My life's changed in a lot of ways since meeting Tim Meadows. Alright, meeting is a loose term, maybe "oogled" Tim Meadows in person would be more apt. Regardless, I currently find myself sitting on my bed munching down some Cinnamon Toast Crunch's (milk soggs the cereal too quickly and I'm not in a rush) for a fun-filled sugar-fueled writing before I dive into my dextrose dreams.
I was really struggling there for a while, especially at the end of last year. 2011. Keeping busy but barely scraping by, curious and confused as to what I intended to do with all of my activities. I wouldn't say much has changed in that aspect except now I have paid jobs in which I'm establishing myself as awesome, and I'm going to school two days a week to become a clinical massage therapist. It doesn't seem that I'm going to be offered a full-time writing job anytime soon and having other skills is a good thing, especially in a field that I'm interested in writing about - writing around the world about it, in fact. I could be the 'Traveling Touch' -- the name needs some work, but you get the jist of me working and writing abroad.
Teaching.** Where did that go? On the back burner it looks like. And I'm okay with that because it means that writing just got moved to the front. Which is scary, but I'm doing it already: in this, my two other blogs, the songstack, freelancing AP blurbs across the nation, writing trivia questions and occasionally my own personal stuff. Massage will help me keep my financial feet on the ground while my head is in the clouds and my arms are reaching for the stars. It's a growing field.
I'm still very much in the learning process (as I hope to always be, though with different things), but as nervous as I am about hunkering down into America for at least another year, scraping by as I do it, I'm excited for the challenge and to see where all of this takes me. Riding the wave. Or riding the storm out, and there was one last night. (AND A MIGHTY WIND TODAY!!! Riding my bike home up Milwaukee felt like I was in a wind tunnel, a ridiculous, wind from all angles, wind tunnel. Then I thought, oh, I need to get this squeak checked out, so I Uey-ed it to my bike shop. I'm riding west down Division, approaching the monolith of St. Mary's Resurrection (?) hospital, and something happened under that walkway pass - the wind stopped me. I kept pedaling and it kept pushing. A fierce battle that resigned me off my seat. But it didn't stop there. The wind started to push me, straddling my bike, off the side of the road. I had to get off and walk about 25 feet before I could remount. It was wild!! The internet said there were 40 mph winds. 40!! Motor vehicles can drive that fast.
Time. Where did that go? January 23, already.
**In mid-December I was invited to interview with the Chicago Teaching Fellows, and while it's a great program and I would be lucky to be a part of it, I think I was more excited about the invitation that the actual program, as if I go back into the education field I would like to work with elementary students. Also, I tend to get really excited about everything and then I find myself at the buffet of life with my plate overflowing, but I don't want to be that greedy waster who takes more than they can eat and so I attempt to savor everything, but then the flavors touch and taint one another, and it's better sometimes to say, "Hey, I know I got the shrimp, veggie lo mein, chocolate cake, cornbread stuffing, black bean burger, applesauce and chili, but I think all of that will make me throw up and I'm going to have to scrape some of this into the garbage, or better yet! I'll box it up and give it to a homeless person." I know I can't give my interviews to homeless people, but it'd be great if I could. One for one. People that is. I have a home. It's drafty, but I rent (and now am a proud owner of a Snuggie).
I was really struggling there for a while, especially at the end of last year. 2011. Keeping busy but barely scraping by, curious and confused as to what I intended to do with all of my activities. I wouldn't say much has changed in that aspect except now I have paid jobs in which I'm establishing myself as awesome, and I'm going to school two days a week to become a clinical massage therapist. It doesn't seem that I'm going to be offered a full-time writing job anytime soon and having other skills is a good thing, especially in a field that I'm interested in writing about - writing around the world about it, in fact. I could be the 'Traveling Touch' -- the name needs some work, but you get the jist of me working and writing abroad.
Teaching.** Where did that go? On the back burner it looks like. And I'm okay with that because it means that writing just got moved to the front. Which is scary, but I'm doing it already: in this, my two other blogs, the songstack, freelancing AP blurbs across the nation, writing trivia questions and occasionally my own personal stuff. Massage will help me keep my financial feet on the ground while my head is in the clouds and my arms are reaching for the stars. It's a growing field.
I'm still very much in the learning process (as I hope to always be, though with different things), but as nervous as I am about hunkering down into America for at least another year, scraping by as I do it, I'm excited for the challenge and to see where all of this takes me. Riding the wave. Or riding the storm out, and there was one last night. (AND A MIGHTY WIND TODAY!!! Riding my bike home up Milwaukee felt like I was in a wind tunnel, a ridiculous, wind from all angles, wind tunnel. Then I thought, oh, I need to get this squeak checked out, so I Uey-ed it to my bike shop. I'm riding west down Division, approaching the monolith of St. Mary's Resurrection (?) hospital, and something happened under that walkway pass - the wind stopped me. I kept pedaling and it kept pushing. A fierce battle that resigned me off my seat. But it didn't stop there. The wind started to push me, straddling my bike, off the side of the road. I had to get off and walk about 25 feet before I could remount. It was wild!! The internet said there were 40 mph winds. 40!! Motor vehicles can drive that fast.
Time. Where did that go? January 23, already.
**In mid-December I was invited to interview with the Chicago Teaching Fellows, and while it's a great program and I would be lucky to be a part of it, I think I was more excited about the invitation that the actual program, as if I go back into the education field I would like to work with elementary students. Also, I tend to get really excited about everything and then I find myself at the buffet of life with my plate overflowing, but I don't want to be that greedy waster who takes more than they can eat and so I attempt to savor everything, but then the flavors touch and taint one another, and it's better sometimes to say, "Hey, I know I got the shrimp, veggie lo mein, chocolate cake, cornbread stuffing, black bean burger, applesauce and chili, but I think all of that will make me throw up and I'm going to have to scrape some of this into the garbage, or better yet! I'll box it up and give it to a homeless person." I know I can't give my interviews to homeless people, but it'd be great if I could. One for one. People that is. I have a home. It's drafty, but I rent (and now am a proud owner of a Snuggie).
