updates

And a pat on the back to me

| Chetara

Did you see what I just did? First day of the new year, and already a new blog post.

And because it’s the January 1st, here is my obligatory post about resolutions. I enjoy writing them, and I always set a series of goals for myself. They are generally realistic, but not always easy. Here is an abridged list:

1. Buy running shoes. Use them. Stretch more, and do crunches before bed.

1a. Keep room clean so there is floor space to do crunches in.

2. Find a hook, bowl, or other device to keep my keys organized. Almost every time I leave the house, I have to scramble to find at least one set of keys (home or work). Not good.

3. Hang art in my room. Hang cork board and white erase board. Aside from a small mirror, my walls are actually bare right now. I’ve been meaning to hang things for too long.

4. Dye hair purple. Another thing I’ve put off lately. It’s been dark purple before, but I want it more of a lavender. I may just dye the tips, at least at first to get a feel for the shade. I was going to do it on a whim a few weeks ago, and I went through the bleaching process, but the bleach didn’t work. Too old maybe?

4a. I also might cut my bangs, à la Zooey Deshanel. I get nervous about cutting my hair, because the growing out process is time-intensive. I’m more willing to experiment with colors. If I decide I don’t like it, I can dye it again.

4b. Also, trim hair regularly, and get it done by a professional. I went a few weeks ago after a LONG hiatus from hair salons (as in more than 7 years) and my hairdresser scolded me on how I’ve been treating my hair. I was berated into submission.

5. Clean shelves and reorganize them. I’ve got a great big bookcase that isn’t being well utilized.

6. If I don’t wear it, and I don’t use it, get rid of it. This won’t exactly be a change, as I’m pretty good about filtering my belongings and I send many many things to thrift stores. I hate accumulating clutter, although to look at my room right now you wouldn’t know it. I need to further downsize because I have a small bedroom and limited storage space.

Voila. Resolutions.

| Chetara

Took a major break from the blog. Have lots to do on here: a bajillion bookmarked cool things to talk about, a comic to review, job/school decisions to discuss…

Let’s start with what I’ve been up to since I was last on here. I started a part-time job, which takes about 30 hours per week. (Actually this week I’m working 47. Oy.) I’m a Customer Service Representative at CVS, which is a fancy way of saying I’m a cashier. But the manager thinks that if I stay there for a couple of years, I  could be a manager. In the meantime, however, I make $6.80/hour after taxes. Hmmph.

Also, I am apparently really bad at counting change.

I work with some nice people, I like most of the supervisors. They’re all pretty young.

Some notes:

I started making bread again. I don’t have a manual for my machine, but I looked one up online. The problem with me baking bread is that I eat bread. Especially when no one else in my apartment eats it. I’ll go through a loaf in 2 days. Not good.

I also made a swamp in the plant in my room. It took me a while to figure out where the smell was coming from. The plant is next to my door, so as soon as I walked in the smell smacked me over the head. It was sour, like vinegar. A really unpleasant smell to have in my bedroom. Eventually I realized the plant was sitting in a 7-inch puddle of water, for who knows how long. I dumped it out, rinsed out the pot and the smell has mostly gone away.

My phone is being weird. It doesn’t always let me make calls- it’ll say ‘Network Busy.’ With certain numbers, it’ll say that 5 out of 6 times. Other numbers it rarely does it. Might be time for a replacement soon.

I dyed my hair about a week ago. I don’t like it. It’s dark brown. I prefer it with red, I think.

Aaaaand that’s all for tonight, methinks.

-C

Read it and weep. Or smile.

| Chetara

So I’m not going to apologize any more when I take a hiatus, since it might turn out to be a regular thing. I’d planned on updating every other day (on average) but so far it looks like I’ll be every day for a few days, a week off, every day for a few days, a week off… ah well.

Bullet points:

  • I started a new job (don’t get excited) but I’m looking for something else. Something in retail, or at a restaurant. The problem is I need something full time. I could take on multiple part time-jobs, but it’s not ideal. I did it the last few years (last year I juggled 5 classes and 2 jobs.) and it’s actually not as hard as it sounds, but if I could find something full-time that would  be preferable.
  • I got a new couch! It’s ugly, but comfy. I was going to buy a slip-cover but then I realized they’re kind of expensive.
    • That makes 4 major items of furniture that I’ve gotten for free. Not shabby.
  • I added a new project to this site. You should check it out. It’s not actually new, I did it last year, but I was going through old projects and remembered how much I liked that one.
    • I am working on redoing the icons on the main port page, so they’re more cohesive. So far I haven’t finished a design I’m really happy with, but when I do I will update them all at once.

I got a new printer in August (for my birthday) from my grandmother, and not-so-tech-savvy-me can’t set it up. It’s wireless, which I’ve never used before, but I followed all the instructions when I was setting it up and everything looks right- but it won’t print. It has something to do with connecting to the network. I talked to a Kodak rep for 3 hours while he talked me through different solutions, and still nothing.

Shifting topics, I think I need to map out the next 5 years of my life. There are things I know I want- a creative job in advertising or design, grad school, possibly moving West, the peace corps- but I don’t know the order. I only really want to know what the next step is going to be. If you have any suggestions, leave them in a comment :)

Shift again- we don’t have a kitten yet, but maybe very soon. I found a few on Craigslist that I’m waiting to hear back on. We need one to eat our mice. I haven’t seen them, but they leave signs. All over the place. And they ate Lisa’s chocolate.

Til next time,

-C

On losing things

| Chetara

Each time I move somewhere new, I always manage to lose something important. Usually it’s my keys. Sophomore year it was my ID that I needed to get into my dorm. Sometimes it’s my glasses (not a problem anymore as I have multiple pairs). This year it’s my keys again. I have another set; the pair I lost were my neighbors which he holds on to in the event one of us is locked out.

I’ve looked high and low, and can’t find them. I’m certain they’re in the apartment, but I’m out of places to check.

-C

And again…

| Chetara

Oh dear. I took another break.

To catch you up, and to apologize, here are the reasons why I’ve not been writing:

  • Septic tank failed; we had to dig it out and diagnose the problem. No plumbing for 4 days.
  • Packing and repacking and unpacking to re-pack and take stuff out.
  • Moving.
  • Lots and lots of sweat. I hate this weather, and this weather hates me.

-C

Better late than never?

| Chetara

Yesterday I was reading the usual ad blogs, and one of them clicked to Alex Bogusky’s twitter account, where his bio read, ‘I worked in advertising for 20+ years. That was fun.’

As in, Past Tense.

Apparently the rest of the Ad World knew that he left advertising for a couple of months now, but it took me by surprise.

Bogusky, if you don’t know, is something of a modern-day advertising hero. He is the B of CP+B, now one of the most well known and most respected creative agencies around.

So I look forward to hearing about his next endeavor. And when I do, I’ll try to mention it on here :)

C

And we’re back!

| Chetara

Sorry about the brief hiatus. Want to know what you missed? I turned 22, I packed some bags to get ready to move, I unpacked them and took stuff out so I could pack more in the same bags and leave some here so I wouldn’t end up taking stuff I wouldn’t need, and got good presents. That was kind of covered by ‘turning 22,’ but I figured I should be a little more specific.

So now I’m going to try to get back on track, blogging every-or-at-least-every-other-day. That’s the plan.

Til next time,

C