How does that happen?

I had a very busy weekend. Lots of activity, lots of friends, but very little actual (tangible) work done or progress made.

Bear in mind this is NOT a complaint. I am just amazed with (and maybe a smidge disappointed in) myself for not having gotten much done outside of having fun. And I did have fun, trust me!

Maybe I should stop feeling badly about having spent time with friends doing fun activities, and just relish the fun I had without any guilt whatsoever!

Thank you...I believe I will. So there!

Maria and I went to the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild show Sunday afternoon and walked it, shopped it, examined it and commented on it - learning things about technique, about our (my) own skills, and the importance of planning, just from viewing other's offerings. I am more pleased than ever in my own skills; with the care I take in seaming perfection, matching points and seams, and generally producing a very high quality every time I sit at my machine.

And my FMQ is pretty darned good, too.

I guess I was somewhat underwhelmed with the works hanging in general, both in quantity and in quality. For as large as that guild is (purportedly), there was a small representation of quilting prowess in evidence. The gems were few and far between, and when we found one, it was worth the extra time to stop and soak it in. Sometimes we were right on top of it examining the way it went together, or the mediums used.

BUT, the main thing was that Maria and I managed to get together in one place, and have some fun catching up and sharing laughs.

Thank you for sharing your day with me, Maria - and for lunch!

Saturday was spent giggling and shopping - sort of. Brian needs new work pants, and I am searching for a few more summer tops to wear to sweat through the remainder of the hot weather to come. Karl also needed another pair of cooler bedtime pants, and maybe a short sleeved Oxford to bum around in when he goes out...but he would have none of it.

Jean, Barb and I high-jacked boy jr., but had little success all the way around.

We did a bunch of driving but really didn't land much in the way of booty. However, Karl did learn an invaluable lesson about poking mom in the head and back repeatedly.

Thank you, NCIS.

;v)

We did make it to one store Karl enjoys traipsing through - Trader Joes. (whew) Now stocked up with enough lemon and cracked pepper noodles to last a little while.

On another note, I need a haircut (and so does Karl), so that will be something to tackle this week. One of many items on the agenda.

How is your week stacking up?

Fellow world dwellers - ENJOY!

In lieu of a post today I am opting to share an incredible video. INCREDIBLE!

It may start a little slow, but the music builds and so does the action. If you aren't smiling by ;00;25 in, I'll apologize to you personally.

Where In The World...

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have watched this, and it never ceases to amaze, amuse and confound me. It makes me joyous - down to my very soul.

Please allow yourself the pleasure of the next five minutes.

Enjoy!

Good morning to the Netherlands!

I have been quilting my britches off in an attempt to finish a submission piece....and I am still working at it. Needless to say, I have taken little time to do much else with a tight deadline looming, but I have looked for work, checked email and quickly wandered through a few sites here and there to clear out the cobwebs and re-energize before sitting back at the machine and my mountain of material.

Alliteration fun! ;^)

One thing I do look at from time to time is the stats here for the ol' blog, and I noticed someone (or several someones?) in the Netherlands have been reading through very recently.

Hello and welcome!

Please don't think I am the typical American woman - although there are many like me (similar situations, hobbies, interests, family types, etc), I am unique and atypical in many more ways than not.

Let me know if something doesn't make sense to you, as I am familiar with the miscommunication that can happen with translation. Not that you can't read English, but phrasing and humor are not always the easiest to pick up on when migrated from the English language to another.

And for Heaven's sake, don't let me scare you off.

Have a good day, everyone, and I will try to give a rough report of the happenings for the past few days sometime tonight.

My last post for 2011

...mmmmaybe.

Who knows if I will jump on here and become last-minute-nostalgic for 2011, but right now I am ready to kiss it goodbye and send it on it's merry way.

Actually, I feel like smacking it on the behind and giving it the boot down a rather long flight of stairs, but bidding it a calm fare-thee-well seems the more PC way to handle the task, sooooo...

And I feel like a pizza.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Last year (just about this time - give or take 72 hours) I was feeling curious and wondered how I had managed to snare some readers.

In fact, I've asked this question a few times, but have never received any answers. [tisk tisk]

I've also noticed more views over the past twelve months from far-flung lands and surmised that it was just the happenstance of a word or phrase in one of my entries that 'popped' during your searches for something that brought some of you into my little reading hole.

I asked (way back when) if you wouldn't mind leaving a comment to say where you're from and to (maybe) let me know how you found me out here in the ww'verse (Browncoats UNITE!), but no one has ever dared 'speak.'

Cowards!

:^P

Because the readership has gone up quite a bit over the last year, I am also betting that some of what I have to say must be a bit amusing, or curious, or enlightening (somehow) to keep some of you returning from time to time - and that is very cool.

Of course there are some of you who have me scratching my head. I mean I can't help but wonder how some of your searches for "male enhancement" products, for example, (or shaved body parts) gets you looking in my direction, but um, er....well, that is to say....some of you have strange 'hobbies.'

However you got here - welcome! And if you're a returning reader - welcome back! I hope you find this little corner of the world interesting enough to continue stopping by from time to time throughout 2012.

What did I do!?!!?

Had a call early this morning. An opportunity to pick up where another Scripty wasn't cutting the mustard on an indie, filming in Manistee/Ludington.

Wages weren't great, and they are half through their book, so I wouldn't have had a lot of time on the job - but I would have been the winning 'relief pitcher.' The go-to person. The savior - of sorts.

It would have been a huge feather in my cap and been great exposure to a whole other set of filmmakers!

Why didn't I do it?

Long story...I'll tell you about it sometime.

But that makes two today.

I was right (amended)

I love being able to type that (say it, sing it, shout it at strangers in passing cars...whatever).

As it turns out, my reluctance to make contact with friends (and potential bosses) at [unnamed company] has proven to be a good call.

I finally did hear from my contact at [unnamed headhunting company] this afternoon, and he has just found out there is yet another whole new process for submitting resumes/candidates for open positions. So even though my resume has already been sent their way once, it will have to be submitted again and churn through the new set of rigmarole before I possibly have an interview for the CM position.

Maria, I hear what you are saying, but I have to think He can't possibly want the decision to be this tough. As important as it is that I be happy and follow my heart, I have to meet obligations and not lose my house and pay my bills and give my mom her freedom. And, God-forbid, I end up needing another emergency surgery, or one of the boys needs something, I have to be in a place where I can take care of it again.

What do I really want to do? I want to do the fun thing - wear jeans and t-shirts and play 12 hours+ a day, 6 days a week, for a sad amount of money. The Michigan film workforce is grossly de-valued (and if you quibble, they hire the next one on the list). I want to work in films! I do, but it's impractacle, and I have been doing this for enough time to see that given the new gov's state of mind, I will not be able to make a living following this dream.

What I want and what I want to do are completely different things....COMPLETELY! Sad to say, at this time, I really think I should go for what I need and forget what I want. If I am offered a chance to interview for 'corporate world,' then I will do that. And if I am offered a corporate job, then I have to take it. Living in poverty is not an option any more. I have to be the grown-up and follow my head and forget about what my heart wants.

Sad but true. It's become futile to dream and wait and hope. The decision is going to have to be made when the time comes.

But, when my first screenplay sells, I am celebrating in style, baby! ;)

Yup, I had the initial interview

I've just finished amending my resume, and it's been sent off to the headhunting firm (again) who will be selling me to a project team at a nearby automotive company.

[slight groan]...it's a long story. Pull up a chair and get comfy and I will give you the highlights.

At the urging of a friend (thanks, Ken), I sent a cover letter with my resume to a headhunting firm in Southfield. That was on Thursday of last week. Ken told me that a placement operative there had told him of a temporary admin job that would last from four to six months. Ken said that I would be a great fit and more than capable, so I should contact them and snag this position.

Sooooo....I did - contact the agency, that is.

Several hours later I received a call from Dave, the headhunting operative (his grand poobah title is "Sr. Resource Development Manager"), and we had a good conversation in which he asked all of the perfunctory questions and I gave my best true answers. At the end of the call we made tentative plans to meet for a face-to-face interview on Monday - if it could all be arranged - or possibly Tuesday, if Monday turned into a 'no-go.' I was to wait for his call and be available.

All good so far, right? Right.

I loped through the weekend with slightly nervous expectations and energy. I gardened and cleaned a bit; finagled clothes to wear (after having not worked in corporate attire for some time); read an old newspaper; watched a movie with a friend; then decided on which shoes to wear to the interview. I actually tried to finish a dress I had begun a while back, thinking I could wear that with a jacket or smart sweater, but the armhole treatment was giving me a run for my money, so I put it aside and stopped obsessing/worrying over getting it done on time.

Oh, to be the slender thing I was five/six short years ago, and to just hop into something I had already finished and worn many times before. [sigh]

At any rate...I received a call from Dave right around 9:30 Monday morning, asking if I could be at his location at 1:30PM, and I said that I could.

The interview went well, and I filled out several forms while I was there (a good sign)! I even met with Dave's boss/working partner, who is the person who finds the "clients" (corporate jobs) they place temps like me in to.

Was I a fit for the admin position? Forget the admin position, I was being considered for a Change Management spot with a local automotive company...close to home...for a long term assignment (if it works out)...and I would be working with/for a former colleague besides!

I know! Holy crap, right!?!!?!

If I am lucky enough to get an interview with the company and am hired onto the team, I would work as a contractor (for however long) through the placement agency, for a decent starting wage - with benefits and holidays and paid vacation time. Just like being a grown-up again.

Wait! There's more.

So, Dave asked me to amend my resume and get it back to him in order for it to be submitted to/through the proper hiring channels at the automotive company in order to get the ball rolling. My deadline was tight (but it was definitely doable), and I word-smithed and eliminated and tweaked until I could do no more. Sent it to him before his deadline and went back to bed; but now here I am, unable to sleep and still too early to make a lot of noise, so I am telling you all of the news with plans of filling in the untold information later.

I hope to have great updates in the future, and I will communicate them as they happen.

7.2 or 7.4 - it makes no difference

Time to pray, folks, for the people of Japan - they have just endured another large quake with an additional tsunami warning.

What I can't figure is why this would be considered an "aftershock" instead another independent quake.

Of course, it makes no difference whatsoever....aftershock or quake. It's all the same and it is all devastating and horrible, and I pray for those people suffering there. I encourage you to do the same.

If you're not a praying person, then please think good thoughts and send positive energy to that country and her people. And while you're at it, please send the same prayers, thoughts and vibes for Mexico...I understand they have just experienced another large quake of their own.

Curiosity

I am amazed with how we (humans) can communicate so easily with friends, loved ones, strangers, etc., all around the globe...in seconds.

In the blink of an eye a video can become "viral." Conversations, actor's rants, accidents, exchanges of happiness, 'flash' dances - joyous and exuberant, and even acts of terrorism and bullying, posted between friends and family members, become instant entertainment for the masses. Everything is open for everyone - there is very little privacy any more.

The advent of the internet and nearly instantaneous transmission and retrieval of information is a boon in many ways: at a business level; for medical concerns; as it pertains to national security, and on and on. Instant gratification....just add a UI and a search engine and you have it made. Presto!

Military personnel stationed thousands of miles from home can see their child's first steps or hear their first word, even if they can't be home. That seems just a little too bittersweet to me, but it is a blessing as much as it is a curse, I suppose.

So, I can't help but wonder, how it is that some of you have come to read my blog from some of your locations. Certainly, I know nobody in France, or Malaysia. I've no connection to China, the Koreas, Croatia or Spain, yet there you are...reading my words or glancing at my photos from time to time. How is it that you found me in the Ukraine?

It seems odd to me that someone can reference "kitchen remodeling" in an internet search in Russia, and my blog would somehow manage to appear in the results simply because I mentioned my own kitchen project six months ago. Very cool, but very weird.

Maybe some day in the near future you wouldn't mind dropping me a line and saying "hello." Perhaps tell me a little about yourself or your projects...your job...your every day life (lives). It can't be all that different from mine - but if it is, I would love to learn more about our ever-shrinking world.

Have a great day!