randomness

Underachieving

I hate it when I can’t manage to finish just a few simple tasks that I set for myself. There were only a few things I wanted to accomplish tonight after work, and I didn’t successfully complete one. I started most of them, and got distracted as I went along.

As I cooked my dinner, I started to clear all my junk off of the kitchen table, and found a paperback and a dust jacket that belonged up in the library/media room (where our books and DVDs and 8-tracks and games and such live). As I put those away, I remembered that I hadn’t watered my plants in a couple of days, so I got out the little plastic watering can and gave them all a well-deserved drink. And so on.

Didn’t finish cleaning off the kitchen table.
Didn’t clean my desk.
Didn’t wash the silverware like Aaron asked.

While I was doing other random things, like boiling eggs and making a salad for tomorrow’s lunch, I was also making candles. That doesn’t take much supervision—it’s mainly hurry up and wait—so I figured I was good. I came back into the kitchen once the wax was melted, added just the right dyes, measured out the fragrance, and poured the candles at just the right moment during the cooling process.

Without adding the fragrance to the wax. *facepalm*

So, Mark, I apologize for the weirdness of your candle, but I had to dump the fragrance into an already-cooling candle. I ended up with some pretty funky tealights, too.

So, yeah. Not a terribly good or productive evening. And now it’s time for bed. Blah.

music, photos 3 Comments

Another New Toy

I have decided to try some home recording.

To that end, I purchased the Behringer Eurorack UB802 Mixer. It’s certainly no comparison to the Mackie mixer I got to use back in my Recording Technology days, but the price was right, and it’s good enough for home recording. After all, I haven’t done this in a while…

If what I turn out from this little experiment doesn’t suck (very much), you can expect to get a sampling when it’s ready for prime-time. If it does suck, you can expect me never to mention this venture ever again.

Update: A couple hours of experimentation yielded a one-verse cover that doesn’t entirely suck. However, I have remembered something. Something very vital to the success of my little experiment.

I can’t *stand* the sound of my own voice. OMFG.

It’s just one verse of a Depeche Mode song, me plunking away on my Casio and singing my little pea-pickin’ heart out, but if you really want to hear it, e-mail me and I’ll send you a URL where you can download it.

Please be gentle.

memories 3 Comments

Bye, Sheryls…

Just got home from saying good-bye to my Sheryls at Campus Pollyeyes in BG.

Sheryls, who recently helped me select a new wardrobe.
Sheryls, who hosted my bridal shower / bachelorette party.
Sheryls, who drove me to multiple job interviews at Image Source before I had a car.
Sheryls, who got away with lots of RCC rule violations on my watch. 🙂

*sigh* I’ll miss you! Aaron and I will have to come visit you in Boston sometime.

the ongoing saga of my job 3 Comments

Hitting A Wall

I woke up this morning and just couldn’t bring myself to go to work. It’s not that I hate my job or anything, because I don’t. (Granted, I don’t particularly enjoy it, either.) But I was exhausted and felt like I’d hit some sort of wall.

So, I took a mental health day.

If anyone asks, though, it was a mental health / catching-up day. Which is true: I worked on my website redesign and helped Aaron with the broken washing machine. And caught up on sleep.

During Amy’s visit and our marathon Grounds For Thought session, we decided that I should look for some graphic design classes to take, and maybe get a certificate or an Associates Degree. That way, I’d feel better about my skills and I’d be more confident when applying for jobs. After looking at my choices, though, I can’t really justify paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars to re-learn what I already know.

I found a web / graphic designer posting in Sunday’s Blade, so I sent my resume and portfolio to the e-mail address they gave. Today I got a reply: “This message is to confirm receipt of your email submission, dated 4/26/05.” This does not imbue me with confidence. Also, the scant research I did on the company confuses me, as their website appears to be currently nonexistent, with the domain name being registered by an individual in Seattle. o.O

Anyway, Aaron agreed that taking classes is a good idea, but that maybe I should go for something I *don’t* already know. Like Computer Science. If I knew .NET, or at least ASP and C++ and stuff like that, I’d be much more marketable. Truth be told, I do enjoy what programming I know, so it’s not like I’d be learning skills to get into a job I would hate. I don’t think.

So, yeah. Now that I have my sights set on the horizon yet again, going back to work at my lame bank job seems… lame. But whatcha gonna do? *shrug*

Update: Thread (formerly ImageSource) still has that job posting that I tried for a few months ago. I feel qualified, but at the same time, I feel like it’s just beyond my grasp. I want to cry. THIS is why I don’t get all in job-hunting mode very often.

photos 1 Comment

Birthday Visit From Amy

Myself and Amy, before heading out to lunch and a movie with Aaron. Two days after my birthday, and it’s snowing like a motherfucker. o.O See, Aaron? I *told* you it could happen, and not just in the snowbelt.

Other highlights of the weekend: opening presents from Christmas and Amy’s birthday; dinner with Amy, Aaron, Mark, and myself at Dolly & Joe’s; Amy’s and my three-hour discussion at Grounds For Thought in BG; and, of course, watching Sin City at Levis Commons.