my recent discovery
is that i don't want to do just ANY work.
this didn't use to be the case. i used to be really flexible about what i was willing to do. but being in the position where i am looking for internships that don't pay makes me think about what work is fun and meaningful to me.
and i find that suddenly i don't want to work for a theater, even though i love the theater.
and i don't want to work as an educational intern even though i love teaching.
i don't want to work at a wildlife conservancy even though i am passionate about environmentalism.
instead i have expectations of what an internship will do for ME. this is a change in my outlook. if i'm not being paid in money, i want to be paid in experience. and there are specific skills i want to nurture. i want to do more writing. specifically, i want to learn how to write grants.
i want supervisory experience. i don't care if it's volunteers. i want to learn networking skills.
all in all, having stuff like this on my list of goals makes me feel boring.
but it also makes me feel like a bit of a catch for whatever nonprofit offers me the best internship. an intern who wants to develop their skills will work hard for the organization they work for because that's the way to learn.
so i had an interview this morning with the emergency foodshelf network. and it doesn't look bad. it will give me some of what i want and i will not waste my summer. they are even willing to hook me up with their development coordinator who lives in seattle so that i can get some learning experience there. the internship is very flexible and can be as much work or as little as i need it to be...but i just keep thinking i can do better. i have some other applications out. i will think on it. it is all making me think a lot about the question of what i would do with my time if i didn't HAVE to do anything.
after 5 years of the same phone model(with one rebuild due to the phone busting), i am finally getting a new phone. so is ross. we are both due for upgrades. we are both going to get smart phones. i am hoping that having access to a phone that is also an effective planner will make me a more organized person, and a better friend and wife. we are going with sprint's new droid phones and i'm really excited to have access to all kinds of applications and to be able to share calendars with ross. good stuff.
other things for this week: i planted basil, thyme and parsley in the garden and they seem to be flourishing. so are the strawberries. i will have to make something strawberry rhubarb just because i have them both growing in my garden. unfortunately ross ran over my raspberries with the weed-wacker. :( and i got into a fight with the retaining wall while gardening two days ago. the retaining wall won, leaving me with a deep bruise on my right ankle. i have NO LOVE for the retaining wall just now.
ross, susan and i biked 9-10 miles on monday and i am itching to go out again, but it's a bit to chilly and wet for it today. so maybe a walk instead.
i got to meet jerad and rachel's new baby and see their new house (which is very close to where i interviewed this morning). aj is VERY cute and mellow. it was good to see all of them. jerad is strongly encouraging me to write an op ed about my experience with the MN legislature this spring, and i am thinking about it.
i have been listening to a podcast called craftlit for several years. it is a knitting/literature podcast created by heather ordover, who is an english teacher. so the first part is about whatever crafting is going on in her life, and in the second part of the show she teaches public domain literature. sometimes libravox provides the audio, and sometimes it is read by her or by listeners. she has some pretty great insights as a teacher. because of her i no longer hate the scarlet letter. because of her i respect henry james (although i still hate his writing). she did not succeed, however, in making me think much of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde.
anyway, she has also taken on flatland, by edwin abbot. this is a book i read in college for fun because it was suggested to me by a guy i was dating. and it is a story told from the perspective of a square, about what it is like to live in two dimensions, and what happens when he encounters a 3 dimensional visitor. it is also a very clever satire of victorian england (which i did not know). anyway, listening to it again reminds me of my studies of euclid freshman year at st. john's and i am seriously considering scanning some of my old math papers and e-mailing them to her. we have corresponded about literature before and have had some very interesting exchanges. it seems like life is conspiring to convince me that i'm not as terrible at math as i think i am.
i am loving having time to exercise and read books and really THINK about things again. because i want to, not because i have to. i am getting all kinds of things done at MY pace. and it is quite nice.
this didn't use to be the case. i used to be really flexible about what i was willing to do. but being in the position where i am looking for internships that don't pay makes me think about what work is fun and meaningful to me.
and i find that suddenly i don't want to work for a theater, even though i love the theater.
and i don't want to work as an educational intern even though i love teaching.
i don't want to work at a wildlife conservancy even though i am passionate about environmentalism.
instead i have expectations of what an internship will do for ME. this is a change in my outlook. if i'm not being paid in money, i want to be paid in experience. and there are specific skills i want to nurture. i want to do more writing. specifically, i want to learn how to write grants.
i want supervisory experience. i don't care if it's volunteers. i want to learn networking skills.
all in all, having stuff like this on my list of goals makes me feel boring.
but it also makes me feel like a bit of a catch for whatever nonprofit offers me the best internship. an intern who wants to develop their skills will work hard for the organization they work for because that's the way to learn.
so i had an interview this morning with the emergency foodshelf network. and it doesn't look bad. it will give me some of what i want and i will not waste my summer. they are even willing to hook me up with their development coordinator who lives in seattle so that i can get some learning experience there. the internship is very flexible and can be as much work or as little as i need it to be...but i just keep thinking i can do better. i have some other applications out. i will think on it. it is all making me think a lot about the question of what i would do with my time if i didn't HAVE to do anything.
after 5 years of the same phone model(with one rebuild due to the phone busting), i am finally getting a new phone. so is ross. we are both due for upgrades. we are both going to get smart phones. i am hoping that having access to a phone that is also an effective planner will make me a more organized person, and a better friend and wife. we are going with sprint's new droid phones and i'm really excited to have access to all kinds of applications and to be able to share calendars with ross. good stuff.
other things for this week: i planted basil, thyme and parsley in the garden and they seem to be flourishing. so are the strawberries. i will have to make something strawberry rhubarb just because i have them both growing in my garden. unfortunately ross ran over my raspberries with the weed-wacker. :( and i got into a fight with the retaining wall while gardening two days ago. the retaining wall won, leaving me with a deep bruise on my right ankle. i have NO LOVE for the retaining wall just now.
ross, susan and i biked 9-10 miles on monday and i am itching to go out again, but it's a bit to chilly and wet for it today. so maybe a walk instead.
i got to meet jerad and rachel's new baby and see their new house (which is very close to where i interviewed this morning). aj is VERY cute and mellow. it was good to see all of them. jerad is strongly encouraging me to write an op ed about my experience with the MN legislature this spring, and i am thinking about it.
i have been listening to a podcast called craftlit for several years. it is a knitting/literature podcast created by heather ordover, who is an english teacher. so the first part is about whatever crafting is going on in her life, and in the second part of the show she teaches public domain literature. sometimes libravox provides the audio, and sometimes it is read by her or by listeners. she has some pretty great insights as a teacher. because of her i no longer hate the scarlet letter. because of her i respect henry james (although i still hate his writing). she did not succeed, however, in making me think much of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde.
anyway, she has also taken on flatland, by edwin abbot. this is a book i read in college for fun because it was suggested to me by a guy i was dating. and it is a story told from the perspective of a square, about what it is like to live in two dimensions, and what happens when he encounters a 3 dimensional visitor. it is also a very clever satire of victorian england (which i did not know). anyway, listening to it again reminds me of my studies of euclid freshman year at st. john's and i am seriously considering scanning some of my old math papers and e-mailing them to her. we have corresponded about literature before and have had some very interesting exchanges. it seems like life is conspiring to convince me that i'm not as terrible at math as i think i am.
i am loving having time to exercise and read books and really THINK about things again. because i want to, not because i have to. i am getting all kinds of things done at MY pace. and it is quite nice.