First Post

Well, I am not going to mince words- I said I was never going to do this.

One of those 'all about me' blogs that offers nothing substantive and focuses solely on the boring personal life of the reader. Ugh. Well, hopefully, I still won't- I'd like to hope I'll still have a little something substantive to offer. But circumstances have changed. I've suddenly found myself resonating well with reruns of Star Trek: Voyager; flung out across far distances, out of contact with everything I know familiarly as 'home,' forced to make it on my own in a strange place with naught but my wits and my principles... okay, well not quite yet. Actually, for the moment, I am staying with relatives in rather extravagant comfort. Nonetheless, I am now a stranger in a strange land, and for all those back home that have been asking for updates, this is intended to be the place.
Of course, I must start by pointing out to you my three other great web endeavors:
1. My website.
http://www.nolinecinemas.com
This website is the home base for all of my movies (a few are yet waiting to be uploaded, but most are here), my work resources, and pretty much any video projects on the web I have are here.

2. My blog.
http://nolinecinemas.blog.com
This is the 'God Nerd Blog,' a web blog devoted to everything this and similar posts aren't... edifying (hopefully) content based on some of my musings and (hopeful) insights- something focused on the readers, not the writer.

3. My Myspace page.
http://www.myspace.com/andrewgilbetson/
This is my Myspace page- it also has a running blog, updates on my current status, etc. and every now and then, a chance to express myself.

I direct you to these sites for two reasons: One, because I like to shamelessly self-promote, and these are also good ways to find out about me (a little more of 'about me in general' than 'about me currently'), and Two, because... they appear to be dead. They aren't, of course- I am still on Myspace at the moment, and the other two are not forgotten, just un-updated. They serve as a warning- at the moment, I am job-searching and have my time fairly empty. Once I get a job, and especially once I move out on my own, it is entirely possible that activity on this blog will drop off, just as it did/does on those three every time things get busy. Just a warning.
It doesn't help that I have currently been bumped from the glorious realm of Cable Internet to a 56K connection that usually connects at 28K and I can only access for about half an hour a day... so, my mornings at the local public library with it's DSL access are generally my only net time. So again, this stint on the web may be short-lived. Not to sound pessimistic. But there is a history told in those three links above... and so, I am just being REALISTIC.


So, as to my first update on this insanity that is my life:
The short version is, I embarked on a four-day cross-country drive with my dad, followed by a nine-day stay with friends, and just now, on Monday the 6th of August, really 'entered' what constitutes my life at present. In this case, I am staying with my Aunt and Uncle and their two small boys in Malvern, PA. On Saturday mornings, I'll make the hour drive down to Aura, NJ, to stay with friends, and return to PA on Monday mornings. During the weekdays, I am generally job searching in the morning, getting whatever misc. errands I may have to do as I settle in done in the afternoons, and spending time with my young cousins (ages 2 and 4) and a little bit to myself in the evenings.
Of course, this little routine is only temporary. Once I actually FIND a job, I am certain the routine will change. It will change even further within three months, by which time I must move out on my own... which is all the more incentive to get a job QUICKLY to both be saving up and getting the cash flow needed for suddenly paying for all of my food, apartment, etc. A slightly scary thought considering how slow things have been moving on the job front... but a large part of that is due to the time warp I seem to be experiencing, considering I have only been at things for three days.
A combination of factors, especially the general lack of anything I can do to speed along the job search process, the general lack of anything I can do otherwise throughout the day, and the lack of social contact (as, during the weekdays with both aunt and uncle working and the boys in school, I am the only one home), is simply causing every day to seem like a large, empty eternity! It is long, slow waiting until the next weekend, and only the certain knowledge that I am going to see my friends weekly and I have only seen them once keeps my brain from convincing me that far more time has past than it actually has.
Other than that (loneliness, lack of success on the job front, and long, empty days) everything is going fairly well. My only other aggravation at present is the roads- I have had somewhere to go of a 45-minute or longer commute pretty much every day I have been here, and I do NOT like it. The road marking system is somewhat confusing, the traffic bad, the roads all feel rather narrow and claustrophobic, and the builders of every major city I've been to (Philadelphia, Wilmington, etc.) seem obsessed with the bane of all drivers, everywhere: the one-way street. The road-builders must have been, I believe, Sadducees- very much opposed to the idea of redemption, resurrection, or a second chance- for if one makes a wrong turn in any of these cities, the roads seem excellently designed to funnel them farther and farther from any hope of turning around or getting back to where they were- what a nightmare! I've been in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, and I must say, I thoroughly dislike the former two! And while I very much love the climate, conditions, and atmosphere of New Jersey, as well as several of the people there, it is also reputed to have an EXTREMELY high cost of living, so it is sadly likely to be the one place I CAN'T move out to once I do.
The weather has been somewhat vexing, hot and humid to extremes that I am extremely un-used to from Washington state. For any reading this that were on the Costa Rica missions trip, remember Manuel Antonio? Walking out of the front door of the air-conditioned apartments and feeling like you just stepped into a hot tub? Yeah, like that. Actually, between climate and the trees we saw driving into Pennsylvania, I begin to wonder if I only found Costa Rica so unique only because I was from Washington- there are parts of PA during the summer that almost seem similar. But of course, nowhere on the East Coast can you find the incredibly beautiful plant life, the amazing abundant wildlife, or the friendly culture that made Costa Rica so incredible- don't worry... similar as a few of the trees may be, the beauty of Costa Rica's vistas is in no danger of competition from Pennsylvania any time soon.
Although, when speaking of the wildlife, there is certainly a far greater variety here than there ever was in Washington- most especially the insect life! There are dozens more species than we ever had in Washington... I find a number of things- especially the lighting bugs and the lightning storms- that the natives take for granted to be both beautiful and fascinating. Though again, this primarily happens in New Jersey... if only it were cheaper to live there!

Well, this was just sort of a hodge-podge of initial impressions- future entries will probably be much shorter, dealing mostly with events instead of surroundings. I will do my best to keep things updated! Until then, I shall sign off...


-Andrew Gilbertson