Chroincle Project - Days 10, 11, & 12

Sorry for the delay. With traveling back home, running errands, being in meetings, sending out applications, and one fun night of celebrations I might have been a bit sidetracked. But I didn't forget about you! In fact, I have the last three days of posts right here...

Day 10 - Was on the road today. I stopped by in Kingsville to drop of a game KC had left at my family's house, and then spent a short while with my older brother Daniel at his new loft in Corpus Christi. He showed me around the area, and then showed my the awesome view from his building's roof.

He lives right off the bay, and the marina is just beautiful. After that I drove back to Denton, and arrive just before midnight -- I got to see all four of my brothers in the same day. Despite 10 hours of driving, it was a good day.

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Day 11 - I had a busy day, from start to finish. Toward the "winding down" portion of the night, Derek and I got our long-awaited Christmas presents from our parents (UPS got lost en route to the apartment last week).

I got some nice business casual clothes for the job hunt (and eventual find) and a copy of Barney Stinson's newest book "Bro on the Go!" It came just in time, as How I Met Your Mother had its 100th episode that night, so we suited up for the occasion.

Admittedly, this picture was Photoshopped, but I felt like anything else took away from the true meaning of the image-- awesomeness.

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Day 12 - Another day of errands, and by the time we were done I realized just how much I had driven over the past month (reads: 2,590.0 miles since December 15). I spend a lot of time moving back and forth between several points, and I am very glad my car gets 30 mpg.

At least now Derek has a nice lay of the land here in Denton, so when his car situation gets worked out he'll be able to navigate without me around.

Chronicle Project - Day 9

Day 9 - The Dallas Cowboys are playing the Philadelphia Eagles for the first round of NFL playoffs, so my brothers and I were watching the game. Basically an uneventful day spent looking at apartment prices, and trying to figure out how I am going to do anything by the end of the month. At least now I started calling in the cavalry...

For now I'll just enjoy the game, and hope the 'boys can make it to the next round. Afterall, even if I move, I will always be a Cowboys fan...unless they move to Tennessee *cough*OILERS*cough*

Chronicle Project - Day 8

Day 8 - You know how in grade school they taught you that birds fly south for the winter? Well, it's true. We get a ton of birds in our area, and these little honkers were hanging out on our roof this morning. According to my grandparents, they've had upwards of 100 ducks land in or yards before.

It was around 35 degrees here today; I was walking around in just a sweater and jeans, helping secure a nice warm house for our dogs outside in case it rains overnight.

It's supposed to hit freezing tonight; I can't imagine what it's like up at my apartment. Hope Derek's staying warm up at my apartment this weekend.

Chronicle Project - Day 7

Day 7 - I was all packed up again, ready to drive back to Denton since my car was fixed, but a friend informed me that some roads had already been iced over. So, I stayed home and decided that instead of just a picture (which is of my boring luggage) I would try posting an audio clip now.






One week down, and my experiment has been successful! Let's hope the weekend is kind to me, and the roads have cleared up by Sunday. It's going to be a long week.

Chronicle Project - Day 6

Day 6 -Finally got to spend some time with my friend Tanya, who has been buried under a pile of responsibility known as "New Motherhood" for a little while now. Her son's name is Maverick Swayze, and yes I have already made my fair share of jokes at the name. She says her next son would be named Goose, but I think that's just cruel!

We watched the People's Choice Awards, talked about old times, caught up on new developments, and I got to play with Mav a little. Then coffee, more chit chat, and I headed home. Considering I got my car back this morning, I imagine this is my last night in town this week; at least I made it a good one.


Day six is in the books, and I am almost at a straight week of this new project. I'm quite happy with how it's turning out. I can only hope to keep it up as the year goes on.

Chronicle Project - Day 5

Day 5 - I had plans to see a good friend of mine today, but they got canceled at the last minute. So I decided to keep catching up on Lost and indulge in a nice cup of hot cocoa. Boring day, but it'll do for now...

Chronicle Project - Day 4

Day 4 - I fell asleep at 3:00 a.m. and woke up at 7:00 a.m. for the first time in a long while. I had to deal with the car problems, and I had made a deal with myself to start long distance running again -- Dario made sure this happened today as planned.

So I told myself, "Take the bad with the good." Even though I was in pain, tired, and stuck in the Rio Grande Valley for a little while longer, it offered me a chance to see some old friends. I grabbed coffee with Tiffany and Julio, and we talked about how some people our age (specifically old classmates) are moving their lives rather quickly. Sometimes it's a gift, and sometimes it's a curse...

• The friend with the children that can't spare a minute to grab a bite to eat.
• The friend in debt because of the divorce they are going through.
• The friend happily married to their HS sweetheart for years now.
• The friend planning a wedding on a loan because they're paying tuition too.
• The friend headstrong in a fruitful career but without prospects for love.
• The friend with a child, a great job, and a loving household to come home to already.

But on the other hand are those of us outside the circle of adulthood, still grasping to what youth we have left in the half a decade or so before we all turn 30. And then the people in our lives who might never have had any options. The picture is equally as imbalanced...

• The friend still mooching off family / friends / strangers to get by.
• The friend with a degree in a good field, but still can't find work.
• The friend partying every night, but isn't any closer to graduating or finding work.
• The friend moving from place to place trying to find work.
• The friend engaged, but waiting to make wedding plans until financially stable.
• Or what's worse, the friends that passed away along the way.

But, alas it was tough finding anything wrong in our own lives while we had friends, laughter, and a little caffeine. Thankfully, our hometown got a Starbucks since we all graduated, so we could have all three. I still miss Art 6 and Jupiter House though...

Chronicle Project - Day 3

Day 3 - Today was fairly uneventful. Since my car broke down yesterday, I had to make it back to my family's home. Took a couple of hours, but I made it and then griped for about an hour about needing to get my car repaired. Still, it gives me another few days with my family, and my gorgeous (albeit often stupid) dog, Ditch!

He's a few years old now, but I still refer to him as 'my puppy' when I talk about him. He's the latest in a long line of family dogs with a name that starts with "D" -- just like my brothers and I. We found him when he was ditched on the side of the road one day while I was down for summer vacation; he looked malnourished and only about a month old. I thought -- given the circumstances of his freedom from his obviously horrible previous home -- that his name should be Ditch.

He's a mutt, but I love him because I know I am too. But, I know that if I ever want to take him with me, someday I need to own a backyard because he's too big and hyper to be an inside dog.

Chronicle Project - Day 2

Day 2 - Today I was driving back to my apartment in Denton from my Family's home in Harlingen. It's about a 10 hour drive, and during the first hour you have to pass a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (formerly Border Patrol) checkpoint. I have passed through checkpoints more times than I can count, and they become a kind of familiar haven for me.

However this time around, I ran into a bit of an issue with my car after leaving the checkpoint. My transmission busted and dropped to first gear. I slowly made my way to the safety of my best friend's apartment in Kingsville, and I will spend the night here until I can tow back tomorrow. The irony is I just got my car inspected, but state inspections don't include transmission checks.



A long day to not accomplish much of anything. Nought-Ten is already proving to be a tedious year for me. We'll see how tomorrow goes, but at least I'm making good on my project so far.

Project 365

For the sake of starting fresh this new year and decade, I'm going to borrow a page from something I read about last year: Project 365. It is a movement inspired by a Jamie Livingston's life project called "Photo of the Day."

But, since I have always been an advocate of multimedia convergence journalism, therefor I am going to to put my own twist on it. So today -- January 1, 2010 -- will be day one of what I will call The Chronicle Project. I always have either a phone, camera, or recorder with me; I am investing in webspace to build my own website; and I think the idea of only taking a picture per day is a little too simplistic (though I don't mean to belittle the amazing work that Livingston did).


So here's the plan: I will post either a picture, a video, an audio recording, or some other form of multimedia per day for an entire year. Each will include at least a caption, but some might include a story too (in the case that I find a reporting job).

• Sometimes it won't be posted right away (like if I'm on the road).
• Sometimes it will only be a photo with a caption.
• Occasionally I may ramble on if something big happens.

But the gist of it is, I want to apply myself daily in a way that would allow me to create a chronicle of my life through this -- arguably the most important year of my life to date. So I start today with this picture of my family's Christmas Tree...


Day 1 - In the beginning of the year 2000, my family moved to Harlingen, Texas -- the city I was born in. It was a 14 hour drive from where I had used to live. There's not a lot to do there, and so on break like this when I visit my family it's always kind of a culture calm. I visit old friends, family, and occasionally places in an attempt to reminisce; this includes stories around the tree. This year, my younger brothers were out of town, my parents now live in Washington D.C., and Christmas morning was a very brief event. Soon, I intend to move out of Texas and it might mean a lack of chances to visit during the holidays. So, in order to someday remember what it was like to have a family Christmas tree, I wanted to take this photo before they took it down.