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.

Earthlink, Schmearthlink

I have been working on a static website to go along with this blog, a kind of companion piece where I can put my resume, references, etc. etc., but I've hit a bump in the internet autobahn... can't get the Earthlink website creation site to let me publish (or unpublish, for that matter) any of my draft content. I'm on the third go-round of emails to the support folk there... sigh. Will try to keep forging ahead in other ways.

Making A List

I'm feeling better now, and making a list of the folks I think might be able to help me at some point in this process. You're probably on it. It reminds me of an exercise I was once assigned in a graduate course at UPenn. The professor asked us all to take out a blank piece of paper, and then, seeing the look on our faces, she reassured us that this was not to be a quiz. "Imagine that you are in some kind of trouble: you've been injured, or your car has died, or you've been thrown in jail. I want you to spend the next few minutes writing down the names of the people you would contact in those and similar situations." We all sat there imagining ourselves in dire circumstances and writing down the names of our "go to" people. When it seemed that we were mostly done, the prof said, "Now turn your paper over." And then when we all expectantly looked at the still-blank side of our paper, she said, "Some people's list looks like this."

I try to carry the feeling of gratitude that exercise inspired with me wherever I go. I am so fortunate to have people in my life who care about me and would be there for me no matter what. I'm adding new people to my list as I think of them, even if I'm not sure yet exactly how I'll be asking them to help. It helps me remember that although it is most definitely MY jobsearch, I'm not in it alone. I think I'll be looking at this list long after I've started my new job.

Ahhh Choo!

Just when I felt like I was making some progress, I get laid out by a cold. Good thing I bought a kabillion Kleenex on my last shopping trip. Sheesh.

Why Schools?

ML and I have taken to calling academia "the golden handcuffs." The longer we stay, the harder it is to imagine leaving. True, we could make more money in any number of corporate jobs. But would we have access to Firestone Library, Springdale Golf Course, and be surrounded by people who are passionate about education? I'm not ruling out non-academic settings, but if I had to lay odds...