Saturday, November 14, 2009
lofty goal for saturday
when I am old, and a rich journalist or philosopher, I will line my shelves with cereal and never run out.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Is it wrong that the only thing I love about Christmas is the made-up marketing aspect?
Like, I love the idea of happy cozy times in front of fireplaces with family and friends. I also love the idea of walking through pretty lights with a (fictitious) significant other at night, and the imagery of decorating a Christmas tree is also similarly enchanting. Cider, fuzzy hats, iceskating . . . all seems lovely.
In reality, though, I hate all of this. And I hate it by early december. Walking outside, no matter how pretty, is cold. I don't have a fireplace and spending time with my family is mostly depressing. I'm single. Hats look awful on me and I can't skate. I once had roommates that thought it was super important to teach me 'how to like christmas' so we bought a tree near future shop and dragged it - literally dragged it - to my old apartment in sherwood. By the time it got there, half the branches were awry and we were exhausted. They made me listen to the stupid fucking Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks Christmas song on repeat while we decorated with ghetto ribbon strings. And for what? It got moldy and I ended up throwing it into a big snowdrift shortly after the damn place went up for foreclosure and our heat got shut off.
Gift shopping is stressful. Spending time with my family is really stressful. They know I dislike Christmas, so they buy me too much. I feel guilty about getting too much and still sulking through turkey (well, not really turkey - I'm veg) with my closest 100 relatives. I do it anyhow. And then I do it again the day after, for the other half of the family. My (maternal) grandma told me I wrecked Christmas one year and I thought I'd been behaving. I know PRODUCTS OF DIVORCE are supposed to revel in the 'two christmases' thing, but my early Christmas memories include lots of yelling, withholding of toys, and middle class guilt for feeling badly when clearly my parents, both lawyers, are pretty well off. I feel like complaining about any of this makes me an awful, awful person, but if the option was Christmas or no Christmas, I'd pick the latter.
Couple this with how I've typically worked in retail and it's enough to make someone homicidal. I love the fiction of Christmas, but I hate the manifestation of the fiction. It's not so bad at the bookstore, but working at FS might've been up there with 'worse christmases ever'. It's so depressing to watch people freak out about xmas gifts. I get that they do it out of love or what-have-you, but where is the fucking joy in making retail workers bawl. But the bookstore's not so bad. You just get so sick of it when it's in your face all the time, yanno? I'm sure you know. My blog demographic is probably with me on the retail front.
Enough of the woe-is-me speech. Every year, I vow to make it better. Every year, I end up shopping on December 21st. I bought my first gift today and I bought some wrapping paper last week when Carlton Cards went out of business. I can do this. I can get through Christmas without some catastrophic breakdown. I've just had a number of poor-luck years.
I don't really have a plan for coping. If I did, though, it would probably sound a lot like 'gingerbread latte'.
Like, I love the idea of happy cozy times in front of fireplaces with family and friends. I also love the idea of walking through pretty lights with a (fictitious) significant other at night, and the imagery of decorating a Christmas tree is also similarly enchanting. Cider, fuzzy hats, iceskating . . . all seems lovely.
In reality, though, I hate all of this. And I hate it by early december. Walking outside, no matter how pretty, is cold. I don't have a fireplace and spending time with my family is mostly depressing. I'm single. Hats look awful on me and I can't skate. I once had roommates that thought it was super important to teach me 'how to like christmas' so we bought a tree near future shop and dragged it - literally dragged it - to my old apartment in sherwood. By the time it got there, half the branches were awry and we were exhausted. They made me listen to the stupid fucking Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks Christmas song on repeat while we decorated with ghetto ribbon strings. And for what? It got moldy and I ended up throwing it into a big snowdrift shortly after the damn place went up for foreclosure and our heat got shut off.
Gift shopping is stressful. Spending time with my family is really stressful. They know I dislike Christmas, so they buy me too much. I feel guilty about getting too much and still sulking through turkey (well, not really turkey - I'm veg) with my closest 100 relatives. I do it anyhow. And then I do it again the day after, for the other half of the family. My (maternal) grandma told me I wrecked Christmas one year and I thought I'd been behaving. I know PRODUCTS OF DIVORCE are supposed to revel in the 'two christmases' thing, but my early Christmas memories include lots of yelling, withholding of toys, and middle class guilt for feeling badly when clearly my parents, both lawyers, are pretty well off. I feel like complaining about any of this makes me an awful, awful person, but if the option was Christmas or no Christmas, I'd pick the latter.
Couple this with how I've typically worked in retail and it's enough to make someone homicidal. I love the fiction of Christmas, but I hate the manifestation of the fiction. It's not so bad at the bookstore, but working at FS might've been up there with 'worse christmases ever'. It's so depressing to watch people freak out about xmas gifts. I get that they do it out of love or what-have-you, but where is the fucking joy in making retail workers bawl. But the bookstore's not so bad. You just get so sick of it when it's in your face all the time, yanno? I'm sure you know. My blog demographic is probably with me on the retail front.
Enough of the woe-is-me speech. Every year, I vow to make it better. Every year, I end up shopping on December 21st. I bought my first gift today and I bought some wrapping paper last week when Carlton Cards went out of business. I can do this. I can get through Christmas without some catastrophic breakdown. I've just had a number of poor-luck years.
I don't really have a plan for coping. If I did, though, it would probably sound a lot like 'gingerbread latte'.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
orion & dog
weekend:
-worked Saturday. Had my bag stolen sometime early afternoon. I rarely happen to be carrying cash, unfortunately, this time I was carrying $240. Sooo that sucks. My bag, however, was recovered in a garbage can later. Seems like a small victory, but replacing my keys would've been just awful.
- work was otherwise pretty boring and regular. books were sold. monies were made.
-I did get a galley for a pretty entertaining book called 'spin'. It's not literature, but it's about a girl (aptly named kate) who wants to be a music writer, scores a sweet interview, but fucks up her job interview by getting trashed the night prior.
-the cadre is coming along really nicely. I've taken a much more hands-on approach, so it's a lot snarkier and more attention is paid to stupid details like headlines, captions, borders. I hope you like it, people of the internet. Laura is gonna make it look nice tomorrow.
-not sleeping at all. at all, at all. think I might be coming down with something. I didn't go out neither friday nor saturday, and I was only out briefly tonight. Carver and Nathan have developed an affection for Big Buck Hunter - an arcade game - at Ises. The rest of us went for beer and wings.
-I'm boring and old.
any questions?
-worked Saturday. Had my bag stolen sometime early afternoon. I rarely happen to be carrying cash, unfortunately, this time I was carrying $240. Sooo that sucks. My bag, however, was recovered in a garbage can later. Seems like a small victory, but replacing my keys would've been just awful.
- work was otherwise pretty boring and regular. books were sold. monies were made.
-I did get a galley for a pretty entertaining book called 'spin'. It's not literature, but it's about a girl (aptly named kate) who wants to be a music writer, scores a sweet interview, but fucks up her job interview by getting trashed the night prior.
-the cadre is coming along really nicely. I've taken a much more hands-on approach, so it's a lot snarkier and more attention is paid to stupid details like headlines, captions, borders. I hope you like it, people of the internet. Laura is gonna make it look nice tomorrow.
-not sleeping at all. at all, at all. think I might be coming down with something. I didn't go out neither friday nor saturday, and I was only out briefly tonight. Carver and Nathan have developed an affection for Big Buck Hunter - an arcade game - at Ises. The rest of us went for beer and wings.
-I'm boring and old.
any questions?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Songs against sex
Hiring Boards are both awesome and terrible.
Because I'm a 'supervisor' within the student union (The Cadre being a branch of the SU), I have to sit in on applicants who apply for positions. This year is the first year in about ten years that this has even been an issue for Cadre; typically they take whomever they can get. This year, I have at least five interviews per position. There are . . . roughly twelve positions, but two didn't have interviews. Oops. That and obviously I didn't interview myself.
Today we only did two positions. One reporter position and the business manager position abandoned by my brother after two days. We had a really incredible pool of candidates for both positions, but occasionally people just bomb at either interviews or questions. So let me give you some protips, internet.
1. If you are applying to write for a paper, and the editor is on your hiring board, do not go to great lengths to berate the paper as is. I've heard that my paper is irrelevant, that no one reads it, that the articles are too 'old people'-y, that we should have more fashion (lol), more sports (we had three full pages out of 16 last issue), and that we need to have better writing in general in order to sell ads. The editor will probably just laugh at you.
this especially applies if you're not applying for a writing position
Anyhow, most of the interviews were pretty good. We have a pretty sweet Cadre team. The next writing deadline is Friday and I'm editing all weekend. Can't wait. This is the last one this semester.
Also, I spoke with both Malcolm and my dad today about philosophy grad school. The conversation went as follows with my dad:
"Did you write your LSAT yet?"
"No - I know you won't approve, but I was thinking of getting a masters in ethical theory"
Eyebrow raise, skeptical look, drink of coffee. Pause.
"I thought I'd give academia a chance for awhile. I'm only 21."
"Lots of great lawyers have a masters in philosophy, you know. that's what law school is. philosophy. You'd really like law school."
Malcolm was a little more receptive. He is actually a really fucking awesome prof - he's emailing around to find a scholar that is interested in the same philosophy as me and making a list of good schools. Like, how many profs would do that? Not many, probably.
Because I'm a 'supervisor' within the student union (The Cadre being a branch of the SU), I have to sit in on applicants who apply for positions. This year is the first year in about ten years that this has even been an issue for Cadre; typically they take whomever they can get. This year, I have at least five interviews per position. There are . . . roughly twelve positions, but two didn't have interviews. Oops. That and obviously I didn't interview myself.
Today we only did two positions. One reporter position and the business manager position abandoned by my brother after two days. We had a really incredible pool of candidates for both positions, but occasionally people just bomb at either interviews or questions. So let me give you some protips, internet.
1. If you are applying to write for a paper, and the editor is on your hiring board, do not go to great lengths to berate the paper as is. I've heard that my paper is irrelevant, that no one reads it, that the articles are too 'old people'-y, that we should have more fashion (lol), more sports (we had three full pages out of 16 last issue), and that we need to have better writing in general in order to sell ads. The editor will probably just laugh at you.
this especially applies if you're not applying for a writing position
Anyhow, most of the interviews were pretty good. We have a pretty sweet Cadre team. The next writing deadline is Friday and I'm editing all weekend. Can't wait. This is the last one this semester.
Also, I spoke with both Malcolm and my dad today about philosophy grad school. The conversation went as follows with my dad:
"Did you write your LSAT yet?"
"No - I know you won't approve, but I was thinking of getting a masters in ethical theory"
Eyebrow raise, skeptical look, drink of coffee. Pause.
"I thought I'd give academia a chance for awhile. I'm only 21."
"Lots of great lawyers have a masters in philosophy, you know. that's what law school is. philosophy. You'd really like law school."
Malcolm was a little more receptive. He is actually a really fucking awesome prof - he's emailing around to find a scholar that is interested in the same philosophy as me and making a list of good schools. Like, how many profs would do that? Not many, probably.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
made my mind up to be a blackwing bird
hey blog readers, this is a concept blog. I will just post this video and it will encompass everything about my day.
For instance, I'm going to see emm gryner tonight. I'm going with Andrew, Geoff, and Kurt, but I hope to see you douches there too. I also hope to see her selling her album for $10, because I can't afford anything more and it's not on Waffles.
Second, I have a tattoo of a blackwinged bird, but I got it before I knew about emm gryner. So that's not realllly related. But Casey introduced me to Emm and he's interviewing her for Log Driver's Waltz tomorrow. Did I mention that he got an internship at DNTO? So sweet. He might yell at me for posting that ("it's not your news to tell!") but until that happens, it stays.
Third, I donated blood and it was a harrowing experience. Note in the video Emm seems to be in discomfort when she has blood all over her. That was like me today. I passed out. Four nurses attended to me. It was embarrassing. I left my blood donating partner, Andrew, in the snack room for almost an hour while I recovered from losing most of my life liquid.
For instance, I'm going to see emm gryner tonight. I'm going with Andrew, Geoff, and Kurt, but I hope to see you douches there too. I also hope to see her selling her album for $10, because I can't afford anything more and it's not on Waffles.
Second, I have a tattoo of a blackwinged bird, but I got it before I knew about emm gryner. So that's not realllly related. But Casey introduced me to Emm and he's interviewing her for Log Driver's Waltz tomorrow. Did I mention that he got an internship at DNTO? So sweet. He might yell at me for posting that ("it's not your news to tell!") but until that happens, it stays.
Third, I donated blood and it was a harrowing experience. Note in the video Emm seems to be in discomfort when she has blood all over her. That was like me today. I passed out. Four nurses attended to me. It was embarrassing. I left my blood donating partner, Andrew, in the snack room for almost an hour while I recovered from losing most of my life liquid.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
everybody knows everybody
Hey, I've been so entrenched in self-pity that I haven't updated on anything else. No need for that! Listen up, readers. Life has been busy.
Though I have alluded to it, I haven't actually written about log driver's waltz, a blog that Casey, Casey's friend Mark, and I are starting. They're both journalism students and we hope that it actually takes off as a Canadian music blog. I think at least two of the three of us are gunning to be professional music journalists, so here's hoping that the blog doesn't blow. We're each updating once a week, though we may update more. It might be premature to 'launch' the blog on this blog since there are no posts yet, but there will be posts! soon! so please go see it again! regularly, even! it'll be like this blog, only edited by people who write better than me and about something more interesting than myself.
Feel free to make a banner for free that Dorrell may not like. I take no liability for your subsequent hurt, but offer that he rarely likes my design choices either. he hates the blog, for example, though that's more an issue of my laziness than anything else. really. You could think of it like a challenge: he is hard to please and you could show off how awesome you are at graphic design, all while doing it for the outrageous price of free for little to no recognition in the long run. sounds like a good idea!
moving on.
Next week, I am starting to gather submissions for the UPEI Literary Journal, Froth. I have no idea what to expect. Can people at UPEI write? As a non-English student, am I remotely qualified to edit fiction? How many jobs like this can I get in the long run just because no one else wants them? All these questions, and more, answered probably soonish. Anyhow, if you're an English student at UPEI and interested in submitting a piece to be published in a real, bound journal, apply within.
In happier news, they're paying me better than the Cadre. As though that's difficult. /snark.
I'm struggling with the grad school choices. We have:
-Law school (Dal, UofO - my triumphant return!). My parents will pay for this and I will be wealthy. Cons: I don't want to go to law school, I dislike most people who want to be lawyers, I have long term parental-resentment issues (joking, joking).
-Journalism (kings, carleton, ryerson). Yeah, seems like an alright idea. I think a lot of what Casey's doing seems cool and in a lot of ways, it just seems like a Cadre with less responsibility and better writing/reporting. I'm passionate about this and I'm passionate about very little. Also, I could make use of my poli sci degree in reporting. Con: print media is dying, almost 50% of journalists are unemployed, I kind of suck at being factual. There's also that I may well be awful at writing; I just wouldn't know because I always edit.
-Masters in Philosophy. Dammit, I love academia and I love philosophy in general. I'm only 21, I'm in no rush for an immediate career. Lots of people get supplementary pragmatic degrees after getting a masters. Con: utterly useless unless I pursue academia.
-MFA in Creative Writing. This is unlikely. It's always in the back of my frontal lobe. This year in particular has been kinda, um, not inspiring, but . . . I think I could live and make enough money being a writer. I've gotten a decently large handful of publications this year, including one publication of note and two anthologies. Also, if I'm going to do a useless degree, may's well accomplish a dream simultaneously. Con: My parents would disown me and unless I become a writer, this is somehow more useless than my masters in philosophy.
You know you're fucked when journalism is your most pragmatic option. I'll definitely apply for that and for the phil masters, but if I don't get acceptance/decent grants, then I might hold off a year a re-prioritize then. I just don't like the idea of not being in school. Would feel bizarre.
I had supper tonight with two of Casey's friends. One of them is buying a house, the other just started his career. Another mutual friend actually planned to have a baby. I know these guys are older than me (they all turn 27 next year), but it's vaguely terrifying to not know what I'm doing when people I know are settling down. I guess I better keep hanging out with the musicians and artists and hoping for the best.
As much as I complain, things are pretty good. Bookmark tomorrow morning.
Though I have alluded to it, I haven't actually written about log driver's waltz, a blog that Casey, Casey's friend Mark, and I are starting. They're both journalism students and we hope that it actually takes off as a Canadian music blog. I think at least two of the three of us are gunning to be professional music journalists, so here's hoping that the blog doesn't blow. We're each updating once a week, though we may update more. It might be premature to 'launch' the blog on this blog since there are no posts yet, but there will be posts! soon! so please go see it again! regularly, even! it'll be like this blog, only edited by people who write better than me and about something more interesting than myself.
Feel free to make a banner for free that Dorrell may not like. I take no liability for your subsequent hurt, but offer that he rarely likes my design choices either. he hates the blog, for example, though that's more an issue of my laziness than anything else. really. You could think of it like a challenge: he is hard to please and you could show off how awesome you are at graphic design, all while doing it for the outrageous price of free for little to no recognition in the long run. sounds like a good idea!
moving on.
Next week, I am starting to gather submissions for the UPEI Literary Journal, Froth. I have no idea what to expect. Can people at UPEI write? As a non-English student, am I remotely qualified to edit fiction? How many jobs like this can I get in the long run just because no one else wants them? All these questions, and more, answered probably soonish. Anyhow, if you're an English student at UPEI and interested in submitting a piece to be published in a real, bound journal, apply within.
In happier news, they're paying me better than the Cadre. As though that's difficult. /snark.
I'm struggling with the grad school choices. We have:
-Law school (Dal, UofO - my triumphant return!). My parents will pay for this and I will be wealthy. Cons: I don't want to go to law school, I dislike most people who want to be lawyers, I have long term parental-resentment issues (joking, joking).
-Journalism (kings, carleton, ryerson). Yeah, seems like an alright idea. I think a lot of what Casey's doing seems cool and in a lot of ways, it just seems like a Cadre with less responsibility and better writing/reporting. I'm passionate about this and I'm passionate about very little. Also, I could make use of my poli sci degree in reporting. Con: print media is dying, almost 50% of journalists are unemployed, I kind of suck at being factual. There's also that I may well be awful at writing; I just wouldn't know because I always edit.
-Masters in Philosophy. Dammit, I love academia and I love philosophy in general. I'm only 21, I'm in no rush for an immediate career. Lots of people get supplementary pragmatic degrees after getting a masters. Con: utterly useless unless I pursue academia.
-MFA in Creative Writing. This is unlikely. It's always in the back of my frontal lobe. This year in particular has been kinda, um, not inspiring, but . . . I think I could live and make enough money being a writer. I've gotten a decently large handful of publications this year, including one publication of note and two anthologies. Also, if I'm going to do a useless degree, may's well accomplish a dream simultaneously. Con: My parents would disown me and unless I become a writer, this is somehow more useless than my masters in philosophy.
You know you're fucked when journalism is your most pragmatic option. I'll definitely apply for that and for the phil masters, but if I don't get acceptance/decent grants, then I might hold off a year a re-prioritize then. I just don't like the idea of not being in school. Would feel bizarre.
I had supper tonight with two of Casey's friends. One of them is buying a house, the other just started his career. Another mutual friend actually planned to have a baby. I know these guys are older than me (they all turn 27 next year), but it's vaguely terrifying to not know what I'm doing when people I know are settling down. I guess I better keep hanging out with the musicians and artists and hoping for the best.
As much as I complain, things are pretty good. Bookmark tomorrow morning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
