I'm only mostly dead!
Ah, sweet, sweet writing habit... how I've missed you. *pets cozy little purring thing that's either my ego or the kitten, since I'm too lazy to actually get up and turn on the lights*
The readership, however, has not missed much. Unless they want my newly-discovered fabulous recipe for beef Stroganoff, and that probably needs to wait until I tinker with the seasoning salt a bit. Also, switch to low-salt not-maple cured bacon. (Those noticing a pattern, give yourself a cookie. Seriously, 'savory' has limits.)
Basically, my life over the last few weeks would've been a non-stop parade of whine whine work moan whinge whine "ooh! cupcakes!" whinge moan. How I long for the day when my off-the-cuff whingeing sells a million copies, but until then, the tale of how I accidentally spilled juice all over the cats the other morning can stand the extra polishing time.
Granted, somewhere in there the despised home front did abruptly bust out into emerald swathes of lawn and apple-blossom everywhere and goslings in the park. Which frankly is not at all fair. (It was almost a relief to come home from the meeting the other night and see three police cars parked out front, while a second swarm blocked a nearby street. No, I never did find out what it was all about.)
It did however help me cope with the work situation -- the goslings etc, that is, not the speculation on incipient grow-ops -- inasmuch as it provided an outward focus and reminder of greater meanings. I don't care if you're technically still employed at the time, job-hunting sucks. You know all that Sesame Street-esque bilge about how it doesn't matter, you're special just the way you are? Hah. Welcome to Purely Random Judgment Land, boys and girls."Do you love me now? How about now? Do I look competent and trustworthy now? Oh... you didn't want competent, you wanted proactive?"
If I ever get into the position of interviewer, top of my question list is "How many interviews is this, now? Four? OK, that's an automatic +12 coherence forgiveness, right there."
My main issue, it appeared, was that I wasn't giving off enough of an upwardly-mobile vibe. The buyers were envisioning Future Executive, and I was projecting more Hey, the Cats Aren't Hungry Enough to Wake Me at 3AM, I'm Good. Honestly, I have never quite grasped this whole 'passion for retail' deally-bob. A more astute buddy of mine -- ie, we started in the same position, and he's now the Category Manager for frozen foods -- pointed out that it's about how the company can be sure it's getting value for salary, which makes sense; I guess I just figured value as more of a 'the work's getting done' thing, without having to pretend I looooove the notion of giving up my weekends to study sock sales trends, into the bargain.
Fear not, though, such of the readership as remains; eventually, there opened a spot that the buyer needed to fill fast. No time to ponder the intangibles, just bundle up my awkwardly-shaped-but-solid self and jam it into their equally hexi-deci-rectangular-tripod opening. And the good news is, I think it's actually gonna be a decent fit. It makes excellent sense in terms both of who I am and where I've been. Plus, it's in Soft Home accessories -- think rugs, pillows, candles and the like -- so I totally have a lifeline in the form of Shoemom, Shoesis and their Style @ Home subscription. ("Pssst... what do we think of puce?" "Oh, yeah, very hot colour this year. But make sure it's more toward plum, too much brown is deadly with that camo green.")
So Phase One of the Master Life Plan is in motion. Now, I just need to figure out what to do with myself while waiting for Phase Two to come within unfolding range. Webcomics and hanging out at TVTropes are fun diversions, not bugging the audiobook people every ten minutes to see if the liner notes are finished a noble quest, but I feel the need for something a bit more... epic. One of those quirky yet life-affirming projects that will snag me a Purpose and possibly also that book deal.
...I wonder what the market's like for blogs about the search for a quirky yet-life affirming thing to blog about?
The readership, however, has not missed much. Unless they want my newly-discovered fabulous recipe for beef Stroganoff, and that probably needs to wait until I tinker with the seasoning salt a bit. Also, switch to low-salt not-maple cured bacon. (Those noticing a pattern, give yourself a cookie. Seriously, 'savory' has limits.)
Basically, my life over the last few weeks would've been a non-stop parade of whine whine work moan whinge whine "ooh! cupcakes!" whinge moan. How I long for the day when my off-the-cuff whingeing sells a million copies, but until then, the tale of how I accidentally spilled juice all over the cats the other morning can stand the extra polishing time.
Granted, somewhere in there the despised home front did abruptly bust out into emerald swathes of lawn and apple-blossom everywhere and goslings in the park. Which frankly is not at all fair. (It was almost a relief to come home from the meeting the other night and see three police cars parked out front, while a second swarm blocked a nearby street. No, I never did find out what it was all about.)
It did however help me cope with the work situation -- the goslings etc, that is, not the speculation on incipient grow-ops -- inasmuch as it provided an outward focus and reminder of greater meanings. I don't care if you're technically still employed at the time, job-hunting sucks. You know all that Sesame Street-esque bilge about how it doesn't matter, you're special just the way you are? Hah. Welcome to Purely Random Judgment Land, boys and girls."Do you love me now? How about now? Do I look competent and trustworthy now? Oh... you didn't want competent, you wanted proactive?"
If I ever get into the position of interviewer, top of my question list is "How many interviews is this, now? Four? OK, that's an automatic +12 coherence forgiveness, right there."
My main issue, it appeared, was that I wasn't giving off enough of an upwardly-mobile vibe. The buyers were envisioning Future Executive, and I was projecting more Hey, the Cats Aren't Hungry Enough to Wake Me at 3AM, I'm Good. Honestly, I have never quite grasped this whole 'passion for retail' deally-bob. A more astute buddy of mine -- ie, we started in the same position, and he's now the Category Manager for frozen foods -- pointed out that it's about how the company can be sure it's getting value for salary, which makes sense; I guess I just figured value as more of a 'the work's getting done' thing, without having to pretend I looooove the notion of giving up my weekends to study sock sales trends, into the bargain.
Fear not, though, such of the readership as remains; eventually, there opened a spot that the buyer needed to fill fast. No time to ponder the intangibles, just bundle up my awkwardly-shaped-but-solid self and jam it into their equally hexi-deci-rectangular-tripod opening. And the good news is, I think it's actually gonna be a decent fit. It makes excellent sense in terms both of who I am and where I've been. Plus, it's in Soft Home accessories -- think rugs, pillows, candles and the like -- so I totally have a lifeline in the form of Shoemom, Shoesis and their Style @ Home subscription. ("Pssst... what do we think of puce?" "Oh, yeah, very hot colour this year. But make sure it's more toward plum, too much brown is deadly with that camo green.")
So Phase One of the Master Life Plan is in motion. Now, I just need to figure out what to do with myself while waiting for Phase Two to come within unfolding range. Webcomics and hanging out at TVTropes are fun diversions, not bugging the audiobook people every ten minutes to see if the liner notes are finished a noble quest, but I feel the need for something a bit more... epic. One of those quirky yet life-affirming projects that will snag me a Purpose and possibly also that book deal.
...I wonder what the market's like for blogs about the search for a quirky yet-life affirming thing to blog about?