Alright, so let’s keep moving forward. The first half of my sophomore year in college I took an intro to photography class. Probably the best lesson I learned in that lab wasn’t even about photography. It was the definition of ‘beauty’ – “a combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense” (according to my Apple Dictionary). The professor explained that the fact that something could be considered beautiful, didn’t necessarily mean that it could be considered “pretty” or “attractive” in the typical sense. Hence, the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I have this idea that the first law regarding energy can be adapted to beauty. Let’s try it.

Beauty cannot be created nor destroyed, only transferred.

I could list a million and one examples of why I think this idea is generally true, but that’s not much fun. Think about it. A person that can create something beautiful must be beautiful themselves. Perhaps not in aesthetics, but in quality of character. Transference of beauty. We, as people, can destroy beautiful things, beautiful ideas, and beautiful creations. That kind of power is beautiful. The act of destroying something beautiful will lead to the creation of something else that is beautiful. Beauty can’t be destroyed.

Though this theory is highly subjective, I find a lot of truth and comfort in it. Ask me about it sometime. I’ll explain further.

You are beautiful,
Edison Cruz

     Traveling is the analogy that makes most sense here. If I’m traveling from California to Florida, logic would tell me that the only way to go is by plane, but the reality is, that’s not true. I can drive, ride a bus, take a train, bike, walk, run, take a cruise, hitchhike, or make it a million other ways. All those means of getting to the end destination of Florida of course have their pros and cons. But the fact still is that there’s a countless amount of ways to reach the desired destination.

     The same rules apply to getting to a certain point in your life or attaining certain goals. Yes, most people would fly to Florida because that was the best way for them, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the best way for you. Don’t think of moments in life as failures when they don’t follow suit with everybody else’s plans, but rather as deviations in the path that gave you the opportunity to learn something that everybody else didn’t get to learn themselves. In the end, if your path was the same as everybody else’s you’ve got no story to tell.

     Finally, since I’m talking about life paths, I couldn’t finish this off without mentioning Robert Frost and his famous ‘The Road Not Taken.’ Cliché? Definitely. But I’m okay with that.

     Lucky for me I was having a brew with a co-worker on my team and her boyfriend when I met another co-worker that happened to be moving out to our office in Dublin and needed somebody to take over his lease. It’s definitely a decent place that just needed a little TLC when I moved in and I’ve quickly gotten settled in to try and make it my own. My roommate is an engineer at facebook by the name of Eric. He’s from the east coast (Vermont) as well so it’s cool that he can appreciate humidity and the warmth of the Atlantic ocean. 

     Overall it’s not a huge upgrade but nevertheless it’s still a step forward and I’m really glad I took it. I’ll be taking some photos and video pretty soon to give all of you a better understanding of where I’m running around these days. For now, think of it as the closest duplicate of Park Ave. Where Rollins is, we have Standford, where Sakura Sushi is, there’s Facebook (well, one of the 10 or o buildings) and then on the opposite end of the strip is where I live. So there’s a lot going on in a small area.

     Email me if you want the new address to mail me some cookies or notes about how much you miss and love me :)

Cheers!

Edison “I love the cold weather” Cruz

     So where should I start? I’ll go from the most recent happenings then work my way back some how… Well, right now the biggest thing on my mind has been the 4 interviews I had on Wednesday 2.5 hours of talking with one of my managers and 3 of my co-workers so they could get a better feel for who I am and what I aim to do in my time at facebook. The way I see it, the best kind of interview is where you come out on the other side feeling like not only did your interviewers learn a lot about you, but perhaps you learned more about yourself too. On Wednesday that’s how I felt. Through the questions asked I felt like I learned more about why I wanted to be part of facebook, how I wanted to begin and grow my career, and what about me makes it all make so much sense. Some time next week (right in time for Thanksgiving) I’ll know know whether or not my passion for and knowledge of this field was enough to earn my place in such an amazing company and luckily I feel confident in what I presented the interviewers with (plus a few warm smiles are never a bad sign). 

     Prior to this week’s excitement life has been quite the chase. My aim in coming out here to start a new life never consisted of a plan to ease into everything but rather to hit the ground running. Thus my life has been filled with meeting new people around every corner, learning about different ways of life, different backgrounds, ideas, and outlooks on the world. I’ve pretty much spent at least 1 day each weekend I’ve been here in San Francisco, usually either exploring by myself or with my friend Sam who I’ve know digitally through the Campus Rep program for quite some time now and recently met in person. He’s been great in showing me around the city and just being down to hang out, grab drinks, and check out new spots in the city.

     Life at work has definitely been incredible. We have a team of top notch chefs on staff creating some of the most amazing food ever for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus what’s even better is that it’s all free! The best 4-letter word out there! Free! Everywhere I go at work there’s an awesome kitchen filled with snacks of all kinds and every kind of bottled drink you could ever want! All free! But it’s not all about the food. When I sit at my desk, it’s like working in an art gallery. Everywhere you go the walls are decorated with some radical images by a famous graffiti artist named David Choe. It’s incredible because all the art is original and just about every wall from floor to ceiling is a testament to this guy’s skill. All that aside, I think the most incredible part about working at facebook is the fact that I get to work with so many amazing people. Not because most of them graduated from Ivy League schools, but because they’re good at what they do and they love it. Everybody is genuinely passionate about making amazing things happen at facebook and in turn for our 100 million+ users. That level of passion and dedication isn’t something you find many places and it feels incredible to finally be in that sort of environment. It feels like I am exactly where I’m supposed to be, especially because now, having great, meaningful ideas never felt so amazing. It’s almost as if the buildings were living breathing creatures and inspiration was pumping through its veins.

     The next step at this point after hopefully hearing some great news this coming week is to find a new place to live. Don’t get me wrong, where I’ve been since I arrived in California has been fantastic. Fantastic in the way of being a clean, safe place where I could feel comfortable and at peace when coming home, but I would really like something else with somebody or some people closer to my age. A place I could move into and bring furniture, create my space and establish a place I can call “home.” But that’ll come in time, hopefully sooner than later. 

     In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for me and say a couple prayers because I definitely want to be at facebook as long as possible! I’ll be doing a better job from posting from now on so feel free to use the RSS link below to subscribe to my blog, click on the blue button labeled ‘Connect’ below to login to my blog with your facebook account and post a comment and then you’ll see it post to your facebook news feed! Also, make sure to check out edisoncruz.com/lifestream to check out what I’m posting throughout the day.

     Much love to you for your support and reading this. I can’t wait to come home for the holidays and see everybody!

Cheers!

Edison Cruz