Worklife ver. 2.0

I work for a website, so we must be progressive no? A hip company of shaggy haired people trying to change the world or some garbage like that. But the truth is that it's a strange mix of cultures (Chinese, Korean, and a slight mix of expat). So we have some strange workplace culture.

The layout of my office is basically 4 rows of chest high semi-cubicle desks. With about 5 people in each row. Basically small enough that you could stand up and hit anyone in the office with a piece of paper (or rock depending on the mood of the day).

What's bizarre is the predominant method of communication. It's entirely via MSN, I've had whole conversations with people sitting 4 feet from my desk, online. I hate it but apparently it's the way we operate here. Just one of those things I guess.

A fleeting moment of clarity....

You know those moments of clarity you get every once in a while, the moments that cause you sit back in your chair, the ones that can silence a crowd in a loud bar, the times that you can reflect on your life and where you've been and where you are going.

Those moments are rare, so few and far between, that we try to grasp on to them for as long as we can. I decided when I was having one about five minutes ago that I'd sit down and write it out. So as in a few days when my mind has switched gears and I'm worrying about some trivial matters that I can read this again and reflect. I've decided to share it with the world so that I can be held accountable.

This blog like so many things in my life is incomplete, a work in constant progress that I start so passionately and end up fizzling out on. I'm lucky, I am smart (and I swear I'm modest), by smart I mean that I can coast in life. I just need to work ever so hard to get by and I can. I have the ability to turn it on when I need to and get me out of or into situations when I need to.

I know how cliche it is to say that I was inspired by a movie, but I was watching one this afternoon and it really touched home, and made me reflect on who I am and what I'm doing on this rock flying through space.

I don't pretend to be a philosopher or to know everything, there was a time in my life that I truly believed I knew everything, but the older I get the more I realize how little I actually know. But one of the things that I do know is that I am lucky and loved and it makes me feel whole inside. I am lucky to have a caring friends and family and to have come from a family with enough means to raise me right and give me a good education.

I've decided that I'm gonna turn a corner, I'm tired of turning it on only when I need to, I want to turn it on for good, to inspire people, to do things that help and change this world. To know that I left this place better than I received it. I might only be 26, but I want to realize this before I've exhausted my chances.

I'm tired of being lazy.

If anyone is reading this...it's only the beginning.

Back from the Dead

Hey All I'm back from the dead at least my blog is. This is just the first post in a long series of new posts that I'll hopefully be getting up here on a more regular basis.

Quick update:

Living in Beijing
Working for www.nciku.com
Loving Life.

Fun With Mice

My brother sent me a link to this Engadget article about some benches in the Shenzhen subway that are giant keyboard keys. This reminded me of these mice that I saw in Xiamen while I was visiting last January.

I sent it into engadget and low and behold they put it up. Which I think is pretty cool in a totally narcissistic sort of way :). Next thing I know my picture is being featured on Swedish public radio, with a photo credit. The text translates in google as:

You are on vacation, but what direction you look you see things like the job. Hard. Thought then that IT-intensive office rat encounter this on the beach. Tougher. Or, quite funny. It is Riley Gelwicks who have found the large concrete mice during their stay in China.

I wouldn't call it my 15 minutes of fame, but certainly put a little smile on my face.

Long Time No See 好久不见了

Small update on my life after nearly seven months without posting, I'm now in Beijing working and living. I love it and would say that only miss Longhu when I ache for the "real" China, the one that you read about in travel guides. Beijing is so modern and westernized that nobody really stares at me or really cares that I'm in their vicinity. I've lost the pseudo celebrity status that I loved to hate in Zhengzhou. I'll try to keep this updated a little more sorry about the lack of effort on my part.