I wish I could Facebook friend all of you so you can keep up with the goings on of my life without my having to make as much effort as it takes to update here, but I try to keep that limited to people I’ve met at least once in real life. Exceptions to the rule include Alison (inthesaddle), Katie (reallykatie), Sarah (murmurandshout), and Paul Holdengräber (…but come on now, he’s the director of LIVE from the NYPL and he actually accepted my friend request!), all of whom are people I would hang out with IRL if they lived in NYC…or if they invited me to dinner with themselves and Hans Ulrich Obrist (yes, I’m still dreaming about that one!).

Anyway, here are some quick bullet points for everyone else…

• I have made a change to my diet that I can’t talk about here in case anyone from my family happens to find this blog, and it’s only a matter of time before that happens (if it hasn’t already). If you really want to know, message me, and I’ll tell you ALL about it!
  
  
• My “Independent Bookstores in NYC: Past & Present” digital mapping project got accepted into Critical Themes, the annual graduate student conference hosted by the New School’s department of Media Studies, where I just got my M.A. in December. I’m a horrible public speaker, and this is my first conference presentation. I adore this project, and I want to keep working on it, but I’m terrified. I might need a Xanax next Saturday!
  
  
• I’m really enjoying my new freelance gig, which by the way, is a social media manager position (plus assorted “other” duties that we haven’t found a title for yet) for a new socially conscious fashion start-up called Savage Senses. The co-founders are pretty happy that I know my way around the Internet in addition to actually enjoying tagging, folding, and packing inventory, so that’s great. It’s like working in retail without all the bad parts and in fashion without having to feel bad about it!
  
  
• If you haven’t already, you should follow @alanturingreads on Twitter, even though it’s currently being neglected in favor of more pressing matters. I’m being followed by some pretty prominent Turing researchers and other academics and people of note from all over the world on that account, which is quite exciting! I got retweeted by @Radiolab a few weeks ago, for example.
  
  
• I submitted a proposal for a portrait project for the 3rd annual Bay Ridge Storefront Artwalk, which was co-founded by my new buddy John Avelluto, who now co-owns and manages The Owl’s Head (aka the L Magazine’s Best Wine Bar in Brooklyn). I’d say I’m artsy but not an artist by any means, so I don’t actually expect to get in, but we’ll see…
  
  
• I want to throw myself a grad school graduation party since the official ceremony is in May. If I do, I’m likely going to have Chef Michael Kogan, also a new buddy from The Owl’s Head, cater it for me. His food is absolutely delicious plus he’s a sweetheart, and I’d love to work on menu planning  with him as a treat to not only myself but also to my lovely friends and possibly some family who may come up for it.
   
• Last Friday, I organized a field trip for my former professor Shannon Mattern to meet some of my former Urban Media Archaeology classmates at The Greatest Grid, an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York about the Manhattan’s street grid, which was established by the Commissioner’s Plan of 1811, so it was the 200th Anniversary of it. This closed today, so sorry to bring it up if you didn’t get to see it, but it was pretty stellar if you’re a map geek, an urban studies geek, an American/NYC history geek, or all of the above.

In short, other than still needing to catch up on my bills after my savings finally ran out last month and having to start paying back student loans pretty soon (ugh!) and having allergies for the first time in my life just as the pollen count is on the rise (double ugh!), life’s not looking too bad for me these days. That’s a lot more than I could say until a few weeks ago, so here’s hoping the upward trend continues.