where HAVE i been?

i'll just skip over any apology to my readers. i know i've talked to the two of you in the months intervening my posts anyway. at this point, this blog seems to be really for myself and i can't even keep it up with that in mind. 

a couple months ago, i got a call from my boss. given to pessimism, at least internally, i'd imagined a call like this before. it was still a big shock. "we're going to have to move you to part time." to be honest, it was not as bad as i feared. but i was not getting a raise, either. so i began again my uncertain search for a new job, either part or full time. 

i had about a month from that phone call until my pay went to part time. i don't remember exactly how many applications i submitted. i don't want to exaggerate and claim it was in the hundreds, but 50 is safe number. the month began to wind down and i had no real leads. i'm not naturally inclined towards stress, but that last week, i felt like some giant thing was grinding mercilessly towards me and would certainly crush me. that's bit melodramatic, but it felt that way. 

providentially, i received two calls back later that week. one landed me a job interviewing teenagers for a study with a university here in town. it was supposed to last until this summer. it ended this week instead. while i'm grateful for the work, it got old. really fast. for the past month i was cruising malls, creepily asking teenagers for their opinion. recruiting anyone for a survey can be draining work. getting turned down by pre-teens was excruciating at times.

but, like i said, it was work. now, i'm back to the drawing board. i've got a couple more leads that will hopefully materialize into some manual labor soon. after a few years of white collar boredom, it'll be nice to get paid for using my hands again. 

i'm also hoping to branch out in my regular work. though only a hobby, i have always enjoyed graphic design (new logo, above). i'm going to begin tutorial in adobe's latest creative suite sometime next month. i hope i can develop this an additional skill. depending on my success, i may even go back to school. but i'm not willing to think about that too much right now. so if you're in need of a little design work, let me know. i'm completely fine learning on the job.

so there's my explanation for the past few months. look for another post sometime around july.