My life has taken an unexpected turn lately. Sometimes the Universe just won't leave you alone...
But first, a very small update on what's going on with my projects: A whole lot of customer service correspondence and research. That's all really. I wish I had more but it's pretty much just me talking back and forth with different manufacturers. It's actually been a little frustrating. Because it seems like every time I'm just about set to go with a company, I find out that they do not do a certain thing that I'd like (for example relabeling, printing on the sleeve caps, large printing area, sublimation, etc.). At this point, POD/drop-shipping is not looking like an option for me if I want my product to be exactly the way I want it. At the same time, from a business standpoint the risk vs. potential profitability for doing mass orders and doing all the shipping myself is a little daunting. Not to mention, my whole house (or maybe just the garage but still...) would become a warehouse haha.
But yeah, as per the title of this blog entry, things have been unexpectedly more "social" lately. It's weird because I was planning on shutting myself in for awhile and just working nonstop on the launch and also I started the sketches for my collection a couple of weeks ago. However, I guess the world just wants me out and about a bit for the next few weeks.
For one thing, my main laptop is in repairs unfortunately and I don't like working on this one because it's too slow. So that hinders my work a bit.
Also, after nearly two years of hibernation I am finally back on facebook. Although, I did come back a couple of times in between for group projects at school. Originally, I got back on to contact some of my childhood friends because for my birthday this year I'm planning on having a reunion with some of the guys I've known since I was really little. I was going to deactivate again after letting them know but I was like 'What's the point of getting back in touch if I'm just gonna lose touch with people again?' So I'm keeping it up and so far it's not as bad as I remember. Plus I added my coworkers and some people I met while I didn't have FB and so far it's been fun sharing random stuff with each other and catching up.
Don't be fooled by his size, my dad is the T-9000.
4th of July was surprisingly fun. Normally I just watch fireworks in the city with one of my coworkers or something but this year I did something a little different. We weren't able to celebrate Father's Day this year due to our schedules so me and my sister made it up to my dad on 4th of July. Took him to see the new Terminator movie in IMAX 3D. Then went back and had BBQ and whatnot. Even though I had to get up super early and work it was a pretty fun day.
The other day, I ran into one of my old friends on the street and it was really good reconnecting. I thought he had moved out of state permanently but it turns out he was just taking a prolonged break from SF and subletting his apartment. So now that he's back in town I have a wingman again haha and it'll be cool going out and drinking and stuff like we used to. Also, he reminded me that one of our other old friends is still around so I texted that guy and we were catching up too and I had forgotten just how funny that guy was.
That same day I started getting some messages on some apps I've been using for meeting new people hahahaha.... I've never tried meeting people like that before, but it's been fun so far even though nothing serious has come of it.
My other homeboy is coming back from the Philippines soon too, so all in all I think there's a lot of catching up coming up!
I changed departments at work recently and so far it's been great. Maybe right now it's just the honeymoon period but I am going to enjoy the moment while it lasts. It's refreshing being in a new place, around new people. Also, surprisingly I feel better "humbling" myself again. I had gotten really cocky in my old place because successive managers and peers had heaped tons of praise on me and I let it get to my head. I knew I was a good worker but I really started to let it feed my ego. Now that I'm in a place where I know nothing I have to be humble again so I can learn and so that people will be willing to help me out :)
I got a new tattoo a few days ago. I'm not gonna reveal it until it's fully healed because I don't want people to see "unfinished" work and badmouth the artist. Funny enough, I'm not usually the type to talk much when I go to a barber or something like that but I feel like I had a real good conversation with my tattoo artist. It was mostly chit chat about random stuff at first but later on I found out that we both have had experience dealing with having someone close to us having a particular illness. He is currently going through it and I went through it in the past. I won't mention the details since it's personal but I don't meet a lot of people who know what it's like firsthand dealing with that illness so it was good connecting with someone on that level. And I already know the tattoo is gonna look completely badass once it's finished healing :D Plus, he touched up my old tattoo that was fading a little.
Shifting gears here, I wanted to talk about something that's been on my mind. I ran into some articles that got me thinking about a certain topic. Here's one of them:
Reading about stuff like that got me reflecting on my own experiences and observations. For example, I remember back in school I had a friend who would find something wrong with any girl that I liked. Why? I have no idea. I think whether consciously or subconsciously sometimes our friends are possessive of us and worried that we'll stop spending time with them if we get attached to someone else.
Or they have been going through a dry spell and they get jealous that they don't have any such thing going on in their own lives. On that note, they might even be in a relationship themselves but jealous that you are single and able to "look around" and have fun.
And in some cases, some of your friends could be secretly (or not-so-secretly) attracted to you. But if they can't have you, they don't want anyone else to have you either! For example, I had a classmate in college whose entire inner circle was a bunch of clingy dudes. One time, I went out to eat with her and a couple of these guys and she was lamenting about the state of her love life. And I thought to myself, as long as she is surrounded by these guys there is no chance for her. Because they all want her for themselves they will sabotage any potential boyfriend, date, lover, friend-with-benefits, crush, whatever...
It's not just in a love/romantic context either. Similar things happen even just when it comes to friendships and it's sad really. Both in high school and in college I juggled a lot of different cliques and I think at the end of the day, I'd rather just "get along" with the majority of people than have to sacrifice people just to fully "belong" in one group.
Sometimes our friends are just trying to be well-meaning supporters but unintentionally sabotage us. Something like that happened to me recently actually. A friend of mine fed me what turned out to be some inaccurate information about someone that could have potentially been a strong connection for me. And while I appreciate him trying to be "supportive," after that incident I'm not sure if that other person even wants to talk to me anymore.
Why I'm blabbing on about this stuff is because I've come to realize recently that I should be more selective about who or what I really listen to. Take it all with a grain of salt and judge by actions and my own observations. Like the incident above, sometimes innocent words can cause a lot of misunderstanding.
On a final note, because of all this realization I've been making an effort to stop being as proactive about my friendships and relations and try to just be more "receptive." By that I mean, not initiate as much and just kinda sit back a little more. Let people come to me or at least give me strong and clear signals before I initiate anything. Partly, it's also to help me be able to quietly observe and figure out who are my real friends, who are my potential friends, acquaintances, and who are the people that have may something against me.
Well enough of this! Back to the hustle and grind :D
