6 posts tagged “career”
Hey ladies and gents,
Long time, no blabber. Rest assured, I've been lurking about, but I simply haven't had the energy to bore you with my rants, my navel-gazing, and my witty bons mots lately. I can't say if I'll be back to normal any time soon, but I hope so.
I know I haven't been sharing my scintillating commentary on Castle and Heroes over on this blog. But trust me, I've been watching. And I eagerly await the season finale of Heroes tonight. And the crowd rejoiced! Yay!! This week is going to be a doozy as far as my schedule, but I'll do what I can to share my thoughts on the finale by Thursday evening at the latest.
So what's been going on, you ask? Like I said this is a brief update, so here you go.
- I gave my two weeks' notice last Thursday at my part-time job.
- Currently, I'm seeking a new part-time job and I'm ignoring those who keep barking at me about X, Y, and Z. I'm the one who has to endure the condescending insults and the constant harassment about sell, sell, selling the store's credit card to hapless customers during the worst recession since WWII, so the final's decision is mine. Spank you.
- Still working on my website, but making little substantive progress
- Networking, seeking FT gigs, contemplating grad school, etc.
- Working at my craptastic PT job.
It doesn't seem like a lot, I know. But my plate is indeed full. And this week, I'm heading down to Philly for a Mashable Mixer. But before that, I have an interview with an agency. Keep your fingers crossed for me, will ya?
Okay, I think that's all I can share and still be considered brief. Talk to yous later in the week.
P. S. Has anyone else noticed that Hulu has added all of Season 3 to their Heroes page? Yay! Now, I can watch Ep. 8, "Villains" as often as I want until August 1st.
P. S. S. Is anyone else on the East coast still broiling from the heat wave? My room feels like a sauna right now.
Here I am. Awake again at 5:30am. I've decided to relax and accept my body's natural attempt to cope with this transition period. That's what I'm calling it now. My life's in transition. I'm not sure where I'm headed, but I have to believe that this time in my life is just a bridge to whatever phase or chapter that awaits me around the next turn.
It's not easy trying to focus on the positive though. It's not really in my nature to be a cheerleader for myself. For others, yeah. I can be a freaking PollyAnna without the slightest hesitation. But I think like most people, I'm a hardcore realist when it comes to dealing with what's on my own plate. Did I mention I hate my job? :-P
Since I'm awake, how about some random thoughts about "stuff"?
- Tweets from qoolquest (?uestlove), LouisCK, and Mashable
will be the death of me online. Too. Many. Tweets. Well, not really
since I haven't figured out how to get Twitter sent directly to my cell
phone from people who aren't following me as well. Why must James Kyson Lee ignore our love? J/k Please, don't call the police. I'm only joking.
I’m pretty sure if I’m not using Twitter right anyway. I’m not one to jump on bandwagons (dude, I only signed up for a Myspace acct. last December, and that’s was only to follow the bands, artists, and people I adore in L.A. while I’m in transition). But so far, Twitter has helped me cope with some of my crushing, immobilizing depression, so I figure it can’t be all bad. Yay distractions! - I
put all this effort into planning and writing content for a fledgling
website that I hope to put online at some point back in Dec. and Jan.,
and so far, the work has been for naught. I’ve laid it by the wayside
and now I feel guilty because it’s just one more career-related item on
my to-do list that I know may help me get a decent full-time job, but
I’m still procrastinating.
Why is it you always hear about Type A personalities? What about all of those other types like B, C, D+, sigma? Why does Type A get all the attention? What is my type? ::goes off to Google:: - Personally,
I couldn’t care less about Rihanna and Chris Brown. And I’m really
sick and tired of hearing about them as if their relationship deserves
a hearing in the public court of opinion. No, I’m not a cold heartless
bitca. I just wonder if this outpouring of support for Ms. Rihanna
would be the same if her name was Latwayla and she worked second shift
at the local Safeway ringing up groceries. And now the obligatory
disclaimer: Unless you or someone else’s life is in immediate danger,
a man has no excuse for laying his hands on a woman without her
permission.
Having said that, why are people surprised she went back to Chris? If you truly care about domestic violence and bothered to understand why it's so prevalent throughout our society, you would know that most victims of DV go back to their partners. Why would you assume Rihanna would be any different? Because she's a celebrity? Last I checked, she was a human being first. Oh, but I forgot. Her first duty is to be a role model for the millions of people she's never met. Bullshit! And I call bullshit on Aisha Tyler and any other so-called concerned celeb citizen who assert that the most damaging aspect about the situation is NOT that Ri went back to Chris, but that doing so sends a message to millions that his behavior is acceptable.
Well, you know what, Ms. Tyler? F#ck You!! No, the most damaging aspect about the situation IS that she went back to Chris. Her well-being is 10,000 times more important than being your poster child for a society ill that you clearly don't understand. The psychological effects of DV are far more profound and debilitating than the physical abuse itself, but ignorant-ass people like you only see victims as enablers of their own conditions and their diminished sense of self-preservation is nothing more than a choice. I cannot stand this "Blame the Victim" philosophy that permeates our society. My blood boils every time I hear this fake-ass attempt to reduce complex problems into cookie-cutter, quick fix afflictions that deny any acknowledgment of the pervading message of socially acceptable sexism and violence that teaches men that a woman's sole purpose is to serve mankind, and by that extension, men. Of course she went back. It's unfortunate. But the most unfortunate thing is that people like Ms. Tyler are just as much apart of the problem as Mr. Brown. - Moving on to more pleasant rants, I finally finished watching my Profit
DVDs. Overall, I liked the show, but I didn’t love it. Not because it
wasn’t lovable, mind you. But because it wasn’t nearly as fantastic as
reviews have made it out to be. It seems to suffer from a clear case
of nostalgic revisionism. The praise you hear so often about this show
is that it was soooooo ahead of its time, and there was
nothing like it on TV that was even close to being this different and
edgy, and the audience simply wasn’t ready for a villain protagonist in
the lead role, etc. And maybe that’s true, but I think I was a bit put
off by all the backslapping on the DVD commentary and the
behind-the-scenes retrospective. I thought it was a good, solid show
for the 9 episodes that they made, but, sheesh, it wasn’t all that,
people.
The way John McNamara and David Greenwalt go on about the show, you would think that every single series that did something outside the television norm from 1998 - 2008 owes its ingenuity to Profit. Wow, buy your own hype much? It was a good show. Kind of cheesy in its delivery, but that’s intentional and I can respect that. It’s melodrama that knows it’s a melodrama. I would’ve preferred it if they had Profit either address the audience directly or delivered a voiceover throughout, not both. It seemed a little too intrusive to have both elements, IMO. I didn’t care for that in the first 2 seasons of Sex & the City either.
But don’t get me wrong, I liked it. If I were grading the show, I’d give it a B+. Lisa Blount and Lisa Darr were freaking amazing and adorable, respectively. And Naked Nathan is always appreciated, of course. I guess I’m just tired of so many writers, producers, and showrunners in the industry constantly patting themselves on the back in interviews and DVD commentaries about how everything in the medium of television is wrong except for whatever it is they’ve created and the 2 or 3 pieces produced by their mentors and idols. Apparently, everyone in Los Angeles is doing it wrong except you. The ego knows no hypocrisy, especially if you wrap it in a thin veil of self-deprecating humor. The final word: False humility is for hipsters. Hipsters suck. Therefore, false humility sucks. QED
- A
little over a week ago, our new Attorney General Eric Holder gave a
speech about race relations in America. I haven't been able to applaud
or rebuke his statement for a few reasons. One, I've been busy, and
two, what he said wasn't nearly as significant as I think others wanted
it to be. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about his
speech felt off. He tried to say something important, but he didn't
quite hit the nail on the head or his execution was faulty or
something. It was just off. Tim Wise
does a somewhat decent job of pinpointing what it is about his
statement that really felt like a wasted opportunity to address a
social ill constructively and accurately. ::sigh:: I'm still not
saying this right. Just go and read Wise's response. He doesn't articulate exactly what it is that bothered me about Holder's speech, but he does a better job of it than I.
However, I'm happy to say that at least my issues with Holder's statement didn't mirror the third grade flailing of celebrated comic book and sci-fi author Peter David. (I'm not providing a direct link to his site.) Apparently, AG Holder's speech really, really hurt David's feelings and he thinks that black people are really mean for trying to encourage people to talk about racism instead of simply sweep it under the rug like so many nice, sweet and gracious white people who only have our best interests at heart. Honest.
Frankly, I have no words that don't result in some horrible, yet accurate generalizations about how this constant attempt to derail discussions about racism, and thereby, actually promote social progress and cultural growth feels like a 500-year-old playbook that gets passed down from one generation to the next in Western (read Euro-American) Culture. This is why so many POC feel as if they have to pick their battles when dealing with racism. Because if they didn't, no one would live past the age of 35 due to constant stress on their hearts, minds, and health when addressing bullshit detractors and denial day-in and day-out. - If you're interested in one extreme case of
"well meaning whites" attempting to derail a frank discussion of racism
in science fiction, take a gander at Coffee & Ink's unfortuate predicament.
The best thing to come out of that post is the fantastic support of
Mely's rights and the denouncement of Cramer and Shetterly's fuckery.
The second best thing to come out of that post is the fantastic list of
book recommendations by authors of color that I've pinched from each
page of replies. Yep! It's all about me and my needs. :-D
Feel free to ignore this. I'm posting these recs from the comments that caught my eye here for my future reference (I've also included a note re: the cultural perspective they represent). But if you see something that interests you, by all means, enjoy.
- Futureland by Walter Mosley African-American
- The Hanging of Angelique: Canada, Slavery and the Burning of Montreal by Afua Cooper African-Canadian
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (I already planned to read this, but those quotes cited in the comments just nudged it higher on my list.) Dominican-American
- Journey From The Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran by Roya Hakakian Persian
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (I had plans to read this one also, but the rec was for the audiobook read by Lynne Thigpen, whom I adored. May she rest in peace.) African-American
- Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film by Adilifu Nama African-American
- The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead African-American author, Multi-ethnic perspective
- Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff (This is the last movie I remember ever balling my eyes out uncontrollably. I fear the book will probably do the same, but it's a story that definitely needs to be told.) Maori and Samoan
Note to self: Read this when you have a free moment. Warning - Long.
That is all.
You people clearly mean nothing to me. I haven’t blogged here in a month, and I’ve been visiting the site more and more sporadically. That means that either my life has kept me delightfully entertained and I no longer need the sound of my own keystrokes to amuse me or … wait, what was my other option? Hmmm, I guess there wasn’t one. :-P
So what have I been up to? Are you sure you want to know? Yeah, I didn’t think so. But I’ll tell you anyway.
- I’m finally going on vacation next month. It’s overdue like a mutha’, but I can’t get out of here until after my trip to D.C. for an industry tradeshow. Yuck. But on the upside: Vacation! I’m headed to Florida for a week to visit my best friend and her little family. For those who don’t remember, Rebekah had another baby girl, Amani, in February, and I’ve only seen the rugrat in pictures. Plus, there’s the whole part about seeing ‘Bekah, not having to pay for a hotel or food, and not being at work. See? Win-win-win-win.
- Because of the industry tradeshow at the end of the month, I have to buy some more formal business attire. My office is pretty business casual, and although there are a few who emphasize the “casual” moreso than the “business,” I try to keep it somewhat conservative (i.e. I have a work wardrobe and a “life” wardrobe. The two rarely mix.)
I only have one suit (that fits), so I ordered two more online this past weekend. Let’s hope they fit. If not, I have just enough time to find something else. I also need a dress for a party the magazine’s hosting for our reader board, and a pantsuit for the early morning seminar we’re sponsoring that Monday. Sheesh! The positive aspect to all of this is that I can always use these items again for interviews. I need to buy shoes and an adapter/charger for my iPod as well. Yeah, money’s going to be really tight for the next few months. - My social calendar hasn’t runneth over, but I’m staying fairly active considering the finances have been kind of wonky lately.
May 18th – Took the subway down to Long Beach for the Pride parade and festival. Although I missed the first 20 min. or so, I could tell it is more festive and lively than the WeHo parade. Must return next year. Afterwards, I meant up with Anastasia and her boyfriend for lunch and a wee bit of sightseeing. I visited Acres of Books for the first time and was subsequently hit with a profound sadness about it possibly closing its doors for the last time sometime this fall.
June 7th – Attended the Get Smart promotion at the Santa Monica Apple store with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ken Davidian, and Peter Segal. Dwayne is just as fine from the 2nd row as he is onscreen. No, more so. Especially with the sexy Hugh Laurie-esque stubble and the T-shirt that graces his muscles everso slightly. You can listen to the Q&A on iTunes for free. I didn’t ask a question, but it’s all good. I took some blurry pics with my camera phone. I’ll see if I can load them here.
July 4th – Meant to join Katrina & Co. for a shindig at the beach, but instead I got there early and puttered around looking bored for 1 ½ hours, then left. The upside, I realized I wanted to go back to the beach sometime this summer for a nice chill on the sand (with a book, of course) and maybe some frolic in the surf. I can’t remember the last time I frolicked. After I left the beach, I stopped by a BBQ joint that I’ve been meaning to try and grabbed 2 DVDs from Blockbuster. I didn’t get to see any fireworks go off, but it wasn’t too bad. It was a quiet day.
Today – Going to book signing at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. Barbara Ehrenreich is reading excepts from her new book, This Land is Their Land. I have to leave early to make sure I arrive by 7:30 pm ‘cuz traffic on the I-10 is the stuff of legends. The silver lining: I have 5 weeks of Coffee Break French podcasts to catch up on along the way. - In family news, my folks are moving into a new house in PA. They’re still in Allentown, but they’re leaving the row-home lifestyle behind and headed back to a detached single-family dwelling. Apparently, they’re too good to share 2 load-baring walls with others. Selfish. :-P Of course, I’m happy for them even though I liked the feel of the row-home.
At the new place, the parking’s better, there’s a guest room for me to crash in this Christmas, and a big backyard for their new puppy, Ichigo. Oh, did I mention that my folks got a new dog back in February? If I didn’t, I meant to. I wasn’t all that happy when I heard they were looking for a new man’s best friend. (Well, my stepfather was looking; my mother, like me, was still in mourning over the loss of Pebbles last December.) But the new puppy is 6 months old and weighs 50+ lbs as of last Sunday. He’s ¾ Akita and ¼ Alaskan Husky, so he’s gonna be a big boy. Q.E.D. – Big backyard. - My dancing has fallen off a little. There were health issues and work issues and life issues, but I’m still hanging in there. Sort of. I’m technically up to 4 classes a week, except I never seem to make it to all 4 during any given week. Which is great on my wallet, but not-so-great on my progress. :-( Here’s the schedule (because I know you care):
Wednesday – Jazz Technique at 7pm; Beginner Jazz Fusion at 8:15pm
Thursday – Capoiera at 8pm
Saturday – Beginner Hip Hop at 12:30pm
On top of this, I’m jogging on Sundays (when the heat’s not unbearable). I think the problem is if I go to the 2 Jazz classes, I’m too tired for the Capoiera class the next day. And when I first started Capoiera, I was too sore to go to the Hip Hop class come Saturday afternoon. I’m getting better, but my schedule has made it difficult to be consistent. I’m missing Capoiera tonight for the book signing, and I missed last week’s because I was busy gathering things for the 4th of July shindig. SMH. Excuses, excuses. I know.
There’s a Capoiera class on Sunday, but it’s 1 ½ hrs. instead of 1 hr., and the first time I tried it, I had to bow out after 45 minutes because I was exhausted and lightheaded. Besides, I think I rather jog on Sundays instead. Oh well, all I can do is keep at it and try to do what I can physically handle. I guess it’s better than standing still. - On the hearth front, I took the Target gift card Heather gave me for my birthday back in March, and I put it towards a new desk chair for my home office. Check it out. The reviews online whine a lot about the armrests being too low, but I don’t think they’re that bad. Maybe it’s because I have such long arms and legs. I can’t tell you how much of a difference the new chair makes. Not just in my posture and the long hours sitting at my desk, but also in the layout of my living room. It almost looks like I’m designing around a theme. Well, a theme other than hand-me-downs and “M’eh, this will do for now.”
I also bought that bamboo plant (Lucky bamboo) I’ve been wanting for the last year. My mother would be proud. (She’s always getting on me about decorating my apt., especially with plants and pictures on the wall.) Now, I just have to figure out how to transfer the bamboo plant from the little ceramic vase it came in to the glass vase I picked up over a year ago. Then, I’m going to add a few rocks and marbles to the bottom to keep the plant upright, and add water so it can actually, you know, live. Look at me. I’m growing something in my apartment that won’t gross me out or get me arrested.
Okay, I think that's all for now, boys and girls. I have to finish organizing the July/August files now that's it's out the door. That way, I can come in tomorrow and start on the September issue. Yay? Oh, speaking of Yay? Did anyone else notice the gas prices went down? They went from a minor $4.53 on Monday to a paltry $4.47 today. That's cause for merriment, right? Right?
All right. Back to work.
Again with the radio silence. Sorry folks. You know how I be. I've been meaning to post something for a few days, but I'm only just now sitting down, putting hands to keyboard. As I've mentioned before, after sitting at a desk for 8+ hours a day, the last thing I want to think about doing when I get off work is coming home and jumping online.
Anywho. Enough excuses. What have I been up to? Let's see. How about I break it down into a little of the good and a smidge of the bad. I don't feel like going into detail about the bad, so I'll do my best to focus on the good. Here goes:
The Good
Last Thursday, I took my second MediaBistro class at their HQ in West Hollywood. It was much better than the other class I took last fall. It's not an overstatement to say that the last class was the suckiest suck that ever sucked. Last August, I took Gary North's "Copy Editing Essentials," and proceeded to sit there for 3 hours wishing I had spent my $65 on Zappos.com. But Vince Beiser's "Breaking into Freelancing" was leagues ahead of Gary's seminar, although that wouldn't have been too difficult considering.
The only unfortunate thing I can say about Vince's class was that it pretty much covered everything I've read in how-to books on the subject of freelancing. So I'm not too sure how much new info I got out of it. Although, it was nice to share opinions, tips, and horror stories amongst the other wannabees of the group. Plus, Vince ... kind of a cutie in person. (Not so much in his website photo though.) I think he teaches 1 or 2 other classes at mB. Maybe when life stops kicking my ass, I'll look into them. I probably need to focus my energy on actually employing some of his advice before moving on to another class anyway.
***
If you take a gander over at my list of recent videos, you'll notice that I've burning through the movies in my Netflix queue. I tend to favor TV shows over feature-length films, but I needed a change up in my routine lately, and as a result, I'm discovering a lot of films that a bazillion people have already cheered or jeered. Well, forget them. It's new to me, so it's still new. Let's see. What did I like?
- Borat - Hi-freaking-larious!! I am my mother's child, and, what I mean by that is, I'm not a huge fan of physical comedy, but that fight scene in the hotel room had me seriously struggling to catch my breath. Question: Was Pam Anderson in on the whole concept of the film before he tried to kidnap her or was that actually spontaneous? Yeah, I'm slow. So what.
- Maxed Out - Decent documentary. Not too shocking in content, but certainly worth the rental. Of course, you might want to prepare yourself to be depressed by the ending. It's a travesty how our government is so obviously complicit with the private sector, and at the expense of our populace. SMH
- Doom - I was pleasantly surprised by this flick. I was totally expecting it to suck something fierce, but it didn't at all. Granted it's not perfect by a long shot, but imagine my shock when I realized that not only did it have a storyline, it raised questions that were actually answered later on in the movie. Whodathunk?! Now it's true that I only rented the film to ogle Dwayne Johnson, but I got a nice little ripoff of Alien as a gift with purchase. Cool beans!
- Kung-Fu Hustle - Still haven't finished watching all the extras on the DVD, but my love for this movie will live on forever. I had no choice but to run to my Netflix Q and add Shaolin Soccer and King of Comedy. I've seen most of the former, but none of the latter. If they're even half as geektastic as Kung-Fu Hustle, I'll be happy. And Yuen Wah is full of win!
***
After learning some devastating news on Friday afternoon, I was in desperate need of some fun and booze. Thankfully, Steve Carlson came to the rescue on Friday night at the Hotel Cafe. I haven't seen SCB since November, and it was good night to catch the guys in action. Carlson was in a good mood, Dave's parents were in town to see him perform, and Dress actually asked me what I did for a living despite having known me for over 3 years (Yeah, I think he was drunk). :-P
The set was a nice mix of Rollin' On and Groovin' on the Inside, and the crowd was full and only slightly annoying. What the hell is this thing about going to gigs to see one of your favorite bands and talking the entire time during their set?! There were at least 2 groups of women there who spent 90% of SCB's time on stage gabbing and texting amongst each other. Some with their backs to the stage. Seriously, WTH? You paid $20 to park (I know! Ain't that some shit! F#!king Oscars!), $10 at the door, and $X for booze, just to stand around and talk to your buddies while the band plays. Get the fuck out of here with that shit! It's disrespectful to the band, to the people who came to hear them play, and to everyone in the club in general.
Other thoughts on the night: the new doorman is a Douchebag with a capital D, listening to other women complain about their problems is not the best way to try and forget yours, I swear I saw a guy there that looked like the lead singer of Creed (crazy, I know), and I think I have a serious thirst problem. Two-and-a-half bottles of water for one bottle of booze? Really?
And to cap off the night, I got to say hey to Carlson as I left with Heather. He was still in happy mode, which may or may not have been booze-related, but he remembered my name, gave me a hug, and complimented me on my hair. I was holding up the valet parking line, so I gave him another hug -- his hair smelled like Herbal Essence shampoo (isn't that a chick shampoo?) -- and let him get to his birthday shindig. I'm guessing it was for Jensen, but I thought it would be too rude to ask. (Seems like I was right.)
P.S. I'm using the March 14th The Life of Riley gig and the March 27th SCB show to celebrate my birthday. Why? Because I can.
The Bad
Work. Nothing good is going on here. Just the same old tripe that led me to the edge of a serious burnout 3 weeks ago.
Wow, I haven’t posted in forever! LOL! Okay, two weeks =/= forever, but still: Worst. Blogger. Ever.
But as usual, I have an excuse. You see, I just started a new job on Monday, and I spent all of last week helping the folks at my old job get their last magazine issue out the door. Or at least as much as they could get out the door since I wouldn’t be there for the tail end of the shipping period.
A few people asked me if I was leaving early on Friday, but I said no. I had my exit interview at 4 pm, and I hadn’t finished cleaning up my desktop and e-mail anyway. So I stayed until about 6pm, then I took my sweet time saying good-bye to a few people. You know, it’s weird. I think I’m actually going to miss that place a little more than I realized.
As hellacious as it was, a part of me will remember the small things, little positive whachamajiggers that put a smile on my face no matter how much my former boss was an incompetent, contradictory bitca. For instance, I'll miss the drive through the Santa Monica Mountains to the PCH, then the drive along the Pacific Ocean from Pepperdine Uni to our building near Point Dume. I’ll miss Robert Ross’ hair and cool cars. Seriously, that man has hair like Sam Elliott and he owns a vintage Maybach, among others. I’ve never even seen one of those cars on the road, let alone up close in a parking garage. I’ll also miss Mary in the art dept. and Annette in HR and . . . hmmm, I’m sure there’s someone else. Wait, . . . no. There’s no one else I’ll miss. :-P
Anyway, enough about the old, what about the new? Well, even though my first day started off less than perfect, it wasn’t too bad. This job is going to keep me hella-busy, but I think I just might be able to handle it AND have a life outside of work as well. Imagine that.
Things are a tad disorganized thanks to the editorial position being open since March, and the mag’s currently behind on being shipped out the door, but I haven’t felt too overwhelmed. Yet. We haven’t gotten to the whole writing-articles-for-the-next-issue point in the process, so look out for some definitive flailing when it does rear its head. But overall, I think things are going okay.
Commute-wise, I’m saving money at the pump with a 13-mile drive compared to my old 31-mile drive. However, I’m not saving time at all. As a matter of fact, I may be losing it. Who knew driving 13 miles from the SFV to West LA would take longer than driving 31 miles from the Valley to Malibu. What's that about?! I hope it’s just a case of finding my travel window, but that drive approaching the I-101/405 split is a bitch. 30 minutes to go 6 miles. Sheesh! I’ve been late everyday. Not incredibly late. About 15 minutes or so. Good thing I’m salaried now instead of hourly.
I guess I’ll just have to leave earlier. Which isn’t a bad trade-off considering what I’m getting in return. Let's see. I have a quiet mid-size cube in a decent East-coast style building with its own parking garage (who'da thunk I’d appreciate that so much?), 1st floor café/restaurant that serves breakfast ‘til 11am in addition to lunch, nice benefits (100% health insurance paid), holidays o’plenty (MLK Day, 4-days weekends for Labor Day and Memorial Day), walking distance to the Sawtelle District (it’s like Little Tokyo), and more.
But don’t get me wrong, it's not all sunshine. I mentioned the commute madness, but also my cubicle could definitely use a cleaning due to the old filing that was left undone until the position was filled. (Guess who gets to do it now?) My boss, who seems much more decent than my last boss, tends to cover a lot in one sitting, so I feel a bit like an airhead because I don’t always remember everything he rattles off about this piece and that piece. (But I’ve started carrying post-its into our little rap sessions and labeling each proof/article with a mini-To-Do note.) The computer system is shamefully outdated. Carbon-dated, if you will. I feel like I've been transported back in time to 1998. And, since I’ve started at a really hectic time (one issue on its way out the door, one in the middle of production, and a third is starting next Tuesday, I worry that I won't be able to tackle so much and learn the whole process without looking like a complete rube.
But I remain hopeful. I can certainly say that this a huge step up from the last place, and I say that as someone who often withholds such statements until after having worked at a new job for at least 3 months. I’m not saying the new job is perfect, but the flaws have not all surfaced yet and the flaws of my last employer were easily recognizable from the beginning. Yes, the very first day! Hell, I’m inclined to gush over the new job just because they have a small cappuccino and chai machine in the main lunchroom/cafeteria. I’ve been burned that much.
There is also a much more diverse staff here. Granted, my last company had a fair number of Asian-Americans working there, but that’s not really a kudos since AsAm make up the largest racial minority in L.A. Plus, the AsAm there were just as snobby as the wealthy white folks. At least here, there’s seems to be a larger “variety” of Asian-Americans. And not just one Korean-Am, one Filipina, two Chinese-Am, etc. There’s several people from many different ethnic backgrounds. I think I may be the only black woman working in the Editorial dept., but I’ve seen a few in other departments as I walk around, and a number of black men as well. I’m sure I stand out with my naturally curly ‘fro, but so far, no one's shock has been all that easy to detect. There’s nice easy mix of POC here that doesn't feel like tokenism and that helps me feel a lot more at ease than I was at the old job.
Plus, the diversity goes beyond ethnicity. My mother asked me, “So are there fewer snobs at the new place?” I told her, so far, that’s a notable difference. On my first day, I went out to eat with a group of people from Editorial, and it was nice to be around folks who drive beat-up cars older than 2004, don’t dress like they’re going to hang out in Hollywood or Silverlake on a Friday night even though it’s Tuesday, and joke about their big hair that makes me think of Texas on a hot and humid August afternoon. Sure, I’ve met coworkers who drive in from posh, upper-middle-class neighborhoods like Glendale and Sherman Oaks, but I’ve also met people here who drive in from working class/average Joe neighborhoods like Redondo Beach and Panorama City. It’s nice to work somewhere where they don’t look at you sideways for not living on the Westside or Thousand Oaks. ::sigh::
Okay, well, I’m gonna get out of here and hit the sack. I'm trying desperately to hit that 9 am mark. Also, I won’t be blogging directly from work for a while. I have to play it safe. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t be checking up on my neighborhood or friends’ list during a break here and there throughout the week. I just can’t go crazy and be checking it several times during the day.
It looks like I may keep my afternoon commute schedule though. I’ve found that I have a smoother, quicker drive home if I leave at 6:30 pm instead of 6 pm. So I may stick around for a little bit after most of the Edit dept has gone home. It's no big deal. I haven’t set up my voicemail yet, and I may take the time to find a holding place for all those freakin’ folders.
Toodles, ladies and gents. Until later.
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