Life moves forward

So I'm getting married.  I am beyond excited which is kind of ridiculous.  I was always the girl who said, "I'm never getting married and I'm never having kids."  And now I'm almost the very first of my friends to take the leap.  

Work has been wonderful.  After a stint story producing, I'm back at my company in development.  So much more work satisfaction and creativity...

Yes We Can!

Some choice quotes from "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama:

Concerning interpreting the constitution:
(The Constitution) won’t tell us whether abortion is good or bad, a decision for a woman to make or a decision for a legislature. Nor will it tell us whether school prayer is better than no prayer at all.

What the framework of our Constitution can do is organize the way by which we argue about our future.

Taxing the most wealthy percent of the country:
At a certain point one has enough, that you can derive as much pleasure from a Picasso hanging in a museum as from one that’s hanging in your den, that you can get an awfully good meal in a restaurant for less than twenty dollars, and that once your drapes cost more than the average American’s yearly salary, then you can afford pay a bit more in taxes.

More than anything, it is the sense – that despite great differences in wealth, we rise and fall together – that we can’t afford to lose. As the change of pace accelerates, with some rising and many falling, that sense of common kinship becomes harder to maintain.

The separation of church and state:
What our deliberative, pluralistic democracy does demand is that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals must be subject to argument and amenable to reason.

Race in America:
After all, spending one’s days refuting stereotypes can be wearying business. It’s the added weight that many minorities, especially African Americans, so often describe in their daily round – the feeling that as a group we have no store of goodwill in America’s accounts, that as individuals we must prove ourselves anew each day, that we will rarely get the benefit of the doubt and will have little margin for error.

On government-funded programs:
Americans are willing to compete with the world. We work harder than the people of any other wealthy nation. We are willing to tolerate more economic instability and are willing to take more personal risks to get ahead. But we can only compete if our government makes the investments that give us a fighting chance – and if we know that our families have some net beneath which they cannot fall.

America's dependency on oil:
A nation that can’t control its energy sources can’t control its future.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/AllyWeinberg

Life lately...

I've gotten a new job which has been challenging and wonderful in a variety of ways. It's great to be out of my comfort zone, but terrifying. I'm actually getting to write creatively (yes, for a reality-type show). And I've gotten to sit with the editor and collaborate which has been excellent.

Today is lazy day. Jon laid down the lazy day law a few months ago and I love it. On Sundays we do our own thing (Jon plays computer games) and it's completely acceptable to not be productive in the slightest. While I sometimes venture out, it's more likely that I am reading or watching a marathon of Law & Order. There's not much on earth better than a little L & O on a Sunday afternoon.

Let's talk briefly about health insurance. I'm currently taking an anti-anxiety medication which has been amazing. I'm not one for medicating the world (in fact, I think it's too loosely prescribed). But it's made the difference in my life ten-fold. I just feel lighter and it hasn't given me the side effects you hear about. However, it is making it difficult to get health insurance. I hate the world. Vote Democrat 2008!

We got a wii. Talk about life changing. Sure, the anti-anxiety medication is great but it doesn't beat a wii. Jon and I spend a lot of time doing tennis. I really want to get the wii fit. I've never been into video games, I think I'm reliving my youth in some way.

Tonks is the greatest cat ever.

That's all for now.

We got the apartment!

Jon and I signed a lease together earlier tonight. We get the keys on Friday. We're moving in together. For real.

I'm so excited! I can't wait to be annoyed at all the quirks I didn't realize he had. I mean that in the best way.

She's a big girl now...

Life is speeding up...

So, barring any crazy happenings, I'm pretty sure Jon and I have found an apartment. After a very stressful day that involved one screaming session in the car and the realization that hunger and traffic lead to fights...we survived and will hopefully have an apartment together by next Friday. It's a lovely one bedroom in a small complex/courtyard thing on Fountain. We have a weird storage room that we love, hardwood floors, tons of storage, and a cute yellow-tiled kitchen. I really hope it's ours.

So, yeah. Life seems to speeding up. Moving in with my boyfriend (we've decided we want to be cryogenically frozen together). I bought a piece of art for his 30th birthday recently. We're raising a cat. We're planning to buy a house. I bought a car in September (and had my first accident -- really minor -- totally my fault). A 2008. I negotiated at my job. Now I'm approaching a turning point with my career (is security more valuable to me than pursuing something new?). Oh and I've shadowed my field producer, written episodes and segments, and generally discovered what I like and don't like and what I want someday (a story position...or you know, to be a supervising producer).

I've given up fancy coffees. After a lot of receipts I realized that I was a) poorer than I had been in years and b) spending way too much money at Starbucks.

I've been reading a trashy young adult series lately. And then I read an amazing British novel where the main character is a sixteen year old dying of cancer. She makes a list of everything she wants to do before she dies and as readers we follow her adventures. Its made me interested in writing a young adult novel. Just for fun -- as an exercise.

So, life is speeding up but it isn't scary. It's just fascinating. I feel ready but also a bit like I'm playing pretend. When do we start feeling like grown-ups? Or does it just happen one day? Out of nowhere? You wake up and you are one? Maybe without realizing it?

First-time jitters

So here goes...I too am starting a blog.

I have so much I want to mention...but of course it's almost midnight and so I think I'll make a list of future topics...

How do you start a non-profit?

The democratic candidates

The benefits of therapy

Overpopulation. How will life be different when the emphasis is not on procreating?

Zombies

Back with more soon...just wanted to get a few notes in there.