Top ten reasons why things aren't going so bad (in no particular order):

1. I live in a fun neighborhood.

2. I can find the cheapest vegetables and fruits ever in the Mission.

3. Even though looking for a job sucks, the few people who have seen my book have liked it. It always makes me feel good to know others really like my work.

4. Each time I show my work I am reminded that I've never stabbed anyone in the back nor do I have to lie about the work I've put into my book-it's all mine.

5. Christine and I are lucky enough to speak on a regular basis again.

6. I'm reading a good book. Running with Scissors.

7. I have a new bedspread which I enjoy very much.

8. Every morning in my bathroom I smell the onions being chopped at the Mexican place downstairs-quite a wakeup.

9. I have like 80,000 personalized notepads from my old job. So good cause I haven't had to buy paper.

10. I don't mind taking risks.

HEAD WEST YOUNG MAN – AGAIN

I'm sitting in a coffee shop looking out to the street. Slightly dreary yet for this instant – so small, so specific I can almost grab it – everything seems new and exciting. The stress over my recently quit job subsides. The stress over looking for a new job burries itself within the damp earth of the tree looking at me from the window. I'm a nomad. My life never taking up more room than can fit into my tiny Civic. I'm irrational and travel to where it feels right. Careers and decisions fork in my head as frequently as the pavement cracks before me.

This one crack has led me to San Francisco. Yes the promise of a great start somewhere else was faulty. A place full of unhappy people that have settled on mediocrity. Before I settled I had to leave. Even though it may have been foolish, I had to find out for myself.

So here I am, starting over – again. Waiting to see where the next crack leads.