Grin and Bear It

I haven't really blogged in awhile. I've really fallen out of the habit of blogging.

The other day something reminded me of an old blog entry I'd written, and I decided to go back and find it. I ended up looking over a bunch of old blog entries. I'd for gotten how often I'd written, and how much. I wrote in more than one blog, too. And, even if I do say it myself--some of my blog posts were really entertaining. I ended up laughing out loud when I read a few of them.

I made alot of good new habits on my mission, but I think I lost some good ones too.

I'd like to get back into the habit of blogging. I never really had a schedule before, I just wrote when I had a thought I wanted to throw out of a funny story to share. I'd like to try and see if I can get back into that habit again... if it doesn't work, I may set a more specific schedule for myself.

This is connected to a thought thats been rolling around in the back of my head (which I just posted as my facebook status). It is this: activities where I've learned to get over my mistakes and have fun are those that I've improved most in and bring me the most joy--art and dancing. Those that I still have a hard time getting over my mistakes in I haven't improved in and tend to avoid--specifically, speaking and writing.

What started me thinking about this was a little thing, really. In one of my classes I made a comment that didn't make much sense. It was actually a really dumb comment. I got some raised eyebrows and chuckles and the class discussion moved on. Nobody else in the class probably remembers my dumb comment, at least not very specifically. But all day afterward and into the next, I kept remembering the mistake and wincing. Why did I say such a dumb thing?

In dancing I am very aware of the fact that I'm not great, sometimes I slip or don't follow an obvious lead or, yes, step on someones toes, and thats just how the dance goes, and I laugh and keep dancing. After years of participating in art critiques, I'm pretty good at not getting offended at comments, instead just taking them as they're meant, analyzing them, and then applying those that I feel will actually be helpful--all without getting all hurt and offended.

Actually, I think this was one of the biggest reasons that I chose to major in Art rather than English (which, when it really comes down to it, are the only two majors I really considered--I can't see myself actually majoring an anything else.) I enjoy both. But I knew that I would have a much harder time accepting critiques of my writing than of my art, and would therefore have an easier time in art. Did I choose the easy way out? Maybe in this specific aspect of the choice. Overall, I don't think so. I chose the one where I knew I would be better able to learn from my mistakes.

Is that strange? It seems like someone should either be good at getting over any mistake, or not. You're either prideful, or not. I guess people aren't that simple.

Anyway. So I want to get back to writing a blog again, just as a way to do a little low-pressure writing.

Farmers Market

This week was my first time actually going out and selling my artwork in person--I've sold art online, but not really face-to-face with potential buyers. It was a great experience! My main goal first off was just to get the experience, to get an idea of what to expect with this sort of thing in order to do it better in the future. Goal achieved---huzzah!

I learned some things that are maybe obvious to some people, but are new to me, and hopefully helpful in future. Some of them are:

• -People aren't just going to line up to give you their money (duh). You have to catch their interest first. This can be a problem when your art is the you-only-get-it-when-you-look-again (upside-down) kind.
• -Clouds are one of those good-or-bad, awesome-or-terrible things when you're selling outside. They either mean rain (no!) or shade (yes!). Fortunately, we had the shade kind of clouds for most of the day.
• -People like to buy things when they have a 'thing'. Like, some people have a cat thing, or a book thing, or a dancing thing, or a mustache thing, or something. This is why fanart sells... and also why people get in trouble for selling fanart. I want to figure out some "things" that people like that are NOT trademarked and design things they might like.
• -I sell like a missionary, and so does Normandie. We tended to focus alot more on the person than the product. Which lead to some fun conversations, but I have no idea whether things would sell better if we had focused otherwise. So far, I've enjoyed using my missionary conversation skills so I'll stick with that for now :-)
• -Sitting/standing around and doing nothing except greet people is tiring. 
• -You don't know if something will sell well just because you like it. You just have to see how people respond when they see your work, and notice what catches their eye. It might not be what you think.

Last Year's Books, This Year's School

For a report on Mexico, see Emily's blog. I don't have access to pictures and why re-do something thats already been done well?

The first week of the semester is over! Hooray! Its Friday, so its still a school day I guess, but I have no classes Friday, so hoorah! (I still have work though. But thats fine.)

Before I actually get into how my week went, I'm going to do a somewhat belated "The Books I Read Last Year" post.
Except I'm really disorganised. Last year, when I saw everyone else's book posts, I was like, how totally awesome, I am so doing that this year!

So I started keeping track of what I read. I only wrote down titles, and I'm too lazy to look up the authors I don't remember, so look them up yourself if you're curious. Asterisks indicate favorites. If It's a re-read, I say how many times I'd read it. If its in Parenthesis, I didn't finish it.

January:
Fly By Night
Rebekah
Rachel & Leah
The Invention of Hugo Cabret

February:
To Say Nothing of the Dog*
Dragonhaven (2nd)*
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
The Hollow Kingdom

March:
Dogsbody
Beauty (3rd or 4th)
Mira, Mirror
Firebirds
The Princess and the Hound
Dealing with Dragons
Searching for Dragons

April:
(Calling on Dragons)

This is when I lost the list and stopped keeping track. I'm very disorganized, as I said. On our summer road trip I remember reading:

Howl's Moving Castle* (3rd and 4th)
Sorcery and Cecelia
The Eagle of the Ninth
Mr. Midshimpan Hornblower

And a few others, the titles aren't coming to mind.

Then in August I said, this disorganized thing is really dumb and I'm going to overcome it... at least in this area. So I bought a Really Pretty little book I could keep in my purse to write down the books and also a short review. Since then, I've kept track pretty faithfully. I think I missed a couple books, but this is a fairly complete list.

August
House of Many Ways
The True Meaning of Smekday
Cart and Cwidder
The Pinhoe Egg*
Chalice ARC*
Crispin
Drowned Ammet

September
(The Queen's Own Fool)
(The Secret Life of Bees)
A Swiftly Tilting Planet* (2nd)
The Spellcoats
The Crown of Dalemark

October
(Nation ARC)
Seven Daughters and Seven Sons
Among the Hidden
Emmaline and the Bunny ARC

November
Dragonhaven (3rd)
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn ARC*
Frindle
The Winter Prince*
A Coalition of Lions*
The Sunbird*

December
The Lion Hunter
Things Not Seen
The Merlin Conspiracy
Wings ARC
The Winter Prince* (2nd)


The First book of this year: The Empty Kingdom*

Thats 47 books. So, with the time I wasn't recording and the books I may have forgotten to put down, I'd that I read 50-60+ books last year.

So, this week.

I thought this semester would be less busy than last semester. Last semester I had 16.5 credits, this semester only 14.5. Not that big a difference, but still.

Well, I'm going to be just as busy this semester. Busier, in fact. For several reasons. Firstly, because I actually arranged my classes so that I can do extra activites I couldn't do last semester because classes were in the way--namely, swing dance lessons and social dance club. And if I decide I want to be even busier, I'm going to try out for one of the swing dance teams, and there goes my life. Why yes, I am insane, thanks for asking.

Another reason this semester is going to busier is that I really like ALL of my classes. I have 4 art classes, 1 religion class, and 2 fun classes. This equals homework I actually want to do and won't be convinced by my Awesome Roommates Whom I Love Too Much to do poorly/ignore in favor of having Much More Fun with them.

Customer Service--complaints

There was a training meeting for work this morning. So not only did I have to get up way early (well, compared to when I usually get up) to be there on time, it has now left me feeling guilty and frustrated. But mostly frustrated.

We talked about customer service at the meeting. The store has started this new program thingy they call "secret shoppers". Basically, they hire (I'm actually not sure whether they're paid...) people to shop here and report back on what they thought of the customer service.

Basically, the General Book department has gotten some very bad reviews. No names were named, but they read off some of the comments. Some of them were things of which I was guilty--like focusing on shelving books when there was a customer in the area, telling them I couldn't tell them whether we carried the book they wanted unless they could tell me a title or author... things like that. I felt very bad, because I really should and can do better. And I will.

But the secret shoppers comments are not an extremely accurate representation of the customer service in our department in general, in my opinion. Firstly, usually they're in there just to do the secret shopper thing and so they're not actually looking for any specific book. So instead of saying "I'm looking for A Certain Book by So-And-So" they'll just say, "Do you have any books about Random Subject?" And the problem is, the computer program we use to look up books in our computer doesn't have a subject search. Apparently there were alot of complaints when secret shoppers asked if we had a book on a certain subject and we told them, completely honestly, that they would have to give us a title or author, or even just a word of the title, for us to find anything specific.

But thats when the secret shopper actually gets to the desk with a question, which they don't always. Again, because they're not really looking for anything specific, they'll just hang around in the area, browsing, waiting to see if anyone will ask them if they're looking for something specific--which they're not. The vast majority of the times I've asked a customer if they need help finding something when they're just hanging around in the area, they'll just say, "No, I'm just browsing." I've even had some who seem annoyed with me for asking. I admit I've kind of slacked off on asking them because of this and because I've found that when people are actually looking for something specific they don't just hang around, glancing over the shelves. They will actually go find a desk or someone with a lanyard on and ask them for what they want. (Wow, what a novel idea.)

And lastly, just so I can have three things, these secret shoppers seem to be coming in to look for anything that is bad/wrong. So of course they find it.

End of rant.

Exhausted

Yeah, its another entry for today. What of it? Whats more, this entry has a very small likelyhood of coherency, because, as you may have guessed from the subject line, I am absolutely positively asleep-on-my-feet exhausted.

Then what am I doing writing up a blog entry instead of sleeping? That is a very good question. I'll tell you--I don't know.

I love dancing. And yet, even while I'm dancing I feel bad too, because I feel like such a poor dancer in comparison to all the other regulars at the Swing Club. On the other hand, I've collected enough complements on my following over the last couple weeks that I'm actually starting to believe its true and not merely a nice thing to say as I'm being escorted off the floor. On the other hand, since Saturday Swing Dances are basically the only "hard core" excercise I get each week (well, not even that, because it obviously doesn't happen when I'm at home) and so about halfway through I'm absolutely exhausted and yet I can't say no when asked to dance. This results in sloppiness, and... sporatic following? Because in some ways I follow better, because I'm not trying/thinking too hard about it and just going with the flow, but on the other hand, I'm sometimes make stupid mistakes because I'm not thinking/trying hard enough. (There are alot of hands and other hands and other other hands in this entry. Heh.)

One thing I do wish I could do--well, I guess I really could, but I dont--is go to the malt shop after the dance. This is the thing that many regulars do every week and they usually announce it and invite everybody who wants to come. But I don't for several reasons. First, since I'm exhausted by halfway though the night, I am completely and totally asleep-on-my-feet exhausted by the time the dance is over (which is 10:30-11 ish. It starts at 8 ish.) Second, I have 9 am church, so I need to be up and, well, awake. And I don't bring my purse/wallet to the dances because I don't have to so I wouldn't be able to get a malt anyway. On the other hand (there I go with those hands again) If I DID go I could become better friends with some of the swing people. Since I've been going for a couple months now I, like, know the names (or at least the faces) of several of them, but I don't really know then beyond "Hi, whats your name, whats your major, oh illustration thats cool". (Everyone acts surprised, like they're thinking "Illustration? Thats a Major?")

Anyway. I haven't read over this post to edit for grammar/typos/coherency but I'm not going to. I'm going to fall into bed and sleep like a log. I might even put my pajamas on first.

Moon, Paintings

So this evening I went to a lecture thingy on the Japanese Wood Block Print show thats in the MOA right now. And it was seriously incredibly cool.

It ended a little after 8 and I was hurrying home so I could do my homework like a good little BYU-Co-Ed (as dad would say). Then I happened to look up at the moon and it looked SO COOL. It was AWESOME. I stood gaping like an idiot for a few seconds, then made a mad dash for home to get the camera, which I cleverly hadn't brought with me today. I burst into the apartment, all out of breath, and rushed toward my room.

"Where are you going?" said Jocelyn, who I brushed past without a greeting.
"MY ROOM."

I dashed back out of the apartment with the camera and ("Where are you going?" asked Jocelyn, but the door was already shut before I could answer.) The camera wouldn't focus on the moon and clouds. It absolutely refused. Very, very sad news.


In this picture, the camera ALMOST caught the awesome RAINBOW aroud the moon. Almost. SO I almost forgive it for being a failure. ALMOST. You get a HINT of the colors that were there, but NO detail of the awesome fluffy clouds. *pout*

Then I had a (not so) brilliant idea. I'd just have to paint it while its awesomeness was still clear in my mind!

Yeah, well, it didn't work out so well.

It actually started out ok. But... well, then it ended up looking strange and ugly. *sigh* I might... might... be able to save it. If not, its still a perfectly good piece of masonite. But since I really didn't use much turp/liquin at all, it'll take FOREVER to dry. Blah. I guess I could like mix in turp and liquin with the paint thats on the board..... hmm.

The painting starts out ok...


Still looking ok...



...PbBbbffFfffdtfdtt. That is the sound of all of the good momentum this painting had going for it blowing out and away and.... gone.



But fixing this painting is a project for another day. Another month. Or maybe year. Yeah, thats about right, because November and December are looking kinda crazy so far, but what else is new...


Oh, and I got both hands covered in blue paint. Isn't THIS fun. I really don't want to have to do the gloves thing...



Then I worked on my angel-with-trumpet painting. I think its VERY close to finished. I finally have a background that I LIKE (more or less). From my HEAD. This was/is kind of encouraging, having just completely botched a painting done completely from my head, at least I was able to make up a background from my head that I liked. Like. Mostly. Lets see how I feel about it a week from now.

And the camera really liked throwing a glare where the background is. Because it was wet because I'd just been working on it, yeah, but still.



It's SUPPOSED to look all foggy/misty and the sun just barely rising over the hill in the background. But there is a nice glare there, and I was/am too lazy to play with the light and placement and camera settings and stuff to get you a good picture. So you'll just have to wait. Or come see me, I mean it, in person. :D

I tried to get a picture of the texture of the painting, which I really like. Camera and I had an argument about focusing, so this is as good as you get. Of course, canvas is like this except awesomer.

Classes again

I signed up for classes last night. I got into all of the classes I'd planned out the other day, which is good. I do wish there were other classes I could take, but its just not going to work. I have the same number of classes as this semester, but only 14.5 credits instead of 16.5. I want more credits, as much to move up my priority registration as anything, though I guess as a junior I shouldn't really have any problems getting into the classes I need/want. I just did some poking around and added Pearl of Great Price to my schedule, which brings me up to 16.5 credits. Hoo-rah.

I guess I might as well say when/what my classes are. Because I can.

My schedule:
Mondays-- Illustration 1, D&C, break, work, beginning Social Dance
Tuesdays-- Intermediate Life Drawing, break, PGP, work, Basic Typography
Wednesdays-- Illustration 1, D&C, break, work, public speaking
Thurdsdays-- Intermediate Life Drawing, break, PGP, work, Intermediate Computer Applications
Fridays--just work. Long weekend :)

Headache

Signing up for classes... so time consuming, and frustrating, and... headache inducing. And I haven't even done it yet--I've just been looking at classes, so that when I'm allowed to sign up for them tomorrow night I can just go straight to the ones I want and sign up for them, without wasting time looking at all the classes.

(I had music playing the whole time and I sang along the whole time and now I'm hoarse. Which is just another sign that this is taking much too long.)

Trying to get the classes to fit in a reasonable schedule is HARD. I have my work schedule to work around, which creates a difficulty that my roommates (etc.) don't have, so that complicates it significantly. (And I LIKE my job, I don't want to try and get a new one. My last job was a bit easier to work around, and not a bad one, but still.)

Ideally, I'd want about the same workload as I have this semester, which I think is reasonable-- 16.5 credits, plus work. Enough to keep me busy, but with some free time now and then for painting and reading and hanging out with roommates and dancing Saturday nights and such. (Well, technically I don't quite have time for all those things, when you take into consideration the Homework I Don't Do Because I Can Easily Get Away With Not Doing It.) This semester has been pretty much awesome, while I'm on the subject. (I've been meaning to do a My Life Is Seriously Awesome Right Now post, but I've never gotten around to it. This can be it I guess.) My roommates are awesome, my classes are (mostly) awesome (or, in the cases of Art History and Physical Science, they're not all that bad) my job is awesome, my ward is awesome, my apartment it awesome, and... well, yeah. You get the point.

But signing up for classes? (Back to the original subject...) So not awesome. I've made a list of classes I'm going to try to get (I think it's pretty likely I'll get into most/all of them) and they add up to only 14.5-15.5 credits. All the other classes either conflict with the classes I need/want to take more, my work schedule, are already full, or I just don't want to take them. And I can't find the World of Childrens Book Publishing that my Writing for Children teacher is doing next semester, maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places? And that'd fit my schedule (but overlap the free swing lessons Tuesday nights. Again. Tuesday nights just really fill up. Tuesdays are my busiest days this semester. In case you were wondering.)

One good thing is, with the classes I currently have listed to sign up for, I won't have anything I have to do Fridays but work. I'm all over the longer/earlier weekend thing.


Anyway. I'm not really sure who cares about all this, but I felt the need to vent.

Life, the Universe, and Everything

I just got 100% on my Physical Science test, which I'm pretty happy about, because this weekend decided to be crazy and I had very little time to study.

First, it was my week to work Saturday. There goes four hours.

Then, a Cleaning check. A deep one... headache.

Then, my teacher decided to remind us of an obscure assignment mentioned briefly in the syllabus that would be due on Monday.

Then, I have an art history test Tuesday which I Can't Not Study for.

And then the Physical Science test, to be taken Friday or Saturday or late day Monday.

Oh, and dancing. I was absolutely determined that I would finally go to the swing kids dance this weekend. And I did. And it was full of fun and awesomeness and all that jazz. I mean swing... and blues. Not so sure I'm a fan of the blues, but whatever, right?

Yes, well anyway, I really shouldn't be doing this right now, but this was much more entertaining than looking at my Art History notes (and then ending up doodling on them rather than studying. Which happens far too often. The last couple LDS History classes I've been to I've taken all of NO NOTES. Got plenty of sketching done, though. All the power points from the lectures are on blackboard, so I should be ok. :)

Hi. Its me. Wow.

Mom wanted me to put this on my blog. So I'm putting it on my blog. Yay.

http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Friend/1997.htm/friend%20january%201997.htm/childviews%20your%20pioneer%20art%20starlight%20camp%20.htm

While I'm here, I might as well, you know, blog or something. But maybe that would just make far too much sense. I think I'm going to anyway.


Well, I've made it through exactly one week of classes and I'm still alive! At least, I think I am. (I'm kind of tired at the moment and I think my sense of humor at the current moment is a result. Anyway.) I don't think that I'm going to end up disliking any of my classes... though it doesn't necessarily follow that I'm going to like all of them. I guess I could just say a few lines about each one, just because I can.

Physical Science--I think this is the class I like the least, which isn't to say its a bad class, exactly, merely that its not much good. You might remember that, in order to make my class times fit my job hours, I dropped the Physical Science class with the professor everyone said was fun and entertaining for a class at with a professor who was rated as merely good/ok. I'd much rather have the job, but why couldn't the funny professor teach at eight in the morning? I guess its hard to be funny that early. Maybe the class will get more entertaining once we're past Newtons laws, which we've been taught every couple years since fourth grade. Anyway.

LDS History (During the life of Joseph Smith)--I wasn't actually signed up for this class until the day classes started. I was originally signed up for some class that filled some random university requirement, like Moral Leadership or some other random thing. It was a three credit class, though, which put me at 17.5 credits, which is quite a bit, especially if you're working as well as going to class. So I dropped it and added this two credit class, so I'm now at 16.5 credits which I'll be able to manage a bit more easily I think... plus, I think I'm really going to like this class. The professor is really interesting and seems pretty enthusiastic about what he's teaching. It's not the same as any seminary class I've been to. And it'll be fun to learn more about all the sites we went to last July. The writing/research assignment we'll be doing for this class seems pretty different/interesting as well.

New Testament--With this class and LDS History, I have four religion credits this semester, the maximum number we can take and get credit for as religion classes. I think I'm really going to like this class too--the professor seems interesting and passionate about what he's teaching, and though there'll be some writing assignments it doesn't seem like they'll be that bad.

Art History since 1500-- I took the first half of this class (Art History until 1500) last semester, and it wasn't that bad. One of the worst parts of it was, since this is Art History and its kinda, you know, helpful to actually see the art that we're talking about, the teacher would show slides all through class. Which wouldn't be so bad if he didn't dim the lights WAY down in order to see the slides and then talk in a really low, monotone voice about the art on the screen (which was really, really interesting I'm sure). I will admit to dozing off in class--the only class I've slept in, actually. (Not that I made a habit of it! I tried to stay awake, really! But the atmosphere wasn't exactly conducive to that goal...) Anyway, the point of talking about the first half of the class was to say that, I don't think I'll have that problem this semester. The lady who teaches the class still shows slides and still dims the light and still talks about them, just not in the low, monotone voice. She's quite animated, actually. And, the class is in the morning rather than in the evening. So, yeah. No more sleeping during Art History.

Photography-- most of my VA friends/roommates took this as a freshman, but it didn't fit in my schedule so, I'm taking it this semester--the last VA core requirement. It seems good so far, but... since this is the class that overlaps my work schedule, I kinda can't wait to jump out the door and clock in so I can get as many hours in as I can, you know?

Intro to Graphic Design-- even though it says 'Graphic Design' in the title of the class, this is a requirement for Illustration majors as well. Two of my roommates (One an Illustration major, one currently a Graphic Design major until we convince her that she was Meant To Be In The Illustration Program, which she already thinks but is scared that the department will reject her application) are in the same class with me, so it makes it funner and cheaper (since we're sharing the text book.) I'm still not quite sure what I expect this class to be like, since I've only been to it once and all we did was go over the syllabus.

Writing for Children-- actually, the full title of this class is Writing for Children and Adolescents, but the only section of it open when I got to sign up for classes was the class that focuses specifically on writing picture books for children. As an Illustration major, this class seemed fitting, and though my Greatest Love is Adolescent Fantasy Novels, I really enjoy Picture Books as well. I've only been to the class once, but it seems pretty fun and kind of intense at the same time--every week we have to read ten picture books (not bad) and write one full manuscript (yikes!). Well, no manuscripts until we're through the first couple weeks, during which we have to think of and write down at least 200 ideas for childrens books. Hopefuly, out of these 200, there will be at least 10 or 11 that are half decent that can be turned into manuscripts through the semester.



So, those are my classes.

And, for those who care, I'm currently-
-a few chapters into The Queens Own Fool, but I don't think I'll finish. Its only somewhat interesting, I think I would have liked it alot more if I'd read it a few years ago but... well, I didn't.
-a few chapters into The Secret Life of Bees, but I don't think I'll finish, at least for the time being. I really really like the main character and the narration, but it seems pretty dark (And there are some swear words, etc. which are part of the people/setting but I wish they weren't) and I'm just not in the mood for dark.
-several chapters into The Mark of the Horse Lord, which I think I'll finish though I don't think I'll love it just because it comes so highly recommended. I think Sutcliff might be a bit too dark for me as well, despite the wonderful prose. If only she had some really fun characters, as well as three dimensional ones.
-a few pages into The Blue Sword, which I haven't read in a couple years but it looks like I still have it half memorized--I still finish sentences in my head before my eye passes over them. Not necessarily a bad thing.
-a few pages into A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which I first read in elementary school though I barely remember anything except that I read it, though I've read and thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the series (A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door) a few times. All I remember from the first time I read it was that I really liked it but I was also really really confused. Hopefully it will make more sense this time.

Ok, so I just barely posted. But now that I've had the job two weeks, I have some things to say about it... pros and cons, mostly.

PROS:
-Books. Nuff said.
-Employee Discount. (20%off ; 10% off textbooks) I must remember that it is generally a good idea to NOT spend my whole pay check at the place where I work.
-Employees are allowed to check books out from the store, as long as they're returned in saleable condition. I have taken advantage of this-I've checked out and read two and a half books.
-ARCs. For the non-book-nerds out there, ARC stands for 'Advance Readers Copy', or an uncorrected proof. These are copies sent out to book sellers/reviewers before the book is released. (Random fact you don't care to know: ARCs are made out of cheaper materials than the published books, but are actually more expensive to make because they're produced in smaller quantities.) Our supervisor showed us the shelf of ARCs and told us to take our pick. So now I have the new Robin McKinley (which won't be released for another couple months), the new Terry Prachett (whose books have been highly recommended to me but I've actually never read one... I find it amusing that the first I'll read is one that has not yet been released) and another book that looked like it could be interesting.


CONS:
-Customers can be... annoying. They get frustrated with you if the store doesn't carry the book they want (I don't make the orders!), they leave their drinks sitting around on the shelves (this happens more often than you'd think!) they pick up a book, carry it around for awhile, and then shelve it somewhere else Completely Wrong.
-I'm still figuring out where on earth everything is supposed to go. Sometimes it doesn't really seem to have much rhyme or reason--its just where things are.
-In order to take the job I had to change a class to 8 am. I don't like having to be to class that early.

Long time...

... no post. Sorry to whoever might possibly be reading this.

My big news lately is... I got a job! Two weeks ago, actually. I've been kinda busy since then, and haven't had much time for computer stuff, so thats why I didn't share this sooner.

The Full Story
Ok, so I am seriously so very excited about this job. Really. And I want to tell all of you ALL ABOUT IT. So... here I go. I'll try to make it a bit like a story, but I'm not sure if it'll be any good ;)



So there were two motor homes driving home from the foreverlong trip--dad took the big one to the lake to boat for a day before coming home, and the small one driven by mom going straight home. It ended up that I was the only (unmarried) kid who came straight home with mom. My excuse for coming home was that I needed to start looking for a job at school before the start-of-school rush so I could actually get something good.

We got home late on the third. I wasn't very helpful cleaning out the motor home because I was looking at the jobs on the school employment site. Most of those that I saw I wasn't really enthusiastic about--alot of food prep, custodial, and receptionist jobs, along with one here and there requiring certain qualifications that I couldn't even come close to. Then--General Book sales Juvenile Literature. I've been wishing for a job in the bookstore since before I started school. It said one of the job requirements was an enthusiasm for children's literature... I could fit that. It said that completion of a class in Juvenile Lit was required... I was signed up for one next semester, could that count? But... it said that the hours were NON-NEGOTIABLE, bold caps. My class schedule didn't fit the hours.

I continued looking.

I found nothing that I was as interested in as the General Book job... of course. After looking for a long while online, it was suggested that I drive down to school to look around since I'd have to go to Aunt Jill's anyway.


I looked at the jobs posted in the employment office, and they weren't anything different from what I'd seen online. There was still that General Book job, though. But the hours were NON-NEGOTIABLE. I went to look at the job board in the bookstore, and there were some things there that I hadn't seen in the Employment office. Maybe I could work as a cashier... it would only overlap my schedule by fifteen minutes. Could they possibly work around that? Hmmm...

Back down in the employment office I asked the guy at the desk about the hours in the bookstore. He said that I wouldn't even be allowed to have an interview if I couldn't fit my class schedule to their hours. So that wasn't going to work.

I went down to the computer lab to print out a copy of my schedule so that I could look at it while I was looking at the hours for the jobs posted. But while I was online I thought, why not see if I can change anything in my schedule around? Maybe I can squeeze it around to make it fit.

The three classes interfering with the General Book job were Physical Science (a University Core Requirement), Intro to Photo (A Visual Arts Core Requirement), and Judiasm and the Gospel (a religion elective that I could take another semester). I looked at my options for the Physical Science class, and the only openings were at eight in the morning (of course). I'd chosen my afternoon class specifically because all the reviews on ratemyprofessors.com said that the professor was very fun, funny, helpful, and made class very interesting... and I had a bit of a hard time getting to my eight o'clock classes last year. I looked at the reviews for the 8 o'clock professor. The reviews were less enthusiastic, but positive. Did I want the job, or the funny professor with an afternoon class more? The Job, definitely.

The Judaism class I dropped. I want to take it, but I have plenty of time left in school.

However, the only time that the photo class was offered AT ALL was the time I was signed up for. There simply weren't any other options. And anyway, I probably should have taken the class last year. The VA department might make difficulties for me if I drop it.

Did I want the job or the class more? This one was much harder... but I decided that I wanted the job.

After the shuffling around of my schedule, I went back to the employment office. The only requirement listed on the job posting that I didn't fit now was the completion of a class in Juvenile Lit. When I asked about it, the lady at the desk said, "Oh, that would just be nice, its not really a requirement."

So I had the screening interview, which I swear was just a test to see if I'd actually read the job listing. All the guy did was read down it and ask me if I was able/willing to comply with all the requirements listed there, so it took less than a minute. They handed me some papers to fill out and told me to take them up to the office in the bookstore, where I could schedule an interview.

After filling out the papers I went up to the office and handed my papers to the girl at the desk. She put them in a smallish (but not small enough) pile of other applications (for the same job, presumably.) After glancing at my application, she said, "Oh, they're actually doing interviews for that job right now. Do you just want to sit down for a minute and I can ask them to do you when they're done with this last one?" I told her that would be great and sat down.

I hadn't exactly bargained on having an interview that day. I would have dressed a bit nicer... but at least I was in my favorite shirt (which is button-up, and therefore niceish), and this way I didn't have a whole lot of time to get myself all worked up and nervous.

Only a couple minutes later a boy came out of the room behind the office, all smiles and dressed very nicely in a collared shirt and tie. He looked like he felt good about his interview.

The door closed behind him. The desk-girl got up and knocked softly on the door and opened it. She gave whoever was in there my papers and told them that I was there waiting, and I was invited in.

Inside were two older ladies, both with grey hair and bookstore lanyards and papers on their laps, including my application which the desk girl had given them. They looked nice enough. They asked me to sit down, and then to tell them about myself. I tried to sound at least a little interesting, but I'm not exactly good at talking about myself, so I kind of petered off after a short while. Next, they asked me about my favorite books. Then they got an earful. I told them that my favorite author is Robin McKinley (they nodded knowingly) and that I'm really excited for her next book that will be released soon, but that King of Attolia is my single most favorite book and it is Full Of Amazingness. (Well, not those exact words...) one of the ladies said that she'd never read King of Attolia but she had sold it alot of people. I then proceeded to tell them how the whole series is Full Of Amazingness. When I was done, one commented to the other, "Well, she can sure do a good sales pitch. I think I'll have to read those now." I was about to start on the Amazingness that is Diana Wynne Jones (they hadn't asked me another question! So that meant that I could go on as much as I wanted until they did! hee hee!) but I was stopped with a question. (Darn. I had so much more to say for this one!)

They asked me about picture books I liked. I had a bit of a harder time with that one, but I came up with a few that I like, including the Invention of Hugo Cabret, which doesn't really count but they seemed impressed that I knew that it had won the Caldecott.

They told me about what I would do in the job (shelve/organize books, answer customer questions, etc.) and asked me if I had any questions. I told them that the class I'd have to drop to fit their hours was a class that is required for my major and that I really should take it... what if it was still at the same time next semester? Exactly how NON-NEGOTIABLE were the hours? They looked at my schedule and saw that the photo class would only take one hour out of the shift Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus its a class that only lasts half the semester. They told me that there would be no need to drop it, and that they would be able to work around it. "We know that the first thing you're here for is education, and the job is secondary to that," they said. I had a couple other questions about holidays and time off, which they answered.

The interview ended after that, with us thanking each other (me maybe a few too many times) and me leaving. They told me it would probably be a few days before I heard back and gave me a number to call if I wanted to see if they'd made a decision. I walked away feeling pretty good about my interview.

I went straight to my car after that to go to Jills. I thought through every minute of the interview as I drove and began thinking of all the things I said/did wrong, and what I should have said/done. I should have asked more questions about the actual job, and less questions about the hours. I should have told them more about myself. Etc. etc. etc. I called Shanelle to tell her about everything, because I needed to talk to somebody.

I got a bit lost on my way to Jills but I made it, eventually. I was just telling her about the interview and how it went when my phone rang. It was a University phone number. I answered... it sounded like the desk girl.

"Is this Sarah?" she asked.

"Yes..." I said.

"You just came in for an interview at the book store?" she asked.

"Yes..." I said.

"Well, they've asked me to call and tell you that they'd like to hire you. Will that still work for you?" she asked.

"Yes!" I said.

"Ok, then if it works for you we'd like you to come in for training at two tomorrow. Does that time work?"

"Yes, yes, fine."

Glory, Glory, Hallelujah. I told Jill, who answered the phone when my mom called right then and told her.

The reason I'd had to go to Jills was to pick up Grandpa and Adam. We got in the car (I got to be in the back and not drive... I hate driving.) I called Shanelle again and told her the news. And then we proceeded to talk about books for the rest of the drive home. I don't think either Grandpa or Adam has ever heard me talk that much, ever. (Their fault for not wanting to hear about books, I say.)