Half and Half

Today marks the midway point of my time in San Francisco. The event is somewhat real in that very recently I began plans for my departure. There's a show I'm committed to in August that I had planed for, and also a new show that has appeared on the radar. A great director and one of my favorite people may be moving on from her current position, and she is directing King Lear, as many directors do in their outgoing season. So there's a very good chance I'll be working on that (the fact that she choose to do the show at my suggestion, before she knew she was retiring, is in interesting fate-induced twist).

So it came time to firm up those summer plans a bit. Additionally, this past week I finally talked to my advisor to talk about what I wanted to do in my final year and registered for classes.

I've come to feel at home in this city much faster than in Pittsburgh, or even Syracuse. There's a vibe here that I find really exciting. Last weekend I discovered that I could get around downtown without the aide of my iPhone anymore. This felt pretty cool. I also went to wine country with my buddy Josh, Sonoma to be exact, literally by getting on the 101 North and finding it via road signs. Going from vineyard to vineyard and just talking about both the wines and life made for what can only be described as a perfect day.

Not all the days are perfect though. There are days here and there when I get kind of bored and lonely. This normally happens on days when things are quiet at work, and I can't find anything to do with myself when I get home, or sometimes when I really want to do something specific like see a particular movie or go to a theme park for the day and can't find anyone to go with. The other night I saw this amazing Butoh-inspired (a form of Japanese dance) work downtown and it was disapointing to not debate and analyze it with a close friend.

The feeling always passes and its doesn't ruin being out here, far from it. I've come to think of them as my "Splash Mountain" days-- when I wonder if whether striving so hard to advance at what I do is worth continually being farther from home. But I know that if I were still in Pittsburgh sitting in certain classes right now I would be miserable. So I do my best to appreciate how far I've come and the experience life has granted me being here. It really is amazingly beautiful country.

I don't know how many was there is to say it, but work is great. I really do enjoy doing this type of lighting. Almost every week brings with it some new experience, some small advancement in my abilities. I did my first architectural lighting focus this week, in a building in downtown SF-- its a product showroom for expensive medial devices that has a very theatricalized feel.

I may not be the designer, but I'm making real contributions to some really cool and pretty major projects all over the globe.

There's much to look forward to, and I think the next half of the adventure will go by very quickly. I'm going to Vegas for several days for a wedding where I get to hang out with some really, really fun friends. About a month after that my parents are visiting for a week-- the hotel rooms in Napa have already been booked (those of you on my drunk dial list be warned). I also have a few visits from friends penciled in there too, and I really look forward to showing off my new city.

So though I won't say that the last 3 months flew by, unlike CMU, its not that feeling of things seeming like they happened ages ago without the satisfaction of having accomplished something.

So here's to 3 more months sitting 5 minutes away from the Golden Gate Bridge. After that its only another month until my last year of school ever. And maybe on one of those days in there I'll finally figure out how to completely relax and enjoy the present without stressing about the future... it gets a little closer all the time.