I’m good, I’m gone! Packed bare with only the essentials, my car and I set off westward without a safety net but minuscule balances on my credit cards and a little bit of savings. Somewhere outside of DFW, I could see the moon still before noon like a beacon before me leading me on a drive I had made several times this year, but this time it felt harder as I started to let go of my life in Dallas.
Heart in repair After stopping in San Diego to see Grace, I stopped in L.A. to see Nick in full Christmas spirit and feeling better despite his accident and being in the hospital and surgeries and rehab! It inspired me to continue looking forward and not dwell on the tough decisions and heartache of yesterday; to make the best of today. Nick introduced me to some awesome eats in Silverlake—the salted caramel pie in particular.
Shiver me timbers! I wanted to see my friends, Ashley and Tabitha on my way up but it didn’t work out. However, I did have time to make a brief hike off highway 1 at a butterfly reserve outside of Santa Barbara. From the bluffs I could see what I imagined to be a Peter Pan-hijacked pirate ship off in the distance, going somewhere for some adventure. I thought of Treu, the future, this crazy adventure I’m on, felt disbelief but carried on towards Monterey Bay and San Francisco to see Stacy and Suki.
Keep Calm, Travel On After returning to Salinas to relive the first time Treu and I met each other and surviving that too, I was bound for San Francisco with a brief stop to meet and see Bri and Mr. A — finally. Seeing them interact together made me think of how crazy circumstances and fateful chances can bring two destined people together. After meeting that great couple, I met more at Suki and Ryan’s Crabsgiving. One couple in particular was a couple who had recently returned from exploring South America and another couple from Houston who recently moved together to SF. They commended me on risky journey of traveling alone to a place where I know not too many people, which is not really new to me after road tripping all over America.
Thriving Even before I set foot in the city, I was delivering my resume and portfolio at creative agencies left and right. Surprisingly, the reaction to my portfolio was a lot of things like “Where have you been?!” and “How did we miss you???” I’ve been going on multiple interviews, meetings, and won some cool one-off jobs but nothing substantial yet.
Aurora My first “I’m living in Seattle” shot of the Space Needle from 99.
Tetradeca While I was working hard on getting my name out in the Seattle design scene, I finally put together a long overdue mix, arranged, mixed, and designed for. I’ve only handed it out to a few friends so far for feedback, but intend to release it when my portfolio launches. Who knows when that is but it’ll the Tetradeca Mix will be ready for downloading.
Christmas in Seattle I vacationed with my mom and sister at Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, CA, before driving back with them to Texas. It was a little rough at times with certain tempers, but I made out just fine. My grandmother did not like the quick visit on Christmas Eve, but she appreciated that I snuck in time to see her. I had a red-eye flight out on Christmas Day to which everyone I met was really kind. Ah, the human spirit at Christmastime!
Wish I Was the Moon Tonight Even with other more important things to worry about (like finding food to eat), my thoughts of Treu continued to make me sullen in the spare minutes when I wasn’t working so hard to make it in Seattle. I finally caught up with him to see how he was getting on. Turns out, fairly well, which eased my mind quite a bit.
This Is a Bittersweet Goodbye, 2012 2012 was a great year from start to finish. It was a year of listening to my inner voice(s) and being brave and taking risks. I ended the year at a gay bar in Seattle learning to dance on my own.
