Embracing Change

I am back, and with news... but this time, it's actually good news.

Also, my hair is blue! Sort of anyway.

I'll make you wait for the good news but first, a look at my journey to sort-of-blueness. 

I've always liked the idea of having "fun" hair- if you're going through the trouble to dye it, why settle on a normal hair color?? I've been terrified to take the plunge though because my hair is very fine and if genetics has anything to say about it (and of course, it usually does), it'll start to get dangerously thin soon enough. I have this (admittedly misguided) notion that if I'm nice to my hair, it won't abandon me and that coupled with the fact that I don't want to do anything that might ruin it- I need to be able to enjoy it while I have it!- has led me to have "virgin hair" for the first 31.5 years of my life. 

Recently though, I stumbled across a product called Overtone. They make hair dye that is essentially a tinted deep conditioner and there's a line specially formulated for people with dark hair that requires no lightening/bleaching. Of course, this means your hair isn't going to be a vibrant color but I mean, a dye that's actually good for my hair?? It's exactly what I've been looking for so I had to try it.

 

This is the one I got. I kinda wanted to do green (my favorite color!) but it was sold out. I love blue too though so that's the one I chose out of the 7 possible options. This is clearly a picture of the tub AFTER I used it, as evidenced by the blue smudges. I wish that was the only place I found blue smudges after my ordeal...

I have to admit, my nerve started to waver at this point. I mean, that's really freaking blue. On the plus side, it also smelled delightfully of herbs and made my hair smell nice for days afterward.

This is the before shot, not the best I'll admit. M assisted me with the photography and he was too busy laughing at me most of the time to get an especially good shots, for reasons you will see below. It's also freshly fully blow-dried with no products in it, hence the visible sad dryness. 

Here I am waiting for the color to process (about 15 minutes) after I globbed on about 3/4 of the tub, covered in blue, and rethinking all of my like choices while M cackled at my predicament in the background. My sister bought the orange dye and reported to me that it wasn't too messy and didn't stain so I wasn't as careful as I probably should've been because that blue all over my neck, back, and shoulders DID NOT IMMEDIATELY WIPE OFF. I thought I was a Smurf for life. I also dropped some dye on my sink and in my shower which required bleach to remove. Next time I do this, I'm forcing M to stand by with wet wipes to wipe it off my skin immediately. I'm sure he'll totally agree to that.

I was very careful to wear gloves when I put the dye on of course but didn't think anything of it when I rinsed it off in the shower... and of course dyed my hands blue. Here they are after I attempted to scrub it off.

This is a terrible picture of what it looked like afterward- I discovered that the blueness is super hard to capture in pictures. It's there though, I promise! Also, I was too impatient to see what it really looked like to do my normal air dry so I blow-dried it yet again. My poor curls. 
 

This picture from the Overtone website is a much better representation of what my hair looked like before and looks like now. It's much darker with a bluish tinge to it, especially visible in the sunlight. I absolutely love it! And I went dark just in time for spooky season.

I would most definitely do this again, despite the mess (which was mostly due to me being somewhat unprepared). I also got the daily conditioner which deposits blue in your hair so it should last a while, even though it wasn't cheap. It did make my hair soft and nice though, and when I run out of dye, it'll fade out naturally- no shocking roots. Who knows, I may even try a different color next!

[That all sounded a bit like a sponsored plug but I assure you, my enthusiasm is genuine and unpaid.]

Well, that's my blue hair journey for you. As promised, if you've stayed with me through all that, you will now be rewarded with good news.

Not only did I get the job I wanted as discussed in my last post, but I got the pay I wanted/deserved. 

If you don't want to go through the trouble of reading the last post, here's a quick recap: I went to a job interview, nailed it, they called me to ask if I wanted the job even before I left the parking lot, then HR decided I should get paid half of what I was initially told I would get because they felt my past experience didn't transfer despite clearly not really knowing what it actually was. 

I decided I couldn't let that stand and needed to write an email to HR but put it off until the next day so I could calm down a bit. I had M help me write a professional yet clearly disgruntled email (he's far more used to corporate emailing than me and his help was invaluable), copying the principal I interviewed with (did I mention the job was with an elementary school? Well, I am now if I didn't before). He emailed me back soon afterward, apologized for HR, and said he'd speak to them. The very next day I got a new offer email with the pay I was expecting and had a delightful conversation with the principal about how he knew I was perfect for the job and was excited to have me be part of the team.

What was initially a bad situation made me even more excited to start the job. The people I'm going to be directly working with fought to get me on board and already value what I'm bringing to the table- a super nice feeling, especially given how things have been at my current job. On top of that, I'm super proud of myself for not giving up and standing up for myself. In situations like this, I often get very anxious and overwhelmed and would normally opt to walk away and try again somewhere else. This time though, I decided I had had enough of applying to jobs and interviews and all that, so I wasn't going to give up that easy. And now, I've put in my two weeks notice and am excited to start a new adventure at the beginning of November!

Here's to embracing change!

Get a Move On: Angry Walk

A lot has happened since last we met. I went on a much needed vacation where I visited my family. The day before I ventured on my 8 hour drive to Maryland however, I had a job interview.

A very successful job interview.

So successful that I, well, got the job. They called me before I was even out of the parking lot. 

Oh don't get too excited though. I'm not finished. 

Upon my return and as I wait in quarantine for my covid-19 test to come back, I had a Zoom meeting with HR where I discovered they apparently did not value my experience as much as I was lead to believe and the point at which they put me on their pay scale was shockingly, disappointingly low and quite at odds with what I was told from the get-go. 

I feel under appreciated- a feeling I'm too familiar with in my current job to accept it going into a new one-  and frustrated at the apparent lack of communication between the people I interviewed with who spoke excitedly about how well my experience would benefit the position, versus HR who, well, clearly doesn't see it that way. I had someone describe my current job as "just watching kids, making sure they don't run off," an insultingly gross underestimation of what I actually do, as a way to justify paying me less, turning what started out as disappointment into anger. 

Now, I know these things happen, job hunting takes persistence, yada yada yada, and I do have a couple emails to write before I'm completely out of the running here (I was excited about the job itself so I gotta try all I can to get that good ol' livable wage) but now, now was time for an Angry Walk.

Luckily it's Fall which, in my opinion, is the perfect time for an Angry Walk because the point of an Angry Walk is to come home with a lot less anger than you started out with and how can you not cool down both literally and metaphorically when you're walking through this?

[Quick interlude: look at my sneakers. Look at them. If you are in the market for athletic-ish type shoes (especially if your athletics mostly include putzing around outside and/or getting forced into sporting activities with kids), may I recommend these Merrell Alpines. They are the ideal blend of extreme comfort, style, and delightful color combos.]

I walked, I Angry Texted a friend, I took pictures. Lots of pictures.

I initially started out walking around town but quickly realized fall was in full force so it would be a shame to not find some more trees to walk through. This is the start of the rail trail I walked on, which is where many of these pictures come from.

This guy appears to be on fire. He's showing off more than his surrounding friends. You go small dude.

I do love some good bridge shots. What makes foliage shots even better? Water!

In high-emotion situations, I find I shut down, completed unable to express myself adequately, and often the only way to snap out of it is a good Angry Walk. This time was no exception. I feel far better, ready to move on to my next steps, whatever those may be. 

And at the very least, I know what I'm worth. 

I hope you enjoyed my Angry Walk through some delightful New England foliage as much as I did (though I hope you didn't start out as angry). Now, I'm going to self-medicate with a mini-binge of The Great British Bake Off and dyeing my hair blue. 

Yup.

Made It: Wedding Terrariums

With my wedding being pushed back thanks to Covid-19, I now have time to do a lot of the fun, crafty things I originally wanted to do but ran out of time for. 

At least, that's the idea.

I'm the queen of making grand plans that quickly get forgotten (which, yes, is what happened the first time around) so whether all this happens remains to be seen. Somehow though, I managed to make some slight progress recently in the form of a terrarium. 

At some point, I got it into my head that having living plants, especially terrariums, would make for a really cool centerpiece for the tables at my wedding; something people would actually want to take home and would be able to enjoy for a while. I've never made a terrarium before though so I knew I needed to have a test run before I commit. Luckily, I braved Ikea and stumbled across a really cool (and cheap) domed glass... thing that would make the perfect prototype. Et voila: 

I'd want to use a larger container (but not too large- I want people to bring them home with  them after all) for the centerpieces but this was just a dry run anyway. I really like how it turned out! I knew I'd want to include funny little figurines or whatever in my wedding stuff so I found this tiny alien that I'm pretty sure was an arcade prize of some sort (I don't mean to brag but I'm a pro-level skee baller). It seemed right to put an alien in a weird miniature world I created.

Something I did not think about when I chose the dome though, was that I'd have to put the rocks/charcoal/dirt in a separate container to plant my plant in so I could take the dome on and off for watering without lots of spillage. Luckily I had a small plastic container I could trim down to make fit.

I wanted to make a test terrarium super early because I wanted to see how it'd look over time to see if I needed to make them far in advance or super close to the wedding. Or at all of course. Here's what it looks like a little less than a month later where it sits on my bookshelf:

It's doing super well! As you can see, it's making it's own little rainforest in there. That was something I was worried about in the wedding department actually; would it be too hard to see into/look bad as a centerpiece with all the condensation? I don't think it looks terrible but I am leaning toward an open terrarium now to be honest. I'm still pretty happy to have this dude living on my self though so no regrets. That was the purpose of making it anyway! 

I highly recommend making your own if you're even considering it. It came together quickly and relatively inexpensively. Here are my materials:

1. A plant(s). Make sure they're moisture loving and will fit in your container obviously. I used a Peperomia Frost because it was my favorite plant in my Garden Center's terrarium plant section. You do you of course though.
2. Potting soil. I just used some that I had hanging around.
3. Horticultural charcoal so your plants don't rot in the wicked humid conditions.
4. Sphagnum moss to regulate the humidity.
5. Small stones for drainage.
6. Something to put it all in, preferably made of glass. Thrift stores would probably be a more fun place to find that then Ikea. 

I layered it like so, starting from the bottom: Stones, charcoal, soil, plant, moss. For more of the particulars of how and why, check out this Popular Mechanics article, and/or this one from The Spruce, they're what I consulted the most before starting this. There's tons of help out there for whatever kind of terrarium you want to make though.

It was really fun creating my own little world and look forward to maybe doing it more in the future. It was also nice do do something a little different with my plants, now that I'm a full fledged plant lady. 

And on that note, I'll leave you with this Strange Planet comic. Enjoy!

Multipotentia-what?

Recently, I watched the TED talk I've posted above: Emilie Wapnick: Why some of us don't have one true calling. 

But first: I applied to a job.

If you know me, you wouldn't be shocked at that last bit of news and that is for two reasons. 

1) I've applied to a quite a few jobs in the last few years, and

2) I complain about my current job. A lot.

I'm pretty proud of #1 there as it speaks of some perseverance on my part. I've applied to tons of jobs, I've had a decent handful (like, a large man's handful, not a baby's or something) of interviews, most of which I made to the final round of interviews. #2 though... yeah I'm sorry about that guys.

I've mentioned this before I'm sure but I work in a psychiatric hospital, in direct care no less. With TEENAGERS no no less. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to think "ohhh yeah that gal's burnt out." And she is. I am. 

This job isn't set up for people to stay as long as I have, and that's the real issue here. I stayed 8 (?!?!) years at a job with no real upward-or even lateral-movement. I focused on my life outside of work, got adjusted to living in a new state, made new friends, met now-fiancés, and I put finding a job on the back burner. Next thing I know, I'm scrambling to find a new job- not just any job but one I actually want- because all of a sudden, going to work has become an absolute emotional chore. I got complacent and now I'm panicking. 

And here, sort of, we come to the video I've included above. Whenever I'd mention to someone new about wanting a different job, they'd say, of course, "well what do you want to do?" And then I'd say...

"I don't know."

Because I honestly don't. I like lots of things. The world is an interesting place and I've always been in awe of those people who pick a thing they want to do, get all the requirements needed to do it, and, you know, do it. Be the thing. And I know there are a ton of people who are doing jobs that they didn't aspire to do but still, lots of them I'm sure had something the really wanted to do, they just encountered too many barriers. I couldn't even pick a dream job. 

I always thought this meant there was something wrong with me and I hated answering the "what do you want to do" question because my answer was so vague and made me seem unambitious. And then, I watched that TED talk. And I learned I was a multipotentialite.

As mentioned in that link, multipotentialite refers to someone who "displays aptitudes across multiple disciplines." And that video (and the website/community attached to it called Puttylike) made me realize liking and doing all sorts of different things could be a huge benefit to many jobs, and that I didn't need to have a super narrow focus in my job search. I could, crazily enough, do whatever I wanted and that's okay.

What a revelation. With that fresh in my mind, I cast a ridiculously wide net in my latest bout of job searching and came back with a job a library. A library! With books! I love those things! I had the job interview today and hopefully did well, though of course, like any human post-interview, I'm worrying about whether or not I got all across what I wanted to get across. Time will tell I suppose. 

In any event, it feels good to have a new lease on job hunting. It especially feels good to throw off the shackles (dramatic!) of needing to find a "career." Part of that, I will admit, is a desire to have a job that sounds impressive to others, as stupid as that is. But at least I now have a healthier mindset in my job search and feel like I'm finally moving forward, something I haven't felt in far too long. 

***

Anyhoo, that was kinda a bit much so I'll leave you with Ashley's Job Hunt Playlist. Enjoy!

1) Career Opportunities, The Clash

2) Blue Collar Man (Long Nights), Styx

3) 9 to 5, Dolly Parton

4) She Works Hard for the Money, Donna Summers

And last, but certainly not least,

5) Take This Job and Shove it, Johnny Paycheck

Yee haw!

I Read: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Occasionally, I go through these long stretches where I just... don't read. I mean, I can always answer the question "what are you reading right now?," I'm always schlepping a book around just in case I find myself sitting around somewhere with nothing much to do (I, of course, aim to make that happen as much as possible). Sometimes though, I just don't make the time to read. There can be a variety of reasons why this happens to me but sometimes I just choose a book that doesn't really hit that mark of what I want to read at the time, but I can't give up on it because by the time I realize it's not suiting my mood, I've also recognized that it's good and I feel like I'm in too deep to leave it for later. That, I think, is what happened with A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

Fantastic beginning to a review, amiright?

I've been familiar with Dave Eggers for quite some time as the founder of McSweeny's Internet Tendency which I occasionally pop over to read their often hilarious articles. Aaaaaaaaand I've already diverged from my review by going down two significant rabbit holes. The first is when I looked up Dave Eggers himself. I'm currently background watching the British Antiques Roadshow while typing this in my pajamas at 2:30pm because I played hooky from work (long day yesterday, long story) which made reading Eggers' list of accomplishments extra depressing. Aside from his many and various literary projects, he has an impressive list of charitable organizations he has a hand in as well. What am I doing with my life? How does he do so many things? When does he find himself with a few minutes to read the book he's been carrying around in his bag? This is terrifying.

The next rabbit hole was McSweeny's. If you're not familiar, McSweeny's is a San Francisco based non-profit publishing company that has a few interesting publications and lots of books under their belt, all geared toward championing new and unique writing, as well as a daily humor site, (Internet Tendency) which again is where I'm familiar with Eggers. If you also want to go down a McSweeny's rabbit hole with me, I highly encourage it and I'll like to suggest a couple articles for you: Encounters From Dungeons and Dragons: 2020 Edition and I Assure You, the Vaccine Our Administration is Rushing to Release is Not Just Three Kids Stacked Under a Trench Coat, both of which made me laugh out loud.

Ok, back to the book (were we ever there to begin with?). A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is a memoir, which is not something I usually pick up but because of my aforementioned interest in the author, the expectation of some smart humor, and the fact that it was $4 from a used book store, I thought I'd give it a try. It's strange that I'm not usually into memoirs/autobiographies/biographies though because I am endlessly nosey and always want to know about the private lives of people but this was the first memoir I've read, now that I think of it. To be honest, I didn't even know the difference between an autobiography and a memoir but found this infographic from Book Riot to be super helpful. 

Anyway, the book is Eggers' account of the period after his parents death when, at 21 he was charged with taking care of his 8 year old brother. It focuses on the logistics of being a good caregiver but also being a 21 year old trying to do 21 year old things after moving to California and struggling to start a satirical magazine with his friends. It's filled with that very 90s specific affectation, that excessive amount of cynical introspection that I find can get old quickly, but he balances that well in the book by constantly checking himself, so to speak, so just when you're about to roll your eyes, he finds a way to take himself down a peg, bring it back to earth.

I would give this book a 3.5 stars out of 5 and to be honest, I feel a little guilty about it. I'm not sure if my rating is purely based on the fact that it wasn't the kind of book I really felt like reading at the time or not but as of right now that's my honest rating. Overall, I'd recommend it if the description interested you at all, the style is more, I dunno, artistic I guess than expected from an account of someone's life which is most definitely a "pro" from me. It's also made me extra interested in reading more of Eggers' work in the future so take what you will from that.

***

Wow, this was such weird review. It wasn't so much a review as it was an account of my harrowing adventure trying to get through a book during a period of uncharacteristically apathetic reading habits. I live such an exciting life, what can I say. 

I love that dirty water

I was supposed to get married yesterday but that didn't happen.

No, don't worry, this isn't going to be some melodramatic broken heart story, we just decided to push our wedding to next August because, you know, Covid. It was most definitely the right decision for sure- not everyone would have been able to come and the people are the most important part of the wedding!- but it still felt strange to think throughout the day what our day could have been. 

M and I already live together so I'm not sure how different our everyday lives will be once we get married but it's the principle of the thing. We were set up and ready to take our next big life step but were quickly snapped back and it's another year of procrastinating wedding planning, much to the pure anguish of my mother. We were planning on buying a house once we got married too, and that's also pushed back a year or so.

But ah well, what are you gonna do? Life's like that sometimes but we're both still here and healthy and that's all that matters in the end. To celebrate this fact, and our would-be wedding day, we decided to take the day off and have a fun day out.

About a year ago M proposed to me on a sunset jazz cruise around Boston harbor in a surprising feat of spontaneity and romance on M's part- M said he'd been carrying the ring in his pocket for days looking for "the right moment" and we started the day with our only plans being to walk the Freedom Trail. We picked up random activities throughout the day which included an arcade trip and a visit to Nightshift Brewery at Lovejoy Warf  (highly recommended) which is where, after a suspiciously long trip to the bathroom, M asked me if I'd like to take a cruise. Next thing I know, my mom's nagging me to plan my wedding. 

Anywho, for our wedding day take 1, what better than to return to where we decided to give it a go in the first place? This time though, we decided to take a smaller boat...

Yup, yesterday we took some kayaks out on the Charles River! It was a beautiful not-too-hot-not-too-cold day, perfect for kayaking (or getting married). I already knew I loved kayaking but it was amazing to be able to paddle around with the sailboats and duck boats, checking out the Boston sights from a new, amazing perspective. 

Paddling to Fenway! See the CITGO sign to the left?

We found a super-calm area of the river called the Storrow Lagoon where we could check out the Charles River Esplanade, an oddly idyllic park in the middle of Boston, while getting mildly harassed by geese.

That's the Longfellow bridge which connects Boston to Cambridge.

Check out the Museum of Science! I didn't realize it was directly on the water like that- were were able to get right up to it. Now I really want to visit the Museum again (the inside that is), it's an excellent one if you're into that sort of thing.

The rental was for 3 hours and we easily used all our time without getting bored or overtired whatsoever. I admit, I was nervous about kayaking around various boats and more open-feeling water but though we did ride some wakes at times, as long as you stick to the sides mostly, it's not scary or dangerous feeling and something I'd even recommend to someone who's never kayaked. 

We capped our day off with dinner and beer by taking a short walk to Cambridge Brewing Company which we've been to before and have yet to be disappointed. Guess which beer I got...

If I couldn't get married, I'd say this was an ideal alternative. Cheers to more adventures, someday actually getting married, and many years of totally rad togetherness. 

Enjoy a little Charles River tribute before you go!

Comfy pants and games

The past few days were unseasonably chilly; we had highs in the mid 70s (21C) and it was gloomy and rainy. I'm sure to many that's bad news but it just so happens to be some of my favorite kind of weather and the most conducive to one of my favorite kinds of activities: cozying it up at home. That can mean a lot of things but in this particular home, it probably means I change into my comfy pants and then... 

G A M E S. 

I'm still in a game playing mood from a few days ago I guess so even before I left work- no- even before lunchtime I was texting M to see if he wanted to play something. When I'm in a serious I'm-willing-to-abandon-all-other-plans-and-responsibilities game playing mood, chances are I'm gonna want to play Eldritch Horror.

Eldritch Horror is a pretty complex cooperative H.P. Lovecraft inspired board game. You choose characters and battle monsters and subsequent other-worldly events while completing various set task... hopefully without going crazy, getting killed, or running out of time before the Ancient One comes for you...

In the base game, there are 12 investigators to choose from, 250 tokens, and more than 300 cards of various purpose- this is no quick game as it takes as long to set up as others take to actually play. M being a big fan of the game and a completionist, has all currently available expansions as well (there are 8). We played with the Mountains of Madness side-board this session.

I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not sure if I would ever have attempted to play this game if it weren't for M. My patience for instruction reading is pretty low and there's quite a bit to read so it's helpful that I was taught this by someone who had already mastered it and could fill me in as we play. Don't let that discourage you though- its a fantastically involved game, interesting and different no matter how many times you play it, and I like the (admittedly somewhat gruesome at times) game art a lot which, though it  doesn't necessarily affect the game play, always improves the experience for me. 

Oh it is frustrating at times too, I have to say- we'll occasionally quit a game if we're getting beaten so badly we're absolutely positive we won't win because at that point it's like you're playing Monopoly when you don't get any of the properties you wanted so you'd just go around the board basically giving all your money to the other players (man, I hate Monopoly). Regardless, I'd 100% say it's still a super good go-to if you want to dive into one big, long, glorious game session.

Oh and another thing- if you don't have a decent sized table, this game will be a serious hassle to play. We have to put 2 extra leaves into our dining table to accommodate the whole game. To the right in the above picture is an extra side-board you play with one of the expansions as mentioned above so I guess you could save space by not doing that but it's still a table-filler for sure.

That's a little bit closer up picture of the main board. You travel the world in the course of the game, hopefully picking up new spells, items, or skills on your way to kill monsters and close gates to more gruesome dimensions. 

We ended our first game early (we were goners for sure) but started right back up with a new monster and new characters. We're currently in the process of playing this game actually, my dining table is still off limits, and this is my character sheet: I'm Kate Winthrop, scientist. 

Another detail shot- lots of tokens! Also, that paper is our current monster to be defeated, Antediluvium. I think I can conservatively say we're doing alright... though it's still early yet.

Oh and see that sweet Cthulhu dice tower there? If you're not familiar with dice towers, you drop the dice in the top and they come out between his tentacles because rolling dice with your hand like normal is not good enough for us. I had my brother in law 3D print it and I painted it for M for Christmas this past year. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out!

Creepy right? I love how the grey-green skin came out especially. M also has a ton of models for all the monsters in the game and I've been meaning to paint them but it seems like kind of an overwhelming task. Painting this guy confirmed that it would be quite the undertaking but also proved I would enjoy it, it's all a matter of getting started. Someday M, someday.

Well M should be home soon and hopefully we'll finish our game tonight (even though the weather is no longer gloomy and horror-game ideal). We've both hit a bit of a stressful time at work, M especially, and as anxious people its good to have something that can take our mind off things and allow us to relax a little.

Happy gaming everyone! 

PS- I always accept any fun game recommendations ;)