Posts
First things first I got the "blogroll" working. I say that like it's hard it turns out I just failed to save it last time. Sadly I may have forgotten your blog. If you know me and would like to be on the blog roll comment with your page address and I'll throw it up. It's mostly for my own benefit since I'm purely a creature of blogger now. Since blogger doesn't have a friends page I'm going to use this to keep up with blogs.
If your blog is friends only no worries, I can still read it from here but no one else can. Oh, the wonders of the internet.
Also, any comments about how "blogroll" makes you think of the British slang for toilet paper, "bog roll", will be appreciated. It would be nice to know that someone else had that problem.
So, housekeeping having been taken care of the two of you actually reading are probably wondering what the heck I've been doing with myself. It seems like I can't manage more than one post a week. I don't know why that is. It's not like I've been doing the sewing, memorizing or dialect work I should have been.
There have been a few developments in my life recently which bear mentioning. Employment has seem the most activity. I will hereafter itemize the list since there are five employers to be mentioned.
Hats Plus- I really enjoyed working at Hats Plus. It's a small company and the people there are super nice. Martin, the owner, was trying to mold me into a copy writer and I really enjoyed learning about hats and selling them. I was kinda good at interpreting people's vague fashion desires. I guess I can thank Donna and the costume shop for that. "I'm looking for a cowboy hat, but not really a cowboy hat. sort of cowboy style but with a flat top and flipped up edges" somehow translated into a concrete idea for me. It wasn't until afterward I realized it shouldn't have. That was literally the last hat I sold. I had been really up front with Martin the whole way through since the offers had come in the same day for him and ACCR so on Thursday I actually quit and Friday was my last day.
American Chamber of Commerce Resources- I started here last Tuesday and it is my current occupation. I am a telemarketer. basically I sell books to keep businesses up to date on labor law. It's a good service we're providing and it pays well. Even though I spend most of my day leaving messages and getting rejected I find I enjoy working there and the environment is pretty good.
The only downside is that the day starts at 7:30 so to make my full required hours I need to wake up at like 5:30 most days. I have yet to succeed. they don't sound like they're going to make life too hard on me for it though. I really like the people there and it's a family owned company. I like that.
Optics Plus- Jim Estrella, the Span Am from faire, referred me to the place where he works and I turned in my resume this morning. Within hours I received a call asking me to come in tomorrow for an interview. I'll have to drive every day if I decide to work there. it's a consideration to be sure. I'm willing to look into it anyway and we'll see how things go.
Tea Essence- I applied there about a month ago and for the longest time thought they might have gone out of business or something. today I went in by chance and found out the entirely mundane reasons they had been hard to catch and had a cup of tea. The really nice woman behind the counter recognized me from when I put my resume in and complimented me on it. She also mentioned how they're still looking for help. I'll be interested to see if anything comes of that.
Tony and Tina's Wedding- I got an e-mail from these guys yesterday asking me to put in an application for their costuming director position. I look forward to hearing from them. Basically it's the only theatre experience I've ever heard normal people refer to when trying to describe ren faire. I'm not sure its a very good analogue but I guess it's a sort of interactive theatrical experience. Anyway, I look forward to hearing more about this opportunity.
In other news.
It's official and public. I will be playing opposite Angela for first and second weekend of faire as Rachel will be playing the queen while Mary is out for medical reasons. So if you were coming to see the person I've been raving about all pre-season She'll be the one in the purple dress. If you want to see the person I've been raving about differently she'll be my wife instead of the marionette as originally planned. That's right, the marionette, I told you it was cool. You know, if I talked about this gig with you at all.
I need to work on faire a lot more during the regular week. Needless to say I usually do not have this particular problem. usually I spend all week doing faire prep to the exclusion of all else. Now here we are two weeks out and I don't have tights, shoes, pouches and haven't solidified my dialect or gotten the script cold. What is wrong with me? I'll be working on that for the next two days.
Well, it's late and I have an interview tomorrow morning so with no further ado here is today's gem of the internet, "Waiters who are Nauseated by Food"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH3EEd9RVTo
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
I can has employment?
I can!
So, as of last week I have been employed. I started at Hats Plus on Irving Park on Friday. I really enjoy working there because, lets face it, hats are pretty cool. I spent my first day in the stock room sorting hats and whatnot. Hats, as it turns out, require more sorting than they do actual upkeep while they remain in the store. I was then introduced to the job that has occupied me there ever since. I've been writing copy for the store's website. The description on this page, http://www.hats-plus.com/detail.aspx?ID=106&Name=Stetson-Andover-Straw-Hat , is my work. It lost a lot of its soul in the editing process because my boss has very specific ideas about how he wants them marketed. That notwithstanding it is there and I did it.
Starting on Tuesday the tough part began. I have been splitting my days so that in the morning I go to work with American Chamber of Commerce Resources and then I ride for an hour on the blue line and a bus to get to hat's plus for a few hours work there. American Chamber of Commerce resources is an independent publisher which does in house business to business telemarketing. My job is to call businesses and sell them these human resource guides which outline labor law. They're really good resources and they are backed b chambers of commerce so it's all pretty easy to get behind. I still feel a little soulless for deciding in the end that it's the way to go. Basically tomorrow I'm going to have to go to Martin at Hats Plus and give him the "it's not you, it's me" speech about how I have to go here because it's where the money is and that I really enjoy working at Hats plus. maybe I'll stay on at hat's plus for a day here or there but I don't imagine it will be a big part of my life in the future. I've already learned a bunch about hats. I'm sad to have to let it go.
I know I haven't updated much of late and usually Summer is my most consistent time. hopefully I'll get back into the swing. I'm also continuing to add features to the page so that you will have something to check out more often than not. There's a section now on the bottom left where you can check out some of the blogs I (try to) read regularly. along with the twitter feed out should be well rewarded for each visit (I'm using Pavlov's theories here). I'm also working on a way to put the gems of the internet in a separate column. We'll see how that goes/ if it helps at all. I was impressed in the early days of my blogging by Adam Scott of the Monkey Chow Diaries (http://www.angryman.ca/)in that he had different sections of his site for the different features he did. I'd like to have something like that here. not tht you are likely to care all that much.
On that note, here is today's Gem of the Internet. The last gem contained a video of a fellow named Jonathan Coulton doing a rendition of Baby got back This got me on a kick of checking out his music. I have since walked to work all week singing my favourite song of his and spent inordinate amounts of time on YouTube finding new songs to which I can listen. Long story short I highly advise you check out his stuff. The amazing thing here is that for once I seem to have stumbled on a true gem of the internet. Just as I happened upon the Monkey Chow Diaries while Adam was still making them I seem to have found a real, honest to goodness, sensation on the rise.
Jonathan Coulton has released his music under the creative commons act and allows amateur film makers to make MVs for his stuff for free. He also seems to be nothing if not a creature of the internet and a product of the information generation. I na a world in which Google has made the amount of information which once comprised entire degrees our 18-35 year olds are fascinated by nothing so much as Zombies, Ninjas, Pirates, robots and the synthesis or competition of the four. The internet has allowed us to make these things into phenomena and Coulton's lyrics reflect this childishness cum adulthood which we seem to enjoy to the accompaniment of some of the best guitar compositions I've heard for a while. Anyway, here is his homepage, http://www.jonathancoulton.com/ . Now, of course it wouldn't be one of my gems without something to watch so here are some of my favourites.
Codemonkey, the story of an average, everyday working simian in love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4TnhemCEmc
I'm Your Moon, guaranteed to be the finest planetary love song you've ever heard. This one made me think, when they demoted Pluto it's a good job we didn't tell the Plutonians. They'd sure be confused because I'm sure that from where they're standing we look pretty small too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOExYm6xPYo
I Crush Everything, About a self loathing giant squid. He just loves too tightly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RFEzpUsUBk
I can!
So, as of last week I have been employed. I started at Hats Plus on Irving Park on Friday. I really enjoy working there because, lets face it, hats are pretty cool. I spent my first day in the stock room sorting hats and whatnot. Hats, as it turns out, require more sorting than they do actual upkeep while they remain in the store. I was then introduced to the job that has occupied me there ever since. I've been writing copy for the store's website. The description on this page, http://www.hats-plus.com/detail.aspx?ID=106&Name=Stetson-Andover-Straw-Hat , is my work. It lost a lot of its soul in the editing process because my boss has very specific ideas about how he wants them marketed. That notwithstanding it is there and I did it.
Starting on Tuesday the tough part began. I have been splitting my days so that in the morning I go to work with American Chamber of Commerce Resources and then I ride for an hour on the blue line and a bus to get to hat's plus for a few hours work there. American Chamber of Commerce resources is an independent publisher which does in house business to business telemarketing. My job is to call businesses and sell them these human resource guides which outline labor law. They're really good resources and they are backed b chambers of commerce so it's all pretty easy to get behind. I still feel a little soulless for deciding in the end that it's the way to go. Basically tomorrow I'm going to have to go to Martin at Hats Plus and give him the "it's not you, it's me" speech about how I have to go here because it's where the money is and that I really enjoy working at Hats plus. maybe I'll stay on at hat's plus for a day here or there but I don't imagine it will be a big part of my life in the future. I've already learned a bunch about hats. I'm sad to have to let it go.
I know I haven't updated much of late and usually Summer is my most consistent time. hopefully I'll get back into the swing. I'm also continuing to add features to the page so that you will have something to check out more often than not. There's a section now on the bottom left where you can check out some of the blogs I (try to) read regularly. along with the twitter feed out should be well rewarded for each visit (I'm using Pavlov's theories here). I'm also working on a way to put the gems of the internet in a separate column. We'll see how that goes/ if it helps at all. I was impressed in the early days of my blogging by Adam Scott of the Monkey Chow Diaries (http://www.angryman.ca/)in that he had different sections of his site for the different features he did. I'd like to have something like that here. not tht you are likely to care all that much.
On that note, here is today's Gem of the Internet. The last gem contained a video of a fellow named Jonathan Coulton doing a rendition of Baby got back This got me on a kick of checking out his music. I have since walked to work all week singing my favourite song of his and spent inordinate amounts of time on YouTube finding new songs to which I can listen. Long story short I highly advise you check out his stuff. The amazing thing here is that for once I seem to have stumbled on a true gem of the internet. Just as I happened upon the Monkey Chow Diaries while Adam was still making them I seem to have found a real, honest to goodness, sensation on the rise.
Jonathan Coulton has released his music under the creative commons act and allows amateur film makers to make MVs for his stuff for free. He also seems to be nothing if not a creature of the internet and a product of the information generation. I na a world in which Google has made the amount of information which once comprised entire degrees our 18-35 year olds are fascinated by nothing so much as Zombies, Ninjas, Pirates, robots and the synthesis or competition of the four. The internet has allowed us to make these things into phenomena and Coulton's lyrics reflect this childishness cum adulthood which we seem to enjoy to the accompaniment of some of the best guitar compositions I've heard for a while. Anyway, here is his homepage, http://www.jonathancoulton.com/ . Now, of course it wouldn't be one of my gems without something to watch so here are some of my favourites.
Codemonkey, the story of an average, everyday working simian in love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4TnhemCEmc
I'm Your Moon, guaranteed to be the finest planetary love song you've ever heard. This one made me think, when they demoted Pluto it's a good job we didn't tell the Plutonians. They'd sure be confused because I'm sure that from where they're standing we look pretty small too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOExYm6xPYo
I Crush Everything, About a self loathing giant squid. He just loves too tightly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RFEzpUsUBk
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Steady improvement on all fronts has led to a lovely outlook in general. However there are a few things weighing on my mind which I will here divulge.
My money is flowing steadily out and I probably won't see any influx until next Friday at the earliest. Yikes!
Also, I'm really worried about Mary. For those who don't know, Mary is the actress who plays the Queen at Bristol. I consider her to be one of my finest teachers and I count her as a special friend. We do not keep in contact as much as I might like but it is always wonderful to see her. I hope she's feeling well soon and I wish there were something I could do to help.
The gloomy part being covered let us brush right past to the happiness, sunshine and puppies portion of our program.
The faire season has started back up and rehearsals have been awesome. I've decided to work in the street completely when I'm not doing the Devil and the Baker's Wife so this last Sunday I got to spend most of the day with the street cast which is all kinds of brilliant. As for the Devil and the Baker's Wife, things are coming right along we've started integrating more props. I really think we've made this show our own and it feels particularly good to have the levity to change things that feel clunky and adjust things to make them fit our own style. What's more I really love working with Rachel, Char and Susan. Susan has proven to be a really fun director. She's open to our ideas but isn't afraid to tell us when they aren't as awesome as they could be. It's a quality that is hard to cultivate the tendency is to either shut your actors down or let them run rampant. Char has been a treat to work with she really brings an element of play into the cast while Rachel and I tend to be a little more performative. That being said, I'm particularly enjoying the dynamic that the two of us have found.
Here's the sticky wicket. With Mary stuck in bed until her eye has healed Rachel has been tapped for the Queen understudy gig. I'm so pleased for her. It's quite the honour to come in one's rookie year not only to a stage show gig like ours but then to be placed as the queen is an incredible, rocket-like takeoff. I am amazed that I'm allowed to stand so near to someone rising s fast. On the same note, though, it means that we need a new baker's wife when Rachel is filling in for Mary. So that throws a little bit of a hitch into our getty-up. I'm looking forward to our newest cast member and I hope that it all come out alright in the wash. I can't think of a good reason for it not to.
In the world of employment I've been getting a lot of dead ends but yesterday I went in for an interview with a B2B telemarketing company which sells HR handbooks to businesses on behalf of various state chambers of commerce. It looks like a pretty good job though I'm a little put off by the fact that they refuse to allow their employees to attain full time status by putting the weekly hours cutoff at 38. Other than that it doesn't sound too bad. I'm not bugging people at home, I'm selling something legitimately useful. Also, I'm pretty sure they'll treat me fairly under the law as it would be pretty tough for them to do otherwise. They do make the handbooks. Upon arriving home from my day out (which also included mailing things and visiting the grocery store) I received a call from "Hats Plus" where I had put in an application last week. I'm supposed to show up on Friday morning ready for a full day of work. Which I suppose means I've been hired though it sounded a little tenuous. So I'm supposed to hear back from the B2B place on Thursday or Friday and I have the day at hats plus on Friday so I should have something solid by the end of the week. I'm still looking for other jobs. You know, just in case. My particular target is tea shops and bookstores. I think the reason should be obvious.
Now to the more blogg-y part of the blog. I ate lunch yesterday at the Elephant and Castle which apparently has branches all over the world. Someone mentioned that there was one in Chicago and I happened upon it. For those who aren't aware, the Elephant and Castle is a famous London landmark. So famous, in fact, that there is a tube station for it. I found this one to be enjoyable if a bit off the mark. I believe it to be nothing so much as proof that Americans still don't understand pubs. Y server, Jenny was excellent and from the looks of things the service is, in general, pretty excellent. Everyone was polite and quick. The soup tasted awesome and they have lovely tea service, even if they didn't have the proper spoons for tea (or milk for that matter). It is a bar restaurant in the fine American tradition. Not unlike a TGI Fridays. Not a pub but they tried so I give them credit there.
Today's Gem of the Internet- I don't know why but I love acoustic covers of pop songs. The more out of context the better. "Baby Got Back" seems to be one of the finest songs to cover amusingly as seen here.
This one is one of my favourites. This guy is pretty darn talented.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gW6yQZyx5w
I just found this one today. I think you will agree, it's pretty amusing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmI0GijanyM
The creme de la creme. How could I pass up something as ridiculous as this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkJdEFf_Qg4
My money is flowing steadily out and I probably won't see any influx until next Friday at the earliest. Yikes!
Also, I'm really worried about Mary. For those who don't know, Mary is the actress who plays the Queen at Bristol. I consider her to be one of my finest teachers and I count her as a special friend. We do not keep in contact as much as I might like but it is always wonderful to see her. I hope she's feeling well soon and I wish there were something I could do to help.
The gloomy part being covered let us brush right past to the happiness, sunshine and puppies portion of our program.
The faire season has started back up and rehearsals have been awesome. I've decided to work in the street completely when I'm not doing the Devil and the Baker's Wife so this last Sunday I got to spend most of the day with the street cast which is all kinds of brilliant. As for the Devil and the Baker's Wife, things are coming right along we've started integrating more props. I really think we've made this show our own and it feels particularly good to have the levity to change things that feel clunky and adjust things to make them fit our own style. What's more I really love working with Rachel, Char and Susan. Susan has proven to be a really fun director. She's open to our ideas but isn't afraid to tell us when they aren't as awesome as they could be. It's a quality that is hard to cultivate the tendency is to either shut your actors down or let them run rampant. Char has been a treat to work with she really brings an element of play into the cast while Rachel and I tend to be a little more performative. That being said, I'm particularly enjoying the dynamic that the two of us have found.
Here's the sticky wicket. With Mary stuck in bed until her eye has healed Rachel has been tapped for the Queen understudy gig. I'm so pleased for her. It's quite the honour to come in one's rookie year not only to a stage show gig like ours but then to be placed as the queen is an incredible, rocket-like takeoff. I am amazed that I'm allowed to stand so near to someone rising s fast. On the same note, though, it means that we need a new baker's wife when Rachel is filling in for Mary. So that throws a little bit of a hitch into our getty-up. I'm looking forward to our newest cast member and I hope that it all come out alright in the wash. I can't think of a good reason for it not to.
In the world of employment I've been getting a lot of dead ends but yesterday I went in for an interview with a B2B telemarketing company which sells HR handbooks to businesses on behalf of various state chambers of commerce. It looks like a pretty good job though I'm a little put off by the fact that they refuse to allow their employees to attain full time status by putting the weekly hours cutoff at 38. Other than that it doesn't sound too bad. I'm not bugging people at home, I'm selling something legitimately useful. Also, I'm pretty sure they'll treat me fairly under the law as it would be pretty tough for them to do otherwise. They do make the handbooks. Upon arriving home from my day out (which also included mailing things and visiting the grocery store) I received a call from "Hats Plus" where I had put in an application last week. I'm supposed to show up on Friday morning ready for a full day of work. Which I suppose means I've been hired though it sounded a little tenuous. So I'm supposed to hear back from the B2B place on Thursday or Friday and I have the day at hats plus on Friday so I should have something solid by the end of the week. I'm still looking for other jobs. You know, just in case. My particular target is tea shops and bookstores. I think the reason should be obvious.
Now to the more blogg-y part of the blog. I ate lunch yesterday at the Elephant and Castle which apparently has branches all over the world. Someone mentioned that there was one in Chicago and I happened upon it. For those who aren't aware, the Elephant and Castle is a famous London landmark. So famous, in fact, that there is a tube station for it. I found this one to be enjoyable if a bit off the mark. I believe it to be nothing so much as proof that Americans still don't understand pubs. Y server, Jenny was excellent and from the looks of things the service is, in general, pretty excellent. Everyone was polite and quick. The soup tasted awesome and they have lovely tea service, even if they didn't have the proper spoons for tea (or milk for that matter). It is a bar restaurant in the fine American tradition. Not unlike a TGI Fridays. Not a pub but they tried so I give them credit there.
Today's Gem of the Internet- I don't know why but I love acoustic covers of pop songs. The more out of context the better. "Baby Got Back" seems to be one of the finest songs to cover amusingly as seen here.
This one is one of my favourites. This guy is pretty darn talented.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gW6yQZyx5w
I just found this one today. I think you will agree, it's pretty amusing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmI0GijanyM
The creme de la creme. How could I pass up something as ridiculous as this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkJdEFf_Qg4
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