I am back once again. (Temporarily)

Ill try to give you guys some art before my motivation drops again

Archstar, a nasty bloodthirsty evil old lady and the first leader of FuzzyClan!

sorry but that's so funny to me

Ok, so we’re going to go pretty stream of consciousness with these posts as I am going to make an effort to write something most evenings as a method of documentation and accountability.

My name is Andrew, but I go by Ace now. (for a number of reasons)

I’m an architect (now), bisexual, 29 (for a bit over a month now), and mixed race.

I used to live in Texas (my home state), but now I live in Seattle.

I’m in a bit of a state of flux and I’m reassessing everything. 

This after originally telling myself I’d accomplish certain things by the end of my 30th year. Luckily, one of those things was my license, however that is one of many and there’s not tons of time left. That being said, I do wonder if my goals are truly my own or if they’re the result of my interpretation of societal standards. Potentially both.

And so! Continuing on my (rarely used) hashtag, I will explore and deconstruct my goals and desire to become a better version of myself and get at both how to attain these goals but also the how and more importantly the why.

Given that the goal of this three-year long period of blogging/development/finishing is all about improving myself, I felt it necessary to identify five things I want to fix. There are as follows:

Five Things I Don’t Like About Myself (And Will Improve)

1. My Tardiness

I want to say that I inherited this skill from my mother, however at the end of the day I only have myself to blame. I want to be more consistent in my schedule, and that will not change unless I get to events/meetings/work/etc. on time.

2. My Sensitivity

Let's just say I don't necessarily let the opinions of others get to me, more so their reactions (or lack thereof) to things I say or do play a major part in both my future actions as well as my thoughts. I feel like I need to be a bit less sensitive and trust my gut more than I do.

3. My Weight (And Body Shape)

I'll be flat out and say I'm overweight, I have been since puberty, and I'm not happy about it. The overall goal is to be a thinner, more athletic version of myself; still, there was also a healthier-eating, more active version of myself that I need to get back to first. And this will actually start with attending to some nagging injuries I have.

4. My Teeth

I never had braces when I was a kid. I want nice teeth.

5. My Professional Position

I am an aspiring architect. Not a licensed architect. I want to change that.

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Ok, so let’s begin.

My name is Andrew Grant Houston, or as I’m now known in the greater Cascadian region and beyond, Ace.

For those who have been following me on here for a while, I graduated from college in 2014 (finally), worked at a few jobs in Austin (long story), and then ended up moving to Seattle for a new opportunity at an architecture firm here. Roughly two weeks ago I had my birthday, turning the ripe (old) age of 28.

For me, moving to Seattle was the culmination of a number of things I had wanted in life, but at the same time I feel like I’m not necessarily making the kind of progress I’d like to see; or at the very least, I’m not making the progress quickly enough. I come from the Gen-Y / Type-A mindset of plan, achieve and then plan the next thing, so coupled with an impatient streak I’m having those thoughts and self doubts of “have I achieved enough in my life yet,” “have I made a big enough impact yet,” “can I do more,” etc. That being said, on the other side I work in architecture, where the prime years of a person’s career aren’t supposed to be in their 50s. It’s supposed to take a lot of time and effort to get to a place where I am doing all the things that I want to achieve now.

And so!

I have decided to create this new “blog” or project I call “Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine…Thirty.” I am going to reframe the last years of my 20s not as the end of an era, but the preparation for a new beginning. This will be a written account of three years of my life as I prepare for the end of one chapter, but also the start of another. It’s going to be professional stuff, but also the truly personal. Names will be changed for the anonymity of others, but aside from that this will be as honest an account of what I’m going through as an individual in this current time and space. It may not always be sunshine and rainbows, but I hope that by going through this process I can be self-reflective and truly make improvements and changes in myself —with public accountability—but also, that this process may serve to help someone else in anyway that it possibly can.

To end, all posts shall be marked with #282930 and of course #archstar.

Talk to you soon!