I opened my Xanga account ten whole years ago. Ten years ago, I was a sophomore in high school. I had not yet made a whole lot of friends at my high school, but the Finno-Swede at a high school across town was one of my closest friends and some of my best friends lived in Denver and Ft. Collins. I was still deeply interested in journalism, enjoyed every chance possible to write, and was the first (and eventually the last) editor-in-chief of my high school paper. I had my first rough year that year. I'd never really had a rough year -- I mean, I'd never really had an easy year, what kid does? -- but it was the first time I'd dealt with things that were truly disappointing or hurtful. Some of those things were social situations. Some of those things were just, well, life. Others were things that I learned benefited me when I got older. Since then, I've learned how to drive. I've been driving for over nine years now and prefer a stick shift. Those things seem very strange when you're 15 -- to know that in ten years you will have been an experience driver (and an alive one at that!). Since then, I've graduated high school (with a lower GPA than I was happy with), graduated college (with a FAR lower GPA than I was happy with), and become gainfully employed (at a WAY better company than I ever though I'd be with). Sometimes things work out kinda funny that way. I live in California now. That's super-strange to me. I never thought I'd live in California. I really only had visited the LA area, didn't like it much, and vowed to not become a Californian; being raised in Colorado, we're kind of taught to dislike Californians because they are supposedly bad drivers and also drive up the cost of homes. Well, it's not really untrue, but it's not a reason to hate Californians. Dislike, maybe, but not hate. Anyways, I'm in San Diego, and I think that San Diego is quite different from the rest of California. I truly love it here. Oh, and I moved here for a change but mostly for someone. Now that was stupid. I call it "The Smartest Dumb Thing I've Ever Done," in part because he wasn't the only reason I moved, but mostly because this was a great place to go to to get dumped. A few months after he dumped me, I met someone I truly fell in love with. Now that one didn't work out, either, and I am still learning to live with it. I know that every time I've met someone and fallen for them, I have said that it is stronger than the one before. That's true in every case. I don't consider it a faulty thing at all; I consider it learning from the last one and getting to know myself (and others) well enough to move forward in finding better relationships. I can definitely say that I fell in love with the last one -- I know that I won't really care for someone else until that someone else is far, far better and sets a new bar. Oh, and Xanga was my gateway into what they now call social media. And social media is a part of my job. Who knew we could be employed doing this stuff? Well, it's late now, and time for me to go to bed... but it's been a nice ten years, even if I've dropped off from the Xangaverse (erm, do people still do that with words? Xangaversary, etc.?). Wow... ten years. | 