Wednesdays and Fridays are my weekend

"The experimentation with downward social mobility continues." That is a really shallow and arrogant way of starting an entry, but it was the first thing to come to mind. I don't mean to be arrogant with respect to those who work hard to move up (or stay afloat). You can read my whole mobility quandary in the entry before, but I mean that opening sentence in the least offensive way possible.

I still work close to full-time hours at my current position, and it's nice to see faces I haven't seen, play a little catch-up. It's a bit of a grind, where everything becomes routine: Greeting, Ask Questions, Make Conversation, Type in some stuff, Goodbyes. It becomes standardized, automatic.

So I really enjoy it when a thoroughly organic conversation arises. I ask people about their apparel, their books, their first week back, usually standard conversation-openers. But then, every now and then, a stimulating exchange occurs and for a brief minute, I'm reminded of the spontaneity of dialogue.

(Random intermission: Blogger apparently does not recognize "dialogue" as a word because whenever I type it in, the red squiggly lines that indicate a misspelling appear. Which is ironic because...well, isn't the point of blogs to increase dialogue? To foment exchange among individuals?)

I feel more confident as a result of this job, partly because of the fulfillment derived from any sort of positive production (money), but also because of the unique satisfaction I gain from this particular job, where I have to constantly interact with people and challenge myself, put myself out there. It's really a great mini-ethnography, where you observe people, pick up hints, and take into account everything. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong, but it's strangely stimulating...if I'm not too much in "computer mode" where I automatically regurgitate lines, usually at the end of the day when I'm on a blood-sugar low.

Sigh, a strong part of me feels like I'd ALMOST take this job for free, just from all of the social cues and interaction and experience I am gaining (and probably should have gained five years ago) but I'm definitely in this for the money, and I just got my first paycheck, so I am happy about that.

Wednesdays and Fridays are my only days off, so I want to do some work then, but I just end up lazing about because I want to recharge my batteries. But I have an internship with a magazine coming up! Which...well, takes up my Wednesdays and Fridays. So I could be going 9:30-5:30 every day. This could get interesting...

The more career-oriented job hunt goes on. I have an interview next week which I'm excited about, and I have a couple of places whom I'm still waiting to hear from. I still have AsianWeek and Hyphen articles in the work, and I'm still doing stuff for the SFBG.

Clips for this week's issue of the Guardian, which includes previews of Keak da Sneak, Doin' It In The Park, and DJ Funk. I'm excited about DJ Funk, a Sunday show, I'm going to see if I can make it to the other events, but I still have some typing to do, and I still have Cal v. Tennessee to attend. Packed Labor Day weekend ahead.


Until next time...