#so then i had such a lovely morning/noon and then essentially have to navigate an emotional mine field on my own and it's??? not fun???

[tambourineophelia]

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[180abroad]

Days 147-148: The Night Train to Prague

I'd never been on a night train before, and it was one of the little things I wanted to experience at some point during our trip. The trip from Krakow to Prague takes about eight hours by train--one of the longest train journeys of our entire trip--so it seemed like the perfect candidate.

I'm glad to experience an overnight train once on our trip, but I'm also glad that it was only once.

Just getting the tickets had been a chore. Renting a cabin on an overnight train is more complicated that just getting a regular ticket, and we couldn't book directly through the rail company. We could have waited to buy the tickets at the station when we first arrived in Krakow, but we didn't want to take that risk if we could avoid it. There are a limited number of cabins, and if they sold out before we got there, we'd be out of luck. Plus, the tickets would be a lot cheaper if we bought them a few weeks in advance.

We ended up buying the tickets through a Polish travel agency while we were in Britain and having the tickets physically mailed to our B&B in Inverness.  There was a pretty steep mark-up, but we still got them for less than what it would have cost to buy them at Krakow station.

After picking our bags up from our Krakow host, we took an Uber over to the train station and hunkered down in a café. It would be about a four-hour wait before our train arrived. Probably. The station's timetables were all on printed posters, and these days it's hard to trust that anything printed is still up to date. I got up every half-hour or so stretch my legs and check the arrivals and departures board.

We made good use of the time, though, and we managed to plan out all the trains we wanted to book for the rest of the trip.

Finally, it was time to head up to the platform.

There was a few minutes of uneasy confusion when the train first arrived and the numbers on our tickets didn't match any of the cars. We had a hard time getting a straight answer from the conductors about where to go, but our fears were somewhat allayed when we found a cluster of other travelers with the same issue. Eventually, we pieced it together that they were going to add more cars to the train before leaving, and our car was going to be one of them.

One of the other people in our cluster was a woman from Arizona. When she found out we were from California, she promised not to hold it against us, then jokingly held her index fingers up in a cross like she was trying to ward off evil. And she kept calling us a cute couple even after we had told her several times that we were cousins. When it finally sank in, her response was "Ew, gross!"

Yeah? Maybe she was just tired, too.

The night train proved to be both more and less comfortable than I had anticipated. On the plus side, the sheets and mattresses weren’t too uncomfortable, and the train operator provided bottled water, toiletries, and a continental breakfast with tea. On the downside, the beds were frustratingly narrow, and the cabin uncomfortably hot. Cracking the window helped with the heat, but it also let in a terrific amount of noise. Just when I would start to feel comfortable with the racket, an opposing train would crash by on the adjacent track or our train would jolt with a piercing shriek of the brakes.

I didn’t mind the rocking of the train too much, but it did get to Jessica. She had initially claimed the top bunk, but within minutes of leaving the station we had to switch because she was getting motion sick up there.

All in all, it was probably the worst night's sleep we'd gotten since Lucerne. Mercifully, the train pulled out onto a side track outside Prague at some point in the early morning, giving us a couple hours to sleep before we finally pulled into the station at 8:30 in the morning.

It felt like we'd pulled an all-nighter, and with groggy heads we stumbled out into Prague station. Our Airbnb wouldn’t be ready for check-in until noon, but we had some tasks to accomplish in the meantime. The first was to get our next train tickets before leaving the station, but we weren’t nearly caffeinated enough for that yet.

We parked ourselves in a café in the train station and slowly churned out a plan for the next few days while kick-starting our brains on expensive iced lattes. The menu was strangely complicated, and the people serving us seemed confused by our presence. But maybe I was just projecting my own tired confusion.

The part of Prague that tourists visit is divided into four sections. There's the medieval Old Town, clustered in a bend of the Vltava River. Old Town is known for its charming shop-lined streets and well-preserved Jewish quarter. Then there's the New Town, built over the last few centuries in a band around the outskirts of the Old Town. It houses a lot of Prague's great monuments and Art Nouveau architecture. And across the Vltava from the Old and New Towns are the Little Quarter and the Castle Quarter, where the city's richest residents and noblest visitors historically lived.

Having sketched out some things to do–and imbibed a minimally sufficient level of caffeine–we went to get our train tickets out of town. Having spent last night figuring out all the trains we would need to take for the rest of the trip, we figured we'd try to buy as many of them as we could. (We may have learned a lot of flexibility during the trip, but we're still obsessive planners at heart.)

But given the long line of people waiting behind us and the tenuous level of communication we managed to achieve with the person behind the ticket counter, we decided to settle for just getting our tickets to Vienna, where we would try our luck again.

I had always expected that one of the biggest culture shocks of the trip would be going from Scotland to Poland. But it turned out to actually be going Poland to the Czech Republic. In Poland, virtually everyone we dealt with spoke very good English, and Jessica’s familiarity with the city and some essential Polish phrases made everything go as smoothly as I could have imagined.

Prague was a much more difficult transition. Even something as simple as using a public pay-toilet–something we’d done plenty of times in plenty of countries–was a challenge. The payment machine was complicated, the instructions were only in Czech, and the attendant didn’t speak any English either. Luckily, another traveler who spoke Czech and English was able to translate for me.

Navigating the train station to the metro platform also proved difficult. We tried to follow the signs, but not every turn was marked. The shopkeeper we asked directions from didn’t speak English, so we resorted to just saying “Metro?” while looking as cartoonishly quizzical and helpless as possible. A confused shopkeeper eventually pointed us in the right direction. It was right in the middle of the station's main atrium. Again, I blame the lack of sleep.

Later, when we went grocery shopping, I felt overwhelmingly out of place. Not since we were in Morocco did I feel this unable to figure out the basic, routine procedures of living in a place. Even in Krakow, I could at least say please, thank you, and sorry in the local language. Somehow, even just those few words seemed able to bridge a thousand-mile gap. We tried, but between the lack of sleep and the punishing heat we just couldn't keep them in our brains. It also didn't help that many of the phrases were close enough to Polish for me to get them confused but not close enough that I could get away with just speaking Polish and trusting people to understand me.

Even after all this time abroad, it’s still unnerving to find myself surrounded by people I can’t communicate with, in their own territory, where it’s clear I’m in their way. Standing in front of the ready-meals, confusedly fumbling with my phone to figure out what everything was, I could tell that I was annoying the other customers who wanted to get in. Even though I always moved out of their way to let them in, I felt I didn’t belong there in the first place.

And Google Translate wasn't much help when it came to Czech cooking instructions:

Anyway, after finding the Metro–finally something we understood!–we rode over to our flat. It was on the fuzzy boundary between the New Town and the rest of modern Prague that tourists don't really go to. It was close enough to walk into the Old Town. Or, at least, it would have been if the sun wasn't so unbearably scorching.

Our place still wasn’t quite ready yet, so we picked up our keys (which were on a little wooden tree and tagged with adorable names like "Lovely" and "Cozy"), dropped off our bags, waited for a few gallons of sweat to evaporate from my quick-dry t-shirt, then headed out for lunch.

Jessica found a place called Bar Fud, a Wisconsin-themed pub restaurant specializing in cheese fries staffed mainly by American expats. I know���bad on us for going to the American food place on our first day in a new and exotic European capital. But we were tired, hot, and hungry. And let me tell you, those cheese fries were damn good.

I had a deliciously decadent cheeseburger, and Jessica had a spicy chicken sandwich. Too spicy, actually--it was overflowing with jalapenos. She made a valiant effort, but in the end Jessica had to scrape most of them off. Mildly regrettable ordering decisions aside, as we sat in a shady outdoor booth drinking cold cider and eating our sandwiches, everything finally felt right again with the world.

As we left, we passed a tourist and a local flirting over a glass of absinthe.

Finally able to enter our apartment, we both knew that we weren’t going to be doing any sightseeing today. Instead, we checked in, converted the sofa bed (which also took a surprising amount of effort and ingenuity), and flopped down for a sweaty few hours of afternoon napping before dinner.

At least Prague seems to believe in ceiling fans, which is one step in the right direction compared to everywhere else we’ve stayed in Europe.

Oh, and the elevator.

We never had a problem with it, but the elevator in our building was one of the smallest, most unnerving elevators we used on the entire trip. It never quite aligned with the floor you were on, and it always started moving with a jolt several seconds after you started to think it must have already started moving without you noticing.

Again, I'm glad to have had the experience of taking a night train, but looking back, we almost certainly would have had a better time if we'd just taken a regular day train. We definitely would have felt better, and we might have even had the energy to actually do something interesting in town with the few hours we still would have had that evening.

Next Post: Prague–Old and Nouveau

Last Post: Salt, Cemeteries, and Castles (Krakow, Part II)

[eligrantbooks]

gotta vent about my day real quick

highlights of the day

> be professional ghostwriter.

Agreed to edit a 25000 word segment of a finished manuscript for a much loved regular client, who said the MC’s dialogue needed to be punched up. Easy enough. I figured it would take a few hours.

Was briefly excited to discover the manuscript was for a concept I had outlined and written several chapters for a few months ago.

Excitement rapidly dwindles as I realize that beloved client has hired another ghostwriter to write the majority of the book. Which would be fine, except this other ghostwriter has no fucking idea what they are doing.

Formatting is a god damn disaster and I spend several hours just getting the document into a workable condition.

You ever open a word doc, look at the navigation pane, and just see a wall of blank links, because someone applied the header formatting somewhere and then just hit enter a million times instead of using a page break like a civilized god damn human being?

in the middle of this forest of blank headers, actual chapter titles are scattered at random, and also they only applied the header to roughly one out of every five chapters or so, you know, just, when they felt like it. when the spirit took them. when the stars aligned. when the feng shui was right.

Also, apparently they like the way first line indenting looks but don’t know how to make word do that (spoiler: its easy as shit and takes like two clicks) so every once in a while they start manually hitting tab before every line, until they get distracted and stop for a while, luring you into a false sense of security before they remember and start doing it again.

Sometimes, when a scene transitions but they dont want to just end the chapter for some reason, they break it up with spaces. Other times, they like to use asterisks. Once or twice, just for flavor, they throw in one of those page width lines that word makes when you type a line of hyphens.

There is random highlighting in places, for no discernible reason.

Once I have the document formatted in a way I can bear to work with, I start actually reading through it. About the first seven chapters were written by the client. They’re cheesy but solid.

Then I get to chapter eight, and the suspicions i had begun to form while putting the formatting through traction (namely that whoever did this was a fuckwit) quickly crystallized into a shining certainty that my beloved client had mistakenly hired An Ass Clown.

Not just An Ass Clown, but An Ass Clown who thought 50 Shades was a beautiful love story, actually.

And they gave This Ass Clown, this literary reprobate, this paste eating remedial english mother fucker, my outline.

let me clarify that i did not expect to have sole control of this story when i produced the outline for beloved client, and I was okay with that. That’s how it works. If I’d been dead set on writing this myself, i wouldn’t have sold the outilne to beloved client. but it really rubs salt in the wound to have spent hours of my life crafting the bones of this story, which i really liked and was excited to see take shape

and then find out it has been put into the pie fondling hands

of An Ass Clown.

first hint that something has gone drastically wrong: the arrival of completely unnecessary and ridiculous fantasy names for things.

“oh we dont drink coffee in this book. it’s kofee. at least until three chapters from now when i forget and it becomes kofe. Oh, and watch out for those thornaby bushes! I’m going to misspell that one literally every time I use it! It’s entirely possible that this isn’t a fantasy name at all and I just have a small seizure whenever I try to type the word thorn bush!”

second omen of my impending anuerism: phonetically written accents which are so comically stereotypical and inaccurate that native speakers of that accent should be entitled to financial compensation, except they can’t even stick to the stereotype accurately, producing gems such as  “It’s not safe in that there pen with ‘em swine, young miss.” I don’t even know what accent that’s supposed to represent. To top it off these accent abominations are sprinkled in with all the consistency and reliability of a lactose intolerant cheese enthusiast’s bowel movements.

But this, I tell myself, moving on, is not my problem. I just need to punch up the mcs dialogue. It’ll be fine. I can do this. I just need to take this shit: “A fond idea, but I doubt I have that ability.” I joked. “I can’t imagine living without true sunshine. Even the triplet moons must shine less brightly without their sister sun.” and make it… not like that.

Except, and here’s where I start hitting the real roadblock guys

this book is in first person.

essentially, the entire novel is the MC talking.

So sure I can change the spoken lines, but her internal monologue

which is, i remind you, the entire narrative

her internal monologue is going to keep being maggie gyllenhal’s character from The Secretary if her copy of the script had been swapped with just a binder full of sonnets written by a middle school english class during the Shakespeare unit.

I get to chapter ten around three in the afternoon. I have been working steadily, with an unusual degree of focus thanks to my recent adderal prescription, since ten in the morning.

this is where shit begins to go truly bananas.

this is a YA beauty and the beast type fantasy

that good fun indulgent shit that’s almost as enjoyable to write as it is to read

usually. previously. before i had to endure this traumatic twelve hour experience.

Chapter ten is the first big “dinner” scene. this book isn’t being shy about pulling from the source material, but that’s fine. the beast “apologizes” (heavy quotes there) for having earlier used magic to force the heroine to answer his questions truthfully. They talk and almost seem to making progress for a bit, and then have a fight and storm off. Standard stuff.

Except, uh, the beast’s apology is, essentially “Yeah I shouldn’t have done that.” “so you’re apologizing?” “no but it’s the best you’re going to get so deal with it.”

and the headstrong, independent heroine who wears pants and wrestles pigs and dont need no man

just kinda rolls with this. There’s giggling.

They have their big dramatic fight, exit stage left, much angst and todo.

The next morning heroine wakes up to find the beast has (presumably) snuck into her room while she was sleeping and dumped a bunch of new dresses on her. he has also (apparently) replaced her brain with Bella Swan’s more vapid cousin.

She forgives him instantly. Because pretty dresses. She also starts calling him master, because why not. She has, over night, become the darling submissive Tumblr doms dream of.

This is not a bdsm book. I am eighty percent certain it doesn’t even include soft core smut. I’m telling you this so that you understand this transformation was not a contrivance in order to facilitate kinky sex. I have written a contrived set up to a sex scene or two in my day. This is not that. This is Not what is in the outline. I know, because i wrote the outline. It is My Outline.

No, The Ass Clown just… decided to do this. Apropos of nothing. I’m beginning to think the Ass Clown’s decision making process involves whipping pies at a comically large dartboard. And all the options on the dartboard are just “lol whatever”

By the time I get to chapter eleven, wherein our newly lobotomized heroine is “excited to wear a new frock and please the master!” - direct quote I have given up any pretense of editing dialogue and I am just straight up rewriting shit using the previous garbage as a loose outline.

I have eaten, maybe, three bites of a bowl of oatmeal all day. I have not taken a bathroom break since before noon. I have missed my deadline. Beloved client is concerned. I’m sure I can still do this, I just need a few more hours.

the words sound like truth but my soul knows i am a liar

I frantically restructure scene after scene, deceiving myself each time that it will be the last, and I will be able to get this crazy train back on the rails. But this crazy train has no interest in being on the rails. It’s a direct line no stops right off the edge of the cliffs of insanity.

The beast jumps unpredictably from homicidal rage and threats of violence to jokes and flirting as though he did not just declare her his property and threaten to rip her tongue out a few paragraphs ago. Heroine swoons and sighs and giggles regardless of whether she is dealing with Dr.Jekyll or Christian Gray on PCP.

But I’m still sure I can do this. I’ll just adjust these two full chapters to make her appropriately scared and angry, and then replace this weird conversation here with a heartfelt apology from him and an effort to do better. That will totally work. Unless, you know, it turns out that conversation I want to replace only starts out with them joking and laughing together, and turns into him berating and abusing her mid paragraph of a fuckin montage a page later! But, haha! Why would The Ass Clown ever do that? It would be completely irrational, tonally jarring and out of character! Only a seltzer slinging rainbow suspender-ed peanut butter fumbling son of six fucks would do that.

so of course The Ass Clown did that.

It’s eleven at night. I know when I’m beaten.

I inform beloved client that the Ass Clown has bested me and I can do no more.

She is very understanding.

I send her what I managed and I check the added word count while im at it

i added a full 6,000 words to that manuscript just trying to patch up this sloppy motherfucker’s lopsided prose and gossamer thin understanding of narrative structure

son of a bitch had about as firm a grasp of romance as i currently have on the trembling shreds of my sanity.

their grip on character writing could not be more tenuous if they had first dipped the target brand Hulk Hands which I assume they always have on their person into a barrel of adult-film-grade silicon lubricant and then taken their Leapfrog 2-in-1 Leaptop Touch down a waterslide.

Do you know how much I usually make for 6000 words?

$180.

Do you know how much I made for enduring this ass blasting, which I naively believed I could tackle in a matter of hours?

$100.

You owe me $80 Ass Clown. And I aim to collect.

Also I lost my damn mind for a minute and said the words "i dont know shit about fuck my guy” to my actual father on facebook

so there’s that.

[kleroterion]

Thoughts on Long-Term Unemployment

This is not a survival guide, nor is it a comprehensive tip list for getting through long-term unemployment (or, really, any period of unemployment). It’s a series of things that I learned while job searching for almost a year after I graduated from college. A close friend was looking for almost 3 years post-graduation, and another friend close to 8 months. This is not a unique experience and you are not alone. Granted, I had it easy compared to others - a supportive family, a place to stay and be cared for while I looked for a job, and enough savings to get me by. But it was a terrible experience and I want to at least try to help someone who is going through the same thing. These musings reflect my own experience and will not necessarily apply to everyone. This is a collection of notes and thoughts, not a panacea. I know at the end of the day you will go to bed with anxiety, no matter what I say. But maybe something here will speak to someone. I want to try.

—

Phone interviews/pre-interviews are increasingly common, which gives you an opportunity to have notes in front of you and to be in a comfortable environment while you talk. Take this opportunity to really shine - you’ve got the advantage. A lot of people have phone anxiety, but think of it as a way to cater the conversation to your space: you can have information pulled up on your computer, spread out hand-written scribbles in front of you, and be dressed in comfy pajamas. Make it so that the interview is on your terms - times are typically highly negotiable because it’s just over the phone, so you can pick a time that represents your peak efficiency mode.

If you can, try to participate in something during this long stretch of time. This is something that requires a financial safety net, so it won’t work for everyone (I’m sorry). Try to find activities that you can talk about in interviews or that can build your resume (and aren’t just filler): Volunteering (Meals on Wheels, at a library, homeless shelters, anywhere or anything), helping a political campaign, learning a new skill (like InDesign) or language, or studying for an exam you know you’ll have to take (the GRE, LSAT, MCAT, etc.). Take advantage of this time if you can. Getting out of the house and socializing is really important during these hard times and working towards a goal or helping others is a way to move forward when you feel so stuck (and can put things in perspective).

Open curtains and windows. Being cloistered up with only fluorescents or lamp light isn’t super conducive to mental health (in my opinion). Air out the house. Let natural sunlight in.

People in the relevant industries should consider having an online portfolio, and that url should be placed prominently on one’s resume. WordPress is free, and employers (especially in that industry) like to see applicants with 21st-century skill sets. Demonstrate that you can navigate website-making tools while also showing off your talents. If you can, buy a domain name, but it’s not essential. WordPress has enough versatility on its own to get what you want and to let people see what you are capable of.

Yes, you will have to write cover letters. And not everyone is good at this. Because you’re going to be applying a lot, have a template that you can customize to each job. It should be something general enough to work for many outlets, but you need to make a point to make it unique to that company, and tailoring it is essential. You won’t necessarily need to write a new one from scratch each time, but make sure to let them know you’re talking to them, not just anyone. Read the job description and incorporate their needs with your skill set into the letter. Try to make your letter a narrative rather than a formulaic sheet of information that they can easily glean from your resume. What experiences make you qualified for that particular job? Why are you the best candidate, and how can you prove it? Find a way to show patterns and traits in your life that define you as a person, and tie it into your employment and experience.

Self-care is a thing for a reason. Stay hydrated. Shower. Do the dishes. Getting up in the morning can be really hard. There’s a lot of disappointment in long-term unemployment. Taking the little steps each day when you don’t want to will keep a sense of control and order in your life. A pile of dirty dishes in the sink, clutter and laundry, dirty hair: no judgment. Seriously. I understand depression. I’ve been there. I’m there. But those things, while seemingly just aesthetic, really do impact you mentally. If you can try to stay on top of those things, you might be able to get to the bigger stuff. I don’t think you’ll ever feel bad after doing any of them, and getting just a few things done tends to propel you just based off of action - an object in motion stays in motion.

Resist the temptation to sleep in. When you’re unemployed for long stretches of time, it’s so, so tempting to let yourself sleep until noon, but you have to fight that urge. Please trust me on this. When you do finally land a job, early hours won’t be as much of a shock. Also, waking up with a chunk of the day already over is disorienting and, to me, tends to be less productive. Everyone is different, but I think staying on a schedule with relatively early hours is more stable. I slept until roughly 9 a.m. - this is a luxury to some people, and crazy early to others. I think 9 is a good choice because it fits close to an 8-to-5 schedule but still allows you some extra time in bed.

Networking will not necessarily save you. I had many, many people working in my favor inside companies and it did nothing. The job that I landed (and love) was a hire where I had no referral or contact. People like to hype up networking as the key to success, and I’m sure it is - once you’re in the industry. Networking works for some people, but I truly don’t believe it should be your focus or concentration. (This of course varies by what your career path is.) It’s all about volume: apply, apply, apply, apply. And then apply again.

Most of the time, you’re not going to hear back from an employer after you apply. That’s how it is now.

Don’t be ashamed to file for unemployment. These resources are there for a reason. You might as well take the opportunities (the few that are left) that the government has to offer. If you are actively trying to look for a job but cannot get one, there is no shame in asking for help from the people you pay taxes to and who in return provide services for people in need. The social contract goes both ways.

Be prepared for group interviews. These are happening more and more now. 75% of my interviews were with 2 or more people. Don’t let it put you off. In some ways, it’s easier to have a conversation when there are more voices in the room, and they are usually there to gauge chemistry more than they are to grill you (in my experience). And while I’m on the subject of interviews: cliche questions still occur, but many questions related to my experience and real-life scenarios on the job or in life. They want examples - times you stepped up, times where you might have failed but bounced back, times you showed leadership. Have stories ready. Yes, sometimes I’d get an occasional “What’s your favorite hobby?” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” and you should have answers ready for those. But lately the trend is about showing them you are a good fit for the job, rather than summing yourself up in three words.

It’s really hard to get a government job. They take forever to get back to you. They typically hire internally. It sucks. USAJOBS is a pain. You should know this ahead of time.

There will be bad days. There will be bad weeks. There might be bad months. Keep applying.

You will be tested. Quite literally. For almost every job that I got a response from, I was required to take further action, and sometimes in multiple phases, before an interview was even set up. Companies are being really choosy right now because they know they can. It’s disheartening, but it’s best if you are rid of the illusion that you stop taking tests after college. I had to take actual exams, write multiple-page projects, do short quizzes, come up with proposal ideas, and fill out interview questions all before I spoke to someone. It’s frustrating but also the reality that I faced.

It’s okay to be a little bit picky. Especially at first. You don’t have to settle immediately. Apply to the passion jobs and the long shots. Make sure you know your deal-breakers, and don’t feel guilty about sticking to them. If you really don’t want to work in a certain area or do a certain task, don’t apply to those jobs. So don’t feel bad about that. But just know that there may come a time later when you will have to compromise.

Sometimes you have to play the game. You should get a LinkedIn account and monitor your social media. I know. I resisted it for awhile, but it’s something that a lot of people say is important, and employers do want to see an online presence of some kind. LinkedIn is a “respectable” way of doing it, and keeping your social accounts relatively clean is the best way to go. (Coded language for “hide your tumblr”? Perhaps.)

A lot of the time, rejection really isn’t about you. It’s almost impossible to believe that, and a part of me still feels that it was personal, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever think otherwise, but I know logically that isn’t true. I have heard from hiring managers and HR people that job listings have to be posted even if the vacancy is planned from the start to be filled internally. This. Happens. Too. Often. To. Count. Also, the job market is FLOODED. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s rough. It really is. The competition is fierce. It isn’t necessarily about you. But it still stings.

Try not to beat yourself up if there are days where you don’t apply for jobs. No one is perfect. You can have a break. Binge watch Black Mirror (no, seriously, watch Black Mirror) but come back to your search. Don’t go too far down the rabbit hole.

Don’t follow a resume template. This is a tough one and hard to really delve into in this setting, as it is so unique to every person. It takes work and oftentimes a guiding hand to get a great resume. I’ve had multiple hiring managers and a career counselor tell me that when they see a cover letter that looks different from the rest, they are immediately interested. Use segments, boxes, and graphics rather than a linear, wordy timeline of your employment and education history. You’re more likely to get interviews if you use a narrative rather than bullet points and facts. Describe your experience and accomplishments in concise, substantive language (no filler!), and highlight your technological and practical skill set in a section all its own. (Computer programs/coding, web design, media production, and writing/communication are all good things to emphasize if they apply to you.)

Use your college resources: your professors. I got a freelance research project from a professor I had a deep connection with, and used others as a support system during hard times. Some places have good Career Centers (mine didn’t), and others have alumni or honor society job networks. I personally don’t have any experience with those so I don’t know how effective they are, but I can attest that bonding and having communication with various professors in your field is psychologically and sometimes monetarily rewarding, and might help more than you think in the short and long term. There’s more incentive than a good grade when it comes to befriending your teacher.

Don’t stay in the house for longer than three days at a time. It’s obviously not a hard and fast rule, but things got really tough for me after that length of time without either being in the light or being around people. It might be really hard, but try to get out at least every few days in some capacity. Long-term unemployment is rife with apathy and entropy, and succumbing is not difficult in that environment. If you can, get out.

I absolutely detest Monster.com. I think it was utterly useless; it got me nowhere and I was left with a bunch of unhelpful spammy emails with terrible listings. Indeed had good matches to my skill set and interests, but I never heard back from a single one. My best experiences came from Craigslist. Real, legitimate corporations advertise there, and I got many interviews from respectable places via Craigslist. I highly recommend it. There are some neat, unconventional postings, but just keep your eyes open for anything sketchy (you know how the internet works). I ended up getting my current job, however, through its website (I work at a theatre). I also got some responses that way, too: going to the websites of individual places you want to work and browsing their Employment section. Also, consider freelancing, package delivery, tutoring, substitute teaching, and other part-time gigs while you look for something permanent and full-time.

In between applying for jobs (which itself should be your full-time job), read that long book series you’ve been wanting to get to forever. Start - and finish - that cleaning project you’ve been putting off for years. Go through your home and donate anything you don’t need to Goodwill or local homeless/battered women shelters. Write that poem or novel that’s been in your head for a decade. Go for the 7-minute mile. If there’s something that’s been on your mind, now is the time to do it. Create. Organize. Contribute.

When it comes to letters of reference, go for quality over quantity. It’s better to have 2-3 really strong, glowing references than 4-5 mediocre ones. The better they know you, the more they will invest in the letter, so choose from the best of those in your life. Employment references are the most useful, but academic ones are great too, especially if they are particularly positive. Only use a personal reference (which is a non-family member, usually a friend/religious advisor/etc.) if they ask for one. Also, I’ve been told it’s outdated to include references with your application (and they should only be given upon request), but I couldn’t say for sure if it matters or not.

[saritashoemaker]

Most evenings…Oh how I loved this peaceful existence.

The time has come and gone to secure being Camp Hosts again for the most spectacular place ever:  Lake George in Mammoth Lakes California.

We will not be Hosting this year but our dear friend Mona WILL be!

Lake George is NOT the same as other campsites in Mammoth.

I wanted to give you a few pieces of advice to ensure you have a VERY FUN AND RELAXING STAY.

First Come, First Serve

Don’t bring an RV.  They don’t fit and the campground was not paved for RV’s.

You will MOST LIKELY experience BEARS.  Be smart: put EVERYTHING in your bear box.  Putting it in your car is not a bear box and they WILL open the door to get the food.  They can actually lift the handle and open the door OR they can bash out your window.  Either way, your car will not be left in good condition.

DO NOT LEAVE FIRES SMOLDERING.  You SHOULD have a bucket of water next to your camp site before you even START a fire.  If you leave a fire smoldering you will have the privileg (which is what it is) of staying there revoked.  The Camp Host is NOT an enforcer, it will be the Authorities on your case and they don’t mess around with this risky behavior.

There are winds and the best sites to avoid them are #16 and #15.

You get ONE CAR per camp space. Additional cars can be parked in the lot, no problem.  You just can’t occupy another spot without paying for it.  You get a Car Pass when you pay for your site.  Be sure you post it on your rear view mirro.

I have no idea what the camp fees are going to be this year (2018).  Check the Mammoth Welcome Center to find out if the camp is open (it was delayed in 2017 and did not open until July 17th.

Be nice to your Camp Host, she can accommodate most needs but the reality is she can only do SO MUCH.

The worst days to try to get a camp site are Thursday,Friday, Saturday.  The best days are Sunday (when everyone is leaving) or Monday.

Checkout is NOON, don’t bug occupants for make “side deals”.  Check In is 2pm.  You must PAY for the site and OCCUPY IT.  You are not allowed to pay for sites and not actually camp there.  Don’t ask the Camp Host to break the rule for you.  If your site isn’t occupied with YOUR GEAR then we are obligated to give it to the next person ready to move in.  This is a big issue: people believe they can reserve/save spaces but you are not allowed to do that.

We do not have a Credit Card machine.  Cash only.  I forget if you are allowed to write a check (I don’t think you can).

You can stay in a site 7 days MAX.  In 2017 the rule was you had to vacate your site before you could come back.  That means there may not be a site after you leave so plan ahead.  There are Walk-Up sites in Lake Mary and Twin Lakes.  Be NICE to your Camp Hosts if you want help finding things.

Clean up your campsite when you leave.  We understand that in the night you drop things and it’s tough to navigate around BUT in the morning when you are packing up you can definitely see your trash, fishing line and greasy messes left on the tables and bear boxes.  DO NOT LEAVE A MESS, we are Hosts not your maid. Be a respectful guest and try to leave the place NICER than when you arrived.

Do NOT come to Lake George to get high, drunk, fight or play loud music.  Seriously.  The Mammoth PD patrol often (every day) and will remove you.  PLUS people go to Lake George to get AWAY from this stuff.  Want to “party”?   There are plenty of other camp grounds you can find.

There are no showers at Lake George, only bathrooms with toilets and sinks.  No electricity either.  Oh, and the visitors to Lake George use the restrooms too (and mostly they keep it clean but they are also mostly guilty of leaving trash all over the place including fish guts).

You are not allowed to clean your fish at the water spigots. OR YOUR BODY.

There isn’t cell signal at the campsites.

Closest showers are Lake Mary or in town.

There is a small store at Lake Mary that has essentials (most of the time).

We usually had firewood for sale, $7 a bundle.  Bringing exact change helps of course.  I think the grocery store sold it for less.

READ YOUR RECEIPT if you shop at the only grocery store in town (big box).  They overcharged me REPEATEDLY and it wasn’t until I’d been in there a lot of times complaining that it seems this behavior changed.  I personally suspect they know people are only there for a few days and won’t take the time to fix the mistake.  So BEFORE YOU LEAVE scan over your ticket and make sure it is exactly what it should be.  If you see an error just go to the front desk and they will refund your money INSTANTLY when you tell them you were charged for items you did not have on the belt.

Grab a map of the area if you plan to hike because there are no maps provided up here.  You can get maps at the Welcome Center.

Be nice to your neighbors, they are probably amazing people that you’d like to stay in touch with years to come.

Be nice to your Camp Host!  If you would like to be a Camp Host, check out the company that we worked for: California Land Management.  The pay is terrible but you do get to park your “house” on site for no charge.  As a Host we did have “Full Hook Up”.  The pooper was a mascerator (poop puree system) and had to be pumped UPHILL to the restroom.

I sure wish we were able to be there for the 2018 Season FOR SURE.

Being a Camp Host was one of my most favorite jobs ever for two reasons:  LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION (we feel so lucky to have been chosen to run Lake George as well as Oh Ridge in June Lake) AND the incredible people we met on our journey.

Let me know if you have questions!  And if you are reading this and were part of our 2017 Camp Season PLEASE send me an email so we can keep in touch!  SaritaShoemaker@g m a i l.com (spaces added on purpose).

Check out our photos of our stay at Lake George – it was tough looking at those memories and not being sad that we aren’t going to have them again this year.

Larry McGee gave me some amazing bear coverage photos that I’ve included.

Maybe 2019 (fingers crossed).

RARE: A map of the campground.

Most evenings…Oh how I loved this peaceful existence.

You need this to park your car in the campsite.

Our first WEEK we met Cinnamon the bear.

Perfect campsites.

Raking and perfecting my sites.

Houses on the other side of Lake George are OWNED by people.

I cook, they jaw jack and enjoy the fire side conversation.

The Mammoth PD coming to the rescue!

Have a map but…still getting lost.

Bike Path! Highly recommended.

Visiting with friends that were rolling through was so cool!

Geting Zoey to do more than lay around.

Mark your calendars! This was a tough one – we ran in SAND.

More Police presence. And they’re all super nice officers.

Forget something? Check here first. Thrift Store.

Photo Credit: Larry McGee

Photo Credit: Larry McGee

Photo Credit: Larry McGee

Photo Credit: Larry McGee

Photo Credit: Larry McGee

Photo Credit: Larry McGee

          Lake George...Sad Face We will NOT be Camp Hosts for the 2018 Season but we do know who WILL be! Here are some good tips to make your stay THE BEST possible. The time has come and gone to secure being Camp Hosts again for the most spectacular place ever:  Lake George in Mammoth Lakes California.

[campfiresandsandcastles]

A Travel Guide for the Triangle Tour of East Texas: Dallas, Waco, Austin, Houston, and Fort Worth

We recently visited east Texas and travelled to 5 cities in 8 days. Our trip took us to Dallas, Waco, Austin, Houston, and Fort Worth, essentially making a large triangle on the map of Texas. Here I recount our whirlwind tour and provide some helpful hints for your future travels to these major cities of Texas.

Itinerary

Day One - Dallas

Day Two - Dallas

Day Three - Waco

Day Four - Austin

Day Five - The Woodlands, Houston

Day Six - Fort Worth

Day Seven - Forth Worth

 Day One - Dallas

Arriving late the first day we spent the night near the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport at Dallas Marriott Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. The hotel had a perfect location given it was so close to the airport, but it was also across the street from the Toyota Music Factory, which provided lots of options for eating establishments, especially dinner. Plus, we came across the first of many larger-than-life bronze statues of western scenes that we soon learned are common across Texas. A square near the hotel had these beautiful stallions traversing a fountain. The area was under renovation when we visited, but the statues were still so majestic to see.

Meander Among 90,000 Pumpkins

We rented a car for our entire trip since we had a lot of driving ahead of us, and we spent the first full day in Dallas. The amount of attractions that Dallas has to offer is impressive. We spent the day at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, and since we visited in autumn, they had their Halloween and Thanksgiving display of over 90,000 pumpkins. The arboretum is beautiful and huge, spanning 66 acres. It is a popular spot to take wedding and quinceañera photos.

Plus, we paid to enter the children’s area named The Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden. I recommend visiting this section of the park, it has tons of environmental and science interactive displays including water cannons, a life-size tree to climb, and a maze.

The food options in this area are a bit slim, there’s a food spot advertised but it’s really only vending machines with tables for picnicking. Your best bet if you plan on staying in this section for any length of time with the kiddos is to bring a lunch. The main body of the arboretum has a stand to buy a quick lunch, plus a higher-end restaurant with linen tablecloths (it didn’t really look like a great place for young kids). We also saw a kiosk which looked like it served some yummy grilled cheese near the main entrance too.

Entrance to the arboretum was $15 for adults and $10 for children, plus an extra $3 for the children’s park.

We rounded out our first day with some very Americana activities including a trip to the arcade Dave and Buster’s, a visit to Half Price Books bookstore, and dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. The bookstore was so cool. It was huge and sold both used and new books. Plus, it had a large display of vinyl records, which just added to its retro vibe.

One observation I had about Dallas is that Dallasites (i.e., people from Dallas) do not stay home on Sundays, instead they go into the city. Every place we went to was packed with people. Strangely, the roads were not congested, but every place we visited – the arboretum, arcade, bookstore, and restaurant – was completely full of people. You go, Dallasites, way to take advantage of all your city has to offer!

We spent the night closer to the city of Dallas at Towneplace Suites Dallas Mesquite to be able to take full-advantage of time. This hotel was really lovely, but it ended up not being as close to downtown Dallas as we originally thought. But, we did get to park our rental car in the parking lot for free, which is difficult to find when you stay in the city of Dallas itself.

 Day Two - Dallas

Feel Small Among Giants

As I said earlier, Dallas has a lot of attractions. We spent the second day in the Perot Museum of Nature and Science ($20 admission for adult, $13 for child). Such a cool place. First, the building itself is remarkable. It somewhat looks like the side of a limestone slab or cliff with cavities of blue glass in it which serves as an escalator. You actually start at the top level of the building and work your way down through the exhibits.

Plus, it’s full of these amazing life-size displays of dinosaur skeletons. You feel so minuscule standing under the skeleton of a brontosaurus-type dinosaur or realizing just how huge prehistoric turtles actually were. Plus, for fun, they periodically turn off the lights and project colored lights across the dinosaur bones creating a disco-type atmosphere.

Also, there are a number of just plain clever displays. One of our favorites was an interactive topographic map. It was a box of sand that showed the topography, by color, as you moved and piled the sand.

My son’s favorite display was a screen where you danced or moved around and dinosaur avatars mimicked your movement, so you can make breakdancing dinosaurs!

There was an additional temporary dinosaur exhibit at the museum that cost extra to attend ($10 for adult, $8 for child). However, we did not feel that the additional exhibit was any more spectacular than just their normal dinosaur display, and it wasn’t worth the additional cost. Also, the museum has a cafeteria, but unfortunately the food was not good. My husband’s hamburger, for example, was a shrunken charcoaled piece of meat, and it was overpriced, so I would not recommend eating at the museum.

Stand Among a Historic Must See

It seemed that it would have been a travesty if we visited downtown Dallas without stopping at Dealey Plaza, the site of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. It was such an impactful experience to actually stand on the grassy knoll and on the whited painted “X” on the street which indicates where the motorcade was positioned when the bullet killed the former president. Places we’ve only seen in grainy films from that day or television specials since then became hauntingly real. We simply walked around the historic area and read the various plaques and displays, but there is also a Sixth Floor Museum of the Texas School Book Depository and gift shop. Plus, there are plenty of willing tour guides and conspiracy theorists around this area if you want to “learn” even more.

Before we left Dallas for the night, we stopped at Pioneer Plaza to climb among the famous life-size bronze sculptures of 50 long-horned steers located at the corner of Young and Griffin Streets. Interestingly, if you climb up to the top of the hill that the steers are navigating down, there is a historic pioneer graveyard located there.

I was simply surprised to learn all of the attractions that the city of Dallas had to offer. Our two days there did not even scratch the surface of the various venues we would have liked to have visited. So, here’s a list of additional attractions that may be of interest to you, and be sure to let me know about your experience when you visit any of them:

Texas Theatre in the Oak Cliff neighborhood where Lee Harvey Oswald was found and arrested

Dallas World Aquarium

Galleria – Shopping mall with an ice rink in the center

NorthPark Center – High-end shopping mall, with notable sculptures.

Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park

Texas Discovery Gardens – Ten themed gardens and they release butterflies at noon.

Fountain Place – 5th largest building in Dallas and home to Ewing Oil in the TV show “Dallas” with 172 fountains. Located at 1445 Ross Ave.

Dallas Museum of Art – Eclectic display. Free to enter. Plus, Klyde Warren Park located across the street has food trucks.

This night we spent the night in Waco at Waco South Towneplace Suites to be ready for our next day in this famous Fixer Upper town. Just a short walk from the hotel was Saltgrass Steak House, which provided a hearty Texas meal with plenty of red meat and the most delicious pumpkin cheesecake.

 Day Three - Waco

Waco, the city made famous by just two events, the Branch Davidian raid with David Koresh in the early 90s, and the more recent hit HGTV show Fixer Upper which reveals the life of the sweet Christian family of Chip and Joanna Gaines as they flip houses from outdated 70’s-style ranches to shiplap laden gorgeousness. Just to note, we visited because of the latter, not the former. 

In preparation for visiting this city, I even listened to the audio version of Chip Gaines’ then-recently published book “Capital Gaines” during the flight. It provides good insight into how this couple turned a small, home decoration store and construction business into the major enterprise it is today, while sharing some honest truths about running a small business. Surprisingly though, for all of Chip’s charisma and antics on the show, his voice was pretty monotone on the audio book and I have to admit did lull me to sleep a few times.

Come Hungry and Eat Well

We started our morning of the third day eating breakfast at the diner that Chip and Joanna Gaines recently opened named Magnolia Table where they serve Texas-size portions of French Toast, pancakes, eggs, and housemade tater tots. The employees at the restaurant are plentiful and beyond friendly. We were even greeted in the parking lot by an employee stationed there just to say hello to everyone who got out of their car. The diner also has a gift shop and an outdoor café where you can order coffee and such while you wait to be called for your table. Be prepared though, this places is popular, and for that reason they have a well-oiled machine of Disneyland-esque employees that politely redirect you if you attempt to (heaven forbid) try to walk into the restaurant. Thou shall not peak behind the curtain until your name is on the waiting list and you’re called inside to be seated. No looky-loos.

Visit a Paleontological Dig

With our bellies full, we journeyed to the north side of town to see a very cool place, the Waco Mammoth National Monument. For a nominal entrance fee of $5 for adults and $4 for children, you take a guided tour down a short path to this active paleontological site where they have discovered the nation’s only recorded discovery of a nursery herd of Columbian mammoths. This place was well worth the stop. You can actually peer down on real dinosaur bones that are still encased in the ground. Our guide was so knowledgeable and entertaining, it was such a pleasant and educational experience. I highly, highly recommend it.

The Real Reason for Staying in Waco

We then visited the Mecca of Waco, Texas, that is Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Market at the Silos. The property consists of a bakery, a home goods store, a garden center, a grassy area for romping around and playing lawn games, and a slew of food trucks. We stood in the line for the bakery that wrapped around the corner for their famous cupcakes, ate lunch from the food trucks, and wandered through the store picking up small items that would fit in our suitcase. The Market has free parking that is connected to the property off of 8th Street plus there is street parking, so feel free to skip the lots that offer parking for a mere $10. And like any good Christian store, the Market is closed on Sundays. They also have a discount store called the Warehouse Shop located on Bosque Blvd.

There are three other attractions in Waco that we did not visit but are worth mentioning. Again, if you check these, please let me know what you find:

Dr. Pepper Museum – I mean, why not?!

Harp Design Co. shop – The carpentry and now home good store made famous by Joanna Gaines’ devotion to the work of Clint Harp in Fixer Upper.

Baylor University

Overall, I was surprised that the city of Waco did not take more advantage of the fame that Fixer Upper brought to their city. The Market brings tens of thousands of people to Waco every day, but the city doesn’t seem to have capitalized on these visitors. The areas around both Magnolia Table and the Silos appear to be exactly the same as they were before the attractions existed. The shops and businesses are few and mostly look older and a bit rundown. There are no attractions in these areas of the city other than these two establishments. I guess I just expected the area to be bustling with boutique shops and restaurants, but none were to be found. 

We finished the day by traveling to Austin to spend the night. We stayed the night at the boutique hotel called Hotel San Jose located in the South Congress area. The hotel is clean and hip and a refurbished two-story motel with polished cement floors in the rooms, a small outdoor bamboo-lined siting area, and tiny rectangular pool. We really liked it and it is a nice alternative to the sometimes sterile large-chain hotels.

We grabbed dinner at a burger place on South Congress in Austin called Hopdoddy Burger Bar, which is a chain restaurant, but they made some outstanding burgers.

 Day Four - Austin

Pay Homage to the Lone Star State

We started our day in Austin at the Texas State Capitol. This is such a beautiful building. Rather than disrupt the charm of the original building when they needed to renovate for additional space, they decided to tunnel underneath the land to create underground offices for the expansion. You are welcome to enter the building, peer up at the ceiling of the rotunda, and find your way through the underground labyrinth with its skylights that allow natural light in from above.

Walk 6th Street 

From there we walked the famed 6th Street that is lined with nightclubs and bars. When my husband and I visited Austin a decade ago we loved the evening we spent at Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar, but we had to pass this time given we had underaged kids in tow. I have to say that 6th street also seemed a lot grittier since the last time we visited. I know it’s best visited at night, but I was surprised by the amount of filth. We did manage to snag some donuts from the famous VooDoo Doughnut which serves crazy donut concoctions 24 hours a day…but cash only, no credit cards accepted.

Travel by Scooter

The real fun we had was when we visited the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail which is a paved trail along Lady Bird Lake (a.k.a. the Colorado River) in downtown Austin. We walked the area of the trail by The Long Center for the Performing Arts. The area is resplendent with rentable scooters and my kids each rode one around the trail. It is this amazing phenomenon that is happening around some of the larger cities (sorry if you’re already aware of this scooter invasion…we’ve been living out of the country for a bit). Rentable scooters are simply ditched in various popular areas, you activate and pay for them by using an app, ride them around for however long you choose, and then drop them wherever you choose. The scooters available in this park belonged to Bird and Uber. The kids had the most fun scootering while my husband and I enjoyed a peaceful walk.

Do Not Miss the Bats’ Mass Exodus

From the trail, we walked under South Congress Avenue Bridge and watched the massive amounts of bats that roost there during the day take flight at dusk from under the bridge. Just a constant stream of black little beings fly out together in mass and disperse into the night. It’s a major attraction of Austin and a definite must-see.

We ate dinner at Lucy’s Fried Chicken on South Congress which is obviously famous for its yummy fried chicken, but also its oysters. The décor is Texas retro with plenty of neon signs. We enjoyed sitting outside in their area with picnic tables lighted by string lights. Oh, and you’re encouraged to leave your mark on the walls of the restaurant too, so bring a Sharpie.

Overall, Austin has changed since our visit 10 years ago. It used to have a funkier vibe and was awash with food truck parks, but the vibe is now more business and the parks are virtually non-existent. Instead, they’ve been replaced by paved parking lots and high-rise buildings that employ the tech influx from Silicon Valley. Most troubling is that my favorite restaurant in Austin, Frank, which served the most delectable melt-in-your-mouth pork butt sandwich I have ever eaten, was shuttered. A notice on the door stated they had not paid their taxes. Beer steins still lined the bar and empty chairs sat around tables with their place settings intact, as if all of the patrons and staff had simply left mid-service. It made us wonder if the major migration of Californians to Austin had changed the atmosphere of the city, and just simply made it too expensive for the funky, homespun haunts of the past. I hate to think that another Googleplex will be standing in this spot during my next visit to Austin, but I would not be surprised.

 Day Five - The Woodlands, Houston

I’m hesitant to even say we visited Houston, because we really did not. Instead, we traveled from Austin to the northern area of Houston called The Woodlands. Part of the purpose of this trip was to explore potential areas that we may be interested to live in in the future, hence The Woodlands. The Woodlands is a beautiful area in northern Houston that has done a very good job of doing what the name implies, maintaining the woods. All of the streets in this area are tree-lined, and even the strip malls are placed a good distance from the street and hidden behind stretches of trees.

This master-planned community has a central area with a town green, lined with high-end stores. Think Tiffany and Rolex-type stores. It is a really beautiful area, but we ultimately wondered if we may not have the income level or age level to fit in with the other patrons. It seemed like a great community if you’re retired, drive a high-end car or SUV, and enjoy passing your afternoons having lunch at an outdoor cafe on the green talking about your golf club membership. In contrast, we lunched at Potbelly Sandwich Shop, which is a chain sandwich and soup shop that I frequented during my college days in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

From The Woodlands we journeyed back through Dallas and ultimately landed in Fort Worth for the night. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott at Fort Worth’s Historic Stockyards which had the coolest Texas cowboy decor. It was by-far the nicest Courtyard we’ve ever stayed at. And…wait for it…they even have a Starbucks inside.

 Day Six - Fort Worth

I LOVED Fort Worth! What a pleasant surprise. First of all, the Fort Worth Visitor Center website is full of useful, clear information on the city and things to do in it. It is probably the best and most organized tourist bureau website I have ever seen. I highly recommend visiting their website before traveling to Fort Worth.

Watch a Long-Horn Cattle Drive

Our hotel was located in the area of the famed Fort Worth Stockyards. The Stockyards is a multi-block area of old-time saloons, western wear shops, the rodeo, and typical western-type things. I loved every bit of it. Twice a day they do a long-horned cattle drive right down the center of the street.

We also watched an entertaining old-time shootout complete with a stern Sheriff and his comical deputy side-kick. The area also has plenty of BBQ restaurants and stores selling cow hides, saddles, and spurs.

Plus, the Stockyards Championship Rodeo is held every Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Our hotel gave us free tickets and we had a blast. I sure do love my rodeos and this one did not disappoint. It had all of the traditional competitions including bull riding, barrel racing, and team calf roping. Plus, it had some fun activities for kids of different age groups to come down in the arena and run around for a prize, and they had a hilarious audience participation game that I won’t share anything else about because I don’t want to spoil the surprise ending…

Walk Among a Waterfall in the Middle of Downtown

We also drove and walked around downtown Fort Worth and visited Sundance Square. It is a cool area with water fountains, an outdoor area with chairs for sitting, and shopping. In the south area of downtown, we stopped at the Fort Worth Water Gardens. The Water Gardens are these large water displays that you can walk around and interact with right in the middle of the city. One is a waterfall feature where you can walk down large steps to reach the bottom by the rushing water. Another is a large tranquil man-made pond that is sunk 20 feet below ground.

Fort Worth is also home to:

TCU (Texas Christian University) – Beautiful grounds with a huge football stadium. The horned frogs and purple banners are displayed everywhere throughout the city.

Kimbell Art Museum

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History – An interactive museum

Texas Ballet Theater

Panther Island Pavilion – A beach where everyone sits in inflatables to see a band playing on the side of the river. So unique and cool.

Fort Worth Zoo – With a splash zone.

 Day Seven - Fort Worth

Our second day in Fort Worth was spent driving around the city and outlying areas looking for potential areas to live in the future, just in case. We really loved this city and were so impressed with the city’s cleanliness. The roads, sidewalks, parks, and buildings were all so clean and well maintained. It was remarkable and impressive. The citizens definitely take pride in their city, and it shows.

We spent the final night back in Irving at the same hotel where it all began (Dallas Marriott Las Colinas in Irving, Texas) to be near the airport for our very early flight out the next morning.

Helpful Hints

Location: Dallas, Waco, Austin, Houston, and Fort Worth are located in the eastern side of Texas, forming a large triangle between Dallas, Austin and Houston.

Accommodations: We are avid Marriott Rewards members, so this trip we stayed at Marriott accommodations that best suited us and our every growing teen-age kids, except in Austin where we chose a boutique hotel in a popular area of town.

Tolls: Be prepared to pay lots of tolls as you navigate through Texas. However, you cannot pay cash for the tolls, they are all automatic tolls charged via your license plate. So, if you rent a car, be sure to read the fine print on how the rental car company handles the tolls or you may be hit with a large toll charge when you’re done, which will amount to mostly fees charged by the rental car company itself. Ask me how I know.

[mredwinsmith]

Coaching Peaks and Valleys Pt 1

Pat King’s article recently came across my news feed. Shortly after NYNY won the first of their five consecutive open titles (1989-1993), we got our hands on the VHS tape of that title game.

By late 1989, I had maybe eighteen months of playing under me, and I watched that tape nonstop for the better part of six months. Pat was Johnny Dawkins, Phil Ford, Skip Brown, John Kuester, Len Bias, and Jordan all in one. His passion and pace were unassailable. In the article, Pat mentions he’s coaching the men’s squad at Santa Clara University. Because this is a fact and because he was such an inspiration to me, I was motivated to look back at the eight seasons I coached and reflect on some of the moments you wish you could have back. I navigated mostly all of the peaks and valleys on the Frisbee terrain and my takeaway is all positive, yet still those times remain when you wonder how things may have transpired had the gamble gone differently. It’s pleasure and pain.

UNCW Seamen. 2011 Atlantic Coast Regionals. Wilmington, North Carolina.

The Seamen were a 3 seed behind Virginia and Virginia Tech and looking at a one bid region. On Saturday we defeated our opposition 39-12 and our first three games averaged an hour a piece. The next morning we opened with Towson at 8:30am. After our O made the score 12-4, we rolled 3 on defense in 4 possessions to close out at 15-4, but somewhere in those last three points the trouble started. Our defense started calling fouls on their receivers and the game grew real chippy. Towson resented this and rightly so. The game was essentially over and the calls were not calls our D had a habit of making and worse, they delayed the end of the game. On game point, Towson turned the disc over in our red zone and after punching it in we moved on to face Virginia Tech Burn in the semi-finals. Virginia Tech had a relatively easy go of Saturday as well, defeating their three opponents 39-17.

We opened the semifinals holding serve on our fourth try. Sizing one another up for the next few points, we quickly pulled away and had 2 times to break for 7-2 but only managed a TMF. After Burn took three tries to cut our four-point lead to three, we rolled two to take half 8-3 and one hour in we were feeling pretty good. But you’re never up by enough. Pulling and down 4-8, Virginia Tech came zone on the second point from half and then person d on the next two points and our lead went from 8-3 to 8-6. Off the third pull, they came zone again and we were able to extend the lead to 9-6, but only after three tries and the energy expended in those three tries is impossible to regain. Adding stress to that loss of energy, Burn’s women and the Towson men’s team began crowding the sideline at this point, along with a handful other schools beyond Richmond. Their seasons over, yet their hardline heckling was just getting started.

Pulling at 9-6 our D earned a Callahan and a second TMF as well. The one sideline now packed end to end with college kids in full postseason revelry feasted on this. At 10-6 we feel like we have some breathing room, but maybe the moment fueled by unruly college kids thrilled by your every mistake was too big. Undaunted, Burn’s offense scores with a few passes and they get their D back on the field. That point took thirty seconds at best for Burn and it was clean, efficient and poised Ultimate when they needed it most.

Burn must have rostered four guys at six feet tall and taller that season playing in a 4 person cup. They came with that set the next 3 points to roll 3 breaks and knot the score at 10 even, game to 12. The women’s semi-finals began at the same time as the men’s. In those games the losing teams scored a total of 8 points to the winners’ 30. In the other men’s semi, Virginia Night Train made quick work of Delaware 15-9. In separate factions they all made their way to our field. Around noon, the locals, mostly rec league all-stars and UOA sympathizers, began arriving dressed for a picnic with their coolers and strollers in tow, though their interest wasn’t directed at the Seamen as much as the forthcoming women’s final between UNCW Seaweed and UNC Pleiades, featuring future Callahan winners.

From 8-3, we were outscored 7 to 2 in essentially thirty minutes’ time. Four out of their five breaks came on one possession and those same four came transitioning from their four person cup, after mostly uncommon and uncharacteristic doinks and mishandles. Maybe it was the chippy calls against Towson catching up to us, but I’d rather tip my hat to Burn’s defense. At 10 all and receiving for the fourth point in a row, the numbers were in our favor as a fourth consecutive break was unlikely, and Burn came down in person d. We scored quickly and when the hard cap sounded during the next point, Burn’s offense buckled and we broke for the win 12-10. We were outscored 7-4 in the second half and while we advanced to play in the finals, rarely was a victory so deflating.

Winning in the hard cap left us barely any time to readjust and get over their 3 and 4 point run. By 12:30pm we had played 42 points to Virginia’s 47, but the last half of our semi-final with the crowd pressing in and the stress of Burn’s four-person cup and one bid looming in front of us was on everyone’s faces. ‘No Weak Faces’ we preached. No palms up body language. Additionally, when you are the team everyone loves to hate, you learn to place your concern on the team in front of you and embrace indifference with the team and/or teams thus eliminated. There is a degree of the NYNY factor here: you beat up on some second or third tier teams on Saturday and Sunday morning, you exchange trash talk and call the game the way you believe the game ought to be called because after all, you are not the inferior team, and then those inferior teams, because they don’t want the postseason to begin just yet and because they for the moment possess an overblown sense of what they bring to the table, sit on half empty coolers with their women’s team and 2nd and 3rd tier friends. I’d rather be starving than sit at that table; however, seven years later here I am writing an essay in hindsight and the long journey to the middle is complete – My apologies to Lester Bangs for the device.

The minor and major factors leading up to the finals vs Night Train created a perfect storm and while they advanced and took the one bid, I don’t feel that they were better that season – they won when they had to. They finished 1-3 in pool play at Nationals and 3-3 overall, and while we may not have fared better, the shadow of that one moment is still there. After receiving and going up 1-0 on our second try, we had one chance to break for a two point cushion but missed out. With six total possessions between both teams and the score even at 1s, the Ultimate didn’t get much better, or prettier. It mirrored the crowd. With their O getting 1 on the board, their D line rolled two for 3-1. We managed an easy O point for our second goal and then easy took a back seat to grind. Again, our D gained possession and we had one shot to tie at 3s but had no such fortune and a potential tie game was quickly a five-point deficit. Down 2-6 and having suffered two quick breaks, our O was put to task on the ensuing point and we fought off four break chances before turning it over in Virginia’s red zone, giving up a third straight break and to go down 2-7.

For an instant, the clouds parted and we managed a quick O point and our D was back on the field. Certainly, if our D could get a third try at a break we’d get one, and one could lead two. Pulling at 3-7, we earned a quick one and cut their lead to 3. As a coach, which way do you want things to go here? A quick point to keep up the pressure, maybe cause some finger pointing, or longer uglier points to keep their O on the field and your O off the field getting much-needed rest? If you are a guaranteed a break, you want it ugly perhaps, but there are no guarantees here, except the one that says you have one another’s back. Down five and the game beyond a picnic, we are now down two at 5-7 and pulling for the third point in a row and Night Train is looking to take half for the fourth consecutive point.

Freeze. Give me these 70 seconds back. Rest on the line and call timeout at ‘ten seconds to pull’; send all but the pulling D line to the shade, and following the timeout, turf the pull, concede the point and get off the field and in the shade with the others, with water and food and wet towels and music and a well-timed joke, recharge and refocus for the next 45 minutes. A three-point deficit and pulling at half is not insurmountable and after all, it was our home field. More often it’s not about the lead nor the margin you trail, it’s energy and keeping that energy. Up to that last point of half, the finals saw 12 points scored on 31 possessions. 19 turnovers in less than an hour. Seldom is it in Ultimate that you’re served an opportunity on a platter to bend it in a particular way to where you don’t suffer an earful from Frisbee cognoscenti adamant the game must be played this way at all times.

We aimed for the third break. Our D line was foaming at the mouth, fired up after two breaks. No bread was ever broken between these two teams and Virginia stewed for a year over us knocking them into the backdoor bracket in 2010, a game where the observers marked the score incorrectly and we had to win twice. A few passes into the point, we get hit with a TMF for backpacking. Virginia scored, spiked the disc and took half 8-5. The bulk of that half was squandered quarreling over what just happened instead of what was going to happen. Minutes later, it was 12-5 Night Train. We managed only 2 more in the second half; 2 points on 8 possessions. Virginia scored 7 on 9 possessions, both turns by their defense, keeping our O on the field. Overall, our O received 14x, scored 5x, and played defense 13x. Season over. Now leaning in with a certain alacrity only identifiable if you lived here long enough, the hometown crowd eventually enjoyed their picnic as the Seaweed dismissed Pleiades 15-3 in a game that was never close.

Unlike the next year when Georgetown rolled four on our three-point lead to knock us out in the quarters of another one bid region – Towson first on the scene and no filter on the schadenfreude, there was no road trip home with a 5th year player where you try and offer something, some perspective to assuage the emptiness. But what can you say? This year they departed as they arrived. All alone or in twos and with no practices to look forward to. Who is to say what might have transpired had we bent half-time and turned the game into something else? Would our fortunes have faded so quickly? I do know that the handful of fifth-year boys we had, boys who are now men and who went on to have decent open careers with Ring and the Flyers, deserved better than that, on that day. And that’s the trick to coaching: You want to win and you want so much for those trusting your authority and decision making, but often it’s not about scoring points.

The post Coaching Peaks and Valleys Pt 1 appeared first on Skyd Magazine.

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[leadershipinalison-blog]

Week 5: Reflecting on the Encore Card, Attending the LEAP Gala, and New Project Idea!

Wow! Week 5 has come and gone, and I honestly can’t believe I am entering the latter half of my LIA experience. New developments are happening with my work at East West, and I really immersed myself in LEAP because the 35th Anniversary Gala happened on Friday! During the beginning of the week, I was at EWP finishing up partnerships for the Encore Card with Kelly. We have successfully connected with 26 businesses (!!) and we are really excited to move on to creating the Encore Card and also working on improvements for the intern experience (in regards to the Encore Card) for incoming students at EWP. While we faced challenges working on the Encore Card, I think Kelly and I were able to make the experience successful by consciously taking note of each other’s work styles, and thus figuring out how we could work together to both optimize our strengths and improve on our weaknesses. Kelly definitely took the lead in terms of mapping out which businesses to visit each day, and created Google docs to organize our progress. It helped a lot that she already knew the Arts District/Little Tokyo area fairly well (especially since I have zero sense of direction). I like to think that I contributed through the personal interactions like approaching businesses, being a second eye on the documents, and discussing ways to improve the intern’s Encore Card experience. 

During the whole process of putting together information packets, visiting businesses, following up with them, and now beginning to create the new cards, Kelly and I have found it very important to reflect on how we can make the process more efficient and the card more useful to users. After discussing our experiences with each other at length, and also talking about it with other interns, we met with Monika to reflect on how our work was going, and ways we thought we could improve the Encore Card experience. For example, a problem Kelly and I noticed was that the Encore Card isn’t actually used that often. We began to understand this when returning partners would turn us down because they were not interacting with consumers who actually used the card with them. When we approached returning businesses, many times the everyday employees would not know what the Encore Card was. I also received feedback from a business owner who said that he never used the card, despite going to partner businesses regularly. Kelly and I proposed a new idea, to make the Encore Card into a keychain (thanks for the pitch, James Choi! aka owner of Cafe Dulce!), but unfortunately EWP does not have the finances for that. Monika did like our other suggestions, like listing our Encore Card partners on the EWP website. This way, our subscribers and donors can look at more specific data about the benefits they will receive by joining our community. Looking forward, we also suggested that EWP might want to develop an app that could centralize information about their productions, and also act as a digital Encore Card for subscribers and donors. Monika was telling us that EWP has never received this kind of feedback from interns, which to a certain extent makes sense, especially considering a new group of interns work on the Encore Card every year. Without continuity (of the people who work on it), I think the Encore Card has become functionally antiquated in many ways. I hope that Kelly and I’s suggestions on how to improve it will help make the Encore Card a more useful program, as it has great potential! Through this process of working on the Encore Card and giving feedback on it, I am realizing the importance of new energy and fresh eyes on different projects, as well as fostering a work environment that is welcoming of feedback and innovative thinking. Additionally, I have really appreciated being a part of an organization like EWP that has so much history behind it, but I am also realizing that being an established institution leaves you at risk of getting comfortable in work processes that become redundant or inefficient. I don’t mean this in a robotic/unemotional way, but more that it is so important to dedicate our passion and energy in a way that optimizes impact and reward. Especially in a nonprofit that is always busy and in-demand of energy, it is essential that we make things smoother and easier for ourselves when we can. To put it simply, I think we feel happier and more invigorated when we approach projects that we know will give back and have a purpose in our communities. I think the weaknesses that Kelly and I have found in the Encore Card, which have largely come out of the overcapacity that characterizes nonprofits and a high turnover rate of interns, can be improved on over time by focusing on making the Encore Card more accessible to cardholders, and on the flip side, more streamlined (in term of applying/reapplying) for businesses.

Wow, that reflection on the Encore Card was a lot more in-depth than I thought it would be... but anyways, on to the gala! What an affair. LEAP set everything up so beautifully - outside, there were high tables for people to gather around and talk, and streamers and stars strung in the air in a pagoda-like fashion. Target was our main sponsor for the event, so the color theme was red and white. In the VIP area, there was a beautiful set up in the bamboo garden with ethereal white lanterns and lovely ukulele music played by Jason Arimoto. The VIP reception was where I was assigned to take photos for our social media campaign, so I spent the beginning of the gala asking VIP attendees if I could take their photo, chatting with LIA interns and alumni, and enjoying delicious hand rolls prepared by Kazunori. At first I was quite nervous about approaching people to take their photos, but over time it became easier. I received some unwanted attention from men overcompensating for their masculinity, but I think I navigated it quite well. Note to self/curious readers: if you are young, and quite a bit younger than the creeping men, mentioning your age in conversation is a smooth way of setting up a roadblock. You will likely need to deploy other tools besides mentioning your youth, but it is a nonthreatening strategy that can potentially protect you from unwanted conversation/further unwanted attention.

I had so much fun during the gala dinner (the food was delicious!!), and it was so fun to hang out with the other interns and feel a little glamorous. I also spent some time with other volunteers, and I really enjoyed Fuzzzy’s performance. He is actually part of Kollaboration LA (an org that showcases API entertainers), which is being held at East West Players, so it was cool to see his success being reflected in Little Tokyo at the gala as well! To top it off, we all received $100 gift cards from Southwest as gala attendees!! I feel extremely lucky to be a part of the LEAP community and receive these opportunities and privileges, and the gala has definitely been a highlight of my LIA experience.

On Friday, our morning was focused on giving feedback about the gala and then heading off to lunch with LEAP’s board of directors. We mainly had positive things to say about the gala, and we realized that a lot of our critical feedback had to do with mishaps related to Givergy’s responsibilities. The fact that the shortcomings of Givergy negatively affected LEAP’s fundraising during the gala will have tangible consequences on its programs and growth as an organization. Hopefully problems will become at least partially resolved when Givergy and LEAP engage in conversation post-gala. After discussing the gala, we put together our Flipagrams/mini movies about our nights at the gala. Hopefully mine will be up soon on LEAP’s social media! 

At noon, we headed off to Fu-ga for some lunch and networking with LEAP’s board. Honestly, the beginning felt really awkward for me. I wasn’t sure where to place myself because separate conversations was happening among interns and board members, and I was stuck in empty space. I am really grateful that Linda saw me looking a bit distressed, and introduced me to a board member. Before we sat down for the lunch, I ended up having a really good conversation with a director named Jim Lactaoen, and we ended up sitting next to each other during the lunch as well. As the lunch progressed, I was able to engage in meaningful conversation with all the directors sitting around me, and they ranged from discussing my LIA experience to Hawaiian food franchises to intensive Korean SAT training. It was strange how all these conversations came together because of our connections with each other, ranging from our ethnic identities to our travel experiences to our generational differences. I was also very conscious of how my participation in our conversations was predicated on class privileges we shared. For me, this mainly involved my upbringing in Hong Kong and international school education, being able to travel around the world, having access to college preparatory programs, and, related to class, being East Asian. When I have these kind of conversations, I like to acknowledge these preconditions, in that particular space, I did not feel comfortable enough to do so. This is not to say that other people in the room were unaware of how privilege played a role in our conversation, but I think that consciously creating space to address privilege is necessary to breaking down classism and systems of oppression. I hope that in the future, when I might be a mentor figure, I can foster and participate in these kind of conversations.

Friday was also a big day in terms of our community impact project. We have decided to change our idea from creating a workshop, and shift to a project that is centered around our identities and experiences. I think that the workshop idea had potential, but mutually we felt a sense of discomfort at the likeness of our project to that of helicopter advocacy. To be brief, helicopter advocacy is the concept of entering a community that you do not have a connection to, trying to make an “impact” on them through research, outreach, and other kinds of activities, and then leaving the community without any intention or means of maintaining a sustainable relationship. Helicopter advocacy is self-centered and a privileged activity. Historically, it has often involved rich and/or white people entering poor and/or colored communities for “research”, “philanthropy”, and other white-savior-complex activities. In regards to my feelings about our workshop idea, I mainly felt comfortable with it when we were leaning towards making it for college students. I thought we could center the workshop around our own experiences as a cohort, and invite fellow college-aged API students we knew to participate. We would be a very specific community addressing API issues, and I felt comfortable with this idea because it was a community I identified with. However, my sense of comfort with that audience only resolved a small part of the larger issue tied to us as a cohort not being from the LA area, and thus not knowing how best to serve the LA API community, and furthermore, assuming that LA APIs would want some sort of “help” or “impact” from us. I feel much more motivated and at ease with our new idea, and I am excited to share it with you all.

Our LIA 2017 cohort will be creating a mixed media website that features art pieces about our API identities, our CBOs, and ourselves as a cohort. Works will range from short films to moodboards to zines, and our aim is to create a resource about the complexities and diversity of the API community, open a window into the amazing work done by our nonprofits, and also reflect on ourselves as a group. Our community impact will be online, and later on, we will be strategizing on how we will get our website out there, the audience we want to target, and how we will maintain impact beyond the end of the program. I won’t disclose my project ideas yet, but stay tuned for my next post to find out what they are :) I am really looking forward to the self reflection that will come out of this community project, and I hope to learn more about myself, my fellow cohort members, API organizing, and what it means to create change.

[likedbuzz-blog]

Republicans Try And Navigate Tense Town Halls

http://likedbuzz.com/republicans-try-and-navigate-tense-town-halls/

Republicans Try And Navigate Tense Town Halls

Congressman Dave Brat, R-Va., back to camera, answers questions during a town hall meeting with the congressman in Blackstone, Va., Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Rep. Lou Barletta sat on a stage in front of about hundred attendees in a half-filled gym, wearing a yellow and blue striped tie and white shirt, a pen clasped in his hands. He wrote a few things down. He took his thick black-rimmed glasses off, then put them back on. He leaned back in his chair. He stroked his chin.

The audience, several of whom had been part of a 40-person protest, chanting “Hey Lou, get a clue!” before the event started, sat quietly listening to Barletta and the rest of the eight-person panel discussing the opioid and heroin addiction epidemic in the area. At times, several people raised signs in silent protest: “Obama Cared,” “ACA Saves Lives.” At no point did any of them utter a word in disagreement.

The relative lack of protest that greeted Barletta, one of President Trump’s earliest and staunchest supporters stood in stark contrast to the raucous and often hostile crowds that greeted some of his colleagues at public events around the country this week.

The current political climate poses a quandary for Republicans, home in their district for the 10-day recess. Schedule no public events, and spend the recess being dogged by protests and stories about avoiding one’s constituents. Schedule a town hall, and risk a gaffe in front of a raucous crowd and a growing number of cameras. The risk that anything you say will be used in the attack ad in a few years, or don’t show up and get attacked for that instead. Video of former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick hastily leaving a 2009 town hall, for instance, appeared in her opponents’ campaign ads in several elections.

Those members who have opted to do public town halls have largely been those who readily wade into combat. Take for instance South Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Sanford, who held a three hour and 38 minute series of town halls on Saturday morning and is a member of the Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative hardliners and libertarians both who find themselves regularly warring with their own party. Others, perhaps less sure of their footing, have steered clear, opting to take questions on the telephone, Facebook, or radio town halls. Barletta’s choice to focus on a single, serious issue affecting his constituency, perhaps dissuaded any kind of open demonstration.

“I believe they saw the seriousness of the topic that we were talking about today,” Barletta told reporters afterward, applauding the protesters for remaining silent and not disrupting the event.

But those members that waded into the fray have worked to find ways to control the situation — with varying levels of success.

The first person to get in line for Virginia GOP Rep. Dave Brat’s 7 p.m. town hall on Tuesday had arrived at the Herb Cottage restaurant in Blackstone, Virginia at noon, wearing a sweatshirt from the Women’s March. A self-proclaimed grandma carried a sign with a catcher’s mask in the middle, aping Brat’s recent comment that there were women “all up in my grill” at another event.

“I was a supporter of upending Eric Cantor because he had been there way too long and was too cocky,” Terri Dougherty told likedBuzz News while waiting in line for the event to begin. “But the more I listened to what [Brat] said, the more I realized, I kind of miss Eric Cantor. I mean he was a weasel, but…”

When the event hit capacity at about 200 people that evening, the crowd left outside roared with each of Brat’s remarks, evidently able to hear the speaker system through the window. Inside, his comments were met with boos and jeers from the approximately half of the crowd that was there to object to his stances.

“Some of you are as boisterous as Trump, but I loved every minute of it,” Brat told the crowd.

In Metarie, a suburb of New Orleans, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy was greeted with jeers and boos by a crowd of more than 200. They were unhappy with the Trump administration and the Republican controlled congress, and they were newly unhappy with Cassidy, who arrived nearly 30 minutes late because he was touring tornado damage in East New Orleans. A mother confronted him as he took the stage, demanding to know what he would do to help her sick daughter if Obamacare was repealed.

Cassidy had originally hoped to start the meeting with a power-point presentation about his legislation to replace Obamacare. But the crowd was having none of it, and he struggled to be heard over the increasingly angry shouts.

Frustrated that his repeated pleas for calm went unheeded, Cassidy began answering a series of questions submitted before the event, starting with a question about his position on Trump’s travel ban.

Cassidy, who has opposed the travel ban in the past, seemingly started to win over the crowd when he explained that his work with doctors from Iran and other countries had led him to believe that even those who are not full citizens are essentially Americans. “For all practical purposes they are us,” Cassidy said to applause from the crowd.

But when the pre-prepared questions moved into a repeal of Obamacare, he once again quickly lost the crowd, so much so that at one point police escorted a man out who demanded to know whether Cassidy would vote for repeal without first having a replacement plan in place.

Cassidy, maintaining a smile despite the insults and anger, dropped the cards and agreed to take questions from the crowd.

The decision seemed to pay off. Although still clearly angry, the crowd became increasingly more cooperative, quieting down to not only allow constituents ask questions — but to listen to what Cassidy had to say in response.

In Virginia, Brat’s staff handed out pink note cards on which people could write down their questions before the event. The mayor of Blackstone acted as emcee, reading off questions and attempting to quiet the crowd when Brat began to answer. But his pleas went unheeded, so Brat finally took a different tack: when people got too loud and started shouting over him, he said, he would simply stop answering that question and move onto the next one.

“We’re gonna have discourse and we’re gonna have it one at a time,” Blackstone Mayor Billy Coleburn, acting as moderator and enforcer, told the crowd when they grow too rowdy.

“That’s fine, that’s fine,” replied Brat. “Let’s just get through a lot of questions.”

Barletta took a different approach. Though it was a public event, it was not technically a town hall, and in the lead-up to the event, Barletta’s office aggressively pushed back on the idea that this forum, a panel with a moderator asking questions, would bear any resemblance to the raucous town halls some of Barletta’s colleagues were hosting.

“Just to clarify, our office is not hosting a town hall meeting on Wednesday, February 22nd. Rather, Rep. Barletta is hosting a heroin and opioid forum that evening,” Barletta’s chief of staff Andrea Niethold said in an email earlier this week.

“Press usually gathers after the opioid forum events, usually to ask questions pertaining to the opioid crisis,” she added in a subsequent email.

“If they want to shout outside that’s fine. It’s America. It’s great. They can do that. As long as they didn’t disrupt the event, that’s all I was worried about,” Barletta said of the protesters who showed up.

Indeed, Betsy Riep, who stood outside protesting, attended the forum. “I’d like to hear what’s said,” she told likedBuzz News before the event started. “I’m interested in solutions. And you know, this is a really big thing.”

Cassidy had a similar experience. His town hall Tuesday in Livingston Parish was a largely calm affair, focused largely on the ongoing efforts to help rebuild the region after last year’s floods. In fact, protest groups told the Advocate newspaper following the meeting they’d decided to not target the Livingston town hall so that residents could discuss the recovery efforts. By the time he made it to his town hall in Metarie, the cease-fire had ended.

And Brat learned a similar lesson midway through his town hall when the former economic professor began to talk in earnest detail about interest rates.

It was the only time the crowd fell entirely silent.

[kleroterion]

Thoughts on Long-Term Unemployment

This is not a survival guide, nor is it a comprehensive tip list for getting through long-term unemployment (or, really, any period of unemployment). It’s a series of things that I learned while job searching for almost a year after I graduated from college. A close friend was looking for almost 3 years post-graduation, and another friend close to 8 months. This is not a unique experience and you are not alone. Granted, I had it easy compared to others - a supportive family, a place to stay and be cared for while I looked for a job, and enough savings to get me by. But it was a terrible experience and I want to at least try to help someone who is going through the same thing. These musings reflect my own experience and will not necessarily apply to everyone. This is a collection of notes and thoughts, not a panacea. I know at the end of the day you will go to bed with anxiety, no matter what I say. But maybe something here will speak to someone. I want to try.

----

Phone interviews/pre-interviews are increasingly common, which gives you an opportunity to really shine - you’ve got the advantage. A lot of people have phone anxiety, but think of it as a way to cater the conversation to your space: you can have information pulled up on your computer, spread out hand-written scribbles in front of you, and be dressed in comfy pajamas. Make it so that the interview is on your terms - times are typically highly negotiable because it’s just over the phone, so you can pick a time that represents your peak efficiency mode.

If you can, try to participate in something during this long stretch of time. This is something that requires a financial safety net, so it won’t work for everyone (I’m sorry). Try to find activities that you can talk about in interviews or that can build your resume (but aren’t filler): Volunteering (Meals on Wheels, at a library, homeless shelters), aiding a political campaign, learning a new skill/language, or studying for an exam you know you’ll have to take (the GRE, LSAT, MCAT, etc.). Take advantage of this time if you can. Getting out of the house and socializing is really important during these hard times and working towards a goal or helping others is a way to move forward when you feel so stuck.

Open curtains and windows. Being cloistered up with only fluorescents or lamp light isn’t super conducive to mental health (in my opinion). Air out the house. Let natural sunlight in.

People in the relevant industries should consider having an online portfolio, and that url should be placed prominently on one’s resume. WordPress is free, and employers (especially in that industry) like to see applicants with 21st-century skill sets. Demonstrate that you can navigate website-making tools while also showing off your talents. If you can, buy a domain name, but it’s not essential. WordPress has enough versatility on its own to get you what you need and to let people see what you are capable of.

Yes, you will have to write cover letters. Because you’re going to be applying a lot, have a template that you can customize for each job. It should be something general enough to work for many outlets, but you need to make a point to make it unique to each company you apply to - tailoring is essential. You won’t necessarily need to write a new one from scratch each time, but make sure to let them know you’re talking to them, not just anyone. Read the job description and incorporate their needs with your skill set into the letter. Try to make your letter a narrative rather than a formulaic sheet of information that they can easily glean from your resume. What experiences make you qualified for that particular job? Why are you the best candidate, and how can you prove it? Find a way to show patterns and traits in your life that define you as a person, and tie it into your employment and experience.

Self-care is a thing for a reason. Stay hydrated. Shower. Do the dishes. Getting up in the morning can be really hard. There’s a lot of disappointment in long-term unemployment. Taking the little steps each day when you don’t want to will keep a sense of control and order in your life. A pile of dirty dishes in the sink, clutter and laundry, dirty hair: no judgment. Seriously. I understand depression. I’ve been there. I’m there. But those things, while seemingly just aesthetic, really do impact you mentally. If you can try to stay on top of those things, you might be able to get to the bigger stuff. I don’t think you’ll ever feel bad after doing any of them, and getting just a few things done tends to propel you just based off of action - an object in motion stays in motion.

Resist the temptation to sleep in. When you’re unemployed for long stretches of time, it’s so, so tempting to let yourself sleep until noon, but you have to fight that urge. Please trust me on this. When you do finally land a job, early hours won’t be as much of a shock. 

Networking will not necessarily save you. I had people working in my favor inside many different companies and it came to nothing. The job that I landed (and love) was a hire where I had no referral or contact. People like to hype up networking as the key to success, and I’m sure it is - once you’re in the industry. Networking works for some people, but I don’t believe it should be your focus or concentration. (This of course varies by what your career path is.) It’s all about volume: apply, apply, apply, apply. And then apply again.

Most of the time, you’re not going to hear back from an employer after you apply. That’s how it is now.

Don’t be ashamed to file for unemployment. These resources are there for a reason. You might as well take the opportunities (the few that are left) that the government has to offer. If you are actively trying to look for a job but cannot get one, there is no shame in asking for help from the people you pay taxes to and who in return provide services for people in need. The social contract goes both ways.

Be prepared for group interviews. These are happening more and more now. 75% of my interviews were with 2 or more people. Don’t let it put you off. In some ways, it’s easier to have a conversation when there are more voices in the room, and they are usually there to gauge chemistry more than they are to grill you (in my experience). And while I’m on the subject of interviews: cliche questions still occur, but many questions related to my experience and real-life scenarios on the job or in life. They want examples - times you stepped up, times where you might have failed but bounced back, times you showed leadership. Have stories ready. Yes, sometimes I’d get an occasional “What’s your favorite hobby?” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” and you should have answers ready for those. But lately the trend is about showing them you are a good fit for the job, rather than summing yourself up in three words.

It’s really hard to get a government job. They take forever to get back to you. They typically hire internally. It sucks. USAJOBS is a pain. You should know this ahead of time.

There will be bad days. There will be bad weeks. There might be bad months. Keep applying.

You will be tested. Quite literally. For almost every job that I got a response from, I was required to take further action, and sometimes in multiple phases, before an interview was even set up. Companies are being really choosy right now because they know they can. It’s disheartening, but it’s best if you are rid of the illusion that you stop taking tests after college. I had to take actual exams, write multiple-page projects, do short quizzes, come up with proposal ideas, and fill out interview questions all before I spoke to someone. It’s frustrating but also the reality that I faced.

Sometimes you have to play the game. You should get a LinkedIn account and monitor your social media. Employers do want to see an online presence of some kind. LinkedIn is a “respectable” way of doing it, and keeping your social accounts relatively clean is the best way to go. (Coded language for “hide your tumblr”? Perhaps.)

A lot of the time, rejection really isn’t that personal. There are so many other factors at play. It’s almost impossible to believe that, and a part of me still feels that it is personal, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever think otherwise, but I know logically that isn’t true. I have heard from hiring managers and HR people that job listings have to be posted even if the vacancy is planned from the start to be filled internally. This. Happens. Too. Often. To. Count. Also, the job market is FLOODED. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s rough. It really is. The competition is fierce. It isn’t necessarily about you. But it still stings.

Try not to beat yourself up if there are days where you don’t apply for jobs. No one is perfect. You can have a break. Binge watch Orphan Black but come back to your search. Don’t follow the rabbit too far.

Don’t follow a resume template. This is a tough one and hard to really delve into in this setting, as it is so unique to every person. It takes work and oftentimes a guiding hand to get a great resume. I’ve had multiple hiring managers and a career counselor tell me that when they see a cover letter that looks different from the rest, they are immediately interested. Use segments, boxes, and graphics rather than a linear, wordy timeline of your employment and education history. You’re more likely to get interviews if you use a narrative rather than bullet points and facts. Describe your experience and accomplishments in concise, substantive language (no filler!), and highlight your technological and practical skill set in a section all its own. (Computer programs/coding, web design, media production, and writing/communication are all good things to emphasize if they apply to you.)

Use your college resources: your professors. I got a freelance research project from a professor I had a deep connection with, and used others as a support system during hard times. Some places have good Career Centers (mine didn’t), and others have alumni or honor society job networks. I personally don’t have any experience with those so I don’t know how effective they are, but I can attest that bonding and having communication with various professors in your field is psychologically and sometimes monetarily rewarding, and might help more than you think in the short and long term. There’s more incentive than a good grade when it comes to befriending your teacher.

Don’t stay in the house for longer than three days at a time. It’s obviously not a hard and fast rule, but things got really tough for me after that length of time without either being in the light or being around people. It might be really hard, but try to get out at least every few days in some capacity. Long-term unemployment is rife with apathy and entropy, and succumbing is not difficult in that environment. If you can, get out.

My best experiences came from Craigslist. Real, legitimate corporations advertise there, and I got many interviews from respectable places via Craigslist. I highly recommend it. I ended up getting my current job, however, through its website (I work at a theatre). I also got some responses that way, too: going to the websites of individual places you want to work and browsing their Employment section. Also, consider freelancing, package delivery, tutoring, substitute teaching, and other part-time gigs while you look for something permanent and full-time.

In between applying for jobs (which itself should be your full-time job), read that long book series you’ve been wanting to get to forever. Start - and finish - that cleaning project you’ve been putting off for years. Go through your home and donate anything you don’t need to Goodwill or local homeless/battered women shelters. Write that poem or novel that’s been in your head for a decade. Go for the 7-minute mile. If there’s something that’s been on your mind, now is the time to do it. Create. Organize. Contribute.

[ Also if you got this far, thank you for reading!! ]

© Lauren Magnussen, 2017