Kids' books should not be depressing

I just finished reading "Meet Kit" to Abigail. It's one of the American Girl books, which I generally find to be wonderful. I loved the earliest series as a kid, and so far Molly is Abigail's favorite.

But tonight was Kit. Kit lived in 1932. Kit's world was waaaay too similar to today's world. Her dad lost his job, people are losing their homes, the economy is in a shambles. Kit is not good escapism right now. We need to go back to World War II's Molly, or pioneer Kirsten, my personal favorite. I don't need to read about my own life!

Waving the literary white flag

I'm very sorry, Vicky, but I have to give up. I have tried to get through The Secret Agent, but I'm just getting lost in all the description of individuals. I keep dozing off. I like description, give me an expansive Hardy landscape, but I can't get into these in-depth thought processes of people of varying importance. It took too long for the "event' to happen, and now the investigation is getting bogged down, too. So I'm really sorry, I've tried to love it, but I'm going to put it away at about page 100. Other tomes are calling my name.

It hurts to not get through a piece of literary fiction. I can pitch mass-market without guilt, but I'm supposed to like Conrad, right? I liked Heart of Darkness the second time through, really! But he's lost me.

And I saw part of a Masterpiece version of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and I'm dying to read it again :)

Holiday photos

Hopefully, Brad is wowing the hiring committee at SCAD and we will soon have reason to celebrate. Until then, some photos!

The big Christmas hit was the ginormous Barbie house. Though she also loved Trouble from Santa!


Cut-out sugar cookies are always a must at Grandma's.


We went to Pensacola Beach on Christmas Day. A thick fog blanketed the area, and the light on the water was amazing. It was a very surreal beach trip.


My favorite from the beach. Monochromatic with silver light.


We also went to Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile, AL, for a light show. It was huge and quite entertaining. The drive home without blankie, not so much.

An afternoon

I have some time before I get Abigail from school, and nothing pressing, so I thought I'd think "aloud" here. I'd love to post pictures, but that means getting time on the PC. I will soon. I got some beautiful shots of Pensacola Beach in the fog on Christmas Day.

Life is still progressing. We're still looking for employment like the rest of the country, it seems. We're haven't given up hope yet, though, and my publisher is still going to go ahead with trying to relaunch the magazine. If he gets enough advertising interest, I'll have a job again in a month!

But I'm not convinced this journalism thing will work in the long run. It just doesn't make much money and is in such flux right now. I've never been a hugely idealistic person, and I can handle just doing a job well and getting my meaning from other aspects of life. So I've been trying to think of what other kinds of careers might suit me. I'm very organized, very responsible, good work-ethic. Repetitiveness doesn't bother me toooo much. But I still want to work with words or communication, not just be a secretary. A thought struck me yesterday: librarian. Hmmmm. Surrounded by books, talking to people about books, organization in the highest degree, interaction with people ... and a master's that would only take 1.5 years full time. Hmmmmm. There's supposed to be a huge wave of retirements in the next few years, so demand is actually supposed to be good. And libraries have become hugely popular again in the economic downturn. This may be worth thought. I wouldn't do public school, but university or community library could be fun. A friend of ours' sister is a librarian, I need to talk to her.

And I could still do some freelance writing if I wanted. Or start a blog about the secret lives of librarians and feed into people's weird fetishes :) Just call me Marian, Madam Librarian.

Fall in review

It has been a busy fall. So busy, in fact, that I haven't had time to get on the PC, which is where our pictures go, to blog. I finally snuck a few minutes, so before it becomes winter, I give you Fall 2008.

Abigail and I went to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. I was pleasantly surprised, it's a really nice zoo!

At the zoo, there were these great little birds called lorikeets that you could feed nectar out of a cup. The zookeeper told us that if we were still, the birds might land on our hand to eat the nectar.

Or head, you know, close enough. Abigail laughed delightedly for a few seconds, said she was okay, then asked in a slightly panicked voice: "Can you get them off me now?"

That was not long before Halloween. Last year's indian was followed by this year's cowgirl.

See the patch on the vest? Abigail sewed the ribbon and button on herself.

The next dress up opportunity was the grand Thanksgiving feast at school. "Beautiful Rose" enjoyed herself.


And more dress up! Aunt Amanda and Uncle David arrived for an early Christmas and scored big with a knight costume. Or rather rescue princess costume.


While they were in town, we took the Dunces to Uptown Charlotte and simply had to share with them the joys of light rail. Naturally, being Londoners, they had never heard of this new-fangled public transit notion.


And finally, to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, we present The Wee Tree. It's just so cute!


Off to Florida for a week of escapism. See you in 2009!

Have a seat

A picture on the front page of the Wall Street Journal caught Abigail's eye this morning. It was Ill. Gov. Blagojevich in a wood-paneled room. She asked me what room the man was in, and I told her I didn't know and it wasn't important. To which she replied, "I know who he is! He's the man who's trying to sell the chair!" Chair, chair -- oh!, Obama's Senate seat, yes, a chair! We let our little girl watch way too much national news. A few moments later she wandered over to feed her fish, where she announced, "I think the the prosecutors are right."

Move over, Patrick Fitzgerald.

Small parenting success

I have fulfilled one small duty as a mother -- or at least for me as a mother: My daughter loves Bing Crosby Christmas music. Chalk one up for Mommy.

Many things have been going on. Turkey was consumed. Pumpkin was devoured. Lots of games were played. It was a good holiday; I hope yours was, too. My dear sister and her Dunce stopped by for a very nice three day visit. We went to the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, via light rail, and enjoyed the very kid-friendly Charlotte-through-the-ages exhibit and some stunning photographs of rural eastern North Carolina. We tried to go bowling, but didn't quite plan on Sunday being league day and were hurried out after just one game. And my sister entertained Abigail wonderfully, playing anything Abigail suggested in exactly the manner Abigail suggested -- which is great for aunts who are here only for three days, not so great for mommies. Otherwise we spent lots of time indoors as it was about 40 degrees and raining all weekend. We did play lots of Ticket to Ride, probably my favorite game, and their new favorite, Chrononauts. A good time was had by all. Now we just have to return the visit to the Dunces in London soon. Well, after a few months of employment.

On that front, things are at least moving for Brad. He's gotten several initial responses from companies, some more desirable than others. He has a phone interview for a job here tomorrow and then theoretically an in-person interview in Atlanta this week -- hmm, maybe next week at this point. I haven't seen much for me, though I am doing some thrilling freelance writing for my old paper at the moment -- Shana, I got suckered into Career Connections. My former publisher is making serious noises about restarting the magazine in a new incarnation at the turn of the year, though, so if we are still around, that's promising. At least things are in motion for both of us.

I should have some lovely incriminating photos of family members soon. Stay tuned.

Happy December!

What a disappointment

Drat. Brad found the most interesting sounding job online yesterday. We were both going to apply for it. It was for a writer for a relief organization in Virginia, and it sounded so fulfilling. There would have been so much purpose behind the job -- international hunger aid, water purification, disaster response both domestically and internationally. Just applying was going to feel so good.

But it was a Christian-based group. Initially we thought it was ecumenical, only loosely affiliated with evangelical groups. Then I took the time to fill out an application form, and at the bottom where you swear everything you said is true, there was a line vowing not to use alcohol. At all. Even in your personal life. For one, I find that ridiculous and think people that say Christians can't drink are silly. For another, I go to a church where I drink wine every week -- where I give my 6-year-old wine every week. I'm not going to lie to a Chrisian relief organization.

So darn. If only ELCA relief groups weren't based in Minnesota.

A new addition

To my links, that is. I've seen Failblog before, but Carrots reminded me of its existence. I've just guffawed for half an hour, and I needed that!

I can't breathe!

A fictitious Obama campaign staff sings "One Day More" from Les Miserables. I don't think I've laughed that hard since I first saw Tina Fey do Palin! Go Here

Cloven hoofs

My husband has a thing for goats -- as in he finds them endlessly amusing, even their mere existence. So he put them in a story.

Oh, and

the PC lives again. So we have resumed marital bliss with two computers and no competing for online time.

Bang

When you are looking for work and float out to the Internet job sites a vague title like "writer," you get very interesting results. Especially if you include the D.C. area in your searches:

Ammunition Handling Doctrine Writer

I've heard of snake handling, but this is a new one. Bet that's an interesting religion.

Searching for public affairs also brings up fun new careers: Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Specialist and Social Norms Marketing Coordinator.

Editor is generally not as interesting, but here's one I'm sure my sister would tell me to go for: Assistant Editor, AMERICAN HUNTER (the NRA).

Virginia is the place to be.

Offline

Our home computer died this weekend. We might be able to revive it, but it is six years old and had been complaining for a while. We're only missing a few files -- namely my resume and address book and a few pieces of Brad's portfolio -- but it hasn't been as bad as it could have been. Luckly, I still have my Mac, so we're sharing like good children and taking turns going to the public library (I have 12 minutes remaining ...).

So I won't be spending much time blogging for a bit. I just wanted to update before I disappeared. I will let you know when: I've got a job, Brad's got a job, we move, we get a new computer, or any combination of the above. We have prospects, we are pursuing them, and we are trying our damnedest to be patient.

Mom, I don't have your addresses anymore, so here's the Pumpkin Apple Streussel Muffin recipe. I substituted whole wheat flour for white and applesauce for the oil, reduced the sugar by 1/2 cup, and used a whole can of pumpkin rather than one cup. If anyone else wants to try these, they're FABULOUS.

I am still breathing. Really.

The plug has been pulled on my beautiful magazine. There's a chance the publisher may relaunch in the spring, but I'm not going to wait around for that. It hurts. Not so much about the money -- it was just part time and would have only bought us a couple more months -- but my pride is going to suffer greatly telling people the magazine is gone. Especially if former coworkers find out, even though I'll never know what they say.

We of course fell victim to the economy. The editorial content was great. I heard so many glowing compliments, so many people telling me it was the best publication they'd seen in this area. I was really proud of it. But the ads just weren't there. A dumb choice was made for an ad sales rep initially, then we didn't have time to recover before the bottom fell out on Wall Street.

So now I'm stressed out. I shouldn't really be, this now gives us geographic flexibility and perhaps greater odds with both of us looking for full-time work. But I'm still stressed. We're both unemployed, and that's scary.

Would you retake this?

Ah, school pictures. Especially with glasses. Should I even bother having this retaken?


Hmmm, now that I see it on here, it doesn't look quite as smirky. I don't know ...

He resurfaces

My dear husband has re-entered the blogosphere and has a lovely initial post. Enjoy.

To cope with the news

I lead a Sunday school class (I know, I still can't believe it!), and the chapter we were supposed to read just didn't speak to me this week. So I went trolling online for passages about dealing with financial anxiety -- I know that's what my mind was occupied with most of this past week! I came upon this lovely prayer that the Church of England put on its Web site:

Lord God, we live in disturbing days,
across the world,
prices rise,
debts increase,
banks collapse,
jobs are taken away,
and fragile security is under threat.
Loving God, meet us in our fear and hear our prayer:
be a tower of strength amidst the shifting sands,
and a light in the darkness;
help us receive your gift of peace,
and fix our hearts where true joys are to be found,
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thank you, Rowan Williams (though I question some of your comma usage).

Socratic life

The only thing I know is that I know nothing. Someone just tell me what comes next and what I'm supposed to do when, and I'll do it. I'm tired of thinking about the myriad versions of the future.

Fall

And what has been happening in my world, you may ask? Well, nothing particularly exciting, where I felt I should write to share my thrill and encourage you to do the same. But it also hasn't been an uneventful month.

As of Friday, we will be down to one part-time salary. Hooray! What fun! For many complicated reasons, Brad quit his job. He's leaving on good terms, with lots of good references, and we both feel that it's truly the right thing to do despite the worst economy since the Depression. We have savings, we are fine at least until March. What's next is anyone's guess. Best-case scenario, Brad finds a stop-gap job so we don't touch the savings, and I start looking for full-time work at the turn of the year. We then move for my job. And Brad? Well, serious talk has been bantered about regarding an MFA. As in I'm pushing him to get one and actually be HAPPY. Ideally, he would really like the program at University of South Carolina -- easiest move, good chance of a job for me, still close to family and friends -- but he's going to look at a few others, too, rather than just doing convenient. Let's hope he actually likes USC. (I can still be a Tiger, right?)

So eventful, but nothing anyone actually likes to talk about, right? Beyond that, the weather is lovely and I can't wait for full-on fall to arrive. Anyone for camping the end of October? We're thinking Kings Mountain State Park. We'll provide s'mores, BYO-everything else.