An Open Letter, to the Internet.

Dear Internet,

let me start off by saying I miss you. I feel like a part of me is missing, like its been cut off and stuffed in a drawer. Or buried in a pet cemetery. Or eaten by a rather odd little man with no hair who likes to “read alone” a lot.

See, I have this thing that a lot of people have called a job. I also have an addictive personality, which is part of why it was so simple, so easy for me to become as addicted to you as I did. When you add the two things together, it makes for a not so happy boss.

I’ve been given the order to cut you down to zero at work. An Order. Its you or my job, baby, and you know how I feel about showers, and eating food, and a roof over my head and the ManBears’, and laundry detergent, and tapatio, and keeping my cat up to his eyeballs in tartar-reducing treats.

It doesn’t help that I try to catch up on all that I’ve missed during the day when I get home, sucked into your vacuum, your delicious delicious vacuum. And I want to catch up. I want to read the 132 (no seriously. that’s what I came home to today, after clearing it last night) unread posts in my Reader. I want to tumbl, refreshing every. single. minute. just in case I missed something amazing. I want to catch up on episodes of shows I dont even watch because I can. I want to spend hours reading the 9 hours of tweets I missed, responding late because I don’t want to be forgotten.

And that’s dangerous.

Never mind the fact that I would read twitter feeds all day long. Never mind the fact that tumblr is full of basically useless (if amusing) things (that totally made my relationship what it is today, which is a story for another time). Never mind the fact that I havent made art in months, that I havent unpacked from my move (4 months ago), that I havent called my grandparents since before new years (I did see them at christmas though!), that I haven’t exercised in long enough that half of my pants don’t fit over my big butt and love handles (no really mom. you don’t have to be nice. i know they’re there. i saw them in the HUGE MIRROR while i was getting into the shower the other day to shave my legs for the first time since new years, another thing I haven’t done in far too long).

Internet, I have to stop using you so often. I am turning round and slow. I have carpel tunnel and screen-vision. I have a click in my neck (an actual click that sounds when I move my neck out of that position) from hours of leaning slightly forward and down.

I need to start living the life I keep telling myself I want.

So Internet. Baby. Sugar-lips. Sweetums. I am not quitting you. I never could, but this (work mandated, boss demanded) cutback of hours for you can do me a world of good if I let it.

And I think I might let it.

With all my love and tired fingers,

Kat

ps. see you tomorrow.

[Via http://drawingcowboys.wordpress.com]

Hottywood's HORRORscopes: Week of March 14-20, 2010

When you’re in doubt about what tomorrow holds for you, there’s only person to turn to – HOTTYWOOD!  He can tell you if you need to avoid potholes, rugrats and three-way phone calls. 

Below are Hottywood’s cookie fortunes, as revealed by the moon and the sun, in addition to the itch on the bottom of his foot.   

Take heed.  Knowledge is power.

___________________________________________________________

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19 

All bullsh*t smells the same, no matter what asshole produces it.

___________________________________________________________

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Intimate moments will be awkward because everyone you touch will feel like raw ground beef.

___________________________________________________________

Pisces

February 19 – March 20   

Losing is the new winning.

___________________________________________________________

Aries

March 21 – April 19 

No one’s accepting your dinner invitations because nobody likes eating off plates guarded by roaches.

___________________________________________________________

Taurus

April 20 – May 20 

No one cares about you except the person watching you from the other side of the mirror. ___________________________________________________________

Gemini

May 21 – June 20 

Despite what your mother may have told you, being kind to people only gets you but so far unless you’re just plain ugly.

___________________________________________________________

Cancer

June 21 – July 22 

The good news is you’re not as stupid as you look…

___________________________________________________________

Leo

July 23 – August 22 

Having your picture compared to a wildlife wonder on National Geographic is not a compliment unless a lot of alcohol is involved. Then it’s just freaky. 

___________________________________________________________

Virgo

August 23 – September 22 

If the only thing you sweat is white liquor, there’s no wonder everyone keeps staring at you.

___________________________________________________________

Libra

September 23 – October 22 

Your next date night will be a disaster because the stench of your body will wilt the salad.

___________________________________________________________

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21 

Showing you chest hair is not going to get you a promotion, especially if you’re a hairy ass woman.

 ___________________________________________________________

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21   

One of your personality’s armpits will smell like feet and will probably cock block your next booty call.

___________________________________________________________

Quote of the Week:    “A vasectomy means never having to say you’re sorry.”

[Via http://hottywoodhelps.com]

Why I am not moving.....yet

Well I made the original goal to move out of my parents place by the end of March. I started with the original intent to find a new job and move not only of the house but out of the city. Since I don’t really have any ties that locks me into my home town, I was looking a for a fresh new start.
My life has been in a funk lately. To bring those who don’t know me up to speed, let me explain a bit. Since i left college I never really ever had a direction with my life. I have have lived life with very little to no thoughts to the future. I have worked my share of dead-end jobs. To be honest a couple of those jobs were not bad it just wasn’t what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I thought I caught a break when I got my current job as a IT Administrator. I love what I do, but with some respect issues and personality issues towards me has me looking for different job. had a long distance girlfriend for some time and that seemed to give me some focus and direction. Unfortunately for what ever reasons that didn’t work out. The easiest way to describe the aftermath of all this would be a downward spiral but considering I wasn’t really going anywhere with my life anyway. The more accurate description is that I spun my wheels faster.
The world just seemed more chaotic than it normally does. The usual meditation routine that I was going through to keep my ADD in check seemed to lose its effectiveness. The double-edged sword that seems to live in everyone’s life seemed it appropriate to kick my freelance IT work into full throttle. Working the hours equivalent to two full-time jobs, although it didn’t help my stress levels, seemed to make the chaos worth something. I didn’t matter that the world was spinning as long as I kept moving. All trying to put some money away for this big move that I have built-in my head.
Life throws curve balls on a regular basis. It most always seems this curve ball comes only to mess up your plans almost proving that you are not in control of as much of your life as you tend to think. My observation say that more times than no that these curve balls are not pleasant experiences. Somehow in a twisted set of events the curve ball I was just thrown does not appear to be all that bad, at least on the surface.
The relationship between my boss and I could be best explained in one word, strained. I wont go in to the details of why this is but I stated earlier that it was moved from bad to worse. During this event he attempted to undermine a third-party project that we were both working on. In doing this I had the opportunity to talk to an Apple.Inc Engineer. During our conversation I received confirmation that the work I have been doing was indeed accurate and correct. I also received a direction for the first time in a while. I am taking the steps to get certified in the IT field. Since I left college the thought of me going back to school as always been a thought rattling around in my head like a ball bearing in an empty paint can..The money and logistics have never really let me follow that thought. This certification and the work experience I have will open doors in my field and help me with both goals of me moving which will help with me continuing my education.
Needless to say have ordered a book to study to help me get my first certification. I hope a learn a thing or two but it should be mostly review anyway. I have a plan of which certifications and which order I plan on getting them. The moment I hit the order button on Boarders.com for my first book, the entropy of the world seemed to lessen just a small amount. I know in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t mean much but the fact that it gave me an obtainable goal, a direction, and managed to reduced I tiny bit of the noise in my head.
With this I my new refined action plan is still blessing over monster.com and careerbuilder..com and get my certifications. With any luck I get a job in my field in a decent location where I don’t have to travel all that much. Now if I could only get my ex out of my head but that subject is for another post.

-MR

[Via http://mindmumble.wordpress.com]

new to do list

i have been accomplishing quite a bit lately.

• i lost a noticeable amount of weight.
• i cleaned my room like crazy. big pile of clothes to get rid of. i never plan on wearing that size again.
• i have been helping with my mom.
• rebuilding a severely damaged relationship with him.
• working as much as i can
• starting to plan some summer/fall events
• interviewing for jobs
• thinking about what to do next in life
• researching order of the eastern star. grandma was a member. never knew much about it. interesting…

Today, I held a 13 month old who only weighs one pound more than my 5 month old nephew…. he’s gonna dwarf her…. she’s soooo cute, but lil!!! of course, he is the cutest baby on the planet. And they are wearing the same size clothes. She is getting much more use out of them!

Tomorrow is my bday. I like using my birthday as an excuse to make my friends get together. Today was no exception. Thanks to all who showed up. yay cool party. tomorrow i work on my bday, so we will see what happens there. And part of my celebration — seeing Alice in Wonderland with HIM was delayed until Thursday. Maybe tomorrow, but probably Thursday.

Life is good for the two of us. We are taking it day-by-day. Each day, we are doing better at communicating. We are practicing telling each other when we are annoyed or hurt or upset. I asked him to start thinking about the wedding in a *pre-planning* kind of way. There is no fire yet, but we need to know what kind of response we are going to send when it does happen. That is the best way to explain it to him. You Firefighter types get the analogy.

Mom is doing well. They are going to keep up the therapy until she gets better, but every day we are seeing improvement. We are thankful for that. I need to remember to keep updating her site.

I don’t think I got the most recent job I interviewed for, so I need to start sending out emails / letters again.

This post is pretty boring, but a good history / what have i been doing update. More timely / interesting things from now on. I promise.

[Via http://ryear.wordpress.com]

Marketing vs. Massage

It happened!  I received a response to a cover letter I sent out to a local Chiropractor about a CMP position.  We talked for about 20 minutes today, and I will meet with him Tuesday morning.

The job sounds perfect for me – going to events and doing chair massages while someone takes down health information on people.  In fact, I did this same type of thing for a local naturopathic doctor last year and just loved it.

As we talked, I mentioned that I was crossing over within the last year from Sales & Marketing to Massage Therapy, and how I am entering a new field that is unknown to me, the field of Health, Wellness and Medicine.  The more we talked, the more we both could see potential for perhaps doing a little of both.  He asked me which one I preferred the most, and I answered honestly, I love them both!  But the business/marketing plan that is still in my head and admittedly, needs to be brought out of my head into pen and paper, has my goal of moving forward in Massage Therapy this year so I can work and gain the entire 500 hour accreditation that the State of California now requires.  I am now at 160.

I would love to do them both, continue schooling, and be able to bring my dream even closer to reality – the dream of having QuietProductions Conceptual Marketing and Body Blessings BOTH become stable and active within three years.

I have been blessed to work word-of-mouth only in QuietProductions the last five years, and I truly built this business for my son.  I also invested in massage therapy school last year and truly do love the medicine of it all.  So, I am setting my intention on this interview next Tuesday, and will keep open to divine flow and intelligence being with me and entering into my thought process while we have the interview.

Thank you, God, for this new possibility!  And thank you, God, for perseverance.

[Via http://htrp.wordpress.com]

Trapped By A Paycheck?

In my favorite magazine, Experience Life, this month’s issue has an article entitled The Paycheck Trap. According to this article, over fifty percent of employed workers are dissatisfied with their jobs. (Spayde, Jon. “The Paycheck Trap.” Experience Life, March 2010.).

This subject does not surprise me. Over the years, I’ve met people who were not satisfied with, disliked or despised their jobs but continued working at them. I include myself. We all had our reasons, the number one being income. After a while, however, for me the displeasure of working at a job that I didn’t enjoy became bigger than the money and seemed to crossover into my personal life. My desires outside of work lessened to a point where I didn’t do them.

The Paycheck Trap captures some of what I have experienced. Citing the book, The End of Work as You Know It: Eight Strategies to Redefine Work on Your Own Terms, by authors Milo Sindell & Thuy Sindell, this article discusses what dissatisfied workers may face: From seeing no hope for their future, to fears of making a change or not having an income, to giving up on their life goals.

Usually for me, starting a new job is exciting: Meeting new people, learning the business, acclimating to a new environment…these characteristics of a new job keep me and my mind entertained for a while. At those jobs where I grew dissatisfied, however, after a period of time, I noticed my dissatisfaction creep up on me. At first, they appeared to be little annoyances. Then, these annoyances evolved into resentment. Sometimes I just got bored.

The Paycheck Trap offers mechanisms that may help dissatisfied workers cope with their present situation and guidance to move them forward to where they desire. These include, bringing your whole self and expressing your best abilities at work; highlighting your job achievements; planning for your future by searching for new opportunities, networking and saving money; or meeting with an executive coach.

Coping processes do work. At one of my former jobs, where I worked at for over six years, I got bored with it after six months. How did I last six years? I enjoyed organizing, which I brought to work and developed and maintained the office systems. My social skills came into play each day since I managed the front desk and I enjoyed talking with folks. After a couple of years, I made a business proposal to my boss and created a position with more responsibility and money. One of my coworkers and I created a walking plan: Two to three times per week, I took a bus from my home to hers then we walked to work. From work, we walked to her home and I took a bus home. I took night classes and on the following workday, I shared what I did at class.

As with other articles from Experience Life, I learned something. Having a different perspective, focusing on what gifts I can bring, what I can learn from others and taking action can make all the difference in whatever circumstances I presently experience.

[Via http://thefreedomtoenjoyliberty.wordpress.com]

Marketing Specialist (Dallas TX)

MARKETING SPECIALIST – 1005003911

Tenet, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals and numerous related health care services. Our mission is to be recognized for our commitment to our people and partners who provide quality, innovative care to the patients we serve in our communities. It’s a spirit you can experience first-hand and it’s a philosophy that can enhance your own approach to health care and your career goals.

Description:

Tenet is currently seeking a Marketing Specialist for the Business Development team located in the Corporate Headquarters Office in Dallas, Texas. The Marketing Specialist will be responsible for the following:

•Review hospital marketing and advertising materials for compliance (the MARS process)
•Hospital and IT liaison for the MARS process
•Continued assignment and maintenance of the MARS training course
•Online collateral library/Reach 3: deploy self-service marketing collaterals
•Simple web banner creation
•Landing pages – pulling and editing copy from hospital pages, user interface, coding, design and launching
•Quarterly internal marketing promotions: package and distribute corporate led initiatives
•Quality: Oversee and backup for PowerPoint presentations, posters and ads. Will also need to run the large format printer and/or coordinate with outside vendors
•Quarterly internal marketing promotions: package and distribute corporate led initiatives
•Update all marketing program and vendor spreadsheets
•Logo library: handle requests, update and maintain
•Additional duties will include, but not be limited to the following:
◦Gather data and create reports, slides, charts, graphs, etc for senior management presentations and functional reviews
◦Maintain master vendor spreadsheet

Qualifications:

•Strong Microsoft Office, especially expertise in Excel and PowerPoint
•Strong Adobe CS: Illustrator, Photoshop and Acrobat (InDesign experience helpful)
•Strong math and writing skills
•HTML, user interface design and knowledge of content management systems
•Detail oriented
•Highly organized
•Ability to handle multiple jobs and timelines
•Fast-paced
•Ability to shift gears quickly
•Strong interpersonal skills (to work with clients and vendors)
•Strong work ethic and self-motivated
•College degree and previous corporate experience preferred
Job: Corporate
Primary Location: TX-Dallas
Hospital/Facility: 401-Dallas, TX

Job Type* : MGR
Shift Type* : Days

[Via http://marketingjobsdallas.wordpress.com]