All American Reject

I am currently in Atlanta at the bf’s nursing the wounds of my first job rejection of 2012.

Now I am not really sad about this rejection. I think this job would have been wrong for me. The position involved grassroots fundraising for the Democratic party, door to door, in Atlanta- which is to say it would only be marginally less soul sucking than working 2 part time service jobs.  It is a tough job- I have a new found respect for people who do this kind of work. All the people I met at the office were amazingly knowledgeable young people, versed in every argument of the apathetic donor, dogged in their pursuit of finding funding for the party. I enjoyed being around politically active people and having intelligent conversations, but at the end of the day, I am just as uncomfortable asking strangers to give me money to fund politics, even ones I fervently believe in, as I am asking them if they would like to upgrade to a Venti for just 50 more cents.

I went home last night with tail between my legs, got a bit drunk (did I mention the bf has two kegs of homebrew at his house…), watched happy television (oh Parks and Rec thanks for being my happy place), and went to bed. Lessons learned and time to move on. This last job search was more of a meh then a balled fisted huzzah. I need to put more effort in looking for a job then someone looking for a used futon on Craigslist.

Not that I know where to start, but I have some inspirational music to play me out.

 

Tags: againstme!, change, rejection, work

Resolutions

I am a fan of this time of year. This moment post holiday craziness, when everyone starts to feel hopeful about the new year and all of the newness it brings. If things were bad, we should have no regrets and just let it go- we have another 365 days to get it right. The internet practically implodes under the weight of the influx of articles on how to make and keep your resolutions. I’ve been reading Lifehacker like it’s my job, and I am pretty psyched for 2012

Resolutions are not for everyone, but they tend to work for me. Last year I made a promise to myself to quit a few bad habits, do things that make me happy, workout more, eat better, read 100 books- and while their have been some major ups and downs (I only read a 58 books)- I feel the year was a success. I went from being around 200 lbs and counting to a rather stable 185 lbs. I moved to Charlotte. I tried online dating and met a pretty awesome dude. After a very long journey, I finally have moments in my life when I feel very truly happy- for the first time in a long time.

So for this year, I have a brand new round of resolutions (some I think are technically goals) to work on.

Get a job I like- While there are moments when I enjoyed working the jobs I have since I graduated college, waiting tables is not something I want to be doing for the rest of my life. I have an exciting prospect coming up that is moving in the right direction, but even if it falls through I am going to find something this year that is closer to where I want to be.

Read 75 books- Perhaps a 100 books last year was a reach…

Get rid of my crap- I have clothes I never wear that I either need to sell or donate. Knick knacks and other stuff that are just cluttering up my room.

Continue to work out and be healthier- As a pump up to the year I am going to try out Jillian Michaels’ Ripped in 30 DVD that I bought a while back, but I am aiming to workout at least 3 times a week of exercise at a decent intensity and another 2 days of light activity. And it’s back to eating better. When I eat better, I am happier. So no more soda! More veggies! Eat real food!

That’s about it. Now they are all written down and out in the open, and only time will tell if I have the will power to maintain any of these things, but why the hell not try? It’s a brand new year.

Tags: 2012, lifehacker, resolutions

No Pigeons were harmed in the making of this post

I think, as I get older, I am starting to get way Hippy-er.  It could just be a general mellowing out, a better outlook on life as I get things straightened out and start moving in a happier more fulfilling direction. There is no cause for alarm. I haven’t started prancing around in flowy skirts, or participating in drum circles. It’s just the yoga.

I have fallen hard for the yoga. I loves me some yoga. I should also state for the record that I am very bad at yoga. Not only does my body not like to balance, stretch, or contort, but my mind is always wandering off like a small child into strangers vans- as soon as you tell it not to go there, it does. In fact I wrote the majority of this very blog post while attempting to fold myself into double pigeon.

I’ve found yoga to be useful for many reasons. The main one is just the fact that it is a gentle way to get my body in shape and feeling good. The feeling good part is way more important, and far harder, than the getting in shape part. After so many years of playing sports, from high school to the college level, this poor old body of mine has taken some hits. By the time I quit playing basketball in college, I was wearing a back brace, taping both my ankles and my arches, and getting regular stimm treatments on various parts of my body. My body was fed up with me, and it was starting to revolt. In yoga you are supposed to take notice of your body in a way that is far different from competitive sports. In competitive sports, it is often about pushing your body to the complete breaking point- How much can you lift? How fast can you sprint? How long can you grit your teeth and take the pain before you say uncle? I had college teammates that played with injuries far worse than mine (one that even went half a season on what we later found out was a broken foot), and it was seen as a badge of courage and toughness to take it to the limit.

It also helps get me out of the competitive mindset that I have with most physical activity. Whether it is basketball or beer pong, I have always felt the need to win. Playing at the college level means you are in constant competition. Naturally with other teams during games, but also with teammates during practice, when everyone is working hard for one of those starting spots. And sometimes against yourself. There isn’t really anything to compete about in yoga. In my first couple classes I found myself falling into those habits. How much lower than my neighbor could I lunge, etc? I kept telling myself that I could do better, mentally berating myself for being a beginner. This is something I am still working on, and I have taken to actually closing my eyes so I can’t see what other people are doing.

Tags: hippyshit, yoga

How the internet turned me into a slut and back again

The internet. Full of porn, endless timesucks, shopping sites, cat videos, and angry tweens tweeting for Biebs. Not a place where I ever thought I would meet people. I have seen far too many episodes of Law and Order: SVU (and don’t lie, so have you), and received chain email after chain email, about women who were smart, but none the less ended up being stuffed into dumpsters by people they met off the web. That being said, the internet has always held a particular thrall over me. When I was little I used to log on to AOL, and haunt chatrooms. I was smart enough to never want to meet anyone I talked to, but I got a strange thrill talking to people about sex. The internet was the place where I discovered my love of smutty stories, mostly dirty fanfic. I don’t think I am alone in my experiences- I’ve talked to enough friends that had the same awakenings, and can only guess how many more kids and teens learn the basics from porn on the internet. It may just be a hallmark of the Internet Age. So perhaps online dating, with all its stigmas and the general disdain it arouses in most people, it just another natural progression in the integration of our sex lives with the internet.

There were three reason I decided to try online dating. One- I met my last boyfriend at a bar and look how well THAT turned out. Two- A  few good friends of mine were trying it and outside of a few awkward dates, had yet to be dumpster stuffed. Third- how the hell do you meet people after college? Having no friends in Charlotte outside of my aunt and her adorable dog, I was not likely to meet tons of people through them. And I prefer not to date people at work- that ends only slightly better than sleeping with your ex.

I chose to test my luck on OkCupid, on recommendation from a friend. And it quickly became like crack. I thought in the begining that it was just a bout of latent narcissism; I have a strangely good time answering questions about myself (And OkC doesn’t really make the claim that their questions match you on “deep compatibility”, but rather how you feel about guns, god, and/or anal), and I threw myself into making a profile with much enthusiasm, and was slightly flattered by the amount of emails that flooded my inbox. I started out by replying to all of them, some of them better than others. I went on some dates… ok, I went on a LOT of dates… some of them better than others. (For a really great article on the pitfalls of online dating see Jill Filipovic’s article @ GOOD- ‘No Crazy Chicks’:Eight Red Flags I learned from Online Dating ) All of a sudden I felt burned out. I was not the type of girl who had ever managed a crazy social schedule, juggled multiple boys, or spent late nights on dates every night of the week. No, deep in my heart I am a lazy grandma. I knit, I go to bed at 9. I kvetch about loud music and have a hard time working my iphone because it is just too newfangled for me. But in the end I enjoyed my time on the dating circuit- It got me out of a much needed rush and was, for a time, a safe, easy environment from which I could experiment with what I was looking for in a relationship.

And luckily, this all has a happy ending. I ended up meeting someone, just as I was reaching the very end of my dating rope, who is awesome and sassy and makes me happy. Even if he does live hours away, (although I fear that is something for another post).

Tags: sex, john waters, internets, dating, goodmagazine

Kittens in the Christmas Spirit

Tags: christmas, cutebomb, kittens

Queen City: Week 2

Week 2 started off with a bang. My Aunt and I had the most amazing brunch at Boudreaux’s Louisiana Kitchen. I have always wanted to go to New Orleans and eat amazing food and flash my tits for beads, of course, but Boudreaux’s had the most amazing beignets. If you don’t know what they are, I feel sorry for you, I really do. They are heaven- deep fried and buried under a mountain of sugar so high as to give you a sugar boner. My aunt and I both got eggs Benedict with spinach and tomatoes on a croissant, and a side of the most fabulous Charleston grits. We spent the entire time eating super slowly to try and figure out what seasonings were in those things, to no avail.

The rest of the week was fairly slow. My unbridled enthusiasm for exploring took a bit of a hit, and I needed to get down to business and find a job. Step one was resume bootcamp, getting all my references in a row, etc. I camped myself out at Starbucks, sucking down as many iced coffees as it would take for me to punch job hunting in the face. I knew that I wanted to leave a resume at the comic book store, even though they didn’t say that they were hiring-so next I wrote a few cover letters.

By Friday, I was all good. printed out my resume’s- I applied first to the comic book store, Barnes and Noble, and Trader Joe’s- and went around dropping them off. Of course it was raining and of course each of those stores are in different directions- perhaps I should have spread it out over a few days, but I was so frazzled by the time I got to the comic book store, that I accidentally cut someone off when one of the lanes shifted. And that person happens to work at the comic book store. And I happened to walk in before her. Oh fuck my life. Naturally I came home and made myself a cocktail.

Saturday we went to see Harry Potter- which was amazing. I am not a weepy person. I made fun of my Aunt for being weepy before we got there and I balled my eyes out like a baby for the entire second half of the movie. We came back and waited for her friend to show up and drank far too much wine. Far too much wine. Sunday, I didn’t move from the couch, except to gather food like a barbarian. I don’t even think I peed all day. Just stayed there on the couch, eating crap food and watching crap television. Can you say 16 and Pregnant marathon?

Yes, you heard right. Sugar Boner

Week One in Queen City

The caravan that made its way down from the North,  which originally I thought was only going to be me and my mom, ended up being me, my mom, my Aunts-Anne, Doris, Jano, and Ruth, and my 8 month pregnant cousin Michelle. If this doesn’t sound like a setup for National Lampoon’s Family Vacation I don’t know what does. It seemed that out of everyone it was me that had the least amount of luggage- me, the person moving down to Charlotte for a year. My mom and I drove in one car, with everyone else in my Aunt Jano’s van, and I must confess that when I wasn’t driving I was passed out and drooling in the passenger seat. We stayed overnight in Richmond to break up the trip, and I pretty much rolled from the car into the bar- which not only had a great selection of local beers, but a cute bartender (Huzzah! for being single again!).

When we finally rolled into Charlotte and unpacked the cars, it steadily degenerated into drunken debauchery- oh I didn’t mention that we had packed a case of liquor and one of champagne in these cars? My poor preggo cousin had to settle for watching us make asses of ourselves. Needless to say, everyone was a little slow the next morning.

We had a baby shower for Michelle and Lavender on Saturday. I swear that baby already has enough clothes, toys, etc, for the next year. My aunts are ridiculous. Has anyone heard of a baby wipe warmer? This baby already has 2 of them.

I celebrated by picking up fireworks at the supermarket (I love the south), and setting them off in the backyard while slightly intoxicated. Huzzah!

They all packed up and left the next morning. Aunt Chris and I spent the next couple days recovering from all the fun. It’s been a long time since I have had both cable and internet, and I was more than happy to plant myself on the couch and veg-out.

On Wednesday Aunt Chris went back to work, and I was left to my own devices. I have been doing some research on stuff to do around Charlotte, and now it was time to go exploring. I went to a Knitting circle on Wednesday, that I found on meetup.com. Naturally I scoped out all the comic book stores- Heroes is AMAZING!!!! And the staff is super nice.

I’ve been trying to keep busy and out of the house. It’s tough not knowing anyone down here and it’s easy to be discouraged, thinking that I never will, but I’m not going to meet anyone sitting on the couch. This weeks goal is put in a few job applications and see what kind of responses I get. Getting a job would definitely help, even if it is part time, to meet people. Fingers crossed!

 

North Carolina

This winter has finally broke me. Do you hear that upstate New York? I’m done. No more snow. No more howling gales. No more lake effect crappy weather poo poo face.

As of June 1st, I am no longer gainfully employed at the Station, and I’m officially moving south to North Carolina to live with my Aunt Chrissie for awhile. My Uncle Marks was just deployed to Kuwait, or as my Aunt DD calls it- The sandbox, with the Army and so I am moving down there to keep her company/avoid another Upstate Winter.

I don’t actually have anything lined up job wise. I’m still confused as to how you look for jobs when you don’t know what you want to do? While at this point in time, any job is a job, and I’m not too picky, I wouldn’t mind actually doing something I enjoy. My job skills are fairly limited to a set of sparkling eyes, experience in wiedling obtuse feminist theory, and the ability to work a mean pipette. Any advice? Anyone?

Le Sigh. On the bright sigh, I already have a billion sight seeing suggestions. ::smilessheepishly:: My co-worker is from the South and gave me a list of must see things ranging from the weird- Babyland General Hospital, the birthplace of the Cabbage patch kids- to the grand Biltmore Estate, in Asheville. Also Charlotte has a Roller Derby Team. I’ve been yearning to see Roller Derby in action, and try it out for myself. I think I would be kick ass.

And of course, I have already scouted out comic book stores. After 5 years of being half an hour away from a comic book store, I am thrilled to note that not only does Charlotte have 2!!! comic book stores, they also have a CONVENTION IN JUNE! The only convention like thing I’ve been to is the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in New York, so I am doing my best to try and get down there the first week in June, since I probably won’t be officially moving down until Late June/Early July. MegaBus has insanely cheap fares between New York, DC, and Charlotte- only downside is traveling for the better part of 2 days to get there… Anyone want to go to a Con with me? I’ll bring snacks.

Tags: change, charlotte, comics, CONs, nc, roller derby, Travel, wanderlust, workworkwork

April Fools Day at the Office

Yesterday was April Fools Day, and while I’ve never been a huge celebrater, some of my co-workers are awesome and pulled some super shenanigans.

Rosemary spent the entire week filling up balloons and making a fake Portal cake. Enlisting the help of some of the people in Kerrick’s lab, she got him out of his office, which we then preceded to fill up with said balloons and cake. I wish I had a picture of Rosemary and Shane piled into the elevator bringing up bags of balloons, but the end results were pretty sweet, and Kerrick was surprisingly cavalier about working in an office filled with balloons. 

Kerrick’s lab then filled the free pile with all sorts of weird stuff- a dragon statue, a bottle of Tru Blood, half a bag of kitty litter, and a hub cap (free to a good home of course). By the end of the day, only the hub cap remained…

Tags: April Fools, awesomeness, portal, work

Credit where it’s due.

Another one of my UnResolutions was to get back to working out.

This was a rather thorny goal for me. It’s one of those thorny goals for everyone, I think- along with “eating better”, it can be sort of a hard goal to track and getting yourself into the groove is always a tough start. Moreover, I had always been active, albeit not by any spectacular willpower of my own- 3 hours of basketball practice sort of negates the need to drag oneself kicking and screaming to the gym.

Then I quit playing basketball and while my mental health has significantly increased, I let my physical health go the way of pizza, beer, and video games (why are you so addictive Beautiful Katamari? WHY?). This past summer, I bought myself a new bike in an effort to get back into shape, and obtain a mode of transportation. But I do live in Geneva, so biking past November 1st is so of treacherous- unlike my bike crazy friend from Saint Louis, I refuse to ride my bike in 3 feet of snow, ice, and alongside cars whose windshields are still half covered in ice. So my bike is now on its brand new trainer (CycleOps Magneto bought at my local bike shop), but I’m not really the kind of person that finds zen in staring a my walls, so I needed some variety in my workouts.

January is a pretty awesome time for shopping around blogs for Resolution tools. Everyone has resolutions to dress better/get organized/eat better/save money/spend a year not wearing pants/etc, and the bloggers sometimes have really creative tips and useful websites to share to get the ball rolling. Mint.com was a site recommended by a personal finance blogger at Budgets are Sexy I’ve been following, and it has been super helpful in keeping me on track (or at the very least, making me feel REALLY guilty for going over budget…). I had been hearing a lot of praise around town in favor of Bodyrock.tv, from people looking to get back on the fitness wagon, without joining a gym (I enjoy making funny faces when I workout, and the occasional pants off dance off celebration. It’s awkward doing that at a gym, people judge) and having to buy a crapload of exercise equipment you use once and never again.

I love this website. It’s fucking amazing. All the exercises are body weight exercises, under half an hour long, and easily adapted for beginners. The couple that run the website, Zuzana and Freddie, post new workouts everyday and show you how to do them, even giving variations for total beginners. Not only that, they give encouragement, diet tips, and life advice, and the community that has formed around the website is super supportive for people of all levels and ages. Don’t be discouraged when you first check the site out- It can look a little daunting for newcomers.

I started doing a combo of Bodyrock and biking about 6 weeks ago, and although I miss maybe one day a week, I’ve been doing great. I have a tendency to be hard on myself when it comes to working out. After all, there is always someone pushing themselves harder than you. You can always push yourself beyond your current limits. That’s your mentality when you play competitive sports, which is great, but not really helpful if you are transitioning to a life after college or high school sports. I’m not working out to make team better or to be stronger or faster than my competition; I’m just working out for me.

Tags: bodyrock.tv, fitness, unresolution, work it