I had intended to write this list of things I'm thankful for on Thursday, but I woke up that morning feeling like a hot bag of ass and have just today begun to feel better, if only marginally. It's still Thanksgiving weekend, though, so it still counts, right?
I'm thankful for my new phone. After almost four years, half with a crappy Samsung and half with an only-slightly-less-crappy HTC, to finally be back in the LG family, with a Droid, no less, is just nice.
I'm thankful for writing. Between the wonderfully brilliant writers behind the novels, comics, TV shows, and movies I love so much and the ability to write and the way it lets me vent my feelings and frustrations and ideas... yeah. Writing rocks. I always say this, but I really do need to keep up with the idea of doing it more often.
I'm incredibly thankful to John Jameson.
I'm thankful for my family, especially my grandparents. Enormous pains in my ass, but I love them anyway.
I'm thankful for perseverance. Between the fruitless job search, a cashlessness that is only just above poverty and a completely nonexistent love life, there are a lot of times... A LOT of times... where I feel like just saying "screw it" and giving up. But I never do. So I'm incredibly thankful for that.
Lastly, I'm thankful for my friends, specifically the special handful of people I can count on to be real friends. Much like my family, they can be a pain in the ass... but they are the stars in what is otherwise the dark night sky of my life, and I appreciate it more than I can ever say.
Alright, enough of this earnest crap, can I get back to being snarky and irreverent now?
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Fiction Friday - Two Goodreads Quotes For You.
No new fiction to share this week. Instead, I'm just posting two quote I came across on goodreads.com (Like to read? Go there! Sign up! Friend me! Or, you know, don't. Whichever.) that I really like from one of my favorite authors. The first is just an awesome quote. The second does a good job of explaining why there's nothing new to share this week.
Because blogger is being really weird with the html for the quotes tonight, you might need to refresh the page a few times to see both quotes instead of one of them repeated twice. Smart html, my ass...
quotes Jim likes
"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot."— Neil Gaiman
quotes Jim likes
"Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it's always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins."— Neil Gaiman
Because blogger is being really weird with the html for the quotes tonight, you might need to refresh the page a few times to see both quotes instead of one of them repeated twice. Smart html, my ass...
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
The Job Search Tango
Have you ever danced with someone you were really attracted to and all you wanted to do was kiss them in the middle of the dance, like some big romantic scene right out of a movie that probably starred Katherine Heigl or someone equally ridiculous? There's a problem, though; everytime you go to kiss them, something in the dance itself gets in your way. There's a spin, or a twirl... or in some cases a dip that ends in someone getting dropped on their ass. Sounds fun, right? I mean, if you're a masochist. Otherwise, it sounds like hell.
And that is exactly what job-hunting in today's world is like: an unending, nightmarish job search tango. Think about it for a second.
You start off by finding someone you want to dance with and then ask them to dance; you submit your resume. If they like what they read, you come in for an interview, and the dance begins. You're dressed to impress. You already know what's coming, all the steps to the dance: why did you leave your last job? What are your goals? Your strengths? Weaknesses? What makes you right for this position? Why should I keep dancing with you? Maybe they throw a few movies in that you weren't expecting... you think it's a waltz and they start breaking...
and you're caught flat-footed. Does anybody really know how to answer "If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?" No. But you keep dancing. Because if you stop dancing early, you don't get the job.
In the old days, in the time of sock-hops and malt shoppes, you'd either get that kiss or get dropped in the dip at the end of the first dance. People would get hired or not at the end of the first interview. Now, though, in the days of flash mobs and trance clubs, there's no such thing as a kiss in the first dance... but you can sure get dropped on your ass. If you manage to stay on your feet, that special someone you want takes your number, and maybe they'll call you back for another dance, with different steps and rhythm and even more surprises. Or you'll never hear from them again. See, there's an even bigger problem than anything else.
You're not the only person trying to dance with them. It's not like Saved by the Bell, where Kelly just has to pick between Zack and Slater.
No, in today's economy it's more like you're trying to dance with Cinderella, and so is everyone else in the whole damn kingdom. With tens of thousands of people unemployed now, competition is fiercer than ever. In a perfect world, luck wouldn't play into it, but it does. Sometimes Cinderella picks someone to dance with before you even get her attention. The only thing you can do is find another partner and keep on dancing.
But I have to be honest, I've never been a big dancer, and my feet are killing me.
And that is exactly what job-hunting in today's world is like: an unending, nightmarish job search tango. Think about it for a second.
This has absolutely nothing to do with anything. I just love Brittany S. Pierce.
You start off by finding someone you want to dance with and then ask them to dance; you submit your resume. If they like what they read, you come in for an interview, and the dance begins. You're dressed to impress. You already know what's coming, all the steps to the dance: why did you leave your last job? What are your goals? Your strengths? Weaknesses? What makes you right for this position? Why should I keep dancing with you? Maybe they throw a few movies in that you weren't expecting... you think it's a waltz and they start breaking...
The obligatory Breakin' 2 reference.
and you're caught flat-footed. Does anybody really know how to answer "If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?" No. But you keep dancing. Because if you stop dancing early, you don't get the job.
In the old days, in the time of sock-hops and malt shoppes, you'd either get that kiss or get dropped in the dip at the end of the first dance. People would get hired or not at the end of the first interview. Now, though, in the days of flash mobs and trance clubs, there's no such thing as a kiss in the first dance... but you can sure get dropped on your ass. If you manage to stay on your feet, that special someone you want takes your number, and maybe they'll call you back for another dance, with different steps and rhythm and even more surprises. Or you'll never hear from them again. See, there's an even bigger problem than anything else.
You're not the only person trying to dance with them. It's not like Saved by the Bell, where Kelly just has to pick between Zack and Slater.
Love triangles and bizarre Drivers' Ed cars do not mix.
No, in today's economy it's more like you're trying to dance with Cinderella, and so is everyone else in the whole damn kingdom. With tens of thousands of people unemployed now, competition is fiercer than ever. In a perfect world, luck wouldn't play into it, but it does. Sometimes Cinderella picks someone to dance with before you even get her attention. The only thing you can do is find another partner and keep on dancing.
But I have to be honest, I've never been a big dancer, and my feet are killing me.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Goodreads Book Review - The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor by Robert KirkmanMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
A few good moments mixed in with a lot of boring, repetitive, predictable moments. I'm forced to think that Bonansinga did most of the heavy lifting on this novel as it never really feels like it's part of The Walking Dead world, in terms of tone. It tries to get there though, mostly through a lot of graphic, depraved actions, the kind of which the comic is famous for... except the things that happen in the comic always feel earned, unlike a lot of the acts in this novel. Lastly, I don't want to give away the twist at the end, but I have to say that while it doesn't contradict anything we learn about the Governor in the comic, I don't like it one bit.
View all my reviews
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