It’s exciting. The new townhouse is incredible, my roommates (@ptklein and @scottlanford) are fantastic, and the opportunities for this neighborhood are seemingly limitless. It’s a part of town that could, without a doubt, use a little work, but it’s got a ton of potential. One of my goals—and our goals as residents here—is going to be to stay as involved with the surround neighborhood and Ward 5 as we possibly can be. We’re not just going to live here and sit idly by while lazy and corrupt politicians ruin a phenomenal part of the District just because they won’t do something to take advantage of the opportunities this area provides.

We’ll be at meetings. We’ll be vocal on Twitter. And we’ll even be blogging. Not here, but on a new, separate blog, and a new blog for the DC local blog ecosystem: Twoomies. Named after our joking term for ourselves (Twitter roomies = “twoomies”), we’ll be documenting the fun we have, our experiences here in Edgewood, and we’ll throw in a healthy helping of animal goodness, too. Make sure you’ve got it bookmarked, and stay tuned for more and more frequent updates.

Stay tuned.

There’s a lot changing this time around. New zip code. New neighborhood. Totally new environment and lifestyle. New roomie (my cousin!). Even Walter Cronkat is going to have to deal with a new friend (Shadow the dog). It’s… well, a big deal.

But I’m really excited. Like really excited.

Tomorrow is the first day (of two) for moving. I’m picking up the keys, dropping off the first rent check, and doing my inspection of the townhouse first thing in the morning. I’ve already changed my addresses, updated my billing, changed my DMV information, and set up all the new utilities.

It’s a little weird because I’ve been living in this current apartment for over a year and a half. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s the longest I’ve lived anywhere since I left home after high school. I spent one year in the dorms, three months at home, another year in the dorms, three months in an apartment, five months abroad, five months in an apartment, and then my current residence. So lots and lots of moving.

Of course, this is by no means going to be a permanent residence. Who knows, we may only be there for a year. Or we may be there for multiple years. A lot can happen in a short period of time.

But again, I’m excited. There’s something about change that really excites me. I love the constant new experiences. New stories. New people. New sights, new smells, and new feelings. All good things.

Anyway, more updates as the move progresses.

Sometimes it’s tempting to write a really negative post. It’s tempting to rant and vent and complain about everything going wrong in the world, and argue that it’s just not fair. I’ve done it before. We’ve all been there. Sometimes Alexander just has a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

But instead of making this post one of those posts I thought I’d focus instead on things that keep me going. Those wonderful few things that keep me smiling, even when I’m having a totally crappy week. So here they are.

1. Friends

This one should be fairly obvious. My friends are amazing. Every single follower I have on Twitter is an amazing influence on my life. Not to mention all the people who have really been there for me this week, like @ptklein, @districtjoe, @chrisgolden, @marctomik, @rachaelgk, @onofreshoots, @cajunjen, and countless more.

I haven’t been particularly productive this week, but so far I’ve spent that lazy time with good friends. It’s necessary. They keep me motivated, pushing forward, all around psyched about life. I don’t quite know what I’d do without them.

2. My City

It’s no secret I love this city. Every day I read a ton of local blogs, I love the local community, and I love the fact that Washington, DC is really much, much more than just about politics. A lot of people don’t recognize that.

I love the bikes in this city. I love the beer in this city. I love the people in this city. And yes, I even love the politics and government in this city. Washington is a truly amazing place and—although every time I go to New York I fall in love again—I fall in love with DC each and every day, even if it’s in some small, weird little way. This is a great place, and anyone who thinks differently clearly hasn’t experienced this city like I have.

3. My Future

I’m a pathetic optimist. Even in my down-est days I find myself thinking about the future and how awesome things will be. Today I found myself struggling to even do that when @chrisgolden reminded me of how many amazing things are on the horizon.

In just a week and a half, I’m moving to a totally different neighborhood in Washington, DC. It’s a new part of town with a new community, new local businesses, new culture, and a totally new lifestyle. I can’t wait. Just past that is the #seatweetup to the Bahamas, a long weekend of much-needed relaxation. One week beyond that is Thanksgiving, just a few weeks before Christmas, and God only knows what else lays on the horizon.

Long story short: there’s a lot to look forward to.

It’s that time again. Moving time.

Once every year for the past five years, I have moved to a different home (each year of college, plus this year). I’m ok with that, but it’s certainly not what I was used to growing up, where we moved only twice throughout my childhood.

This year, I’m moving yet again! Me, my current roommate, and my cousin have signed and delivered our new lease for a townhouse across town, still here in the District. We’ll be a little bit closer to downtown, in a more transitional area, and closer to the metro (the Rhode Island Avenue metro station).

This is a good thing. As much as I love northwest DC, I’m ready for a change. I’m looking forward to getting a little farther away from American University—as much as I loved it, I need to escape the bubble—and getting away from the largest hill in the city will be a nice change of pace (literally) for biking around DC.

The new townhouse is fantastic. Three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a gorgeous kitchen with all stainless steel appliances, back porch, parking spot, in-unit washer and dryer… we really couldn’t ask for much more. And my roommates, Paul (@ptklein) and Scott (@scottlanford) are both so amazing I know we’re going to have a blast living together. Oh, and we’ll have a dog and a cat (and possibly a kitten at some point in the near future…) so life will be even more interesting.

It’s going to be a fairly dramatic change, too. This will be the first time I’ve lived in a house and not an apartment building in DC. This will be the first time I’ve lived in a DC zip code other than 20016 (new zip is 20002). This will be the first time I’ve lived in a different quadrant than NW (this one is NE). And this will be the first time I’ve lived anywhere other than on a state avenue (this is a side street). So yea, rest assured adventures will be had.

Anyway, I’ll be blogging more about the move as it approaches, and no doubt blogging a lot about our adventures in our new neighborhood once we’ve moved! Move-in date is November 4th, so more soon.

It’s been a good week, but hectic and stressful. I found out we’ve secured a new townhouse across town, so I will be moving soon. I guest lectured with TechChange on Wednesday, which was a blast. I attended the NASA tweetup on Thursday with Chris Golden (@chrisgolden), which was obviously awesome. And then today I hit up the Give To The Max Day training event at AARP.

On top of all of that, I got my new iPhone 4S. Obviously, also awesome. See my first iPhone 4S photo below, as proof (of course, it’s a photo of Walter Cronkat).

Tomorrow, Joe Gizzi (@districtjoe) and I are taking off for New York City on the Bluebrain DC to NYC trip. It’s going to be an amazing weekend. A little about the trip:

Please join Bluebrain for an exclusive excursion to New York City to experience their new location-aware album Listen to the Light in Central Park. Trip includes bus transportation, Listen to the Light experience in Central Park, You Are Here: Washington DC art exhibit featuring DC artists, and an after-party at Lit Lounge (featuring DC’s Shark Week and Cracked Latin). We are truly excited so many awesome DC things are happening at the same time.

In other words, it’s going to rock.

I probably won’t be online much during the trip, but I’ll be taking pictures (on my new iPhone!) and tweeting my way throughout the weekend. Rest assured there will be an awesome wrap-up blog post once it’s all over. If anyone is living and/or staying in New York this weekend and wants to meet up for an impromptu tweetup, let me know! Just give me a shout on Twitter, @alexpriest.

This is epic. I love DC.

Friends: Join me for this happy hour! It’s for an outstanding cause and it should be a great t

Love this design, and this organization. Volunteered with them a little in college and have always b

I’ve been busy the past few months, though. Honest. I haven’t just been sitting around writing blog entries in a notebook instead of sharing them with you here online. Here’s a little of what I’ve managed to get done:

• Developed, designed, and launched the the new AU Social Media Club website —twice, actually, after our original host had a server crash the day after I finished it the first time, losing almost everything. v2.0 is definitely a little more awesome than v1.0 though, so I suppose at least some good came of that.
• Survived two more months of classes to get me to this point, now only a little over three weeks from graduation (say what?!).
• Coordinated and pulled off probably the coolest event I’ve ever had the pleasure of working on, the 2011 Social Learning Summit, a conference aimed at bringing together students, educators, and professionals to learn from each other and with each other about the latest in social media, technology, innovation and education. It was a tremendous success, with more than 300 attendees, almost 10,000 tweets for the weekend, 80+ speakers across 21 panels, and overwhelmingly positive reviews by all in attendance. I’m still a little giddy about it.
• Dove headfirst into the job search, seeking out any and all cool opportunities, mostly here in DC. Haven’t made a decision yet, but I’m real excited about whatever might be in store for me next.

So there’s your obligatory update on my life. Alas, don’t expect to hear a lot from me over the next couple weeks as I work to get through finals and graduation, but I’ll do my best!