Not blog, that's what! I could offer up some excuses, like I was seduced by the quick-hit allure of updates via Facebook status, or I was busy actually spending time with my husband, or it was too damn hot. All apply. But mostly it was laziness, I think. Sue me.
But I'm back to business now, and there's nothing like a new look to signal that. So enjoy the typewriter, and all the retro irony it may inspire: "Typewriter, ha! Remember when we used those? It was back when people read newspapers! Ha ha ha ha. HA."
Here are some things I did this summer, in no particular order:
WORK
I worked this summer. Which is something I don't take for granted anymore. My employer laid off a lot of folks in June, and I thought for sure I was a goner, seeing as how I'm still the newest employee, nearly a year after my hire. But I survived to see another day. Until the next round, which is now. We're waiting (and waiting, and waiting -- my employer may be ruthless, but it sure ain't efficient) to hear who the ax will get next. Morale is low, and the quality of the paper is suffering both from that and from the cuts to people and pages. I find myself wishing I'd majored in something other than English all those years ago. But I still (mostly) love what I do. So I'm doomed to a life of uncertainty, at least for the immediate future.
HOME
We're buying a house! (Which is an even more stressy experience than usual, considering the above). It's both exciting and terrifying at the same time, and I'll be glad when it's done, which should happen at the end of September.
SCHOOL
Last week I stepped foot into a high school for the first time, mmm, possibly since high school. I was invited to speak to a newspaper class about the exciting career possibilities in newspapering. Ignoring my instinct to scream "RUN!", I gave them the truth about the industry, and then tried to soothe them by saying probably everything would be sorted out (read: rock bottom will have been hit) by the time they're out of college. They digested that and other info I threw at them pretty well, but the nugget that caused the most ripple was a mention of how copy editors work at night.
One girl shot up her hand: "But! But! How do you have a social life??"
I tried my best to give an un-terrifying answer, muttering something about hanging out with like-scheduled co-workers, but her brain was already hard at work solving the problem.
"Well," she conceded. "The clubs don't really get going until midnight anyhow."
Word.
MISCELLANIA
-- My babiest brother-in-law got married in a gorgeous affair on Georgia's St. Simon's Island. Geoffrey and I hit the famed "South of the Border" I-95 truck stop on the way home. It was everything we hoped for, and so much more.
-- I missed a Wilco show because I had to work, and I'm still bitter. I pretty much missed Old 97's, too, playing free two blocks from my apartment. But I managed to catch the last four songs of that.
-- I went to a copy editing seminar for three days at UNC. I met some good peeps, did some mean karaoke, got to crawl around a college town, and got re-energized about my job. Which lasted about a month, until the second round of layoffs were announced. Yey.
-- I had a giant article (essay, really) published in Furman's alumni magazine. All about my stint in Japan. It made me miss Tokyo, big time. But getting that extra paycheck helped take the sting out some.
So now you're caught up. Don't you feel better? See you again here soon. For real! Don't look at me like that ...
