On the road again

I’m leaving in a couple of hours for Fort Collins and I’ll be live-tweeting along the way. Tonight I hope to get to Saint George, Utah, and I should be in FoCo (the Fort?) sometime tomorrow night. Thursday I’ll sign some papers for my new place and Friday the movers come to drop everything off! I am pretty ready to have my own space again and to get to know my new town, and work starts on Monday so it’ll be a pretty quick adjustment–but I really am ready for it. I’ll be posting pictures after this weekend, but for now, definitely follow me at twitter.com/jondodd.

Thanks for your prayers (especially for my old man back) and warmly welcome you to Fort Collins, Colorado!

Fort Collins

Is looming like the Rocky Mountains, even though I won’t be leaving L.A. until August (which, p.s. is shaping up to be a huge month: Beijing Olympics. Verizon contract runs out = iPhone. Birthday. Move across the country, again). Good thing this is all six months off. But really, only six months? I feel like I’m just getting settled in Southern California as far as church, friends, place, work, routine. It’s really taken me this long to feel comfortable (October to February = 4 months?) so the idea of doing this all over again doesn’t sound like too much fun. The other thing I’ve been asking myself lately is, what does Fort Collins really accomplish? If my heart is truly split between Pittsburgh and Asia, then why Colorado? Is it my dream job? Nope. Is it a good job? Yeah, it is. It’s a good fit for me for now, and I just have to trust that staying with ELIC will be the right thing for me for another year, at least. So what makes it hard? Well, I’m starting to really love my church here in California. Will I most likely find a new church in Fort Collins? Most likely. Will I dis-like leaving a church two times in a year’s time to follow a job? Absolutely. Will I find new people to connect with and invest in and build friendships with? I’m sure I will. But there are friends from high school, college, China, Providence, and now California, that I will miss when I move on (most that I already do). I’ll find new coffee shops and brewpubs (serving  Fat Tire, I’m sure) to frequent and if there’s a good Thai restaurant anywhere in Colorado, I’ll know about it. I’ll figure out the cool thing to do on a Friday night (but it won’t be Pinkberry), plus I’ll be within an hour of awesome dudes like Matt Stewart, Adam Wing and Tim Wilsey, and about 1500 miles closer to home, but I’m feeling a strange mix of a desire to stay and a desire to leave, just not really to leave for Fort Collins. I’m sure it’s a great town, but my heart is so many other places, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to invest in somewhere new again. Neither am I sure if I’ll feel ready to leave L.A. when it’s time. Six months from now, just 26, with the Olympics fresh over and iPhone in hand, I’ll be packing up my life once again (with no real thought this will be the last time) for Colorado. Six months. Maybe I should say half a year instead–sounds longer. [NOTE: I apologize; WordPress isn’t letting me add paragraph breaks to my text. It’s a little bulky anyway, so thanks for reading, and sorry for the lack of white space.]

Doddi California

I want to fill you all in on some details of my sooncoming relocation, if you don’t know this stuff already. I’m taking a job with the English Language Institute/China, the company that sent me to Beijing as a teacher in 2005-2006. I’m not going back to China, though, instead to California. Specifically, San Dimas, home of a famous Circle K where some strange things once were afoot.

San Dimas is also home to ELIC’s North American headquarters and is, for some reference, about 45 minutes east of downtown LA, an hour from the beach, 2 minutes from the mountains, and 25 minutes north of Anaheim/Disneyland. (A year pass will be purchased.) My job title will be “Communications Typographer.” My primary responsibility will be newsletter layout and I start October 15th.

Oh, this is cool. Here’s the skinny on 19773 (my new zip) from ZipSkinny, via Chris. Also, go ahead and compare your Zip to San Dimas, or Moon Township (15108) or Beaver Falls (15010) or wherever. Lots of interesting stuff there.

But, just so you know, I’ll only be living in San Dimas for about a year (maybe less) until all of ELIC relocates to Fort Collins, Colorado, which means I too will be moving–again–sometime next summer, most likely.

I’m trying to approach this big step in my adult life with proper preparation and thought, which means I’ve been reading up on surviving earthquakes, how far I’ll be from Google/Apple/Pixar (the answer: 7 hours) and when Blade Runner is showing in LA theaters in advance of The Final Cut DVD release in December (the answer, I think, is starting October 5. First movie I’ll see in California? I think yes.)

Which leads me to my question: What are some must-see/read/listen to LA/California films/books/albums I should get to know before or after my Westward trek?

I’ll start the list and you all can help me put something complete together.

Films:
Chinatown
L.A. Confidential
The Big Lebowski

Music:
The Beach Boys
Weezer
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Books:
The Grapes of Wrath (not LA specifically, but the book I think of when I think California)
Shoot… I need help with books.

While we talk must-sees, be praying that I can find a church home in LA, and somewhere to live. My buddy Ryan has graciously provided me with a bed/couch until Thanksgiving-ish, but I’ll need lots more than a pillow leaving home, Providence and friends and family behind. Somehow I’ll survive without the Steelers (I left before and they won the Super Bowl), but Wednesday nights at the Stuarts, dinners at Sweet Basil and staying above mom and dad’s garage will be harder.

I’ll have lots more to say on lots of stuff soon. But for now, good night.