Stresses and Humor

So far this week has been somewhat stressful, but I'm learning how to deal. I'm sending my film resume to the Deputy of the New Mexican Film Commission (who my landlord/makeshift roommate Lauren O is pretty good friends with). But I want to update it a little and snazz it up. I'd like very much to join the Union here and see what sort of little jobs I can get here and there to get on my feet. I think the careers I'm focused on right now are:

-Journalism (in print, possibly on radio)
-Film, my love, my old friend (mostly documentary, i think, and independent projects)
-Human Rights Nonprofit

There's this internship with the BBC I'm looking at and also work with AmeriCorp. Next summer, though, the best bet would be to get an internship at some respected newspaper... perhaps in DC or NYC. I'm very excited, but I don't want to give myself too many choices and become too indecisive (I have that tendency). Oh, a couple weekends out of the month, I'll be going to Albuquerque to volunteer with the ACLU. I'm also trying to keep very up to date on the current political campaigns and pressing current events.

The only thing that I know for sure is that a) I want to make a difference, b) I want to travel, and c) I want to wake up every (or at least almost every) morning and be proud and happy of what I do. I hope that's not too much to ask for.

In other news, Lee is adjusting to life out here quite well. He is not, however, well-liked by ANY of the dogs in the neighborhood -- including Lauren's shepard dog who regards Lee as some sort of threat. Any other dog would find this disheartening, I think, but not Lee. He has that puppy resilience which keeps him excited and happy all the time. I wish I had that.

I still haven't met many people while out here. I'm sure that will come in time. I could use this alone time to really focus on what's important, and not get so bogged down by being overly social. I think that was my problem in DC. It was too easy to get distracted by everything and everyone around me. Strip that away and I am forced to focus. This will be good for me.

I've also been reading a lot. I finally finished The Outsiders, reread Wicked, read a book on Susan B Anthony, am halfway through The Lessons of Don Juan (I actually am rereading this one as well), and have just started Rebel Angels, a biography on Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs. Absolutely amazing reads, all of them. Having no TVs been so great. Though I don't get to watch movies as much, which is sad. I did see Death at a Funeral, though, which was a fantastic little British film that I highly recommend. Very funny. Reminded me of Four Weddings and a Funeral a little bit, but without that annoying dark-haired woman... Andi MacDowell or whatever? It was wry, and at times absolutely ridiculous and bordering on lewd. I laughed quite a bit. I was supposed to see Becoming Jane last night but I was "becoming too busy" with stuff to do. Today, perhaps, we'll see. (Speaking of Jane Austen... I am not lying when I say that when I visited Nicholas Potter's the other day, I found a rather amazing FIRST EDITION of Pride & Prejudice. The cost is not nearly as obscene as one would think, either. I wouldn't shut up about it at the front desk, and Mr Potter told me he would set it aside for a month or so to give me a chance to save up the money. I love that man.)

I guess my only real complaint of late is that part of my rental agreement is that my landlord's mother (Wendy, a very lovely woman who was proactive in helping my find a job in the area through her various connections) is a counselor and uses one of the rooms downstairs as an office every once in a while. Fine, no big deal. But! When she's in the office with her "patients" or whatever the term is for them, she needs total privacy and quiet which means I have to not be home or stay upstairs. Yesterday, she had sessions all days. So when I would come back home she would still be there which means I can't cook lunch or do laundry or, god forbid, let my poor crated dog run around. This is starting to get old. Today she had a session at 8:15 (well after I'd had breakfast) and I was practically out the door anyway. And when I returned she was gone. That's fine. I don't even mind it if I am home, but she's in session only for an hour or two. But that all day stuff.... I know my rent is pretty low, but really. I am still paying money to live here, after all. I guess I'll just wait it out and if it gets too out of hand I'll have to say something.

Anyway, otherwise, things are good. Stressful, but good. Tomorrow, Lauren leaves town for like a week and a half which (as much as I like her) will be nice. I'll have a little more privacy. When she gets back, there's been talk of a camping trip before the mountain snow arrives. I'm looking forward to it.

And with that, I better get back to the work I really need to not avoid. Yes, I've surpassed such frivolous notions as "procrastination," and am now becoming a virtuoso in the field of avoidance. I'm a regular Renaissance woman.