sunnyside up!

(leave your worries on the doorstep)

back to work!

Geez, I’m really not finding all the free time I thought I would have to blog.  Been quite busy finishing up a short freelance web job for a psychotherapist, helping out the New York Writers Coalition with a site overhaul, and getting ready to go back to work — in film production!

I decided to accept GS’s offer to come work on her doc.  The timing seems serendipitous.  Plus: I’m getting tired of not hearing back from HR people.  You get a nibble, then a phone interview — then nothing.  In two cases I was promised interviews with the hiring or senior manager — then not even a call to let me know what’s going on, whether they had filled the job or decided I wasn’t a good candidate after all.  And no response to my emails — rude!  I sought a little advice from my friend N who pointed out that the downside of continuing to look for a job is that I might become discouraged.   That certainly seems to prove truer with each passing day.

So, there’s that.  Plus, the idea of working on something REAL and TANGIBLE and LASTING has me so excited I can barely sit still.  I can’t remember the last time I felt like I really wanted to invest myself to the degree I am expecting to with this work.  Already, with my first assignment to review various sources of funding and come up with strategies for approaching each has me feeling heady and totally engaged.

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CB had me over for lunch yesterday.  He had the day off and was working on his website, but still took time to fix us a delicious chicken ceasar salad.  Did I tell you how happy I am that CB is back in my neighborhood and my life?  He’s a great role model for me with his clean living (I’m trying!) and he’s just so knowledgeable on so many topics and so interested in so many things!  One thing we both love is “Grey Gardens” (although I have only seen the movie and not the musical stage production).   Chris showed me a strange video clip of two Beale-like women, i.e., crazy and ranting, lounging on a bed in a cramped, cluttered room, and related to each other somehow — in this case they appear to be sisters.  The clip was posted on one of CB’s FB friend’s profile pages, so I can’t access it yet — but as soon as I have it I will post.  We couldn’t decide whether it was real or a put-on (I think the latter).  You will have to decide.  Check back soon.

they used to tell me I was building a dream

juggling joblets

Haven’t posted here in the past few days.  I was off on the North Fork of Long Island visiting with GS, who is working on a very interesting film and said she could use a little help in the form of an associate producer.  I hadn’t actually expected the trip to turn into a work thing, but since I don’t have enough work and have been looking for something more meaningful and creative to devote myself to, G’s offer was a welcome one.

For those of you who don’t know G, you can read about her work here on the re-launched Jezebel website (courtesy yours truly).

I have done this type of work before — it’s challenging and exciting.  Mostly it’s pitching the film — writing and talking to people — two things I love to do.  The question is whether I can continue to live on the nickles and dimes the small web jobs bring in while trying to come up production financing.  While a large part of me LOVES being independent again, a small part of me is missing the income and benefits that come with a full-time position in white collar America.

Of course, I’ve been looking for that full-time position for a couple of months now and there’s no reason for me to believe that I will find one anytime soon.

All things to be considered…

cumulus clouds (for tags and for real)

Above, the view of Manhattan from the rooftop parking deck of my local Stop and Shop.  It’s a glorious site — makes you feel at once humble (so small in the great big city) and yet so proud to be a part of it.

I had a thought while looking at the City: the only other time I felt the need to blog was right after 9/11.  I spent a lot of time gazing westward then, too, worrying about what the future had in store.  But I also felt totally alive to everything around me — and compelled to share some of my better-articulated thoughts publicly.  It was therapeutic, I produced some decent pieces, and I also made a couple of friends via that blog that I still cherish, regardless of how infrequently our paths might cross these days.

So, maybe my losing my job in December has ignited the blog-urge — I don’t know.  I do know that I have time on my hands, I feel the need to do more personal writing, and I might as well take advantage of the medium and you, my network of friends and acquaintances, to critique and comment.

Maybe I’ll use this blog to pitch for work — I’m starting to feel like I don’t want another job for a while.  I really am happiest when I’m free.  More on the subject of work and employment later.

I’ve implemented the cool “WP Cumulus” tag cloud widget for WordPress by Roy Tanck.  It’s cool — really much nicer than a flat tag cloud and fun to play with your cursor to influence the direction and rotation speed.  But OH! why can IE 6.0 not deal with it correctly?  Or should I not be worrying about IE 6.0 these days — anyone?