Napa

My brother and his wife came to visit!

Our adventures included:  Dew tours, Sinaloa, Wii games, Outerlands and Ocean Beach, North Beach and Goorin, Pier 39, House of Prime Rib, Google, Stanford, Mijori, Autumn Lights Festival, Awaken Cafe, Kensington Inn, Muir Woods, LuLu w/ free desserts!, Coppola and bocce, and Truitt and Hearst.  

Aatman and I sent them on our Pescadero cheese, wine, yummy bread, and lighthouse adventure, and then they headed to Big Sur / Monterey / Carmel on their own. 

The visit ended with us all in Napa enjoying the wine, weather, and company...  

Personal brand

"I am a creative problem solver that uses energy + inspiration to move
people to action, creating community and facilitating new
experiences."

That's the rough draft of my personal branding statement. A product
of the Admin Summit.

Butterflies

Aatman and I painted these butterflies at a graffiti battle in Oakland
where we (he) learned to Lindy hop from a woman I didn't realize I had
met 12 years ago at the Jahva house. I asked her, the Lindy hop woman
(whose name was so familiar), to perform in my next show, got her card,
looked her up, and realized that she was the reason I met Alice
Walker, and her work as a photographer had inspired me back when my
mind was freshly being blown by the Bay Area art and culture scene,
and that she is permanently woven into the fabric of my love for
photography and spoken word and fortunate encounters and this deep,
strange beauty that seems to find its way back to me again and again
when I least expect it....

So Cal

I spent 2 weekends in So Cal seeing shows and friends, riding bikes on beaches, meeting new people, and enjoying the heat... The first weekend was a last minute getaway.  The second weekend was for a wedding celebration.

I love the magic that can be found in a weekend (or two) away.

Now, I'm back and busy with work and friends and soccer and shows, and I just started booking the next 8.

"Show 6" is the last one I committed to when I decided to give myself the challenge of producing a series of shows-- though, I will likely fulfill everyone's expectations and complete the run of 8.

I love my job

Yup, it's true.

[I know I've said some of this before, but] I am surrounded by smart, interesting, nice, inspiring people who are creating and defining the future; there's free food, gyms, dance classes, fitness groups, bikes; there's a slide, foosball, ping pong, massages, sleep pods...and, I get to sit on this couch with this droid whenever I want.

They kept saying, "Don't worry, you'll find something great." They were right.

From the book I Wrote This For You

I like this one because I think it speaks to the idea that sometimes you have to show all of your colors in a big way in front of everyone with no fear. You have to let go and dance...and it's such a display of what's inside you and whether it's great or embarrassing, it's still actually really great. It's the bravest thing you can ever do.

Thursday

It's Thursday... and I'm ready for the weekend.  

This week has been incredibly long.  I think it's because I've done so much!  I rode the Google slide, watched a Burning Man film, played soccer, had dinner w/ a recruiter's daughter to talk about theatre, rode some Google bikes, had a great dinner w/ great friends, had lunch in new g/cafes with new friends... 

I've been working hard and playing hard, and it's so tiring but it's so good.  :) 

This time...

I'm three weeks into my new job, and am both loving it and struggling with it.

It's hard wanting to be completely up to speed when that's impossible after only 3 weeks. Patience has never been my strong point...  I've been told I'm learning things very fast, but I'm anxious to be truly settled in.

I do love it, though. I'm inspired and spoiled every day. I'm grateful to be there, working in the future, with such smart, generous, and socially fascinating people. I think I've found my wonderland. :)

I remember being three weeks into my last job; feeling horribly awkward, and having a bird poop on me at lunchtime one day making for some very weird ice breaking conversations. Ah, the days...

This time...this time feels good. :)

The 4th

The 4th was a day to celebrate!  America!  A new job!  And, the one year anniversary for me and Aatman (we met at a bbq last 4th of July)!  :)

We didn't make it to Boston like we'd hoped, but we did make it to a couple of bbqs, a nice dinner, and to see the fireworks on the most beautiful night I think I've ever experienced in San Francisco.  It was a nice day reminiscing about our first day.  :) 

Then, the 6th was Aatman's birthday!  We had a really fun time running all over the city.  We saw the Mime Troupe perform in the park, hit the jazz festival and Japantown, grabbed a delectable dinner at Nihon, and then headed to Raven for some dancing.  So fun!!

This last week, I've been doing my best to prepare to start working again.  The promise of income is endlessly comforting, so I've loosened up the reigns on my budget and done my best to enjoy it.  

July 3rd

"I have a rockabilly waitress, Smashing Pumpkins is trickling through the PA, the woman across from me is picking her afro using the front camera on her iPhone as a mirror, and I'm pretty sure this coffee will make me unstoppable."

-- I posted that on facebook on July 3rd and, immediately after, got a call from Google offering me a new job!!

Yay!!!


So, just to recap...

I was laid off a little over 3 months ago and was officially unemployed for a little over 2 months.

Here's a quick breakdown of what I did during my "time off":

I applied to 38 jobs.
Booked 28 interview appointments and actually spoke to 52 individuals.
Had 9 networking meetings.
5 auditions.
2 modeling shoots.
And, a lot of time sitting in my apartment, reading, and eating PB&J.

The most interesting conversation I had while unemployed was with a guy named... Mike? with whom I spoke about an event modeling job that seemed to pay surprisingly well. It turned out that the job was to work "sexy events"-- so, I'd have to be okay with wearing heels, miniskirts, being friendly, talking to people, flirting, sitting on laps, and allowing some touching. Mike said, if I met a guy at an event who really liked me and wanted me to be his "girlfriend" I could make a lot more money than the initial offer. (...yeah, right?!) I thanked Mike for calling and told him that I wasn't interested in that kind of work. He was really nice and said he understood, and then told me that, as another option, I could recommend people who might be interested...and, as long as they were working, I would get a percentage of everything they made. I said I'd keep that in mind. ...I guess if you don't want to be a prostitute, you can always be a pimp.


I start work at Google a week from today. :) I'm so excited!

Anxious

I have so much on my mind that I can't get through my book... 

Where should I begin? 

I seem to be on the verge of getting a job.  Of course, I've thought that since the moment I got my first interview but, this time, references are being called so it's much more likely to really happen.  I feel like I can't wait, but I'm also very nervous about it. 

And, my Grandma called me the other day to check on my job search.  I called back and there was no answer and she hasn't called back.  It's not a big deal, but I've been thinking about my grandparents a lot lately...  I got to spend some very special time with them over their anniversary weekend and I miss them.
 
Then, yesterday, the guy at the bagel shop, who I've been getting bagels from for like...11 years? told me that both his parents just died so he's moving to LA.  His brother (whom we thought was his dad or maybe an uncle) might not be able to keep running the shop by himself, so he might close it down... :(

I'm sitting at Starbucks trying to read a book, and I can't get through a page without my mind flooding with so many things...  Meanwhile, I've been watching a guy with a clipboard alternate between being ignored or completely confronted by the people on the street, while a very loud, deep voiced business woman talks on the phone next to me. 

It's 80 degrees on a Friday in Oakland and I'm feeling consumed by everything around me. 

Creative self portrait 1

I was thinking my next post would be, "Hey, I have a job!", but no such luck...

But, Aatman is home -- YAY!!!

I haven't had a chance to spend too much time with him yet, but we're hoping to remedy that very soon.

I'm actually not sure what else to say.  I've been very fortunate to find some free/cheap things to do in the last couple weeks, and have seen friends here and there, but my days have been pretty lonely.  I'm only pursuing the companies I'm really interested in at this point, which has drastically slowed down my interview schedule.

I've been reading a lot, taking walks to get coffee, watching squirrels jump through the trees and scurry along telephone lines, and just continuing to listen to the sounds of my neighborhood...  

Broken record

It's always darkest before the dawn... but, how dark does it actually have to get?  

I'm winding down on conversations and feeling a bit frustrated.  I keep getting these really nice rejection letters making it sound like I was their second choice... Not just "We enjoyed meeting you, but decided to move forward with someone else, good luck...", but, this:  

"After a long deliberation we have decided to move forward with another candidate at this time. I think you are a great candidate and could be a perfect fit for another position in the future. I strongly urge you to reapply and I will keep your resume around for more openings as I think you could be a great addition to the team."  :P  

One of these lovely notes said that, even though the team decided to go with someone else, their feedback on me was very positive, so the company would like me to interview with a another one of their teams.  

I suppose, as far as rejections go, these are the ones I want to have... ?  Yes, these are the ones I want to have.... 

Staying hopeful, moving forward, and going to give it my all in round 2.  Keep sending love, though, cause I definitely need it.  

Plenty of fish...

I'm driving home one night, and I notice that my email says my Match.com registration has been approved... ?  And then, my profile edits have been received and my profile has been approved.  ...but, I'm driving and I never signed up for Match.  ?  I get home and immediately request my login information, which is easy to get since my email address was used.  I open my account to discover that I'm a 46 year old woman from Arizona...  I have no picture, and my description says something like, "I'm just on here because I thought I might as well give it a shot.  I like to eat ice cream and watch movies... " etc.  This is obviously a mistake.  ...and, strangely, a mistake that has a password similar to the ones I use... ?  I have the power, so I cancel the account.  Done.

I chat Aatman to tell him what happened and, as we're chatting, I get a confirmation from POF (Plenty of Fish) that my account has been set up.  This time, my user name is Ihaveaboyfranalready... UGH!  I have been hacked!!  I start to change passwords, check privacy settings, freak out...!

I am, again, able to get into POF because my email address was used, so I get the link to set up a new password and try to figure out how to delete the account.  The cancellation page informs me that I have to wait 24 hours before I can cancel.  GRRRR!  In the meantime, even though my user name is Ihaveaboyfranalready, I start getting messages.... :P

....there's a moment, when it dawns on me, that maybe someone who disapproves of my relationship is doing this to terrorize me....

....and then, it dawns on me, that maybe Aatman has done this to be funny.  I ask him, and he says something about Clark Kent and Superman and, after some confusing back and forth, admits that he set up POF for me as a joke.  He asks if I've read the profile.  Of course, I haven't because I've been busy thinking I've been HACKED!!!

!!!!!

Aatman assures me that he didn't set up the Match profile, and starts apologizing profusely for making me feel hacked and terrorized.  He thought I'd get it right away because he made my POF password "gooniessux"... which is a joke between us because Aatman hates Goonies and I think it's one of the best movies of all time.  :P  ...but, since POF sends the link to set up a new password, rather than sending the password created, I never got the obvious giveaway.  BAH!

The whole thing is incredibly annoying to me-- until the next day when I start reading my POF profile.  Aatman filled the profile with cute references to our relationship, including a description of our first date as my "ideal first date".  There were a number of sweet statements about how great we are together.

...he manages to win me over every time... :)

*heart*