Blistering Job Searches

Woops, haven't been on here in about FOREVER. Ah well, the best I can say is this: I made a trip across the United States with my best friend Tom, I flew home from this trip on the fourth of July. I worked at my internship for about another two weeks and then I packed up my things and moved with my fiance to Virginia, roughly twenty to thirty minutes from the nations capitol.

Things I have been doing since then:

1. Looking for jobs
2. Cooking things
3. Looking for jobs
4. Visiting the grad school I want to attend
5. Looking for jobs
6. Cleaning things

As you can see, my life has just been crammed full. O.o Chyeah, right. In preparation for applying to graduate school, I've gotten in touch with one of my old professors, ordered a GRE study book, and emailed my old roommate, now a graduate student, begging for advice about a statement of purpose. I like to start these things early, you know, and really get my freaking out time in before that window slips by. Ha ha.

I do have a job now! I'm going to be working in a garden center that is just down the road from my home, but it's a job and it's with flowers, so that's fun. It will also still give me time to study for the GRE and spend time with Matt. (Which is sorta important...) I start that tomorrow, so I'll let you know how that goes. I also had an interview today for an internship with the delegate from the district that I used to live in from WV. The internship is unpaid (which is so lame I can't stand it) but also looks like it would be a good opportunity, so I'll give it a try. HUZZAH JOBS.

Dunno if I've mentioned it before, but my brother was arrested in May and has been in jail waiting for his trail since then. I think things should get rolling soon on it but, the Putnam County Court house has not kept me well informed of the proccedings. If Ryan decides to plead guilty, I think things will happen rapidly from there and I hope he will go to the Anthony Center, which would be good. If he pleads not guilty, I have to go home to stand trail against my brother. Fantastic. I'm hoping for the guilty plea, frankly.

I have huge blisters on my feet from the shoes I wore today. I have never seen such monsters. I must charge up my camera batteries and post disgusting pictures of them. :)
Cheers all.
In the next update: Wedding things!

Tripping over my Music

As you can tell, I’m sure, I didn’t bother to continue the Navigator’s log after Day 1, mostly because I was too TIRED to do something like that every night. Plus, I was never sure when I was going to have computer use. You can check Tominda’s blog for a funny rendition of our trip. (www.whiskeypetals.blogspot.com/)

I thought the trip was pretty cool except for a few small things, like Tom’s car not wanting to work. Other than that, the drive was easy, the weather was good, and at the end I got to see my family. I enjoyed walking around Seattle and looking at stuff, and I got a pretty good tan while I was there. (For me, anyway. Tominda is sure I’m an albino.) I thought it would be wetter, but Seattle was having a dry spell while I was in the area. That was fine with me, since it had rained about non-stop in WV for two weeks. When I flew back in to WV, it was raining. So, I spent the 4th of July in a movie theater with my mom, watching The Proposal, with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Great movie, by the way. Go see it or rent it when it comes out. I laughed a lot.

Well, since I failed to properly chronicle my travels (mostly uneventful, but fun), I would like to take the time to write about the music I have playing on this blog. I recently switched out the other playlist of fun and fantastic songs for this playlist full of fun and fantastic songs. And thus, my ramble starts.

I love the Japanese language. I find it so different and fascinating from my own; I really want to learn it. What I do not love is the sort of stereotypes that seem to come with it. “Oh, you like Japanese culture and language? You must be one of those super nerds. Do you watch cartoons? Geek, haha.” Yes, do say this to me sometime. I’ll punch you straight in the baby-maker, male or female. There are some very strange people associated with what America views as the “Japanese culture”. I will not deny this. I have seen them in action. I have hurt on the insides. However, I am not that person.

I do enjoy some of the cartoons that were made in Japan (“anime”), and I also like the comic books that come over from there (“manga”). I like the pictures, I like the art, I like the stories. My love of the anime started when I was in middle school and Cartoon Network played the animes “Ronin Warriors” and “Gundam Wing”. Other than that, I can’t say I’ve watched much anime. Here and there, if I find a good one.

Gundam Wing and Ronin Warriors, respectively.

I found manga when I worked at Sears. I know, weird. But, on my breaks, I would go over to the bookstore and sit and read the manga. I finally found Hana-Kimi, which is a really fun read and the art is good, so I wound up getting hooked on that and buying it. It’s the only one I have bought, and I still read it over sometimes, when the mood strikes me.

So, my love of that particular manga led me to the Internet, where I found that they had created a live-action drama of the book in Japan. How fun! I watched it, I loved it. I searched out some of the actors from that drama in other Japanese dramas. I found another drama called “Hana Yori Dango”. Also fun. Searched out some of the actors in it. You see the pattern here. However, one of the actors also happened to be in a group called “Arashi”. I went to YouTube. I FELL IN LOVE.

Arashi’s music is my favorite. I love how up-beat it is, I love the sound, I love their voices. It doesn’t really matter to me that I don’t understand the words. I have the same problem is some rap songs. It’s not so much about the words, really, but the music and the way everything sounds. It’s fun. I like fun and happy songs. It suits me. When I was younger, I enjoyed similar groups, such as NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. I’ve just moved on to a different language.
Fact: I LOVE POP MUSIC. So sue me. All you music snobs out there who are reading this (as if) and hurling, can kiss it. I don’t care that you think that pop music is the degradation of musical society. It makes me happy. I like the beat, I like how you can sing to it even if you suck, and I like the simplicity. Sure, many things are synthesized and such, but I still enjoy the work that went into the song. Besides, I like other genres as well, such as classical and rock and R&B. And I love Japanese pop.

Arashi. Favorites of mine.

I’m pretty tired of getting weird looks. I’m pretty tired of being embarrassed because I like a pop group from another country. What’s wrong with that? I don’t understand why people like Alanis Morrisette, or flock to that Ne-Yo dude. (I probably eff-ed up his name, sorry.) Do I give you weird looks and give you crap for liking a woman who sounds a bit like a yodeling cat? Do I giggle at you because you like songs by some man who only sings about sex and getting it on in a limo? (I just did, if you’re wondering.) Just because I like something that is not main stream (and has really weird stereotypes attached to it), I catch flak.

Another fact: I LIKE JAPANESE POP. So far, I like three groups. They are all boy-bands. I think they’re pretty. I like their music. I’m probably not going to stop. Quit calling me weird. I’m not. I’m no different from the kid that stretches his ears out with those plastic things. I’m no different from the “emo” kids who wear really tight pants. It’s what they like. This is something I like. In the words of my esteemed former roommate, “DON’T JUDGE ME!”

Cheers all.

NEWS. They have some songs on my playlist there.

The group KAT-TUN. Different sounds, etc.

P.S. - I love pictures. I like putting them on blogs. Still learning, so please ignore the mess.

Navigator's (B)log, Day 1

And so it was that Tom and I set out on an epic journey across the United States. Tominda is moving to Seattle, as everyone and their mother knows by now, and I'm here as her navigator and best friend. 

We plotted our course yesterday on the Atlas I bought. This morning over biscuits at Tudor's Biscuit World with her parents, we changed the route. Instead of taking Route 50 down and around the pokey part of Ohio, we speed across the state on Route 35. We passed through Dayton, so if Mandy reads this, my death is certain. :( I wish we could have stopped to see her, but we don't have that much time to get out there. 

Anyway, as we trekked across Ohio, Tominda introduced me to a most hideous song. It was the old-style country bluegrass and she said it "made her want to dance on a log." Other than that, Ohio was pretty uneventful.

We crossed into Indiana around 1:00 p.m., where we instantly spotted some really splendid billboards. I'll upload a photo when I get home, but let it suffice to say that the board read in very large letters "TOM RAPER". Welcome to Indiana, leave your self worth and sanity at the border. 

Indiana, Tominda and I have decided, is a boring place. No offense to those that live there, but it's kinda bland to drive through. Tom did get us stuck in the middle of an intersection. She had run a red light, and stopped, so there we were, stuck. Thankfully, others seemed to notice our out of state plates and waved us through. We rolled back onto the freeway mouthing "I'M REALLY SORRY." 

At this present time, Tom and I are holed up in a Motel 6 (it smells funny in here) in Wisconsin. We're just over the border. We managed to make it through Indiana, into Illinois, and up into Wisconsin, all in one day. Woo! 

Tomorrow we head out for the Dakotas. Possibly, we shall see a "Corn Palace". Pictures to come! 

Short Little Freak Out

Holy mother of all things that are good and wonderful! I can’t believe that I’m going to look at apartments tomorrow. I don’t know why I’m such a freak attack, but it just dawned on me what I’m doing this weekend. I’m not sure if I usually walk around in a constant state of denial or if I am just that obtuse about what I have planned. I mean, seriously, I’m sure other people realize when they’re going to look for an APARTMENT with their FIANCE for the FIRST TIME. TO LIVE IN TOGETHER. Hurrr…..
I swear, sometimes I wonder how I’ve made it this far. Natural selection must not be as strong as Darwin thought. Haha!

Number of days Until the Great Exodus: 6
Number of days until I move: No longer sure. Depends on whether or not I quit the internship sooner than I thought. I might. I am not sure.

Oh, the Angst!

Good news everyone! Matt got the job he went to interview for and was offered the position the next week. Yay! Therefore, I am in full packing up/cleaning up mode. Matt and I are going up this weekend to D.C. to do some apartment hunting. Matt will start his job on July the 20th, I will join him there when my internship is finished on July 31st.

On top of all that, I’m also making a trip with Tominda out to Seattle WA, from WV. It is the trip we’ve wanted to take since we graduated from high school. However, this trip is not a round one; I am the only one returning by plane. Tominda has chosen to plant herself in the rainiest city I know of. You can bet your sweet bippy I am gonna be crying at the airport.

So I had an eventful weekend. I went down to Matt’s apartment, where we searched for apartments and jobs for me online. The job hunting thing is really getting old, so I was feeling a little discouraged. I’m pretty bummed that I haven’t gotten anything yet, and I want to catch up to Matt. However, I have to keep reminding myself that this is not a competition. But, at the time, I was bummed. But, I did have a horse-back riding lesson scheduled for that Saturday. Off I went, thinking that I could get some things off my mind by riding. This usually works well. Things on my mind:
Getting a job
Finding an Apartment
Leaving my Mom in this current situation
Leaving the only area I really know
Tominda moving away
Money money money

Needless to say, I got into my own head and just stayed there. I did not get these things off my mind and instead fell off the horse I was riding, even though he had done nothing. The lesson degenerated from there, ending with me in tears and a sore backside. Awesome. My instructor and I figure that I actually hurled myself to the ground.

I absolutely HATE to cry. Crying in front of others only makes it worse. I spent a good five minutes trying to get my shit under control and absolutely failed. I wound up apologizing to my instructor, embarrassed as hell. When I took the horse back up to the pasture to put him up, three of the other horses up there managed to escape on me. I don’t believe I have ever cursed so loudly or horribly before. Not one of my finer moments.

What really kept circling around in my head was, “I just want to be really good at something!” And this is one thing that I really want to be good at. It’s rather ridiculous, as I realize that I am good at many things. I can write well, I listen to others well, I’m a decent dancer (or I was), I can swim very well, I have a bit of artistic talent in certain things, etc. But, I have friends who all excel at these things. Where I am merely good, they are fantastic.

For instance, go to: www.readvessel.com . That is Tominda’s book. You will love it, I promise. It is a fascinating read and will keep you glued to your seat. This book is going to be big. Tom is a fabulous writer. That is only one example of my fantastic friends. I guess what I’m really looking for is to be Fabulous with a capital “F” in something too. I feel mediocre in comparison sometimes. Also ridiculous, in retrospect. I have my own talents and abilities that I just don’t see. I am forever my own worst critic. If nothing else, we can say that I attract remarkably talented and fantastic people to me. I shall start a harem.

On a more interesting and lighter note, I started reading some of my old Mercedes Lackey novels. I used to love The Heralds of Vladimar series. However, reading them now, I have realized that they are not the books I once liked so much. Do not mistake me, she has good stories. It is her characters that start to bother me. It has always bothered me that her characters were so DRAMATIC. I was able to get past that and enjoy the story. When I read those once treasured books now, I am irritated by the characters. They are all the same. They are all self-sacrificing people who regularly run themselves into the ground for the good of their country. Admirable, but boring. There is usually some sort of hard love/extreme love mixed into these stories, and I’m rather sick of that as well. I’m also not impressed with the writing style anymore. Ms. Lackey often writes a slice-of-life section in the book, and I used to like that a lot. Now, though, I find that it interrupts the story for me, and winds up not being that germane to whatever else is going on.

For example: So and so raced into the rescue! First he ate well roasted meat, drank crystal clear water, pooped, and slept on a bed of flaxen virgin hair! Back to the rescuing!
(I exaggerate) but the idea is the same. These are things that I plan to look out for in my own writings. Slice of life can be done better, it must, because I am going to write about things like that (not the pooping) but I want to do it in a way that flows better with the story and not as a sort of filler. Because that’s what they read like: sections of filler in-between sections of action. Boring filler as well.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that I will be giving up a good portion of the series that I collected over the years. I will only be keeping two of the books, Take a Thief and Brightly Burning. Thank you Mercedes Lackey, for entertaining me through the years, I did love those books. I do still love them, I just don’t love them enough to read them for the 45th time or keep them. One less burden on the road.

I did buy a digital camera (I’ve never had one before) and had my friend Ginny take pictures of Matt and me in our graduation robes. Graduation day was so hectic, we never got to take pictures together. For Example:

















Attractive, I know. Try to contain yourselves.



I’m on a countdown:
Days until Tom and I head out: 9
Days until I move: 34 working days (does not include weekends)

Excel, Children!

I have a new internship, which is just great with me. I really like the women I work with and it's a small office with a big impact on certain communities in West Virginia.
However. At this very moment, four days into the 'ship, I have come to hate Microsoft Excel. It is a silly program. Although useful, I find it taxing, as well and mentally dulling. Often, I can't get it to do what I want, although I'm certain I'm putting in the right commands. Eff you excel, and your fantastic ability to drive me insane.

I really had to get that off my chest. Now, I will return to Excel.

First Time for Everything

Man oh man, has it been a month for the books. Family issues, graduation from college, moving, returning to "the nest", job search, start of a new internship; it's been something of a ride for me. I can't quite complain, as this means that my life is moving forward.
Strange as this is, I sometimes wish it would move just a little faster. I hate being stuck in limbo, and that is pretty much where I am. I'm not as flexible as I used to be and I don't think I could ever bend over backwards to get under a stick.

THINGS TO DO:
1. Find a big girl job
2. Study for the GRE
3. Apply to Grad School
4. Move again!

With some sort of luck (and just because he's that awesome) my fiance will have a job in Washington D.C. by the end of the month. That would be cool. Therefore, I must find a job too, as I am the one that wanted to go to D.C.

There is a grad school there that I want to go to: American University.
I will post a link to the program I want to take part in:
http://www.american.edu/sis/degrees/MA-IPCR.cfm
If you scroll to the bottom and see where they have tacked on a Degree in Theological Studies, that's what I'm aiming for. I'm hardcore.

I think I'm ready to start trying to be an adult now. It's weird, growing up. Not all bad, but weird.