Hiatus

     Due to schedule changes, rethinking things, and not liking to fall behind on schedule, I am going to take a (hopefully short) hiatus from posting while I work some things out. One way or another, there will be something posted by the beginning of August; here's a quick something to consider til then.

     I am one of those people who loves and hates schedules. On the one hand, I really need deadlines to motivate myself to do things, but on the other, after a while it starts feeling like a chore. Generally speaking, I try to step back and re-evaluate my life, my outlook on things, and what I've committed myself to about every 6 months. I realize, however, that I haven't done that in a while. First it was "gotta finish up the linguistics degree," then it became "gotta add Russian to the mix," then "just gotta finish Russian, make it through graduation," "no wait, gotta make it through the move," and now, I realize, it has become "gotta find a job!"

FTP 56 - Learning

And yet society has taught us, these days, that we should fear failure. There is a difference between striving for success, and being so wary of someone else finding out that we fail- an integral part of reaching successfulness- that you don't even try. 

Buck society, try new things, fall on your face, pick yourself up, and keep going. There is more shame in stagnation and backwardness (in my opinion) than in trying and failing until you make it happen. Cheers!

Job search, part 3 - Interviews

     I suspect that I am not alone when saying that interviews are stressful. You have a limited amount of time, sitting in a room with strangers, to explain how you work and how you can directly benefit them while trying not to sound like a braggart or a liar. While there is some prep work that you can (and definitely should) do, such as researching the company website and re-reading the job posting before you go so you know what, specifically, they're looking for, it's still being put on the spot.

     For the longest time, I approached interviews as one would an interrogation: prepared to answer any question, and slightly suspicious of ulterior motives help by those in charge. It wasn't until I moved out to Colorado and went to an interview while tired and jet-lagged that I realized I was doing myself a disservice by approaching it thusly. In that interview, I just acted like myself, said what crossed my mind, and actually took one of the interviewers to task for asking insulting questions in a snide tone of voice. I was later informed that he did that to everyone, and only people who stood up to him and didn't take his crap were hired. I don't think that's a particularly great way to conduct an interview, but it helped me realize I needed to change my view.

Delay til Tuesday

Still working on getting my schedule worked out, so today's post is going to be posted tomorrow. There may be some changes to the posting schedule in the future, but for now, it's just one day behind. See you tomorrow!

For now, just remember it could be worse; your day could be something like this:

Cheers!

FTP 55 - Weird

     Remember Disney's version of Alice in Wonderland? While it wasn't quite faithful to the book (what movie ever is?), I remember being amazed at how many little details of weirdness they put in it, and wondering why Alice didn't want to stop and check them all out.

But realistically, when life gets weird, sometimes all you can do is keep going, try to keep your head above water, and hope that you reach the end before your ability to deal with it all runs out. Accept that life is bizarre, shake your head that it's happening to you, and keep going. Eventually, things will return to normal, and you'll have some fantastic stories to tell.