The Money Issue

If you're in cliff-hanging suspense about my job situation, don't be.

At present, I've got some interesting leads and some edifying experiences under my belt, so let's just say I'm taken care of.

But what about you? Do bloggers have no regard for those precious eyeballs, connected to precious neurons bouncing preciously about your noggin?

The newsflash for your noodle: money reigns supreme.

If you've just graduated from college or high school and want everyone to know you're just fine, thank you very much, get a paycheck. A regular one. Doing anything. The more miserable the job makes you, the better.

"But why?" -- you fairly question this snarky provocation.

Simply, to learn that others gauge your success based on financial stability. And if you appear to have a steady source of cash, concerns about your individual aspirations or personal well-being can take a backseat.

The good: I hate money. Like a diploma, it's a piece of paper that has no value to humans, but we afford a compelling persuasion -- such that our behaviors must be affordable. Have you ever seen a squirrel snag loose change from the sidewalk? That would be nuts! Ahem... if you excuse the terrible humor, what I mean to say is: the items of real value to squirrels are nuts. A nickel's just dead weight.

The bad: I need money to sustain a living and fuel my dreams. So in a cash-strapped economy, it's practical to ignore the personal, emotional or social benefits (or costs) of a job, focusing solely on its financial promise. Unfortunately, capital gains can never refund time spent on unfulfilling pursuits, or repair the personal damage of an exhausting, dispossessed working life.

The ugly: No one wants to talk about money. It's awkward, it's impolite, it's far too enmeshed in social value judgments. But if finances are so touchy, why does cash run the show? If humans are mere arbiters of our printed valuations, why do joy and inspiration serve any purpose in our lives?

The conclusion: I've got no sharp insights. But a drive toward honest, fair and conscientious financial exchanges could, at the very least, draw some human value from the lifeless bills we trade.

A word from Father Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867)

National Seelos Shrine, Josephine St. and Constance St., New Orleans, Louisiana

For those restless, frustrated and bedraggled souls of the world, Father Seelos saw a clear path to peace in the actions of Wilhelm Luehrmann, a German immigrant whose homesickness discouraged his aspirations for priesthood:

But now, in addition to the sadness in not being able to attain his goal, came an attack of homesickness that just about crushed his heart; so much so that often he could no longer stand the oppressive feeling and only wanted to find a place where he could really cry himself out. What did he do then? He took a horse, got on it, and rode far, very far into the woods. And when he was deep in the wilderness, and no one could hear him anymore, he got off his horse, and cried and shouted so loud that all the hills echoed with it and so long until he felt relieved. *

Job-seekers and job-escapists alike can use a horseback trip to the woods - in whatever form it takes - to put their lives back to work.

*Source: "Father Seelos in Action: His Kindly Approach." Carl Hoegerl, ed. SPIRITUS PATRIS, vol.XXVI, Number 1 — March 2000. As published on www.seelos.org.

resolved; unemployment

Who uses a semicolon in a title? The sophisticated; the bluthering; the anti-establishment; et. al.

But bollocks! My business is to punctuate something more practical:

•  I just left my job.
•  I have a degree in journalism.
•  I refuse to buy a smartphone. 

And so, I must submit to the common directive that today's young journalists have blogs. Blogs that foist their impulsive keystrokes across your scrutinous and impatient eyeballs.

Studies of these blogs have yet to reveal their utility, and this one is polling insignificant viewership data at this very line.

But codswallop! Here are my admirable, resume-driven goals:

• Entertain (with pizzazz) the most pressing question: What's your next move?
• Participate in my own case study of leaving one job before finding another occupation.
• Be ecstatic. Through the whole bit.

Who uses a period to punctuate ecstasy? A modern journalism grad with a blog, that's who. Up and at 'em!

2014's greatest Internet quip thus far

"I noticed a woman using a contraption to get water at the far end of the counter."

Veronique L., Yelp Review of La Colombe, Feb. 3, 2014

Amongst other brilliant and telling observations, mostly about the existence of people in the alleyways surrounding this coffee shop, Ms. L. has also discovered the notion of water dispensers (perhaps a throw-back faucet, even). Thanks and praise to you, Ms. L., for the best, and most useful, prose of our collective Internet life this calendar year.

just another day

Near Washington Navy Yard, January 1, 2014.

mural juggling: Columbia Heights

D.C. is more than monuments. Find extraordinary art and neighborhood color down the alleyways and through the streets.

park{scenes} 1: meridian hill park

No stodgy air of politics greets you at this 'view from the top' in D.C.

On Sunday afternoons, enjoy a drum circle and an array of slack-liners, acro-yogis and jugglers at Meridian Hill Park (a.k.a. Malcolm X Park) at 15th and Florida NW.

This is the first in a series of videos profiling parks in the D.C./Metro area. Please contact me if you are interested in appearing in future park{scenes}.

Thanks to Vanessa, Josh and Joel for sharing their talents with me and making a scene in the park!