Friday, September 1

I am in lust.

I WANT a pretty new blog. I WANT to PAY someone to make me a blog that is fabuloso and thpecial like me!! I have promised PG&E the blood of my firstborn if I do not pay off my balance, so my lust is a pipe dream, at this point, much like my appreciation of our UPS driver.

And, honestly, I think I had better figure out some of this HTML stuff, since I cannot even change my buddy-icon-thing from my purple monkey doing the monkey power salute. Don't get me wrong, I love him, but he is embarrassingly pixellated on other people's blogs. I still have the pink monkey from little O's first birthday,so I can take a better photo, but it's just not as impressive. There is no monkey power salute--can you tell it's my favorite thing about him? The pink monkey just sits there holding a banana against her chest like sombody is going to steal it. She's weak.

Back to my tale of lust...my whole justification for the amount of time that I spend blogging is that it's free, which makes it infinitely cheaper than my reading habit. If I spend money on a beautiful custom template, and maybe hosting fees (I know, nominal fees, but FEES), can I still blog guilt free? When I ship Big O off to the PG&E salt mines, will I think that my blogging was the tipping point?
Mama Duck invited us to participate in the Carnival, but I don't think my blog is up to snuff for something like that! I'd like to get to the point where it is, though. I enjoy the daily exercise of both fingers and brain cells, and really try to do a little something each day to stimulate said brain cells. Ultimately, I'd so much rather utilize my verbage to earn a living, rather than my ability to handle bodily fluids without yakking. But is that a feasible goal? And if so, how do I get there? Because handling the distraught calls of the great unwashed is not progress, it's a holding pattern. Little O is almost four. Do I have to wait until she turns 18 to get out of customer service? I could see nursing as a path to financial independence, and I'd love to be able to schmooze intelligently with my family, not to mention have a solid knowledge base should I ever have to make decisions FOR my parents (God Forbid). But I don't think it's a CALLING. Not for me. And shouldn't it be?
sigh. One of the kids that used to work for me has written a novella, and I am in the process of reading it. I've started a few stories, but I've certainly never gotten up to 122 cohesive pages. I am very flattered that he is allowing me to read his work, and am in awe that he is soliciting critiques. This is just something he felt compelled to do--he has a real job in, I think, Biology. I am such an underachiever. :D
But I AM creative and enthusiastic, and I LOVE selling the right product to the right person. I need to find a path that will reward me for thinking ever so slightly out of the box, and where willingness, enthusiasm and creativity are job skills. But I think dealing with parents would be a nightmare, so teaching has kind of drifted off to the right...

I want a pretty new blog until I decide where all this energy needs to go.
I want a funny one. I want a smart one. I want my own--and next time I'll know better than to choose a forty-billion-letter-with-a-stupid-hyphen-between each-word address. do you think biteme.blogspot is taken?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jen, remind me I have a guide to blogging sitting here in front of me... I will share!!!!
a

crse said...

Well there you go! I havent done this yet, but my friend LB recommends finding what you like on people's blogs and emailing them directly asking them how they did what they did to their blogs. I would completely redecorate if I had the ambition. (I figure I should probably unpack my house first after 15 months). You are too damned funny not to be destined for great things buddy....

Sayre said...

Hey, Jen - I notice that you're in California. That state is crawling with PBS stations, both radio and television. If you really want something to do that involves thinking outside the box (slightly), why don't you consider learning how to write a grant and then applying at a ptv station? You're a good writer and I can't think of any product that is a better sell than public television or radio. Give it a little thought. We can always use people who are enthusiastic and educated but are slightly wacky...

Jennfactor 10 said...

Banannas, I'll be seeing you tuesday!

CRSE, I'm such a pathologically shy ninny that that never occured to me! I also went and investigated the whole NaNoWriMo (SP?) thing....intriguing!

Sayre, my Other other half, the other Jen, has a hubby trying to dredge a WW2 bomber out of the depth of an alpine lake, to start a museum, and he wants me to write grant proposals for him, so maybe I'll start there and see...Is PBS just a hoot to work in?

Sayre said...

I love working there. We have a very laid back station. I usually show up in shorts and a tee-shirt. Of course, I work downstairs where the public almost never goes....

I have worked there since I was 17 (minus 7 years in Oklahoma) and it feels like a second family to me. In fact, today I went to the wedding of a daughter of a coworker. It was great fun!

The pay isn't wonderful, but it's enough to live on if you don't go crazy and I love my job. I look forward to going to work everyday. You can't ask for more than that...