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June 22, 2005

I continue to live the

I continue to live the low rent lifestyle

As of 1:00 p.m. I officially became unemployed. Today was the last day of the semester which means I'm done with school and being done with school means I can longer hold my student work position in the computer lab. It's exciting because I'm finally graduating but scary because I still haven't found work at a newspaper and if I don't find something soon I'll have to move back in with my parents while I broaden my job search. To answer your question, I never heard back from the paper in Owosso which means I didn't get it. Moving back home isn't something I really care to do, but I guess it's nice to know I have something to fall back on if I absolutely need to.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 01:20 PM | | Comments (0)

June 20, 2005

I've got blisters on me

I've got blisters on me fingers

Thinking to myself while trying to fall asleep Sunday night I came to a few realizations. The first being, though I still had fun, Gizzard Fest just isn't the thrill it used to be. I think the relative dullness was caused by several factors but the main one is, the festival just doesn't have the draw it did when it started. The other thing I thought about in bed is that my hands are sore. Between stapling up chicken wire on Saturday and building and hanging a screen door on Sunday my hands are full of small cuts, scrapes, and dry patches. Not necessarily a huge deal, it's just a sign that I've been living in the city for a while.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 06:57 PM | | Comments (0)

June 16, 2005

Too Many Secrets I found

Too Many Secrets

I found postsecret the other day and it reminded me of the what I wanted to create during the very early stages of phoneboothconfessional. But then I got caught up in my own blog and lost sight of the original idea. Though my plan didn't involve postcards it was the same concept of a place online for people to air their dirty secrets and indiscretions without fear of anyone actually finding out. Obviously I'm a far ways off from that, but I enjoy what this has become anyway. The point of all this is, check out postsecret, it's really interesting. Also two points for the person who can tell me where today's title came from.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 09:56 PM | | Comments (0)

June 15, 2005

E Pluribus Unum After working

E Pluribus Unum

After working so hard last semeseter to get a decent grade in latin, I've all but forgotten the vocabulary I struggled to learn. I can recognize a few phrases now and then, but for the most part I let myself forget everything. However, today while reading Pyramids by Terry Pratchett, I came across a phrase and with a little brain power was able to translate it, which is slightly suprising because it's not exactly the type of stuff we focused on in class. "Nil mortifi, sine lucre," is the motto of the Assassins' Guild and roughly translated it means, "No killing without payment." Even though I could have read the next sentence to figure it out, it's good to see my many years of schooling are finally paying off.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 11:22 AM | | Comments (0)

June 14, 2005

The New Look As you've

The New Look

As you've probably already noticed the page has a new look. I've been wanting to change things up a bit for a while but haven't had the time. We've been slow at work lately so I took advantage of the free time and put this together. Hopefully things will run a little faster now as this new page is much cleaner and more efficient. To start with, I got away from tables and used CSS to create the columns. Also everything is sized with percentages so things should fit better in all screens. I'm still playing with a few ideas so the look might change a little over the next few days, but it won't be anything major. I do agree with Huck though, the other page had a certain feel to it that was fun, but I thought it was time for a change.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 09:11 AM | | Comments (0)

June 13, 2005

My Interview It’s Monday morning

My Interview
It’s Monday morning and I'm relatively clean-shaven and wearing significantly fewer pieces of metal on my face. I had to get myself looking all professional for last Friday's interview. I don't plan on putting any of the jewelry back on, but I've already started growing back my stubble. I've gotten too used to seeing that rugged look in the mirror every morning. Without it I look years younger and I don't want to look like a kid when I'm out interviewing people. Speaking of interviews, mine went good. All in all, I drove about four hours round trip for a twenty minute interview. Half of which was probably spent explaining the job and everything that went with it like benefits, pay and a really flexible way to get my 40 hours in every week. The pay isn’t great, but based rent in the classifieds, the cost of living in the area seems fairly low. The real scary thing is that my editor won’t be giving me any story assignments. I’d have to dig up all my news by myself. I'm told that they'll make a decision early this week. Until then, I'm continuing to send out resumes in case I don’t get it.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 09:29 AM | | Comments (0)

June 09, 2005

Not long now Earlier this

Not long now
Earlier this afternoon my boss through me a going away pizza party. I don't know who invented the Pizza Party or why it has gained such high status over the years, but it sure is a tasty idea. I was also given a card signed by all my co-workers and a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, which was really unexpected but a very nice gesture. Not long after that, I took a quick stroll to Sprau Tower and turned in my last assignment ever. What a feeling that was. I may or may not meet with my prof to discuss the changes I made on the paper, but besides that I'm done here. My boss is leaving for a three week vacation this evening so she won't be around for my last few days of work. One of my roommates has already started packing for her move to Long Island and I've even started boxing up some of my books. Electricity is in the air and change is in the wind. Now if I can just land this newspaper gig, things will really start to fall into place.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 03:31 PM | | Comments (0)

June 08, 2005

Dictionary of the future Here's

Dictionary of the future

Here's a couple of phrases that I think we should try and work into mainstream culture.

Smells like a segway - Term used to describe a technological fad that won't last.

Croast - Any cooking process that results in bad tasting food.


Also, in an unrelated note, has anyone heard Devils and Dust by The Boss? Good stuff.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 12:50 PM | | Comments (0)

June 07, 2005

Get a job you bum

Get a job you bum

128 resumes later I have an interview. This Friday I'm going to Owosso to interview at the Argus Press. One of the few family owned papers in the country. So pray to your chosen deity for me, send me good thoughts, sacrifice chickens, burn incense and sit in your underwear chanting, or whatever you believe in because I really want this job. It looks like a great place to start my career.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 12:40 PM | | Comments (0)

June 05, 2005

Weekend Update Yesterday was really

Weekend Update
Yesterday was really a great day. I went and saw Cinderella Man in the morning. I was one of five people in the theater, which is always nice. Then I came home ate a quick lunch, shoved some stuff in my backpack and walked to the coffee shop. It was 80 something degrees out at the time and the coffee shop is about a 45 minute walk so I worked up quite a sweat. But I got myself an iced tea and sat next to a window. I wrote my movie review there and then checked a few a geocache things online. On the way home I found a cache behind my bank. Then I drove to the grocery store to get some bread and cheese for grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. I felt pretty damn scrubby and tried to keep a solid distance between myself and everyone else in the story because I was still wet with sweat from the days activities and I could smell my own obnoxious funk. After I ate, Chuck showed up at my front door and we sat on my porch for a few hours until it got dark. Then I worked on a story for a while, watched a little bit of Aliens and went to bed. Productive and fun. Today, among other things, I'll be cleaning my room and grooming Baby. I hope to get outside for a bit too, if it's not too hot.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 10:49 AM | | Comments (0)

June 03, 2005

Job Search '05 After another

Job Search '05
After another round this morning, I've sent out a grand total of 126 resumes. That would have been quite a feet a few years ago, but with my mad internet skillz and email, 126 resumes is nothing. I've sent them as far south as Texas, as far north as the horn on top of the UP and as wide as cities on both the east and west coasts. Most of the replies I get come from the little newspapers that I just send my resume to the editor hoping for a hit. I got a call this morning from one of those editors and later this afternoon I'll convert a few scanned newspapers into pdf documents and email her some clips. I love the electronic age. In honor of my job hunt this weeks Friday Five will feature an occupational theme.

1. What is the best job you ever had?
Print Makers Service Inc. was by far my best job ever. Great money(for my age), great co-workers and great bosses.

2. What is the worst job you ever had?
I've never had a bad job, I'm really lucky that way.

3. If money was not a factor, but you had to work, what would be your dream job?
I'm torn between a novelist or some sort of outdoor/travel writer. I guess if I just say freelance writer it would cover both.

4. Would you rather be poor and have a job you love, or really rich and have a job you absolutely hate?
I like to think I would choose poor. I'm still single, I could always marry rich.

5. Would you take a lucrative raise at your job if meant you were going to have to fire people on a regular basis?
Nope, I'm too nice of a guy.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 01:47 PM | | Comments (0)

June 02, 2005

What the hell? Every now

What the hell?
Every now and then people ask me where I find all this strange stuff on the internet. I have no idea, but I agree it is strange.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 04:16 PM | | Comments (0)

Summer time and the living


Summer time and the living is easy

Yesterday was my first real summer day of fun in the sun. I spent the afternoon geocaching with Jen. I'm always amazed at the number of caches to found in whatever area I'm looking. Our first sight was within walking distance of Jen's house. Aside from the nettles and stabbing myself in the arm with a sharp stick while slidding down a riverbank, it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Posted by Johnny Rockstar at 12:18 PM | | Comments (0)