Perks of the Job

Mark Twain: a true cat lover. (insider info from Cat Fancy's Jan '12 issue. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!)

It's not all bad. Sure, after taxes I make less than Canadian minimum wage... probably before taxes, too, but the calendar information I enter will provide me with stories long after I've made my nest under the nearest bridge.

I say good-bye to this corporate temp gig tomorrow and move back into the restaurant industry FTish. Oh, the job applications and interviews of the past that I shake my head at, and the ones in the future which I'm trying to remain hopeful for, but am skeptical about with the amount of scams on Clist. I won't start on that.

Basically I just wanted to share the Mark Twain business, and then I felt it necessary to provide some context. Until later, interneters.

the ole switcheroo

There were a few mornings where I poured orange juice over my Corn Flakes or Fruity Pebbles thinking that would combat my continuously grumbling stomach. “I must be lactose intolerant.” As if three days of no dairy would be an instant cure-all. Unfortunately, dysentery by water supply wasn’t that easily cured.

That damn island; I loved it, but apparently it didn’t feel the same about me.

9/3/10

"Today was all relax, though I wish I could transport everyone I've ever met and loved in my life to this place with me, and we would all swim and spin in the sea laughing for all the happiness in the world."
--Boracay, PI
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SCUBA certification with Team Lone Rangers and Big Blue Diving in Koh Tao, Thailand on September 22, 2010.

Bus in PI going to Taal from Manila, when Lizzikins was still with me.

Recently I've been thinking a lot about my travels. Dreaming of the days spent wandering in wonder, and I'm in love and I'm lost. I can't help it; September's the month of change, new beginnings, and I feel like I'm back at square one. I'm thinking a lot about where I've been: "this time two years ago I was living in Korea" and "I was in Thailand, living out of a backpack and sleeping on bouncier than you would believe buses this time last year." Right now I can't see where I'm going and that's feels more scary than exciting now that I'm back home.

But that fear of the here and now and seemingly desperate times is something else that's not for now or here, and so we move on: I just started re-reading my travelogue which feels like kind of a big deal - probably because I built it up as such. I have a slight inkling as to why it's taken me almost a year to re-crack the bronze-wood journal's binding. At first I thought it was because I didn't want to have to come to the realization that my travels were over, and I suppose that is a part of it, but the main reason I discovered was fear that my words wouldn't hold a candle to the truth, thus sparking no memories and completely void of inspiration. In truth, I hope that my fragmented thoughts spin themselves into stories with my prodding.

To end with the words of a man I dubbed "Jacksonville" on flight KE621 from Incheon, KR to Manila, PI who sat next to me and spoke about the book full of  25 potential wives to the woman who was returning home after 30 long years (GOLDMINES ALREADY!!! Skeletons that I must flesh out.): if you are confident, you will be a success.

My Oh My: Chiang Mai!!

I knew it was going to be a good trip when I boarded the sleeper car in Bangkok. After purchasing a few beers and a "dinner snack" of this mysterious pizza bread from the station convenient store, I stepped out into the smoky platform area...

(I started this around this time last year, and then I was probably distracted by something more exciting going on outside the internet cafe... Story to continue some time.)

there is no perfection, only life

en route to the Dalai Lama's Residence in Dharamsala (Upper McLeod Ganj), India

I have a strong desire to re-read Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" for a number of reasons:

In recently moving (this weekend) I re-acquired a heavy burden of old possessions from a friend's storage space, this is great in that I now have books and DVDs and furniture and clothes, but it all felt very heavy when I had the truck loaded (maybe it was just my muscles) and I found myself slouching into the self I was two years ago, though things do not hold possession over you if you do not let them, it was still a strange sensation. Needless to say, I look forward to the Great Release, during which I will slowly rid my life of its physical clutter and unnecessities, and lighten the load on my soul; starting fresh in a new place, in my old city full of memories from moments past.

Also, a girl I know just moved to the Czech Republic.

And it is a book which I currently do not hold in my possession as I left it in MO, at my mom and step dad's house. Therefore, I want it because I do not have it. Which I know is missing the whole point.

"The goals we pursue are always veiled. A girl who longs for marriage longs for something she knows nothing about. The boy who hankers after fame has no idea what fame is. The thing that gives our every move its meaning is always totally unknown to us."  --MK

From Posters to Frames...

The posters to frames thing is weird, and one adjustment that I'm not altogether ready for, maybe more so financially than willingly. At first it was strange to see all my friends older because that must mean that I'm older, too. And, yes. I am. 

I turned 24 two months before I left America. I arrived back in Chicago days after turning 26. In the time between these dates my friends have upgraded from posters to frames, weekend boyfriends and girlfriends to live-in ones, or husbands and wives. I think maybe that was one of the most shocking things of all to return to: seeing all the changes my friends made face-to-face after hearing about them for so long. People moved, lost jobs, got jobs, had babies, or fell off my radar screen; such is life.

After a month and a half of worrying that I made the right decision in coming back to Chicago, I'm finally feeling good about my decision. I'm employed (albeit temporarily), moving into a new apartment soon and riding my bike all over the place (though I have a bad feeling that it won't hold out on me much longer). I'm happy here, even though good ole fashioned nature is at least an hour car/train/bus ride away... And I just signed a lease, so I'm staying put for at least a year, though after that... who knows.

Unfortunately with employment comes a weekday exhaustion that I'm still getting used to on top of my 21+ mile round-trip commute to/from work, and I'm spending more time thinking about writing than I'm actually writing, though my friends and I are in the beginning stages of putting together a creative team of folks who want to write and create sketches for a YouTube video channel. Things are in progress, slowly but surely.

I just wanted to drop a line about what I'm doing to those who I haven't been so great about keeping in touch with. I hope you're happy and healthy, and that we talk soon.

Feel good time (with NPR's "All Songs Considered").

peace and love,
Kate

FACT:

Working in an office is decidedly less fun than visits to my dad's office as a child.

But boy does it feel good to be employed! I wrote the above during my first week, if not first day, of employment (back at the beginning of August - where is the time flying off to?).

More and more I'm thinking that I might want to go into the education field... we'll see. I want to do a lot of things, and right now I seem to be just checking the scene.