Creative October Day 2 - Haunted Tree

Behold the glorious haunted tree! I bought this little tree silhouette (and little ornaments) after Valentine's Day for probably a buck or two. It was meant to be a Lover's Tree thing. But, of course, I held onto it and waited for just the right time to paint it. This project took a little longer than I had anticipated because I had to change out all the happy red ribbon to black ribbon in keeping with the theme. I could have made it a vampire themed tree I suppose but I was feeling the more traditional Halloween colors. I might have to try a vampire theme craft later though because now I can't get those fangs out of my neck!

Almost finished! Just waiting for the orange hearts to dry.

All done! Orange, green, and purple ornaments on black tree.

The answer to the quiz questions: 1) I created a Haunted Tree; 2) I learned that orange takes more coats of paint! Also I learned that I really do want to decorate for Halloween this year even if it's just some ephemeral things that we throw away afterwards; 3)Yes I completed the project though much later than I had planned.

I did something else today, Not a craft, but it will lead into a craft later this month. While cleaning out the garage, I came across a key chain ball of all the random keys and key chains that I had collected during the four years I spent at Mesa State. Some of my key chains were wildly inappropriate. Those, of course, were my favorite. 

Just so much stuff!

You'll note the amazing pink penis flashlight. Twas marvelous!

Skeleton things, miniature handcuffs, beer openers and cars...was I a college kid or what?

I've taken all the key chains apart. Friend F is going to use the key rings (just the little metal circle parts) for a craft project associated with her full moon ritual this month. And I've put all the keys (close to forty of them) in a separate place. I plan on using the keys later to make a craft project. I might make hearth blessings out of them. I had thought to use them to create a sort of cool chess set (and I still might) but keys are just so magical and fun. There's lots of possibilities for them. Who knows; the keys may end up being part of more than one project this Creative October.

Creative October Challenge Begins

BIG THINGS HAPPENING FOR LOCAL BRA-FITTER 

by Yours Truly

     Earlier this week, a local woman, Amanda LaFantasie, finally landed a full-time job after months of searching. After earning her MFA in Creative Writing in July she wasn’t willing to settle for just anything. “I’ve always wanted to be involved in an industry that values the written word as much as I do,” she explains. Starting next week, Amanda will join the Circulation team at the Spokesman-Review, the leading newspaper of the Inland Northwest. She leaves behind a long standing career as a bra-fitter and customer assistant at L’eggs Hanes Bali. 

     When asked how she feels about the change she responded, “In some ways I’m terribly sad. I’ll miss my coworkers and store. I’ve spent three years of my life there. It was sort of a home away from home and I took a great deal of pride in my work. But then I’m also extremely relieved. This new job will open up doors for me that no amount of bra-fitting ever could.” What are these doors? As a writer, Amanda has high hopes to someday move out of circulation to become a content contributor or copy editor for the Spokesman-Review. However, she states, “Even if I don’t get to write and edit for the paper, I’m still going to work on my novels, and I think working in a building surrounded by other creative and productive individuals is going to be incredibly stimulating.” 

     There are other things she looks forward to as well. “They (my coworkers) seem geeky and fun. Total nerds. I know I’ll get along with them. Also the place is already completely decked out for Halloween. And I’ll even get to wear a costume on the 31^st. I love it!” Amanda’s friends and family are also excited. Her fiancé of eight years, Hannah Richardson, says, “This means a new beginning. A chance to start over in a new city. We’re finally on the fringes of being out of limbo.” Amanda and Hannah plan to move from their Post Falls residence, a residence the young women share with Amanda's parents, to an apartment in Spokane Valley sometime around Thanksgiving. “Having our own place is going to be our Christmas present this year. In fact, instead of gifts and cards, what I really would like is for our loved ones to help us cart our millions of books over to the new place,” Amanda says. She laughs and adds, “I guess I would settle for moral support instead. After all, Hannah and I want a vaulted ceiling which means third story. So book moving might be a bit much to ask.” 

     But this change comes with a few challenges as well. While working for L’eggs Hanes Bali, Amanda could easily drive to work in fifteen to twenty minutes and had ample free parking at her disposal. Now that she is employed by the Spokesman-Review, in order to get to work, she’s going to have to get creative. For the first two months she plans to take the bus via the Park-n-Ride option out of Liberty Lake. “It’ll save on gas and wear and tear. Won’t save on time, however,” she explains. “But that’s just until we can get enough saved up to move to Spokane. Then I’ll either take the Spokane Valley-Plaza Express, or buy a parking pass for the Cowles Company parking garage.” The latter option is $50 a month but offers guaranteed parking 24/7. “I can park there even when I’m not working,” says Amanda. “Like, for instance, if I wanted to go to a concert at the Knitting Factory, I could park near work and walk over. Much better than trying to find metered parking or worrying about a bus schedule.” 

     Despite transportation and parking being a bit of a challenge, she’s ready to face it for the benefits of working for such a prestigious company. With a bittersweet smile, Amanda looks toward the future. “I’ve sort of got the jitters. But I’m ready for structure and growth. I’m ready for a life.”

This is my creative craft project for Day 1 of the Creative October Challenge. This is a mock up article for no newspaper. But all the juicy stuff is in fact true! I wanted to create a newspaper article style blog post in honor of my new job working at the paper. To answer my three questions for the COC (Creative October Challenge): 1) What was my project? Mock Newspaper Article; 2) What did I learn? I learned that newspaper writing style puts a great amount of psychic distance between the writer and the audience; 3) Did I complete the project? Yes. 

Creative October and New Job

Tomorrow is the beginning of October Craft Month! I have a lot of creative ideas. Sometimes getting them out of my brain and into existence is a real challenge so we'll see how this goes. I'm going to try to post a week or bi-weekly update here on the blog to share my creations. This is something my friend D and I (as well as Hannah) have decided to do. I'm going to answer three questions after each project's completion: 1)What was the project? 2)Did you complete it? 3)What did you learn from the project/about yourself? This is going to be a hard month for me to be able to complete this project because I'm also starting a new job. Yes, that's right. You read correctly! I'm going to be shifting gears away from the comfort (and occasional frustration) of the good old bra shop to an office job. I'll be working with phones again, but this time with a smaller group of people (12 counting me) and in a more intimate environment. It's for the Newspaper. Which excites me immensely.

The interview went amazingly well. The Lead of the Circulation Department called me about two hours after the interview and offered me the job. I'm still sort of in shock about the whole thing. My current boss was not thrilled, but she knew this day was coming as I have been telling her of my job hunting efforts for the past ten months. Everything has happened so quickly. Tomorrow I'm going to do my drug and background checks and then I'll start after the 8th. The 8th will be my last day at L'eggs Hanes Bali. I feel incredibly surreal about the whole thing. But at the same time, I feel a tremendous sense of relief as if I've taken a real step forward. Life is going to be very different--and I'm going to become a morning person, gods help me!--but it is going to be fulfilling and utterly worth it. I have a lot of writing goals for the end of this year and working in a building teeming with creative energy certainly can't hurt.

Crafts, Moon, and Library

This upcoming October is going to be very busy and very fun I think. My friend D and I have decided to do a 'craft something everyday' challenge. This means we have to start and finish one project everyday during the month of October and these things can include crochet, other crafts, writing, cooking something unusual, etc. And they can be a group project as well as long as you make a large contribution. Essentially we're just doing it to have a little fun and give us something to brag about or lament over each and every day. Hannah and a few other friends are doing it too!

In the mean time, I get to lead a "Corny" Corn Moon Ritual for the IEPG this coming Monday. I might post a little bit here after I get the whole thing written up. This wasn't supposed to be my moon but the gentleman who was going to lead it had some unexpected things come up at home so now I'm going to do my best to lead the moon and keep with the corny theme that he had originally wanted. We'll see how that goes. I'm excited but nervous too. I only have a few days to prepare. But I find, typically, I work best under pressure so let the writing begin!

And in other news, I'm still very stressed about the job hunt. I was supposed to hear back this week from the Spokesman-Review (the lady said they would call me with a yes or a no, but they would definitely call me!) and so far nothing. I just checked the library page for Spokane and Spokane valley and they have three new job openings. They all close October 7th. So I'm thinking I'll write up the letters and get everything ready and then either turn it in tomorrow or wait until the day before the last day to turn it in. What I want more than anything is to be given a damn chance. If you aren't going to hire me at least let me fuck up in the interview. Don't 'not' hire me without talking to me. I'm a great employee! And I need a career. Please just give me a damn chance. 

Ever Seeking, Never Finding

I've been applying for technical writing jobs in the area and I'm not feeling the love so much. I know that it's not personal, I know that I'm a talented individual with much to offer and blah blah blah but sometimes, rejection after rejection after rejection can really start to feel personal. I feel like I deserve a good job. I deserve a good life. Don't I? Maybe I don't. Maybe I'm not as good a person as I thought. But of course that's just insecurity and depression talking. Isn't it?

I'm completely useless right now. I'm not writing and I'm not working a job that can give us the things we need. I work at L'eggs Hanes Bali for a pittance that keeps allows me to make minimum payments on all the credit cards I had to get to supplement my pittance. Right now the priority has become the job. Which is unfortunate. I wish the priority was writing. But circumstances outside my control make it impossible for it to be the main thing. I guess. Ugh.

I keep feeling that if I just get a good job, and just get an apartment so that we can have our own space and all that, that things will get better. And this is kind of bullshit. Things are always going to be in chaos and I know that. I just want a break from being a bra-fitter, a break from being a grad-student, a break from debt, a break from life! And I won't get a break from anything so I just need to suck it up and keep applying. I'm afraid to even think about the student loans.

Onward and upward. I'm going to be applying for Tedder Industries today as a creative copywriter. But here's the thing, it's to write about second amendment rights and conceal carry. While I'm comfortable with guns in my house and comfortable around guns, I don't know that I want to tell the world they need guns! I don't think most people should have guns, and I also believe that if outlawing all guns this very instant would help with the violence in our country I'd give up my gun in a heartbeat. So how am I going to work for a company whose success hinges upon more and more people getting guns and conceal carry licenses? I know I could do my job, but will I feel good doing it, is the question. I guess I'll cross that bridge if I get a damn interview. I haven't managed one of those since 2014. I'm getting a little discouraged.