Early Mornin' Ramblings...

Album of the Moment: Mariah Carey - Daydream (Butterfly and Emancipation are much better though)

I'm up at 4 in the morning after a weird nightmare in which I was a survivor in a sealed-off dormitory style building, fending off zombie attacks with about a dozen others. And these were the fast, rampaging zombies of 28 Days Later, not the slow dim-witted fools from Night of the Living Dead. Sometimes when I'm pounding it on a run outside and I get to a really hard hill, I tell myself there are zombies behind me, as a means of motivation. I really have to stop eating if I'm feeling sleepy. I don't know if there's anything scientifically proven about food-induced nightmares, but I'm gonna go with my gut (no pun intended) and stick to a glass of water before crashing. Sheesh.

I'm indulging myself in some random list making. If you don't care to read on, I won't blame you.

Movies I've Seen in '09

- Slumdog Millionaire
- Doubt
- The Wrestler
- Cadillac Records
- Marley & Me
- Eat Drink Man Woman
- Kung Fu Panda
- The Usual Suspects
- Meet the Browns
- Haute Tension
- Skinwalkers
- Obsessed
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- Zack and Miri Make a Porno

I also started Elizabeth, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Rachel Getting Married, but turned them all off at the halfway mark. I definitely won't waste valuable Facebook time watching a movie I don't like, no sir I won't! I do think it's fun to try different genres and actors, because it teaches you more about what you will and won't stand for. I think the common denominator behind all three of those movies is that they were either too slow to take off or made no sense altogether. Because movies only have 90-120 minutes to explain their thesis, I feel as though they should generally be fast paced. Develop your concept into a TV show if you care too much about character development. Anyways...

Concrete Loop has a new thread on singer Solange Knowles' expeditions in Europe. Seems as though some of her dates over there coincide with her sister's. Viewing the pictures of her in Barcelona and Amsterdam definitely aroused the tourist in me. It's just so much fun to be in different places and be surrounded by newness. I told myself that I was going to cool it on the traveling until I got a better hold on my job situation, but that carefree voice inside my mind tells me to throw caution to the wind and hop a plane somewhere. All in good time, I suppose.

In other news, I picked up my cap and gown from the university bookstore last week. Turns out that I get two tassels, one for each degree. Will I be placing both of them on my cap? You bet!

More lists...

Things I Want by the Age of 25
- Financial freedom (meaning all student loan debt eliminated)
- A new(er) car
- At least $10,000 in savings
- A job position that makes me not want to hop a plane to Barcelona or Amsterdam
- A strong, well-toned body
- A healthy, committed relationship

Places I've Thought About Visiting More than Once
- Brazil
- Thailand
- South Africa
- Japan
- Australia

The gym opens in approximately 90 minutes from now. I think I'll busy myself with a few more resume submissions before it opens. Gotta work some of that spaghetti off.

Why I Don't Worry Anymore

Album of the Moment: Jay-Z, American Gangster

Interesting Bible passage:

Luke chapter 12, verses 22-26:

Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

- New International Version

I also thought this was noteworthy. I pulled this from a status update from a Facebook friend:

Life is so not like a box of chocolates. You know that no matter what you pull out of the box, you will get chocolate. Life is more like that game where you use the claw to grab for a prize. And you may not get sh*t.

Although this is a somewhat pessimistic view on life, I found it hilarious nonetheless. I've learned to accept and even embrace the humor that comes from not having everything go my way. Sometimes things don't work out the way you hoped because of a shortcoming or folly on your behalf. At other times, it's just because that's the way the cookie crumbles. Either way it goes, I call for an end to worrying.

Yes, I'm still applying for employment positions that are right for me. No, I haven't been hired anywhere yet. Yes, I appreciate your concern. No, I'm not worried. And yes, I am well aware that graduation is less than two weeks away. And no, I'm not worried.

Site of the Moment - FmyLife

If you haven't visited this site, you definitely need to: F My Life. I love it! It's nothing but a series of brief anecdotes, contributed by various users across the net. Obviously, because the expression "F**k my life" is used as a means of exasperation when things aren't going your way, the anecdotes are HILARIOUS. I got bored in graphics class today and I started reading some. I had to put my hand over my face and look focused on my InDesign project just so that no one around me would think I was off task. A few quick samples, in case you aren't sold on the concept yet:

Today, I woke up with really dry, chapped lips. Still in bed, without my glasses on, I sleepily reached down into my purse for some chapstick and applied it. Upon awakening later I realized I had mistaken a mini Sharpie permanent marker for chapstick. I have a job interview today. FML

Today, I was responsible for taking care of Hoppers, the rabbit belonging to my sons 3rd grade class. Tomorrow my son returns Hoppers so the next student can care for him. That won't be happening because Hoppers hopped out my 5th story window. FML

Today, I was in the supermarket and I see this little boy trying to reach for something on the top shelf. I proceed to go over to him and ask if his mom knows where he is. The boy turns around and turns out he was actually a very angry midget. FML

Obviously, some of these could very well be fake, but they make for a good laugh anyways.

Let the Networking Begin...

I didn't have class yesterday, so I took the opportunity to meet up with one of my former supervisors, who I'll just refer to as J. J managed my first internship back in 2006, and we've since stayed in touch. Unfortunately for her, she was laid off in February 2007, a few months after I returned to school. After going through the motions for a bit, she found a managerial position at a modeling agency. As it turned out, she hated that job, and found a better one as an Account Manager for a well-known coffee company. In the interim between July '06 and yesterday, she and I kept in touch via e-mail and Google chat (important later).

After a few failed attempts at meeting up, she and I met at Ria's Bluebird, one of Atlanta's many independently-owned restaurants. She and I spent a good hour catching up, and as I was telling her about my current job hunt, she advised me to maintain a standard. What I mean by this is to say that she recommended I continue to look for a position that would be a good fit for me, while working odd jobs in between to keep the bills paid. Admittedly, I'm relieved. Given the current state of the economy, the average emerging professional would probably be advised to hop on the first offer that came along, but J's advice has always been sound, and I felt even better after our meeting because holding out for a good position is exactly what I had intended to do.

A month or so ago, I was entirely gung ho about shipping off to Japan or Korea to put the real world on the back burner and play around a bit. I still think that's a great opportunity, and while I haven't completely closed the door on it, I've been cogitating (SAT words, yeah!) on several factors. The truth is that I think a great deal on where I see myself in five years. By that time, I want to be in a challenging and rewarding job position that makes the most out of me and I continue to make the most out of. And as the days pass, every lucrative job offer that I see in some grand city like New York, Chicago, or Miami mandates at least several years of experience. Bustling off to teach English in Saigon would be a hell of a good time, but when I eventually returned, I know I'd find myself well behind my peers, already engrossed in getting their feet wet with entry level positions in smaller markets in order to pave their way towards better cities and better pay. I don't consider myself a rat in the system, but the hard truth is that anyone looking to excel in any field needs to put in the work, point blank. The thought of earning $28,000 after the age of 25 doesn't really appeal to me.

I just made a "tsk tsk" clicking sound with my tongue after a brief pause in writing this. Do I really want to turn down the possibility of more traveling? No, but I am an adult, and as such I have to be aware that every action has a consequence. Case in point: depleting my savings account to study in Paris in 2007, working my butt off to replenish my funds, and then depleting it again to fly back for a low-paid internship in 2008. I had best make that experience count towards a good job. Perhaps I'll be able to find a way to marry my love of new places and my desire for a job in my field by landing some cool gig outside of the US. We'll see what happens.

I alluded to e-mail and Google chat earlier in this post, and I'll elaborate on why. Networking is crucial to staying afloat in your industry, and with electronic media, networking has never been easier. No, I'm not on MySpace, and I don't know if I'll be Tweeting anytime soon, but I try to make the most of my e-mail by constantly staying in touch with former employers, as well as those who I've interviewed with, only to be passed over. Yeah, most e-mails sent to those in the latter category end up unanswered, but it's important to try.

Site of the moment: Meet Up. I just joined, and already, I've found a French speaking culture club that meets on a monthly basis. I think it'll be a good way to keep the creative juices flowing. I met with a former French teacher today at the coffee shop on campus to have a chat in French, and boy am I rusty.

A Thing of the Past

At the moment I'm putting together a document that includes all the research from my advertising capstone course. We've been working for the last four months to think of ways to address the college binge drinking problem, and we've finally come up with a serviceable campaign that "we believe will prove effective in our mission to confront the binge drinking situation." I've become so familiar with writing like an account planner and talking like a telemarketer, that I jokingly advise anyone to double check their wallets after a conversation with me. I may just swipe a $5 from your billfold. You just never know.

Speaking of telemarketing - although I enjoyed the weekly paychecks (especially given the current state of the economy), I was working way too many hours at the site and with several key assignments due over the next four weeks, I found it best to focus all of my energy and effort towards the completion of those assignments, so that I do graduate, or "roll out," as I like to say it.

Quitting the telemarketing site returned 30 hours of time to my disposal, which I made pretty good use of last week. Not only have I been scoping out some ideal job arrangements (more on that later), but I have also returned to something of a social life.



This week I was contacted by a friend with a spare ticket to see Lady Gaga perform at Center Stage in Atlanta. Funnily enough, she told me about her plans to go to the concert at the beginning of March, while I was in the midst of my brief stint at the telemarketing site. Ordinarily, work commitments would've precluded me from attending, but because I was a newly free agent, I of course said yes. Lady Gaga turned to be every bit as charismatic and coquettish on stage as in her music videos and televised performances. I grinned from ear to ear when she said, "People ask me, 'Gaga, why do you talk about sex, and fame, and sequins in your music?' I said, 'Because those are the things I know about. Everyone here is an expert at something.'" This was made even more hilarious when a flamboyant guy behind me yelled, "FELLATIO! I'm good at fellatio!"

Good times. Back to work.

EDIT: I titled this entry "A Thing of the Past" because I am officially declaring worry to be that thing. Man, am I a terrible writer or what? Can't even remember my own diatribes.

In Memoriam...

Not more than ten minutes ago, I learned that Andy Hallett passed away on March 29 as a result of an ongoing battle with heart disease. This really hit me, as his role on Angel is one of the reasons why I enjoy genre television so much. Angel, along with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, were really creative shows that were scary, funny, and sad, but always very interesting to watch. I like to think that every successful genre show of the 21st century owes a great deal to Joss Whedon, creator of both shows, along with the now defunct Firefly and Dollhouse, which currently airs on FOX at Friday at 9:00PM EST.

I would like to write more, as I haven't contributed anything within the past two weeks, but I don't want to take away from the moment. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sitting here with tears streaming down my face, but I do respect this guy's talent and what it did for one of the best shows ever to grace television. Thanks so much for your talent, Andy. Rest in peace.

Quick To-Do List

Sometimes it helps to see things in print:

1. Return videos to Blockbuster (and maybe rent more)
- I rented Eat Drink Man Woman, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and The Abandoned. I'm keen to rent Meet the Browns, Cadillac Records, and maybe Rachel Getting Married

2. Order Graduation Announcements

3. Get cap and gown

4. Graphics test on Monday

5. Fill out more job applications (I am lagging on this so bad it's not even funny. I try to remind myself that I'm really shooting myself in the foot if I don't step this up)

6. File Taxes (my least favorite thing!!!)

7. Finish and submit internship evaluation in order to receive class credit so that I will have a reason to complete objectives #2 and 3
- I returned from France in December! What is wrong with me?! Why is this thing not done yet?!!! I even got an email from my advisor reminding me to do this. She probably thinks I don't even want to graduate, haha)

Already Completed:
- Pay Power Bill
- Pay Water Bill
- Pay Rent for April

And to think, there are actually people who PAY to have things like this done for them. Curses...