I think Fletch's post below really hits on something remarkable.
Pride is expensive. If you need help, ask for help. Those around you and who love you will only be too happy to give it.
And, when the time comes, when you are in a position to help, pay it forward.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Remote Office Blogging
Today, Fletch and I will be blogging from the B-Cup Coffeeshop on 13th St and Ave B in Alphabet City. This is fun. Sam Cooke is playing. That makes me happy.
One of the stated purposes of this blog is to chronicle our experiences as we search for work. Today, we venture out of the solitude of our respective apartments and decide to be social! While some of the things we write about will be unique experiences, this one, spending the afternoon in a local non-corporate coffee shop, is probably one of the most universal experiences we will write about (you know, besides getting rejection letters).
Since, I don't quite know where else to take this post, I'll list some things I look for when picking a coffee shop:
1) Good Coffee. If you've read my previous posts, this is important to me. Today, I bought a coffee, and its pretty good.
2) Comfy Chairs. Unless you're reading a really difficult, old, nonsensical British case from like the 1600s where you need a really uncomfortable chair to keep you from falling asleep, comfy chairs are a must.
3) Non-corporate. I like to support my local small business owners. All things being equal, if a non-corporate coffee shop is across the street from Starbucks, I'll go with the small place every time.
4) Music. I love music. If the music sucks at a place, im going to put in my head phones, and tune out the world. And that kinda defeats the purpose of working in a coffee shop. So far, I've heard some Sam Cooke, some bloc party, some Zepplin, some Hendrix, and some Johnny Cash.
One of the stated purposes of this blog is to chronicle our experiences as we search for work. Today, we venture out of the solitude of our respective apartments and decide to be social! While some of the things we write about will be unique experiences, this one, spending the afternoon in a local non-corporate coffee shop, is probably one of the most universal experiences we will write about (you know, besides getting rejection letters).
Since, I don't quite know where else to take this post, I'll list some things I look for when picking a coffee shop:
1) Good Coffee. If you've read my previous posts, this is important to me. Today, I bought a coffee, and its pretty good.
2) Comfy Chairs. Unless you're reading a really difficult, old, nonsensical British case from like the 1600s where you need a really uncomfortable chair to keep you from falling asleep, comfy chairs are a must.
3) Non-corporate. I like to support my local small business owners. All things being equal, if a non-corporate coffee shop is across the street from Starbucks, I'll go with the small place every time.
4) Music. I love music. If the music sucks at a place, im going to put in my head phones, and tune out the world. And that kinda defeats the purpose of working in a coffee shop. So far, I've heard some Sam Cooke, some bloc party, some Zepplin, some Hendrix, and some Johnny Cash.
Cash Poor
I think it was my Dad who made this point to me, and I found it to be exellent.
I'm cash poor at the moment. That's all.
You know those times when all your assets are locked up in investments and for whatever reason you can't/don't want to sell the asset. That's how I am right now. All my cash is tied up in my biggest asset: me, and I'm non-fungible. I've invested heavily in myself. I put myself in roughly $200k in debt to get my JD. This limbo period will be brief in the long-run, and is all part of the game we signed up for.. Right now, its just a matter of tightening my belt, keeping my feet moving, being open-minded, and keeping a positive outlook.
The assets are there, the problem right now, is figuring out a way to monetize.
I'm cash poor at the moment. That's all.
You know those times when all your assets are locked up in investments and for whatever reason you can't/don't want to sell the asset. That's how I am right now. All my cash is tied up in my biggest asset: me, and I'm non-fungible. I've invested heavily in myself. I put myself in roughly $200k in debt to get my JD. This limbo period will be brief in the long-run, and is all part of the game we signed up for.. Right now, its just a matter of tightening my belt, keeping my feet moving, being open-minded, and keeping a positive outlook.
The assets are there, the problem right now, is figuring out a way to monetize.
WE GOT JOBS!!
(Although this is being posted from Bobby's account, it is a "Joint Post" and authorship should be attributed to both Fletch and Bobby)
Big News everyone, We got jobs!! Yep! Thats Right!! WE HAVE JOBS!
Ok, so maybe these jobs aren't as attorneys, but thats ok right!?!?
And, maybe these jobs aren't full time, but thats ok right!?!?
And, maybe these jobs aren't really even part time, but thats ok right!?!?
And, maybe these jobs are both really for only two days (or nights for Bobby) in November, but thats ok right!?!?
And, maybe Fletch is working the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and Bobby is working the door at an East Village bar, but thats ok right!?!?
Why are you guys taking such a nasty tone? You should feel fortunate to have these opportunities!
Now, don't read the sarcastic tone of this post and think we don't appreciate these jobs. We really appreciate having them. We feel fortunate. Seriously, you should have heard how excited we were to tell our respective parents (and each other!) about our good luck.
Good, so stop complaining. I thought these weren't victim's stories, right?
Well, this is where we are trying to walk a thin line. We do feel fortunate. We need this work. We want to keep roofs over our heads, and with winter coming, heat seems important. But, its difficult not to view this scene with a certain sense of detached amusement for some pretty obvious reasons. That's all.
Got it. Well, I suppose that makes sense.
By the way, Mr. Italic's Voice as A Lame Rhetorical Device, who are you?
I'm your better selves calling you forward to be better.
Then why do you have my Nintendo Wii, and a bunch of my DVDs?
Uhh, gotta go!
Big News everyone, We got jobs!! Yep! Thats Right!! WE HAVE JOBS!
Ok, so maybe these jobs aren't as attorneys, but thats ok right!?!?
And, maybe these jobs aren't full time, but thats ok right!?!?
And, maybe these jobs aren't really even part time, but thats ok right!?!?
And, maybe these jobs are both really for only two days (or nights for Bobby) in November, but thats ok right!?!?
And, maybe Fletch is working the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and Bobby is working the door at an East Village bar, but thats ok right!?!?
Why are you guys taking such a nasty tone? You should feel fortunate to have these opportunities!
Now, don't read the sarcastic tone of this post and think we don't appreciate these jobs. We really appreciate having them. We feel fortunate. Seriously, you should have heard how excited we were to tell our respective parents (and each other!) about our good luck.
Good, so stop complaining. I thought these weren't victim's stories, right?
Well, this is where we are trying to walk a thin line. We do feel fortunate. We need this work. We want to keep roofs over our heads, and with winter coming, heat seems important. But, its difficult not to view this scene with a certain sense of detached amusement for some pretty obvious reasons. That's all.
Got it. Well, I suppose that makes sense.
By the way, Mr. Italic's Voice as A Lame Rhetorical Device, who are you?
I'm your better selves calling you forward to be better.
Then why do you have my Nintendo Wii, and a bunch of my DVDs?
Uhh, gotta go!
Whats the Story Morning Glory?
Morning Everyone!
I've had friends say "If I were unemployed, I'd sleep till like noon everyday!"
That doesn't work for me. I like to be up early. It makes me feel better.
Right now I'm sipping some home-brewed french-pressed coffee. Simple pleasure.
I've had friends say "If I were unemployed, I'd sleep till like noon everyday!"
That doesn't work for me. I like to be up early. It makes me feel better.
Monday, November 1, 2010
What is... a PROFESSIONAL
What is… (to be determined)?
So here’s a section much like the previously begun “Why I…”
Like everything else in our blog, we haven’t a clue what it’ll become, but here we go.
What is a professional?
I was talking with my mother this weekend right after we had launched the blog when I noticed the adsense stats said we had made $0.85. We made 85 cents!! I quipped that we were now professional bloggers, and to my mother’s delight she joyously proclaimed she now had something to tell her friends.
Then I thought what makes someone a professional?
This seems like a simple question, right? A professional is someone who does something regularly for a fee that requires specific skills. Right?
On my first day of drama school at Carnegie Mellon, I remember a professor starting his welcome by saying we were all now professionals and welcome to the profession. At that moment I thought, “if I’m paying to attend, how does that make me a professional? Professionals get paid!”
So I decided to see what the dictionary might add.
From Merriam-Webster website:
Professional: of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession, or engaged in one of the learned professions.
Learned professions: a calling required specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation.
So did I just spend three years, acquire $200K of debt, to be a professional blogger about spending three years and acquiring $200k of debt? Love that circular logic.
Most of the artists I’ve known seem to say you become a professional once you get paid. Okay. I like that. However, before law school, I got paid doing odd jobs, selling t-shirts, building sets, selling computers and even painting. Yet I would never call myself a professional at any of these activities (especially painting, because that skill seems rather illusive). Whenever asked I’d say “I’m a professional actor, but this is how I’m paying my rent.”
How many of us have said these things before?
Well, if it makes my mother happy to say her unemployed overeducated deeply indebted son is a professional because he’s been paid about enough to cover the electric bills for the time spent online blogging, then great! For you mom, I’m a professional.
So for all the mother’s out there, I say let’s embrace that definition and apply it all around. I will now consider all those people who work, in whatever field they are employed as professionals in that field.
Therefore here in New York City, that means every waiter is not only a professional actor, each bartender is not just a professional musician, however every Barnes & Noble employee is still just a professional graduate student.
So as we continue our search for work, share with us what you do as a professional. What’s your profession?
Mark Ronson and the Business Intl
This has been my morning music. Check it out, its highly enjoyable.
The Myth of the Post-Bar Jobs
You hear it uttered casually as if its fact. I've heard it from the mouths of school administrators, friends, family, young lawyers, older lawyers, people down at the courthouse, and people hired by the school to talk to us about getting jobs. It goes something like this, "once you've, like, passed the bar, employers will tots be like 'here's some money in exchange for the goods and/or services you've supplied for me today!'" (while I presented that as a direct quote it was actually more of a paraphrase).
There is an old saying in politics, that if you say something enough it becomes truth. Well, right now, among other people similarly situated as unemployed, recently graduated, bar-results awaiting young adults, the story that jobs will appear once bar results are released is the effing gospel. Except, unlike other oft-cited potential untruths, like the Yeti is Saskatawani (we all know he's British Colombian), W. Bush ran a successful business, and women are just as smart as men ( I kid, I kid, we all know women are WAYYY smarter than men), this one will have a day of reckoning very soon.
And I really hope this one is true!
There is an old saying in politics, that if you say something enough it becomes truth. Well, right now, among other people similarly situated as unemployed, recently graduated, bar-results awaiting young adults, the story that jobs will appear once bar results are released is the effing gospel. Except, unlike other oft-cited potential untruths, like the Yeti is Saskatawani (we all know he's British Colombian), W. Bush ran a successful business, and women are just as smart as men ( I kid, I kid, we all know women are WAYYY smarter than men), this one will have a day of reckoning very soon.
And I really hope this one is true!
My Ads! Let me Show you them!
As a courtesy to the fine, handsome, generous, and motivated writers of this blog, all ads clicked on will be GREATLY appreciated. It just takes a second!
Monday Mornings
Monday mornings are a weird beast when you are unemployed. For the working folks out here, Monday mornings seem to have a multi-faceted association: there is dread for a new work week, anticipation for the unknown, and a re-focusing of oneself after the weekend.
For me, Monday mornings have all that too. But, its different. I also have a sense of dread, except its "another week without a job", there is anticipation, except its "maybe this week I'll get the job!", and there is definitely refocusing, except its "I'm gunna stay on top of my shit this week!"
So far this morning, I've walked Lilly (I'm dogsitting for the weekend), made coffee (see below), and breakfast. I've cleaned my apt, and written about 15 emails. Soon, I'm going to check my usual job listings to see if anything worth pursuing has been listed (and then check again 5 mins later because you NEVER KNOW!).
The thing is though, at some point there just isn't any more cleaning to do, no more emails I can write today, and once you hit the point, it leaves you with a "huh, now how am I going to spend the day while attempting to spend $0?" And that is the point where after spending the energy refocusing from the weekend, the wind can get let out of your sails and discouragement can sink in. It can be a major let down, and I've been there. But today, it aint happening. I dont know what I'm going to do once I hit that weird point, but its gunna be AWESOME.
If you've got any suggestions, lets me know!
For me, Monday mornings have all that too. But, its different. I also have a sense of dread, except its "another week without a job", there is anticipation, except its "maybe this week I'll get the job!", and there is definitely refocusing, except its "I'm gunna stay on top of my shit this week!"
So far this morning, I've walked Lilly (I'm dogsitting for the weekend), made coffee (see below), and breakfast. I've cleaned my apt, and written about 15 emails. Soon, I'm going to check my usual job listings to see if anything worth pursuing has been listed (and then check again 5 mins later because you NEVER KNOW!).
The thing is though, at some point there just isn't any more cleaning to do, no more emails I can write today, and once you hit the point, it leaves you with a "huh, now how am I going to spend the day while attempting to spend $0?" And that is the point where after spending the energy refocusing from the weekend, the wind can get let out of your sails and discouragement can sink in. It can be a major let down, and I've been there. But today, it aint happening. I dont know what I'm going to do once I hit that weird point, but its gunna be AWESOME.
If you've got any suggestions, lets me know!
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