Joseph Natividad

Coming Home for Christmas

I made it back this past Sunday morning by driving up from La Jolla in the middle of the night and taking BART from Bayfair to El Cerrito. It was definitely much more breezier in the Bay Area than what I have already gotten used to at school down south. My mom made me some familiar home cooked Filipino food (which is always the best treat to come home to). The warm, inviting bed I have slept on for half my life was still there in my room, waiting to fill up its primary occupant.

It feels good to be back at the place I call home with nothing to worry about until the approaching new year. Sleeping as long as I want and not having to worry about whichever essay’s deadline was looming the following morning — this hasn’t happened to me in a long while. All the food stuffed into the fridge and pantry wasn’t so bad either. I’ve been deprived of some good Asian food and rice for too long. Seeing old friends and celebrating my birthday with them was nice and memorable. I didn’t really do anything big; after all, I’m only 19 and getting through my last 360 something days left as a teenager.

The last time I posted on this blog, I was worried about how I did on my finals. To keep my stress level and reason for depression away from all the happiness I am feeling right now, I decided that I am not going to check my grades online until after New Years Day.

Until then, all is well and life is definitely good.

Tags: birthday, christmas, finals, grades, new-year, teenager, ucsd, vacation

Teen Blogger Finds Real Estate Success

Could I actually be famous? Well maybe not just quite yet, but I?m definitely feeling like my ego has been nudged just a bit during the past 24 hours or so.

Inman News, a real estate journalism publication based in the Bay Area, recently sent out one of its reporters to profile the work I have been doing for a number of real estate blogs this summer. It was only yesterday that I walked into their office in Emeryville and sat down for a face-to-face interview. In a matter of only one day I couldn?t believe I found an entire article posted about me online. How amazing is that?

I?m simply blown away at the fact that people are beginning to recognize my efforts. I know I?m just starting out with this blog and I am currently writing as a contributing author for four other sites, but I have this feeling in my gut that things can only go up from here. Forgive me for being clich?, but the sky really is the limit.

Before my senior year in high school, I never even dreamed that I?d get involved in writing through blogs as much as I have been these past two months. My training had primarily focused on print journalism and the significance of objective reporting. Learning on my own because I pretty much have to, I browse through various blogs that I find interesting and pick up on the techniques they utilize in order to be more effective with my posts.

If I had to look at the point in my life where things really started taking off for me in terms of my participation in the blogosphere, the Contra Costa Times would definitely be on my mind. They opened things up for me in terms of public exposure as well as its creation of the LIP Blog: I Should Be Doing My Homework, in which I started contributing regularly to since its inception at the very beginning of this year.

As long as blogging stays enjoyable for me to do and doesn?t impede on my studies and my social life, then I?ll keep on typing away for many years to come.

Tags: blogging, bradley-inman, contra-costa-times, emeryville, glenn-roberts, harper-team, inman-news, jim-walberg, john-harper, joseph-natividad, LIP-Board, profit, Real Estate, success, teen, teenager