Mohawks.

When did mohawks become socially acceptable?  I know the fux-hawks thing have been in with the douche bag (frat boy) crowd for the past year or so, but I have noticed lots of real hawks (shaved on the sides) lately on all types of guys.  From tweeners to twentysomethings, dudes are sporting mohawks along with their popped collars and plaid shorts.

What is going on?  What are the punkers supposed to do?

A Bummer of a Ballgame.

A couple weeks ago one of my clients in NYC bought me tickets to Sunday's White Sox game... just for being great at my job. It was a great surprise to get the tickets and what even meant more was that my client actually listens to me... knows that I am a Sox fan (not Cubs), and I have weekday season tickets - so a Sunday game would be perfect.

Sunday's game was anything but perfect. I could not find anyone to go with me since most of my friends were out of town or busy that day and LP had to study. I did find one person to go with... and he flaked. I thought of calling Classy, but it was Sunday morning and very last minute so I decided to go myself instead of being denied again. And then a these series of events happened:

1. The Belmont bus never came so I walked the 1.5 miles to the Red Line. Waited forever for the L so I was late to the game.
2. When I finally got into the stadium I got to my section and just as I was about to walk down to the seat the White Sox hit a home run right where my seat was. Crap!
3. I walked down and saw that it was really packed in the section so I opted to sit in a less crowded section... I did not want it to be too obvious I was by myself.
4. I waited and waited for a hot dog vendor and none ever came. Crap!
5. I then decided after a while to get up and go get a hot dog and beer. I got back and sat down and then they announced that my section and row (where I was supposed to be sitting) won free ice cream. They had already handed them out before the announcement so was S.O.L. Crap!
6. It was the bottom of the 6th inning and I was needing to tinkle so I walked to the restroom and when going back to my seat another home run was hit to the section where I was supposed to be. Grrrrrr.

What a bummer. And at this point I was grumpy and just wanted to go home. So I did. I never leave games early, but at the same time I have never been one to do things on my own. The past few years I have learned to test the waters on being a loner (shows, movies, baseball games). It was all going fine until yesterday's game... and the White Sox won. I think I am officially done being a loner.

Someone Is Going to Kill My Boss (not me).

Hello all. Work has been so busy, and the job search has been so dead that when I get home at night I have little energy to look at the computer (blogging, facebooking, emailing)... so that is why I've been M.I.A. this week. Work being busy is a good thing because that means I'll keep my job for a little longer. The job search going nowhere has finally made me sad. I don't let things get to me, but LP has noticed all week. I feel a little defeated and a little lost. All you readers give me great inspiration, and that really helps - but when it comes down to it, it's almost been a year that I've been really applying to myself to find a new job in a new industry.

I don't want to go on and on about job crap... so I will show you this. My boss got the creepiest spam of all time. I never open my spam so maybe I got it too, but we'll never know. I just wish creepy spammers would spell check.


-----Original Message-----
From: UNKNOW [mailto:bulletin@??????????.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 8:55 PM
Subject: Matter Of Urgent
Hello
Is a pity that this is how your life is going to end as soonasyoudon'tcomply. As you can see there is no need of introducing myself to youbecause I don't have any business with you, my duty a Iam mailing younow is just to KILL you and I have to do it as Ihave already beenpaid for that.
Someone you call a friend wants you Dead by all means, andthepersonhavespent a lot of money on this, the person also came tousand tol me thathe wanted you dead and he provided us with your name,pictureand other necessary information's we needed about you. So I sent my boysto track you down and they have carried out the necessaryinvestigationneeded for the operation on you, and they have done that but I toldthem not to kill you that I will like to contact you andsee if your lif is Important to you or not since their findings shows that you are innocent.
I called my client back and ask him of your email address which Ididn't tell him what I wanted to do with it and he gave it to me andIamusing it to contact you now. As I am writing to you now my menaremonitoring you and they are telling me everything about you.
Now do you want to LIVE OR DIE? As someone has paid us to killyou.Getback to me now if you are ready to pay some fees to spar your life,$5,000 is all you need to spend You will first of all pay $2,000 then I will send a tape to you which i recorded everydiscusion ihade with the person who wanted you dead and as soon asyou get thetape, you willpay the remaining $3,000. If you are notready for my help, then I will carry on with my job traight-up.
WARNING: DO NOT THINK OF CONTACTING THE POLICE OR EVENTELLINGANYONEBECAUSE I WILL KNOW.REMEMBER, SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU VERY WELL WANT YOUDEAD! I WILL EXTEND IT TO YOUR FAMILY, INCASE INOTICESOMETHING FUNNY. DO NOT COME OUT ONCE IT IS 7:PM UNTIL I MAKE OUT TIME TO SEE YOUANGIVE YOU THE TAPE OF MY DISCUSSION WITH THE PERSON WHO WANT YOUDEAD THENYOU CAN USE IT TO TAKE ANY LEGAL ACTION. GOOD LUCK AS I AWAIT YOURREPLY

Need A Wingman.

Sunday evening LP and I had one of our good good (yes, two goods) friends over for dinner. We were checking in with her love life (because that what marrieds do to singles) and how her online dating is going. She filled us in that it was a little rough mainly because her description of herself on paper did not do her justice. She is a total catch if you met her out and about with a group of friends... but that does not come across in a written description. What she might need is someone to introduce her to some great guys.

A light went on in my head (ding!). That is my problem with applying for jobs. I am totally awesome and kick ass at my job and might be the best project manager in the world... and I am super fun to work with. That does NOT come across in my cover letter and resume. If people would call my references they would be sold, but that is not done until the end of the hiring process. What I need is someone on the inside to know me and my awesomeness and get me in the door.

We both need a Wingman... Wingwoman... Wingsomething. Or we both need to be better writers (which I think we both do a good job of). How can we go to the next level without showing off our personalities? Maybe we should go out together and I'll find her dudes to date and she'll find me dudes or ladies to work for/with.

The Good, The Bad, The Week(end).

Since I have no brilliant ideas to post about... and cannot leave my loyal readers to spend the weekend waiting for Monday's post, I decided to give you a recap of my exciting week.

The Good:
1. It was sunny and warm this week. Chicago saw temperatures in the 70's for the first time since last October. No shorts yet, but no winter coat! [Starting off by talking about the weather - am I getting old?]
2. I skipped worked Tuesday to go to a White Sox game with my T1 friend SV. Sox won! We saw a great fight in the bleachers.
3. I skateboarded to work three times this week.
4. A client of mine in NYC sent me a thank you email to me this morning telling me what a great part of their business I am. They also sent me two tickets to a White Sox game next weekend! How awesome is that!
5. I started playing on-line Scrabble on Facebook with K.i.D.

The Bad:
1. I spilled something on my clothes every day of this week.
2. I got a sunburn on one side of my face at the Sox game.
3. I slammed hard on my board in front of group of Cubs fans.
4. Applied to a slew of new jobs... and heard nothing. How can I be so awesome at my job... and no one else will give me the time of day.
5. I suck at Scrabble... on-line or on a board.

The Weekend:
1. I hope to go see that Sarah Marshall movie... it looks like a Niner type of movie.

Hive Five.

Did you know today is National High Five Day? Well that is what I read in the paper this morning, so it must be true. High fives to all of you... unless you are lame, then no high five just an evil stare. [Think about a real awful evil stare]

My high five story (since we all have a few high five stories in our arsenal) took places many many moons ago when little Niner was a Senior in High School. Pimply faced Niner went to the Senior Prom with his best girlfriend (not smoochy girl friend, just a friend, really). We went and had a hoot of a time. I did some awesome Kid 'n' Play dance moves... and what made them awesome was that I was both Kid AND Play. The next morning a walked into the kitchen and my mother started asking a million questions about the night. My brother was there too, but I don't remember why since he was not living at home during that time (he is older than me). My mother then asked if I kissed my date goodnight, and I replied that I gave her the high five.

WHAMO!

The look on my mother's face was priceless. It was complete shock and horror. See she thought "high five" was code for something dirty. Like "hey babe wanna get the high five on (think dirty things)." So my brother and I had to quickly demonstrate what a high five was. She was relieved.

Fakebook (not the Yo La Tengo album).

This weekend I became lame.  And for those of you who feel I was already there... well, I became lame-r.  I joined Facebook.  I can't stand MySpace and Facebook.  I deleted my MySpace page months ago.  I even wrote a post about completely stupid it all is, and yet I joined.

Why?

I have read in a few articles about job searching that being visible is very important, and having a MySpace and/or Facebook page will help.  Not sure if I believe that, but at least people will see that I am not creepy looking.  I hope I'm not creepy looking.  That would suck.  (Which one is Niner?  Over there - the creepy one.)  At the same time I am not looking forward to people posting on my page that they are giving me hugs and fuzzy crap like that.  How can I stop the fuzzy stuff?

Work.

I have been slacking on posting this week because work has been super busy... which is always a good thing (yes President Bush, the economy is tanking).  With work being busy that means no time for posting and when I get home the last thing I want to do it turn on the computer and type away.  Sorry, I just don't.  Mornings are best for me.

Also with work being busy it has given me little time to apply for new jobs.  That situation just never seems to get any better.  I have applied for 65 jobs since January 1st, plus a few letters to companies.  This has landed me two interviews, and one was a super long shot with a huge corporate company that I knew I would not get, but it's always good to meet new people... you never know where it will lead.  I was told I came in second at the other interview which was with this design firm, and they would keep me in mind the next few months since they might be adding another project manager.  Promising, but not sitting around waiting for it.

I have given up applying to any college or university in Chicago because my background never matches what they are looking for.  Ever.  I received an email from one university after applying for a communications position that read something like this...

Thank you for applying for Communications blah blah blah, requisition 078579.
We have been fortunate to receive resumes from many interested applicants for this opening and have decided to pursue an applicant at this time whose education and background would be a better fit for the position.  As someone who has applied for University of blah blah Communication positions, you may know of a colleague who may be interested, in one or more of the current open positions:

078517 Asst. Dir. of Communications (Alumni/Development)
078870 Editor, Capital Ideas
078923 Marketing Editor/Writer
* 078579 Communications blah blah blah *

078956 Manuscript Editor I-Science Group
078680 Senior Director, Alumni Education & Communication
077831 Technical Writer

Have a great week!

Really?  They told me I was not picked, and then asked if I knew someone who would fit one of these jobs... one of them being the job I just did not get picked for.  WTF?  Have a great week my ass.

My current gripe (besides that email I just posted) about applying for jobs lately has been with ad, marketing, and design firms: they believe / preach in this "think outside the box" idea - but they will not look outside of their own box to interview someone from a different background... like the music industry is such a stretch.

Red Line L.

Yesterday when LP and I were riding the Red Line home from the White Sox home opener (Go Sox!) it was right around rush hour.  On the packed train walked in this extremely smooth talking guy in a suit... his lines were so free flowing I was completely absorbed.  He started out talking to these two twenty-something girls by excusing himself for having his butt shoved in their faces (they were sitting, he was standing, it was crowded).  The line got the ball rolling, and the conversation flowed.  He talked about how he designs hats, and pointed to another guy on the train wearing one of his hats.  Supposedly this other guy was a hat model.  Not sure if I bought that one.  A stop before smooth guy got off the train he started talking about what he was doing that night and invited the ladies to go with him and his buddies.  The train got to the stop, the guy asked if they wanted to go out for a night of fun... and the girls did not go.  

I was so sold on this guys lines I was ready to leave with him.  It's these scenes I am so thankful I am not single... I have no game at all.

Basically.

I am basically sick and tired of people using the word basically. It basically serves little or no purpose in a sentence when most people basically use it. Basically (as LP pointed out) it has replaced the word like in our conversations. It is a filler word that is so over used... and once you start paying attention to how much it is over used you will probably hate me. It is super annoying.

For example: "I basically ran over the dog last night." Do you really need to use the word basically there? No. Own up to what you did. You ran over the dog. Plain and simple. "I basically think this relationship is not working." Basically... really? Wouldn't it be more basic to say that your relationship is not working instead of adding the word basically as sort of an opt-out to your true feelings.

So I am going to try my hardest from this point on to basically drop the word basically from my daily conversations. And you should too. All the cool kids will not be saying it... basically.

Lost.

Since I do a lot of walking in Chicago I notice many of the new lost animal signs that are posted. Lost animals signs are really sad. Even depressing. The worse the sign the sadder it is. Really. Some people have placed color photos on their fliers plus they list a very detailed description including the location the animal was last seen - And they canvas the neighborhoods posting notices everywhere. And then some just write some words down on a sheet of paper and post a couple copies on the block they live. With all of the postings for missing animals it makes me wonder how many are ever found. Hopefully most, but I have no idea since there are never any updates. People feel free to post what is missing, but they never share with everyone the good news of an animal being found.

When houses are sold they slap a big SOLD sign across the For Sale sign. When criminals are on the run and finally caught the listings at the Post Office say "Caught" or "Obtained" or maybe even "Shot Dead" (OK, maybe not that). People makes posts of babies being born, and most people have a listing somewhere when they die. I could go on and on... but I am sure you don't have all day. So why cannot people show me (oh yeah, and others) a little respect and give us some good news once in awhile. I would even be up for making and supplying FOUND stickers to be placed over fliers.

Losing a furry friend is the worst feeling... so don't people want to share some good news when their furry buddy comes home?

Why Be Social... You're Not Listening to Me.

I love technology. I would own every new gadget if I could afford it. But at some point these gadgets are making people social retards... even me. Yes, me. I have a smartphone so I can check email and the www - BUT I do not have my work email set up on it. It's not my work's property so why should I be checking my work email 24-7? I am guilty of checking sports scores when I should be listening or adding to the conversation, but I am not the stereotypical person addicted to their crackberry.

It is flat out rude to go out with someone, or some people, and every few minutes they need to check their email on their phones. Why did they go out in the first place? Is their work email more important than spending a few quality minutes, or hours, with good friends? It makes me ill. Now certain places may be a little more acceptable - like a bar with tons of people gathering. But at a dinner table... no way.

I recently read an article about a company in California that now bans notebooks /laptops and smartphones in meetings. This company discovered that no one was paying attention to anyone else during meetings since everyone is off in la la land emailing and texting away.

We have become absorbed with our jobs to the point we have made it a priority over a nice meal with friends. Sadly, even a meal with friends you see once in a blue moon. And if you are not checking work email, and just emailing friends.... then that is even more pathetic. Our attention spans have gone away. We are addicted to the media and the email.

How about this... If it's super important, and you need to attend to an email or call - excuse yourself from the table and take care of the issue. Then come back to the table and put your crutch away.

I'll get better about checking my baseball scores less... I promise.

Done.

I'm done.  I quit.  See you later.  This blog is done.  I'm tired of it... and I need to just cut the ties here.
See you.
Bye.





April fools?