Getting fired was probably the best thing to ever happen to me. I'd been working diligently for a couple weeks to get things in order because the unemployment offices hooked me up with CareerLink. It was there I was shown the light. Free money for schooling. $8,000 to be exact. After jumping through a few hoops I got everything straightened out.... and beginning this Tuesday, April 5th, .... I will begin taking a graphic and web design course learning all the things I need to be certified in to get a career in that field. Finally, I would be making decent money and doing something I believe I will enjoy much more than any retail or office job. The course runs into July and hopefully they will be able to place me in a job soon thereafter. I'm finally going back to school.

Having all this time to myself has afforded me a lot of time to contemplate my life and become more focused on the paths I lay before me. I looked around me and made a conscious effort to put the pieces together. I auditioned for a band about a month ago. I was just officially offered the position today. Tentatively called Red Sky, we hope to record a 2 song demo in the near future and begin working on new songs so we can be playing gigs come summer/fall. I've wanted to be in a band again for so long. I missed it. Now, I'm doing it.

I bought an obnoxiously huge couch and coffee table. It's nice to have livingroom furniture again. Tomorrow I'm going to look at plasma TV's. Soon, I'll have a spectacular entertainment center all set up and that's a nice feeling. The house is still crumbling beneath my feet (literally) but hopefully that will be patched up soon.

I have the next round of the karaoke contest May 6th, as you know. I'm not expecting to win, but with the way my luck has been... I just might. Call me a cynical optimist.

I've met a few great people recently. New friends, new things, old friends, old things, and I think I'll be able to serve my purpose in their lives sufficiently.

I'm a little scared, though. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm hit by a bus tomorrow. You know how it goes. But I think I'm not going to think about that anymore. It's the purely negative thinking that just might allow the darkness to seep in quietly through your pores and tear you down from the inside out. Don't get me wrong, I still live in the real world. But this time I'm going to try to allow myself the pleasure of being pleasured by life as it stands.