service, we joined in what they call "Potluck" where a bunch of people bring in all kinds of food, desserts, and beverages to share. Post Potluck, we enjoyed the church's Christmas Concert. It was a very very nice concert. My roomie Andrew had a couple solos, too. It was pretty legit. As for tomorrow, I finally have my "buddy shift", aka my first shift at Banana Republic. Yay!!! Two words: IN-COME. I'm so pumped. (and yes, I know.......in-come isn't hyphenated, DUH! :)
Umm, what else to tell you all...Rachel moved out, for personal reasons. So we're down to two. We're just hoping all works out for her.
Colts, officially, are 13-0! Not to forget, they hold the NFL record for consecutive regular season wins. The record is officially 22 consecutive wins! Go Colts! Keep it up! Oh, and no, I'm not a Bears fan yet. I still don't like Jay Cutler, but I'll root for them, depending on who they're playing.

I'm not sure what else to tell you all about, except that I've looked into, and found a couple to a few different classes at Second City I'm interested in. A couple of them I didn't realize I'd be interested in until I read that they're available, so more to come on that topic...

I hopefully, with this job, will start meeting more people because I haven't really met many. I met a lot of people at Andrew's church today. I'm sorry to say I don't remember everyone's name. I have trouble with that sometimes. They say repeat back the name of the person when they introduce themselves. But sadly, I've learned, it doesn't work well for me always haha

I need to get back to The Office now. I hope everyone is enjoying their lives, especially this cold weather...boo.

Until next time...

The Windy City

Hello my faithful blog readers! I promise I'll do better at updating this thing, especially now that I'm settled into the apartment, or condo rather. Moving in was an interesting time. I rented a 16-ft Budget truck for the move which I had to drive. I've never driven anything bigger than a full-size van. Unless of course you count that boat I steered once (remember that, mom??). Anyhoo, Tony, Rachel's sister Biz, And Rachel's dad all came up to help us move our stuff in. If it wasn't for them, we'd probably STILL be moving things in, and it's been over two weeks since we moved in..haha. I especially thank Rachel's dad. There's no way we could've moved some of that stuff in without him. So the only real snag in moving our stuff in came when we tried to get my futon into my bedroom...wasn't happening. Needless to say, it ended up as our second couch and I slept in the front room for the first couple nights (felt like California all over again..having no bedroom). We got some tools gifted to us by Andrew's employer, Linda. We took apart the futon, aka my bed, and got it piece by piece put into the room.

Since moving in, I haven't explored much of Chicago. Haven't met anyone new, except our landlord and our neighbors. I'm still in that "I have to get a job first" mindset. Speaking of which, I got a phone call yesterday from one of the places I applied, and they want to set up an interview for Friday!!! Yay!!! Finally I have an opportunity at some income. I don't think I've felt this broke in a very long time, if ever. So please keep me in your prayers. I really need this job. It's at the popular store Banana Republic, which is owned by Gap, Inc. And since I worked for Gap, Inc. for 4 years (at Old Navy), I hope this gives me a better shot at getting this job, because I have the experience. If I am to get hired after Friday, I'll probably be working "Black Friday" for the oh-so-popular busiest shopping day of the year! Yikes! Actually, I won't mind that, it's just the getting up and being up early that will suck. My biggest worry is if I'm to get this job, they might want me working the Saturday after Thanksgiving (Turkey Bowl), and on Sundays (my nephew's birthday party falls on a Sunday). Ugh... We'll see I guess.

When I'm not job hunting, or running errands, or getting groceries, and Rachel isn't doing the same, and Andrew isn't working at either of his jobs, we like to play games. We play a lot of Monopoly, UNO, Phase 10, and Scattergories. Lately, Andrew has been on this rediculous winning streak. Rachel and I are determined to take him down!!

I got to see Spencer Curnutt this weekend, and for those of you who know him, he's working on a movie right now which is pretty legit. He lives up here in Chicago and after his three weeks of work, he'll be back in town, and we're going to meet up for lunch and talk things over. He's willing to 'help a brotha out' with some tips and answering questions I have, since he's been up here for awhile, and is pretty much doing what I'm wanting to do up here. So I'm very thankful for that, and that he's willing to help me.

I'm going to close this entry by sending out some thank yous:

-My parents and family for the wonderful support and help that you've given me in this new adventure of mine.
-Tony, Biz, and Mr Bates for helping us with the move.
-My sister and brother in law for the shower curtain and the tools.
-TCT for putting on a wonderful show of Children of Eden. I can't believe how awesome of a show that was, and how amazing EVERYONE was in their respective parts.
-And to anyone else I didn't specifically mention who has helped in some way, shape, or form with this new adventure of mine.

Here's my address:
3037 W. Polk St. Unit #3
Chicago, IL 60612

Please keep in touch, and keep checking back for updates.
Until next time...

MOVING SOON!

Well here I am again with ANOTHER blog. Since I moved from LA, I guess "californiabrendan.blogspot.com" doesn't really fit. So welcome to "ChicagoBrendan.blogspot.com". I will try to keep this updated as much as possible on my journey and life in Chicago.

Well for those of you who don't know already, I'm moving November 1st to Chicago with two of my good friends- Andrew Newton and Rachel Bates. We are all KCT people and have been friends for awhile.

We went up to Chicago a couple weekends ago and found 2 apartments we REALLY liked. We were second in line for one of them, the nicer of the two, because a family had looked at it twice and really liked it. So we decided on the other place. A 3-bdrm, 1-bath, full living room, full dining room, and a kitchen for $800/month. GREAT DEAL!! We got a phone call on Wednesday from the landlord of the nicer place that we were second in line for, because the family had backed out. He was wondering if we were still interested. Well we made a deal with him, and we got the nicer apartment, which is actually a condo. So for me and my condomates...that sounds really weird...we're super excited!! We're headed up there Tuesday night to move SOME stuff in, but the bulk of it will be moved in Sunday morning. Tuesday will be mostly used to clean the place. But it's only 3 years old, new everything, including windows and cabinets and countertops. It's such an awesome place. When I go up there Tuesday, I'll take pictures and post some here.

Until next time...