First Blog Post Ever?

I have never written a blog post before. My family and friends finally convinced me/planted the idea firmly enough in my head that I have become convinced that blogging might be a good idea. I have decided to start writing a blog partly to become a part of this whole fancy internet thing everyone seems to like so much, and partly to put some stuff out there that maybe someone somewhere will like and respond to (you know, that whole communication thing people do). This is not a depressing emo rant, despite the title. I'll try to make this blog as fun (yet sensible) as possible. And with as little bathroom humor as possible, which could be hard for me.

I'm at a certain point in my life, having graduated this past May 2010 (English major from Kenyon College, which is a pretty difficult school even if you're a smart person), and still painstakingly searching for a job in this horrible market, where I am sort of stuck in an in-between state. This part in movies usually only lasts a minute, if you're lucky, but shows you everything that occurred to make you reach that certain point which is not necessarily where you want to be, but where you can get enough footing to confidently claim that you are on your way to achieving your goal. Hence, "Tedious Montage." 

[This is me! Summer 2010. Vacant stare courtesy of jet lag and not knowing Dad was taking a picture. Hat courtesy of my brother-in-law. What up, Bro.]

Since I graduated six months ago, I've been flailing about, slipping and sliding and trudging through an endless list of things-to-do-that-might-get-me-a-job. Browsing job search engines, harassing poor defenseless employers and the unfortunate HR ladies who answer the phone and are actually willing to give me the time of day..that sort of thing. I'm exaggerating a little. I'm actually a bit introverted. Until this past month, I had not gotten the hang of what it was, exactly, that I should be doing towards this job search (I spent this past month in Columbus with Z, the as-of-yet-unnamed boyfriend contacting and meeting with people who might get me a job. And assing around. I did some of that too until I figured out who to contact. Good for me!). Before this past month, I mostly switched between two methods: Panicked internet job searching, cover letter sending, hesitant checkups to HR departments.......and the less productive method of waiting around reading wonderful urban fantasy books, reading comics and playing video games in an attempt to distract myself enough to deny that I was wasting my adult life with every hour spent not being that super-motivated, know-it-all, success-story kid who got a job right out of college because they had a well-thought-out plan and did enough networking and meaningful internships to get them places and stuff. 

[I hear that blogs are supposed to have pictures and stuff because people don't like reading that much, so here's a pic of me assing around Summer of 2009 working at a vet instead of planning 9 billion months ahead of time and getting another good writery-type internship like I did the summer before that. At least the vet PAID me, though. That's one of my three labs, Roxie, when she was a puppy. I like how we have the same expression. I call this picture "Partners in Crime."]

Anyway, what the f**k was I doing in college? Oh..right, I was working my ass off on papers and excessive amounts of reading all the time, and when I wasn't, I took the precious free hours I had to try and remain sane--which is hard to do if you're a) female b) not yet too good at coping with massive amounts of stress with no respite, or c) a normal human being. Because of the above (except "female," though it is quite possible that hormones are in league with Satan and that they are there only to ruin your life), college was sort of a "happy and relaxed" or "anxious and dying" sort of experience, with "anxious and dying" always lurking in the background waiting for the next all-too-often barrage of too many papers and tests all due within a few days of each other, crazy loud party-happy neighbors and needless social drama. 

So to sum up, I misused my time in college because I spent too much time working and trying to stay sane, when I should have used that time in which I was trying to stay sane to plan out and execute said plan of how I was going to get a good job after school. I agree that I got a really great education etc. at Kenyon, and that said really great education at Kenyon should make employers go "Oh, hey! You went to a super great school! Here's your job, Miss. Sorry for the wait." But then the economy had to be all dumb and now it probably doesn't matter as much that I went to a middle-of-nowhere highly-ranked private college. In this economy, would my time have been better spent at a state school where the workload may have been more tolerable, thus giving me more time to plan ahead? Or would I have used said time to play video games, socialize, have life experiences and do other such things that might result in me being a better-adjusted human being? I would probably be better-adjusted and just as jobless, to be honest.

Musings aside, I believe that, in addition to increasing my desirability as an employable writer/editor (blogging, apparently, is becoming a desirable "experience" for someone entering the present job market for writers, editors, etc.), I can use this blog to chronicle my Tedious Montage, tell you about my crazy-ass vivid, epic dreams, and maybe publish some comics I'm drawing based on all these story lines I have with my superbly awesome fictional supernatural characters. So I suppose this blog will be about:

1) My day-to-day life en route to the all-powerful, Most Holy JOB, which will be in Columbus, OH with Z, my as-of-yet-unnamed boyfriend who I'm trying to live with even though I'm stuck in Atlanta with my parents now =( (not so bad, they're pretty cool except my dad keeps coming up with silly plans to convince me to stay home permanently so we can be best friends forever)

2) The dreams I have which I feel like you might enjoy (they can be really mega-cool, I promise--Apocalypses, epic battles with cool swords and guns and monsters, werewolves, demons, angels, cool fantastical creatures, super spy/detective missions, superpowers, magic, questionable symbolism, and more! I also sometimes tend to dream in the format of a video game. Hit points, turn-based battles, bosses, levels, etc. Sometimes those video game dreams are so cool, I consider video game design as a potential future job. Woo, excitement!)

3) Super awesome comics based on my stories--these comics are supposed to one day be my professional side-job, so hopefully I'll become really good at writing/drawing them and everyone will love me and my comics.

4) Other cool stuff I read/hear/think about

Side note: I pretty much posted the only pictures I really have besides the ones other people have taken on Facebook, so future pictures might be dramatic MS Paint renditions of actual events. Or non-actual events. I may be tempted to browse through dumb Facebook pics only if someone is really, really desperate to see more of me or something. And then I might not be tempted because why would someone be that desperate if they're not a psycho rapist serial killer.

Side side note: A psycho rapist serial killer (who is not yet confirmed to be a rapist but who probably is) kidnapped and murdered a family a few miles from my college--horrible tragedy. His car was found abandoned (or parked, because "how can you really tell the difference?" as Z pointed out) on Kenyon's campus, where some of our younger friends are still enrolled. Read some articles here--(especially the first because one of my job contacts wrote it):

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6U2BrMotDw2StsJDBE1r8oHcyFQ?docId=ed6e7941069d4f0c9a2a1abd1c7f1eb2

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/20/ohio.family.autopsy/?hpt=T1

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jR74J1Mkr9USf95XYoO3bBIZJaIQ?docId=4c1f1beb82d14a34a0b01f8ff01c2be9

http://abcnews.go.com/US/missing-ohio-family-prompts-college-lockdown-search/story?id=12139637&page=1