Day Job - Gin Blossoms

Don’t quit your day job unless you have another one signed and sealed! Times are extremely tough; some jobs are getting hundreds of applicants. I have a file full of big rejection letters. Shame on me for being so confident my resume was enough to get myself another gig. I maintain that I have the talent and the skill to kill at any job hired for but I am a job search virgin. Seriously, I never had to do this before. How blessed I have been, I went from job to job by reputation without ever needing to search for one. My interview several weeks ago with UW was my first committee interview ever. I plug away but the internet applications do not substitute for face to face contact. My resume certainly may throw off some educational institutes. I did not have a conventional job so the adviser jobs I apply for are probably thrown out the window. The one job closest to my Cronk job needed a fricking Masters degree. I suspect one needs an insider to assist in getting any interview. I magically dream that someone in a hiring committee sees this resume, says “Look how interesting and different this gal is.” Doubtful considering the amount of calls I have gotten. (That total is 1)

Here is the truth…I am scared and I am running out of money. What I am not out of is optimism. I took a huge leap leaving Arizona. I refuse to believe I made a mistake doing so. I absolutely LOVE Western Washington. I want to be here and I believe somehow I will find a way to make this work. I have my moments of depression, who wouldn’t? I miss having my own home, my chance to be creative, heck I miss my shoes.. ;) I have worn the same set of clothing I packed for the drive to Alaska. But do not read this as a feel sorry for me blog. I am so grateful to have a place to stay with Mary. I never realized it as much as when I drove back from Bellingham. I felt like I had a ‘home’ to return to. Being in this atmosphere has helped heal me. I was a wreck when I left Phoenix…I was worse from the Alaska ordeal. The peace I have been seeking since Dan said he wanted a divorce is happening in Yelm, Washington. I am learning so much about spiritual teachings. The ideal of living in the “now” is appealing to me on so many levels. I believe I will be thoroughly entrenched in bliss once the job search ends. It is such a nagging tap on my shoulder.

I was supposed to start the temp job at the Puyallup Fair this week. At training we were told we would work 12 hours a day for 22 days straight. Add an hour drive both ways for me and it would have been 14 hours a day. I really wanted to do it and was looking forward to the chance to mingle with all sorts of people! And yes I need the money. It just wasn’t going to work. Various reasons from the dogs to not being enough money made it impossible. I wish it could have worked out but it wasn’t meant to be for some reason.

One of those reasons may be the opportunity to meet with a GM at a radio group in Bellingham, WA this past Friday. Once again, my guardian angel of Yelm Mary made a few calls and found the contact for me to email. I have been thinking a lot about Bellingham as an option because of it being between Seattle and Vancouver. I also suspect the rent may be fairly less then Seattle. Mary encouraged me to take the 3 hour drive up and explore. The GM responded quickly to my inquiry, kindly agreeing to meet with me the following day. We had a very nice 45 minute talk about the Phoenix radio market in which he was quite familiar with. He was impressed with the stations I had worked at. It ended with him telling me to do a simple demo for him and he would “see what he could do.” That was more than I was even expecting so I felt empowered again. Empowered that I could do radio again, that I wasn’t too far removed from it to be considered. It was a reminder to myself that I did do major market radio and it could still be recognized as such. It was also an interesting juxtaposition of occupational interview styles. The discussion was much more down to earth. It reminded me that I was never fully part of the educational world. Job or no job, the meeting was important to my self-worth and confidence.

I don’t know what happens when I run out of money. It is the major worry I keep trying to fight. I know I need to keep looking for temporary work. My therapist suggested I advertise dog-sitting. I like that idea! Selling items is also an option. If I move my items into a storage space, I could sell the trailer. And yes, if worst came to worst, I start selling my CDs. It is so hard to explain but I am so calm and happy inside even though I am in the direst circumstances of my life. Oh if we didn’t need money in our lives…

Random music notes:

In the very same day I listened to the new Two Hours Traffic, Amy Millan and Matthew Good. WOW! I still just get so excited for release dates of my favorite artists! At this moment I would say that Matthew Good’s Vancouver will be my LP of the year. We shall see in December ;)

I got in the car to drive to Bellingham and Chris Murphy was co-hosting on CBC3. Naturally I was tickled! I have expressed a zillion times how much I miss his and Jay’s radio show. My favorite giggle of the show was Chris saying who else would host a show like Q than Jian Ghomeshi to which Craig Norris responded “You.” Chris said he tries to get Jian to let him fill in all the time to no avail. Love it! Another giggle was Chris looking at a picture of Sloan and saying “There I am with my old collarbone.”

Elephant Stone is a project from a former member of the High Dials. Big Ah-ha moment. Makes perfect sense now as opposed to them coming out of nowhere.

Andrew and I are plotting to go to Vancouver to see In-Flight Safety in Vancouver at the end of September. (I told Dan to send me money-LOL!) Two Hours Traffic are playing there the same week but I need to choose. I pick In-Flight because I know THT will be back but In-Flight seems to be touring less. Their record came out in Jan and they are just touring on it now… I am now Andrew’s flight partner. It means I fly as if a family member of an airline employee. Of course until I have a job, I won’t really be able to take advantage but I hope it means I can be at CV2 graduation…

(And I had no real good reason to use the adorable picture of Jim Zorn except that NFL starts tomorrow-Go 'Skins and 'Hawks!)

What You Need - INXS

It's Tim Farriss' 52 B-day today!!!

I think I am listening to my favorite record of the year as I type! Before I moved, I heard a single from this band Elephant Stone on The Verge. Oh the single was killer! Then they ended up on the Polaris long list. I searched all three Canadian record stores I got to stop at on the way to Alaska. Only one had a slot for it but no CD. Today, I wised up and looked on itunes…I just never expect obscure little Canadian bands to be on itunes but it was! This is sweet poppy heaven! The vocals are very slightly Jay Ferg sounding..

Also discovered today that I can listen to CBC3 and CBC1 on my iphone! I finally looked into applications for it. I have not cared for the phone because it does not last for a long phone call. Maybe 2 ½ hours at best. I am a long way from my friends; I need long phone calls to keep me socially adept. Hahaha!

Saw Mt. Rainier today, I haven’t seen her in a few weeks. She just towers over everything and is impossible not to stare at! It is so odd how she is just sort of away from any other mountains. John Muir Quote: “Of all the fire mountains which like beacons, once blazed along the Pacific Coast, Mount Rainier is the noblest.” Yelm is in the most ideal location to view her perfectly. Blessed I am to be in such a beautiful location!

I have now been turned down for 4 jobs. Maybe I am vain, but I thought I would get to the interview stage sooner than this. My resume is outstanding for education jobs, I know it is. I am not going to slide into self-doubt. I am learning to focus on what I want and making it happen. The tricky part is that my truest desire is to live and work in Canada. So do I focus on that or do I plan on staying in Washington for a while so I can work on manifesting my desire to become Canadian? I will change my citizenship. I don’t think I have ever fully expressed that to anyone but when I voted in the last US election, I prayed it was my last as a US citizen. After Canadian Residency, you can work towards citizenship. And I will.

Last week while poking around careerbuilder.com, I fell into a website I wasn’t even looking for. A website for Canadian radio jobs. Radio gigs open in Halifax. What could I do but try. I was out of my mind trying to be practical. I thought I wasn’t being focused enough, that I shouldn’t even go there. I have been avoiding the radio option. But as my dear friend Andi reminded me, I have a talent that could someday get me to Canada. Not every job skill could get one there. No matter what comes of this, I have to remember that doing radio is my God given talent. I may not love the business of radio but I can do it. I am staying with a dear friend who has a studio, all I can do is put together a real good demo and keep trying. I felt really good about the top 40 demo I did. I always was accused of being too bubbly on alt radio..so maybe top 40 is my gig-LOL! I still feel like I could have done even better had I not been hurried. There were more too, Northern BC, and small town NS stations.

So the question is, what do I focus on? I need to make a few calls this week to find out where the process is at. I also need to go back and check all the Washington schools again for new postings to apply for. I plan to check in with University of Washington’s Comm school as their opening has not posted yet. But what of those other radio jobs? Oh Halifax….I want to be there so bad, for the rest of my life. Is that desire keeping me from getting a job in Washington? I need spiritual guidance. I know the Universe will work for me if I work it.

What else happened this past week?
I like doing yardwork in a nice climate. I think I may even have a garden and flowers myself. Another reason I don’t miss Phoenix.

Della has a yeast infection which has caused her to need special bathes and pills twice daily. She is all dandruff looking and losing hair. I worry, of course. It is probably from the change of area, maybe even the nettles scratching her low-lying belly. She can chase a rabbit though, man she is fast! Jasper seems to love being in the country the most. He was always guarding his yard in Mesa. Now he seems to love to investigate all the acres here. Wicket actually has worried me the most. He seems to have aged from this trip. He is getting slower and looks like his legs ache when he wakes up.

I am listening to Airborne Toxic Event now. Andrew says they are the most Canadian non-Canadian band there is. I like it so far, but I knew I liked the radio tracks.

The new OLP is just that, new OLP. It seems like the last three records have presented this more polished adult rock band instead of the harder alt rock they used to be. But they always have a hooky tune or two per record. I adore their new single so I still buy.

I went to a rubber stamp store last week. Shame, shame…. I only bought one…GUILT!

I got to view the Perseids meteor shower last week. I had just spent time reading about how to live in a joyful state. The timing could be more perfect. They were almost like a dream, in fact when I awoke the next day I wasn’t sure if I really saw all those meteors or not. So weird but so fantastic. Some of them were so brilliant they would take my breath away. I am always in awe of God’s universe.
At that I say goodnight! Here’s to a great week!