keeping on my toes
April 6, 2008
a public relations professor of mine in college once told us that we should interview “at least once” each year just to keep our interviewing skills polished. not only was it to keep on my professional toes under pressure, but it was also a good chance to be seeing the best opportunities in the industry and, therefore, not get too stagnant at one spot while better jobs float by. PLUS it’s challenging — and hugely beneficial — to be able to articulate your most valuable attributes as they expanded.
i’ve been good about this advice for each year since i left grad school five years ago. well, until this year; almost. i just today updated my resume and cover letter after playing online and randomly discovering what sounds like a great opportunity.
i’ve been courted this year, which was super flattering but ultimately not the right time, yet i didn’t update my resume for that. i didn’t seek out the opportunity — it came to me. so as i jumped into my resume this afternoon and went over my past experience, i was pleasantly surprised to see how incredibly applicable all my work done to-date has been geared toward my current job. and my future success in the industry.
that is, assuming i want to stay in this industry. yipes.
so i’ll flirt with the potential that exists for me out there — here, there, anyway — ultimately in an exercise of keeping on my toes and to combat that restlessness that plagues me.
the facebook information effect
April 3, 2008
the facebook information effect, a phrase i’ve now coined that isn’t ambiguous whatsoever, is what happens when i learn something startling from (a) the news feed updater screen or (b) someone’s profile pictures (c) someone’s friends, who leave revealing messages on said person’s wall or (d) other people’s photos that have said person tagged.
in the past six months, i’ve learned that two of my friends’ engagements had ended — after learning each was engaged on facebook many months earlier — and that an old college teammate was pregnant. i also, had he approved me when i sent the friend request initally, would have learned that an acquaintance’s wife had just berthed their twin boys — i didn’t even know they were pregnant. i’ve learned about parties and concerts and private things i probably shouldn’t learn.
the facebook information effect strikes all of us in the network nearly simultaneously, at which point we immediately begin pursuing each other to learn if they’d seen the same information.
so much for the phone tree effect of gossip. this is more like a phone forest.
who am i? (in a 40-by-40px slot)
February 7, 2008
having an icon brings people joy. i’m constantly getting feedback on various icons — from im to twitter and everything in between. and i give feedback, too. my friend has a picture of a taco as his icon. it looks so delicious.
finding the perfect icon to match my various moods and purposes is a struggle, and i know i’m not alone. and, since i have no life, i can spend months searching for this icon. people are constantly challenged to find a great photo of themselves, or of something representative, or maybe make an avatar or whatever. you hear about it all the time, too; when people misrepresent themselves by posting shots that make them look ultra hot.
but WHY WOULDNT THEY? why would i want to post a picture of myself looking like a moron? seriously, we all have our hang-ups. i’m not photogenic, so i rarely try taking normal smiling pictures. i see through them, through the smile and into the brain that’s thinking, “this picture is going to look forced. you’d be so much more comfortable just opening your mouth and sticking out your tongue.”
hence, why my life on flickr is mostly of my tonsils.
so then i reconcile with my non-photogenic self by uploading icons that represent me somehow; my alma mater’s mascot, a dog i saw in eastern market that makes me squeal “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” whenever i see pictures of him, or my legs and a corona overlooking the ocean in pawley’s island. these three, for instance, in many ways are much much cooler than of me fake smiling like a goon.
but seriously, include SOMETHING. facebook, for instance, kind of inherently requests that you include your face as a means to participate in the community. why join with the giant question mark as your profile pic? does a question mark represent you? do you want to project emptiness and confusion?
no! of course not!
c’mon. go nuts!
new comment: get a life!!!
i was greeted by a stranger’s attempts to virtually shake me today when i was notified of the following comment on my dsw post:
Get A Life!!!
with capped first letters and three exclamation points, no less. the impact was incredible. thanks to this comment, i went out and cured cancer. life will never be the same.
i almost approved it because, well, i don’t like to censor myself or the thoughts around me. but then i decided to delete it and blog about it instead so i could put it in proper context. my context.
so this one intrigued me — this person found my blog by googling “dsw.” this person clearly had such a life that s/he was googling dsw in the first place, then was so important that s/he had the time to read my rather senseless post. then, this person managed to find the time in his/her busy life that s/he actually took the time to tell me to get one.
me. a total stranger.
so i take time out of my day to ruminate about completely benign things. uh, does that mean i’m a huge loser? i guess i could go steal or run over squirrels or start fights with homeless people instead. but seriously, i find blogging personally medicinal; i’m able to release whatever negativity i’m carrying by barfing it all into this blog. then that negative energy doesn’t permeate my day, because i know i can release it later through my words.
funny enough, people find it equally entertaining to read. so they keep coming back. to read about my non-life, apparently.
something similar happened when i blogged about superbad, which i contend is not judd apatow’s best movie. some dude left me a seriously judgmental comment. with words like “gunna.” (yes, i responded to him. and yes, i point out his poor english usage. i felt justified.)
where do these people come from? they just jump into total strangers’ blogs and attempt no intelligent discourse. they draw an immediate impression and judge away. anonymity obviously gives people the ability to be blatant assholes without recourse. what’s hilarious is that they probably click “submit” and think, “ha! that’ll show her!”
yes, you are right, stranger. i see the light now. thanks.