Auditioning for a Room

 I understand that potential landlords/roommates want to get a sense of the person with whom he or she will be co-habitating. But I think Craigslist has made this a very unruly process. And I'm just going to leave it at that because I don't want to turn this into reasons why I hate Craigslist post.

Anyway, not much else is going on. I'm walking around campus like I still go to school here, which is sad and pathetic when I really stop and think about it. But considering the alternatives (doing nothing by myself at home) at least this is marginally less depressing. My mom and I are enjoying micromanaging my sister's orientation, until she made some friends and met her roommate next year, and then of course we were banished from whence we came. But it's all good. 

I'm headed back to Craigslist to look for housing.

UPDATE: I have secured housing.

Also....

Elise sent this to me, and I thought it was really cool. It's a blog post/art depiction about a trip to Monticello. Check it out.

Job Jams

This week's Job Jams comes from I'm From Barcelona with their track "Mingus." It's live from the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. Lyrics are really good, and the song is catchy. 

It's Not the Same Without You

Even though it was just about a month ago that I packed up my life in Ithaca, I just couldn't stay away. I agreed to accompany my mom and sister for Christine's orientation (B.S., clinical health studies 2013!) at Ithaca. I wanted to come, partly because I would have gone crazy at home by myself, but also because I love Ithaca and wanted to come back. But it isn't quite the same without everyone. It's hard looking at all of these nervous, soon-to-be-freshmen, people I'll never be in school with, and think back to when I was in their shoes, nervous and anxious to start school. My sister is understandably nervous...she said she "has enough friends" and doesn't want to meet anyone new. But I know that she'll be changing her tune by fall break.

I'm hoping to go later to check out the little progress they've made on the A&E center. They are diverting traffic around the traffic, down to one lane near the practice football field, because they are STILL doing work to the Peggy Williams Center. Hopefully one day that will be finished! I will try and take photos for those who have been away from campus longer than a month so that you can see the changes here.

I am still looking for housing, but considering taking some people up on some generous offers to have me stay in spare rooms. I appreciate it....I have hope that one day, Craigslist will work in my favor. But until then, I keep sifting through the site like it's an addiction. I started looking at the benefits package for work today - health, dental, vision and possible life insurance = score. They also have retirement planning available. Never too early to start thinking....

Update...

I just saw a Craiglist ad to pay $500 to share a studio...with TWO other people. Sheesh. Another ad I saw a couple of days ago was for $700 to share a room...with the sublettor's KID. PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!!

I Don't Want to be Homeless

Sublet searching is clearly not going well. No one is returning my entreaties, and I thought I had something good going and I haven't heard back. Sigh. I really don't want to just show up on the streets of DC with my suitcase and have to find some park bench (which clearly I know won't happen) but I'm growing increasingly frustrated with this process, especially since I am so far removed. 

Speaking of removal...tomorrow I'm trekking back to Ithaca for my sister's orientation. My mom, sister, and I will be enjoying the best of Ithaca, while I desperately try not to picture it as the ghost town that it probably is. Hopefully I will get to see Corey and Erika. 

In the meantime, I think my latent shingles are acting up again. I feel itchy all over. It must be stress. And I really wanted to work on my Web site today but it was raining and I was feeling lethargic, as I do most days now that I don't have a job search to galvanize me into action. I haven't even been able to bring myself to pack for Ithaca yet. Blog, you are supposed to be helping me hold myself accountable. What gives? And while we're on lethargy...Jean-Claude seems to be a bit more animated these days. It seems as though he's adjusting to his surroundings. And oh! how could I forget? My diploma finally came in the mail. Now my diploma holder doesn't look so lonely. My parents don't believe me that I got two degrees because I only got one diploma. I don't know what I have to do to win this exasperating argument with them - show them my transcripts? 

Fallen by the Wayside

Now that I'm not on my computer frantically searching for jobs every day, I admit the blog has taken a bit of a hit. Last night I had every intention of updating, but I took a Benadryl so that I could get a good sleep in before this morning's 6:30am wake up call for Ride for Roswell. I barely made it into bed before the drugs put me out! The Ride for Roswell went really well...I was worried about it, because I hadn't devoted a lot of time to training, but I made it. I came home and was exhausted and fell asleep for two hours. When I woke up, my mom asked me "You were tired?" in a voice that couldn't believe that I would be fatigued. I mean, seriously.

Anyway, the biggest project I've got going right now is finding housing. Vince is going to look at a place tonight. We'll see how that goes. Craigslist makes me so nervous though. But if I can get that taken care of, then I won't really have any worries or really anything terribly pressing for me to do between now and starting my job, meaning I really will have absolute freedom.

Another project that I have shelved and really want to get back into is meghanloftus.com. Although I feel that I should be spending less time on the computer and more time doing things before I start my job. Still, I look at my Dreamweaver book every day and feel remorseful. But in fairness, I haven't been home...and I'm going to be gone until Wednesday to none other than Ithaca. I'm debating bringing my laptop.

My parents and sister are going to ANOTHER grad party tonight, so I'm flying solo for dinner again. My mom said I could get Chinese. I'm looking forward to that and a good movie from Redbox. 

The Dawn of the Young Professional

I always knew this day would come...the day when I would have to identify as a young professional. Sure, it has a nice ring to it. But it creeps me out that I'm now technically in this category. Because nothing good can come after young professional. What will they be calling me in a few years? Old professional? 

I've been trying to focus on all of the exciting aspects of this new job - the challenge, the new people, the chance to feel like a productive member of society (PS - thanks for all the well wishes and congratulatory messages - it means a lot!). But I can't help but mourn the death of my unemployment. Sure, I complained about it for most of the time I had it. It's hard to realize what you have until it is gone. It's bittersweet - I'm excited for this new phase of my life, but also sad to be truly moving out of my house. What do I take with me? What can I leave behind? Will my parents convert my room into a gym? 

On the housing front, I've got a lead that looks promising. But Craigslist can be fickle...and I may be back to square 1 this time tomorrow. I'm trying to avoid looking at a calendar so that I don't know exactly how long I'll have left at home, but I know that my ideal move out date is getting close. Short-term, I'm really going to be going hardcore on the Web site. And, oh yeah, the Ride for Roswell is Saturday. I'm committed to doing 30 miles, and I really want to do it. But my training has been lacking, so I'm going to be "JTagging" this and hoping I make it to the end.

Also, I realize these blog posts are coming later and later in the day. I will do my best to move these up to earlier in the day, but now that I've got a job and there is no reason for me to get up, I can't make any promises. 

Job Jams

I know this is belated from its normal Monday run date, but I've got to keep some sense of normalcy here after two weeks of scattered posts. This week's video I only recently understood...I remember a couple of times in college Lucien singing this song. I thought it meant that everybody was spending their weekends working, instead of working to get to the weekend. Once I figured out this subtle distinction, I understood why he used it. Throwback to the 1980s with Loverboy's "Working for the Weekend."

I'm Baaack

Sorry about the unannounced digital hiatus. Actually, I guess it wasn't unannounced but I still felt bad the whole week about leaving everyone in the lurch. I am FINALLY back home after The Interview/Preston's Wedding/Adirondack week-long extravaganza. Here's a recap:

1. The Interview: The interview went really well. I felt very comfortable and stylish in my summer suit (very seasonally appropriate, I can assure you). I really liked the people and felt that I really put forth my best effort. Plus everyone was rooting for me...even my cab driver was enthusiastic that I had an interview!

2. Preston's wedding: Picture included of the groom himself, plus Vince and the pastor (I'm sorry, Sarah, I couldn't get any photos of you before they said no more pictures!!). It was great to be there for Preston and Sarah's bi

g day, and luckily I did not catch the bouquet. I also got a chance to meet some of Vince's older friends, his "T-10 Mansion" if you will. They were all very nice. But the whole weekend made me feel more like a 20something and less like a college student, even though the Keystone was flowing all weekend long. Also, every time I go to Geneva I feel like I'm in a JCrew catalogue....this time was no exception.

3. Adirondacks: Despite cloudy weather upon our arrival Monday, 

Vince and I had a great time kayaking and lounging near the lake. We got a really good deal on our hotel, and it was very quiet - the summer season hasn't really started yet. The only weird thing was that it is mostly a family vacation spot....so kayaking it was families with small children and then...Vince and myself. But we still had fun, despite not wearing sunscreen and getting really burnt.

And now, for the big news...imaginary drum roll. Remember how I said the interview went well? Well, it went so well, in fact, that I was offered the job. Starting mid-July, I will be the executive assistant to the dean of a graduate program at a prominent institution of higher education in Washington, D.C. I'm really thrilled about the position, but nervous and excited all at the same time. 

Already, people have wondered what will happen to this blog, and I admit that that was one of the first things that crossed my mind (I know, I know, I need to get a life). But just because I have found employment does not mean that I still don't have "big ideas." I still think that there's plenty of material for me to blog about: my search for housing, adjusting to life in a city (that I'm more than familiar with, but still, I'm starting over in a new place), learning how to live on my own, making new friends, adjusting to my job, etc. etc. The banner graphic will have to be tweaked a bit, but I hope to continue blogging here (at least until meghanloftus.com gets up and running, a dream that looks farther and farther away). 

So, like I said, tons still to blog about. First priority is finding me some housing. My plan is to sublet in July and August to give myself tons of time to get settled in my job and take my time finding a place I really like. There is something really exciting and crushing about searching for temporary housing on Craigslist - the thrill of sifting through all of those classifieds, the rush of finding a great deal, the embarrassment when you know you've been conned. So far, I've replied to about 10 posts I'd say....we'll see how it goes. I'd really like to avoid having to take a trip down to DC to look at places, so I'm going to be enlisting Vince to help me find a place (but he's also doing his own housing search, so this could be tricky). Tomorrow I face a new day filled with new challenges....

Side note: Some of you may have been wondering how Jean-Claude has fared in my absence. About six days into my weeklong trip, I realized I may or may not have forgotten to put a seven-day feeder in his tank. It's hard to tell, because those things disintegrate like you would not believe. Luckily, my dad was passing through on his way to the attic and noticed Jean-Claude in need of some sustenance. He also remarked how lethargic Jean-Claude looked, proving that it is not just me that thinks my fish needs some help. 

Pomp and Circumstance

Update on yesterday's graduation: she did it. My sister is officially a high school graduate. The white dress and roses is a tradition here at girls' schools in the area. I had to do it as well. For both my sister and me, major dress disasters. My original dress never came, and the store failed to notify me. My sister's was altered, except the tailor left a THREE INCH gap between the zippers, meaning there was three inches of space that could not be pulled tighter. Oh, and my sister didn't realize this until Sunday, the day before graduation. Luckily, issue was resolved.

This weekend was also an opportunity for me to showcase my amazing photography skills. By amazing, I mean that I can operate my camera correctly and I can take a picture in a relatively short amount of time. The same cannot be said for the rest of my family. Last week my dad got really excited when he transferred music from his iTunes to his iPod. I think he did some kind of celebratory dance. Anyway, while I was waiting to snap photos pre-graduation dinner on Sunday, I took some nature shots utilizing the digital macro on my camera. These two are my favorites:

I have a Canon Powershot SD600, a pretty nice point and shoot if you ask me. I've always been really happy with the quality of the pictures that I've gotten. I'm by no means a photographer, but this camera has made it really easy. One thing that has helped tremendously: reading the instructions. It's a wonder what I learned.

Tomorrow I embark on The Interview-wedding-Adirondacks week. I haven't started packing yet. I've been prepping for the interview like I studied for tests by making flash cards. And I'm finally getting to utilize the podcast option - I'm going to record some facts into an mp3 file and load it onto my iPod to listen to on my way to DC. I'll let you know how that works out. Right now, time to put some clothes in the bag....

Job Jams

The first Job Jams is the jam that inspired it all. While I was on my way to Rhode Island, this song by Belle and Sebastian came up on my iPod. Their music is always a lot of fun, but particularly this song about an, um, unconventional way to land a promotion. 

Belle & Sebastian - New Music - More Music Videos

Graduation Day

No weekend update this week - sorry about that. Currently we've been celebrating my sister's impending graduation (t minus 3.5 hours). My aunt and grandfather are in town, and we've been eating out, shopping, and doing other fun things that one only does when family come to visit. 

This week will be kind of short for me at home. I feel like there are a thousand things to do before I embark upon The Interview-Preston and Sarah's wedding-Adirondacks extravaganza. I mean seriously, I could not have picked three more out of place events to link together into one big road trip. I don't know how I'm going to pack for this at all. I'm glad to be busy, but I also feel like I've really been neglecting working on my Web site. I'm debating whether to bring my laptop on the trip with me - something tells me that that is a bad idea though.

Thanks so far for all of the interview tips and suggestions. They are definitely useful. I've started writing down my notes, but the interview is really never far from my thoughts. I should find out this afternoon exactly whom I'll be meeting, so that will make the process a little easier. I am really excited about this opportunity. Heck, I'm just excited I got a phone call. It's a big morale boost.

Tomorrow I'm going back to my volunteer job. I haven't done my assignment yet, so add one more thing to the to-do list. Oh, and I have to get my oil changed. I hate how that always sneaks up on me.

The Stress of Leisure

So after a sleepless night wondering if I had blown my chance at a job over a vacation reminder, I got a call today to set up The Interview. Super excited. It sounds like an intense session of interviewing with multiple people over two hours, so I'm already testing my mental stamina. Interview prep starts now...I'm open to any and all suggestions anyone may have about interviewing. What has worked for you? What hasn't? I'll be poring over their Web site, related biographies, etc. and readying my answers to questions throughout the week (it's on Thursday). 

In other news, I started my volunteer position today. I'm really excited to be working with this particular non-profit and I'll be getting to do a lot of writing/marketing/PR/design work. I'm headed back for the beginning of training on Tuesday. 

My leisure reading is starting to stress me out. Yes, I know, this defeats said purpose of leisure reading. I got over-excited in my weekly trip to the library and took out too many books (I was afraid they wouldn't be there next week). Plus I also ordered a book from the central library downtown. This means I have three separate due dates for my books and DVDs. Somehow, I feel like the library is going to be making money off of me. I was going to bike to the library today, because it looked nice enough out. As soon as I decided to go, it looked like the heavens were going to open up....so I drove. When I got back, the sun was shining. 

On my trip out I stopped at the paper store to get, uh, paper, and my change came to $12.12. On the 12th. This has to be some kind of sign that I am in someone's good graces.

Also, this is completely unrelated to the topic of my blog, but the Iranian presidential election is today (well Friday in Iran). Any way it shakes out will have implications for the U.S. So if you get a chance check that out. NPR has been doing a lot of good pieces on it, including this one from yesterday's All Things Considered.  

On a lighter note, some more funnies for your Friday. I was going to post below, but the WaPo video wasn't formatting itself right (get on that!).  Can't wait for Monday's premiere of "Job Jams." I've got some songs in mind, but also open to suggestions on this one. Whether it specifically deals with an office situation or just gets you pumped up for data entry, I'd like to know about it. Will update over the weekend and preview Monday night's graduation ceremony. 

Fun for Friday

Getting a jump start, here's some Friday funnies for you, courtesy of my Patty:

The Center for Disease Control has issued a medical alert about a highly contagious, potentially dangerous virus that is transmitted orally, by hand, and even electronically.   
This virus is called Weekly Overload Recreational Killer (WORK). 
If you receive WORK from your boss, any of your colleagues or anyone else via any means whatsoever - DO NOT TOUCH IT!!!  This virus will wipe out your private life entirely.  If you should come into contact with WORK you should immediately leave the premises. 

Take two good friends to the nearest liquor store and purchase one or both of the antidotes - Work Isolating Neutralizer Extract (WINE) and Bothersome Employer Elimination Rebooter (BEER).  Take the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system. 

You should immediately forward this medical alert to five friends.  If you do not have five friends, you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life. 
 
 

States of Rebellion

I hope that my brief two-day hiatus has not caused my readership to drop, but I'll even if it does, it was worth it. Colleen and I had tons of fun. It was great to see her and talk to someone my own age. And it was really nice to have two days where I didn't think about jobs.

Some interesting observations I made about my trip (8 hours in a car by oneself is a lot of time to think of witty blog posts):

• New England is a lawless. Kind of like the Wild West, but with more J. Crew. Speed limits seem optional, and blinkers are definitely a no. In fact, when changing lanes today I almost felt rude for bothering to signal to indicate that I wanted to move over.
• Crazy names like Purgatory Chasm are probably a leftover from the days of the Puritans, but they are still around and enough to strike fear into the heart of any lapsed Catholic.
• New York State is a vast wilderness. There was a good 200 miles were there was nothing but rest stops, forever answering the question "But what else is there besides NYC?"
• In the Capitol region, they have these areas of the Hudson River called __ Kill. As in Stony Kill. Interesting word choice for a place to go fishing (if anyone knows why they are called this, please let me know. I will be checking with my resident Capitol region expert Greg for clarification on this). 
• Got to love the Gov. Thomas Dewey NYS Thruway and its varied rest stops. They are unsurpassed in quality, reliability, and food offerings (they even have wi-fi). 
• I knew when I got back that I'd have tons of tweets from Twitter, leading me to wonder: If a tweet is sent, and no one reads it, does that mean that it still exists? 

I've decided over the drive to unveil a new feature, "Job-Related Music Video of the Week." It will be a regular staple with a (hopefully) better title, hoping to spice up everyone's work day. Look for it this Monday. 

Remember when I said I didn't think about jobs for two days? Well, of course this would be the two days when I am contacted about an application. Forgot to put a vacation reminder up on my email, and now am stressing that I may have missed an opportunity. I really cannot win - I had a dry spell for weeks before this. I guess when it rains it pours. I'll keep you updated on the situation.

But...props to my friends who have recently started jobs or paying internships: Caitlin, Lucien, Janelle, and Kate. Kate even has two interns. Congrats on getting through your first week (or weeks, in the case of Lucien)...and make sure to go to happy hour tomorrow. More to follow in the coming weeks! 

P.S. For those who were wondering...I left a 7-day feeder for Jean-Claude while I was gone. It appears he has eaten it. Hopefully this is breaking his self-imposed hunger strike. Will advise of any new developments. 

Before I Go...

Here's the link to Kate's blog and my guest post there on my job search. So exciting!

In other news, check out the new poll question, courtesy of Ashley. I'm thinking about giving her her own label on this blog. 

Made some phone calls this morning and will be sending out another resume shortly....but then I'm free until Thursday!

"Weekend Update"

Not really too much new news to report here from this weekend. Has been a slightly productive one as far as weekends go. I was out yesterday afternoon, did some more reading in Do What You Are, and  ran some errands. I was very skeptical about reading Do What You Are, even though it came highly recommended by Erin O. I don't really like reading books that could be considered self-help or DIY books; I prefer when I read to read fiction or political, historical, or biographical books. But I have to say it has helped a lot in evaluating what I like and what I don't, which I think is the most important part of the job search (and really life, as well). Although the book has confirmed what I already knew about myself, it helped me think about my weak areas and how I can work to overcome them. So I guess I, too, would recommend this book for anyone starting their job search, changing careers, or just wants to assess overall how they approach their life at work (and also outside of work).

Last night I had a chance to catch up with Ashley (or Ashbo/Smashbo/Splashbo if you are in the inner circle). She's got a really aggressive strategy for the job search, and I'm constantly learning from her. I was telling her last night that even though I thought I was well-prepared to look for jobs when I got out of school, I'm learning new tricks as I go. I'd like to think that my previous 50+ applications have not been in vain, because I've learned from those mistakes, but it's hard to see all of those resumes and cover letters disappear into the black hole of human resources departments everywhere. I think, though, that I've turned a proverbial corner. I'm finally starting to "get" what the job search is all about, and I think that I'll be making some moves in the near future to snag a job that I'll enjoy. 

As for this week, I'm headed out tomorrow for Rhode Island to visit Colleen. It will be the first time in a long time that I will not be doing anything job-related (ok, I'll still be checking my email, but that's it, I swear!). It will be nice to have at least two days where I don't worry about sending out applications. So I'll be posting a quick update tomorrow morning and when I get back on Thursday, but I'm on hiatus Tuesday and Wednesday...try not to miss me too much. 

In other news, though, I've been asked to guest-blog on Kate L.'s blog, Health Nuts. I'm flattered, to say the least. I'll be writing a post similar to what I do here. I'm hoping to have it for her before I go, so check out her blog (and check it out in general, it's really cool - she just ran a half-marathon and talks about the race and her training). I've added her site to the blog list on the right. I've also added Real Life Boogaloo, a blog to which Vince is a regular contributor. It's a group effort by him and some of his friends from college, so some inside jokes, but all in all an interesting look at life post-college from people who've been out a year already. It's also very funny.  

Ok time to finish up the last couple of applications before freedom! 

New Unemployment Numbers

A few weeks ago I had mentioned that the unemployment numbers come out the first Friday of every month. Well, not much good news today. For the month of May, unemployment numbers have risen to 9.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS also says that "the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 732,000 in May to 9.5 million.  This group has in-creased by 5.8 million since the start of the recession."

NPR'S Planet Money also has some interesting findings from the report. The average job search now takes 22.5 weeks, up from 21 weeks in April. That's almost half a year.

While I let the gravity of this escalating unemployment rate hit you full on, I'll update you on my job hunt. I've reached this novel idea of only applying for jobs which I'd actually like to do. I think for awhile I was so focused on just finding a job that I didn't care what it is. But when I stopped and thought about how much time I'll be spending at said job, it gave me pause. 

My informational interview at dream company went extremely well this morning. It gave me a good idea of how to stay on their radar and what I'd need to do to eventually get a job there. But it left me feeling pretty convinced that if I want a job in DC, I'm going to have to move there. Look for some news about that in the coming days.

And before I sign off for the weekend, a gripe (ok, I know you're thinking that this whole blog is one big gripe, see video below). We have put a man on the moon, perfected aviation travel, made advances in medicine, and I can now know what's going on in someone's life in 140 characters or less at all times, yet still, some companies have failed to find a way to have applicants upload their resumes in PDF format. I mean, seriously. I hate cutting and pasting my carefully-formatted resume into these boxes because it never recognizes my bullets, indentations, or sometimes even the darn words themselves. It's like a super-human feat of patience to be able to format these things...I think that in itself must be the result of some twisted HR person to try and weed out the weak employees....

Ok video as promised (I'm trying to make this more multimedia-friendly):

Changing it Up

You may have noticed lately that these blog posts are coming later and later in the day. Or maybe you haven't noticed. Either way, I've changed my routine. I used to get up and try and attack job stuff at the beginning of the day, while I was still fresh. This was a big problem for the attitude, though, because for the first three of my 14 waking hours I spent learning that the real world is hard. And hence, the rest of my day was ruined. Now, however, I've decided to get up, go for a bike ride, shower, and attack jobs. This means not only do I have good endorphins going from the workout, but I'm also clean and presentable for the virtual community. This strategy, courtesy of my aunt, has actually worked out better than I could have hoped. And I've learned something quite shocking: I'm enjoying this unemployment time.

I've officially been home two weeks. I decided to break out my Ithaca College Alumni t-shirt today:


Yes, I realize the lettering is backward. But you get the idea. I have mixed feelings about wearing this shirt. First, I'd still like to believe I'm going back to school in the fall. Second, grammatical error. I am an alumnae, as I am a female. If I were a boy (I know everyone's singing that Beyonce song right now), I'd be an alumnus. Unless two people were sharing this shirt, then they could be alumni.

P.S. I posted the link to the Beyonce video. I had never seen it...very engrossing.

My Fish is on a Hunger Strike

My fish, Jean-Claude Van Damm, in his new surroundings. He's smiling for the camera! I've noticed lately that he's been not as eager to be fed lately. When I was at school, every morning without fail he'd be waiting at the top of the bowl to get some yummy fish pellets. But I'm worried about his mental health, because lately he has not been eating as much as he used to. Instead of every day, he's only eating every other day. I think this may be caused by two circumstances: 

1. he misses Ithaca and wants to go back 
   
2. the journey from Ithaca to Buffalo was too much for his little fish heart to handle (he was in the back of the van, enclosed in a plastic bag, for 3 hours).

Anyway, it was the other day while watching Jean-Claude that I realized a sobering fact. In the last 24 hours, I had not left my house. I'm talking not even stepped foot outside. This was a definitive moment in my short post-collegiate life. I could either sink under the weight of the mental fatigue and disappointment of trying to find a job from hundreds of miles away from where I actually want to live, or I could swim and make more of an effort not to become a total recluse. 

I have chosen the latter. I've decided to take my first road trip to Newport, Rhode Island next week to visit Colleen. In preparation, I have to find a bathing suit. I don't own one, save for my two one-pieces that I save for serious swimming, not lounging. This promises to be the ultimate showdown: Meg vs. the bathing suit. There's a reason why I haven't bought a new suit in five years...I'll just leave it at that. 

On the job front, I have an informational interview this Friday (via telephone) at a company that I really, really would love to work at one day. And today I got an email notification that Paste Magazine is following me on Twitter. Perhaps adding myself to WeFollow was a good idea!

I Almost Forgot to Blog Today!

Ah I know, right? How could I forget to blog? It's only the most exciting thing in my life and truth be told, I spend a lot more time thinking about what I'll write in these posts than I'd care to admit.Today, though, I'm trying to minimize computer usage, although that hasn't really been that successful. Yesterday I spent hours staring at the screen, and I still have a headache today. And last night, I had a dream about CSS. So I really need to take a break from all of my Web stuff/spending time looking for jobs, for my health's own sake. I've spent the day involved in various art projects and helping out my mom. In fact, I have to go dust now. Soon, I will spray paint. 

While you're waiting for meghanloftus.com to be unveiled, here's what I've got for a mock-up:

Colleen's been helping me with some design features. Now the only problem is building this, hence the dreams (or would they be nightmares?) about CSS. I realized halfway through that I was following instructions to build a site for Dreamweaver 3 when I looked at the comments on the online help site I was using that said Dreamweaver 4 (the program I have) is much different. All I've got on the page so far is the banner graphic. So don't hold your breath for this site to just magically appear one day. It's going to be a while. 

I did manage to email some people about some informational interviews/job leads. No new applications though for today. And I've realized that I don't really have any out right now about which I feel hopeful. I was looking back through some cover letters today, ones I thought I had double and triple checked, and I found some mistakes on a few, namely on one, forgetting to change the employer's name (ouch). I guess I need to be quadruple checking these. 

A Life Without Sweatpants...

...isn't really a life worth living to me. However, to spare my morale I'm taking the advice of my aunt and ditching the sweats. Putting on jeans and a nice shirt will not only make me look better (although who would notice, as I barely leave the house) but also give me more motivation and help me feel like an actual person.

My favorite pair of sweats - so lonely without me!

 

So today I'm wearing jeans and my favorite argyle sweater. I'm looking better, but not necessarily feeling better. I've been trolling my usual sites for jobs, and hoping to find some new postings. There isn't too much new. And reading What Color is Your Parachute hasn't really been helping much, either. Bolles is really down on using the Internet to find a job, which kind of leaves me at a loss. I made the decision about two months ago to come home if I didn't find a job. But I'm not necessarily looking to stay where I live. Ideally, I'd like to move to NYC or Washington, D.C., so that's where my job search has been focused. But now I'm wondering if I'm just wasting time and energy by applying for jobs there when I am here. I don't know if I'm at the point where I'd be ready to move to either of these places. It's a big step that would require money and a lot of patience, and I've also made some plans that require me to be somewhat flexible with my schedule for the month of June. Still, I can't help but question if the decision I made was the right one, especially since my job prospects on the horizon are looking more and more like a barren desert. 

Also, I just learned that I can post short videos of myself up here. This could be dangerous. Although as Erika says, I'd have to find a reason to include video of myself. Perhaps I should start with a podcast first...