Twenty-Six, 2010

It's true, I turned 26. The prime of life and all that jazz. Christmas / birthday presents included EVE Online (oh boy), New Super Mario Bros. Wii (awesome), Scribblenaughts (fun), Brain Age (stimulating), Bongzilla (wicked tall 6 person beer bong), a new computer (:), and a new car (sweet). Work is steady and things are going great with my girlfriend, we're even working out together. I'm slowly starting to run again. Thinking back the last few years have been kind of crazy - I graduated from college, started work at my first real job as a contractor, got hired on as a direct employee, bought my first house, and fell in love. If there's one area that I hope to improve on this year it's friendships.

When I moved back to Michigan I found myself with one friend left from high school. We're going to Chipotle in a few minutes actually. I tried making more friends at work... big mistake. People who seem friendly at work often turn out to be assholes in their private lives and the time and effort spent figuring that out is simply not worth it. Still, if I hadn't gone through that experience I may never have met some of the coolest people in my life today.

This month, in addition to a small Super Bowl party and Valentine's Day with my lovely lover, I'm having a huge party at my house with friends coming in from Iowa, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. I know it's going to be awesome, but also that it will highlight the high quality and low quantity of my friends here in Michigan.

I'll admit, I'm a little bit shy at first. I prefer to make friends quickly, which is easy in school, but much more difficult as people get older and set in their ways. A real friend is someone who cares about you as you care about them, someone who's got your back, someone who would never use you. It seems true friends are in short supply in Michigan these days... here's hoping 2010 sends a few more my way.

By the way, if you live near Detroit, I've got some great food for you to try - Saltwater. It's in the MGM Grand Casino downtown. One of only two AAA four diamonds in Detroit - I can't speak for the sea food but the steak I had there on New Year's Eve was the best I've ever had. Make sure to try the Hitachino Nest Beer from Japan as well.

View | POSTED BY Robert Otlowski ON February 2, 2010 @ 6:59 pm EST