Wow. So it's been a while since I've written a blog. Time seems to be flying by faster and faster lately. It feels like it was just yesterday when I was lurking around GA for the first time trying to decide if I should join. Turns out that was 7 years ago. I've been here for seven freaking years. I basically grew up on this website. The people I've met through here have changed my life so drastically that I couldn't imagine what I would be like today had I not joined.

I know a lot of the 'regulars' on GA are unfamiliar to me now, and many of you probably have no clue who the hell I am. But that's alright. It just means there's more people to meet! If you ask some of the 'older' members on GA that knew me back when I was 15, they'd probably be able to tell you all sorts of stories about me. Mostly though, they'd probably say that in real life I was shy, timid, and somewhat weird. Not that I'm not any of those things still, but every single person on GA encouraged me to expand, to find myself, to follow my dreams, to put myself out there, to explore all that life had to offer. For that, I am eternally grateful.

For a while in life, I thought I was on the right track. I went to college, came out with two degrees, moved across the country to Los Angeles the day after I graduated, and was the GM of a restaurant making $50K a year at age 22. Successful? Maybe. But I wasn't happy. Far from it actually. I hated my job, hated my boss, and hated the fact that I wasn't doing anything about it. And then I snapped. During one of those 15 hour days at work, I had a mental breakdown and finally realized that I couldn't continue going on like I was. So I walked out. I told my boss where he could go and what he could do to himself and never looked back. The next two months I spent trying to figure out my life, which led me to where I am today.

Back in November of 2007, we had our first ever GA Get Together in San Francisco. The trip itself was awesome, but the people that went were absolutely amazing. To finally meet the people that had influenced me in so many ways was a huge honor. It sucked because I was the young one and the trip seemed so short, but leaving there to head back to Texas was beyond painful. I had literally left my heart in San Francisco. I fell in love with the city. Every year after that trip, I made it a point to visit SF at least once. I couldn't get enough of it. So after I finally realized that I wasn't happy with life and I needed a change, I decided to grow the fuck up and follow my dreams.

Though I've only been living in San Francisco for two weeks now, I can feel my life finally pulling together. I have a new job that I'm happy with, I'm in the city that I love, and every day I meet new people that I'm happy to call friends. I went from being miserable and pessimistic in life, to actually enjoying every single day. I can finally stop rushing through life watching the days go by like they're nothing, and I owe a lot of it to those that I've met through this site, the good and the bad. As much as I would love to name the people that I'm grateful for, I would undoubtedly forget some... there are just too many.

Oddly enough, when I started this blog entry, I had no intention of writing all of this. I mostly did it to hopefully cure my writers' block, but I'm glad it all came out.

So cheers to you GA. And thank you to everyone that's been a part of it for the past seven years.

Joe