The View Up Here

I have consciously decided not to blog for the last few weeks, because my life took a left turn that I didn't see coming, and I really wanted to see where I ended up before chronicling any sort of epic (or debacle, depending upon the outcome). Because God has blessed me, it's been epic, but anything but a debacle. Dig it: I am now the (full time) Office Manager at Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. Yes, Utah. Land of "Mormanity" as my friend PJ called it. I'm working for the Catholic Diocese here, and today was my first day on the job. Everything turned around so quickly, I'm still a little disoriented. Here's the timeline: Aug 5 = realized I wouldn't see a paycheck from the Part Time Job #2 until Oct 1 even though I'd have started working on Aug 25. Hours at Part Time Job #1 had been cut to 12 per week for the rest of the summer. I emailed Sarah, my dear former roommate who now works on Simon's Cat over in London to...

And I don't mean World of Warcraft. Okay, people, from the events of this morning, I believe the damn has broken, and I'm getting back with the flow instead of crashing up against solid rock as I have been for two and a half weeks. You'll recall in my last posting the fact that I made a very basic mistake in a cover letter. So, I have learned a few things from that situation. Namely, that I have to stop trying so hard and give myself a chance to just be alive for a while. I know that sounds all corny and, well, California (okay, it also sounds like Ithaca). But really, I've been busily trying to fix everything - my relationship, other people's fucked-up-ness, my own fucked-up-ness, getting the PERFECT job that will lead me down the path of righteousness and wild success. After flying across the country with my cat to start a new life in a new land. Jeebus, that's kind of a lot. For one person. In two weeks. Okay, but here's the kicker. HOW I figured this ...

So I better not fuck it up. I got a job lead for a part-time position at some small, independent production company, and I was so excited over it (read: anxious) that I whipped off a cover and resume immediately, which was around 8:30 a.m. on Friday. By Saturday afternoon I had a rejection email in my inbox, and the tone of it was quite snarky, so I inquired for more details, and I was told in an even snarkier tone that I'd spelled her company name wrong, therefore it was rushed and I had no attention to detail. I made the classic, #1 FUCK UP in a job search. This brought me to tears - how stupid can I be? But the truth is, it WAS rushed, because I constantly feel this burning urgency, born of fear, that if I don't jump on every lead RIGHT NOW, I'm going to lose everything and get nowhere. This kind of anxiety results in skipping through the details. And how many other letters did I send out with mistakes? Maybe none, maybe all. I don't even want to think about...

But at least I'm here... watching Babylon 5, which, incredibly is 15 years old. I'm part-way through season 2, and I am really impressed with its "novel for television" storytelling. The Battlestar Galactica reboot owed A LOT to B5. The drag is waiting for Netflix to get me the next disc. Last night I watched 3 episodes and killed half a bottle of wine. This morning I polished off the 4th episode on the disc (I bet you thought I was gonna say I polished off the other half of the wine, din't you?) ADDENDUM: In searching for an appropriate B5 photo, I came across a spoiler I didn't want to see. Do you know how hard it is not to cross paths with spoilers from a show that was aired 15 years ago? Drats! I will be spending my afternoon with more job searching, which I did all day yesterday until my eyeballs were hanging out of their sockets. Online job searching is hellish, people, I'm here to tell you this fact. Cover letters are even worse. It's like ...

My days are all jumbled up and I'm jumping around from one thing to the next without pause. It's okay, though. I am productive when things get like this, though I am inevitably glad when things calm down. Having coffee with people before I leave, sending out Christmas prezzies to family in Boston, writing a few holiday cards, working on projects that I need to finish before I leave town, applying for jrrbs (which takes up 80% of my time, between revising resumes, writing covers, and figuring out who to address the letters to because those job search websites are designed to keep us poor slobs job seekers in the dark as much as possible). Enjoying every minute of it, though!

Today I wrapped up the temp job of fame and ill repute. Augustus Gloop who hit on me last week made sure to give me the cool farewell of "best of luck to ya" while not looking up from his book. A few of the folks stopped to say thanks and wish me good luck (for real) in L.A. on their way out. And of course my candy-loving pal and I said a sad farewell. I accomplished this by paging him as Barry White. Yes, that's right. Well, when's the last time your co-worker called your desk to play Barry White over the phone? Henceforth, my chocolate-craving former coworker will be known as Barry White in these blog pages. Thanks, Barry, for making my boring days of waiting for the phone to ring much less boring, and for making me smile when I was grumpy. I didn't end up getting that temp gig at the insane asylum, so tomorrow I'm back to my freewheeling writer life on Funemployment. Tutoring, editing, writing, looking for freelance work. Back to dreaming and planning for ...

As you know, I'm gearing up for my big move to L.A. on January 5, 2012. Big news on that front: I've just confirmed an apartment - different from the one I was going to take - that will keep me in Burbank and cost a fraction of what the other place would've cost me. I'll have a roommate, a friend of TL's who also works at Disney. Really looking forward to it! I'm so grateful this worked out, because I was stressing over the high rent of the other place. Next big hurdle (other than getting a job, OBVIOUSLY) will be getting a car. Well, actually the next hurdle is selling my current car at a decent profit so I can afford to buy a car in L.A. Speaking of which: FOR SALE: 1998 Nissan Sentra, 134,000 miles, in great mechanical condition, some cosmetic sadness here and there, just inspected, 4 snow tires with a couple seasons left in 'em AND 4 new all-season radials. Automatic, 4-door, maroon color, Ithaca Sufferjets and Bluestockings bumper stickers. It d...