life of andyman

Woah…So it seems like only yesterday that I put my last post up, but, uh-oh!, I found out it was actually 19 days ago.

But at least I know why: these days are just packed! Thank goodness. You might have noticed that two entries ago I was complaining about having nothing to do. Now I have stuff to do….almost…too much?

First, mere update. I moved to Bloomington and have been here for two weeks now. Two weeks! Geez! I swear it doesn’t seem like that long. I’m living at what some people call “Camp Failure” but which I affectionately call by it’s real name, “The Joint”. Let me explain why: so far, I LOVE it here.

The house is Laura Buttery, Marla and Kris, and Nathan. (Fun Fact: did you know that Nathan is Jasoncore’s brother?? Of course you did!!–but I only found out a few days ago!!!) When I’ve lived on my own, I’ve lived in three places: Dorms, the Manhammer, and now the Joint. Favorite? The Joint! Let’s analyze why:

Cleanliness:
Manhammer = Zero points, or possibly negative 10
Joint = 8 points! We have weekly cleaning jobs, and they actually get done!

Roomate Interaction/Doing things together:
Manhammer = 5 points. We had some memories, sure, but most of them involved parties, of which I wasn’t the biggest fan.
Joint = 9 points! They’re always doing stuff together! The following are all things that our house has done together–and this just in two weeks(!): Eating out, playing numerous games, having nintendo tournaments, sharing wine, grilling out at Bryan Park, watching Lost together, and making bake-your-own clay sculptures. I love this kind of activity!

Rent:
Manhammer = Between 275 and 385.
Joint = 185! Almost half of what I paid when the ‘hammer had 5 people in it!

I don’t bring this up to say that I didn’t love the manhammer. Fact is, which one will I probably remember better for the rest of my life? Probably the manhammer, just because it was such an extreme case.

Well, that’s the good news: I moved here, settled in, and I’m loving it. But, the bad news is–oh yeah! I don’t have a job and I’m on the fast track to loserville! So, I’m trying to find a “fun” job. I’ll try to keep you posted on how that goes. But for the moment I’ll say this: job searching? Not fun.

Most of the things I do in my life are, I don’t know, sort of procedural. If I want a book, I go to the library: that’s where they all are. If I want nintendo games, I go see Nate: that’s where those are. But if I want a job? Oh, there’s only a hundred different places to look, and the majority of jobs aren’t posted anywhere–they’re usually just filled by word of mouth and friend recommendation. It’s what the very un-helpful guy at the IU Career Planning Center calls a “hidden market.”

So this is my dilemma. Finding a job is not like finding the fruit at a grocery store. It’s like finding underground, gourmet truffles, and it all depends on finding just the right pig, training it, looking in “potential” truffle spots, but most of all, luck. So wish me some, huh?

And, last but not least, if you know about a job, or know someone who knows about a job, let me know! Here’s what I’m thinking. I’d like to go to law school, but if I go next fall semester, it’s still 6 months away, and if I take a year off, 18 months away. So, in the meantime I want a good, rewarding, intellectually stimulating, and fun job. I figure if I go to law school that’s a bit like “settling down.” So in the meantime, maybe I should experiment with jobs that might not be realistic long-term careers, but that might be rewarding for a while. Specific areas I was thinking include video/film/tv production, or jobs that involve writing skills.

As for video, I’m going to apply to BCATS (Bloomington Public Access Television) and, really, I expect to get the job, but the job’s not available until about a month from now. And, as far as writing goes, I e-mailed the IDS (Indiana Daily Student, IU’s Student-Run Newspaper) asking about potential freelance journalism (the concern is that it’s student-run, since I graduated a month ago, am I eligible?)

But, alas, every day I am unemployed I feel lazy and ineffective, even if I’m staying busy doing a bunch of stuff. Perhaps that is sad. But perhaps it’s also OK, considering at the moment I don’t have enough money to pay next month’s rent, and a strong desire to get a job is definitively a *good idea.

I feel confident things will work out, but I also feel a justification in being stressed about the whole sij’. Lemme know what you think, and if you haven’t read the short story I posted last time, please do, I’d like feedback. Just click on the TOPICS button to read it.