It’s been awhile since this blog has covered what might be considered “news.” I’ve been officially looking for work since the end of August, and as you might guess from my frequent blog postings, that is still the case. How about a numerical breakdown of the sitch? I like a good numerical breakdown.

  • Jobs applied for: about 30
  • Interviews: 3 (+ 2 second-round interviews)
  • Offers of employment: 2
  • Offers of contract worK: 2-3
  • Offers of temporary work: 1

I’ve started trying to get out there and meet and greet a little more, and it’s working a little better for me than just sending my resume into the internet-o-sphere. We’ll see. In

  • addition to job hunting, here is a list of other activities.

    • Ceramic objects made, glazed, and fired: about 25
    • Poems written: 5
    • Sonnets about cows stuck in church cupolas, written and abandoned halfway through: .5
    • Poems revised: 5
    • Poems mailed out: 30
    • Essays written: .5
    • Hours of class time planned out: 24
    • Dresses sewn: 1
    • Pillows sewn: 2
    • Items mended: 3
    • Earrings and Necklaces made: 2
    • Day hikes and walks: 4
    • Overnight hikes: 1
    • Bike rides: 2
    • Swims: ONLY THREE, SINCE THEY CLOSED THE CONDO ASSOCIATION POOL IN FREAKING OCTOBER FOR RENOVATIONS.
    • Scenic Drives: 3
    • Flea Market visits: 1
    • Climbs up the mountain behind the house: 5
    • Times I considered a climb up the mountain but didn’t do it: 10
    • Overnight visitors: 3
    • Drives to California: 2
    • Trips to Virginia: 1
    • Possible new friends: 3
    • Church classes attended: 2
    • Delectable items baked: about 30
    • Mix CDs imagined but never made: 3
    • Maximum days gone without a shower: 3.5 (you would never know it to look at me, seriously.)
    • Speeches, preaches, and scenarios imagined: innumerable
    • Dreams about scorpions paralyzing my face because they were attracted to my drool and I accidentally rolled over on them: 1
    • Number of books read: 50 (I guess. I’m sort of making that number up based on my usual habits.)
    • Episodes of Star Trek and X-files watched: 7
    • Minutes spent wondering if I would look good in any of Jeffrey-from-Project-Runway’s clothes: 47
    • People who showed me their stab wounds: 1
    • Chapters of Ezekiel read: 37

    Now I’ve got a temporary job working at a non-profit and they say they can make use of me for as many hours as I can stand the next few weeks. My task is to edit other people’s letters. The other people are not there, and thus they cannot argue with me about my editorial choices. MWAHAHAHA! My dastardly plan is to make it so that when they look at their letters later, they won’t be able to discern exactly what I’ve done, except to note that they sound better. You know what English needs? A third person neutral singular.

    Mostly what I’ve enjoyed about the job-free sitch (that’s my shorthand for “situation”) is the amount of time I can spend just thinking about stuff. It turns out that I really, really like to think about stuff. Last time I had significant amounts of free time, I was too depressed to think about anything except feeling bad. Nowadays it’s fun to chase an idea around until it gets really tired and falls down and then I can tickle it to see what it sounds like when it laughs. I’m so thankful to finally feel safe with my own thoughts.

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