"The unemployment office isn't just for philosophy majors anymore"

I am well into my first official week of unemployment. I mean, I have been without a job in the past, but now I am officially in between jobs. I spent the past few days in Bakersfield hanging out. It was nice but I knew I needed to get home and get back to real life, as it were. I am not really sure what I am going to do to fill my time, but I am hoping to get some writing done. I do have some jobs in the works as well as looking into other entertainment jobs. I will keep everyone posted on the progress.

In other news, I got two soundtracks this past weekend that are awesome. The first is The Last Kiss soundtrack to the upcoming Zach Braff movie. The movie itself will be released on September 15 and has been compared to Garden State in tone and feel (not plot or anything). The soundtrack reminds me a lot of the Garden State soundtrack, so everyone who loved GS should check it out. The song Paperweight is my favorite song on there so far. I can't stop listening to it and singing along.

The other soundtrack is the one from Veronica Mars. Becca mentioned it on her blog recently and I decided that I should check it out myself. It rocks. I have never heard of most of the bands on it and therefore have come to love a whole new slew of artists. It is also a good mix of rock and folk songs. It's great.

Well, as I am unemployed I don't have a lot to talk about at the moment. I hope everyone is having a great Friday! :)

~J

I am (almost) free!

The big news is: I have officially given my notice here at Broder. By the end of the week, I will no longer be employed by them. I actually gave notice on Friday, but no one knew yet and I wanted to keep it quiet until I had figured some other things out. Let's see if I can anticipate the questions you all may have:

1) Why??
I decided that the long hours and low pay were just not worth it. I also decided that I really do not like the agency side of this business. I know that it is a vital part of the process and I hope to someday have an agent, but it is not a good place for me to be. The most ironic part, though, is I feel like I have finally gotten the hang of my job. Ha! Also, I know that this whole thing is only going to get worse when we officially merge with ICM so I figured it would be better to get out now before I am too entrenched and my leaving would cause actual problems. Basically, there are many more reasons, I just don't want to go into them in a public forum. If you really want to know, just ask. :)

2) What now?
Well, I have a few avenues I am persuing, although until I am done here I still work 12 hour days which leaves very little time to job hunt. I am thinking of going to back to school and working a retail job or doing an internship in the meantime. I am very fortunate that I have a lot of connections in this business-- more than I realized. So, I am inquiring. I will definitely update when I know more on this front.

3) How long did you work there?
Only a month. Yeah I know. Don't judge.

4) How did they react when you told them?
HR was not surprised in the least. I guess they could tell I was unhappy or the turnover is so high they are never shocked when someone quits. I didn't tell Mark, my boss, directly. HR told him and then I talked with him a little. Ironically enough, he is now being really nice. Go figure.

Those are all the typical questions I have gotten. Again, if you want dirty details, etc. then just ask. And I will keep updating about my day to day stuff/interesting/exciting things that might happen between now and then. :)

This past weekend I returned to Bakersfield for a few days to rest and relax. And boy did I need it. I went shopping (my thinking being, "Hey, I am unemployed now. I'll go spend A LOT OF MONEY!"), hung out with Abby and Chris and ate good food. Oh, and I slept a lot. I really needed it. One of the best parts, though, was coming back to the bungalow (or apartment, or cottage or whatever we decide to call it) and seeing the beautiful backyard that Natalie put together while I was gone. We are having a housewarming-type party on Saturday (if you are in the LA area you had better give me a call so I can give you the address!), so it will look nice for that. I am excited. When I am not working the god awful hours that I am, I feel like I'll have more time to enjoy my house and my roommate, which I definitely miss.

Anyway, it is now 7:15PM and Mark is watching a movie in his office. Hopefully, he will excuse me soon (I am so ready to be done with this!).

~J

Lame Survey Time!

I am really bored at work, so I am subjecting you all to a survey. Hahahaha!

1. My ex is...
less than 20 feet away. Sweet. <--- I'm sarcasting.

2. I am listening to...
People talking/typing

3. Maybe I should...
Run around the office naked. Oh wait, as previously stated, my ex is 20 feet away. No need for that drama.

4. I love...
Diet Coke

5. My bestfriend/s...
Are either in Bako or at an Al Green concert right now. Or scattered throughout the world.

6. I don't understand...
People who are mean to look cool. I don't think mean people are cool. Why throw scripts? WHY?

7. I lost...
My appetite. Like a week ago. If you've seen it, please return to me. Thanks.

8. People say...
They will change. In my experience, they will not.

9. The meaning of my screen name is...
Passionate peace. An oxymoron, get it? Eh, I got it when I was 12 and I don't want to change it now.

10. Love is...
Utterly amazing.

11. Somewhere, someone is doing...
Something more fun than what I am doing. Guaranteed.

12. I will always...
Love you-oooo! And I will always... sorry. Whitney Houston just came out there a little. My bad.

13. Forever seems...
far away.

14. I never want to....
Fail at something I care about.

15. My mobile phone....
Kicks ass!

16. When I wake up in the morning...
I snooze my alarm. Three times.

17. I get annoyed when...
people sniff or chew gum loudly. I don't know why.

18. I am....
ready to go home. But I will probably be here at least another hour and a half.

19. My pets are...
Sadie, a lovely puppy, and Emma, a sad, old cat.

20. Kisses are the best when....
They're with someone you care about.

21. Today...
is stressful.

22. Tomorrow I will...
do something fun.

23. I really want...
To write for a living and not be an assistant.

Okay, thanks for indulging me. I am really bored here at work and there is no end to the day in sight. *le sigh*

~J

Fear of failure

I really want to go to lunch. T-minus 21 minutes and counting.

I think I am either starting to get better at my job or I am doing a lot of things wrong which give me the false impression that I am on top of things. I guess only time will tell. I think my absolute least favorite thing about this job is that I am constantly thinking I am going to screw up or that I have screwed up. I have spent a lot of time analyzing this. I am not afraid of getting yelled at, per se, because that is inevitable. And so far, I have figured out that nothing I do is irreversible or life threatening. And yet, I am so hard on myself I constantly have a stomach ache and my heart races. I have even cut down on my coffee consumption (which, if you know me, is a big deal) to one cup in the morning and that is it. I am just hoping that this fear of failure or being fired or whatever it is subsides soon.

I am going to stare at the clock until I can go to lunch. That's bound to make the time pass faster-- right?