What is it with authors dying lately?:
John Updike http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/27/AR2009012703553.html
David Foster Wallace http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-wallace14-2008sep14,0,246155.story
When I was in seventh grade my English class had to write a book report on an author from Pennsylvania. Since the internet didn't exist back then and I had only ever consistently read one or two authors of teen suspense books (i.e. R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike) -- it was not easy for me to find a PA author.
One Sunday at my grandparents' house, a friend of the family who taught English at a college down near Philadelphia suggested that I try John Updike, if it wasn't too mature for me. Despite the length of his books, twice as long as what I was used to back then, I fixated on John Updike. I found a copy of "The Witches of Eastwick" at Walden Books in the Laurel Mall. I was happy it was about witches and became even more interested when it turned out the witches had very active sex lives. It made for an ackward 7th grade book report but I was glad to have found out about John Updike...and am sorry he's gone. One of my favorite short stories by him: "A&P"
Ciao Rabbit.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Hot Chocolate & Film Incentives
Today was an eventful day. Most exciting of all I went the whole day without spending any money. Though I had been getting good at packing lunches for work, I couldn't ever seem to break myself of the compulsion to stop for a latte or plain coffee at $1.50 to $3.50 a pop almost daily. It was kind of like a smoking habit -- expensive and provided a reason to take a break from whatever I was doing.
Today, in lieu of the $3.50 latte, I substituted homemade hot chocolate from Hershey's cocoa powder. I may not always have instant hot chocolate in the cupboard, but usually there's some cocoa powder so I made myself some from scratch: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Hershey%27s-Cocoa-Hot-Chocolate
I sent a flurry of e-mails this morning and afternoon trying to tie up loose ends with the well established architecture office--almost done. COBRA is appearing to be too expensive so it is looking like I will try my luck with a cheap health care policy on my own. I did however find another unemployed architect to be my study buddy this week; exam #6, 'materials and methods', is this coming Saturday.
I also did some of my first volunteering since the layoff. TxMPA had their kick off lobbying meeting for the Motion Picture Incentive bill. Texas has been loosing a lot of motion picture business to neighboring states due to lucrative incentives those states have for the industry (i.e. Louisiana). If you think that the business and culture that film productions bring to Texas is important, which it most certainly is, you should contact your Texas senator and representative and tell them to vote yes. More info on what to do: http://www.txmpa.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118:who-do-you-know&catid=37:-our-legislative-agenda&Itemid=70
I've also been baking cookies: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/italian-chocolate-sandwich-cookie-recipe/index.html
Today, in lieu of the $3.50 latte, I substituted homemade hot chocolate from Hershey's cocoa powder. I may not always have instant hot chocolate in the cupboard, but usually there's some cocoa powder so I made myself some from scratch: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Hershey%27s-Cocoa-Hot-Chocolate
I sent a flurry of e-mails this morning and afternoon trying to tie up loose ends with the well established architecture office--almost done. COBRA is appearing to be too expensive so it is looking like I will try my luck with a cheap health care policy on my own. I did however find another unemployed architect to be my study buddy this week; exam #6, 'materials and methods', is this coming Saturday.
I also did some of my first volunteering since the layoff. TxMPA had their kick off lobbying meeting for the Motion Picture Incentive bill. Texas has been loosing a lot of motion picture business to neighboring states due to lucrative incentives those states have for the industry (i.e. Louisiana). If you think that the business and culture that film productions bring to Texas is important, which it most certainly is, you should contact your Texas senator and representative and tell them to vote yes. More info on what to do: http://www.txmpa.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118:who-do-you-know&catid=37:-our-legislative-agenda&Itemid=70
I've also been baking cookies: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/italian-chocolate-sandwich-cookie-recipe/index.html
Friday, January 23, 2009
Unemployment Insurance
I did it. I applied for unemployment, which is actually unemployment insurance. It wasn't too hard. I just got on the website, filled out the form and registered with www.workintexas.com, a job finding service, as is required. I must make a minimum of 5 job contacts every week and keep a record of it in case they check me.
The 'keep a record' part is very vague. My interpretation is that I can call a place and ask if they are hiring. If they aren't hiring I can just say thanks for your time and there I have it 1 job contact. I am required to look for 'suitable work'. Work is defined as suitable based on: the reasonableness of your wage demand in light of the earnings on your last job, your prior work experience and job classification, as well as the most commonly paid wage in the area where you are seeking work. It all seems pretty practical they want to keep you trying to actively get work instead of sitting around. Judging by the dearth of job postings on local architecture job boards getting turned down by 5 job contacts won't be that hard.
I still don't know what percentage of my salary I will receive. According to the Texas Work Force I should initially consider jobs paying 90% less than what I previously earned which seems reasonable; However, by the 8th week I am expected to reduce my wage requirement to 1.) 75% of my normal wage or 2.) minimum wage, whichever is higher. What they are trying to say is 'suitable' at that point is a job at McDonalds's and you better take it. Hmmm, they do make those fancy coffee drinks now and have always had the best band of characters... grimis, hamburgler, fry kids.
Otherwise it was a glorious day in Austin, warm and sunny. Ladybird and I took a nice walk in the morning around 8:30 am. Usually I'd have to walk her before the sun came up every morning so it's nice to get out in the daylight. We met a dog named Casey that was walking herself today. We've seen her before but she's never followed us all the way home like she did today. Her collar reads 'I'm not lost'. She came up the stairs and inside and we offered her some food and water but she wasn't too interested and trotted on.
The next items I need to knock out while I have this window of time are to finish logging my NCARB hours and prepare for my next ARE exam. I have 5 done and 4 to go -- over the hump as I say. My next exam is materials and methods on January 30th. After that I will schedule the MEP exam which people say is a hard exam. Other side projects that get to come into the light: 1. Grad school and culinary school research 2. my mammoths sewing project 3. looking into Italian citizenship. Does anybody have experience going through this process? Still trying to verify that I'm elgible.
Going to sing Karaoke tonight at a private room somewhere in a Korean strip mall in Austin. Happy Birthday Nam.
onion article: http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/hey_man_you_got_a_second_so_i
The 'keep a record' part is very vague. My interpretation is that I can call a place and ask if they are hiring. If they aren't hiring I can just say thanks for your time and there I have it 1 job contact. I am required to look for 'suitable work'. Work is defined as suitable based on: the reasonableness of your wage demand in light of the earnings on your last job, your prior work experience and job classification, as well as the most commonly paid wage in the area where you are seeking work. It all seems pretty practical they want to keep you trying to actively get work instead of sitting around. Judging by the dearth of job postings on local architecture job boards getting turned down by 5 job contacts won't be that hard.
I still don't know what percentage of my salary I will receive. According to the Texas Work Force I should initially consider jobs paying 90% less than what I previously earned which seems reasonable; However, by the 8th week I am expected to reduce my wage requirement to 1.) 75% of my normal wage or 2.) minimum wage, whichever is higher. What they are trying to say is 'suitable' at that point is a job at McDonalds's and you better take it. Hmmm, they do make those fancy coffee drinks now and have always had the best band of characters... grimis, hamburgler, fry kids.
Otherwise it was a glorious day in Austin, warm and sunny. Ladybird and I took a nice walk in the morning around 8:30 am. Usually I'd have to walk her before the sun came up every morning so it's nice to get out in the daylight. We met a dog named Casey that was walking herself today. We've seen her before but she's never followed us all the way home like she did today. Her collar reads 'I'm not lost'. She came up the stairs and inside and we offered her some food and water but she wasn't too interested and trotted on.
The next items I need to knock out while I have this window of time are to finish logging my NCARB hours and prepare for my next ARE exam. I have 5 done and 4 to go -- over the hump as I say. My next exam is materials and methods on January 30th. After that I will schedule the MEP exam which people say is a hard exam. Other side projects that get to come into the light: 1. Grad school and culinary school research 2. my mammoths sewing project 3. looking into Italian citizenship. Does anybody have experience going through this process? Still trying to verify that I'm elgible.
Going to sing Karaoke tonight at a private room somewhere in a Korean strip mall in Austin. Happy Birthday Nam.
onion article: http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/hey_man_you_got_a_second_so_i
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day One
Yesterday, January 21st 2009, was Barak Obama's first day at work as President of the United States. Incidentally, it was my last day of work. After a little under a year, me and two others were let go yesterday from the well established architecture firm in the capital city.
Our regular office meeting is held every Wednesday at noon. Yesterday it was pushed back from noon to around 3 pm; I suppose this was a sign, as was a casual conversation with one of the principals about my sister who lives in Portland, OR. At 3pm we all gathered around the conference table and were to split into three groups to discuss how the office was going to manage the next several months of slowed work. People's names were called. The first group went with the tall, male principal, the second group went with the young, female principal and whomever's name was not called stayed with the Queen principal -- to not have your name called was not a good thing it turned out. We were reassured that this was not a performance based decision and that they simply had to reduce by 3 salaries to stay financially viable.
The well established architecture firm did try to find a place for at least two of us somewhere. The goal being to bide us and them a little time after which they were hoping to be able to take us back in Austin assuming all their projects started up in the early summer as expected. We were made an offer of a 'semester abroad', which meant relocating to a firm in Oregon (including a living stipend) for three months until the well established architecture firm could take us back. This would have almost worked, except for our arrival in Oregon needed to happen by February 2nd and by the looks of the economy it seems quite possible those projects could remain on pause. In younger days I surely would have jumped at this chance. In current days, with doggie, boyfriend, mortgage and enough past experiences dropping everything to move somewhere for a short amount of time -- I just can't do it. I made a recent resolution for myself to quit jumping at opportunities that involve throwing my life into chaos. The goal was basically to tend the roots I have put down here, which I quite like, and to try and just sit still and see what happens. I've never felt 100% committed to architecture so maybe this is my chance to reevaluate.
Thus, today becomes my first day of unemployment. Though my first inclination was to keep the big news private as long as I could, that went out the window fast. I ran into a friend at my first stop, the bar down the street from the well established architecture firm. http://www.riorita.net A group of teachers done with school for the day were kicking back with a few drinks. I spilled my beans in a matter of minutes which felt good and then bad and then good again.
So the news is slowly trickling out and I'm hearing from friends who are asking around and promise to let me know if they hear of anything which is really sweet. In the meantime I will need to do some freelancing and investigate unemployment. Its amazing how instantly expensive everything has become to me. Would I have made the dinner plans on Tuesday for Thursday night if I knew what was coming on Wednesday at 3pm, I ask myself? Maybe buying the new sleeper chofa (union of chaisse + sofa) this past weekend would have been postponed? Definitely I would not have bought those expensive Swedish bathroom accessories -- oh well, recession or no recession, they certainly are pretty. http://www.smedbo.com
Our regular office meeting is held every Wednesday at noon. Yesterday it was pushed back from noon to around 3 pm; I suppose this was a sign, as was a casual conversation with one of the principals about my sister who lives in Portland, OR. At 3pm we all gathered around the conference table and were to split into three groups to discuss how the office was going to manage the next several months of slowed work. People's names were called. The first group went with the tall, male principal, the second group went with the young, female principal and whomever's name was not called stayed with the Queen principal -- to not have your name called was not a good thing it turned out. We were reassured that this was not a performance based decision and that they simply had to reduce by 3 salaries to stay financially viable.
The well established architecture firm did try to find a place for at least two of us somewhere. The goal being to bide us and them a little time after which they were hoping to be able to take us back in Austin assuming all their projects started up in the early summer as expected. We were made an offer of a 'semester abroad', which meant relocating to a firm in Oregon (including a living stipend) for three months until the well established architecture firm could take us back. This would have almost worked, except for our arrival in Oregon needed to happen by February 2nd and by the looks of the economy it seems quite possible those projects could remain on pause. In younger days I surely would have jumped at this chance. In current days, with doggie, boyfriend, mortgage and enough past experiences dropping everything to move somewhere for a short amount of time -- I just can't do it. I made a recent resolution for myself to quit jumping at opportunities that involve throwing my life into chaos. The goal was basically to tend the roots I have put down here, which I quite like, and to try and just sit still and see what happens. I've never felt 100% committed to architecture so maybe this is my chance to reevaluate.
Thus, today becomes my first day of unemployment. Though my first inclination was to keep the big news private as long as I could, that went out the window fast. I ran into a friend at my first stop, the bar down the street from the well established architecture firm. http://www.riorita.net A group of teachers done with school for the day were kicking back with a few drinks. I spilled my beans in a matter of minutes which felt good and then bad and then good again.
So the news is slowly trickling out and I'm hearing from friends who are asking around and promise to let me know if they hear of anything which is really sweet. In the meantime I will need to do some freelancing and investigate unemployment. Its amazing how instantly expensive everything has become to me. Would I have made the dinner plans on Tuesday for Thursday night if I knew what was coming on Wednesday at 3pm, I ask myself? Maybe buying the new sleeper chofa (union of chaisse + sofa) this past weekend would have been postponed? Definitely I would not have bought those expensive Swedish bathroom accessories -- oh well, recession or no recession, they certainly are pretty. http://www.smedbo.com
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