I, too, wish I had gone out and done things! That is when you have freedom.

I stayed local and worked at a grocery store while looking for a job. Through a friend I got an office job a a local theatre, where I worked for a craxy person and learned a lot.

3 year later I got fired, quit theatre, had a nervous breakdown and moved in with my mom, and I haven't been the same since (although I am quite happy now).

Anyway, I would suggest NOT getting too bogged down by having a job/place to live. This is the time to travel, and to sleep on the floor of various friends houses and to generally not be safe. As an older person, I am much more set in my ways and unwilling to take risks, so I would say-- take risks now

This of course, is just my experience, so YBMV.

Skimming the thread very quickly, after my last post, made me think that a bunch of y'all graduated into the dominatrix job market.

Quite a number of us seem to have graduated into the stripper job market, so you're not that far off.

I was a newspaper intern the summer after my junior year and freelanced for the paper through my senior year. I graduated on a Wednesday and started work full-time at the paper the following Monday. The idea of bumming around Europe sounds wonderful, and definitely something to do when you're young, but I had no money and living at home was not an option. I've still been blessed with pretty much being able to write and design for a living for all these years.

I took a year off before I graduated from college to work in a law firm and then went back to finish the undergrad degree and the law school degree simultaneously. This was back in the days when the computer systems didn't talk to each other, so I just enrolled in both places and no one questioned me about it for at least a year. By then it was too late for them to tell me it was impossible. After law school I went to grad school and met Perkins.

All the best to Matt & his mom & family {{{{{}}}}}.

He's a pimp that way. I suspect he's got some kind of hellmouth there, only instead of evil, it draws all the Buffistas.

The distinction being?

The same woman never saw or smelled a joint until university. You get into your little bubble, you reinforce the walls, and you just bob along.

That's a big bubble.

No, not so much.

I want to take BART, DH wants to drive. Our appoitnment is at 5pm and their offices are on Market near the Civic Center. I so don't want to deal with traffic and parking.

That's nuts! Why must your DH be nuts about so many things?

SA, I moved home and did construction work for five months, saved my money and moved into a group house in Boston. Boston is very accomodating for that kind of thing. I temped out of the Cambridge office of Kelly Girl and had jobs at Lotus (when they were the biggest software firm in the world) and WGBH. I had job offers at both places and could have parlayed them into something more interesting if I had been ambitious in that way.

But I wasn't, so I concentrated on (a) seeing a lot bands and (b) writing. I applied to grad school, didn't get in anywhere so after two years I moved to Los Angeles. Temped there for a bit and then got my job as an editor at Fantagraphics. They put a notice in one of their magazines and I wrote in and that's how I got the interview.

Stayed in LA for a year and moved to SF when my car started to break down. Temped for 10 years because it afforded me so much time off to write. (I generally worked about 9 months a year during that time.)

Oh yeah, when I was in Boston I made a trip to Europe when I was between housing.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: what you have to spend right now is freedom. You have tons of it in your personal bank. That's what you should invest in your life right now. Travel is good. Moving to new cities is good. You are not obliged to start your career immediately, or even know what it will be.

Look at Kate P.'s career path after college. World travel, a couple low level jobs while sharing housing with friends and now she's sorted out what she wants to do and is going to school to pursue it.

I took a year off before I graduated from college to work in a law firm and then went back to finish the undergrad degree and the law school degree simultaneously.

This is seriously impressive, Sparky.

I didn't smell a joint until college

I temped out of the Cambridge office of Kelly Girl

Hey, Hec. I was a Kelly Girl myself. I even was "Kelly Elite of the Month". Wooo and hooo! I loved temping.

DH is craxy making on many levels. One day that will change, but that day is not yet.

You are not obliged to start your career immediately, or even know what it will be.

Heh. I'm still sorting out options for what I want to be when I grow up.