Naim Falandino

a guy who doesn't write enough

Tag: holidays

Goodbye 2007, hello 2008

Vacation, unfortunately, has come to an end. Oddly enough, that means that I’ll be able to post again, now that I’m getting back into my usual routine. Those days off from work were precious, and blogging just didn’t fit in the fast paced schedule of fun. But before I get back to business as usual I thought I’d take a little while to look back at some of the things that have happened to me in the past year.

  • I switched career paths. Back in May I was lucky enough to find a job that was more suited to me with Compuware Covisint. While I still miss some of the great people I worked with while I was at Crowe and even sometimes wish I could get on a plane (occasionally) for work, things are really good here at my new job. In the eight months that I’ve been here so far I’ve managed to really settle in and establish a rhythm around here. It is a little different than I expected, but that’s normal. Overall I’m still very pleased with the move I made. There is an amazing group of people here at Covisint and I’m proud to say that I work there.
  • I bought my first home. This is a pretty big step obviously, one I’m still realizing to be honest. It was a good move though. I really like the fact that I have a house and that it is my place to do what I want with. It’s a bit daunting at times too, because all the responsibility falls on my shoulders as well, but really it’s not too horrible. It is a bit interesting being a new homeowner in the market today, we’ll have to wait and see if my decision to buy now was wise or not. I have a pretty good feeling about it though.
  • I improved friendships and made new ones. Socially speaking 2007 was a great  year. Now that I’m in one place I’ve been able to see my friends much more regularly, as well as make some new friends and even rediscover some friendships. I’ve also improved ties with my family, which is always a good thing.
  • I adopted a healthier lifestyle. My last year of college and then the consulting gig after that didn’t do my weight any favors. Eating out constantly and being so busy and tired that I never felt like exercising were very bad, and part of the reason that I needed to change my career up actually. I’m really happy to say that I made good on my commitments to myself to get healthier and have lost over 40 lbs since May. Better diet (being able to cook for myself) was a part of it, but mostly it was just the access to a fantastic gym here at work as well as re-enrolling in my Aikido training. This is one habit I won’t have any trouble sticking with.
  • I became more musically active. I made some good improvements to my home studio and spent more time working on my music. Now I just need to work on recording more of it.

All said and done 2007 was a great year for me. A year with big changes, but almost entirely good ones. My financial situation didn’t improve as much as I was hoping in 2007 (buying a house was a big part of why it didn’t though) but that will give me something to work on in 2008. Things on the romantic front were also mostly quiet – kind of a downer – but with everything else going on I don’t really feel like I missed out on much. It’ll fall into place eventually.

This year should be pretty interesting…

7 Comments by Naim on January 2, 2008
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It is a pretty fantastic time of the year

I really enjoy the Christmas and New Year holidays. It’s a great time to be able to take a little break from work, look back at all the things you accomplished in the past year and forward to those that have to get done in the next. It’s also great because many friends who have gone elsewhere come back into town. That’s a big part of the reason I haven’t been saying much here, there’s so much else to do. My waking hours have gotten really odd.

So there’s not much else to say right now other than Merry Christmas everyone! Once the family festivities settle down a bit I’m looking forward to a postmortem post of the last few days.

1 Comment by Naim on December 24, 2007
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A weekend of “whatever I wanted”

To say that these past four days off work were good would be a bit of an understatement. It was a really, really well deserved and needed break and I took complete advantage of it. It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s nearly been a week since the last time I posted, but it just so happens that part of doing whatever I wanted the last few days did not include posting. I can fix that now though.

Last Tuesday Paul came over and hung out. Despite my initial thoughts that I would resist Mass Effect and get it when I had more time to play it we somehow found ourselves in the car, heading to Meijer to pick it up. Boy, I’m glad I did, because it turns out it’s fantastic. Unsurprisingly, I’ve been playing a ton of it. Commander Jerj Shepard (Infiltrator) is having a good time roughing up the galaxy. Even if he’s a bit caustic, it’s for everyone else’s own good, so they better stay out of his way.

Thanksgiving itself was very nice. We always have a nice big get together at my parent’s place with family and friends and this year was especially good. Everything was basically perfect. I went over on the early side to help cook and prepare, which was pretty fun I have to say. A lot of people might not agree, but I like cooking and hanging out with my sister (who I don’t see too often) so it was nice. This year was a little different though; in past years I would stay at my parent’s place since I was just visiting from school or my own apartment in Lansing. Now that I have my own house it felt a little funny to go back to my own home, but it was actually pretty nice to go relax after the long day.

Friday was filled with purchases; no, not “deals” at crowded malls. I did my shopping from the comfort of my own home, on eBay (and Guitar Center later that day). Unable to resist anymore, I snatched up a Korg Kaossilator. Everything I’ve seen and heard about this device says to me that it’s pretty fantastic. They’re currently not out in the US (Japan has had them for a while and I believe it’s just now coming out in the UK) and won’t be for another 2-3 months. In Japan they’re sold out most places, particularly in the larger cities. Luckily, someone over there was good enough to put one up for only a $20 markup over retail, and that is a good enough deal where I will buy now rather than wait. That afternoon M1 and I headed over to Guitar Center for more musical goodness. I picked up a Firebox audio interface and a KP3 (so pretty), while M1 scored a new audio interface card himself for his computer. Then we went and hung out with M2 in A2. A good time.

Saturday and Sunday were spent with a lot of Mass Effect but also plenty of music. Later that afternoon I grabbed a bite to eat at my parents and then in a late twist decision everyone decided that they did want to go to the movies and see Hitman. Normally this is a movie I would pass on, but in this case if you go do some drinking before hand, and you go to a theater that serves alcohol, well, it can be pretty fun.

Is it Christmas yet? I could use some more time off I think.

No Comments by Naim on November 26, 2007
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Detroit tree lighting ceremony and other fun

This past weekend was full of a lot of good times, such as going to the MSU vs. Penn State football game on Saturday (a much needed and deserved win) but Friday was the tops. Some of the usual suspects (Matt, Kari, Stephanie, Tony) as well as a few others got together after work, dressed up a bit and headed out into the city for a night on the town. The reason? Well we don’t really need a reason, but in this case we happened to be celebrating Stephanie’s birthday, so all the better!

We started with cocktails at the Coach Insignia on the 72nd floor of the Ren Cen. I love going to that place for drinks. Not only do you get the breathtaking elevator ride up to the top that looks out over the river and Windsor but you get the 360 degree panorama of the city when you walk around the lounge. I always find it really cool to look out over downtown, or the bridge. Easily one of the greatest views around.

From up there we had a good view of how packed the city was, since it was the night of the Christmas tree lighting (which some of you paying attention to my Flickr would have seen going up in front of my office over the last couple weeks). We watched the actual lighting ceremony from the lounge and then once we were done there walked through to Campus Martius to get a first hand look at the tree, the ice skating, and the bands that were playing.

After that we headed for Fishbone’s in Greektown for an excellent dinner. That place has always been very consistent in terms of the food and the service. I really like it because they have a great variety, it’s a nice large restaurant (though even still it can take a while to get a table) and while you can definitely go there and dress it up a bit, it is still a pretty casual environment that puts you at ease.

Then it was back to the cars and over to the new MGM Grand casino (which I visited a little more than a week prior just to scope it out) though this time we planned on doing some more serious clubbing. We hit all the lounges and gave the place a once over; I can happily say that it is definitely a great place to go and a lot of fun, though you need to be expecting to drop some money if you do go (even if you do stay away from the tables). V has a great sound system and lighting. I would love to see that place turned up to 11 with a really good DJ spinning some house or trance. Ignite is definitely more laid back, with it’s unique fire displays and down-tempo chill out soundtrack. The other bars are a bit more relaxed, more tailored for people coming in for a drink from the slots or the tables, but Agua is still a unique place to go hang out, and has some pretty projected special effects and water displays.

After closing the place down everyone agreed that it was a really great night, and best of all really great to see everyone out downtown and having a great time. Detroit gets a hard time, but this city has plenty of life left. It will come back strong over the next 10-15 years, I can feel it.

1 Comment by Naim on November 19, 2007
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