Nilly!

Happy birthday, libkitty!

I hope your face behaves, ita.

I am up too late once more. Checking websites, trying to see about neighborhood associations, and reading the intro to Filemaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual.

My life could use a little more romance and excitement, I'm tellin' ya.

t Waves at Perkins How are you doing?

Night, ita.

[Edited to wave at Spidra. How is the job situation going, if you don't mind posting about it?]

Doing pretty good, but I think it's past my bedtime. Have a good rest of your day!

Tomorrow is my going-away lunch. Good thing I chose to have it on Thursday because a lot of other folks who were laid off are having theirs on Friday. I applied to a part-time temp gig at Google and got it after an exhausting test. It doesn't do me much good money-wise since the Employment Development Department will just deduct whatever you make from your unemployment check, but it will give me one more thing to put on my resume that isn't admin work and is closer to QA (quality assurance) stuff.

I saw another job posted today that I want to apply to. Not so much because the job itself is great but because the workplace is cool and local. So I worked on the resume for that and am awaiting feedback from one or two people before submitting it.

The jobhunt goes slowly, though. I don't see much I'm qualified for that excites me. There are some jobs that are exciting that I'm sure I could do if I could get a foot in the door, but that's the tricky part. So when I suddenly become a lady of leisure as of 5pm this Friday, I plan on cleaning up the construction mess in this house as much as is possible (construction is still ongoing), getting ready to start the search for housemates when that starts, studying to take a couple Mac OS X certifications, spending some time looking over the shoulder of a friend who's a UNIX sysadmin for juliana's employer, and trying to do art again. And playing two different gigs in April. The big one is a gig I'm headlining on April 13, but I'll also be playing with a group of ukeplayers at the Rite Spot on April 23 who will be performing the album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" in its entirety. This will require some bigtime rehearsal for me this month.

I want to work to balance my life a little more. I have my parents' voice inside my head that makes me feel so guilty if I do anything besides strictly practical stuff, PARTICULARLY if I do anything arts-related. But I have to fight that. It's going to be one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life because this mental block has been in place for 16 years now. It's scary to challenge it.

Boy, that was more than you asked for, wasn't it?

What are you up to, Ms. Nilly?

Boy, that was more than you asked for, wasn't it?

Nope. Exactly what I asked for. Sadly, though, I had to run awat from the computer and couldn't respond on time. I hope you're sleeping and having pleasant dreams now, even though it means I'm the only Buffista awake now.

Hello Nilly. Did you enjoy your election day off? One of my co-workers from Israel is coming over next week. Perhaps you can sneak inside his luggage and come too?

Hey, I'm awake. Resentful of the cats, but awake.

And I stumbled upon a long trailer for Lucky Number Slevin on the IFC channel when I turned on the TV. Not only Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman, but also Ben Kingsley, Josh Hartnett and Lucy Liu, looking like they're having a whole lot of fun, plus the scenes shown were good, and the producers, writer and director were making smart remarks. So now I'm onboard for this movie when it comes out....

Did you enjoy your election day off?

Oh, it was a very good day. Becuase we have to vote where we're registered, and both me and my siser are still registered at my parents' address, we got to meet there (her boyfriend made her come and fill her civic duty and vote, despite the 1.5 hours drive, which is considered not-so-little in Israeli terms). I hadn't seen her in a while, so that was nice. Later I got to go to the bookstore where my baby sister started working (goodness, how can she be old enough for that?), and she even borrowed a "reading copy" of a book for me, so I felt all connected and naughty at the same time. Then meeting a cousin there, hanging out, going home together, watching the news and commenting on them.

Did they talk a lot about the election and the results on your side of the ocean?

Perhaps you can sneak inside his luggage and come too?

Is s/he supposed to return before Passover? My mom wouldn't forgive me if I'm not home for the Seder.

How are you doing?

I'm doing well. Actually I have no idea when he is returning. Best you stay there and enjoy the seder. My church is having a seder. Two rabbi that are married are running it. I haven't figured out if I can go yet, but I am considering it.

There was a fair amount about the election on NPR, which is the radio news I listen to each morning. I don't watch TV news or read the papers, so I don't know about them.

Best you stay there and enjoy the seder.

The problem with Passover is all the stress before the Seder. All the cleaning and running-around and people stressing themselves out and tiring themselves so much that they can't enjoy the Seder (which is well worth enjoying). So I think I should stay for that, too, you know - not to desert friends and family.

I haven't figured out if I can go

Oh, if you could, I think you'd enjoy it. Especially if they tell all the stories and eat all the foods in order. Now I wish I could invite you to join us. Doesn't the Israeli office want you to come along, some time?

There was a fair amount about the election on NPR, which is the radio news I listen to each morning.

How did they decribe the results? The numbers Kadima, the Likud, and Liberman ("Israel beytenoo", "Israel is our home") got?