My harebrained scheme actually went through: by the end of October I'll be living in New York City, starting a job at the Columbia University library at the beginning of November, doing various computery infrastructure things in support of many of the projects the library does.
I came up with this scheme, moving to NYC, after visiting it twice in July. Very simply, I fell in love with the city, and got bitten by its bug pretty hard. I knew, as I flew out of the city after my first visit, that I'd be living there within a year. Amazingly, it's only taken a few months.
It's not a decision I've taken lightly — I love Ypsilanti and southeast Michigan, the people here and the interesting and exciting things going on. And I love the immediate group of people I work with, and love working for the University of Michigan; it's just that the layers between those two things have become somewhat frustrating for me over the last two years. It was time to move on, but while for the past several months I've been half-assedly looking for a new job, it wasn't until I got back from NYC that I took that search seriously, that I actually focused.
I've become convinced over the last eight years or so that inertia is the primary guiding force in my life. And, for the most part, I'm fine with that. But I also realize that every so often some gumption breaks through, and when it does, it breaks through hard. And when that gumption comes, I have to grab it and go with it, even if that gumption comes in the form of a harebrained scheme. Sometimes, you just gotta see where those go.
I'm going to miss many things, and more importantly, many people, very dearly. But it's time to explore a new city, and I'm looking forward to that. Also: bagels.