To write or not to write? No longer a question.

With the help of my best friend [turned personal webdesign publicist], I'm more committed to seriously launching my writing career. First step, assemble hardcopy and online portfolios. I read this article that this same friend shared with me, but even before that, her pep talk and encouragement yesterday elicited feelings of optimism about how my life is currently and what I can do to be happy in chasing a realistic dream I've had for a while: to write (and make a living from it). Anyhow, I do have to go because I have to babysit at 10:30, work at Anthro between 4 and 9, and find time to do homework and Amelie G spread sheets. But, I am in higher spirits and I hope that things are the same for you, my readers.

http://www.self.com/health/2010/02/one-woman-follows-her-heart-and-her-dream?currentPage=1

Oh, the things we have to do! Book clubs, NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) and more. Til next time!

"Awful Day" in Mia's words

I'm pretty tired. My neck is stiff and hurting. A lot has happened today. My mom's closest sister, Tita Alit, died and I don't know what to do or say. It's made me think a lot. I see how painful it is and how much she's suffered in her life.

I'm not going to be so idealistic anymore. It's time to try harder and find a better-paying job so I can help my mom, so I can take the burden of the loans she took out to send me to Loyola. I've applied to the Department of State in the hope that they will notice my application and test scores. (Maybe this very act is naive, but we'll see.) I was encouraged to do this by my parents and extended family, but I had resisted on idealistic and uninformed principles. Now, I'm going to try to learn more about positions as a civil servant. I think with my interests, I might be a good candidate and then I can consider a position in academia in the more distant future. Who knows where this will take me?

Well, I'll write more later. I have a busy week with an exam and work. I have so much more to say, but I'm drained and unable to articulate it.

Jobs, jobs, jobs...nothing

I cannot believe the predicament I am currently in. Every time I find a new job, I think, hey, no more craigslist browsing. Sayonara, webpage visits! And, then, two to four weeks after the job has begun, I find myself in need of more income due to disappointing wages or lacking hours. This is still the case with Anthro. The more money we make, the more payroll we get to divide hours among our staff. Consequently, the opposite it true as well. Get it?

Ahh, so I'm looking for yet another part-time job, even though I have two classes, work at Anthro and write as needed. My alternatives start with more babysitting gigs (though I recently referred a lot of the people asking me to other friends of mine since I had been working so much at Anthro the first 4-5 weeks). I could also put my name on McGehee's substitute list. I think I'd stick to lower/middle/upper schools over LG though. What else? I have been to craigslist and the pickings are slim. Because I'm scheduled 4.5 hours on call! this week, and only 4.5 hours next week as well, my next pay check is going to barely cover rent (because last week I worked a considerable amount of hours, and last week's will be on this next check, I think). That's another thing. Payroll and the pay period are confusing and it's all paperless. But, for some reason I cannot access my paystubs on the company website so I cannot even check if I'm being paid accurately. Why does this always happen to me? Why didn't they tell us this was the job climate when we signed on for tens of thousands of tuition debt?

Well, I'm off to The Orange Couch to do some homework. That'll distract me from real life :) If I don't get a babysitting job towards the end of the week, I'll go visit my mom in BR. She came in yesterday and Mia, Jesse, Eric (my cousin), Neill, and I had lunch with her at Suhko Thai on Magazine (yum!), and boy do I have leftovers. I got vegetarian pad thai and my mom gave me her Thai iced tea because she didn't like it. Enough procrastination. Shower than walk to The Orange Couch!

Work and play = study

I thoroughly enjoy being back in school even if I find myself in a classroom full of bi-/multi-lingual students who seem to understand the professor far better than I do. Even if I struggle in readings. The idea that I've returned to being intellectually stimulated and that I'm not mentally stagnant--or worst, degenerative, is actually beginning to motivate me! I was worried at first because in the beginning, I'd find myself nearly falling asleep during my reading assignments, but I want to chalk that up to being tired now. I had previously been working 40ish hours a week at Anthropologie, and now with only 6 for this week, I'm taking advantage and making my schedule work for me. Taking my time with the readings, but also making them a priority. I'm enjoying them (especially the efferent and aesthetic pieces I've had the pleasure to read in my Research Romance Languages [think literary theory and criticism ] class), and I am sort of on a roll. On the other hand, I am having delusions of grandeur where Jes gets an international attorney job in Spain or France and I transfer to the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid or Le Sorbonne. A girl can dream, right?

Long days, short entry

I'm about to go to bed, but I wanted to share this short article before I do. It's discouraging and sad, but at the same time should motivate us to change our ways. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/31/photos-most-polluted-plac_n_693008.html?alacarte=1#s130978

Today was nice and relaxing...my first weekday off in a while. I did babysit Adele, but before that I ran errands and did minimal homework readings. I don't got into work tomorrow until 2 so I'm hoping to get some more homework done beforehand.

Also found out that Scriptura is considering a word-pressing internship. I found out today that their word presser interned with many presses such as Lucky Paper and Dauphine. I am so happy to hear that, and a part of me really, really wants to apply and wishes I could to do it. But, I don't know how I could juggle work, school and Amelie G. On the other hand, I don't want Scriptura to lose its specialness for me because I work there on a regular basis and know its nooks and crannies like the back of my hand. Either way, it's not something I need to do right now; I could have the opportunity when I'm done with my Master's. And, I want to see where Anthro takes me. But, it is something I would like to do. Papermaking as well is something I've been wanting to do. Why are all these near ideas and cool opportunities presenting themselves at once?! Ah, well, buenas noches!

Back from the...work days?

It's been over two weeks since my last post, and so much has happened between then and now. I guess I could have made time to update, but I've let it all build up to the point that I was anxious about writing so much and the emotional drain and organization it would require.

Well, Jesse and I have now been living in our new CBD apartment for nearly a month. There's still a lot to do--organization, decluttering and my own prioritization of papers and things that I need to keep versus discard. However, excuse again, I have been working a lot. He has been working hard at it when he gets home from work or class, and on the weekend even, especially while I'm gone. Today we had a lovely day walking around the Quarter after stopping in for Anthropologie's grand opening brunch event this morning. Our day started later than usual because we stayed up til 4 last night watching the first disc of The L Word (from Netflix and I've been wanting to get into the series for a while now. So far, so good, but I'm only on episode five. There's a lot of sex, too). So we missed the hors d'oeuvre brunch at Anthro. The music from Preservation Hall's junior band was nice though. And, after traipsing in the intermittent rain around the Quarter, Jes and I finally decided on Stanley! near the Cathedral. He had Beaux Bridge Benedict (boudin, poached egg, Canadian bacon) atop french bread, and I had a fried oyster poboy and a delicious rum raisin milk shake! It was pretty good.

I started class at UNO last week. I finished my Amelie G articles--late, but done and reportedly great! The grand opening of Anthropologie went fantastically well with a few special events, but now that we've been there for a couple of weeks, scheduling will be decreased as payroll also has. Whereas, I've worked 40 hours the past two weeks, this next week I'm scheduled only 23, and that's with an on call shift tomorrow. A former coworker of mine quit because she was only scheduled 5! and she had open availability. I'm lucky I got the 23, but either way, I'm looking forward to a slower week. I've got lots to do!

• homework for my classes
• junk and useless stuff reduction
• letter-writing
• grocery shopping
• reading and blogging
• renew license?

I'd also like to keep up with the news on a regular basis and get some exercise. I've been walking to work on a regular basis and working so much that I haven't had time to snack/eat three meals as much usually do. As a result I haven't felt like I'm gaining weight, but it would be nice to get into the 24-hour gym we have in our apartment building now. Unfortunately, Downtown doesn't have grass streetcar tracks for me to run down.

As soon as we get our apartment a little more homey, I'll post some photos. Jesse has really worked hard to make it our home, but we're currently in the process of repositioning certain furniture because we need a console table for our TV. The mount Jes ordered will not work with our walls, but we'll save it for another place in the future :)

Just wanted to say a few things tonight. But, I have Tuesday and Wednesday off, and possibly tomorrow if I don't get called in. I will say more about school, going back, starting a Master's; and the difference between living Uptown and Downtown; clothes and things at Anthro; among other things I remember. Ta ta for now. It's good to be back!

A hot mess

Alas, I haven't had time to post, but I will soon. This week went by so quickly. Today's the first day Anthropologie will be open. Honestly, I'm a little nervous, but I just need to relax. It's exciting, especially to see who comes in today and what they buy. I hope that I can shop on my lunch break, but we'll see. I'm not sure how much time I'll have, but I went ahead and scheduled a haircut at 6:15 (it's happened again. I'm tired of my straggly hair and its reaction to humidity) so I can't shop for an hour after I get off like I had hoped. Jesse will meet me around 6:45 to walk through the store. We really won't have time, but we can come back tomorrow :)

Lots on the plate still though. I'm going to finish the men's boutique pieces I've been working on. I submitted the women's yesterday, and Elsa seemed okay with them though I really pushed back the deadline and I feel regretful about it. With moving and working at Anthro, I was so tired and it took me a while to finish the transcriptions. Speaking of moving, lots of observations since we moved in, which should be discussed in a future entry.

I have some letter-writing to catch up on, too. But, Jesse's been setting up the place all by himself while I work on my articles so I need to help him first. He did most of the move himself because I worked all of Monday and two hours on Tuesday. I requested off but didn't get it. Plus, not that this is an excuse, but I really realized how lazy and adverse I am when it comes to physical labor. I did try, but my trying wasn't good enough. I need to change this!

Oh, and tonight we're having dinner at Lydia and John's house. Lydia has a lot of her "cenas pocas" (little dinners), which she and a friend cook (comida puertoriqueña deliciosa!), and they're always attended by fun and interesting friends. This'll be our first visit since they moved in together so that should be fun. I've missed Lydia because we haven't see each other in a couple of months except once when we ran into each other at Canal Place. She studied abroad earlier this summer so I didn't see her for so long.

Happy weekend, everyone!