At my limit.

I'm having a tough time supporting someone who is themselves going through a hard time because I am constantly reminded of some of my own past problems. I almost don't know how to help this person without turning into a blubbering mess myself. I know that this is not about me, and I'm trying really hard to focus on that fact so that I can be there for this person, but it's been really difficult thus far.

What about personal responsibility?

I was discussing this recent news story with my coworker CL today about how this woman actually sued her college because she hadn't found a job in the three months since she graduated. She blamed the career services department, and claimed that they didn't do enough outreach and networking on her behalf.

CL commented that she thought it was a pointless suit because this grad's inability to get a job wasn't the "fault" of the school, but rather the fault of the economy, and that the current economic situation means that unfortunately a lot of graduates are struggling to find work in their fields. CL also commented that, unfortunately, due to the economy recent grads and job seekers in general are often obliged to take jobs for which they are over-qualified, but that's an unfortunate side-effect of the recession. This grad implied that jobs in the retail and service industries were beneath someone like her.

While I agree with what CL said, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this lawsuit-happy recent grad is completely delusional, and has a ridiculous sense of self-importance. She place the onus of finding a job on the school alone. It seems like she seriously expected to put in the minimum amount of effort and still have jobs thrown her way.

And while I don't want to make any personal attacks on this woman, she has a GPA of 2.7. Unfortunately, that doesn't make her an outstanding candidate on paper. And since there are far more candidates for fewer jobs, I'd think that a less-than-stellar GPA would drop her name down a few slots on a potential employer's list of candidates. So she should, with that knowledge, really try a bit harder to show off her positive attributes.

People FAR more experienced and qualified than this woman have gone months and even years without finding "the right" position. The ones that I know have made some really serious efforts to find a job - any job or jobs - that will get them through the next couple of lean years.

Hopefully this woman will take a good, hard look at herself AND the world around her and realize that even in the best of times, we don't always get what we want when we want it, much less in times like these. And because of that, everyone - job-seekers and working people alike - unfortunately have to work harder to get what they want, and sometimes get less than what they want.

Sting, why do you tempt me so?

Oh Joy of Joys! I opened my e-mail inbox this morning to see a message from the Philadelphia Orchestra announcing a concert that they were putting on with Sting! Yay! I love Sting. I think his music is deeply moving at times, and at the same time, it can be rather catchy and mainstream.

So my disappointment was palpable when I find out that the tickets (for the January 2010 show) are going to be $200 a pop! OUCH. So what if it's their anniversary concert? Sting and Philadelphia Orchestra, why do you tease me so?

Movie-inspired spontaneity!

Saturday afternoon, S, C and I went to see The Hangover. If you haven't seen it, stop what you're doing right now, and go see it. I don't care if it's the middle of the day. I don't care if you're at work or school. Just get up and go, and you won't regret it!

For those of you who don't know, The Hangover is about 4 friends who go to Las Vegas for one guy's bachelor party, and then of course, craziness ensues. From the very first scene, it was hilarious! So off-the-wall and crazy, but each and every ludicrous moment had a huge side of truth to it!

Anyway, after the movie, we went to get a bite to eat, and then decided to hop in the car and drive to Atlantic City! It was SO much fun! Other than going to Caesars, the similarities to the movie ended there. We gambled a bit (S won, C and I did not), and played in the ocean. We took a really fun ride on the boardwalk in a rolling chair with a driver who was either drunk on life, or drunk on alcohol.

I realized two things after this adventure. First, I really, really, really need to do more fun, crazy spontaneous things! Second, I heart Bradley Cooper.

I have a substance abuse problem...

Is there rehab for people addicted to yarn?



Although almost all of the yarn that I bought today are for Christmas gifts. I realized that it'll take me until Christmas to knit all of the gifts that I want to make.

I'm back!

After a hiatus from the blogosphere, I've returned! There are simultaneously so many, and so few reasons why I've been away for so long.

First, I've been trying to spend more time living my life. I spent a lovely long weekend in Miami just about a month ago. I had a fantastic time, and I'm really hard to resist the urge to make this a regular trip! But that trip gets it's own post...

I also officially started my new job! SO I'm no longer a consultant at CHOP, rather, I am a full time, salaried Senior Research Associate in the PolicyLab. My new job is great -- interesting and challenging at the same time. There are constantly new things being thrown my way, and I'm figuring out how to juggle them all reasonably well. I really like my 2 bosses, which makes the job all the better. Plus, I already knew a lot of the people in our department from when I worked at CHOP 3 years ago, so it's like going back home, in a way.

I also went to one of the fireworks celebration Phillies games with my parents -- my Father's Day gift for my dad (but of course, my mom had to come too). That'll also get its' own post -- because I had such an awesome time, the Phils WON, the fireworks were fantastic, and I took a bunch of pictures!

Finally, last but not least, I went to DC a couple of weekends ago to hang out with CC and to go to King's Dominion with him, his girlfriend and another friend of theirs. I had such a great time -- I LOVE amusement parks! The roller-coasters, the funnel cake, the people watching... it all made for a really good time.

So anyway, I'm back. Commence celebrations.

All quiet on the blogging front

It dawned on me that I haven't posted anything here recently. There hasn't been much going on, so I've been keeping quiet and laying low. I'm actually working -- full time, permanently now! So I've just been plugging along, getting to know the ropes on the projects that I'm working on, and reacquainting myself with old friends and co-workers. I'll have more soon... I have a couple of knitting projects on the needles that I'll share if I like the way that they turn out; I have a photography project that I've been tooling around with; and I'm going on a mini-vacation next weekend, so maybe I'll have some stories after I get back! Until then...

I thought this was MY blog.

When I first started this... experiment, I thought that it would be much like a journal, but less griping and bitching. I thought that this was a place where I could share my thoughts and comments and ideas, and people may or may not read them. And while I do think that this blog is for me, I do also try to take into consideration the feelings of the people who might be reading this. I try not to use peoples' names to protect their privacy. I haven't really put very many pictures of people up here. And I keep my opinions about other people quiet, because this is NOT a gossip blog.

But now I find myself in the position of not blogging something because of the possibility that someone might read it and be offended or hurt by it. I'm really angry right now. I want to scream and yell and vent all of this anger and frustration, and I can't. I want to tell this person to get the $%@# over themselves, and that they just need to move on. I want to tell this person to stop dumping all of their crap on me and other people. I want to explain why I wish this person would just shut the hell up, but I can't. But I just can't take this person anymore. The ultimate frustration is that, despite my unmitigated anger with this person, I can't really let it all off my chest because I don't want to offend them on MY blog. My head is going to explode...

Update to a previous post...

Rather be grant writing (which I AM doing) than doing this...

P.S. When I told her that I wasn't going to the wedding, she said that "hopefully they won't treat YOU this way when it's YOUR turn to get married." HA!

Random positive side-effect of grant writing

I have been compiling this massive table for my grant that includes everyone that all of the investigators (there are about 20 of them) have ever mentored during the course of their careers (I know, it's ridiculously stupid...). Anyway, one of the names ended up being that of one of my old college friends! And then I just happened to see her log on to Facebook! And when I said "hello!", she called me chiclet. I haven't been called that in a long time. I miss old college friends!