Thus are the problems in my life.

The ones that reach way too close to home:

• I didn't have a shitty childhood, so I can't turn my pain into art.
• Thanks a lot, mom and dad.
• I had too much food for lunch and now I'm tired.
• Damn that itis!!!!
• I accidentally clicked on iTunes and had to wait 2 minutes for it to open before I could close it again. 
• This actually happens to me a lot and I get very upset about it each time. SO SLOW. CLOSE, ALREADY! I don't even want you on my computer in the first place.
• I can't hear the TV while I'm eating crunchy snacks.
• TV? Food? TV? Food? Why can't I enjoy both at the same time? sigh.
• My laptop is low on battery, but the charger is over there.
• ughhhhhhh I bought this because it was portable!!!

[Source]

I'm being sarcastic.

I feel like some people have skewed variations of what the word, "hipster" actually means.  For the sake of this blog entry (and the entire blog, itself...heck - it's in the title), I'm going to state the definition from what else, UrbanDictionary.com:

1. The term "hipster" is cross-applied from the 1930s Beatniks. The modern hipster is a composite of individuals with a certain bohemian life situation and lifestyle. He or she rejects "mainstream" culture and embraces and contributes to independent culture, and prides him/herself on this.
2. One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool. (Note: it is no longer recommended that one use the term "cool"; a Hipster would instead say "deck.") The Hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream.
3. Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter. The greatest concentrations of hipsters can be found living in the Williamsburg, Wicker Park, and Mission District neighborhoods of major cosmopolitan centers such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco respectively.

(side note: I definitely live in the Mission district of San Francisco. Coincidence? I'll never tell.)

Since the creation of the word, "hipster", many consequences have rised:

• "Emo" kids began to feel threatened by the new rock subculture
• ...and thus began writing more songs and poems about their identity crises
• Those dreaded plaid button down shirts (made famous during the "heroine-chic" fashion craze in the '90s) start making a comeback
• ...but people wore their actual, correct sizes this time
• A cross between hip hop and indie rock cultures began to blend
• ...Kanye West wearing vintage? At least he isn't popping his collar anymore.
• The sense of apathy (or rather, perceived apathy) skyrockets amongst young adults!
• ...I mean, pshh, they don't care what you think about them. (Yet, they want to make sure you notice their turtle RayBan Clubmasters paired with their faded 2003 Student Council t-shirt)
• Indie music blogs have exponentially increased, both in presence and traffic
• ...much to the dismay of hipsters, who want their favorite, underground artists, to stay underground. Nobody else could possibly appreciate the sound in the same way.
• Music festivals all over the world are raking in tons more money
• ...unlike hippies who are broke, high, and happy, hipsters actually have money (either from their tech-related job or from their trust fund) and can spill hundreds and hundreds of dollars each year to go to festivals, eat organic foods, and watch their favorite artist who they've been listening to before the mainstream scene devoured them.

So, as you can see after this discussion, who wouldn't want to be a hipster? One of the main reasons why I accepted my Google offer was the opportunity to leave the hipster-baby city of Austin, and move to the mecca of hipsterdom that is SF. So far, I've gotten a few things right: tech job, created my own new blog, living in the Mission, and bringing my 8th grade student council t-shirt.

Hopefully this evolution will start happening, soon. I'm getting impatient. But wait, let me take that back - I don't really care. ;)

[edit: And for those friends of mine who are still concerned for my well-being - please refer to the title of this entry to dispel any anxiety, haha.]

First week at the Goog!

First day of work at Google - definitely an incredible and memorable day! July 11, 2011.

Apparently my class of new hires (aka, Nooglers), was one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, in Google's history. I got to meet so many awesome people from all over, and I can honestly say I feel honored to be in such amazing company. Something I've realized throughout the years is that I really, really appreciate and gravitate towards people who are not only intelligent, but talented and passionate. Luckily for me, Google's hiring process already did a lot of filtering and spit out people who have amazing stories to tell. Talking to my fellow Nooglers is pretty inspiring, to say the least. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by such brilliant people; to be able to learn and grow in a dynamic and challenging environment.

The first day was full of orientation, which is basically full of information and activities that get you super pumped to be working for Google (as if that really needs any more effort). I've always been a huge Google fan, but learning some of the info that I did on this day just added fuel to that fire. I'm SO proud to be working here.

Enough of all the emotional talk - let's discuss the campus and perks! Holy shit. The Googleplex is mind-blowing. The campus is enormous and GORGEOUS! Bright, sunny, beezy, 75 degrees...perfect. There's no humidity, and my hair is lookin' great every day. ;) Everything and anything that you could possibly need is at your disposal - and it's all FREE.  Tons of different cafe's headed by gourmet chefs; micro-kitchens stocked with fresh fruit, granola bars, organic juices, barista lounges to make your own espresso and lattes, hummus and veggies, and candy on every corner of every floor of every building; various gyms, sports fields, pools, and lounges; fun little Google bikes strewn across campus for any Googler to pick up and ride around to another building; free g-bus shuttle services all across the bay area to/from work; nap pods (!!!!!); massages; spa service; laundry; dry cleaning...and it goes on and on. Oh, and they allow dogs on campus, too. Love it all!

Just chillin' outside during a break at Orientation. There were duckies in the pond, sun bathing. :)
 

Riding my first Google bike from one part of campus to another!

The rest of the week was filled with some more orientation and then training for AdWords Account Managers (aka, my position).  Long story short, Account Managers are the people who consult, sell, and help optimize the paid-search advertising that companies use worldwide. AdWords are those targeted advertisements you see on Google Search, GMail, and sites all across the interwebz that always seem to know what you're interested in. Google gets a huge majority of their revenue from the sales of AdWords, and then uses these profits to develop awesome things like Chrome, Maps, and most recentety, Google Plus! I'm in training for another month or so... and then I'm set free. I found out that I'm joining one of the BEST business verticals (aka, industries) for AdWords account management - Entertainment & Media! Basically - my vertical handles 3 different sectors, or pods - (1) Hollywood - movies, TV, music; (2) Gaming - mostly online games; and (3) Adult. You guessed it. Adult = porny stuff. Hey...it's a huge industry. They need to advertise their product. And Google's here to help. :)

Basically, I'm ridiculously psyched! Dream job; perfect pairing with my business vertical; inspiring people surrounding me; working at a beautiful campus; FREE, DELICIOUS FOOD EVERYWHERE; and to top it all off - being at an incredible company.

My first TGIF at Google - Loving the Noogler beanie :)

Yeah, you could say I'm feeling pretty great right about now. SF + Google = Happy Seema. :)

Phase I of Hipster Evolution.

The Move

Like any other big thing I do in my life, the preparation before moving to SF was long and thorough.  Funnily enough, the actual move proved to be one of the most seamless processes I've ever been through! (Knock on wood. I do NOT want to jinx myself and go home tonight with my water turned off or something...)

I got into SF with my parents on Monday, July 4, 2011. One of my two roommates, Rachel, landed that day, too, and we were sifting through padmapper listings that evening trying to see which apartments we wanted to check out the next day.  We had received lots of advice as to how to go about apartment-hunting in SF.  Basic conclusion: Places go fast. We came to SF with our credit reports, financial statements, and job offers in hand; ready to pounce at any abode we found fit.

Tuesday morning rolled around and we checked out our first apartment in the Soma area. It seemed great on paper...and boy, were we HIGHLY disappointed when we checked it out. Talk about depressing! No natural light. Tiny. Sidewalk surrounded by homeless people. - Not okay. Luckily for us, the guy who showed us that place said he had a couple other places available in the Mission district (one that I was really interested in), so we went to check those out.

The 2nd apartment we checked out was gorgeous. And being that it was gorgeous...it was definitely PRICEY. The guy showing us around was smart, though. Using my lovely marketing degree, I recognized that he anchored us with the first DEPRESSING SHIT HOLE in Soma, and then conveniently showed us the amazing beauty in the Mission. So, you'd think that after my recognition of this manipulation/persuasion tactic that I'd be phased. Nope. I loved it. So did Rachel. Sure, it was above our price limit, but we quickly raised our limit. We loved everything about this place. Super secure, great area, beautiful decor, new building, great views, NATURAL LIGHT, rooftop deck, elevator...sigh, it was wonderful.

We talked to the 3rd roomie, Claire, who wasn't in SF at the time, and we all agreed that this place was going to be our new home. We signed the lease that evening.  And so goes the story of finding and acquiring an amazing apartment in SF in under 24 hours.

The rest of the week was now open to sight seeing and exploring with my parents, which was great! The last couple days we went furniture shopping (found a great little place in Soma that had an AMAZING sale), and we raided Walmart for all the apartment essentials. The parentals left on Saturday, the 9th, and after a day of apartment-prep and settling in...I woke up Monday morning ready to take on my first day as a Googler (edit: Noogler!)