I Call This Place My Own

Some random observations about two jobs, one being The Job, and the other being The New Job.

Observation #1: At The Job, everyone had an addiction. Be they alcoholics, chain smokers or some kind of junkie, everyone did. (Yours truly had a sprawling epic story in lieu of an actual drug, but I was definitely the exception.) And some of them had even recovered from said addictions prior to working at The Job, only to fall back into them at The Job.

At The New Job, everyone works out and most of them are health-conscious. This might have something to do with the employee health initiative, which lowers the cost of health insurance for people who reach certain wellness goals.

The Job had no such initiative.

Observation #2: At The Job, most people were either unmarried or in unstable relationships. I say MOST--I can think of at least one exception. But the majority of people slept around (within the company, a lot of times), the excuse being that those outside of The Job really just didn't understand the sort of environment that The Job was--those of us inside could only TRULY connect with others inside, and this sort of made it Okay. I, having been in a monogamous relationship for coming up on nine years, was considered an oddity. (I did sympathize with the argument, absolutely, but the thought of me personally having an affair makes me physically sick.)

At The New Job, I tell people nine years and it doesn't even faze them; the first two coworkers I spoke to about their relationships had nine and eleven years, respectively. Talk of sleeping around is discussed as a theoretical abstract; the idea of it happening within the company is treated with...not exactly disdain but with a sort of horrified speculation? Like "oh God, imagine if this person slept with--MENTAL IMAGE FAIL."

And but so anyway, just sayin'.

So, after much deliberation, I've finally gotten around to changing my username.

I first started using "ihrketayhl" as a username back in high school, when I needed a quick email address for a guestbook I'd just started posting on (hi, Fiona-chan!). The word was taken from a shoddily made-up language in a story I was writing at the time--it was one of the only words in said language, which was probably a good thing, given how, erm, imaginative I was with spelling/pronunciation.

For a long time it was my default username for everything, and it feels strange parting with it, but this is the last in a long line of goodbyes: LJ was the only place I still used it.

I'm vareth in silico, vareth, or var pretty much everywhere else nowadays, so I thought this was a suitable change. But I'll still answer to To-ya. Or ihrketayhl, if you can actually spell it. ;)

I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENED BUT

UM

I HAVE A PS3

AND ALSO POSSIBLY THE MOST AWESOME PARENTS EVER

I KNOW YOU DON'T READ MY LJ, PARENTS, BUT ILU &hearts &hearts &hearts

EDIT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POST: Wow, I actually like playing Firion now that I don't die every time. That's kind of cool.

*points to subject*

So, okay. This kid's already been scammed by Tate Publishing into paying 4K to publish his first novel. He's a very nice kid, has a lot of friends and incredibly supportive family, soooo as far as I can tell no one's ever bothered to tell him that the book kind of sucks (read: it makes Eragon and Twilight look like absolute masterpieces).

Kid has posted a thread on a board we're both part of, asking for advice on a new series. I and several other people give him exactly what he asks for, he dismisses a lot of it, one of the posters (not me, surprisingly) tells him he's being a douche, he ignores that too, responds only to my post, and says he would rather "reply to me on AIM."

Which, y'know, whatever. I want to help this kid, and I don't want him giving Tate any more money; I want him to get good enough that he could be published (gasp) WITHOUT paying money for it.

That's my goal, here.

But I've sent this kid three different messages now, over the course of...two weeks? Three? Something like that. Have sent him a few messages on AIM as well, and had a few BRIEF conversations that never touched on writing.

I'm starting to feel like a jilted girlfriend here. Do I post a follow up in the thread, calling him out on this bullcrap (because he HAS been online, frequently, and has posted in several other places)? Do I say screw this and just start sporking his writing in the hopes that he gets angry enough to work on it?

(No, ignoring the kid is not an option, because I am Emotionally Invested in this by now and also he knows most of my online friends. Also I hate Tate Publishing and any writer I can save from their clutches is more than worth the effort, IMO.)

Thoughts?

For the curious, I love my new job. But that's not what this post is about.

Any of you who know me IRL, and a handful of those who only know me online, know that I spend a lot of my time in...let's be generous and call them "conversations"...with those who hold viewpoints that oppose mine.

Put bluntly: I like to argue. A lot.

And for the past handful of years I've felt drawn particularly to religious or religion-based arguments, possibly just because of the sociopolitical climate, or possibly because I like my debates with a healthy dose of batshit. Who knows.*

I'm Catholic, if anyone's wondering; I'm just a pro-gay marriage, pro-evolution, pro-Choice and pro-religious-freedom Catholic who doesn't believe in Hell, which according to a lot of people makes me a very BAD Catholic. XD

Anyway, there's your background. Today's topic is abortion, specifically late-term abortions. No, I'm not planning on making this a terribly long post, I just...needed to vent this at somebody.

( But it got a little long, and also some folks don't care about this shit. )

*not meant to imply all religious folks are batshit. though i'm religious and i'm pretty batshit, so make of that what you will. XD

**edit to the last *: yeah, never mind, we're batshit.

Interested in other points of view. Sharing welcome.

So, I have a Dreamwidth account! Anyone on my LJ flist, FRIEND ME PLZ. &hearts (username is the same for both~) I do have one invite code that I haven't used yet but I sort of promised it to someone--if she decides she doesn't want it, it's up for grabs, but right now she's got dibs.

Haven't been very active lately and I apologize for that. Real life's been kicking my ass. No longer working at fall job: spent two months unemployed, in fact. But I'd rather not dwell on that. I start a new job tomorrow, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it--on the one hand, YAY FOR HAVING WORK, and it's a temp-to-hire position so if they like me I could be employed for awhile. On the other hand, they're not paying me very much, the office is an hour away (more with Chicago traffic), the hours aren't great AND I'm not particularly interested in the work.

So we'll see how that goes.

More importantly, canofstag and I have been replaying FF7 and it is TREMENDOUS GOOD FUN. I won't say I forgot how much I loved that game, because I've pretty much been married to it since junior high, but I think I have a deeper appreciation for it this time around, coming at it after having all this new-canon thrown at us. Also, we're doing a tag-team sort of marathon thing with it, which is cool, even though FOR SOME REASON I keep getting stuck doing ALL THE PARTS I HATE AHEM AHEM. (It does say something about the level of geek that I am, though: I insisted on playing the Temple of the Ancients because I could do it in my sleep, and I'm always the one to go through and buy materia and equip it and shit, because I AM A CONTROL FREAK.)

( I still have just enough dignity to put the rest of my squee under a cut. )

...OH ALSO canofstag GRADUATED!!!!!! (Hence why I was home. I do not in fact visit home solely to play FF7. ...Usually.) SO CONGRATULATE HER FOR HER AWESOMENESS.

So, so, for those of you who remember Possessions, all five(?) of you, I just want to say: last night I wrote a scene that involved Character A being naked and wet on Character B's bed.

It was not shippy.

I DEMAND APPLAUSE. THIS IS PROGRESS. ohgod nano starts in a week, ohgodohgodohgod.

( I like writing cut text. Job updates under here. )

On a different note: I haven't gotten my absentee ballot. This is distressing. I saw on the news clips that a couple of skinheads wanted to shoot Obama today. This is more than distressing.

I know that all presidential elections are pretty nasty, but does anyone else think this one's really brought out a lot of ugliness in, oh, everyone? I listen to political talk and I feel like I'm watching real life flame wars. Where is the understanding? Where is the discussion? We're not monkeys, people. Stop flinging shit.

(And since that reminded me, Ryan, if you're reading this: the new BotB crowd sucks. Seriously. This little bunch of them, they're SO EMO. I mean, first we had the sheltered crazy little fundies, then we got all the debate whores (Scotland, Mick, etc), now we've got the angsty teenagers. They're so boring and SO hormonal and I just want to smack the crap out of all of them.)

HELP ME, BARACK OBAMA, YOU ARE MY ONLY HOPE.

biden can come too.

( slightly longer explanation. )

So.

Having been at the new job for a week now, I feel I am adequately prepared to discuss!

( Only under a cut because I tend to babble. )

In short, I fucking love my job.

I've also found a local writing group, so I can meet up with them next month and, like, WORKSHOP and exciting things like that. It is thrilling. I am thrilled. I think I freaked out the group leader with my thrill.

I have been reading lots and lots of stuff, still, though less about the presidential election and more about the extreme conservative points of view--Ann Coulter and other things of that caliber. It, uh, well, I'm trying to teach myself a) to understand it so that I can more effectively deal with it IRL and online, and b) to laugh instead of getting angry, when I really want to get angry, when I want to throw the book across the room. I'm also reading Ken Ham. I am shocked that both he and Coulter have been published--though quite pleased at how hard I had to work to find a copy of Ham's books. They aren't at the public library, YAY. :D

I have finally learned how to parallel park. Beautifully. I didn't even have to practice overmuch; I just was hyper-attentive every time I attempted it. My last parking job was so gorgeous I took pictures, and called my mother to brag.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, BRISINGR COMES OUT TONIGHT. ME AND gold_bluepoint ARE GOING TO A MIDNIGHT RELEASE, AND IT WILL BE EPIC.

ps yes i really do love those books, i am well aware of how much they suck, it is part of the reason i love them. like cleolinda with twilight, only i am less funny and more annoying.

seriously half the reason i made this post was to try and stop myself bouncing. XDDDD no it did not work.

I dunno what it is, but ever since I moved I've been noticing a lot more real-world things.

I mean, let's be honest here: I don't care as much as I should about the real world. I am thinking about stories most of the time, if I'm not writing them or reading them. Throughout most of school I could not get properly motivated to actually work for my grades, because I just didn't care (not that you can really tell; thank God for good cramming skills). Even this summer, when I was all like "SHIT SHIT I'M MOVING SHIT," I still didn't work that hard to find a job.

And I never knew my neighborhood that well, aside from where the good eating joints were; I knew downtown St. Louis even less, despite my university being pretty damn close to it.

But here, I'm like...out and about, and things. I can't stand staying inside all day (yes, that's odd for me, I know, sad); I love going places; I'm intensely interested in the city itself, what's there and how to get to it, making sure I learn something new every day. I introduced myself to my next-door neighbors who are just moving in today. And I've started reading a whole ton of political shit.

I don't know if it's a sign of my growing up, or if it's just that I have all of two friends out here and it makes me desperate to engage in conversation. It's very weird, though.

My emails are apparently not getting sent. This is distressing. It's never happened with my two main gmail accounts, that I know of, but this new one, my "professional" one, keeps not sending things. However, finding this out made me feel a little better about the lack of response I've been getting to my emails. Odds are only half of them sent! So it's not that people are just ignoring me, yay.

Now, have some random thoughts:

( On Wicked--spoilers for the musical. )

( On music. )

Can we see that the unemployment is starting to eat at my sanity, YES WE CAN.

In further news, Venture Bros. is fucking awesome.