Apples In My Future?

Reconnected with RW today after not having spoken with him in a long time. He was very gracious, and we both spoke about the ways in which parenting can change your sense of time and what is achievable. He offered to talk with me about working at his school, and we also want to get the families together at some point. When I mentioned that several friends have asked me if I'd consider teaching, he asked what grade levels I'd be interested in, and I said, "Secondary, I guess," because that's the age level I've had the most experience with. What I should have said, I think, was, "I have no idea! How does one make that determination other than through trial and -- hopefully not too much -- error?"

Miss Manners

Finally managed to send out a thank-you note today to FS. Rooting around in my stationery box for the appropriate card made me remember how important this kind of follow-up is; the next time I schedule a meeting with someone, I should mentally schedule the thank-you note as well.

Have You Met My Friend....?

Met ES today, the girlfriend of a friend. ES works for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, about which I know little, but at least now I have someone I could start with.

Good Food and Good Advice

Had lunch with Quaker friend FS today, after having played "connect-the-calendars" for a few weeks. She shares my fondness for the "right hand gal" spot, so we had a good talk about the advantages of working from that position. She also encouraged me to expand my search to include Rutgers, and swears the commute isn't half bad, especially if you're into books an tape. It was great to talk with someone whose job search experiences are still fresh, and also interesting to talk with her about her first job in NJ, which ended up being a poor fit. Told her that working within a Quaker context might feel like a dream come true; we'll see about that.

Please Turn To Page 19 In Your Manual

One of the tasks I liked best in all my years at Penn was the last one I did: analyzing, describing, and codifying my job in an accessible way for my successor. The indexed section of shared hard-drive I came up with was not-so-jokingly nicknamed, "Shelley's Brain in a Box," and I KNEW that the person who came in after me was going to be in great shape. Similar to the work I did as a student computer consultant at Brown, when I wrote a "quick and easy" guide to the word processing software because I realized that I'd taught so many people how to use it that I had it down to a system. Satisfying to learn a system well enough to be able to boil it down to its essentials and teach it.

Let Me Get Back To You On That

Here's something else I really enjoy: targeted research. Loved tracking down a replacement copy of my mom's high school yearbook. Loved figuring out where I could find census-based baby name frequency information when we were expecting. Knowing that what you want is out there somewhere and then finding it. Right now I'd love to find a few more hours of sleep.

Right Hand Gal

I've been scouring my memories, thinking about all the jobs I've had and what aspects of them I truly enjoyed, looking for patterns or trends. Some of my favorite memories of my time at Brown revolve around my work with Production Workshop shows, and if I could have seen my way clear to theater being a job for grownups (somehow I just couldn't imagine that), I might be working off-Broadway right now. In the long run, though, what I think I started to learn as I stage-managed my way through school was how much I enjoyed working as someone's right hand gal. Brown was where I really started to learn to be the source of my own satisfaction. Actors get applause, directors get reviews, and stage managers... know that the show wouldn't have gone on without them. I love the feeling of having someone turn to me to ask me for something and being able to say, "Yep, did it already, you're all set." That combined feeling of quiet mastery and saving the day. Of course this only works well if you like and respect the director.

In Other News

From today's New York Times: "Nearly three years into the worst employment slump since World War II, many unemployed professionals are finding that the job networds they have been tapping are no longer producing." Great. The emotional rollercoaster ride continues.

Clunky, But Doable

Okay, I've got the iMac and the Earthlink free webdesign tool talking, sort of. Enough so that I'll be able to put up a site over at home.earthlink.net/~butwait, although it looks like I won't have graphics capability. Sigh. One of these days I'm going to buy myself some software and a little server space to call my very own.