Could This Be the Beginning of Something Special?

Have my fortunes turned for the better?

Sure, when I woke up, I discussed my headcold had moved into my chest. This is usually a precursor to bronchitis, never a good thing for the uninsured. Yet I am as giddy as a school girl.

First, I revised my resume and cover letter and applied for a job I had been looking at. Plus, I did it all electronically through monster.com, which is a first, so I am feeling happy and pro-active on the jobhunting front.

Second, I called the loan officer for my Perkins loans. Like many of you, my student loans are a source of some severe angst. To give you an idea of my relationship with my student loans, last night I went to bed happy with my blogging but worried about the call I knew I needed to place today. I had been expecting a payment to have been due around the 1st but had never gotten the bill. I began to worry about late fees and snarkiness when I called in. Oh, and since these are Perkins loans, they are co-signed by my parents and hence the ones I want to pay off first. I was on the verge of an anxiety attack and the stress did a number on my stomach. I spent some time in bathroom, before bed, during the night, and first thing in the morning.

I did not want to call in today. But I didn't want to put it off any longer so I placed the call. Low and behold, Perkins loans are quarterly payments, not monthly like I had thought. With all my deferrments (don't worry, the loan is almost paid off thanks to AmeriCorps vouchers), I had not made regular payments. Only two more to go. And the next one's not due until March. Woo hoo!

Aftershock

Roughly a week and a half ago, I joined the blog traffic exchange known as BlogExplosion. Ninety-seven percent of the people reading this are reading it because of BlogExplosion. For the other three percent, hears your chance to hear about it in a way that will hopefully not bore you as much as Garden State bored my boyfriend.

BlogExplosion is like blogger crack. The more member sites you visit, the more members are sent to your blog. It promises hits and, unlike BlogSnob, it delivers. (Oh the wasted months of stupid BlogSnob ads.) I've noticed several on the BE experience which prodded me to consider the BE influence.

1. 30 seconds. For the non-BE crowd, this is the amount of time a member must be at the site to receive credit for being there. I've heard it said, and I have to agree, sometimes it is the longest 30 seconds you've experienced online. But if the writing is less than ideal, there are always the design and links to check out. As a blogger, I find the 30 seconds to be good. Every entry needs to be good (or at least start good) because it may be the only chance you get.
2. I am a lazy member of the blogosphere. There, I said it. Happy? When I first started this blog, I was very into checking out other blogs, but once I started working again, it was enough to keep up on my own blog and my favorites. I stopped getting to know the neighbors. Now I check out other blogs (and am constantly reminded of my need to learn some code to move beyond the template.) Heck, I even post comments occasionally in recognition that blogging is about the sharing of ideas.
3. It affects the way you write, for better or for worse. Whether it's the 30 seconds or the knowledge that people other than friends and family are reading your blog, you can't help but be aware of others checking out your blog. For example, I have found out that I have a good Catholic teenager reading my blog (Hi James!) who I'm convinced doesn't realize I'm a lapsed Catholic liberal. I full expect him to drop me like the 3 lbs. I've lost this year (let's hear it for that resolution still in place). For his sake, I will swear less often. I have also discovered that almost no one in the Eastern time zone reads my blog, except for Eric in New Jersey who makes me feel young. I am deeply wounded by the lack of East Coast love for my own affection for the Atlantic coast goes unrequited. I have also discovered that there are Texas women who find me amusing. I encourage Molly Ivins to join their numbers.

So yes, I am a BlogExplosion brown noser. Be gentle.

Yes, I Do Really Like Tests

I came across this compliments of TW at Tightly Wound & Highly Strung.

My Bloginality is ISFP!!!

I think the actually name of the test is the Meyers-Brigg, I need to look it up. I've taken the official version. (This online version is pretty short and most likely not even as close to effective in its analysis.) I now feel the urge to dig up my previous test and see if this one matches up.

To Apply or Not to Apply

I was doing my regular monster.com jobsearching and I came across a position that would be a really good fit. I have a master's degree in the field involved but no experience. They are looking for someone with 2-5 years experience and an associate's degree (realistically, they need to look for someone with more education.) Two strikes against me are that I lack knowledge in a specific content area and bilingual is a plus that I don't have. It's a local job, but I'd be submitting my resume out of state.

What is really giving me pause is that I recently applied for a position for which I am really overqualified with the exact same company at the exact same location. I sent my resume to the local office. I am a bit concerned that I look like I'm not interested in either position by applying for both positions. Thoughts or suggestions?

Happy Birthday Dad!

That's right! My family celebrates two birthdays this week. Being unemployed, I feel bad that I cannot afford more than these shameless blog greetings to my parents. Nonetheless, greetings to the man with so much faith in his lapsed-Catholic, livin' in sin daughter to suggest that she get a job with Catholic charities.

Do us (and your cardiologist) proud and put down the Camels and go for a walk. Oh wait, that snow is going to be around for a while. Better use Mom's treadmill. Just want to make sure you're around next year for your 60th because I have to top the baby food I gave you for your 50th.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yes, I forgot the card, but more importantly, I didn't forget the occasion. All that snow means you even got a day off from work.

Rocky Start

Just wanted to check in and say I won't be blogging much this week. Tomorrow I will be accompanying the b/f to a relative's funeral. Keep a good that for his grandmother and for those who will travel through the winter storm to get to the service.

In the meantime, I've posted a work in progress below to give you something to think about until I can get back.

100 Books

100 Books I Want to Read Before I Die (A Work in Progress)

I've gotten some great suggestions so far but haven't had a chance to add all the suggestions yest. Hopefully sharing what I have will help you come up with more suggestions.

1. The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien (own, have read about 5 pages)
2. The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien (own)
3. The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien (own)
4. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (own)
5. Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
6. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo (have Project Gutenberg e-text, app. 200 pages read)
7. Mansfield Park, Jane Austen (own, app. 30 pages read)
8. Vanity Fair, Thackeray
9. Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
10. Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich
11. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie (own)
12. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
13. Ulysses, James Joyce
14. 1984, George Orwell
15. A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn
16. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
17. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
18. The Bible, (of course I have the Catholic Study Bible)
19. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (3824)
20. Origin of Species, Darwin
21. The Color Purple
22. What's the Matter with Kansas?, Thomas Frank
23. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Carnegie
24. The Entire Lemony Snicket series (I know it's more than one book)
25. Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
26. The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank (unabridged edition)
27. I Know This Much Is True, Wally Lamb
28. Madame Bovary
29. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

100 Things

1. I have freakishly small hands.
2. My favorite way to celebrate New Year's Eve is by watching Dead Poets' Society.
3. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue.
4. In high school, my career goal was to have a job that would pay well enough that I could hire a maid.
5. I am sorry to say that my first concert was New Kids on the Block.
6. My favorite sounds are rain and thunder. Also, my favorite smell is rain.
7. I am left handed.
8. My favorite lines from a song are from John Cougar Mellencamp's "Minutes to Memories" off of the Scarecrow album. They are, "Through the hills of Kentucky 'cross the Ohio river/The old man kept talking 'bout his life and his times/He fell asleep with his head against the window/He said an honest man's pillow is his peace of mind."
9. I cry pathetically easily at movies. I even cried during Casper.
10. My favorite season is fall, though my favorite memories from growing up were staying up late reading on summer nights with the smell of the cool night breeze blowing in my bedroom window.
11. I am the first member of my immediate family to complete college. I am also the first to earn a master's degree.
12. I love to feed ducks, especially mallards. As for geese, I hate them.
13. My number one pet peeve is older men who think that because I am a younger female a) I don't have any views on the subject they are talking about or b) that I if do, I won't share them because my views are "obviously" not as "valid" as theirs. These men generally bring out my more assertive side.
14. The most rewarding work I've ever done is to tutor adults in preparation for the GED.
15. I voted in a presidential election for the first time in '96 by absentee ballot while studying abroad in London. Not surprisingly, I voted for Clinton.
16. I didn't bother to vote in 2000 because I thought that there was no way Bush would get elected.
17. Gay man that I wish was straight: toss up between Rufus Wainwright and Rupert Everett.
18. While of German and Polish heritage, I consider myself honorary Irish (Notre Dame).
19. I studied Latin in high school.
20. I've taken lessons in piano, flute, and guitar (though the guitar lessons lasted only 2 months and occured when I was so young that the guitar was almost as big as me.)
21. My favorite authors are Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Mark Twain.
22. My favorite book is Middlemarch by George Eliot. It took me nine months to finish it, namely because I got so frustrated with it that I had to stop reading it for a few months. I describe the book as 900 pages on why a person should be certain to marry the correct person.
23. The first guy to kiss me came out of the closet a few years after said event.
24. A lapsed Catholic, I haven't attended mass on a regular basis in 4 years. I still think of myself as Catholic and fully expect to "rejoin the fold" someday. I am, however, tempted to call my old confirmation sponsor to taunt her with my lapsed status. I don't because I'm more mature than that.
25. I generally read from at least 3 different books during any given period.
26. The gift that I am most frequently given is a candle. I am a notorious candle junkie.
27. I am addicted to Food Network. I absolutely love cooking, especially without recipes and just winging it. This leads to tensions as the b/f is more of a Hamburger Helper guy.
28. The only craft that I am good at is counted cross stitch, and, well, I'm really good at it. Especially for being self-taught.
29. My computer's name is Jeeves. The one prior to that was Bertie.
30. The best feeling in the world is getting into a bed with fresh, clean sheets just after shaving my legs.
31. On road trips for which I am not driving, I generally fall asleep within ten minutes.
32. On flights, I've been known to fall asleep during the safety instructions, wake up for the drink cart, fall asleep afterwards, and wake up while the plane taxis to the terminal.
33. I have missed Christmas with my family only once. I was in Kentucky doing volunteer work.
34. I sleep with my toes pointed towards the foot of the bed. I began doing this when 4 or 5 years old. I was aftraid a burglar would break into my room, so I hid under the covers. I then realized that a burglar would still know I was there because my toes pointing up would give me away. I started sleeping with my toes pointed down and became used to it.
35. My first memory of being scared was when I thought I saw the clown doll from Poltergeist on a chair in my bedroom. I must have screamed my head off because my mom came in and told me it was just clothes and that I should keep my room clean.
36. Despite my complete nerd status in school, there was one time I was planning on throwing a party with the two most popular girls in my junior high class. My mom issued an ultimatum. Clean my room or give up the party. I gave up the party.
37. I never got to meet my grandfathers as both of them past away before I was born.
38. I was named after a cheerleader my mom knew in high school.
39. For many years, I had the name "Samantha Ann" picked out if I ever had a daughter. "Samantha" was the name of a kitten I had for 10 days.
40. I was the only person at my junior prom without a date. I had been turned down 5 times.
41. My first date was my senior prom. My date was an old friend who was a year older than me. I have not seen him since.
42. Even I had a stalker in college. His name was Glenn. We went on one date. He finally took the hint after asking me if he could write to me over the summer. I told him he could write but that I had a lot of other people that I'd be writing to and I couldn't guarantee that I'd reply.
43. In junior high, I got into a few political conversations with my state representative, a friend of my dad's. He encouraged me at the time to go into politics.
44. The one and only time that I gave blood, I fainted.
45. The first time that I was pulled over, I was let go before the officer let me go without even asking for my driver's license. He realized that he had pulled over the wrong vehicle. The second time I wasn't so lucky.
46. My brother wanted to buy me handgun for a college graduation gift. I politely, but firmly, declined.
47. If I ever get a tattoo, it will be a henna-colored Celtic cross on my right shoulder.
48. I had my ears pierced when I was 8. 8 years are about how long the holes have been closed.
49. I hate pastels and floral prints.
50. In high school, I missed out on the Catholic Church's World Youth Day in Colorado because I was part of a 6 week academic program. I consoled myself that I would go to a good college and see the pope in Rome someday. When I studied for a semester, I went to Rome. The pope was in France at the time.
51. My favorite childhood pet was named Bourbon.
52. My favorite books as a kid were the Encyclopedia Brown series, I later moved on to Nancy Drew.
53. My brother and I have agreed that if either one of us wins the lottery, we will buy the Catholic high school we went to from the church and then bulldoze it.
54. When I'm trying to stay awake while driving, I think of how I would spend a large Powerball lottery jackpot. When I'm stressed and can't sleep, I think about the same thing. I have a pretty elaborate plan of what I would do with such winnings now despite the fact that I rarely buy lottery tickets.
55. My favorite way to have waffles is with peanut butter and maple syrup.
56. The only celebrity I saw during a week visit to NYC was Valerie Harper. All of my friends then proceeded to make me feel old by not knowing who Valerie Harper was.
57. While typing the last entry, my boyfriend held a BudLight bottle to my mouth for me to drink (at the moment it's the afternoon of New Year's Eve.)
58. My mom once told me that she thought I would make a good nun.
59. Despite being left-handed, I play all sports right-handed.
60. I am notoriously lucky at getting good parking spots.
61. When I turned 21, the guys in the apartment below me had a pool on how early I would get smashed. The earliest bet was for before I even left for the bars. I only had 5 drinks and was probably one of the more sober people at the party.
62. I asked my b/f out first. We had been friends for awhile and I got tired of dropping hints.
63. Despite having flown several times, including 2 transatlantic flights, I have never used an airplane restroom.
64. I have been seasick only twice, both times on the same ferry ride over the Irish Sea.
65. If I could live anywhere, it would be either Boston or London though I really like the Midwest too.
66. I grew up a huge Minnesota Twins fan. After the 1995 strike, I haven't watched a single game.
67. I have never been to a professional sporting event.
68. While living in Southern California, I never went to Disneyland. I had the chance and I chose not to and have no interest in ever going.
69. For the most part, I have had the same hairstylist since the 6th grade. I have gone as long as 11 months without a haircut to wait until I was able to have her cut it.
70. I still have a baby tooth (and yes, it's still in my mouth.) I also was born without bottom wisdom teeth.
71. This list sounded like a much better idea to me when I was still in the 20s.
72. I love handling calls from telemarketers, the pushier the better. I'm never outright mean to them, I just make them feel stupid.
73. I am a major procrastinator.
74. If I could ever be a paid writer, I'd want to be a columnist. Originally, I wanted to be the female Dave Barry, but then I realized I'm not funny all the time. I also realized he's not funny all the time either. Realizing that I don't like being limited to a topic, I came up with Misc Karen which has yet to be fully realized.
75. I love my college buddy, Amy, because among other reasons, she laughs at all of my jokes.
76. I realized after the fact that I shouldn't have told friends & family about this blog. Yeah, I have to censor myself here. That's why I created another blog that is in no way affiliated with this one.
77. My current life's ambition is to be out of debt someday.
78. The morning of my first hangover, I went with friends to Perkins and order Sprite and toast.
79. I don't feel old until I hang around whiny kids in their early 20s. If they annoy me enough, I have to struggle with the urge to yell at them until they cry. Don't even get me started on their blogs.
80. I read Playboy for the articles.
81. The most embarrassing cd in my collection is the soundtrack to Xanadu.
82. I used to be a huge Def Leppard fan and had a major crush on Joe Elliott.
83. It's not that I'm not a morning person, it's that I'm a hostile morning person.
84. The most overused word in blog titles is "rant."
85. I wrote my senior thesis in 2 days and like almost all of my papers, wrote it and one draft and didn't proofread it. I got an A on it.
86. New York City is the most overall overrated place that I have visited.
87. Oh, baby, you better believe I'm moody.
88. I really want a digital camera.
89. I originally thought I would study either Victorian literature or Theology (emphasis on ethics of psychotropic drugs) in graduate school. Ultimately, I studied education.
90. Sushi. Yum.
91. I lettered in three different sports in high school. Now my knees are so bad that when I straigten my legs without any weight on them, I can still feel the grinding in my knees.
92. I'm one of those people who whines about secondhand smoke. I grew up around it (thanks Dad.) I quite frequently would get bronchitis and was later diagnosed with asthma. The better part of my respiratory problems became minimal once I left for college.
93. I cannot drink whiskey in any form.
94. The worst shot of liquor I've ever had was a buffalo sweat. The only thing that kept it down was the thought of tasting it again.
95. The devil is alive and well in the form of my brother's ex-wife.
96. I'm proud to say that I have never seen an episode of Survivor. Don't blame me for all that reality crap.
97. I frequently mistype my name as "Karne." Luckily, I usually catch it.
98. I spent two years in speech therapy. I would switch "f" and "th" sounds. Hence, father became thafer. When I'm nervous speaking, I still do it.
99. In junior high, I had a newspaper route I delivered with my bike. As a result, I had killer legs.
100. My ideal way to spend a day is curled up in a quilt by window, watching snow, reading a book, drinking hot chocolate, and listening to something girlie, like the soundtrack to Far and Away or George Winston's December.

Happy 2005!

If you are reading this as it's published, you either:
A. need a life.
B. live in a different time zone than me.

Ahhh, you know I only tease you because I like you.

Happy New Year!

Now gimme a kiss. (Just kidding)