holiday wish list

arrow jewelry has been on my secret wish list for awhile. today, i came across work from two different artists, (of)matter and moorea seal.

1- spike triangle drop earring, $22, (of)matter
2- arrowhead ring, $20, moorea seal
3- arrowhead necklace, $27, moorea seal 
4- brass arrow triangle earring, $22, (of)matter

i would not have come across these pieces if it weren't for the blog, door sixteen. she's promoting buying from local artists for the holidays. if only i could afford these things right now.

one match stick, two

more baby pine cones.

my day

i got to work today and realized because it is thanksgiving week there are not that many kids at the club. though i could walk around and watch the kids, there might not be anything for me to really do. i considered leaving early but decided to just stay the whole shift which was 3.5 hours.

it was a good thing i didn't leave early. i got to watch two brothers (still young and they look like eachother) play chess. because they are brothers the game went like this: older brother decides to not play by the rules. gets little brother mad. they are korean so the exchange went back and forth between korean and english. of course i wasn't there to watch the game. it was more to watch the brothers be brothers. right before my shift was over, i also got to play kids master mind with one of the kids.

if you haven't guessed, it's a twist tie. i love these things. they have, for me, so many uses. one of the things i use it for is to keep battery charger cords in order. i just loop the cord around like a garden hose and then twist tie it together. i remember when living in france, one of the few things that bothered me were their twist ties. whatever it is made from does not do a good job of staying secure. not that it comes undone, it just doesn't secure tightly enough. now i know for any future trip to france, i need to pack some twist ties from home.

a portrait.

while going through a box of stuff from my past, i found this. this was done many years ago but my profile is still the same. you get two profiles--the other one has me facing left. (think she just did one cut out from two sheets). it probably took the artist about one minute to do.

recently i was reading about an etsy wedding where a friend of the bride and groom did this for all the wedding guests. (their friend was trained at and worked at disneyland). very cool.

 

it's been awhile since i last drew.

random bits.

i have a bunch of things on my mind so i'm just going to dump it into one post.

1. southern california is going through some wacky weather. a few days ago it was sunny and fairly hot that i had to use an umbrella to shield myself from the sun's rays. yesterday, it started to rain, was grey, and cold. i wasn't wearing a proper jacket so now i am sick. today, the sky was blue and cloudy but still cold. it is about 10:34 pm right now and it's cold inside.

2. i have been trying to figure out what i want to do all over again. still don't know yet. i'm questioning what i previously thought i was going to do: work in international development. currently i feel like the universe is pushing me into education. i am currently working with kids and one of the things i do is help them with homework. i am also in the process of applying for a tutoring position at another club.

before the idea of working/studying international development was snuffed, i came across a program called world teach where volunteers are sent to teach in developing countries for one school year (or a summer period). i am now reading about current volunteers' experiences through their blogs. i hope soon that i will have a feeling one way or another about going into international development. at the moment i'm just questioning everything i can, making sure that i want to go into it for the right reasons.

3. realizing that the last two years, as difficult as it might have been, taught me an important lesson as well as realizing that i am still very fortunate. millions of other people are going through much harder times than i am.

4. can't believe it's already november. another year coming to an end and i hope to be able to find another job before the new year. that would really make my new year.

the myth

yesterday, i attended my cousin's wedding. before the ceremony, i got to talking to an adult relative who i haven't seen in awhile. he asked me what i was doing, about work and etc. i told him that i am working but that it's part-time (actually less than part-time but i didn't say that). the conversation then got to a point where he started to tell me how at my college graduation he just thought that because i had done well in school and now have a college degree, that i would have no problems getting a good job. he told me how he has friends who applied to hundreds of places before they got a job or the other friend who just got a teaching job at a local university, earning $100k. i asked if his friend got a head of department position. he said no. i turned and asked my other cousin's husband standing with us. he replied, "for tenure positions." yeah. no one gets tenure right out of grad school. out of grad school you would be more than fortunate to get an adjunct position. anyhow, he said i should consider going back to school for a better income. when i told him that a lot of the jobs i've been applying to were in retail he was surprised. he had assumed i was applying to "good jobs." sigh.

a few things he said were good advice. yes, going back to school, incurring more debt, debt bigger than i could imagine, would be worth a bigger income. or is it? unfortunately, he believes in the old saying that a college degree gets you a good job. (darn you, society!) sorry, uncle. it is only true if i had gotten a practical degree. even then not everyone with a practical degree is guaranteed a good job. i also don't agree with just applying to hundreds of jobs. this isn't like entering into a raffle and the more you enter, the higher your chances of winning. you really need to be selective so that you can concentrate on putting together a nice resume/application. getting a job is about your work experience-what kind of experience you have and for how long. (yes, i know. it's about networking, too). however, applying to hundreds of jobs won't get you a job if you don't have the experience and you're competing with other people who do. (this craigslist experiment illustrates my point).

seriously. it is a pain talking about finding a job with people who haven't been through unemployment.