quixotic9

conversation with Rebekah:

(note: her ibook g4 has been broken for almost two weeks, and she finally has a borrowed PC until it gets fixed...)

Rebekah: Ahhh the internet is such a drug. I'm so glad it's back!
Me: What were you DOING? ...without it?
RebekahI like...went to bed...really early. It was meager existence. I also hung out with Dave [boyfriend] almost every day last week. I dunno why.
Me: Because he's a good internet substitute?

lolz. that pretty much says it all. Rebekah & I like to drink red whine & play the shooting game on wii play when we're together - which isn't as often as it should be anymore.

Yo, follow me on dailybooth if you have one...and if you don't have one...make one. 'cause it'll be fun.

http://dailybooth.com/SweetCaroline/

Jan 30: I left California. for good
Feb 1: I arrived in Boulder / Longmont, CO
Feb 4: [today] I'm still in Longmont.
Feb 9: I will drive to Columbia, Mo....
Feb 10: My BIRTHDAY! [no plans...]
Feb 14: Valentines Day. I assume I'll still be in Missouri. If so & if Alex doesn't have to work we will go to the Mizzou basketball game. [I don't like valentines day]
After That: I'll go home.

Job status: still don't have one
Application status: sending them out...
Replies: none to speak of yet.

( I have even less to do today )

What do you people really expect from me at this point?! ....

the guy in the snow suit that I usually pass on the way to work was driving today - a toyota carola with spinners. it made me want to know his story even more.

1. the weather
2. talking / laughing / sharing music with Alex
3. the fact that Rebekah is my friend
a. she always says that she "loves me best"
b. she showed me this haha
4. having ALMOST a full day of work to do
5. uploading my pictures from yesterday & actually liking a lot them
6. completing applications for "jobs" I feel like I have a good shot at
7. poptarts
8. watching mama mia for the 10th time AT LEAST
9. singing country songs really loudly in the shower
10. music....in general.

I wish I could always find 10 positive points about a day. Maybe I'll try....

( I realized I did something exciting every single month last year )

I rang in the New Year with Kristen last night. It was nice.

New years resolutions? Fine:

1. get a real job & get things together
2. make & save money
3. write a lot & get more serious about that
4. be healthy & more active

***edit***

resolution #5: stop biting my nails. For real. Alex bites his too, so we're gonna be a little mini-support team. Isn't it cuuute? =]

reposted from Kristen....

all the jobs I've had starting with the first:

1. ant stomper - summer 1991
my grandfather paid me 2 cents for every fire ant I stomped...I kept tally on a steno pad. I think I made about a dollar, which was good money for a 4-year-old back in the day.

2. Sonic car hop - April 2003 - August 2005
My first *real* job! I worked at the Sonic on Hwy. 10 in Little Rock. I learned what the real world is like...and that I needed to get into a good college so I didn't work in fast food forever. I liked it though. I made REALLY good money for a kid in high school. I liked the pace of it, and I mostly liked talking to people...

3. maneater staff writer - August 2005 - December 2006
I count this because I made money on a per-story basis...which was awesome. I wrote mostly Arts stories for the newspaper & the weekly A&E magazine. I didn't really like the Maneater kids...but this did give me my first real taste of reporting...and that was pretty cool. I loved being published & interviewing bands & stuff.

4. res life desk attendant - August 2006 - May 2007
I worked at Mark Twain. This job was...okay for my second year of college. I sorted mail, answered the phone, checked out keys and vacuums, did homework....could have been a lot worse.

5. KOMU.com web editor - August 2007 - October 2008
I worked really weird hours...sometimes I did marathon 16 hour shifts. I updated KOMU.com with video, photos, and text...posted breaking news and weather, worked with reporters and editors to produce original content for the web. I trained other web editors & multimedia reporters...ate a bunch of panera bagels & had people bring me Sonic. Read the wires like a maniac.

6. Englishie teachaaah - July - August 2008
I got paid to fly to Korea & go to summer camp for the first time in my life. I taught classes about jobs to elementary schoolers and music to middle school students. It was kind of awesome. If I didn't love journalism so much I could probably deal with being an english teacher full time.

7. web intern at Ode Magazine - October 2008 - present
What do I do? I update content on odemagazine.com ummm...I write blurbs for the website, talk to bloggers & post their articles...post content from the magazine....create, send & manage the weekly newsletter...manage web ads...manage Ode's social networking.

[hilarious]

I'm having a very "overwhelming" day when it comes to media. I'm following over 100 different people and news organizations...last night kind of pushed me over the edge because someone tweeted a list of different public radio folks on twitter...so I started following just about all of them.

(my twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Caroline_Zilk)

I want their lives....! (wow, that's not creepy or anything, is it?)

But seriously. I started this whole mess at age 10 - creating cute little fun websites with my own graphics and fonts and tables and little girl things...

And now, here I sit...a 21-year-old person trying desperately to keep up and mark my territory in the new-media world.

Part of me just wants to go back & hide in the halls of acadamia and study literature - reading actual BOOKS!!! But then I start to think, "...how can academia use new media like blogging and twitter and...OMG - why don't more people tweet about great literature and books. Why can't these people make the switch over to the new-media world. What is WRONG with them?"

x-posted to my blog...

Stealing from Kristen because I'm bored....and since I'm feeling a lack of creativity about this, some of my facts mirror hers.

Here are the rules: Write a blog with 20 random facts, habits, or goals about you.

1. I am extremely cold natured. I'm almost always cold unless I'm in bed or in the shower. These days in the office, I usually wear 2 t-shirts, a sweater, jacket & a scarf. They keep it at about 68 in here...that's so cold. If I could decide, it would be at least 72.

2. I live in the north bay area right now with a 34-year-old Turkish accountant & I'm working an internship that I don't especially like...I want to move back to the south or to the east coast....even though I hate the cold.

3. I consider myself pretty fidgety and orally obsessed. I'm usually either biting my lips, the insides of my cheeks, my fingernails or chewing on something.

4. I pretty much always wear a necklace & I go through phases of which one I wear most often. Currently, it's the necklace my boyfriend gave me for my graduation...it's silver with a tiny little princess cut diamond & I love it.

5. I graduated college in three years with a journalism degree & a minor in English Lit. Yes, I had a life....I just work better when I have lots to do.

6. I studied in Germany & London & worked in South Korea. I love travel...I really, really want to go to Eastern Europe (Prague, Poland, Bosnia), Scandinavia, & Australia

7. I'm an extreme lightweight drinker, and I'm kind of picky about what I drink. I usually order a glass of wine or an exceptional microbrew (ie: Flatbranch in Columbia or a Yuengling) with a meal, vodka & cranberry juice to get drunk quick & appletinis if I'm just gonna have a few drinks...

8. I always sleep with a stuffed animal...preferably my teddy bear Tah Tah, which I've had since I was 3 months old. My mom bought him for me for $5 at a wal-mart in Longview, TX.

9. I consider myself a cat person, but when I get my own apartment, I really really want a dog...just so I won't be so lonely. I really want a goldendoodle or a regular golden retriever or a yellow lab mix or a scottish terrier...but I don't plan on being picky. I want to adopt a puppy from a shelter...

10. I'm a terrible cook. I don't really like cooking for myself. I can bake a few things, and I think I would be better at it if I decided I care. I also refuse to touch raw meet....

11. This is lame, but my whole life I never really wanted to get married - or I wanted to wait until I was really old...but now that I'm dating Alex (for 14 months - longest relationship of mine so far - yikes) I could see it happening in the next few years, and I think I'd be okay with it.

12. I have one of the worst senses of direction in the history of forever. I don't know how I found anything before I had GPS on my phone.

13. I love the internet. I've been obsessed with it since we got it when I was in fourth grade. I've had a website since I was 10 and my current favorite obsession is twitter & also multimedia news in general...wherever it is.

14. I hate doing laundry. When I have all of my clothes with me in one place, I can go at least 5 weeks without doing any....I have a lot of clothes....I just hate the process.

15. More than anything, I consider myself a writer. I've written fiction since I was about four and it's one of my biggest passions. I'm almost always writing something and it's my goal to publish a YA novel someday in the near-ish future.

16. My biggest pet peeve is people cracking joints...I especially hate it when people crack their necks. It makes me extremely anxious to be in a public place where people are cracking & popping things.

17. I appreciate art, but I don't consider myself exceptionally visually creative. I have a decent eye for photography & design, but I can't draw AT ALL. My favorite form of art is probably sculpture. I also really like alter pieces, which is random & I've recently grown to love acrylic painting....and tried my hand at it...

18. I don't have very many movies / TV shows on DVD, but the ones I have, I have because they put me in a good mood & I know them by heart. I generally have either a movie or music going in the background.

19. People I met before my sophomore year of college call me Callie. People who met me after that call me Caroline. It can be kind of confusing for people if they don't know both are me.

20. I don't play "real" video games, but I really want a wii just so I can play games like guitar hero, DDR, and wii sports!

Time for Christmas = peanuts = happyyyy!
This time next week, I'll be working my last day before I leave to go home.
That will be nice.

That's pretty much all I want for Christmas.
It'll be good to be home.

I'm debating going grocery shopping before the holiday or just eating out every meal between now and then.
The latter is obviously more appealing...

I still have fruit to finish
and spaghetti...
there's always spaghetti.

the short story?

I go lost on my way to Corte Madera & then I spent almost $60 on books...

the long story? ( slash rant)

I set out armed with written directions, very excited to pick up a few books for my upcoming trip to North Carolina....and FREAKING Corte Madera....the entire North Bay is starting to look the same to me. The barns & noble was in this huge shopping center...so I had to walk through a lot of upper class stores to get to where I was going..and I clearly had no idea where I was going...so it took awhile. There are SO many small children! The last time I saw that many small children, I was in Dublin in July 2007....Dublin is one of the youngest cities in the world....but rivaled closely by Corte Madera, California...apparently.

There are also all of these weird turn arounds and things....it's impossible to find where I'm going & google maps is almost never right...which means that I'm completely screwed. I'll be following the directions completely, and then the little dot on my iphone will start to veer off of the little blue path....and I know I'm screwed.

The sad part is that I *really* like San Francisco...but I have to ask myself if it's worth at least $10 (for tolls & parking) to make a trip into the city...probably not, when all I really need to do is go book shopping...but we'll see, I guess.....

Whatever. I'm just glad that I bought books at all. I bought:
An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
Paper Towns - John Green
Collected short stories - Anton Chekhov
Downtown Owl - Chuck Klosterman

I plan to finish whichever one I think I most "Lauren like" on my way to NC so I can give it to her as a supplement to the ROCKING birthday card I made her....her birthday is tomorrow. (this is Alex's sister).

In other news?
1. Out of curiosity, I've started drinking frappuccino. I like it...probably too much.
2. I went out to dinner last night with my roommate, but not to clubs. I had risotto & wine (alcohol for the first time in a month - yikes.)
3. Tolerance (whatever tolerance I *had* developed from constant partying in CoMO) has gone bye-bye (see no. 2)
4. I've developed a fear of walking down Mill Valley's main street...because I'm terrified, for whatever reason, that a car will run off the road and mow me down....California drivers are insane.
5. Did I mention that I'm really really really excited to leave for NC on Tuesday / Wednesday. CAN.NOT.WAIT.

I think it's weird when people post countdowns to their wedding on their facebook...especially when they're "saving" themselves for each other...because we all know what's gonna happen in 30ish days. *facepalm* (Kristen, you know know what I mean....also - I hope you had fun in KC!)

I also decided today that downtown Mill Valley is pretty much a complete suburban wasteland. I had been really excited about going downtown to this little bookstore / cafe...but it was pretty much ALL cafe and just a little bit of bookstore....I wanted to get a few books for my trip...

I'm kind of hoping to skip out on clubbing with the roommate in favor of going to the Barnes & Noble in Corte Madera.....they're open until 11...unlike things in this backwards town....

So far today:
-epic sleep in. I woke up at 8:45. oooops.
-ran to work
-ate a blueberry special K bar - yum
-found out that "meh" is now officially a word in the English language...FTW
-became obsessed with this!
-*kind* of done some work in the past hour....

Anticipation:
-eating my leftover Indian burrito for lunch (we went last night)
-the redesign of our website
-North Carolina / Missouri
-seeing Alex

Sometimes, when I have a really boring task to do - something that I could complete fairly quickly - I tend to get really distracted...to the point where I don't want to do it at all. That's where I am now. I'm fixing all of the stupid little character changes that our CMS throws into copy for NO reason...which just makes my life harder & my job more tedious and annoying.

I'm starting to get hungry...so I'm going to go out and get lunch in a bit for the second time in a row this week...my justification is that I need to charge things so I can get cash back so that I can get quarters to do my laundry....before I go to North Carolina for Thanksgiving...which I'm really looking forward to.

Speaking of food...Thanksgiving will be grand...and I have recently learned about this place in Mill Valley called "Avatar's Punjabi Burritos" Which is basically an Indian burrito place..I can't wait to try it. It's downtown, so it's too far to go to for lunch...but maybe dinner later this week or this weekend. The reviews of it online were AMAZING...and it's been awhile since I've had Indian food.

It's cloudier than normal here in Mill Valley today....kind of makes me just want to go back to sleep....

I'm working on writing an article about this New England grassroots thing that I hope to pawn off on some unsuspecting newspaper for $$$ ...since I haven't been paid yet by my "job" mer.

I'm about the head out to SF in hopes of getting a library card....

and THEN,

I'm going to the green fest for Ode....should be a good time...hopefully I'll take lots of pictures there...I'm doing ADIML again today...so say hiiiii.

<3

I am having some strange sort of dyslexic display so far this morning. I was writing up a little blurb for our website about this security system called AlertMe and every since time I tried to type Alert, it just came out Alter....I have no idea why. Glad it's Friday, I guess....