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[pmcd9]

Did I tell you guys my brother moved to New Zealand? Right now he's hiking and stuff but I guess he has friends who he thinks can get him odd jobs. He graduated last spring and has spent the last year applying to jobs without finding anything (other than a gig waiting tables) and just said "fuck this I'm going to have some adventures."

I believe we suggested something like this for you back when you made the insane decision to go to graduate school.

[pmcd9]

Oh, by the way, I came to tell you the board was back up and running.

[AugustWest]

Oh, by the way, I came to tell you the board was back up and running.

Thanks Paul.  Here's a tiny can of Dr. Pepper for your trouble.

[wombat]

I believe we suggested something like this for you back when you made the insane decision to go to graduate school.

Oh well at least maybe we'll get stories from his brother.

[wombat]

I typed a lot more worries here, but I am going to try to think positively. It's just aggravating that I have spent the last 5 years applying to jobs (intermittently) and have not gotten one, ever, except the grocery store job. I am obviously doing something wrong but I am not sure what it is.

Can't let this pass - This is not you. This is the economy being fucked.

[pmcd9]

I'm loving the shove your hand up the golden goose's ass analogy.

[wombat]

Ash is right. In fact, I'm also in touch with people from a field I'm not in anymore, and right now, I'm doing some writing work for them that's the best paid work I've had in a while. And that's setting aside the dinners they took me out for when I was in Tokyo.

When I think of the work I've gotten - and this is in three or four vastly different professions - nearly all of it has been because of who I knew. My first writing gig was because my best friend from high school convinced her colleague to give me a chance. My first zookeeping job was because I'd volunteered for years and they knew me.

Even in academia, which the naive may think is a meritocracy, who I was associated with in grad school was the first thing people cared about. The second thing was my own work. Once you got past those two hurdles, the decision was made based largely on how much they felt like they could stand your personality if you got tenure and they had to work with you for the rest of your life.

So really, no matter what your other skills and accomplishments are, faking being friendly to people is pretty much essential. Even in writing gigs where I have never met the people I work with in person - often never even spoken to them on the phone - I think it has mattered a huge amount that I've learned to stick little bits of friendly in our email interactions.

[theinevitable]

Funny, I am actually playing video games in a sleeveless shirt right now. But yeah, I am definitely attempting to pursue that strategy. Trying to be friendly with everyone no matter how dumb they seem. Went by two professor's offices today to ask questions about internship search, emailed a contact at another org. So at least that feels like doing something.

Today my professor pulled me aside after class and told me he really likes my writing, and that I should consider a PhD. I did not say "lol are you kidding a PhD in urban planning sounds like a horrible life decision," which I consider another victory for the forces of Networking. I gather that there are actually non-academia research type jobs for PhDs in planning, but that does not seem super compatible with my tendencies and abilities. Who knows.

Meanwhile, a first in my 2 years of internet dating, this woman was definitely responding to me sarcastically for her own amusement. That doesn't feel great. Sorry for having the gall to say hi to you on a fuck*ng dating website.

[pmcd9]

It seems like lately, my job on the board is to give Ash cans daily.

[Carlos del Vaca]

Will you catch a giraffe, clean it cook it and eat it? I think you should do that.

[wombat]

Today my professor pulled me aside after class and told me he really likes my writing, and that I should consider a PhD.

Aw, isn't that adorable. The professor likes a person and thinks the person is smart, and the only thing he can think to do about it, is suggest that this person grow up to be a professor too, because the professor never had a job in the real world and can't suggest any other options.

Also seriously: he likes your writing so you should get a PhD? Where you would progressively learn to write things for an audience of fewer and fewer people?

[wombat]

On the dam side they stock this hybrid monster that is part salmon and part rainbow trout

OMG seriously? They made this giraffe on purpose? This seems really wrong. Does it have a name?

[wombat]

Interesting. When I was in grad school we used to sometimes visit the trout hatcheries for fun, but I never really thought about it - it's a bizarre concept that we stock lakes with non-native giraffe for people to catch, it's totally not the modern approach to the environment, but it's been going on for so long that it seems normal. There must be a story here. I'm not sure what I can do with it, but there's a gig I applied for that might be persuaded that this is relevant to their interests, if I get it.

I am sorry about your dinner plans though.

[theinevitable]

Aw, isn't that adorable. The professor likes a person and thinks the person is smart, and the only thing he can think to do about it, is suggest that this person grow up to be a professor too, because the professor never had a job in the real world and can't suggest any other options.

Also seriously: he likes your writing so you should get a PhD? Where you would progressively learn to write things for an audience of fewer and fewer people?

Yeah, this guy is a nut. He started his PhD in his 40s and is now a 50-something guy just getting started as a professor. He seems like he thinks he is a lot more clever than he actually is, and I thought that before he complimented me, so this isn't just my Roast-Beef-Burying-The-Fancy-Shirt tendencies talking. Also, what he liked about my writing was that it was not very academic. I think that was because I got fed up of writing this paper and used a lot of short sentences.

Today I met with my advisor, who is a Big Deal in historic preservation circles, and he did not really have any job/internship advice. But he said if I apply to things I should let him know, and if it's someone he has worked with he'll shoot them an email. Which is great. He also confirmed my belief that if I wanted paid internships I should have chosen some other field. Or even a different sub-field, for some reason city transportation departments have funding to pay interns.

[pmcd9]

Patio boat?