Next steps

Big Steps

1. Get Kim to help me decide where I want to live
   
   
2. Use informational interviewing to identify the job I want. During the interviews, answer the following questions:
   
   
   1. What are the names of the jobs that would use my strongest and most enjoyable skills and fields of knowledge?
   2. What kinds of organizations have such jobs?
   3. What are the names of the organizations that I particularly like, among those uncovered in Question 2?
   4. What needs do they have, or what outcomes are they trying to produce, that my skills could help with?
      
      
3. Use my network to identify and seek out the person who actually has the power to hire me for the job I want at the organizations I identify.
   
   
4. Use my contacts to get in to see him or her. Show the person with the power to hire me how I can help them with their problem. Show them how I would stand out as “one employee in a hundred.”
   
   
5. Cut no corners, take no shortcuts

Little steps

1. Design and print business cards, thank-you cards, and a letterhead
   
   
2. Make a list of “people who could help me name my ideal job.” Call them and set up ten-minute interviews.
   
   
3. Interview a dozen people
   
   
4. Send each one a thank-you card
   
   
5. From my interviews, make a list of ideal jobs and prioritize it.
   
   
6. Do more research (and more interviewing, if necessary) to identify the organizations in my preferred geographic area that have the kind of job I want. Find out what each organization does and what kind of problems they or their industry are wrestling with.
   
   
7. Send a thank you card to everyone who helps me with this research.
   
   
8. Use my network to identify and seek out the person who has the power to hire me for each of the jobs that I want
   
   
9. Use my contacts to get in to see him or her.
   
   
10. Prepare a killer presentation, showing them how I can help them with their problems. (Use every ounce of graphic design/showmanship/excellence-obsession I possess to convince them.)
    
    
11. Send them a thank you card
    
    
12. Repeat steps 8-13 until I have a job that I love
    
    
13. Go to work
    
    

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Some job titles

My brother and father helped me come up with this list. They used the “one-big-piece-of-paper” that I created from the parachute book. Here are their suggestions:

1. workshop teacher
2. biology professor
3. instrument designer
4. composer/musician
5. stage designer
6. commercial graphic designer
7. museum exhibit designer
8. design consultant

here are a few of my own:

1. Writer and graphic designer
   for a science magazine like Seed or Wired
   
   
2. Instrument builder, D.J., and professional musician
   following in the footsteps of Walter Kitundu
   
   
3. Professional teacher
   of high school students, then college students. I would specialize in philosophy, psychology, and biology.
   
   
4. Museum exhibit designer/Workshop designer and teacher
   in a hybrid of 1) an exhibit designer and 2) the job of Mike and Karen at the Exploratorium

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Work and a late night

what happened

I took Kim to school and slept in the car until she finished. A trip to the thrift store yielded a brand new work shirt. I went to work and had a good night. I hung out with Shane and his friends after work.

details

I must take my mirtazipan earlier in the evening because it knocks me out for a solid eight and a half hours. I slept in the car while Kim worked at UTA. By the time we made it to campus, her class was over, but she needed to work on a poster for her anthropology club. She made a beautiful poster for their brown bag lunch series. She was proud of it.

We drove to Fort Worth and I dropped her off at work. I didn’t have a clean, ironed shirt for work. I considered driving home, but it would have taken an hour and and a half round trip. I opted to go to the McCart thrift store instead. I found a new shirt for ten bucks. That is how much I would have spent on gas if I had driven home.

Work was good. I made seventy bucks. I’m finding a good rhythm. I can still streamline my approach to waiting on three or four tables, but I can deliver decent service even when I’m a little busy. I’m anxious to work on my music more. I’m going to pick my first twenty songs tonight and start working on the first two.

I dropped Shane off at his house after work. I ended up hanging out with him and his friends until 2 a.m.

gratitude

Yesterday I was grateful for…

an open mind I had fun meeting Shane’s friends. I probably won’t hang out with them again, but I’m glad I’m open enough to kick it with mostly anyone.

iTunes Party Shuffle apple makes cool, functional gadgets and software. I really like the elegance of the Party Shuffle feature. I’m a fan of mac products.

a new cell phone It’s large, but it has an mp3 player. Just about any phone is better than the crappy LG phone that I use now. Plus, it came with a leather case and it was free.

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Work and friends

what happened

I woke up looking forward to going to work. I enjoy working at the restaurant a great deal. After work, I dropped Kim off at home and took my brother to go hear James’ band Sleeplab. They were excellent. The next day, I woke up at close to the time I needed to leave. I drove the Kia to Fort Worth on streets and it took an hour and twenty minutes. Grace and Julie worked with me tonight. We talked about character, personality, and families. I didn’t make much cash, but I had fun all the same.

details

Work was good on Wednesday. Eunice substituted for our usual Wednesday night piano player, Richard. She can read charts and transpose a little, but her skill level is about the same as his. She’s very warm though, so I enjoy singing with her. I had a lot of energy that evening, and Miti and I traded a lot of banter and jokes. I helped him in the kitchen, wrapping containers at the end of the night.

I drove Kim home, changed my clothes, then went to Fort Worth. James’ band Sleeplab were playing at a club called Embargo. It is a hip place, decorated like a lounge in Havana. The band was very good – they have a down-beat, lounge sound with a little house thrown in. I bought a couple of beers for Munir and myself. It was a fun night.

My brother and I sat in the car for twenty minutes after we made it back to his house, talking about music. We share more common experiences of music than I realized. We talked about John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, Stevie Wonder’s drumming, funk, and more. It’s been fun getting to know him better in the past few weeks that he’s been in town.

When I first got to work on Thursday, Grace, Julie, and I had a long conversation while we did side work. It started when I told Grace about my epiphany from this weekend. She listened while I shared the insight that I’d come to. About pain. And about how we respond to other people’s actions and attitudes. This led to a conversation about human nature, and whether or not people are basically good or basically bad.

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A Sunday off (Complete, with comments on journaling)

what happened

Last night I went to the Standard Transmission show. It was great to see Myles, Bree and the rest of the crew. Today, I have a cold so it’s been low key

details

The question for today is “should I journal publicly?” The answer is probably a qualified “yes.” I’m reading about some journaling exercises in the book I bought today Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment. The author suggests a private journal for the exercises. When you journal publicly, you lose an essential part of spontaneity and honesty. On the other hand, it feels GOOD journaling to other people. It feels intimate. It forces me to stand outside myself and look back with a different perspective. It is usually lopsided toward presenting my best self to the world, but some of the ugly and awkward creep through often enough. I think I will try a mix of public and private journaling.

The Standard Transmission concert on Saturday was a blast. I dropped Shane off at his house. He let me come in, meet his Mom, and change into my clothes. They have a beautiful house in a neighborhood south of Camp Bowie. He’s a young, well-educated guy. His house had an air of privilege. Maybe it was the wooden floors and big rooms? Maybe it was his story about getting pulled over in Como for being a white guy in a black neighborhood? The officer thought he must be buying weed. He probably does. He’s a fantastic guy; smart, warm, and friendly. He’s been showing me how to read music and sharing his knowledge of music theory with me.

I drove over to the Wreck Room for the show. I was excited to see Myles and Bree—I haven’t seen them since they moved to Chicago a year ago. Their band, Standard Transmission plays an exhilarating mix of blues and rock. They sing originals and covers, backed by a drummer with years of experience and Bree’s Uncle Charlie playing mouth harp. Their lead guitarist is my friend Aaron Laboon. He’s a bright guy, and we always have good conversations. I helped him load his equipment into his truck after the show and we had a fascinating conversation about his work for the government. The show was outstanding! It was great fun seeing all the crowd that I’ve gotten to know over the year that I went to their shows. Daniel, his wife, and his brother were there. Chuck and his violin-playing girlfriend were there. James was there. So was his mother.

Many people from Italian Inn had talked about going, but the only people that made it were Grace and Kim. I had flirted mercilessly with both of them earlier in the night, so it was almost awkward seeing them there. Kim didn’t stay for long – something about losing her cell phone and wanting to hang out with her friends from out of town. Grace hung out for a little longer. She was clearly not having a great time, but she was a good sport about. I don’t think it was her kind of crowd. Plus, I was the only person she knew there, aside from James. She is a genuinely kind person, full of good cheer and warmth. We had worked as partners, serving a giant birthday party at the restaurant. We made a good team. I feel bad that I’ve used our relationship as a way of responding to my wife. I should be more honest. Tomorrow. :)

today I’m grateful for…

1. Good music in abundance – I have collected thousands of recordings of some of the most spectacular music of the 20th century. Creative, passionate artists made this music over many years of labor. Now, modern digital technology has put it all at my fingertips.
   
   
2. Friendly people – I am fairly extroverted and I love to talk and joke around with strangers and friends.
   
   
3. A fabulous book – I bought it from Barnes and Noble. There’s much to be thankful for here: A giant bookstore with good lighting and comfortable chairs, air conditioning, leisure time, scientists studying happiness, modern publishing, and public libraries!

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