experience/skills

most of the items listed under interests are things that i have done, enjoy and am good at, but there are a bunch of other things related to my career history that aren't on that list. some of them i enjoy, others, not so much for a variety of reason. here they are in roughly chronological order:

• bookselling
• bookbuying
• product merchandising
• helping customers find the right books
• copywriting
• information architecture
• advertising writing
• creative brainstorming
• technical writing
• managing people
• doing budgets
• performance reviews
• staff discipline
• content strategy
• content planning
• editorial calendaring
• concepting website ideas
• social media marketing (still learning but enjoy what i know)
• search engine marketing and optimization (same as above)
• contract negotiations
• vendor relations
• agency management
• buisness planning
• networking (okay i lied, i'm not good at this)
• event planning
• event organizing
• event hosting

the items highlighted in dark grey are the ones i really, really don't like. the ones in lighter grey i don't totally enjoy, but don't hate. i guess some of it breaks down to this: i prefer to lead by example than through authority, i would rather dream up party ideas than have to make them happen (or even attend) and most things that have to do with budget or actions that i am responsible for but have no authority over make me want to run (which makes me better as my own boss than working as a cog). and as for what i enjoy with regards to work: creativity, autonomy, and peer-based connection.

before i go i also wanted to delve a little deeper into the arts and crafts sections of my interest list. i have been really interested in arts and crafts created by recycling old materials lately. take gnomeo for example, a twist on the whole sock monkey  thing. and the bird, below, made completely from the pages of a j. crew catalog and a little bit of scotch tape (if only i could figure out how to make him more durable). but there are a ton of other potential projects like these:

 

• sock creatures
• paper sculptures
• collage
• mosaic
• decoupage
• mixed media
• window farms
• remade clothes
• photo cards
• shadow boxes
• handmade paper
• lumieres
• quilts and pillows
• collaged notebooks
• found object jewelry
• metal garden decorations

and the list goes on...

 

the question then becomes, how do i make time for all of this inspiring activities and is there some way to create a career by combining the things i love in a way that can support me creatively, spiritually and financially?

 

i'm going to need more than a week to sort all this out, so it looks like "personal style" is going to get pushed out a bit. because let's face it, what i want to do with my life is way more important than how i look doing it no matter what billy crystal says. and yes, i think the whole spirituality think that i so coyly slid in there hoping you wouldn't notice is going to need a week of its own as well.

the down-side of sentimentality

i have this necklace. a locket actually. it's really beautiful and unique. thing is, it was given to me by my former mother-in-law, a woman i never much liked even before i divorced her son. and post-divorce... well, let's just say i'd rather pretend it was all just some ugly nightmare and try and forget him, her, everything.

but of course it's not that easy. especially when confronted with this lovely piece of jewelry. which i have spent more than 10 years now not wearing.

but today i got sick of the whole push-pull drama of it all. if i'm not going to wear it, i shouldn't own it. so i wore it to work. and spent the whole day thinking about my ex-mother-in-law. and i still haven't figured out what to do... but i do feel a new poll coming on... go ahead, vote... you know you want to tell me what you think.

accessories freed from detention

back in october 2007 i put my house up for sale. in order to make it presentable i packed up most everything i owned including all of my jewelry. since then that jewelry has been slumbering in tiny boxes and (gasp) tupperware containers in the bottom dresser drawer.

i finally unpacked them today.

the good news is i was able to get rid of one third of the collection without even batting an eye -- because really, even i know i'm never going to wear that mood ring again, even on halloween. another third needed further consideration. the last third are things that i love and would probably wear again now that they have been liberated from their plastic holding cells. the bad news is, during those two+ years, many of them have become tarnished and dusty, and i, never really having been that much of a jewelry person (or maybe just not much of an "upkeep" person) have no idea how to return them to their former glories. which leads me to another question: once i do get them cleaned up, what do i do with them? i have a jewelry box, but it's it's like an episode of desperate housewives in there. necklaces getting themselves into nasty entanglements, earrings desperately try to loose their mates...

clearly i need a little schooling on the art of jewelry care and feeding (or at least care and storage). what are the best ways to rejuvenate tired pieces? and what are the best ways to store them out of sight and protected from dust, grime and clumsy limbs? because who knows... maybe a little bling would be good incentive to help keep this whole improvement project rolling.