Month: January 2019

  • Work Clothes

    Things have picked up for me on the job front. I’m starting to get interviews now, which is a relief, and hopefully, I will be gainfully employed by the end of the month. (I’m still working on writing professionally, but that nut will take a little time to crack, and I have bills that need to be paid.)

    As I gear up for these interviews, and also to getting back into the workforce, I have been dusting off my work clothes, so I can start looking professional and put together again. (Being unemployed does lends itself to leisurewear rather easily.) I have been working in the arts for the past 10 years, and it is an industry that, I would say, prides itself on casual work clothes, rather than formal. It is the arts after all, and the emphasis is being an individual, while the business world is about uniformity; being predictable.

    I have found that in my roles for arts management jobs, I needed to wear a shirt and tie to feel comfortable. I am not a formal clothing person in my day to day, or creative life (Please refer to the leisurewear statement above,) but what I found out was that it was easier for me to do these art administration jobs if, in a sense, I put on a “costume” to do them. Such as, playing a character. Then, when I got home, I would take the “costume” off and separate myself from that work. Not that it always happened, but I knew when I got out of those clothes, the job was done for the day.

  • New Year Admission

    I had taken the past two weeks off to just focus on my family, and especially my kid, over the Holiday Season. With all the changes that have happened to us, I wanted to make sure she felt like she had my complete focus.

    When I did have time for myself, I read. This year for Christmas, my wife got me the novel “Transit” by Rachel Cusk. I have wanted this book for some time and placed it on list of books I would like. In all honesty, I think it was near the bottom of the list, but I was thrilled to receive it as a gift. I read the book in four days; that’s how much I enjoyed.

    But I am not here today to talk about that novel, or my opinion of it.

    I am here to admit that in 2018, I only read two books; “Transit,” and “Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana.” I started reading half a dozen books this past year, but I only completed reading two.

    It’s a little shameful to admit that, but as we enter a new year, I think honesty is of the top order.

    I made this self-discovery as soon as I finished “Transit.” As I closed that volume, I thought about what I should read next… and that’s when I remembered about the box, which I still haven’t unpacked, that contains all the books that were sitting on my old desk I NYC, that I planned on finishing.

    And that’s the key; planned on, but never did. The scary thing is that I think this has been a trend for the past few years.

    As I start this new year, not that I really consider this a resolution, I need to read more than two books.

    Let’s see if I can do three.