Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Job hunting is an excruciating process. That’s probably reality check #8131341 for me, but seriously…it sucks. You prepare your resume and cover letter (and in my case, writing samples) and then email those few documents off to someone who usually doesn’t know you and has never met you, and cross your fingers (In addition to crossing my fingers, I sit impatiently at my computer and wait for Gmail to notify me of a new message in my inbox that has nothing to do with Facebook and everything to do with my career…but I digress).

You hope that your cover letter is more dynamic than the 10 or 100 that the hiring manager has already received that day, and you hope that your resume somehow takes on a life of its own and compels him or her to respond to your email, or even better, to pick up the phone and call you.

I applied for about six jobs or assignments last week. Among those applications were responses to current job postings, along with various query emails to editors of magazines that I’m interested in contributing to. After almost a week of extremely impatient waiting, the phone rang. Finally! I landed an interview for Tuesday, and now have a chance to make an impression that is more than simply my name, education, and work experience on virtual paper.

In all honesty, I’m relieved. I’m weary of experiencing moments of clutching fear where I doubt myself and all that I know. I’m not going to relax and uncross my fingers just yet though: Right now, I need all the luck I can get.

I love new shoe day.

New shoe day is the day when you lace up your blindingly white Nikes for the first of many runs, and you dash up the hill much faster than usual. You have an extra spring in your step, and the workout seems less like a workout and more like fun. You finish your usual mileage in what feels like half of the time, and you feel alive. The shoes are a bit stiff, of course, since they haven’t molded to your feet yet. That will come later, in about three more runs.

Then the shoes will be perfect…still new, but molded uniquely to the arch of your feet and the curves of your ankles.

I think I can finally call myself a runner.

Learn How to Fall

On Sunday, I reunited with a friend from high school for the first time since November 2005 (Our lack of face time had everything to do with geography and nothing to do with the state of our friendship). As we enjoyed lunch and iced tea under the hot L.A. sunshine (I have the burns to prove it!), we began reminiscing about our time in school together.

Now, at 21 and 22, we laughed as we remembered being 16, 17, and 18, and thinking that by the time we reached our current ages, we would have life figured out. Ha! We realized that we are just as in the dark now as we were then, buried with AP classes and college applications. The only difference today is that the idealism of our high school youth has been replaced with the realism of our post-college lives.

We parted ways, happy to know that we aren’t alone with our questions and lack of answers. Despite our new found realism, I think there’s a glimmer of hope in both of us….that maybe, just maybe, by 30, our lives will be less complicated. I doubt it, but a girl can dream.

Let me start out by saying that I am obsessed with “The Office.” My love of this show is a recent phenomenon, really. Steve Carell kills me, so the thought of a show with him as the star was just more than I could ever stomach. But, one day a few months ago, I added season one to my Netflix queue on a whim. The rest, as they say, was history.

Thanks to a little thing called the writer’s strike, the efficiency of Netflix, and my own love of TV, I breezed through the first three seasons and caught up with season four in time to watch the second half live once the strike ended. This morning as I sipped my coffee and watched the finale (thanks to Tivo), I was reminded of all the reasons why “The Office” makes me laugh like no other show I’ve ever seen:

1. Jim’s facial expressions. He doesn’t even need to speak (though I’m half in love with him, so it’s totally fine with me if he does speak), and yet still manages to say it all with a raised eyebrow.

2. Toby’s awkwardness. Honestly, no one is as awkward or socially inept as Toby. He just can’t seem to ever carry on a normal conversation.

3. Dwight. I can’t single out a reason that Dwight amuses me…he just does. Whether he’s floundering for Michael’s approval or attempting to date Angela, he always does something so absurdly ridiculous that you can’t help but laugh out loud. Exhibit A = When he insisted Michael stay at his house after the dinner party debacle.

4. Michael’s total ignorance. He really, really, really thinks he’s kind of a big deal. The truth is so sad that it becomes the show’s funniest plot line.

5. Pam’s enthusiasm. I love that she wants a happy ending for everyone, herself included. She’s that glass half full person that almost always sees the best in people. Every once in a while, she stuns you with her quick wit and love of pranks. Her modesty is the perfect cover.

It’s time to go watch the finale again. I don’t think you can ever laugh too much in one day.

Celebrate We Will

Matthew McConaughey dined at the same restaurant as I did last night. That was just one of the highlights of this weekend, which leads up to tomorrow: My birthday. I also visited the Getty Villa, hiked at Runyon Canyon, enjoyed a beach walk in Malibu, and bought ranuculas and fresh, ripe strawberries from the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. Life is good. As I sit here and listen to Live At Luther College, my only wish is that I could play the guitar as melodiously as Dave Matthews does…he sends chills down my spine.

I’m a big quotes person. The journalist in me looks for significant quotes everywhere, from interviews and blogs to TV shows and sermons. This quote struck me during church on Sunday:

“A big dream without a small start is just a big dream.”

We spend so much of our lives waiting on our big dreams. We wait to be loved, we wait for doors to open, we wait to see if the world will change on its own. What if we continued to dream big dreams, but were also proactive? What if we paired our dreaming with conscious steps that will ultimately move us toward our end goals? I believe that the world will change when we all take on a bit more responsibility.

Red Eye

I discovered “Red Eye” by The Album Leaf yesterday, and I’ve been listening to the song nonstop via their MySpace page ever since. I love purely instrumental songs, and the way that the artist entrusts them to the listener. I love the freedom to interpret the flow of the notes and melodies, and to have a limitless number of possible meanings before me.

So what does “Red Eye” mean? I have no idea, honestly. But right now, it means a sunny, warm afternoon with a cool breeze floating in the window. Yesterday, it meant a peaceful morning as shards of sunlight crept across the hardwood floors. Later, it will mean long shadows and the potent fragrance of plumeria and jasmine blossoms as the sun lowers in the sky. For me, “Red Eye” means serene peace.