They're Blinding Me With Science!!

There's a movie from the 80's called Scanners, where people's heads explode. I now have a deeper understanding of this film, as I've now had several applications for jobs rejected because my resume didn't make it through the scanner. Until I lost my job, I had no idea that companies now use scanning technology to vet resumes before they go in front of human eyes. So, if you don't have the right words in your resume, or if you have a character the scanner doesn't recognize, it kicks it right out and a human will never even see it. It makes my head explode to think that I'm now being rejected for jobs by robots. O Great Robot Overlords! I beseech thee to please review my resume again! I really do have some usable skills! I'm willing to learn simple mechanical maintenance to be of use to Our Great Robot Leaders!! A Blessing on Your Circuits!

Biting the Bullet (Journal) - Part Deux

Okay...let's try this again! To refresh, a Bullet Journal is an analog method of organizing one's life. Studies have shown that physically writing things down more firmly embeds them into our brains, improving memory and recall. It's a method that is easily personalized to one's own needs and can be as elaborate or as simple as one wants. Generally, the bullet journal combines calendaring, tasks, appointments, logs (called "collections"), and some element of "journaling" - capturing elements in our lives we want to remember or otherwise note. Again, if you Google "Bullet Journal", you will see all kinds of iterations, from really fancy and elaborate, to very simple. Mine is sort of half-way between. As you will recall from my previous post, I sort of stumbled at my first attempt to get set up. I bought a ruled notebook and pens that bled through badly. I realized that I would rather have a grid-format notebook, and found a Moleskine 5.5X8 notebook that was perfect. I also bought different pens that didn't bleed through. I decided to set up my journal as follows:

Index and Symbol Key

Year-at-a-Glance Calendar

Collections (I allocated a page to each, but can expand as I wish)

    Family and Friends Contact Information

    Household Service Company Info (Plumber, HVAC, etc)

    Birthdays

    Household Projects List

    Job Search Log

    Habits Log (Recording good habits!)

    Gift Ideas

    TV Shows I Want to Record/Watch

  ...and then several pages more for future logs!

Monthly Log (capturing events or important points to remember for the month

Weekly Log

    Tasks

    Appointments

    Notes about the day

    Things I want to remember

Once I had my supplies and how I wanted to organize it, I sat down a got it set up:

Moleskine Notebook:

I like the grids because it keeps my lines straight!


Index and Symbol Key


Year-At-A-Glance


One of my Collections - Household Projects!


Weekly Log Page:


As you can see, I haven't gotten too fancy yet -- I've picked up some stickers and other fun things, but I'm never going to be doing calligraphy!  I'm already seeing the benefits of it -- after this initial set-up, it's really only a few minutes each day to keep it updated. My goal is to set aside a few minutes in the evening to reflect on the day, capture any notes, see what's happening the following day, etc.

I'll let you know how it goes! Oh, and if this inspires you to start your own journal, keep me posted and let me know how yours is going!

Biting the Bullet

I have become obsessed with the new fad of bullet journaling. Bullet Journaling was created by someone named Ryder Carroll and is an analog-based system of life organization, journaling, list-keeping, calendar management, what-have-you. There's a whole website about it that I haven't even looked at (bulletjournal.com). I saw the term used and started Googling it and got to all the cool Pinterest boards with TONS of cute, creative and impossibly clever bullet journals. I'm already an inveterate list-maker and calendar-keeper, and I've tried journaling at various times over the years without much success (as with blogging, I'm all gung-ho at first and then peter-off over time.) This looked like an interesting way to organize my life. And it would require that I purchase items from Office Depot like a new notebook and cool pens and stuff. And...well...to say I like office supplies is like saying someone likes heroin. I'm hooked on the junk and only multi-colored post-its will satisfy the cravings.

I decided to start Day 1 today, as it was August 1st and Monday and what better day to start something like this?  I think I will blog about this experience as I go along, so I can look back and bask in the satisfaction of a job well done. Here we go!

DAY 1: Supplies and Setting up My Bullet Journal:

Look, you guys --- new supplies!! Swoon!! Lookit my new notebook...and pens, brand new multi-colored pens...and stencils! Did you see the stencils? And Washi Tape! Um, so I'm not really sure what the Washi Tape is for, but its adorable so...I'm all set!

Time to set up my Index and Symbol Key:

Nice, right? Not too fancy, but a little creative. Still not sure where the Washi Tape goes...

Dammit! My cool pens leak through...GRRRRR!! Okay, no problem. I'm Zen. I'll just skip pages, no worries! Next I'll set up my Year-at-a-Glance page. It's great because I can just start with August 2016 and end up with August 2017 or later!

DAMMIT!! Can someone in the class tell me what Kelly did wrong?? BLERG!!! And the bleed-through is KILLING my OCD side! GRRRRRRR!! Okay...this project that was supposed to be a centering exercise to get me to a state or organizational bliss has made me a little...tense. I think I'll put it aside for a bit - at least until I get a new notebook with thicker pages, or pens that don't bleed.



Oh, But I did figure out a use for the Washi Tape...

These Dreams Go On When I Close My Eyes

Don't you love when people tell you about their dreams? I know you do, so here goes: I often will have dreams that encompass the entire night and feel so real that, when I become conscious enough to think about them, I sometimes can't determine whether the dream is real or not. These dreams are typically centered around something that I have done, or forgot to do, that is causing stress and anxiety. When I was working, I would often dream that I had missed several key deliverables in a project and I was going to have to explain to my bosses why I had dropped the ball. Last night, I dreamed that I had committed a large amount of our money to buying a portion of a steer (for meat) in partnership with my friend Claire (Hi Claire, for your birthday you get to star in my anxiety dream!!). And this isn't just any beef -- it's Kobe or Wagyu or some other beef that is super expensive because they raise the animal in a suite at the Bellagio, feeding it caviar and gold whilst geishas continuously massage it. So I'm into this commitment BIG -- but I haven't told Glenn that I've done this. So all night long, I kept waking up just enough to think, "How the hell am I going to tell Glenn that, despite being unemployed, I've committed thousands of dollars to Claire?". Or, I would wake up and think, "How am I going to tell Claire that I have to back out of this deal? She's going to be furious! And its not her fault!". And each time I wake up I am also telling myself, "This isn't real. Go back to sleep. You don't owe Claire money. But...maybe I do? I remember doing it -- we signed papers and stuff! It IS real! Oh SHIT! No, dummy...No it isn't...why on earth would Claire be dealing high-end beef? It doesn't make sense! Go back to sleep, you wacko!" So there you go -- a glimpse into my subconscious. Fun, huh?

Has Anyone Seen My Right Arm?

MDH has been up north the past two days/nights with his dad, who had open-heart surgery this week. I stayed home to keep an eye on our dawg and keep the home-fires burning. But I will admit that I was secretly looking forward to being a bachelorette for a couple days. Whole bed to myself, watch whatever I want on TV, eat whatever I want. If there is one thing I ever miss about being single, its autonomy. Being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want, without having to run things by another person. But you know what? It's boring without my bestie. The house feels like something important is missing -- like someone sneaked in and stole the couch. And, after all my bitching about not being able to sleep well because someone else is in the bed with me, I sleep EVEN WORSE without my man -- the bed is too big and his side is too cold and, no matter what I do, I can't get the dog to sleep on the bed with me! That being said, I have enjoyed eating whatever the hell I want, whenever I want (coconut curry chicken at 7:30AM, y'all!). Even so, its time for my right arm to come on home -- I need some sleep!

What Color is Your Passionfruit?

I've started reading "What Color is Your Parachute?" to help in the job search, but I still haven't gotten to the part where it talks about my parachute, not to mention the color it's supposed to be. But I have been noodling on the question of passion. I've been asked a few times, when talking about what sorts of careers I might want, "Well, what's the thing you're really PASSIONATE about?". It stumps me every time. See, I'm not really that passionate about anything. There. I said it. Whew! That felt good! I know its not a popular idea -- Pinterest is just stuffed with passionate pursuits. But I'm just not someone who has a particular focus on one specific thing. I enjoy a variety of interests, but I can honestly say none inspire passion (well, other than passionate love for MDH!). So I'm going to stop obsessing over figuring out my "passion" and how I can find a job that feeds it, and instead turn that energy into finding a job that isn't soul-sucking, that pays me enough money to enjoy the non-job parts of my life, and that (hopefully) doesn't require me to commute on Highway 26. Or 405. Or I-5. Or 217. Because if I have to traverse any of those routes regularly, I can tell you what will become my passion -- tamping down my natural urge to murder every other driver on the road. Can Road Rage be a passion?

To Sleep...Perchance, to Dream...of Sleeping

I miss sleep. I miss it so much. This was going to be a long post, but I'm too tired. I'll just post this instead: