Yes, I'm alive
For those of you who have Facebook, you've seen that I am very much alive there. Most others, though, would not know this. At any rate, I'm here, if barely, and have spent the last eight months or so attempting to get on with my life. That has been mostly epic fail.
I had some temp work at Boston University (my former employer) from roughly three weeks after returning from Virginia until mid-May. Because of the dreadful situation there during FY '09, they had to let me go around graduation time. Since then, and before then, I've been scouring websites like HigherEdJobs.com in the hopes that something would result. So far, nothing has resulted at all. I'm still very much unemployed. I do occasional transcription work as it becomes available, but it's not paying my bills.
It appears that everyone from the Benton chapter of my life has essentially disappeared as well, so I'm trying to find other friendships and social outlets. I've discovered that a few friends from high school are still alive and kicking, so we've hung out periodically. A former prof of mine, and a newer prof in the Communications department at Salem have become close friends and advocates in recent months, so we've shared a couple of bottles of wine here and there, or some Thai food, and socialized.
Oh, and I've become an activist. And a blogger. Blogger first, then activist. That is basically the only thing I look forward to in this world, and I've latched onto it. It's keeping me alive. When you lose all the big things all at once, you become rather unstable, as you can imagine. I've been attempting to fill in the gaps.
When I first found out that I was being laid off from Boston University, I started talking to that former prof of mine, and she suggested I start a blog. The idea evolved from my rather social yet esoteric LiveJournal existence into a GLBTQ news/GLBTQ rights blog. For the most part, it's worked out rather well. I try to follow whatever is going on in the gay world, and I keep moving with it. I write about it. Sometimes, it's straight news; other times, I throw commentary into the mix. A couple of times, I've gotten outright snarky. I've even gotten a few original stories in there as well. All in all, though, it's been a good experience, and it's been well-received.
The blog, if you're interested, is http://dym-sum.com
And just a reminder: if you're thinking this new blog is ANYTHING like my LiveJournal, then I assure you that you're 100% wrong. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I'm also on Twitter these days, which - and I don't want to sound like an advertisement or anything - has been a great experience. From the start, I enjoyed Twitter because it's not cluttered like Facebook at ALL, not even remotely. Most of the time I spend on there involves networking for my blog and my professional future; in addition, I've made some decent acquaintances there. It's been a good time.
If you want to add me on Twitter, that's going to be: http://twitter.com/dymsum
And then, I got involved in gay activism
Around the time of the Proposition 8 decision (at the end of May), it occurred to me that I've done virtually nothing for the gay community. I've been a slug in that respect. When I learned there would be a rally in Boston, sponsored by Join The Impact Massachusetts, I asked them how I could help. In the six weeks since I started with them, I've made several new local friends, helped with publicity for three different rallies/protests, participated in two of them, and am going to be coordinating a seminar with a couple of other members on four important issues facing GLBTQ people today: the repeal of DOMA, the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, the inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. That's going to be at the end of the month. Some of us may find a way to go to D.C. in October for the Cleve Jones/David Mixner event as well.
At any rate, the blog and the activism, with the few old friends and few new friends, is essentially what's kept me from being a suicidal mess. I'm aware that my Benton chapter, with all those friends, is 99.9% over; I know that's 99.9% my fault (I think I'm supposed to admit that, though I'm never quite sure). The only thing I can do at this point is keep moving on. Someday, my life will resemble normalcy again. Maybe the blog and activism, along with (hopefully soon) regular employment will do the trick. If not, I've figured out what to do.
At any rate, if you feel like following my blog, or following me on Twitter, know that any and all of you are welcome to do so. Even the people who don't follow me anymore, for whatever reason, please. Go right ahead. :-)
p/s - don't expect regular posting here; I just wanted to give everyone the heads-up as to my "status."
I had some temp work at Boston University (my former employer) from roughly three weeks after returning from Virginia until mid-May. Because of the dreadful situation there during FY '09, they had to let me go around graduation time. Since then, and before then, I've been scouring websites like HigherEdJobs.com in the hopes that something would result. So far, nothing has resulted at all. I'm still very much unemployed. I do occasional transcription work as it becomes available, but it's not paying my bills.
It appears that everyone from the Benton chapter of my life has essentially disappeared as well, so I'm trying to find other friendships and social outlets. I've discovered that a few friends from high school are still alive and kicking, so we've hung out periodically. A former prof of mine, and a newer prof in the Communications department at Salem have become close friends and advocates in recent months, so we've shared a couple of bottles of wine here and there, or some Thai food, and socialized.
Oh, and I've become an activist. And a blogger. Blogger first, then activist. That is basically the only thing I look forward to in this world, and I've latched onto it. It's keeping me alive. When you lose all the big things all at once, you become rather unstable, as you can imagine. I've been attempting to fill in the gaps.
When I first found out that I was being laid off from Boston University, I started talking to that former prof of mine, and she suggested I start a blog. The idea evolved from my rather social yet esoteric LiveJournal existence into a GLBTQ news/GLBTQ rights blog. For the most part, it's worked out rather well. I try to follow whatever is going on in the gay world, and I keep moving with it. I write about it. Sometimes, it's straight news; other times, I throw commentary into the mix. A couple of times, I've gotten outright snarky. I've even gotten a few original stories in there as well. All in all, though, it's been a good experience, and it's been well-received.
The blog, if you're interested, is http://dym-sum.com
And just a reminder: if you're thinking this new blog is ANYTHING like my LiveJournal, then I assure you that you're 100% wrong. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I'm also on Twitter these days, which - and I don't want to sound like an advertisement or anything - has been a great experience. From the start, I enjoyed Twitter because it's not cluttered like Facebook at ALL, not even remotely. Most of the time I spend on there involves networking for my blog and my professional future; in addition, I've made some decent acquaintances there. It's been a good time.
If you want to add me on Twitter, that's going to be: http://twitter.com/dymsum
And then, I got involved in gay activism
Around the time of the Proposition 8 decision (at the end of May), it occurred to me that I've done virtually nothing for the gay community. I've been a slug in that respect. When I learned there would be a rally in Boston, sponsored by Join The Impact Massachusetts, I asked them how I could help. In the six weeks since I started with them, I've made several new local friends, helped with publicity for three different rallies/protests, participated in two of them, and am going to be coordinating a seminar with a couple of other members on four important issues facing GLBTQ people today: the repeal of DOMA, the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, the inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. That's going to be at the end of the month. Some of us may find a way to go to D.C. in October for the Cleve Jones/David Mixner event as well.
At any rate, the blog and the activism, with the few old friends and few new friends, is essentially what's kept me from being a suicidal mess. I'm aware that my Benton chapter, with all those friends, is 99.9% over; I know that's 99.9% my fault (I think I'm supposed to admit that, though I'm never quite sure). The only thing I can do at this point is keep moving on. Someday, my life will resemble normalcy again. Maybe the blog and activism, along with (hopefully soon) regular employment will do the trick. If not, I've figured out what to do.
At any rate, if you feel like following my blog, or following me on Twitter, know that any and all of you are welcome to do so. Even the people who don't follow me anymore, for whatever reason, please. Go right ahead. :-)
p/s - don't expect regular posting here; I just wanted to give everyone the heads-up as to my "status."