1) Just now, when I signed up for the blog, I had to answer a captcha, you know, those things where you type a warped word in the text box to prove you're not a monster. The word was "pukey." I laughed. But, I typed it in and hit enter and they said it was wrong, so maybe it was pokey or puckly, and not as funny.
2) Blogs? I write blogs. I write a blog post every week. I'm taking an IT500 class through SNHU and I have to answer questions like "Pick a career in IT and write about schooling requirements" and "Find out what responsibilities one in that career has" and "Research how much someone in that career, in your area, makes per year."
That last one made me want to shoot myself in the face. Apparently a system analyst in the Portland, Maine area makes $77,000 a year. Wait for it........ I hear echoes of my parents.... "Creative Writing Major? Interesting." (they are both scientists). Hmmm. I say this knowing that yesterday, when I was out to lunch with a friend of mine with his MFA in Poetry from NYU ("$80,000 in loans," he moaned, so I really can't complain with my managable 20 grand so far) and mentioned I'm going back to school he said, "Your Dad must be so proud of you!" (Guess what -- he is).
So for now, I'm still in that "non-system analyst" spot, but, like all of us, I'm trying. The MBA is in Social Media Networking, which means I will be a professional twitterer. Which means someday this blog could come up and destroy my career as a first class Social Media Network Consultant in the Portland, Maine area. Well, at least the title has a pretty exciting ring to it, huh?
In the meantime, I work for a retirement community.
Unexpected, what with that degree in creative writing. Since I run the activities department (with the help of an amazing Chief Knowledge Officer, my supervisor, who I will refer to as the CKO as we've decided in our tiny, shared office)(I keep saying that our office is small and CKO says, "Really? Why does everyone say that? Is that a bad thing?" which isn't a bad thing, because I adore sharing a space with my CKO. She's amazing). CKO knows everything. She knows how to take a newsletter saved in Publisher on 8.5 x 11 paper and print it on ledger paper, book-style. On the other hand, today she couldn't come up with the word "candidate" ("What's that word...for someone running for office...not nominee... there's a word..."), but this happens quite a bit in our office, on both sides, and instead of being annoying, it turns into something more like playing a random game of Taboo in the middle of the day).
But really, the job is, for the most part, lots of fun, despite the lack of Creative Writing Connection. And, like most creative writers - via some sort of official degree or by self proclamation - we must function in the real world until we hit it big.
3) Blogs. Bernadette just started a great blog, with a great first entry, about how she has a tendency to be bored and goatlike. So, Bernadette. I see your boredom and goatlike tendencies, and raise you one rambling post about...ten things I can't write entire blog posts about. Top this.
4) The Magic Hour is a time when the sun sits low in the sky and lights up everything in the east while the sky behind everything darkens. It's the best time to take pictures. I have no examples for you, so you're going to just have to trust me (and if you google image search "Magic Hour" you'll get a whole bunch of sunset posts. Which is not really what I'm talking about - Magic Hour does take place near sunset, but you're supposed to stand with your back to the setting sun and look at the gold the sun sprays all over the buildings and windows and trees and cars and wal marts and water.
5) When I got home from work today, Sasha was sitting in my open window (screened) on the fourth floor of my building, and she said hi to me from way up there, then disappeared from the window, and after I got my mail and took the elevator up, she met me at the door. Who needs a dog when your cat does that?
6) Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" just came on my iPod and it makes me really happy. A woman I work with, call her Juliet because she's a Lost-junkie like I am, is my favorite person in the world. I Gotta Feeling is her ringtone so I chuckle when I hear it. And even though it's the most overplayed song in the world, it still sorta pumps me up and makes me feel all positive and excited about the world. I can't help it. I'm a pop junkie.
7) I just bought an iHome for my iPhone, and I can finally listen to eia stereo in my one bedroom apartment. I'm dying from music love, rediscovering shit that I haven't burned for CDs in my car. I'm between computers right now so all my stuff is on a hard drive at my friend S's house (he saves computers! He's a computer hero). I'm waiting for my new MacBook, but that won't be until I save up for it -- currently, I'm rockin' a little Acer netbook which only drives me crazy half the time.
8) Carrie Underwood's Cowboy Casanova came on my iphone/pod (I guess I call it an iPod when it's playing music?) and it makes me laugh because it reminds me of a guy I will candidly call The Cowboy. You wanna get out because he's holding you down but you can't live without one more touch. Danger, Will Robinson. Fuckin' Cowboy. He's had my soul for a long time.
9) I'm drinking a glass of wine that I bought for a friend of mine because I lost a bet about whether healthcare reform will pass. I haven't seen him for ages, so I cracked it open on Tuesday while I practiced cooking in my tiny kitchen. I love a nice, oaky chardonnay. I got this from my amazing stepmother.
10) I'm an official Paperback Swap user now and this makes me pretty happy - not because I am a reader of a books, but because I am a collector of books with clever and smart titles and I love to display those books on a bookshelf. I traded Joyce Carol Oates' book Rape: A Love Story for a credit, and I'll put that credit (and a second one) toward Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue." AM I EXCITED? YES.
