Ithaca Bakery

The interview I had today at Ithaca Bakery was really, really awkward. I don't think it went well for me at all.

Later on, I was having dinner with my mother, and she sensed over the phone (I'd talked to her earlier) that I really didn't want this job, and suggested that even if they offered it to me, I shouldn't take it.

"If you take this job and you don't like it, you don't stand a chance," she said.

With that coming from my mother, I breathed a sigh of relief. After my last job, I'm really not keen on getting back into customer service in general. In my case, it's "Been there, done that, don't want to go back there again." Unless, of course, I have no other choice.

Later on, I got a call from the local Manpower office for a temp job that might become permanent eventually. It's a receptionist job. I hope I get an interview. I also dropped by at Moving Box Studios, a video production company, and gave them my card, and put my YouTube page on it. I think it would be nice to get some work with them to add to my portfolio.

Winter Drive: A Mixtape

Tonight I made a mixtape that will accompany me on my trip to Ithaca tomorrow. The mixtape I have had for driving isn't suitable for the cold winter coming, so I made a new one which I call "Winter Drive":

"Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)"- My Bloody Valentine
"Birthday" - The Sugarcubes
"Kim's Chords" - Sonic Youth
"Lazy Calm" - Cocteau Twins
"Unchanging Window" - Broadcast
"Lost Message" - Air
"Seeperbold" - Stereolab
"Clowns" - Goldfrapp
"Love Song" - Vashti Bunyan
"Winter Lady" - Leonard Cohen
"Song To Bobby" - Cat Power
"Guinnevere" - Crosby, Stills & Nash
"Riders On The Storm" - The Doors
"Shine" - Joni Mitchell

I was a little reluctant to put Joni Mitchell on this mix, since I spent the better part of the summer listening to her music, but I thought "Shine" fit well.

Erin's Electra Complex

Let me preface the following post by saying that I'm trying to avoid as many self-indulgent posts as possible, but given that this is a blog about my life, that's a little hard. Plus, I may have family reading this blog, and I'm not entirely certain I want to air too much of my dirty laundry.

Last night, my father took me out to dinner. We discussed my job prospects and upcoming interviews. He expressed that he wished that I could get a job where I am now so I wouldn't have to pay rent. He doesn't feel that I'm prepared for the reality of paying rent and what not.

It is true that I had trouble paying rent the last time I was on my own. But I did pay most of my other bills, though. In the two and a half years since I have moved back in with my parents, I feel that I have grown immensely as a person, and I feel prepared to handle "the real world" in a way that I wasn't four years ago.

I should add that at this time, I'm not planning on renting out a whole apartment. Instead, I plan on renting a room (people advertise this stuff on Craigslist). I would like to continue with putting away whatever money I'll have after all is said and done. Hopefully, I can start making money designing websites, too, and I will put that away.

It's one thing when strangers or people outside your own family shoot you down; you can cut them off and tune them out. It's another thing when people within your own family--especially a parent--expresses disbelief.

Ideally, I think my father would like me to settle down, have a secure job, be a "Company Woman" with retirement and benefits. I don't think he looks at my career as a filmmaker as being a "real career" but rather an expensive hobby. I love my father, but I realize that I may never fully recieve his approval of the life path I have made for myself.

On a lighter note, here's my YouTube video announcing this blog:

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Brrr! It was very cold and blowing all day! I went outside to run errands, but I didn't stay out for long!

I have another interview on Thursday, this time at the Ithaca Bakery at Triphammer Mall. It's full time position, plus benefits. I'll try to keep an open mind.

One of the things I'm working on having some sort of freelance career as a website designer. My only client so far has been Brian. I've tried to advertise my services for free on Shooting People's NYC Mailing List, but so far, the results have been inconclusive. Maybe advertising it for free was a bad idea.

Anyway, right now I'm trying to expand my web design skills by reading up on CSS--something in which I have peripheral knowledge, but no real understanding of. I'm hoping to brush up more on my PHP and Flash skills in the near future, but one step at a time.

I'm off to make a YouTube video announcing this blog, then It's on to watching The Love Guru. Having enjoyed the Austin Powers movies (at least the first and the third), I'm curious about this movie, but I don't have high expectations for it.

No Go Dataflow

I called Dataflow three times today. I called at 9:30am, the guy who would've interviewed me was busy. I called again after 2pm, he was still busy, and I was told to call at 4:30. At 4:30, I called the office, only to find out that someone else had accepted the offer. I guess the person had been holding out, and had called about an hour before I did.

To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement. For once, I thought I might be close to getting a job I would actually like for a change. I guess I'm just going to keep pressing on, I suppose, but nothing will as exciting as that position was.

I know why I'm still up here. Maybe now is a good time to start going ahead with working on the DVD of Are You From Bingo?.

First Post!

At the beginning of this month, I travelled eastward to the Woodstock Film Festival to work as a volunteer. The Friday Night of the festival, I was working the merch table by the main office when I encountered a notable filmmaker and blogger who'd recognized me from my YouTube videos. He noticed that I hadn't made too many videos in recent months. The encounter inspired me to put myself out there again. I figured there were a few people who still wondered what I was up to. If you're one of them, I made this blog for you.

So what happened? After I got back from SXSW, I had a lot of footage to edit, and I eventually exhausted myself making those videos. Also, I felt like I had accomplished what I intially set out to do in making those videos. A few weeks after my return, I passed my road test to get my driver's license at the ripe old age of 26.

Meanwhile, I was really starting to chafe at my job. When I had been hired there in the Summer of 2005, I was broke and needed the job to survive. I liked the company and the camaraderie (which is why I stuck it out as long as I did), but never really liked the job itself. In November 2006, I had been given a warning, which led me to go into counseling and helped me turn my situation around. I took time off here and there--to go to New York, SXSW, and to take Improv 101 at the UCB Theater. Everytime I would come home and return to my job, it became, "I've had such a good time, and I have to go back to this???" I could never bring myself to turn in my two weeks notice, because I feared falling back into my pre-job situation. As much as I didn't like my situation, I felt that it was still better than having no job.

By August, I was getting restless, and I got careless. To be frank, I began taking my frustration out on a few customers who had been trying my patience to begin with. Finally, on September 30th, the day after the Dow dropped 700 points and two days before I was supposed to go to Woodstock, they decided to terminate my employment. In addition to the recent events, they took the 2006 warning into consideration.

I take full responsibility for the actions that led to my termination, and I deeply regret the way it ended. Had I known that things would turn out the way they did, I would have seriously started looking elsewhere at the start of the summer. Since the warning they based it on dated back to 2006 (usually, warnings are removed after six months), I plan on writing a letter to the corporate office, but only after my unemployment insurance is straightened out.

The good news is that I had three interviews in the span of a week, and hopefully will be getting called for a second interview for one of them soon. Even though it's grunt work, I'm excited about the position. It would be nice to actually have a job using skills that I was trained in in school. I plan on looking for a place to stay on the day of my second interview.

And the videos? I'll go back to that eventually...maybe. But this blog is my way of staying in touch with people. Now more than ever, I need to reach out to people as I get things straightened out.