Protective mimicry
Feb. 2nd, 2004 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mallorys_cameraOne of those weeks.
Hell.
One of those months…
We coasted downhill into February, fumes-city, each day an adventure in Will-we-generate-enough-cash-flow-to-pay-the-rent-and-sales-tax-in-February? This meant I was fully awake and functional to critique endless series of informercials at three in the morning, but not so functional when it was time to dodder down to the store. (Though I’ve given up even fantasizing about buying Ronco PastaMakers on late night channels since my second-favorite store on Cannery Row is one called As Seen On TV.) At four in the morning, MTV starts running its public service programming – hour-long shows with titles like Girl Power: it’s okay to be a slut! Well, that’s reassuring. Although not as reassuring the following morning when I’m peering into the bathroom mirror. I could be a tree! You could calculate my age, figuring the ratio of the bags under my eyes to the lines joining my nose to my mouth. Those youthful prodigals have such flawless faces. Did I really look like that once? Why does pop culture spend so much time teaching women how to be young, and so very little time teaching them how to be middle-aged?
Anyway, it’s clear to me that we need some kind of safety net. Plus I can’t get an SBA loan without a job. Happens that there are two well-known media valuation firms in Carmel. So last week I revised my resume, typed up a cover letter – "If you’re looking for a writer and researcher with a strong vertical understanding of the digital entertainment field, who grasps both its emerging technologies and the challenges that new distribution patterns present to traditional media companies, and who has the communication skills to convey this understanding effectively to analysts and clients alike, please consider what I have to offer." Bla bla bla bla.
Anyway, one of them emailed back immediately. Interview on Thursday. Would be a very short commute, allowing me to go on managing the store effectively though I suppose I’d have to hire a college student for part-time counter work, and that means payroll shit. Plus I’ll have to cut my hair which is very wild and wooly, and dredge my dress uniforms, still in their plastic drycleaner bags, from the back of the closet.
Life. It’s a bitch. But what’s the alternative?
Also this week, I watched a lot of high school basketball from the ringside, and stumped for Wesley Clark at the Farmer’s Market in the rain. That was a real trip. Really, my favorite candidate is ABB – Anyone But Bush. So it’s difficult to generate that partisan fervor. Clark is preferable to Kerry, I think, because Kerry is a push-over: yeah, he breathed flame like a veritable dragon on all those network news shows, but when it came down to it, he voted for Bush’s war resolution anyway. What was with that? Still, if he gets he nomination, I’ll campaign for him cheerfully. But Clark has a certain gravitas that I enjoy, and I like how he handled Kosovo.
"You like him because he’s a Republican in Democrat’s clothing," Ben accused.
I shrugged. "So? So am I."
Loved Janet Jackson's nipple thing. Wish they made them for sluts without piercings.
Hell.
One of those months…
We coasted downhill into February, fumes-city, each day an adventure in Will-we-generate-enough-cash-flow-to-pay-the-rent-and-sales-tax-in-February? This meant I was fully awake and functional to critique endless series of informercials at three in the morning, but not so functional when it was time to dodder down to the store. (Though I’ve given up even fantasizing about buying Ronco PastaMakers on late night channels since my second-favorite store on Cannery Row is one called As Seen On TV.) At four in the morning, MTV starts running its public service programming – hour-long shows with titles like Girl Power: it’s okay to be a slut! Well, that’s reassuring. Although not as reassuring the following morning when I’m peering into the bathroom mirror. I could be a tree! You could calculate my age, figuring the ratio of the bags under my eyes to the lines joining my nose to my mouth. Those youthful prodigals have such flawless faces. Did I really look like that once? Why does pop culture spend so much time teaching women how to be young, and so very little time teaching them how to be middle-aged?
Anyway, it’s clear to me that we need some kind of safety net. Plus I can’t get an SBA loan without a job. Happens that there are two well-known media valuation firms in Carmel. So last week I revised my resume, typed up a cover letter – "If you’re looking for a writer and researcher with a strong vertical understanding of the digital entertainment field, who grasps both its emerging technologies and the challenges that new distribution patterns present to traditional media companies, and who has the communication skills to convey this understanding effectively to analysts and clients alike, please consider what I have to offer." Bla bla bla bla.
Anyway, one of them emailed back immediately. Interview on Thursday. Would be a very short commute, allowing me to go on managing the store effectively though I suppose I’d have to hire a college student for part-time counter work, and that means payroll shit. Plus I’ll have to cut my hair which is very wild and wooly, and dredge my dress uniforms, still in their plastic drycleaner bags, from the back of the closet.
Life. It’s a bitch. But what’s the alternative?
Also this week, I watched a lot of high school basketball from the ringside, and stumped for Wesley Clark at the Farmer’s Market in the rain. That was a real trip. Really, my favorite candidate is ABB – Anyone But Bush. So it’s difficult to generate that partisan fervor. Clark is preferable to Kerry, I think, because Kerry is a push-over: yeah, he breathed flame like a veritable dragon on all those network news shows, but when it came down to it, he voted for Bush’s war resolution anyway. What was with that? Still, if he gets he nomination, I’ll campaign for him cheerfully. But Clark has a certain gravitas that I enjoy, and I like how he handled Kosovo.
"You like him because he’s a Republican in Democrat’s clothing," Ben accused.
I shrugged. "So? So am I."
Loved Janet Jackson's nipple thing. Wish they made them for sluts without piercings.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-02-03 06:52 pm (UTC)I'm wondering if Clark will still be in the running by the time our primaries come around. Good luck with your safety net arrangements.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-04 07:51 am (UTC)I vote in every election, even if it's only for the local water board. And I don't think there's ever been an election before -- at least in my lifetime -- where the outcome is so critical. Those Paul O'Neill revelations (that from DAY ONE, long before 9/11, Dubya was planning an Iraq invasion) were chilling.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-06 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-06 11:32 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2004-02-06 03:20 pm (UTC)