Today begins "The Great 2014 Winter Break Do All The Things I Said I was Gonna Do All Year But Didn't" Challenge. Realistically, I don't expect that in the next 2 weeks I'll find a new job, improve my upper body strength, haul all of the yard sale/charity donations out of the upstairs hallway, paint the master bath, regain fluency in Spanish, and finally learn how to make crepes -- but I can damn well get started!
Now, I have lots of justification, er, excuses for not making more progress on my goals this year. Mostly I like to blame my job, which has sucked more energy and joie de vivre out of me than a Dyson sucks dog hair. There is small comfort in realizing that one is the sanest person in the asylum, unless one can stomach Southern Comfort, which I cannot ever since that time in 7th grade when I was at a sleepover at Viki's house and we made banana splits and washed them down with SoCo once her parents went to bed. Anyway, my stagnant employment status is not for lack of trying to find greener pastures. Or sandier ones, since I expanded my job search to include the Carolina coast. I surely hope that my application-to-interview ratio improves in my favor in the coming year (currently it's about 20-to-1), and I plan to scour job postings and even send some random inquiries out over the next two weeks while I can do so without nervously looking over my shoulder to see if the boss will catch me. It's easier to avoid typos that way.
Since my time in 2014 wasn't consumed with writing academic papers, I really, really, really should've blogged more. For that shortcoming I blame Pinterest. Get me on the internet with a swatch of spare time, and I'm more likely to be scanning that site for pretty interior decor pics and recipes that I might or might not get around to trying than sitting down to compose a few paragraphs of wit and/or wisdom to share with my blogger buddies. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you if you ever stop by my actual abode, and treat you to a dinner of Sesame Chicken followed by the most awesome Tiramisu Cheesecake Brownies, enjoyed in my minimalist Scandinavian-inspired dining nook. We'll have a lovely time.
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Again: try the University of Maine at Farmington. You would love the western Maine mountains. A great school - a great New England village.
ReplyDeletethe pessimist complains the glass is half empty
the optimist shouts her glass is half full
actually they both just need a smaller glass
So what does that mean? Hell I don't know.
the Ol'Buzzard
OB, I am sure that the wilds of Maine are lovely, but I am not ready to trade one middle of nowhere for another, even if it is closer to Boston!
DeleteI'm a glass-half-full person, but I don't always care for what's on tap...
Hey Intelliwench--the job hunt stuff can get so discouraging, and now is such a fallow time in academe.... and not the kind of fallow that produces the good stuff !!
ReplyDeleteI, too, have blogged less than I wanted... but I feel a shift in something, likely myself as I see the way ahead and reorient to what are my priorities. More of what gladdens my heart.
Hang in and keep writing. It is a pleasure to read you.
Hey back atcha, Harlequin! I am going to try very hard to exercise my writing muscles and even resuscitate my tai chi practice over the winter break. That will likely gladden my own heart, and quite possibly make me a more attractive job applicant in the process! Merry holidays to you!
DeleteI've heard good things about PSU (Portland State University), but be prepared for A LOT of rain! We do have lots and lots of really awesome poets and writers here, so Portland can be a really cool place to be. Good luck with the job search! And I hope 2015 is an amazing year for you :-)
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DeleteI have a number of blogger buddies and professional connections in PDX, but have yet to make it out there for a visit. It sounds like a fun & funky place, to be sure. I'd like to get out of the Bible Belt, but for now I need to be within a couple hours' drive of my mom. At 83 she's probably not up for a cross-country move!
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