Before anyone starts posting my face on milk cartons, here I am!
And here are a couple reasons why I was out of commission here lately:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUiTCmR1I9E
http://queens.ny1.com/content/top_stories/119160/mets--k-rod-triumphs-over-a-rod-in-subway-series
This weekend -- hopefully, a long one for those of you with gainful employment -- my apartment becomes an inn. I got friends from Nashville, Philly and Cleveland all crashing here at some point from Thursday-Saturday. Should be interesting, just hope they're not expecting food...or a bed.
On the job front, I have an interview tomorrow in the city with the good folks at WebMD. While I'm not panicking just yet (unemployment starts tomorrow, apparently), I am starting to get antsy as far as life direction. And I still can't get that damn green apron out of my mind; it's become a near-obsession. I have a feeling no matter what happens, I'll end up trying to get in there, if only for some extra spending cash and discounted coffee.
Alas, not much else too exciting going on here. I'm getting a couple new(ish) music projects off the ground, since I have ALL THIS TIME. If you have any fun band names in your head, just screaming to get out, lay some on me!
Take care, y'all.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Weehawken outlaw...
So, I really need to open my mail in a more timely fashion. I opened one of my many Official Notice letters from one of the many surrounding towns (I hate parking tickets and "forget to pay them.) and realized that there was a warrant for my arrest for a real-deal ticket I got. (That epic commute I used to do really did wonders for my driving record.) So, I had to post $160 bail yesterday and I have a court date next Tuesday. All this for improper, but totally understandable, passing.
Then, tonight, I was scheduled to attend night court to fight a different ticket. I take the "independent" bus ALL the way there (10 minutes) to find there is no court tonight. So, you can blame the Weehawken Town(ship?) for no witty Night Court comments here or fun Night Court YouTube videos. Wee, indeed.
However, today, there was some production from this modest apartment! I give you answer to the oft-asked question: what do you do with your money? (Bookcases built by The Dad Depot.)
Exhibit A (brought to you by ESPN):
That's what I did today. Redecorated. So, at least when people do come over, they'll think I'm a man of wealth and taste. The truth will be our little secret.
Fifteen followers! Counting never gets old to me, obviously. Thanks for caring!
Then, tonight, I was scheduled to attend night court to fight a different ticket. I take the "independent" bus ALL the way there (10 minutes) to find there is no court tonight. So, you can blame the Weehawken Town(ship?) for no witty Night Court comments here or fun Night Court YouTube videos. Wee, indeed.
However, today, there was some production from this modest apartment! I give you answer to the oft-asked question: what do you do with your money? (Bookcases built by The Dad Depot.)
Exhibit A (brought to you by ESPN):
That's what I did today. Redecorated. So, at least when people do come over, they'll think I'm a man of wealth and taste. The truth will be our little secret.
Fifteen followers! Counting never gets old to me, obviously. Thanks for caring!
Monday, May 10, 2010
....and we're back!
OK, so the weekend came and went and I didn't blog. I guess that is actually counter to the spirit of this blog. Mission statement fail.
Hello again, dear followers. There are now 12 of you. I appreciate all your support and Google reader additions!
First, an employment update!
I still don't have a job.
...and, now, sports....
Actually, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm going to land this medical writing gig in Hoboken. Sure, it's not The Dream, but tough to knock The Paycheck I'd be getting. Also, it would be on a consultant basis, which is perfect for my flighty, noncommittal self right now. I'm also very lucky to have a solid recruiter working with me on this, as I apparently have NO idea what my skills are actually worth. I undersold myself by about $10-15 an hour, but fortunately, she corrected this messtimation. For God's sakes, Jim, I'm a writer, not a salesman.
I've also become increasingly preoccupied with becoming a part-time Starbucks barista. Please take a few moments to imagine me in the green apron. I think I'd look dashing AND fetching. My main motivation for this wild career turn is that I'm nearly 89% sure that they offer health insurance, even if you work part-time. And there is one located right down the cliff from me. Convenience, mindless work, benefits: that pretty much screams my name.
There's a lot going on this week in the land of Permanent Saturdays. Most interesting among my plans is attempting to build a horseshoe pit in my parents' backyard. Please take a few moments to imagine me doing any sort of manual labor. OK, that's enough laughing. I have no proof, but I'm fairly convinced that my parents have a bet with each other about whether or not I'll actually do this. I'd also be fairly certain that my mom is the one who bet on me, as she is wont to do. So, I sort of have to do it now...if only to see the old man lose his shirt. Of course, there could also be no bet...but, there still would be a pretty bitchin' horseshoe pit. Everyone wins.
Speaking of overactive imaginations, I'm also going to restart my scattered mess of a book I've been working (used loosely here) on for about a year. I just wish I had any idea about a plot, storyline, theme, etc. Instead, I have a few pretty good scenes and one interesting bar description... New York Times Book Review, here I come!
Hope Monday treated all you productive working folks well!
Hello again, dear followers. There are now 12 of you. I appreciate all your support and Google reader additions!
First, an employment update!
I still don't have a job.
...and, now, sports....
Actually, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm going to land this medical writing gig in Hoboken. Sure, it's not The Dream, but tough to knock The Paycheck I'd be getting. Also, it would be on a consultant basis, which is perfect for my flighty, noncommittal self right now. I'm also very lucky to have a solid recruiter working with me on this, as I apparently have NO idea what my skills are actually worth. I undersold myself by about $10-15 an hour, but fortunately, she corrected this messtimation. For God's sakes, Jim, I'm a writer, not a salesman.
I've also become increasingly preoccupied with becoming a part-time Starbucks barista. Please take a few moments to imagine me in the green apron. I think I'd look dashing AND fetching. My main motivation for this wild career turn is that I'm nearly 89% sure that they offer health insurance, even if you work part-time. And there is one located right down the cliff from me. Convenience, mindless work, benefits: that pretty much screams my name.
There's a lot going on this week in the land of Permanent Saturdays. Most interesting among my plans is attempting to build a horseshoe pit in my parents' backyard. Please take a few moments to imagine me doing any sort of manual labor. OK, that's enough laughing. I have no proof, but I'm fairly convinced that my parents have a bet with each other about whether or not I'll actually do this. I'd also be fairly certain that my mom is the one who bet on me, as she is wont to do. So, I sort of have to do it now...if only to see the old man lose his shirt. Of course, there could also be no bet...but, there still would be a pretty bitchin' horseshoe pit. Everyone wins.
Speaking of overactive imaginations, I'm also going to restart my scattered mess of a book I've been working (used loosely here) on for about a year. I just wish I had any idea about a plot, storyline, theme, etc. Instead, I have a few pretty good scenes and one interesting bar description... New York Times Book Review, here I come!
Hope Monday treated all you productive working folks well!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Mets and Howard, Mets and Howard...
It feels as if the Mets and Howard Stern both know I have nothing better to do with my time but watch/listen to them. The Mets have played quite a few day games and The Stern Show has been pretty great of late. Of course, the Mets lost yet another extra-inning game to the Reds, so their generosity I can do without.
Today was one of those days that I truly enjoyed, but worry I can get used to too easily. Met up with someone who also isn't working (but, at least she's in grad school) and just chilled out. It's been frighteningly effortless to drop out of the real world and become accustomed to not having any daily 8-hour obligations. Of course, I do get a sudden dose of reality often enough when people want to go out on Cinco de Mayo (tonight) and I'm like, "Yes! No, wait, I have $300 to my name for the rest of my life..."
Well, hopefully not. The unemployment folks need to interrogate me next week before they gave me my hard unearned money. So, the earliest I can get some Obama Bucks is probably around this time next week. Fortunately, my last paycheck came through, so I was able to pay rent. Riveting stuff, I know. Aren't you glad you're following this, 10 followers o' mine? (Thanks, by the way!)
Also, though, I know that the inevitable feeling of losery will creep in when I realize that I really should be doing something with my time besides zoning out to various distractions, entertaining though they may be (for 9 innings, at least...stupid Mets). As I said before, my career aspirations are fanciful, but it does appear that now is the time to at least try and go for them. I need to get over the fact that they a) sound really delusional when you say them out loud (writer and/or musician [or drummer, for you people who actually can play notes out there]) and b) they require the kind of dedication and motivation I've yet to show on a consistent basis for the past 31 years. And then there's that: at 31, is this really the time to be trying your hand at what probably is a younger man's game? The game where the odds of success are laughable? My old man and some friends tell me I'm still young enough to take a few risks, though that time does seem to be rapidly dwindling.
Seriously, aren't you glad you're reading this? Will he or won't he? The suspense!
Well, what he will be doing is at least getting these two freelance projects done this week. Typical of me, these have been ready to be written for weeks and now and I've just spaced out on doing them. This week, for sure. Perhaps if I write it and people read it, I'll feel more obligated to do it. On another friend's blog, she wrote that no matter what has come up in her life, she has known that, at heart, she is a writer. That was at once inspirational and deflating. Deflating because I've spent most of the past few years talking a good game about being a writer, but with nothing much to show for it in terms of output and ideas. I guess that's where this comes in, something to keep me at least typing away on something not Instant Messenger or Gmail.
Anyway, folks, when those freelance pieces that I WILL be writing this week are posted, I'll link you to them here so you know I did, indeed, follow through.
Thanks again to the 10 Apostles!
Related media:
Today was one of those days that I truly enjoyed, but worry I can get used to too easily. Met up with someone who also isn't working (but, at least she's in grad school) and just chilled out. It's been frighteningly effortless to drop out of the real world and become accustomed to not having any daily 8-hour obligations. Of course, I do get a sudden dose of reality often enough when people want to go out on Cinco de Mayo (tonight) and I'm like, "Yes! No, wait, I have $300 to my name for the rest of my life..."
Well, hopefully not. The unemployment folks need to interrogate me next week before they gave me my hard unearned money. So, the earliest I can get some Obama Bucks is probably around this time next week. Fortunately, my last paycheck came through, so I was able to pay rent. Riveting stuff, I know. Aren't you glad you're following this, 10 followers o' mine? (Thanks, by the way!)
Also, though, I know that the inevitable feeling of losery will creep in when I realize that I really should be doing something with my time besides zoning out to various distractions, entertaining though they may be (for 9 innings, at least...stupid Mets). As I said before, my career aspirations are fanciful, but it does appear that now is the time to at least try and go for them. I need to get over the fact that they a) sound really delusional when you say them out loud (writer and/or musician [or drummer, for you people who actually can play notes out there]) and b) they require the kind of dedication and motivation I've yet to show on a consistent basis for the past 31 years. And then there's that: at 31, is this really the time to be trying your hand at what probably is a younger man's game? The game where the odds of success are laughable? My old man and some friends tell me I'm still young enough to take a few risks, though that time does seem to be rapidly dwindling.
Seriously, aren't you glad you're reading this? Will he or won't he? The suspense!
Well, what he will be doing is at least getting these two freelance projects done this week. Typical of me, these have been ready to be written for weeks and now and I've just spaced out on doing them. This week, for sure. Perhaps if I write it and people read it, I'll feel more obligated to do it. On another friend's blog, she wrote that no matter what has come up in her life, she has known that, at heart, she is a writer. That was at once inspirational and deflating. Deflating because I've spent most of the past few years talking a good game about being a writer, but with nothing much to show for it in terms of output and ideas. I guess that's where this comes in, something to keep me at least typing away on something not Instant Messenger or Gmail.
Anyway, folks, when those freelance pieces that I WILL be writing this week are posted, I'll link you to them here so you know I did, indeed, follow through.
Thanks again to the 10 Apostles!
Related media:
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
When writers lose jobs, writers start blogs...
....and then foist them upon their friends. You're welcome.
So, this is actually kind of embarrassing. Yet another writer-type with a blog. We're as prevalent as herpes in Belmar. Was that snarky? No, I think it was. And I apologize; I loathe snark.
Anyway, this is my maiden voyage toward ending my lifelong poserdom: writer who doesn't really write, reader who can't finish a book, nerd who actually knows very little, etc., etc. I'm pretty sure the definition of lazy is dreaming big and executing small. Well, no more! I'm dreaming smaller...
I'm choosing to view this second bout with unemployment with the ultimate of silver lining perspectives. As someone who has very successful and stable friends, I've often felt envious that they were able to figure out their passions early and drive steadily toward achieving career incorporating those passions. My career aspirations, for better or worse, sound as fanciful as they did in kindergarten. So, I'm actually here to announce that I'm becoming a farmer/firefighter/Michael Jackson.
Anyway, I invite you all to come with me on a journey to...somewhere. Disclaimer: it might be short-lived if this one job pans out. The lure of steady pay is strong with this one. However, the pull to throw all logic and sense out this here window and take some of the chances I've been too lazy or fearful to...take...(Someone provide me with a better word there!) is becoming equally as strong.
Related media:
So, this is actually kind of embarrassing. Yet another writer-type with a blog. We're as prevalent as herpes in Belmar. Was that snarky? No, I think it was. And I apologize; I loathe snark.
Anyway, this is my maiden voyage toward ending my lifelong poserdom: writer who doesn't really write, reader who can't finish a book, nerd who actually knows very little, etc., etc. I'm pretty sure the definition of lazy is dreaming big and executing small. Well, no more! I'm dreaming smaller...
I'm choosing to view this second bout with unemployment with the ultimate of silver lining perspectives. As someone who has very successful and stable friends, I've often felt envious that they were able to figure out their passions early and drive steadily toward achieving career incorporating those passions. My career aspirations, for better or worse, sound as fanciful as they did in kindergarten. So, I'm actually here to announce that I'm becoming a farmer/firefighter/Michael Jackson.
Anyway, I invite you all to come with me on a journey to...somewhere. Disclaimer: it might be short-lived if this one job pans out. The lure of steady pay is strong with this one. However, the pull to throw all logic and sense out this here window and take some of the chances I've been too lazy or fearful to...take...(Someone provide me with a better word there!) is becoming equally as strong.
Related media:
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