Now, this is good

There is major change afoot in my life, and I really, really like it.

Job: In the near future, I will start my job with the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There is still a lot of chatter going about concerning the agency; from its structure to its regulatory powers. I like the disorganized newness of it all. I know for sure that I will be in D.C. for four weeks training for me new position. I’ll also be travelling more, but primarily to major metropolitan areas (San Francisco? NYC? I hope!) instead of the boonies. Good, good and good.

Apartment: I’m moving from Boystown to Bucktown. I like my neighborhood now, but it seems possible that my new one will be even better. I’m also going to have a roommate. She is really wonderful, and living together will be both crazy fun and economically savvy

When you least expect it..

the help you so desperately needs comes to you. Just like that.

Ever since I moved to Chicago proper in September 2009, I've wished to make real connections with folks; to expand my social circle with like-minded people. I'm excited to say that I'm making real progress with this. Last night I laughed and listened to great music with two new friends.

One of my new friends and I resolved to start making some moves in our professional lives. I've been majorly stagnating on getting the hell out of my current job. In short, I want to love what I do. She is looking to expand her professional life by attending graduate school overseas (awesome, no??). With those goals in mind, this song by Alex Winston is our motivation:

I won't take my medicine....don't settle for less, no.

ROUGH

This day has become unexpectedly difficult. Lots of unease and nervousness about my mother's health. I'm not especially religious, but I said some prayers for my dear Mama tonight. When the danger is over, her and I will need to talk about ways to reduce the stress in her life, and how I can help to that end. The beauty is my optimism sort of feeds my feeling that things will get better. Changes are afoot hopefully for her, and definitely for me.

In which I decide to renew my blog..

I have decided that I want to write more, and to that end, I've decided to start blogging regularly. I'll be talking feminism, healthy living, sports, politics, books, balancing being happily single while dating, making friends in a new city, and various other random topics that interest me. Real original, huh? Ah,well...onward!

Even though resolutions are passe, I fucking love them. Historically, I've had pretty good luck with resolutions in that I actually stick to some of them long-term. So, I'm going to document my four planned resolutions for 2011 over the next few days. First up:

Take time to Read!

I love to read, I really do. However, I spend far too much time in front of my computer and end up wasting what could have been primo reading time playing Bejeweled Blitz, and cyber stalking Don Cheadle. I'm taking a cue from Terri (a very exact cue because I'm coping most of her challenges), and embarking on four reading challenges during 2011.

I'm especially excited about Terri's challenge -The Quirky Brown Reading Challenge. I haven't decided which books I'm going to tackle, but I'm pledging to the Level IV commitment of five or more books.

I'm guilty of not being very familiar with South Asian writers. I need to fix that posthaste. I plan to read:

-"Interpreter of Maladies" - Jhumpa Lahiri

-"The Pleasure Seekers" - Tishani Doshi
-"Shalimar the Clown" - Salman Rushdie

Check out this challenge here.

Ah, a challenge after my own heart! No guidelines, just a promise to read at least one book about GLBT topics and/or by GLBT authors. Most likely, the first book for this challenge will be, "The Greatest Taboo: Homosexuality in the Black Communities."

Finally, the Take A Chance Challenge seems like good random fun. There a ten ways to "take a chance" on books, but I'm aiming to complete just five books using these methods.

So, there it is. I'll do my best to give updates on what I've read throughout the year. I'm even giving some thought to actually reviewing a (very) few of these books, but I absolutely make no promises.

Amel Larrieux is talking directly to me..