Month: July 2012

boston
10 Jul 2012

2012: week twenty-seven

July 1 – July 7

I would say this was a “roll with the punches” kind of week, but I don’t know how much rolling I did. It was more like a “get punched in the stomach” week. Nothing job-related, this time, but everything else was not going so well this week… which was kind of comforting, because at least I could say to myself “Well, maybe you will get a shiny new job and then this will all will feel like small change.

(Or I will get rejected and start to cave in on myself. Either or)

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. There was a Wet Hot American Summer party on Monday, Fourth of July shenanigans on Wednesday, and I made two kinds of delicious cupcakes – Brown sugar poundcake with brown butter glaze and Champagne. We got caught on the roof during a flash rainstorm, during the fireworks show – a soggy, fun memory that I think I will have for life.

Also, I woke up the next morning with awesome looking curly hair. Fourth of July miracle.

And once I make it through this week, I get a week in Michigan.

I think I can handle that.

Reading:

boston
04 Jul 2012

go fourth

I have always been a sucker for holidays, for traditions, for rituals.

Consequently, I have always been a whiny baby when traditions get spoiled. And not just because it took me longer than usual to develop coping skills: usually, I would decide something was a tradition without letting anyone else in on the secret and then leave them to deal with my seemingly irrational antics over a holiday weekend.

One such example: I was a kid, so I loved fireworks. I grew up in one of those states where fireworks were so illegal, I’ve actually only held a sparkler on one occasion (I got scared and threw it on the ground) – so pyrotechnics were quite the thrill. We went a few times to the city fairgrounds and sat in stadium bleacher seats and watch, but one year we went to some crazy fireworks show that involved a long-ish drive, a shuttle bus to a large clearing, some kind of emcee with what I recall to be a religious message, and scads and scads of people.

It was basically my first rock concert. Of course I thought we’d go every year.

365 days later, I sulked in my backyard in the dark, angry and offended that my parents didn’t understand my deep, cyclical need to watch some exploding gunpowder in Lambertville, PA. Much to my surprise, my neighbors ended up setting off some illegal something-or-others later on, but where was the drama? The roadtrip? The throng of people?

Yes, I was an incorrigible child. Likely an incorrigible adult as well.

But luckily enough, I have moved to the fireworks capital of the country.

After two years of watching the show from the waterfront, I have a new understanding for my parents’ choice to Just Stay Home. But lucky enough for me, Boston has a tradition of 4th of July celebration – I will be attending not one but two parties today, one of which involves a rooftop view of the show.

That’s more than enough to please me.

Happy fourth, everyone!

1
grad school
03 Jul 2012

notes from the job hunt, vol. 3

It is July. I have applied for 43 jobs. Since March, have been considered for 10 positions.

I am no longer being considered for 4 positions. Two decided on other candidates and one had last minute budget challenges and was not able to fill the position at all.

I am still in the running for 4 positions: two I would love to accept, two would require some tough decisions.

 

Time is running out for optimal decision-making.

September 1 is the day I am kicked out of my apartment. It would be lovely to either have a job sometime before this date, or to know for sure about any pending jobs so I can choose an abode appropriately.

It is also the day my health insurance expires… so… there’s that.

I am still feeling hopeful.

I’m applying for fewer and fewer jobs – 20 in May, only 11 in June, and only two currently on my “to apply for” docket. This is natural, because as time ticks by, my geographic range shrinks significantly. But there are still jobs coming up, jobs that I feel qualified for. And maybe the early fall is a good time to find a library job in the Boston area – the new grads have already found jobs or got the heck out of town?

There is the blind panic, yes, but I still have options. I still, miraculously, have two jobs. I have supportive friends and family and professional relationships. The jobs I am applying for, I think, would be challenging and great for starting my career. I am learning a lot about myself from this process.

I am so happy to watch all of my friends get all sorts of exciting jobs all over the place.

My fellow grad school colleagues are an exceedingly fun, bright, talented group of people and they are, one by one, landing really exciting jobs. I now have librarian & literature friends working all over Massachusetts – Newburyport, Worcester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Westfield, Boston, Plymouth – and in Missouri, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Florida and elsewhere. Every time I get together with friends, someone else in the group has something new to celebrate.

I am glad that I have spent the last three years hanging out with them, and their successes give me hope.

 

2
goals
02 Jul 2012

2012: week twenty-six

June 24 – June 30

This week, I struggled a lot with this whole “self motivation” thing. My life no longer has a lot of those helpful supports that enable productivity – jobs where I sit in front of a computer, regularly scheduled work shifts, time by myself at home. But life is life, and now it’s time to work on discipline, habits, and other skills that keep me from feeling like a useless, underemployed lump.

On Friday, I went to a job interview in a beach town in Eastern Connecticut. Afterwards, we paid 5 dollars to park in someone’s front lawn and spent a few hours in the sun & sand on the Long Island sound.

First of all, I think I should start going to the beach after every interview. Packing a nice bag with snacks and sunscreen and a book counteracts some of that pre-interview dread.

Second of all, the above home is available for year-round rent in the area, for the same price as my current two bedroom apartment, and includes:

  • Three bedrooms
  • Large kitchen
  • Basement with washer & dryer hook up
  • Two car garage
  • Access to a private beach

I’ve been applying for a lot of jobs in the Boston metro area, but I think I might be doing it wrong…

Reading:

Watching:

  • LOST Season Four, you are ridiculous.
  • Watching This Emotional Life, a three-part PBS special on happiness. Very interesting and engaging – definitely recommend!

 

book reviews
01 Jul 2012

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

After reading her debut graphic novel, Smile, I decided that she and fellow comic artist, Hope Larson, were probably Co-Patron Saints of Middle School Girls. Well, maybe Judy Blume retains some of that sainthood – who can forget Margaret Simon and crew? – but I think these two artist ladies are certainly picking up where Blume left off.

Telgemeier’s latest – Drama, available in September – gives us Callie, a purple-haired, excitable theater techie who juggles 7th-grade-caliber boy troubles with the upcoming spring musical – she’s painting the sets. The book spans the length of the show’s preparations, from auditions to closing night, and chronicles the many small dramas and social intricacies that inevitably arise during high pressure situations.

But all drama aside (ha), what I really liked about Callie is that although she was unabashedly and refreshingly young – her worries, her exuberance, her boy-craziness – she is also a bright, driven female character with interests and skills. She’s obsessed with theater in a way that only seventh grade girls can be (and I know of what I speak), and it’s this energy – energy  to learn, to do, to study old movies and collect soundtracks- that drives her decisions and her character growth, not what boys think of her.

Basically, Callie gets to run around and be a well-adujusted 12 or 13-year-old, hang out with her friends, and also kiss some boys. Awesome. If only my own 7th grade self could have been so self-actualized. I think I liked Callie and liked this book so much because after years of reading about the pain and misery and angst of middle school, Telegemeier has given us a book that makes junior high seem like fun. What a novelty!