Thanks Everyone!

I don’t know what the hell happened, but the last post I wrote got crazy support, from folks that I wouldn’t have dreamed would ever grace my blog!

I am feeling rather high on life right now.

In an interest to keep the goodness rolling, I am joining a group whose purpose is to help boost traffic on lesser-known blogs.

Fellow bloggers, check it out.  Everyone else, I’m so glad you’ve decided to come play with me

I have some articles in the works. Stay tuned!

 

What’s up with me and other interesting stuff

So the fall job search is complete (mostly). And the summer internship is almost over.

First on the calendar this fall is a 10 hour a week gig at the local Chamber of Commerce (I’ll have to tell you that hustle story later).  This job is going to be so cool because I’ll have the opportunity to network with business AND government leaders (rather than just elected officials), which will give me a bigger base of people to ask for jobs next Spring when I graduate.

AND I just found out that I got an Reseach Assistantship in the UNC MPA program, working for one of the professors. YAY, me! I think the RA-ship comes with student health insurance, which will come in handy since I have been buying my own Blue Cross Blue Shield for the past year, and THAT has not been fun (or cheap!).

Additionally, since I wasn’t sure the RA thing was going to happen (it didn’t happen last year)  I have been sending out resumes and cover letters to other local business and non-profit organizations that I feel would help me gain a new perspective (not public sector!)  I’m still going to follow up with those people, make some new friends/contacts and maybe get some consulting/writing action started. So that, hopefully, I’ll be able to make a little extra money if I can write RFPs or grants for a couple of agencies or get to contribute on a projects. And if all else fails, I can think of it as practice for marketing myself in a field that isn’t intuitively MPA territory.

On a different note, my up-coming place of business is planning a networking trip to Ann Arbor in September. As I love trips and networking, of course I want to go! But, it is an expensive outing and I’m not sure that it’s in my budget. But they are offering (and I have applied for) partial scholarships and the Chamber is starting this new thing that they are calling Community Leadership Council (or something like that) and they want me to apply for it.  Admission to this Council means that I will be involved with planning objectives for the trip and leading meetings on the trip and most importantly it includes the trip for FREE. It’s a win/f*cking win situation.

Also, I was reading a new blog today and came across this article

Sounds like they bought a guilty verdict. I mean, if I’m hungry and homeless (not saying that this guy is), I’m facing jail time, I can’t afford a good lawyer and I’m probably going to jail anyway regardless of my guilt or innocence……and the DA and the judges are willing to give me good food for the duration of my prison stay (that I wouldn’t be able to afford on the outside)?!?!?! I’ll take that sh*t in a heartbeat! Just like he did.

What do you think?

 

I don’t think I suck (at least not that badly). Do you?

My gf, who has, as one of her most admirable attributes, an undying willingness to support her people*, has been sending me links to urban** bloggers.

*Her people typically consists of lesbians (especially Black lesbians) and educated, creative black people

** I use urban as a code word for black since one of my white friends hates when I do that.

Anyway, one of the blogs, Very Smart Brothas, seems to be written by black men that I would simultaneously be attracted to and afraid of (now is not the time to talk about this).

Since adding VSB to my blog reader, L (white friend from above) and I love to read and discuss whatever the brothas are talking about daily.

This post, particularly struck my fancy because, according to this list, and a day long conversation with L at work, I am seriously might be a pretentious piece of sh*t (PPoS). And you know what? I AM OK WITH THAT.

Why don’t I care, you ask?

I’m not a PPoS because I put people down to feel good about myself. I’m not a PPoS because I think I’m somehow better than the average person I know that I am a work in progress and I have quite a bit of work left to do.

(If) I’m a PPoS because I believe that people (all people who were not raised in a cave in West Virginia) should know how to act in public. I just expect more from folks. I get disappointed and frustrated when people do ignorant, nonsensical annoying sh*t. L, gf and I have gleefully been cataloguing all day all the reasons for my possible PPoS status.

• I will not respond to a man or worse a woman!!! that greets me with “Hey Shawty” or some other obnoxious slang or facial expression that objectifies me or otherwise treats me like a piece of meat.
• I expect people to know how to dress, eat, drink, act in social situations and if not, then they should ask someone. (there is nothing wrong with calling ahead and asking about appropriate attire)
• I will always roll my eyes at the dude making eyes at me while wearing a bright lime green Patron jacket*** when he knows that Patron ain’t paying him to wear it and he had no affiliation with the brand. This also applies to other articles of clothing with large, obnoxious labels.

***this happened to me this morning!!!!!

• I know (and so should everyone else) that there is a difference in what is appropriate behavior when entering a place of business, especially when looking for a job (speak in your best English (no “ebonics” or “redneck”, thanks), stand up straight, and be respectful) and what is appropriate at the house.

• I believe a cell phone ringtone should sound like a phone ringing and should not be a substitute for a boom box on the f*cking MARTA train.

• I know that if I hold my cell phone up to my ear and talk, the person that I’m talking to can hear me. I don’t have to change the position of the phone like a walkie-talkie and I don’t have to scream. And neither do you!

• If you can have a house full of kids (or just one, for that matter) you damn well better be able to control those bastards in public. Or I will give you the evil eye and talk smack about your parenting skills.

• If you are in the m-f-ing fast lane on an interstate with 4 or more lane you risk getting hit in the @ss if you aren’t going at least 80 mph. And don’t be mad at me when I pass you on the right and give you the finger.

After reading this list, I’m thinking that perhaps I’m not a PPoS. Maybe I’m just an uppity, elitist @sshole snob or maybe I just hate most people. Who knows?

And like I said on the VSB site

The Black Tina Fey (ahem, me) loves herself some McD’s $1 hot fudge sundaes, and I hate, hate, hate Atlanta and can’t wait to go home to NC, so I can’t be that much of a PPoS, can I?

But if you think that I am a PPoS, I don’t care because that either means that you know that you are guilty of doing that ignorant crap and have now been put in your place or you have been overwhelmed because you are just realizing that IT IS NOT OK to behave in any manner chronicled in this post.

If I missed anything in my list, leave it in the comments.