Good News!!!

I got a job!!

Ok, so a basic run down of the last couple of months: I've been living with Mary and Al, who are amazing, wonderful, fun, wise people, but who are also stressed out of their minds and in debt themselves. It has actually been a kind of escalating stress for the past few weeks, and I was getting pretty down about trying to find a job and a way to live. Other things: my foot problems may never really go away, I'm stressed out too, and I went to Santa Cruz for one wonderful week and came back and then life was like Hell for a week (last week).

So.

Very quickly (of course) life went from relatively bad to relatively good. Monday I called the Temp agency to ask if any work was available (as I did fruitlessly for 2 previous weeks). There was one request that my profile fit, so they sent over my resume. Tuesday they wanted to schedule an interview. Wednesday I interviewed. Thursday I started work. Voi-la.

I now work for a pretty large, international media company who work (seemingly) fundamentally with films, converting them from one form to another, as well as working on new technologies for media and subtitles, etc. All the technical stuff I guess.

Anyway, I'm training to be the IT secretary which, as uneventful as it might sound, seems to actually be a pretty nice job at this point. There's a very good balance of work, all of the employees are kind of chill and don't seem stressed (to me, at least in comparison to the people I've been living and working with since I've been in California), and amazingly the building has some Feng Shui - it's nice and clean, well-lit, natural feeling and well-designed. More amazingly, my commute is only 20 minutes one way and work doesn't start until 9 :)

Given all of this, I'm clinging to this job for my life. Those of you who know me would have figured this out: I've showed up early everyday and intend to continue doing so.

And there are a lot of things I'm looking foward to. I want to know how the company works, how they manage to keep all their workers so happy, what their others branches internationally do, etc. And of course I'm looking foward to getting enough money to have my own apartment and get my own car (although I'm afraid getting the car probably comes first, which is more expensive and annoying than the apartment). I'm looking foward to actually being able to plan things to make the most of them. Like knowing how much money I might be able to make, when I'm going to take vacation and what I can do between the two of those things. In fact, in my spare moments I actually like to calculate this stuff in my head (or sometimes on paper), figuring out all the possible numbers. This after my first 2 days of work.

Finally, since I got the job through the temp agency I have to wait 90 days before I find out whether the company will take me on as their own employee. Luckily it seems like there are good chances - the girl who was hired for this position before me (from the same temp agency)is now moving up to a different position. I've also heard that they really like taking their employees from the temp agency, as well as moving people up in rank when they can.

So.

Things are good :)

Swork

My mom called the other day and I told her not to call back until after February 11 (my projected "end of work" date). I told her, "I don't really have much to say until then, everything is basically the same.

And I guess as far as our conversations go it is. What have I been up to? I wake, work, talk with Mary and Al, go to capoeira, and sleep. I hurt my toe so I can't even play in capoeira, let alone go out and run around anywhere.

Somehow I never think she'd be very interested in the things that interest me or catch my attention. Things like this cafe I'm in right now, "Swork." I looked it up, it's all locally owned and organic, etc etc. But I find it weird that somehow everybody walking on the street, waiting for the bus is hispanic, but everybody in this cafe (not including the one black girl and asian guy) is white. I can't remember the last public place I've been in that had such a high concentration of white people. It's not overpriced, actually I think the Starbucks across the street might be more expensive. But I don't think I've seen one hispanic person walk in here yet. It's like its got some sort of weird invisible yuppie sheild around it or something. Or maybe they got scared away by words like mochalattesworkuccino. I nearly was.

Anyway, since I'm staying with friends at the moment there's that familiar tension of imposing on people scraping to get by. I want to help them but what the hell, I'm still so helpless myself. I'm still hoping we can find a way to make it a mutually benefitial relationship - that maybe I can help them out in their business venture somehow. Ideas have come up (like training me in solar installation, which would be pretty cool), but they're so stressed I think I'll probably just have to be content helping out with technological things (like setting cell phone alarm clocks) for now.

So, god willing, if I actually do finish this job by the week of the 11th like I planned I'm going to take a little celebration vacation. I was hoping to go to an all-women's capoeira workshop weekend in Santa Barbara on the 15th (if my toe injury heals), and plans to take a short, probably very short, trip to Las Vegas are in the works.

And on a final, cute note: Mary and Al are like long lost relatives, maybe long lost parents. I told Mary I was thinking about visiting Las Vegas for a day by bus, then just have 5 hours in the city and come back. She was nervous about me taking a bus because of potentially bad company, and discouraged me because "spending so much time on a bus would just not be fun." See? I didn't need to tell my mom, Mary already gave me the same opinion.

So now I'm thinking about a stay at a hostel. :P Somehow I don't think that will make her opinion of the trip plan any better.

MLK Day

So.

I no longer live in the house on top of the mountain.

It was definitely going to happen eventually anyway, but tensions built up and, like they tend to do, sort of exploded at a random, unpredictable time. And I guess if you want to know exactly what happened, call me.


Anyway, I remember getting dressed that morning and thinking that I looked like a walking bruise (wearing purple, blue, brown and black). Maybe I was asking for it. I had also just posted pictures of the neighborhood on facebook so people could see where I lived. And after the initial faze of the blowout I was reading a message from a friend asking if I was "a student or working?" and couldn't figure out how to answer it because chances were that I was very quickly on my way to neither. 5 mintues and an eruption of an old argument later and I was packing.

Now I'm living out of a backpack again. But at least it seems like good company comes hand in hand with it. I'm staying with friends of the family that I've really loved and admired for some time, and who are really more wonderful and supportive than I can effectively give words to. And finally life seems to be moving on from the kind of awkward place that it's been stuck in for months. It's both a little scary and a little refreshing to be really improvising what I'm doing with my life. But I'm pretty happy about it.

And living a little more ghetto, too. Or hippie, whichever.

Black Friday at the Beach

Ahh, Venice Beach. My favorite locale. And what's better than being at Venice Beach? Being there on Black Friday.


Yes, I'm still thoroughly enjoying the Californian version of "winter." You can still hit the beach - it's just slightly too cold to go swimming. And cold rain? It's actually kind of like our version of snow. Any rain at all, actually, is exciting.

Anyway, it's Friday and I've been working my little fingers off all day, but I felt a blog post was necessary for whatever reason. I guess there's just some random stuff I have to say - like how much I love our 2 cute, friendly cats when it's cold and rainy. Or how working in the kitchen area on a Friday, even though I only work here because it's warmer and there's more light, turns out to score you food gifts from most people in the house throughout the day. They take pity on me, I think - and they should because Warren has been pacing around and generally stressing me out all day.

And then there's the other stuff that came up days before but I never remembered to write it down. Like the alarming environmental news in the L.A. Times every day that is encouraging me to find a "green"-focused job. Or how nice it was a few days ago when all of my east coast friends just happened to try to contact me on the same day. Or how I went to my first professional basketball game last night (Lakers!!). Unfortunately, a lot of what I would have had to say is lost in the moment.

But I can still do a little update of what I'm up to, right? Well, obviously I'm still working my job for Warren here out of the house. And I'm very much hoping to wrap this all up before I leave for Xmas at the end of the month. I'm also hoping to interview for jobs starting in January, so I've been doing a little research on different organizations in the area via the LA Chamber of Commerce website. I've started some career counseling with a very cool lady named Mary who lives at the bottom of the mountain. So I'm maybe a quarter of the way into "The Passion Test Book," at her recommendation, and it's kind of exciting ("The effortless path to discovering your destiny" :P ). In alignment with a suggestion from a woman my age in media development, I've also started working a little more on a digital portfolio (aka, "webpage") with an emphasis on photography and digital graphics. It's gotten my creative side going again :) I'll post the link when it's more complete.

And, of course, I've been going to capoeira a few times a week, emptying my pockets on gas money going to my autocad class, and eating lots of peanuts (the only easy and consistently available snack food in the house).

Oh, and Thanskgiving was a huge amount of fun. Dinner for 22, very nice ;)

Suggested Reading (articles)

I got lucky these past couple hours and have been on a creative streak. The sketch/reflection to the right is a production of another recent one of these. And, fyi, all the images I use on this blog are my own.

Anyway, since I'm up and I meant to post this before, here are 2 articles that I highly suggest reading:


1.) "What It Will Take to Build a Sustainable U.S."
(by Kenny Ausubel)
http://alternet.org/environment/66725/

-This is a very well-written and I think somewhat inspring article on where our country needs to go. It's the best environmental article I've read for some time. Here's a taste:

Andrew Revkin reported in the New York Times that "The physical Earth is increasingly becoming what the human species makes of it. The accelerating and intensifying impact of human activities is visibly altering the planet, requiring ever more frequent redrawing not only of political boundaries, but of the shape of Earth's features themselves."

Mick Ashworth, editor-in-chief of the annual Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, said his staff of 50 cartographers now updates their databases every three and a half minutes. Commented the editor, "We can literally see environmental disasters unfolding before our eyes."

2.) "The Roots of Islamic Reform"
(by Ali Eteraz)
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ali_eteraz/2007/09/the_roots_of_islamic_reform.html

-Another exceptionally well-written article that I think addresses the idea of "Islamic Reform" in a very comprehensible way. It's much more concise than anything I've ever read, particularly in mainstream sources like Newsweek, the New York Times, etc. Some of the terminology might be strange to you - but many of the references he uses are linked to explanations (or you can just ask me). And it's relatively short! Summarized, really- but if you want more he's written a series on the topic for you and has links to it. So read it! Here's a taste:

Islamic reform occurs when a Muslim dissents from this traditional orthodoxy, and provides an alternative which he or she believes more accurately captures the spirit of Islam. Some dissenters argue that their view was part of the orthodoxy all along - just overlooked - while others agitate for the orthodoxy to open up and assimilate views from the outside.

There are various reasons for Muslim critiques of traditionalism. Some critics are dissatisfied with traditionalism for being liberal, citing its connection to Sufism and its receptivity to local customs. Others accuse it of conservatism: primarily its views towards women, minorities, and freedom of conscience. Others agitate against its political quietism, arguing that it does not speak out against terrorists or tyrants enough. Many critics have a problem with traditional conceptions of religious hierarchy, believing that Islam should be democratic and not install de facto priests in the guise of scholars. Others complain about traditionalist monopoly on methodology, arguing that there are other methods of deriving a "way" or "Sharia" than the usul method invented in the 9th century. Finally, some simply believe that traditionalism is anachronistic, should be deconstructed and replaced by radically individualistic ijtihad.

Most of these critiques are in conflict, not just against traditionalism, but against one another as well. However, in terms of history, all critiques against traditionalism stems from Ibn Taymiya, a largely self-taught scholar in the 13th century, who challenged the traditionalists of his time. His views are worth examining.

Enjoy :)

Christmas Travel Plans

Many thanks to my grandparents who paid for my plane ticket with their miles, I will be returning home for Christmas. I'll be flying in on :

December 20th

and out again on

December 31st.



Hope to see some people when I'm in town :)

2 Months

Well, sorry for the prolonged absence. You see this picture to the left? This is what my life has become. The cat and TV. As much as I try to avoid them both they're just sort of constantly around.

I guess I should update a little bit - I went to NYC, I had a very good time with some friends and some Brazilians. Then I went home and spent some time with my mom and Khadoujah. Mostly, though, I ate a lot of good food. Because that's half of a good vacation.

And my job, well, seems to continuously extend itself beyond the horizon. Its end is a mirage that I keep thinking I see off in the distance - but I have relatively little hope of ever actually getting there, even at this late date (we originally talked about the job being over in September). Things are better, I'm not calling up ridiculous numbers of organizations anymore. It's not so much of an "all seems lost" situation like it used to be. But I'm not feeling great about it.

I don't have much time to spend looking into future housing or income (free time isn't very easy to get when you live and work in the same house as your boss), so what little I've looked into is also kind of dismal. I'm really hoping this is the low point in my life. I don't like thinking about anything more depressing than this. A few highlights:

-Liz said she had a client who rented properties who had one near USC for $400/month (incredibly low for L.A.). I didn't expect much. The broken door, bad neighborhood, peeling paint, fine, I saw that coming. But I didn't expect it to smell like poop and the ocean. Or that it seemed to have the plumbing/design of a janitor's closet from the 1920's. The bathtub scared me. But what was worse was that there really wasn't any work in close proximity. Thankfully that ruled it out for good.

-One of the things that I like about living with my family in L.A. is that their neighborhood friends are always suggesting ideas for work and study. One neighbor left a message the other day about a job starting at $17/hour with paid 3 month training. But it sounded in the message like she said it was because there was a shortage of lobotomists. I was relieved to find out that she'd actually said "phlebotomists." These are people who are trained to take blood. So maybe not such a bad job, right? I'm not sure. There are things that would be difficult to come by for this program - it requires you to have health insurance, CPR certification, a list of immunizations, etc. But quite honestly, I might just avoid it because I don't want to know what all "specimen processing" involves.

I'm gonna stop there. I wrote more but it just starts to get pessimistic. You know what though? I don't think anyone really reads this blog for travel updates. I'll still do them, but I think I'm just going to start using this for more general writing. Whatever I feel like. What do you think?