Who's gonna drive you home tonight?

If you were wondering how Gertie's doing...

She's officially the size of a butterball turkey, a 14 pounder. About 12 pounds of that is cuteness and adorability, but those other two pounds of biting and crazy can sometimes outweigh the rest. But this is what a 4 month old puppy does, right?


Her biggest act of terrorism is definitely what she's done to the wicker love seat in the backyard. She's torn off the bottom part of it, but it's alright. Chelsey likes the way it looks now a little more.

Potty training is mostly successful. She has a few accidents a week, but nothing compared to most puppies I know. She's quickly approaching her 4 month birthday and she'll be getting spayed on October 1st. She's growing up so quick. I'm a little excited about it, to not have the chaos of a baby in the house, but I know I'll miss it once it's gone.

Chelsey and I are watching the MTV Video Music Awards right now, dissing on Kayne and loving on Taylor & Beyonce. The preview for Eminem's spng "We Made You" came on and Gertie started barking. Chelsey said, "That's right Gertie. It's a horrible song. It'll be over soon." Pretty classic.

So, I'm unemployed again. The temporary job, which I thought could make room for something more permanent, couldn't. Back to the couch once more, watching Maury. I am absolutely dreading the job search, but I'm trying to be positive and starting slow. I think applying for a job a day is reasonable. (I applied for 3 today.)

On top of job search, I'm taking an active interest in living better. Recently, things have just felt much more intense than usual. I have days where I'm just so excited about the options in front of me, it's overwhelming. And some days, I miss home so bad I can barely take it. Pretty sure that's just the reality sinking in. But something in that has made me want to get healthy. Chelsey got a bit of a scare when she got some blood work back this week, so her and I are starting a diet as recommended by her sister the nutritionist. I'm also getting back into the swing of exercising with taking Gertie for walks. She's starting to get excited about them, which is great motivation for me to do it. On top of that, I've been doing yoga in the mornings. I'm trying not to think about it in terms of weight loss, but it terms of wellness.

Hey, Jim Carroll died. If you love Rancid and the album ... And Out Come the Wolves you should be pretty sad.


On the east side of Oklahoma City, there are these huge towers. I'm not sure what they're for, probably radio, but they blink red all the way to the top at night. So instead of the Sandias, I get to use these as my guide. When I tell people back in New Mexico about them, they think it's sort of ugly and awful. But I don't know, I think I'm finding poetry in the symmetry.

The man in the mirror.

So few artists ever truly perfect their craft. Michael Jackson did that, when he was only 10 years old. He perfected it and then he re-wrote the book on how to do it. I'm glad that people seem to be celebrating his life, instead of mourning his loss. I hope that somewhere in the midwest, there's a drive-in theater being haunted by a newly-minted but extra fabulous dancing zombie.

I had an interview on Wednesday and if I get the job, it's certainly another one I won't be able to blog about. One of my interview questions was, "Please define confidentiality." Well, that probably doesn't include blogging. But, I felt like it went well. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Update on just how intelligent New Mexico Unemployment is: They have my name spelled Katherine, and I've spelled it 3 times for them. This is also printed on the debit card they sent me yesterday. Sigh. They also have the street I live on as Brookeline. Yeah, there's no 'e' in there. I guess that's my own fault for telling the lady it's spelled exactly as it sounds. Tell me dear Kyle, exactly what sound does the 'e' make in Brookeline?

Your destiny may keep you warm.

Sigh.

Thursday, I called the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions to file for unemployment. And I mean, I was dreading it. I bunkered down on the coach with my blanket, some crackers and every important financial document I've had in the last year. I was only on hold for 7ish minutes and the lady I talked to was very nice, very calm and seemed very competent. She took my information and told me to call back on Sunday to find out if I was approved and for how much. I already know I'll quality since I was formally laid off from the job I can't blog about in November and the only substantial job I've had since was seasonal.

So, I call back Sunday and after I'm on hold for an hour, a different woman that actually they have no record of me working for the job I can't blog about. UMM. This absolutely wrecks me. I really tried not to lose it, but I completely did; sobbing hysterically to an unknown worker, who was absolutely horrible about it... launching into the, "Ma'am, this is not my fault." Me: "Well, actually it probably is. I worked for ******* A WHOLE LOT in 2008." The woman tells me I'm "more than welcome to protest their decision" and I can send in my W-2 so they can evaluate it, but I need to allow FOUR TO SIX WEEKS for processing. The whole thing went poorly. I call my parents after I calm down a bit and both of them tell me to call back the next day, when I've mellowed out and ask to talk to a supervisor. Chelsey decides instead of sitting at home and feeling sad about it, that we should go out and have fun. And fun, we do have, including a Backstreet Boys singalong in a bar and later, Chelsey screaming "NACHO CHEESE" to a Taco Bell drive-thru attendant. Man, I needed that.

I call back yesterday and talk to someone who's nice, but still has no idea what she's doing. I tell her about what happened and how I just don't understand how it could be possible. She puts me on hold about 4 times to ask her supervisors and co-workers what the problem could be. It turns out, the first person didn't process my claim correctly. EVEN THOUGH the full name of my employer was available to them, they only ran it under half the name. Now, it gets a bit confusing, but it was basically like saying I worked for "Taco Bell" but the clerk saying I worked for just "Taco". OF COURSE, "Taco" will not have any record of my employment. Why would they? But, because of this error, the lady tells me I STILL have to fax in my W-2 to prove my wages and it'll still take 4 to 6 weeks. WHAT. I get a little sassy, just a bit, because I shouldn't be punished for someone else's error. The lady starts telling me how there's a lot of new people there and the software they have to use is really complicated and they're all doing the best they can. I tell her calmly that she's been very helpful, but I'd still like to speak with her supervisor. MAN, that did ever piss her off. Well, supervisor IVAN gets on the phone and tells me that upon closer inspection, my claim is actually against the federal government (the job that cannot be blogged about was for a federal agency) and because federal agencies are not required to report their earnings to the state of New Mexico, I'll still need to fax in the W-2. But, he says it'll probably only take 3 weeks and that I can still file for weekly unemployment and once it gets cleared up, I'll get back-unemployment for every week that goes by. He also gives me the direct line of the person in charge of the federal stuff, which he will soon learn he should not have done, because I will be calling that person EVERY DAY until this gets cleared up.

See dudes, this is why people hate dealing with government agencies; you have to be on hold or in line for hours of your day, they inevitably do something wrong and you get royally screwed for it. I think every person in the world has a horror story similar to this, be it with the MVD, the social security office, the IRS, etc. Seriously, people don't tolerate behavior like this from a private business. If someone sells you a car that breaks in a week or you eat somewhere and get food poisoning, most of the time, people get upset. But when it comes to dealing with the government, it's almost accepted that you're dealing with morons and you'll have to spend half your day getting it straightened out. Why exactly should we have to pay for an MVD Express when the regular MVD should really just be able to get it done right and quick in the first place? My entire job when I worked for the feds (and the job I turned down in the Governor's office) was basically fixing other people's mistakes. And I'm saying that we all must be perfect at our jobs, I screw up all the time (ask Kathy), but just the shier percentage of failure from government agencies is absolutely inexcusable.

And that's the most conservative I'll ever sound.

ANYWAY, it is good to know that eventually, when this all gets cleared up, I will get some dolla dolla billz coming my way. Especially since I just got disqualified from front runner out of all my job prospects because I didn't have a years worth of working with a specific kind of fundraising software. I don't think many job markets have bothered to admit that younger generations are pretty dang competent when it comes to the fancy computing machines. I can pretty much guarantee I could learn that software in under a day. If I can make a dancing piece of bacon in Maya, I can add and subtract. It seems I'm either overqualified or under-qualified. I'm never just qualified.

It is so freaking hot here. And the 's' on my keyboard seems to be dying.

He is old school.

Evolution of the elbow injury:
Day 1


Day 2



Day 3 (this morning)


It's quite difficult to photograph your own elbow.

Most of the swelling is gone today, but the bruising is absolutely intense. Still hurts. I think if I actually had health insurance, I'd go see a doctor just to make sure I didn't ruin anything. I probably just bruised the bone, but still. I'm no doctor.

Birthday was good! I went to brunch and drank mimosas here, then the Oklahoma Science Center (Omniplex), then out to dinner here. I also got so, so, so many happy birthday wishes via text message and the internet. Thanks, dudes. It was like getting a little piece of home.

Job search continues. Today was also my first visit to the Oklahoma unemployment website, which only supports Internet Explorer. And even after I waded through about 20 preliminary questions, the actual application process was down. OF COURSE. I've been a little reluctant to apply for unemployment because quite honestly, I haven't needed it until this point. But now it's down to the wire. Gulp.

Crippling Ice and Snow.

What has two thumbs and is stranded in Oklahoma because of an ice storm?

This girl!

I lucked out in that I got stranded at Chelsey's house. Last night to celebrate ICE STORM 09, we destroyed some Lost Lake (a ridiculously cheap pilsner from Wisconsin that I've only seen in OK) as well as an entire large cheese pizza. That delivery guy risked his life for our pizza. And for that, I am forever grateful.

So, not quite sure when I'll make it out. Probably won't be today. I haven't seen a single car try to tackle the road right outside Chelsey's apartment.

My interview went okay. I felt really nervous and unprepared. 2 minutes after I walked in the building to interview, the power went out. So, I did my interview in the dark. That was exciting.

This postcard was pretty much the only reason I made it out the door on Sunday. I was seriously considering blowing off the interview. I'm not quite sure what all this means now that I'm iced in...

Man. I'd do just about anything for a breakfast burrito right now.

You shoulda putta ring on it.

I'm lost in a world of resumes and job applications. As I told Angie a few days ago, I hate talking about myself. I actually hate myself by this point. I would never hire me. And while, yeah, I rarely get up before noon and I spend about 90% of my day indoors, I'm working probably harder than I have in months. It is emotionally retarding to fill out job application after application. "Please give an example of a challenging situation at work in which you were in a leadership role. Please list the process you used to handle the situation.... Step One: EAT A BAG OF..." Crap makes me miserable. Please, job, show your face.

To counteract my stress level, I've been diving into the creative. 'Member ye olde novel I mentioned a few months back? Still going, almost 300 pages strong. That word document, regardless of fluff-content and grammar errors, makes me glow with pride. Just knowing that I'm come that far is a pretty awesome thing.

I've also started breaking out the 16mm again. Taking a note from Brakhage, I've been playing around with the yards of leader I have. I've been cutting up 35mm single shot negatives and taping them onto clear leader. My mom found some MRIs of her brain from about 10 years ago that she gave to me, and I'll probably do the same thing to them. It probably won't amount to much (or look like anything, really) but it's nice to have that process back. And it sure does eat up some hours.

Back when I was still in love.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do in the world is to take a deep breath, suck it up, wish, hope and pray for better days to come.


A big reason for my unhappiness yesterday was that I received the following email:

"The department had an excellent response, and has selected an applicant whose background most closely met the needs of the position. Although you were not selected for this position, we hope you will continue to keep The University of Oklahoma in mind as you consider your career options."

Which translates to: The job you really wanted didn't want you. Didn't even want to interview you. And in fact, couldn't even be bothered to send you a letter. No, no, you get a form e-mail.

The job was perfect for me. It was a position doing media/public relations for OU's art museum, including newsletters, press releases, event planning, etc. See? Like a glove. Well, glove didn't fit, must aqquit.

Pile on a helping of nasty traffic (NO REALLY, what was wrong yesterday?), a hyperactive supervisor, Church's being out of white gravy and you've got me in a foul mood.

I think finding a job that doesn't make you want to face punch is the new American Dream.


Boyfriend's playing his first show with Flood the Sun on Friday night. Represent. Please, all of you. Also, while I can only assume that graphic designer Casey (much like photo student Ken) made the flyer, KUDOS.