at the moment » blah blah

My Life has a Reset Button

marissa — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:57:50 +0000

I spent the last week moving out of my one bedroom apartment and moving back into my room parents’ place. This is totally is not where 10 year old Marissa thought she would be at age 29.

The details of this story are not important, it’s the moral that counts.

I don’t know how else to explain it other than my life’s reset button has been pressed. It’s like restarting a computer. Or at least that is how I have chosen to look at it.

Don’t get me wrong, I have spent time reflecting on the choices I made that got me here. This didn’t happen to me, I had a hand in it. Everything that has happened in the past has gotten me to this point. At the same time, everything that has happened in the past serves as a textbook to learn from for the future. I am very thankful for my past. I won’t lie and say that feelings of woe haven’t crept in from time to time- I’m human. However, I have decided not to sit there and dwell on it. What purpose does that serve? How is that going to move me forward?

Life has given me an opportunity to start over. As I sit here, thinking about what to do next (along with unpacking the tremendous amounts of stuff I have brought back to this house – thanks mom and dad for letting me take over the basement and garage) one phrase keeps repeating in my mind:

Carpe Diem.

Life is a gift. I choose to live it as such.

Why I Workout

marissa — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 05:02:50 +0000

It’s that time again. Time for another random blog post. I really have let this thing go, but it’s nice to write a post every once in a while.

Growing up, gym class was never my thing. I wanted to be good at it. Believe me. I wanted to run like a gazelle and jump like a kangaroo, but I found other things much more exciting.

Well, let me be 100% honest here, there was a moment in my childhood when I was a gymnast. It was short-lived career. After less than a year, the coach didn’t want to have to move the equipment for me each time because I got too tall, so that was that. (I was going to be the next, Nadia. I was. Darn height.) Anyway, after that I put energy into other things like music, learning about technology and crafts. As a result, my mental and physical physique suffered and I never turned in to that Olympic athlete I planned to be.

Flash forward to 2009. I decided that time had come. This had gone on long enough. I needed to start taking care of myself. I joined a gym. I started slow. I remember making it a goal of going every other day. It was torture. Fifteen minutes on the treadmill felt like I was walking through hell. I hated it. Until I got in the car. That’s when the endorphins kicked in. I felt like I accomplished something. I made a difference in my own life. No one else had a hand in it. I did it, all by myself. Soon my goal of going every other day turned into going everyday and I was hooked.

A funny thing happened after I took working out seriously. The rest of my life got better. I gained more confidence. I smiled more. The relationships in my life were more meaningful. I was happier. Happy was a feeling I hadn’t really ever felt before then.

The great thing about working out is that no matter what else is happening in my life, I can still go to the gym and do something that positively impacts my life. I might not have my dream job, but I am the CEO of Marissa, Inc. and I am doing a damn good job at keeping her running.

Now let’s not go overboard, I’m not running marathons or anything (yet). I can barely run a 5K, but I am probably in the best shape I have been in since I flipped over the uneven bars. I recently returned from a trip to South East Asia and was amazed that I kayaked, ziplined, and hiked without any major injuries or pain. I want to work towards being able to do more of those types of things. I would love to go rock climbing or go on longer and higher hikes in other places around the world.

In the end, I workout because it makes things possible.

Facebook and Society

marissa — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 02:51:19 +0000

Every now and again I get an urge to write a paper. I know, it’s strange, one should probably out grow this habit upon graduation from college, but that hasn’t happened, so I’m just going to go with it. I should say that this is more of an essay as I am too lazy at the moment to actually do any research, but that doesn’t mean it won’t turn into something. And I’m not saying that I am the first person to think of this by any means, I just felt like writing.

I was thinking the other day – why is facebook so popular? There are a bunch of people on facebook and we are all connected – one giant game of Six Degrees of Separation. How did that happen? Why are people drawn to this social environment?

I joined facebook back when you had to have a .edu email address in order to be part of the club. Social media was growing out of it’s AOL training wheels and just staring to take off. It was a time where AIM was how you could tell where everyone was because we would update our away messages with what we were up to. Some of us had livejournals or xenga sites where we would post our thoughts with hope that someone out there was reading (not much has changed for me in that department). We had cell phones, but not smart phones. There was myspace. You remember myspace, it was a make your own website service – complete with music and sparkles – that started to connect people, but it wasn’t very easy to use. Then “Find Me on Facebook” showed up in email signatures and AIM profiles. And boom, the world was connected.

Ever since facebook lifted the .edu restriction on membership, it has been interesting to see how facebook has grown. It has been responsible for getting Betty White on SNL, raised funds for charities, allowed family members to keep in touch, started fights, got people fired, documented major events, allowed classmates to find out what happened after graduation . . . the list could go on and on. But why has it done all of this?

For me, I see facebook as the new town square. Humans are social by nature. That’s why, throughout history, cities are designed centering around a general place to hang out, get the latest news, buy goods and services, and discuss important issues. Isn’t that the function of facebook in today’s society? People hang out on facebook all day, learn about what’s going on in the world, maybe buy something a friend posted in the marketplace, and sometimes debate issues in status messages or questions. What makes this all possible is the fact that facebook makes it easy. It’s everywhere. On all of your favorite websites and brings you back to the center square.

Now, I am not saying that facebook’s impact on society is 100% awesome. It has forever redefined the word “friend”. Also, facebook gets in trouble from time to time for violating the privacy of the people using the site, but even that is like what would happen in the town square. People were overheard.

Will facebook always been this huge? I don’t know. But for now, it seems like the place to be – right in the middle of the online neighborhood.

what I learned while home sick

marissa — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 03:47:20 +0000

– 9/20/10: I thought about blogging today and I found this old post in my editor. I don’t know why I never published it because I can’t find anything inherently wrong with it. So I guess late is better than never. –

It’s been a while, so I thought I would post an update on what I’ve been up to. For most of May I’ve been sick. This is the longest I’ve been sick in a long time – probably not since those Chicken Pox days when I was kid. During this time, I learned a few things.

Netflix is the best investment I could have ever made (besides my macs and french horn). Seriously though, because of it I was able to be entertained when I couldn’t talk or had a fever and couldn’t really leave my apartment. I spent most of my time watching The IT Crowd, Better Off Ted, and random chick flicks that were made for sick days.
YouTube is awesome. (I plan on writing a larger post on this because I really do have a lot to say on the subject.) I spent some time wondering around the site and found a lot of creative people out there. Some of my favorites are gunarolla, community channel, kevjumba, worldismarble ,and truth or fail. You should check them out. For realz.
Sleep is awesome. I used to be one of those people that did not nap. Now, I am all for it. Seriously. Even today, I came home from work and took a 2.5 hour nap (I don’t see this becoming a habit, but for now I’m just going with it). It was great. I am going to now listen to my body and sleep when it tells me.
Being sick can still lead to weight loss. It’s not my favorite type of weight loss, but I’ll take it.
Don’t be afraid to use sick days. Health is really important and sometimes life moves to fast to remember that.

Recovering from this virus that turned into a sinus infection, surely will take some time. In the meantime, more ice cream sounds like a plan to me.

my six word memoir

marissa — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:20:27 +0000

I saw this story on NPR about a book of six word memoirs and decided to write my own. So here is it is:

Constantly improving on awesome. Learning everyday.

Yeah, I think that sums it up best.

What would yours be?

quoteable

marissa — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:24:58 +0000

What you accept, is what you are.

I found this online. I don’t know who said it, but I believe it to be true.

random update

marissa — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:16:24 +0000

Here’s a random post for you, because I feel like posting.

I am waking up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to go cheer one of my best friends on while she runs her first 5K. I will be documenting of course. Maybe I’ll make another video. Who knows?

I really wanted to do this too. Maybe I’ll get around to it.

Had a nice lunch with some friends today. it was nice.

Ok, sleep I must.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

vacation

marissa — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:20:19 +0000

I can’t sleep.

I tried, but can’t.

I’m in need of a vacation.

I think it is funny that I have been on a blogging vacation of sorts, only to return to talk about vacation.

I leave for Disney World on Saturday. If you know me, you know that I might have a slight obsession with Disney. It is a healthy one though. It doesn’t consume my life or anything. Just around the time when I leave to go there. A trip to Disney is like – the best thing ever. I love it. I can’t wait to go with my own family one day, but until then my parents and sister (who, yes are still my family) will have to do.

The week before vacation sucks at work. There is already so much to do, but then I have 3 extra weeks of work to do or at least put wheels into motion for those weeks. Bah!

4 more working days . . . 4 more working days . . . 4 more . . .

¡Viva Vacaciones!

ok, 2009 calm down

marissa — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:17:21 +0000

So 2009 has seen it’s share of ups and downs already. Most of it is personal and I don’t want to really get into all of it, and really it’s not that big of a deal – but it got me thinking . . . why do I always wish things will change and then, when they do, I freak out?

Yeah, I know right? I’ve decided to embrace change. What are your thoughts on change? Like it? Love it? Want some more of it?

Blog more, I will.

lessons learned

marissa — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:31:32 +0000

So I’ve been living on my own for a little over 3 months now. Overall it’s been the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time. I love the independence of being able to do my own thing, in fact there are many times I am glad no one is around at risk of being eternally embarrassed. I mean, I think my morning rock out to iTunes sessions are awesome, and I would probably not give them up if someone else was around, but I might be a little embarrassed.

There are some other times when I wish that someone else was around. Like when I make way too much food for dinner. It would be nice if someone was around to help eat my food. I know it sounds silly but I end up throwing so much food away. Also there was that time where the it was really humid and the paint sealed the door to my bedroom shut. It would have been helpful if someone was around to help open the door. In addition, when decorating my apartment at 2 am, it would be nice if someone could tell me if the picture I was hanging was level or not.

In the end, I like living by myself. Life is more interesting. Here’s to seeing what adventures lie ahead!