I am also quite old, judging by the rest of these responses. My memory of getting the internet (AOL) in circa 1992 was that I didn't know about search engines. So I would just type "horses" or "puppies" or similar 11-year-old rubbish into the address bar. And now that works, but at the time it just gave me an error message. I'm not sure how long it took me to realize I needed to go to yahoo or ask jeeves or whatever, and THEN type in "ponies"
I still have a Livejournal somewhere...
Moderators deserve a public holiday.
Last week I was doing this weird work assignment that required reading short answer responses from a survey taken by home school parents. Most of it was totally fine but there were 3 or 4 respondents who kept saying stuff like "I don't want to teach my kid about Hispanics or Islam; we're white", or "School would just teach my kid about evolution and other lies" or (the worst) "Schools spend too much time talking about white people who did bad things, and never bring up Irish slaves or Native Americans who kept slaves. It's a conspiracy"! I was the only person to read these, and they weren't even directed at me, but each one made my blood pressure rise significantly. Moderators are like shock absorbers that make the ride more comfortable for the rest of us in the car; you take all the rough patches and make sure no one else experiences them. All this is a long-winded way to say thank you and omg I don't know how anyone does it all the time.
Nothing she's written has changed my world or struck me as remarkably good or bad. That's part of why the vitriol is so confusing. She gets it from left and right. I'd be a hermit by now, if I were in her shoes.
I was going to post that Guardian article if it wasn't here. So interesting. I am always on the Guardian, and am often really disappointed with the quality of the commentariat. There's a weird range of Drudge Report people who come to argue with the liberals, and super snooty pseudo-intellectuals who seriously try to convince you that, e.g., Ian McEwan is in fact a sub-standard writer in the same league as Dan Brown or EL James. And poor Jessica Valenti gets the most abuse I've ever seen hurled at one journalist, and I've never been able to figure out why. And this from a website that clearly cares greatly about creating a good environment for discussion. :(
I stick to the Toast now if I want actual beneficial human contact.
There are other extreme choices I'm considering (e.g., Foreign Service job, moving to a new city, becoming a hermit in the woods to finish my YA trilogy), but they will take a long time to come to fruition and I'll have plenty of points during which I can reconsider. But the dog and hair are things I could do this weekend that would affect my life for a while.
I've been applying since July of last year, and still no job. Not in the same field, but in the same boat of 'OMG is this thing on? Am I a ghost no one can see?' Sigh.
I started The Girl on the Train on Sunday, and finished it on Tuesday. I guessed the ending because I watch far too much Law & Order, but it was a good quick read, not too light, not too dark. Now I'm on to Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. My first Allende, and I'm having a bit of trouble getting into it so far. Just going slowly, and I don't have that same feeling of wanting to read it all in one sitting. But it's good, and possibly the first book I've ever read that takes place in Chile.
I just ended a 10 year relationship. I know you're supposed to not make big decisions or do drastic things after stuff like this, but I'm not one to follow the rules. I'm doing drastic things! I've already booked international travel (UK and Iceland) AND scheduled a girl's weekend for my bday (not that drastic, but not particularly within my budget at the moment. I'm going to look at adoptable dogs tomorrow. I'm considering cutting my hair short AND dying it (strawberry blonde).
Anyone have good experiences with doing the drastic thing after a major life shakeup?
You can't stay informed and stay sane in this election. No. I was too informed and now I'm burnt out and just avoiding everything election related until January. I'm taking this opportunity to learn more about foreign news stories.
I'm wondering how many jobs you guys apply for in a week. I've been averaging 3 or 4, but I feel like I need to pick up the pace because I've had zero responses. But it's hard to convince myself to put in more time and effort to tasks that are onerous and fruitless thus far. My last interview was January 22nd. Crickets, since then. I've had other things on my mind (moving last month, then promptly ending a 10-year relationship with my boyfriend and realizing we now have to live together for an unspecified number of months until one of us can move out, etc.), but it is starting to be alarming.
I just moved to the DC metro and there are WAY more jobs for my skill set here than in Philly, but I think part of the reason I'm getting no response is because there are always other people with actual non-profit or legislative experience, and I have none of that. Wouldn't it be nice to live in an economy where companies were able/willing to give you a shot to prove yourself?
I'm feeling a lot of dis-motivating factors right now, making it hard for me to really throw myself into editing my cover letters for the 1000th time in a blind hope of better responses.
I've decided to deal with all this by adopting a dog. They're better than antidepressants, for me anyway.
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