I'm back!

Wow! It's been a long time! Since my last post, I have relocated to Los Angeles but haven't traded in my gloomy disposition for any of that southern California sunshine at all! I'm just the same old nut... Hopefully my posts will be more regular, albeit short. Like this one. I should stop procrastinating and get back to work. Ta ta for now.

So I know my last entry was about being full of gratitude and stuff, but I just woke up from a nap in the sourest of moods. I opened my eyes to pages of job searches on my laptop, and I was just fell into an attitude of...its hard to describe it any other way besides desperation. I give up! I am not going to get a job that I actually want. Maybe there is no such job out there for me, or maybe it is just not in the cards. I tried looking at the sunny side, but that just felt too much like both complacency and disingenuity. When I tried being thankful for what I have instead of being bitter about it, I was reminded so much of my former Christian self, and I realized how much easier and more comforting it is to rely on the explanation that "God has a plan" and "all things in God's timing" when you're backed into a corner. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those beliefs, because it absolutely does provide relief in tough situations. I'm just not sure I believe it anymore. Also, I think maybe being in an Ivy League institution has skewed my perception of the world. Maybe I feel too entitled to the good things in life because of where I came from. Maybe I've been to inundated with the principles of the American Dream--that if I work hard enough and am deserving enough, I will eventually get the privileges I've earned. Maybe I should face the reality of where I live and that there are plenty of people in American society that work hard but don't get anything. It is so crushing to finally understand what it's like to work so hard for nothing.
So I feel like this entry is something of a dead end, because the options I'm coming up with are 1) be grateful and complacent or 2) be bitter and complacent, neither of which I like very much. Maybe I should take another nap and I'll wake up in a better mood next time.

snow day

Hello readers (aka Sherry). I am thrilled to finally have a moment inspirational enough to get me blogging again on this wonderfully snowed in day. I just watched Neil Pasricha give an "awesome" speech on TedTalks (http://www.ted.com/talks/browse) on the three A's of an Awesome life. At a glance, I know it sounds a little cheesey and too much like an over contrived motivational speech, but it really did lift my spirits. The basic message is that life is good and we only have 100 years to enjoy it, so we should live each day appreciating the wonders around us. As you know, I've been in a tough spot lately. I can't quite look at my job and bills with a sunny disposition, but I think I need to get out of this "woe is me!" slump and take on the brighter side of things. So today, I'd like to just make a short list of small things I appreciated about today so far:

1. sleeping in
2. sleeping rats (which means peace and quiet and not having to pick up something that they knock over every 10 seconds)
3. eating leftovers from yesterday's dinner
4. hot tea
5. no work!!

Calling All Dissatisfied Social Workers

I'm fed up with my job, my pay, and my lack of options...Anyone interested in building something new, get in touch with me.


Praxis Social Worker’s Collective

Mission Statement
The Praxis Social Worker’s Collective exists to build a sustainable movement in which the relationship between the community and change agents is mutually beneficial, satisfying, and transformative. This relationship is set into motion to radically alter the political and cultural landscape in which we exist and holistically undermine the unhealthy climate that persists.

Blog Revival!

Hi readers. Happy New Year! As one of my resolutions, I am reviving my practice of reflection. I was an avid journaler in my younger years, but as the working world and graduate school came around, writing my thoughts and experiences down fell off my list of priorities. It's a great regret since I often think about how my journals will be my only record of personal development. I'm also a bit of a hoarder of artifacts and relics, so thinking about all that lost time makes me want to cry a little. But I refuse to let my thoughts go unrecorded any longer! For a long time (my whole life, really) I absolutely rejected virtual diary keeping. I thought handwriting on physical paper was a dying art form that I needed to preserve. This may be true, but I've realized that hand writing takes way too much time and effort and it actually prevents me from getting thoughts out faster and more frequently. So, I had to compromise somewhere...

Although this blog was originally intended to keep track of last year's Fun-A-Day project, I'm just going to use it for any old purpose now. I'm not going to put too many restrictions on what I post...just gonna let the blog take shape naturally. I may keep some posts private for personal viewing only, but otherwise I'd like to keep things fluid and less contrived. So love it or hate it, I'm finally gonna let it be me, which is maybe where this resolution is really intended to go--to be more honest with myself and with the people around me. A form of transparency I suppose...and in a form that's easier for me to handle. It's a virtual space that i'm pretty sure won't get too many hits, so it doesn't really matter what I post because no one's gonna read it anyways! It's kind of like singing in the shower--someone might be listening, but it's really my own private space and time to let loose and listen to my voice reverberate.

more maps

There are lots of improvements to be made. This is just the first draft...so stay tuned for the final product.

Assignment 3

I made this document for my Community Mapping class, and it took me WAY longer than it should have. Oh how taking notes in class would have come in handy! Since figuring out how to get the stupid mapping functions in ArcView took so long, the library closed before I was able to finish. I don't have the computer program at home, so I had to slap everything together last minute RIGHT before class. So please do me the favor of skipping over the writing portion of the document and just look at the maps. It's not my best piece of work, but pretty decent for how quickly I rushed through it.