Everything new is new again.

I started my new job yesterday. I'm training at the Northgate Mall (just 10ish minutes north from our place) to be the Full-Time Assistant Manager of a brand-new, currently under construction Forever 21 store in downtown Seattle, on the corner of Sixth and Pine in the crazy-ass shopping district of downtown.

Now say what you will about the company (the weird "John 3:16" thing comes to mind, as does the scandal from a few years ago re: child labour used to manufacture some of the merchandise), but it truly is one of the largest and fastest growing retailers in the States right now. They're even expanding to Europe in 2012, and the recession has pretty much left them unphased (much like the last company I worked for, Hot Topic). The new Seattle store is going to be one of their "anchor stores" and is expected to have huuuuuge volume and figures.

Is it intimidating? Hell yes. Is it what I ever pictured myself doing? Not really, no. But retail is something I'm good at. There's something about my personality that makes me a good seller. It's probably the writer in me that causes me to casually b.s. my way through life when really I have no idea what I'm doing; or the part of me that genuinely wants to please people and just make it so that they're happy with me.

In any event, this job is solid, it pays well, and it's going to allow me to have more free time to work on personal projects like this here blog and some of my (nerdy snort) fan fiction I've been neglecting for over a year. Not only that, but I can now categorically say that the collection of short stories inspired by modern music is officially underway! I began a notes/outline/crazy ass scribbling of ideas prospective for a story inspired by M83's "Kim & Jessie" last night. The idea is to tell the story of a suicide pact between two social outcast teenagers in the late 1980s that goes awry. See also: The movie "Heathers" and the fact that I've been listening to The Cure a lot lately.

So when I start the new job officially and training is over, I'll become a true Seattlite and start riding the damned bus to and from work every day. I need to find a good messenger bag or shoulder bag to carry all my crap in. Any good suggestions?



"Dreams dressed in blue,
It's all they need now and forever.
Chased by the moon;
They shatter their presence with their singing."

Quitting Time

Oh, Ke-Dollar Sign-Ha; of COURSE unicorns bleed rainbows! Why wouldn't they?

But on to the more important stuff--I turned in my letter of resignation to work last week. I know it's utterly absurd and perhaps not the most intelligent thing to do considering half of this blog is me whining about not being able to have a career in writing, but I have felt like I needed to do this for months. I'm tired of being chained ot the job; I haven't had a day off in 3 weeks. Sure the money is decent, but I end up pissing most of it away in cell phone calls from work and gas to drive there (seriously--according to my bank account's stats I spend over $200/month in gas to go to work, and when your checks average $800 that's quite a bit less all of the other bills that I've got). Essentially, this job has made me its bitch, and I'm not going to take it like a a whore anymore. I refuse to be anyone's catch-all/work horse any longer. After a year there I still don't have health insurance, or sick pay, or vacation time, or a damned raise. And for how much time I spend there I find it unacceptable.

I know that there are those out there who would just love to have income--They don't care about the benefits or the respect. But I'm the kind of person who will go work at Dick's Drive-In right now if it means that I can actually enjoy what I'm doing. The unique and perhaps freeing thing about being 24 years old with a one-year old undergraduate degree is that I don't have that dream career yet, so everything else is just filler. And if that's the case, I may as well find a job that doesn't make me want to vomit.

/rant

So, masses of the unemployed, I join you starting March 14. I've got copies of my resume' printed on fancy paper, a slew of acceptable interview attire, and 30 or so applications/resume' s submitted already via online resources like craigslist and WA State work source. Now it's just time to hit the pavement.

Side-Bar: Speaking of hitting the pavement, a very Happy 26 Birthday to my friend Ellen today! I'm sorry I can't be there with you, ninja-girl, but said mentally abusive job keeps me from doing so (another side-effect of working 6 to 7 days a week at 10 hours a day on a very regular basis).

Last night we stayed in and got some food from Thai of Wedgwood, which despite having been literally 2 blocks walking distance from our place all this time we've never actually eaten at. While I'm not a big fan of spicy, my garlic chicken was delicious and all I can say is that that was the best damned peanut sauce I've ever had, bar-none. We only spent about 30 bucks and got two main dishes, some satay, brown rice sides, and extra peanut sauce. Great value! I have like an entire freaking tub of brown rice and an entire jug of the sauce in our fridge at the moment and so now we're trying to decide how we want to combine these two delicious leftovers for a meal this evening. Suggestions, people of the Internet?


"Wiped out--
They could see me;
That's what I want.
A casualty, but, I am upfront,
And I know what it's about."

Crawling out from under the rock...

...The rock, in this case, being work and everyting work-related.

My job became pretty hyper-stressful these past two months for several reasons: The first being when I found out that my wages had been lowered without my knowledge. I never thought I needed to check my rate of pay on my pay stubs, but one random glance one random day led me to discover that for 2 months my wages had been slashed. Which is illegal if no one tells you.

A long, arduous, 2-month battle with the hotel building owner later, and now I'm back to making what I rightfully should've been making in the first place (with a raise[!]). No wonder I was barely making ends meet for a while there, huh?

The next reason is because of our awkward transitionary phase. We're picking up in business, but we only opened 5 months ago, so we still have shit for employees. There aren't enough of us, so when something breaks down or someone gets sick everyone is royally screwed. We've only just recently hired a few extra housekeepers and an extra front desk person (thank God--I can actually have office hours in my shared office space!), yet there's still not enough equipment or funding to go around. It's absolutely insane and not in any way under my control, which is eternally frustrating.

The final reason is because I've been having some intense dreams recently. I haven't even told Josh about this because I don't want to freak him out. The reoccuring dream happens every few nights, and certain details are always a little different, yet the over-arching "story" of the dream stays the same:

In my dream, I have children. They keep telling me that they're hungry, so I keep making them food. Yet there's no food left in the house. I run frantically through the house opening doors and drawers and closets and cabinets but we have no food. So I go to check my bank balance online and I have negative however-many-thousands of dollars.

Sometimes, also, our cat talks to me and repremands me for doing a poor job of parenting.

Is my fear of growing older and feeling directionless when I'm 30 manifesting itelf in the form of these odd dreams where I'm broke and have no way of taking care of those whom depend on me? Probably. I hate feeling helpless, and stupid, and embarassed, so it only makes sense that I'd hate being broke with kids. Plus it doesn't help that in the dream my cat is a total bitch.

Anyway, it hasn't done wonders for my sleep cycle.

My battle with soda has continued. I've fallen victim to temptation at a friend's house a few times and had a can of regular Cherry Pepsi here and there, but other than that it's Diet soda all the way! Blerg.

Josh and I are doing well. We hit a bit of a bump recently but I feel like things are smoothed over. He's the one constant in my life, and I'm glad that I've got him. Few other things make me feel good after a long, shitty day at work than just being around him.

Thanks to my mom we now have nearly $500 worth of brand new living room furniture :) I'm really pleased with how it looks. I feel like we need to push the "modern, industrial forest" aesthetic a little further with some larger prints or some really gaudy pieces, but I dig everything about it thus far. I'll post pictures when I take some.

Now for lists.

Three Bands I'm Currently Over-Listening To:
1) Discovery
2) Sleigh Bells
3) Best Coast

Three Foods I'm Currently Overeating:
1) Bananas
2) Various Lean Pockets
3) Tortilla Chips

Three Things I Hope Happen:
1) Josh has a good birthday.
2) I get a bite on something--anything--that I've submitted to various editorial people.
3) I get tickets to the Capitol Hill Block Party (DEADWEATHER! BEST COAST!).

Three Things I Will Make Happen:
1) Call my mom back after a week's worth of phone tag.
2) Buy a wedding present for Josh's brother.
3) Write more, more, and more again.

Three People I Need to Call:
1) My mom (cheating on this one)
2) Alli
3) Julie

Three People I Need to Write:
1) Aunt Charlotte
2) Lindsay
3) Matt

I'll be posting wedding stuff soon, so get stoked for that :)


"Life has a funny way,
of sneaking up on you
when you think everything is okay;
then everything blows up in your face."

The Twitching Hour(s).

I think that between the hours of 12:30 and 2:30 at my job, I've achieved new states of boredom. I can't access Facebook on the business internet, which is unfortunate, but even then I think it would have its limits of any sort of entertainment factor.

Today has been exceptionally slow. Over half of a family reunion just checked out, and what was a group of 30 individual rooms is now down to around 10. They were all lovely people, for the most part, with nothing but good things to say. Which is rare given that in every family there are always the stcik-in-the-mud/no-way-in-hell-can-I-ever-be-happy types. Anyway, with those folks gone and very few arrivals today, my day has been spent doing little lame tasks just to stay active and keep me from standing still behind my desk. You can only mop, dust, and make a pot of coffee so many times before it just becomes redundant, you know?

The interesting thing about working in a hotel is that you get to see the real face of people. In retail everything is very simple; very transaction-based. Sure there are those customers that you really connect or bond with, but those are few and far between. In the hospitality industry you get an actual good sense of how people act privately as well as in public; it's not just their game face that they're wearing. I've met some very nice and kind adults since working here. I've also met some very spoiled, very self-righteous adults. The kind who can barely handle it when it takes an extra five minutes for a fresh pot of coffee to be made, or who can't follow simple instructions on how to log on to the hotel internets; they expect you to do it for them.

It's not just an American thing, either. Spoiled adults come from all nations, or so I've ascertained. Apparently there are no limits to how truly moronic one can be when they feel as if they've got no time to take a moment, breathe, and think something through before they complain about it. Can't get the door open? Stop shoving your card in, pause for a moment, and carefully/lightly swipe it one more time. Very simple if you just come down and stop acting like it's the biggest and most inconvenient thing in the world, ever.

I really do like my job, though. I don't see myself getting burned out on this industry as fast as I did retail.

Still, I hope that things perk up for me in the writing department. I've had a great time writing again for Mutineer and really hope it brings steady work, or at least work every now and then a few times a year. We'll see what comes of it . . .

. . . I really need a new pair of shorts. None of mine fit me anymore. But when you shoot from a waist size of 34 to a 28 or 29 in just a year, that's bound to happen. I really like this soft linen shorts I found at H&M; they come in khaki or in basic black and they're disturbingly comfy and very well-made. The next time I have thirty bucks, yeah?

I've successfully made the transition to a soda-less life, and I have to say it's been quite an experience. Not only do a find that soda is more convenient than a healthy alternative (seriously--this is another reason why America is obese), but that taste-wise it seems like they don't even want to make diet soda attractive in taste or visual aesthetics. Diet Coke is, I'm sorry, totally atrocious. Diet Dr. Pepper is fairly acceptable. Diet Sprite is my favorite so far in terms of taste. Diet Root Beer of the Barq's variety is absolute nonsense. And why do they even bother to make Diet Red Bull? It does absolutely nothing and, if you read the calorie count, has nearly the same as a can of normal Coke. Worthless! But I've stopped getting it at restaurants, and stopped buying it on-the-go for a pick-me-up, and we only have diet at home. And it's diet soda all the way at bars and clubs.

Speaking of, I really want to go dancing some time soon. Perhaps after I buy my new shorts? But shorts at a club is so blech, unless you're going for a beachy/nautical/I'm adorable and should be on a yacht a'la Nate Archibald from "Gossip Girl" sort of look.

My birthday is in two weeks. I don't know what's planned, but Josh assures me he has everything under control. The control freak in me wants to jump in and take over, but I really don't want to get in his way on this. I had a ton of fun planning his birthday last summer and Julie's birthday this past Novemeber, and I LOVED planning our Halloween Party . . . So part of me really wants to get involved, but it's sort of my birthday, which means I can't and shouldn't butt in too much. What worries me is that he's going to go overboard or stretch his mind and wallet so thin that it will depress him, and then put him in a shitty mood if everything isn't perfect. In reality all I want is just to be drunk with my friends.

24, 24 . . . Will it be different than 23? Sources say no, not really. I'll find out soon!



"Everyone's alive but ill.
Let's just take a deep breath,
And lock the doors so no one;
No one has to know.
I can say I'm doing well,
As long as, as long as I can see the room
From the graveyard shift."

But then again, maybe?

I have to say, I really like the set schedule that my new job provides. Being out of the office at 3pm daily (or earlier depending on my workload) and having weekends off has been absurdly great.

The only bitch of it all has been getting up at 5:30 am every day to make it to work on time (7am). I don't know why, but for some reason my normally 15 min.-long solo showers have turned into 25-30 min. showers at this time of the day. I seemingly zombie-out when the water hits me, I think. Perhaps I should invest in a shower timer?

As long as I have my coffee, nobody gets maimed.

I've made a mix for the drive to work in the wee hours when traffic light and it's still dark out. Unfortunately I'm not at home so I don't have it with me. I'll post it when I have access to the playlist on my iTunes.

So I'm reading Chuck Klosterman's Killing Yourself to Live right now and so far it's enjoyable. I really liked his more recent book IV and generally find his observations very poignant and almost-always absolutely true. He's also a writer who's very aware of his voice and his viewpoint, and doesn't lose sight of either even when writing about or for others. I'm only a few chapters in to KYTL, so my observations at this point are pretty limited and perhaps even unjustifiable until I've read the piece as a whole, but I do have one main criticism thus far: The writer knows he's famous.

It's this weird thing that writers do after they've become a household name--It's not arrogance per se, or some sort of implied superiority to the reader. It's the tone that becomes so matter-of-fact and literal that the writer-as-narrator becomes almost untrustworthy. I find myself thinking "is that really how it is, or just how you perceive it?"

This tone is just fine when a writer claims to be the informed and reliable narrator from the get-go: Political pundits whom write books do this all of the time. We know that Ann Coulter is writing her book to be self-serving and from the viewpoint that she's onehundred percent right and informed before we've hit page 2 (or lately even before we've opened the damned book).

With a writer like C.K., however, his tone throughout the book is often self-reflective and at times even a little self-deprecating. He writes himself as the "every man, regular guy" who his readers can and should identify with. He might not think like us, but his experiences are our experiences and his interactions within his culture are ours as well. He is his reader. And maybe that's the problem?

Thus, when he slips into that tone of "here's how it is, and if you don't know about it or don't agree then you just don't get it" he actually does come off as the aforementioned arrogant fop. His readerhip doesn't like being talked down to any more than I'm sure the writer does. It's that self-awareness of celebrity and (dare I use the term?) "value" as a brand name moreso than an individual that causes this shift; at least that's what my perception is. The writer knows you'll read his book because he's the writer, so of course you trust him. If you don't, then the book is just not for you and why are you reading it, then?

Anyway, this is just an observation made about an entire work in just a few chapters. Maybe it gets better? Maybe the tone shifts will become a central and important part of the narrative? I'll wait and see. The subject matter is too good to pass up, and I don't have anything else to read right now.



"Well all right, so I'm being foolish.
Well all right, so then let people know
About the dreams and wishes you wish
In the nights when the lights are low."

A huge gap in time means a HUGE blog entry, yes?

Hello, internets!

It's been a while since I've blogged. Well, 3 months to be exact. I have no one but myself to blame for this, as it's been my laziness compounded with my busy work schedule and the fact that I'm in a new place where a social life is not just a dream but a bank-account devouring reality that has kept me from documenting my Post-Graduate Experience here at The Present Tense.

Maybe I need to hire a staff writer to help me maintain things? I can twitter about what's happening and that said writer can gather up all of my tweets and meld them into a discernible blog entry form his/her position chained to my desk with a bed pan secured safely beneath their seat.

Or I could just update more.

In the spirit of open and honest communication, if I don't blog on a more regular business and you're out there reading this, please write me an e-mail or send me a message on Facebook telling to stop being such a lazy ass-hat and do some writing, won't you? It could help me more than you realize.

Let's back-track to some cold, hard facts about my life right now:

1) I'm broke. My job is great and there are plenty of hours to go around so I do spend most of my time working, however I've been just about breaking even every month once bills are paid off. My savings account is mostly drained (wouldn't mother be proud?) and the student loans are really putting a strain on all things fun and entertaining. I get coffee and movies with my friends. A lot. And sushi! Ah, to be in a city where you can get good sushi is something that's been just a pipe dream until moving here. And speaking of moving . . .

2) . . . I love it here. Seattle was just the remedy for that melancholy, mopey and morose mood that I'd been in all Spring (what's with the alliteration there, Dr. Seuss?). I've lost weight, I feel healthier, I'm around a diverse mix of people with different backgrounds and viewpoints on a semi-regular basis, and I live within walking distance of a Starbucks. Also I can actually take part in an active music scene because, lo and behold, there IS one! I've gone to more live shows and bigger concerts in these past few months than I had all year last year. I've had the privilege of seeing No Doubt, The Sounds, and The Dead Weather as well as some fantastic local acts like Rising Tides and Ada Loveless (both completely blogworthy, although the former is sadly breaking up quite soon). So despite the fact that I'm financially ruined at the moment, my rose-colored glasses remain firmly in position.

3) I'm engaged! It still seems surreal. Josh proposed on our fifth year anniversary while we were making a trip to Leavenworth (which for those out there who don't know is a Bavarian-themed village about 2 hours East of Seattle that is essentially a piece of Disneyland that was cut off from the main host body and wandered out to the Pacific Northwest to spawn [in a very John Carpenter-esque way I might add]). There are pictures from that day, and I will post them when I remember to (perhaps tomorrow).

So that's what's going on with me.

The job hunt is still active, though I did take a break from it in September to relax. I've sent out many a resume and many a groveling letter begging for even non-paid volunteer work, yet have heard nothing back. Twice I received a response asking for writing samples, and twice did I sent some, and twice was I left with no further correspondence. It's a rough time to be a liberal arts major right now, to be honest. We're a dime-a-dozen, especially in a city like Seattle. So the search for meaning continues, albeit slowly and with little luck, but thankfully my folks have been so busy dealing with keeping the business afloat and several deaths in the family (a separate blog entry altogether for another time) that they've stopped breathing down my neck about what's next . . . Sort of. I completely understand their apprehension, and with promises of my application to UW for a graduate program in Communications or English they're satiated for the moment. Still, for my sanity and theirs I hope that something comes along in the "soon" region of time.

By the way, this makes the baby Jesus cry.

I leave you now with some pictures of our new place here in Seattle (as promised back when we moved in 3 months ago), and some words of wisdom.







I'm broke but I'm happy.
I'm poor but I'm kind.
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded.
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed.
I'm lost but I'm hopeful baby
What it all comes down to,
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine;
'cause I've got one hand in my pocket,
and the other one is giving a high five.

Apparently nothing of importance happened in April?

Well, that title isn't actually true. A lot of important stuff happened in April.

I got the job transfer, for one. Yay me! I'm not supposed to talk about which store it is or what I'll be doing, but apparently the pay is substantial, which I'm thoroughly stoked for. Hooray for the monies!

What else? Well, Kim moved in with us up here in Moscow and it's been fun and absurd. I like having her around more seeing as she's become one of my closest friends through the years, and it's nice having some time to adjust to each other's habits before living together for realsies in a place we both pay rent on. Of course there aren't that many things to get used to--It's just like when she'd crash here for the weekend if there was partying to be had, except for now her stuff is here. Kim's a very good roommate thus far and really it's not like we all just jumped head first in on this idea. Would I room with someone who wasn't awesome? I think not!

Hmm, let's see . . . Ally came up to visit us for a weekend and that was amazingly fun, even though we didn't do much. It was like having her back in Moscow again on any other weekend, which is fine by me! She's off to Virginia in a while to be with her-Josh (attaching those little is how we distinguish the men we're with, btw) for 6 weeks and then off to Florida so that they can work on the next stage of their lives together, whatever that ends up being. It was good to see her and talk to her and to see that I'm not the only one who has no idea what the hell they're doing now that undergrad time is over. "Whatever happens next is up to us, and I don't feel rushed for the first time in my life," she said to me over bagels. We had a great hug and goodbye when she left, and the feeling of "this is just temporary because I'll see you soon" was totally there in a way that was said and unsaid at the same time.

Although my friends are all scattered to the four winds now, why do I feel like we'll all see each other again soon? I guess because we're all very co-dependent on each other. Like, we can do stuff separately, but we'd rather all not. Part of me selfishly wants to horde my friends over to Seattle some day when they're all settled and ready to settle down.

I turned 23 the other day, and it was weird. It feels a lot like 22, actually. So far so good. It's only been a few days, so maybe some profound change will happen. Or maybe not. Josh and I went out to dinner and then saw the new Wolverine movie with Kim and our pal Clare. Hugh Jackman-ass is the best kind of man-ass that there is, and I'll stand by that assertion for years! I liked it overall, and there were only a few things that made me laugh because of how lame they were, but it was overall a fun popcorn movie. Not exactly "Sophie's Choice" or anything, but c'mon . . . It's comics.

So in less than 20 days I'll be in a new city with a new start. Wish me luck, and if I don't post for another month . . . It's because I'm somewhere else being awesome!


"I build myself up,
and fly around in circles.
Wait then--As my heart drops,
and my back begins to tingle,
finally could this be it?"

Why does your face look like that?

I'm getting a little tired of people acting like I have a terminal illness.

Let me back up a bit: I don't have a terminal illness. I'm quite healthy, actually. But others have not-so-subtly pointed out to me that I appear to have a debilitating disease where I graduated from college and now am doing nothing.

Let me back up again: I'm not doing "nothing." I've got a job that I work 30 hours a week at, I'm paying bills, and I'm writing all the time. Sure I don't have an internship or a journalism desk job that takes up 95% of my time yet totals 5% of my income, but I'm only hanging around this town until May. I graduated at the end of December, and I'm leaving at the end of May. That's a total of 5 months where I've had to essentially start from scratch and not only try to hone what skills I've earned with my degree, but also try to save money and salvage my post-college/pre-career existence while I can.

So then why do people who ask me what I'm up to cringe when I tell them "not much, just working and hanging out until I move in May?" It's like this weird reflexive action they have which they just can't seem to hide. There's this look as though I've just told them that my dog died, or that I'm going into rehab, or that I have terminal cancer. This sort of knee-jerk widening of the eyes coupled with a thin, smarmy smile and a phrase that carries an air of mock-understanding and sympathy ("Oh, wow, well good. That's good that you're working.").

Sorry folks, I didn't move home with my parents and I didn't just return to my "home town" because if you want to get technical then my home town was Los Angeles. Seriously Idaho, there are other places besides Coeur d'Alene and Boise. I see people all the time on Myspace or Facebook or in the UI Alumni Magazine (which I receive in the mail now along with a helping of guilt for not financially supporting my alma mater) who moved back tot heir home town and have started some kind of career. A guy I graduated with is now working at a TV station in Twin Falls.

But here's the thing: That's Twin. Falls. Idaho.

And that's fine. Do whatever you'd like and go where you'd like to go. It's just that my aspirations go beyond this state. I don't want to just go back to the comforts of home to a place that's familiar. It's the same reason I didn't do community college right after high school. It's the same reason I didn't just try and get a desk job at the local paper here in Moscow. I like to experience new things. I like to live on the edge of my seat. I like having a warm place to call home, but I also like that place to have a sense of wonder or excitement.

Maybe that's why, after 5 years in my undergrad, Moscow has almost completely lost its charm.

I don't know what to see to these people that act as though I've just told them I've been diagnosed with HIV-I when I tell them I'm in a working, hanging out, sort of grace period between my undergrad and the start of my career. Except to tell them that I didn't run home to mommy like everyone else and that I actually have had to work since day 1 in college, and that I've still got to work because I pay my own bills, so that's why I couldn't just up and go home.

I want to tell them to go hang out with the skeptics, who are the other group of people that are infuriating me at the moment (I feel like the Palouse region [meaning Moscow, Pullman, Lewiston, etc.] can be divided up into 3 groups of people right now who are reacting to my life choices: The Sympathies, The Skeptics, and The Supporters). But third-party skepticism of my life choices is a whole other post that's probably more rant-y and less rational.

Oh, internet. I'm glad that I can vent to you. When I look back at this chronicle of my post-grad existence, hopefully it'll be from a place where I can smile and just say "ha."

"Sometimes I feel
That I need to move on.
So I pack a bag
And move on;
Move on."

If I had eight cats, would that make me "The Octu-crazy cat guy?"

So it's been a week since my last entry, and several mundane yet markedly important things have happened in both my life and the real world.

First, we began our transition to Seattle by putting some furniture on Craigslist (you can view our lil' ad here)and taking another load of old stuff to Goodwill. Our office room in the apartment is pretty barren at the moment and there's still another pile of stuff to be taken. It's kind of weird, but the lack of posters, old vinyl, and random whatnot on the walls makes sound echo in a peculiar way that really makes me feel that this whole moving thing is really going to be true. I moved a lot when I was younger, and so that echo-y sound definitely has that sense memory effect to it. It makes me think of U-Hauls, boxes, broken dishes, and eating pizza while sitting on moving boxes.

We're probably not going to go to Seattle again this coming weekend like we'd planned because of financial reasons. It's the first week of the month so pretty much every bill ever is due, which is something we didn't think about. So instead we've devoted the weekend to doing home repairs, trying to get our furniture sold, and generally doing things to move the process forward.

After searching around online for jobs in the Seattle area I'm a hell of a lot less scared about finding one. It turns out that as far as retail positions go I'm more than qualified, and for writing jobs you don't have to be too qualified when you're just starting out (at least that's what the internets tells me). I'll probably work at some customer service job again and write on the side for a while before I can become an office drone. And won't that be fun? Probably only slightly, but at least I'll be paid more. In ego boost news that's somewhat related to the topic of jobs, I got a call from the Moscow Old Navy store regarding a resume I turned in about 3 years ago saying that they'd like to interview me for a store manager position. I'm extremely flattered, of course, but obviously I can't take it. Still I might ask them if they know of anything in Seattle and re-submit my resume to the company. Old Navy is fine for a job; I like the clothes and I like the store itself, and I've had decent service at all of the ones I've been to.

This is all pending on the Hot Topic transfer, which is still in limbo. What's funny is that everyone on my end is super stoked and all for getting me to move yet stay within the company, but those in the Seattle area are the hardcore skeptics. After all, I'm an Idaho boy moving to "the big city" (cue the awkward, grizzled claim jumper/redneck voice) who is from a smaller store with much less volume. Oh well. I hope I don't have to change jobs, but I've said that before and once again my paying of bills and eating on a daily basis is more important to me for now. Sure I'd love to do these things with a job I love, but if it's not in the cards then it's just not in the cards! Time will tell, as it so often does.

To briefly comment on current events:

1- I want everyone to stop referring to that mother of 14 in CA as "The Octumom" because it sounds absurd and makes her sound like a 1950s sci-fi serial villain from outer space with designs on world domination. Come on, newspeople. Surely you can be more clever than this blatantly stupid moniker.

2- I saw that guy who created Facebook on The Today Show and really, truly think that he's some kind of high-functioning autistic. I also don't think he knows jack about what he's doing and that "connecting people and creating connections that connect people so that they can share information with each other" is just another word for a dating service. Good luck, sir.

3- There's that one study that says Conservatives are more likely to download (and pay for) pornography. This just in: Water is wet.

4- I still haven't done my taxes yet.



"Have I waited too long?
Have I found that someone?
Have I waited too long to see you?"

My Life Right Now: A Series of Sticky Notes

Another week of working makes me think that I really, really miss school.

A few days ago I was sitting in the apartment cleaning house, as it were, when suddenly I realized that a lot of my days off have been reduced to a To-Do list written on sticky notes. Then, suddenly, I just got this feeling all over that I really do miss school. It was instant and sudden and I knew what it was right away. There was no ambivalence to the feeling--It just was what it was. I think that I might be a traitor to underage kids everywhere, as well as college students, but damn it I miss school. I guess that I miss having something to do every day, really. A set of tasks and to-do's that aren't generated by me so much as generated by an overarching purpose. 

And I know that right now I have an overarching purpose: To save money and move to Seattle so that I can begin my career. But who knew 3 months would go by so slowly? Who knew I'd actually miss school not for what it brought to me (knowledge, education and the like) but because it was just something to do other than work? I don't know, man.

Alli's been teaching classes in Korea and recently realized that Koreans regard she and our friend Ellen as mythological creatures because of how they appear physically. Dragons, unicorns, and Eastern WA girls . . . The trifecta of mythology, really. You can of course read about her travels in her Blogabond account, which can be found on the left hand side of this page over in the "Blogs That I Read" section.

Tomorrow night we're going to go see our friend Kim's newest venture in acting, a romantic comedy called "Having a Great Time, Wish You Were Her." Kim's extremely generous parents bought our tickets and dinner, and I'm so stoked to see it! It's got a great cast made up of people that I know and apparently there's lots of awkward over-the-bra touching moments. And you know how I love me some second base.

Albums that I need to buy at the moment (which will be a running list until I buy them all):

-Lily Allen "It's Not Me, It's You"

-The Black Ghosts "[self-titled]"

-Andrew Bird "[self-titled]"

Have a great weekend, universe.

"Forget about guns, and forget ammunition,

I'm killing 'em all on my own little mission.

Now I'm not a saint, and I'm not a sinner

But everything's cool as long as I'm getting thinner."

The future freaks me out.

I'm fighting a cold at present. I had 2 solid days where I felt just awful, and sadly one of those days I worked but luckily the next day I had off. Now the cold has settled into my chest and I'm feeling about 80% myself. The aches and pains aspect of having a cold along with the runny nose are all out the door, but unfortunately I'm still coughing up a lung (and by lung I mean gross, oozy yellow stuff) every few minutes and I still feel listless. 

Time will tell if I can get better by this weekend, which promises to be fun times with a drag show on Saturday and a near-full day off on Sunday (back to back weekend days off--SHOCK!).

The drag shows in this town are a funny thing. Sometimes they remind me of the speakeasy style bars of the fifties and sixties where men and women had to sneak into dimly lit basement locations filled with smoke and probably more mustaches than you can shake a stick at (that's what she said). You might find prominent members of the community huddled around the bar area of a drag show all talking amongst themselves and stealing come hither glances at the younger set. You might also find doe-eyed college freshman unsure of their sexualities and both in awe of and aghast of this buffet of open expression the likes of which they might not have ever seen before. They dance with, hold hands with, and kiss people they never thought they would've kissed for the first time. The shows are also a breeding ground for gossip, and rumor, and unfortunate social missteps that can turn into the aforementioned ugliness. Who shows up with whom, who dances with whom, who lets someone buy their drinks . . . It's all up for scrutiny.

[side-bar: As I type this my cat, not satisfied with the recent trip to the litter-box she's just taken, has turned around to go back in it not to do her business, but to sufficiently bury it yet again. Weird.]

Anyway, I like going to the drag shows because I can get hammered, and usually a mild flirtation with someone will get me hammered. Shallow perhaps, but conversations have led to friendships with some people I've met there, and hey if there's a rum and Coke in it for me who am I to complain?

Last night Josh and I watched Futurama: Bender's Big Score and it was actually pretty hilarious and a really great follow-up to the series. I recommend it for anyone who loves the show or anyone who found it even mildly amusing when it was one, because it actually manages to be funny and touching, and there's a narwhale in it.

I have to work for a few hours today, weirdly. When you're not in school and you work a job that's in a college town, you sort of, to borrow a phrase from Futurama's Bender, "get boned" in terms of scheduling. Que cera, cera.

"Somewhere I have heard this before;

In a dream my memory has stored
As defense I'm neutered and spayed.
What the hell am I trying to say?"

The search for meaning continues!

So I updated my resume the other day and realized that the bulk of it is student media work and retail positions. Is that how resumes are supposed to look when you're first starting out? I think I might post mine on here for feedback/constructive criticism. 

Right now things look a little sparse, but hopefully that will change. I've got a bit of work lined up with a regional newsletter called Diversity (I don't think they have a web site otherwise I would link to it where these little parentheses are) writing a column for the local GLBTA Community Organization Inland Oasis. Fair warning, the web site is under construction in several places as the organization is fairly new; its st

ill very well done and has a very clean and clear design.

I've also e-mailed my former professor of my Media/First Amendment Law course regarding some on-campus work for the media department. I'm not a student anymore, but I emphasized the fact that I'd be willing to do any clerical or teaching assistant work for absolutely free. The only thing I want is a bump on my resume.

I've registered on Monster.com but I need to update the page when I have more time. Anyone know of any good Head Hunter web sites for fresh-out-of-college folks looking for a job?

In other news, this little picture has been circulating around the internet lately and I thought I'd share it with you all. Who doesn't love the furthering of viral yet hilarious material through mass circulation and hits on Google, right?

Courtesy of Brian Cronin's "Comics Should be Good!" Blog

Apparently this is an image that was slightly altered from an actual panel in a classic Batman comic . . . Though the original image's said comic is one of those "imaginary world" stories that were published again and again through the 1950s and 1960s in lieu of an actual, in-continuity story that would have lasting repercussions on a fictional character.

Wish I'd seen this around the holidays so I could engage in the funny as well!

Been watching a ton of 'The West Wing' lately. Man, it's great television! I know, I know, Aaron Sorkin is a genius and an incredible writer and everyone already knows that . . . But as someone who is just now getting into it thanks to the 3-disks a month plan on Netflix and my friend Kim's DVD collection, can I say that the episode where Leo McGary testifies regarding a certain Presidential health issue seriously had me to the brink of tears?! I nominate his and President Bartlett's friendship as the BEST older fellow bromance of the decade. 

Have a good week, everyone. I get to work today despite the near-foot of snow outside. Alas.

"God Speed, all the bakers at dawn.

May they all cut their thumbs, 

and bleed into their buns until they melt away."