I can be a jerk to people I haven't slept with...

Wow, does this journal need an OVER.HAUL.

In any case, check out my blog, which I do actually update: bookpublishing.today.com

I promise that one day I will make this journal as useful as my blog... and less Christmas (if you want to know just how out-of-date this journal is, check out the playlist!).

I really need to start writing here again. I have some fun news to share, which I wrote out already... but on my other computer. I'm waiting to go to work because my roommates are hogging the one bathroom we have right now. But hopefully I'll come back soon to share fun things.

Speaking of fun things, wanted to wish a happy birthday to marijke1985 on June 14th! Sorry I've been ridiculously out of touch. Going to fix that!

Sorry also for the Christmas layout. I'm a disaster.

I feel remarkably cool right now. I'm up (way too early on a Saturday morning, but 7am was the only time I could get a haircut appointment) at Starbucks right now working on my laptop. What am I doing that's so cool? Project editing my first book! I edit books all the time for my job, but this is the first one that is MY project. As project editor, I am basically in charge of the whole process and I see it from beginning to end. This is exactly what I wanted to be doing in my publishing career--and I'm doing it after only 6 months at this job. I'm so pumped! Also, because there aren't really any editors who are that into sports, I could feasibly become THE sports book editor at the company. This book is Birth of the New NFL--a book about how the NFL and AFL leagues were first formed, televised, and how the Superbowl started as a game between teams in each of these two leagues. Sure it's historical and a tiny bit out of touch (I'm reading at least 5 chapters this weekend and making notes for the author to work on), but at least it's a sports book!

How great is my job??

It's my favorite day of the year: Superbowl Sunday!






GO PATRIOTS!!

Even though Hugh Laurie (who has never seen an American football game in his life) chose the Giants to win... come on Hugh, what's wrong with you??

Oh well, Pats are going to make history today and I am so relieved that the suspense is almost over!! Enjoy the game! :)


Edit: I want to dig a hole for myself, then crawl up in it and die. That was the most painful thing I've ever seen...

So about this guy I've been chatting up online...

I pretty much stalk him on Facebook, lol. But hell, we both use it a lot and I friended him. He accepted me. So I think that's an "OK" to stalk. I only expect he's doing the same to me.

A ton of the pictures he has are with this girl Whitney. It seems pretty clear from some of the more lovey-dovey ones that she's an ex of his. And some of them are quite recent. There are some that will show thumbnails but won't let me see the full picture; my guess is that since she's in them, she and I are clearly not facebook friends, and because she's recently made her page private, that she was the one to upload them (and let me tell you, some of them are wicked hot... of him anyway. She's not much to look at.).

In any case, like I said, he's in Louisiana visiting friends. And yesterday, his facebook status says he had a fun day with Whitney! I know he has a few friends named Whitney, but when I check her thumbnail default pic, she's changed it to one that includes a very recent looking picture of him! So I'm guessing they're friends now and that he visited her. Grrrrrr.....

THEN, and this takes the cake....
There's an application on facebook that's called SuperPoke! with which you can poke or do just about everything to a friend. And it has a ton of holiday options. For instance a week or so ago, I "went on a sleigh ride" with him. Cute huh? But TODAY, I check out his page and "PRIVATE" has "held mistletoe over" him. I WONDER who that could be??? Sounds like SOMEBODY still has a crush.

So I send him a quick facebook message to say:
"So I noticed somebody's holding virtual mistletoe over you via your little holiday gifts application. Of course it won't tell me who it is (it just says Private)... so I guess you'll have to tell me who I need to beat up. Heh.

I guess I'll just have to retaliate... You have no idea how determined I can be when I get jealous. ;)"

Then I added a little mistletoe myself. It's ON, bitch!

Funny how I only right in here when there's something new going on with my job or my love life. Well it's time for SOMETHING to happen in my love life right?

So I met this guy online... the first thing I thought was he was really attractive in his pictures. As it turns out he's also very smart and nice. We have a lot in common, he's really well-mannered (so hard to find... especially online!). He's from New York (they're never close!). We emailed back and forth for quite a while. He seemed reluctant at first to plan to get together, apparently because he had a bad Match.com experience recently, but soon he came around. We decided to get together the next weekend. The next night we talked on the phone and things got weird. I still can't explain why I got so weirded out... he just sounded like a total geekface. But it's so confusing because he doesn't seem at all social awkward when I chat with him online... and I know that he has to do a lot of networking, so how awkward can he be? So although I had every intention of ending it right there... I didn't. Part of me thinks I should trust me instinct, because it's usually right. But on the other hand, it doesn't seem fair to not give him a chance. And the more I talk to him, the more I think it could work. And he really is cute.

So we'll see what happens. He's in Louisiana (where he grew up... born in Indiana... he's from everywhere) for the holiday with his family, and then we will definitely get together. With any luck I freaked out over nothing. If not, at least we can be friends.

In other news, I LOVE my new job. Everything about it is great. :)

And I'm fixing my journal too... I've been so lazy about it. Oh and I'm on my new laptop now, which I loooove. I'm getting a lot more writing done, so that rocks. Weeeee!

So it's been a while since I updated, because I've been a busy girl! I finished things up at the Chamber... but not completely. I was talking to Heather who said that if I wanted some extra cash, the Chamber would probably be really happy for me to do extra work on the weeknights/weekends. Why hadn't I thought of that? Awesome idea, cuz I certainly need the cash! So I'm going in a few hours every few days to get some things done, about 6 hours a week.

Also, I've finished up my first week at my new job and I'm really liking it a lot. It's definitely what I want to be doing. Josh, my boss, is a really great guy... everyone at work thinks he's an awesome guy to work for. He's really quiet and focused, but he's really nice and funny, so I think it's going to work out great. I've already edited 3 books and proofread 1 (proofreading means I get to read the whole book and do more in-depth editing). For most books that I edit, I simply run a checklist for each "pass"... I usually see it 3 times (3 passes). As far as the other people I work with, they're ALL women. There are so few guys at the office, and only one in my dept (Josh). But they all seem very nice and easy to work with. Alicia, Josh's boss, seems really cool. It's so nice working with people again... I was getting pretty tired of working in an office by myself. Big news for the company last week was our biggest book out right now is "Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips" and the author was on Oprah on Monday... after the show, it got up to #49 on Amazon. Woot! Then Friday, we got some bad news about the company and an employee who recently left and screwed people over. Kinda sucked and is going to be tough to make up the numbers he lost, but it's hard to figure out what kind of impact it'll be since I'm new to all this. But overall, things are definitely really positive.

What else is going on... last night Mike, Felix, most of Felix's family and I all went to Lake Compounce, an amusement park in Bristol that has an awesome "Haunted Graveyard." I've always wanted to go but never had until last night. It was fantastic! And pretty scary. People jumping out at you and stuff... it was 45 mins of walking through this maze/woods. It was really well done though. And then we went on a bunch of rides. I felt so old... I have never felt sick at an amusement park, but last night I did! But it was still a lot of fun. We were exhausted when we got home though and enjoyed a long sleep-in.

Patriots are kicking so much ass. They're 8-0. They've gotten over 30 points in every single game. Today they won 52-7. Embarrassing. But I'm ready for things to heat up.. winning all the time gets boring. They play the Colts next week -- I can't even handle how exciting that's going to be!!!!

Red Sox are also kicking ass!! I'm watching the 4th game of the World Series now (if they win this, they win it all). I usually don't follow them, but this team is actually really fun to watch. And Mike Lowell is soooo dreamy. Oh wait, here's a picture:



Without him, baseball is pretty boring.

Other CT news... Back in the day, there used to be a great alternative rock station on Radio 104.1 and then it declined when they put Dee Snider on the morning show (ughhh he was so obnoxious). Then they changed it to Power 104.1, which was hip hop. It wasn't bad, but it sucked having no good alternative rock station in CT for a few years. Now 104.1 is back on alternative and it's been all 90s rock. It's awesome!!! I'm writing them an email right now to say how ecstatic I am that there's a radio station that plays 90s rock. Wooooot! It doesn't actually come in that well in Norwalk, but I can listen to it on the way to work.

Ok, I think that's all... now you know everything. (OOh, my man Mike Lowell just hit a nice double. And then he ran home!! He's even hotter when he's running around lol.)

I am very pleased to announce that I've officially accepted the position of Production Editor for Globe Pequot Press! They extended the offer today and after griping about the substantial pay cut I'm going to have to deal with, I decided this is what I really want and as long as I get paid enough to pay the bills, I can handle it.

Ughh but it's only $32k!! So I lose $3000 in pay and at least a couple thousand for gas money to pay for that commute. Major ouch. But whatever, I'll have to make some changes in my lifestyle, that's all. They at least agreed to let me have my review after 6 months instead of a year, so I would be up for a raise sooner if I do well. And trust me, I'm gonna bust my ass at this job... I'm not fucking around any more.

So aside from the money thing, I'm a very happy girl. I just know this was the right step for me. I feel a little bad about leaving the Chamber in relative shambles, but if I didn't leave soon, I was just going to be dragged down with it. It was a good job though and I sure as hell learned a lot.

p.s. The Office is on tonight! A great way to end a great day! Sad that Top Chef is over and that jerky Hung won--I loooved Dale--but that was a great show. And of course House is back, and that's started off really well so far. Not crazy about Cam's blonde hair and the whole Cam and Chase engaged thing (shudder), but that'll probably last as long as Jen and Jesse did. Oh snap!!

I had a second interview today with Globe Pequot Press, and met with 4 people. Things are looking really good... from Josh I found out that I'm the only person (out of 8 who got an interview) that they invited back for a second interview. From Florencia I found out that they should make a decision this week. Let's see... looks like I'm the only one in contention -- how sweet is that??

The only trouble is salary. As I figured it might be. Florencia asked me (again) what my expectations are. I tell her (again) $40-45k. I know very well that that's a high range for this industry and for an "entry level" job. But a few points worth making: there is a lot more responsibility than a typical entry level job. I'm already making $35k and I'm definitely not going to take a pay cut. And I have to budget for commuting costs which is a couple thousand right there. Additionally, if I were to stay at the Chamber, I wouldn't waste any time before asking for a raise (and I'm up for review anyway at the end of the month). So it's pretty easy to see where $40+ makes sense.

However, Florencia acted all surprised when I said $40-45k. She says "Ohhh, well we were thinking 30s..." I say, "Ok..." She asks how much I make now, I tell her $35k and that I'd factor in commuting costs. She asks where I'd be commuting from (doesn't she write this shit down??), and I remind her, Norwalk. She nods and says she'll discuss it with the others. I tell her that I'm negotiable but that's pretty much where I'm at. Things seemed a little strained after that... I mean if that was way out of the ball park, why didn't she say so when I told her last time? To say "30s", to me, always means $35. Otherwise, she'd say "low 30s". I'm not asking much over that, just asking them to factor in how far I'd be driving.

My poor car... she's not ready to do this again! She's gonna be so pooped by the time I get her paid off, lol.

My mom gave me some great advice about how to handle an offer if they one. My mom's guessing they'll offer $38. I'm going to push for $40, but even $38 is definitely doable if they won't budge. But if they do offer $38, I'll call Josh and be like "Florencia just offered $38 and I am so excited to come work for you guys but I was hoping for $40, just so I don't end up losing money on the commute. Anything you can do?"

Keep your fingers crossed for me!! (And here I was thinking the interviews were going to be the hard part...)

[mood| bouncy]
[music| Pandora.com: Currently "Requiem" by M. Ward]

So here we are again, back in the realm of getting into publishing, for real. A little back story: ever since I decided to get into publishing, I've had my eyes on Globe Pequot Press, a book publisher in Guilford, CT. I mean, hello? Book publisher. Connecticut. That is enough to get me excited. But more than that, they publish fantastic books--a lot of travel and outdoor recreation--and have just started a new imprint called "Skirt!" for women-centered literature. It's expanding like crazy: both in what they publish and the number of positions. They have a great reputation and are constantly in publishing news for making innovative changes and excelling for it.

Suddenly they have a TON of positions that are totally at my level. So of course, I apply like crazy. I guess it shouldn't have been a big surprise when they called me to discuss my resume, but it was! I mean, I've been trying to get noticed there for about 3 years with no luck. So I was super pleased to hear from them.



( Cut cuz this will get long... click to continue. )

I haven't been this pessimistic in a long time. I guess that's what happens when you actually pay attention to what's going on in the world. The more I think about and look into current events, especially those highly political in nature, the worse I feel about the world and the more confused I am about what's right and true.

I was a lot happier not paying attention.

This is pretty much thanks to talking with Tom a lot lately, who's what you'd call a "9/11 Truther", someone who is convinced that 9/11 (and often other similar, man-made catastrophic events) are the government's fault, despite what the public is told. I try so so hard to give him the benefit of the doubt and be open-minded about it but it's been fucking me up lately. Some of it sounds like it MIGHT have merit, maybe. But most of it is far-fetched at best. And believing any of it at all kinda sucks you into this hatred spiral and makes you paranoid about every piece of news out there. I'd really hate to live like that full time.

Oh man, is ignorance bliss or what? I don't know if I feel like a better person for being able to ignore this conspiracy debate and swallow whatever truths I like, but I'm certainly happier that way.

I started a little journal for my writing. Seems like it's a good idea to keep it all in one place. And then others can read it too if they want to. There are only a couple poems up so far, but feel free to check it out. And of course, add me as a friend!

Follow me!

This is my new favorite icon. :)

It's Friday... don't feel like doing work. What else is new? Thanks again for the distraction, marijke1985

Edit: Why doesn't bold work on my journal? Dumb.

- Pick your birth month.
- Strike out anything that doesn't apply to you.
- Bold the five-ten that best apply to you.
- Copy to your own journal, with all twelve months under a lj-cut.

FEBRUARY:
Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

( The rest of the months under the cut. )

Just when I was about done feeling sorry for myself, I got the damage assessed on my car. Just under $1,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thankfully, I have a $500 deductible for my collision coverage (and yesterday I was thinking I wouldn't even need THAT much), so that's all I have to pay. But EVEN STILL, it all boils down to...

I have to pay $500 because some asshole backed into my car and drove off without giving a shit.

Life just isn't fair.

Thanks as usual to my friend marijke1985 for a lovely meme to help take my mind off dumb shit.

How this works: Comment and - if you want - I'll give you a letter. In your journal, list 10 of your favorite songs that begin with that letter.

marijke1985 gave me letter T.

so, here we go // in no order:

001. take your momma - scissor sisters
002. take all the sky you need - ellis paul
003. teardrop - massive attack
004. tears of gold - ryan adams
005. truly, truly - grant lee buffalo
006. these walls - the mick fleetwood band
007. toma - pitbull ft. lil john
008. traffic - stereophonics
009. tribute - tenacious d
010. testimony - grant lee buffalo

Hey, that makes a nice playlist! :)

[mood| furious]

You know, I was willing to give this town a chance. Multiple chances, even. But every single day, I find a new reason to hate working here. Westport, CT, is a town full of selfish, rich, asshole snobs who do not give a shit about anyone else on this planet.

Whooo. Ok, now that I got that out...

I went to Panera Bread for lunch and got a whole bunch of bagels and then a salad and soup to go and a coffee. Of course, this took FOREVER for them to get together. But whatever, I didn't flip out about it. So I'm leaving and I approach my car and there is a MASSIVE DENT ON MY DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR!! Somebody must have rear ended me (I was parallel parked a ways behind the regular spaces). I couldn't even believe it, I just stopped in the middle of the parking lot and stared at it. And the worst part? There isn't even a fucking note. WHO DOES THAT???? This town is made of 2 things: Money and Assholes Who Don't Give a Shit. So despite the fact that the person who hit me could probably afford the repairs (even better than I can), he/she could care less and instead drove off.

The up sides: I wasn't in the car. No one got hurt. It only dented one panel. It didn't even scrape the paint. I get a small break from work while I get an estimate and repair. Max it will cost me is $500 (my deductible), but I doubt it'll cost that much. And THANK GOD I have money saved to go towards my new living expenses that I don't necessarily need right away.

Edit: Pictures.



Ok the last one is kinda cute with the reflection of Mike and Felix (my roommates).

I hate... HATE... this town. I don't care what it takes, I am getting the fuck out of here.

I hope I don't sound like a whiny brat right now. But if there's a place for it, it's LJ.

Financially, I'm doing OK. I can definitely live on the money I make and now that I'm moving, I'll (surprisingly) be saving some money. However, I have what I consider to be too much credit card debt. My credit score dropped almost a hundred points in the past year, and despite the fact that I always pay my bills on time and pay more than the minimum, my score creeps up much too slowly. Solution? Save money and start pay it off. I think this will become easier after I've moved and get my finances settled.

The problem is, there are some things I really should give up but don't have the heart to. I gotta have my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee nearly every weekday (although not today! go me!). Mainly this is because I feel like a total slug without drinking caffeine, and it's just about the only thing to motivate me in this boring, empty office. I also go out to eat a lot more than I should. Also because I'm lazy... it's a lot easier than going grocery shopping and then coming home and cooking something. I'm not a good cook either so I usually stick to something simple, which usually isn't as satisfying. Since those are pretty much the only things I splurge on nowadays and I can't even give them up, I feel like I'm making no progress.

New plan: get a better job that pays more. Now that's something I can get behind!

On a completely different note, House gossip!! Jennifer Morrison (Cameron) and Jesse Spencer (Chase) broke off their engagement. Can you believe this shit?? I'm kinda relieved for her cuz he's such a doofus. But still... I wonder if that'll make things awkward on set....

First off, sorry for the long hiatus! This journal works great for me when I see things coming, but once the unpredictable happens, it takes me forever to get caught up! Also, for anyone who's actually attempted to view my journal... sorry, it's a mess. Hopefully I'll have time for an overhaul, but probably not till the fall.

Ok, now I need an outline for this post. I'll do a cut too in case you are reading this and are thinking "How do I even know this girl? I ain't readin all this!"

- The Chamber woes
- Moving
- Potential new job (you know, there's always one of those)

( Oh... now I remember this chick... )

So Pandora was once my music obsession. It's still great, but this is one really amazing site to listen to your own and other people's playlists (including full mp3s, mostly).

I spent a lot of time making a mostly full House playlist. If there's a song you love from House that I'm missing let me know. It may be because the full version is unavailable. I'll get the 30 second versions up there too if I can't find anything better. Hope you enjoy!!