All this misunderstanding All this anarchy Six degrees of separation Sometimes it's so hard to see That we are not alone in this I need to believe
I can be free I can be free from this place Beautiful healer Beautiful grace Help me to see Everything fall into place Wake me from dreaming No more deceiving Break these chains.
Hooray again for Rykea, who keeps sending songs that somehow assimilate themselves into my book in my mind, or affiliate themselves with characters. Maybe it's because she sends them to me with comments like, "Hey, this reminds me of so-and-so".
Could be.
So pretty much the entirety of last week consisted of this sequence of events, replayed dozens of times: Someone: Have you heard from Chapters yet? Me: ...No. As the week progressed, I began to steadily become more and more unhappy with the question, and steadily more depressed about my lot in life. What Nancy (the assistant manager) had said at the group interview was that she would be getting back to us at the end of the week. It had already stretched into the weekend, and I hadn't heard anything. I wasn't sure if they would leave me hanging, but I was at the point of giving up. Especially when one of my references stopped me at work on Monday and asked the same question, and when I gave him the response, he hissed through his teeth and said, "That's a long time." Yeah.
Then Colette and Matt picked me up. Which was spiffy enough in and of itself. Then Cole said, "Alright go get your freaking Visa, we're booking our plane tickets to Ottawa tonight." So home we went.
When I came inside, my parents had company over. My mother dropped everything she was doing and handed me a sheet of paper. On it was a note which detailed that I had to call Nancy from Chapters before 10 pm or after 2:30 pm the following day.
I almost popped an aorta. Of course, it was 10:30, so it was too late to call that night, so I had to wait til the following day. Yesterday, unfortunately, was my 8.5-hour shift at Wal-Mart, but I did not care. The shift flew by the entire way to 4:45 pm, when I was put on a break that allowed me to call in. Clarence answered the phone. When I told him it was me and that I was calling for Nancy, he transferred me immediately.
"Hi," Nancy said when she picked up and I introduced myself. "I was wondering if you could come in for a second interview."
"Yes please," was my reply, and I meant it.
"Great!" She sounded happy to hear it. "Well, I'm off tomorrow, and Thursday, and I'm sure you don't want to come in tonight, so how about Fri--"
"I'll come in tonight."
"What, really? Are you sure? Well, okay. How about seven?"
"Could we make it a little after seven? I don't get off work 'til 5:45."
"....Wow. Okay, after seven, then."
I proceeded to float through the remainder of my shift. Then I ran home and got the fastest shower of my life (literally about three minutes), borrowed some of my mom's earrings, found and ironed a blouse, and was ready to go by 6:20. I didn't leave the house 'til 7 due to my father, who has this aversion to punctuality.
I turned up in Chapters, where Nancy immediately handed me two sheets of paper, stapled together. "Want to run over to Starbucks and do this aptitude test for me?"
"Sure," I said. Then when I sat down I realized: "Aptitude test? Oh shit, math."
Indeed, the questions involved putting the names of a variety of authors in alphabetical order, then doing basic addition, percentages, and various other fun math stuff. I'm not the biggest math star on campus, but I got through it just fine. When it was over, Nancy took it from me and said that while she'd prefer to do the interview in Starbucks, it was getting crowded, so would I mind moving back to the office? No, I wouldn't.
I repeat the sentiments of the last time I was in her presence: Nancy is the nicest lady ever. She actually made that interview the most comfortable in the world. Every few seconds she would crack a joke, and by the time the interview ended I felt like we were old friends. She asked a lot of questions about Wal-Mart, which meant I got to tell lots of stories. I think she was impressed by some of them.
She made several jokes about Clarence, and I later discovered why. Apparently, after I called that afternoon, Clarence hunted Nancy down and told her that I was "sweet" and had the "same sense of humor" as her, and that Nancy should hire me. I was really touched by that. It meant a lot.
The interview went very well, very comfortably. Nancy gave me some idea of my standing when all was said and done. They're hoping to hire five people. With me, only six have been called back for one-on-one interviews. She also told me that I won't be left hanging. I'll be hearing from her whether or not I get the job, which I really, really appreciate. That was kind of a concern for me.
The decision this time will also be made quicker. Nancy hopes to have everything sorted out by Friday. She told me to expect a call on Monday, but Monday is a long weekend for Canada Day, so I suspect I'll probably be hearing from her on Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed for me, kiddies.
Oh; and Cole and I really did book our tickets to Ottawa. We'll be leaving about 5:45 p.m. on the 8th of August, staying up there for six days, and returning home at 12:10 a.m. on the 15th. So between having the next two days off work, having been called in for a second interview, and having officially booked our tickets for adventure, everything is going pretty good right now.
Actually, I'm still kind of impressed that the trip to Ottawa is actually happening. Especially when the whole idea spawned from a joke between me and Rae, wherein I told her I was going to hide in her suitcase if she went home for the summer, and she replied that I could sleep in her basement.
Adieu!
Icarus doesn't know how she actually got around to asking, "So Rae. Did you mean it when you said I could stay in your basement?"
Listening:Father Christmas - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe soundtrack Stolen shamelessly from Rykea.
Comment and I will ...
1 - Tell you why I friended you [if applicable]. 2 - Associate you with a song/film. 3 - Tell a random fact about you. 4 - Tell a first memory about you. 5 - Associate you with a character/pairing. 6 - Ask something I've always wanted to know about you. 7 - Tell you my favorite user pic of yours [if it pertains]. 8 - In retort, you must spread this disease in your LJ [or blog].
Whatever you want Whatever you want Whatever you want Is fine by me...
I had absolutely the worst sleep of my life last night. Normally I don't make posts about my sleeping habits, but last night was actually retarded. It was very confusing and scary, and while I'm sure it's normal, I'm not going to feel better until someone assures me of that fact.
So it was roughly midnight, and I decided to go to bed. I'd had a stressful night and I knew I had work the following day, so I figured it would be for the best if I tried to get some sleep. I piled into bed with Boo, my stuffed dragon, Q2, my plush octopus, and the rest of the toy entourage (I have a lot of stuffed animals) and plugged my iPod in next to my bed. Normally the only way for me to get any semblance of sleep is to listen to music--I have an entire playlist devoted to soft stuff--but last night I figured I'd just leave it be.
Before long I was in that state of near-unconsciousness, stuck right between the two, the period where your brain is still functioning but you know you're already semi-gone. As often happens, a name popped into my head. This happens to me a lot, especially at work; I'll just suddenly think of something really random and odd and write it down for future reference. This was the case last night. The word "harbringer" popped into my skull, and I started to shift to turn on the bedside lamp and scribble it down on the pad of paper I keep nearby for precisely this purpose.
Or rather, I tried to shift.
I was conscious (or at least mostly), and trying to move, but for the life of me I could not do it. Weirdly enough, I would try to move an arm or a leg or something, and it was like the inside of my brain would tingle. The harder I tried, the more my brain would hurt. I know this was one of those weird things like the Hag, where I was probably not even entirely conscious, but sweet Jesus it scared the everloving hell out of me. I felt like my body was falling asleep and my brain wasn't.
I jerked myself out of it after a few gut-wrenching moments of sheer terror, and lay there in bed staring at the ceiling. Unfortunately, where I'd been so close to sleep, my brain wasn't ready to snap fully out of it yet. I would try repeatedly to force my arms to move, and they would refuse to obey. Due to my semi-conscious paranoia, the minutes ticked by and I plunged myself deeper into terror every time I stopped moving.
Finally I sat up in bed, which seemed to help (I was almost fully awake by this time) and grabbed my iPod. I figured that if my brain was determined to stay awake and start freaking out when my body went to sleep (the way I explained it in my mind), then I might as well switch on some music to listen to. Fortunately, that seemed to help more than anything else. I lay there in the dark, trembling, listening to Sarah Slean music and occasionally trying to move my limbs (unsuccessfully), but finally, after several hours, I actually managed to black out.
Easily the weirdest sleep of my life. And yeah, some of you are probably rolling your eyes going, "Oh come on Julia, that was >insert medical jargon here<, why are you telling us about your lame sleep cycles," you can hush, because words can't describe how terrified I was last night. Or this morning, actually, when I woke back up. I can still feel the lingering effects, even now.
I had crazy dreams, too, once I did sleep. Something about how every structure in town had been transformed into a relic or a temple of some kind, and the entire island was overgrown with an enormous forest, and I had been given a cell phone imbued with a sort of unnatural evil. Also, there was no number '5' on it, that I remember clearly, because I was trying to call my house and going like, "Goddammit, there's no number five on this!"
Cole and I were hanging out with Matt yesterday, and while we were at Wal-Mart, we ended up buying a ton of food and hi-tailing it back to his apartment to cook it and watch Hannibal, which Cole finally agreed to. When we got there, we told Matt that we would do the cooking, on the condition that he cleaned up all the dishes lying in the sink. He snapped to like a good boy, and Cole and I went to play Smash on the couch.
Halfway through a battle for the multiverses, we heard a phenomenal crash, and then Matt cursing. One of us hit pause, and we both looked up. "You okay?" Cole asked him.
"Yeah," he replied, darkly.
We weren't fooled. "Did you hurt yourself?" I probed.
"Yeah," he replied, holding up one arm, streaked with rivulets of bright red blood.
Cole and I were instantly in motion. She ran into the bathroom to boil linens or something (I'm not entirely sure what) while I grabbed Matt's hand and held it under running water to try and clean the soap away from the gash. He'd broken a glass, apparently, and it sliced open a huge gash in the skin between two knuckles. There was a metric fuckton of blood, but in retrospect, that was probably due to the hot water he'd been doing the dishes with. Whatever, it successfully spurred Nurse Cole and Therapist Julia into action.
We got the blood cleared away, gave him a clean cloth and told him to keep his hand elevated and put continuous pressure on the gash, and then like the good doctors we are, we looked up what to do next online. There are a surprising number of decent sources on the 'net when it comes to treating this kind of thing, which was a bonus for a certain Pharaoh and Marchioness.
We had him keep up constant pressure for about fifteen minutes, whereupon I checked it to discover that the bleeding had stopped. It had, so he kept the pressure for another fifteen before we dried it off and I mended him with Liquid Band-Aid. I even went trekking off into the wilderness after a while, looking for butterfly band-aids, but instead I found only sanitation wipes, a huge bandage, and Benji, who was hanging out at Irving for some reason. By the time I returned, I found my trip had been in vain, because the Liquid Band-Aid was actually doing a wicked job.
Cole continuously made sure to keep Matt's hand elevated and kept forcing him to sit back down whenever he tried to get up to return to his usual Lumberjackery. Then I made some food, and then she made some food. Then she and Matt started playing Mariokart 64, which proved that Matt could now bend his knuckle without affecting the gigantic lesion in his skin. Mariokart 64 filled me with incoherent rage, so I just sat there and watched them.
All in all, it wasn't a bad night. Cole and I proved that we are wicked doctors/doctorettes and Matt got to be pampered all night. Things would have been better if I hadn't failed miserably at sleeping, but you win some, you lose some.
Wal-Mart for the next six solid days. It's then followed by two days off, and I only seem to have one really long shift, but still, six days is kind of a downer. On the bright side of things, it's a really good opportunity to work out plots and other fun details in my head. Ah well.
Adieu!
Icarus knows 'harbringer' is a word, and is wondering why the hell it's being marked as incorrect in the spell-checker.
Did you find what you wanted? Another match for the straw man I've had enough It can bleed through You think you're tough? Well, this is the last one This is the last one.
Hold on to me One more night Hold on to me
I can't take it all Can't take it all...
Hey there cats and kittens! Gosh, I really am keeping up as of late. I'm kind of impressed, personally. Aren't you? Sure you are. Just a little. Sure.
I don't really have a lot to talk about, so this will be a relatively short post. Also, I have work tomorrow and I would like to get some actual writer-type work done this evening and when I wake up.
I went into work at 5:30 tonight, ready to grow generally bitter and irritable. For the record, tomorrow is Inventory Day for Wal-Mart. Inventory is to Wal-Mart what parent-teacher night is to students. All of my managers--all of them--are running around the store in a mad screaming panic, and in fact, I don't doubt that they are all still there right now, an hour and a half after closing, exploring the store and trying to make it presentable. I don't blame them. Apparently, just four empty shoeboxes can warrant an abrupt halt to Inventory and a fine of $30, 000. Golly.
I'm working for nine hours tomorrow, of course. Yay!
Anyway, somehow I conned myself off a cash register tonight and into the greeter position. For the record, this is my favorite place to be at Wal-Mart. A greeter's job is literally to smile and look pretty and fetch carts that were left by the registers. Also to record the times the alarms on the doors go off. The alarms were broken tonight, so even that was denied me. It was a good night.
Then I realized that I couldn't swallow. A weird thing, but true! I was just suddenly having a lot of trouble swallowing past this big ol' lump in my throat. I didn't think much of it, but as the night progressed, it got progressively worse instead of better. By the time 8:00 rolled around, I could no longer speak properly. Even now I am terribly hoarse and throaty. The only reason I can even manage that is probably because of the Halls my friend Jess was feeding me progressively throughout the night.
So right now I feel really achy and hot and sore-throat-ish. Part of me wishes I could be horribly ill for Inventory tomorrow, but I'm not that lucky.
Cole's mom has been browsing flights for our adventure to Ottawa and apparently we've found them. As soon as the details are solidified, I will tell all you folks about it.
Also guys: what the hell, who keeps making Philon a whippet? You're exiled to the salt mines for life now. Can we please try and take the test only once? I refuse to believe that that many people have done it in passing, it just don't work that way. Make me not a whippet or there are seriously going to be evil things after you tonight.
Icarus is so not kidding about the daemon thing. Seriously, guys.
Oh my goodness. Today is my "Thank you, Rykea", day, folks. For many reasons.
First of all, she saved me from Wal-Mart after my 8.5-hour shift yesterday. Wal-Mart, for some reason, gets crazy insane busy on hot days, because apparently people need to shop to fulfil their needs on those days, rather than go to the park or a beach or something, or even lie on their back decks and vegetate. *sigh*
Anyway, the only thing that kept me sane was that Ryk had already promised me that we were going to go out for coffee after my shift. And we did. Oh God, we did and I was so very, very happy.
On the way to Chapters (because Ryk and I are Starbucks whores, and now that I've had an interview, I literally can't stay away from that building), Ryk had her iPod going on her Drivin' Drivin' playlist, and all of a sudden the music rolled into a thoroughly delicious medly of incredible gothic instrumentals and classical singing. While I spasmed and tried desperately to form words, Ryk explained that the group was called Within Temptation. I was addicted, so on the way home, after I'd finished the first book of SR and she'd gotten through another chapter of Usurper (I have long chapters .__.), she switched on one of their albums. I was completely enthralled.
Then she said, "Turn on The Howling. It's about being hunted, but also fighting. It reminds me of Usurper."
Sweet Jesus tapdancing Christ. Because of Rykea, not only do I have a simply addicting new band to whore, but Usurper has what will probably turn into its theme song.
Here are the lyrics.
We've been seeing what you want You got us cornered right now Falling asleep from our vanity May cost us our lives.
I hear they're getting closer Their howls are sending chills down my spine And time is running out now They're coming down the hills from behind
When we start killing It's all coming down right now From the nightmare we've created I want to be awakened right now When we start killing It all will be falling down From the hell that we're in All we are fading away When we start killing.
We've been searching all night long But there's no trace to be found It's like they all have just vanished But I know they're around.
I feel them getting closer Their howls are sending chills down my spine And time is running out now They're coming down the hills from behind The sun is rising The screams have gone Too many have fallen Few still stand tall Is this the ending of what we've begun? Will we remember What we've done wrong? When we start killing It's all coming down right now From the nightmare we've created I want to be awakened right now When we start killing It all will be falling down From the hell that we're in All we are fading away When we start killing. When we start killing.
Merciful God, few things turn out so well in retrospect. Aside from Gravity by Vienna Teng, no tune has ever presented itself as a theme song for U, so quickly or readily. Rykea, you have my thanks. Also, for putting up the entirety of The Silent Force album for me to download: I love you lots.
And finally, when I was on my lunch break yesterday, Rykea showed me the wonders of Vampirates. I am seriously encouraging you to read all of it, because it's not terribly long, but it is very delicious indeed. It starts off in NEWFOUNDLAND. *is still slightly shocked by this* Also, there are vampires who also happen to be pirates. Also there is Hassan, who is amazing. Also there is Patrick Murphy. Yes, like from the song. Also there is Tractor Jack. Yes, like from the other song.
Guys, Rykea is seriously awesome. That is why this post is dedicated to me loving her. It is also why I am now linking to her domain, Fake-Wings, as well as her blog. Her blog is friends only, but I'm sure if you're nice she'll let you in.
So while we were at Chapters yesterday, I ran into Clarence, my third cousin and former co-worker, who currently works there. We got into a long chat, and he said thank-you to me for mentioning him as my "recruiter", because apparently Chapters has a rewards program for the employee-folks who do that. So to show his appreciation, he's gonna talk to the assistant manager and express just how... passionately I want this job.
He was telling me all about the stuff Chapters has in place for its employees and I am simultaneously stunned and charmed. For the record, Jam: Starbucks is owned by Indigo, meaning that any employee at Chapters gets a Starbucks discount. Don't hurt yourself, now. I won't mention any of the other benefits, because if I don't get the job it'll hurt too much to look at this post. You'll receive details in the coming weeks, I promise.
Someone please tell me what Philon turned into, please and thanks. It's some kind of a kitty, but I'm not entirely sure what. In the time I've had him, he's been a jackal, a mouse, a crazy raven-thing, a whippet, and this cat thing. He's very pretty in that form and of course I like him, I just want to know what the hell he is. (For the record, whoever turned me into a whippet is getting shot in the kneecap.)
Good Lord, I must have murdered my arm last night. I think there will be a nasty bruise on it in a couple of days. I think I got it falling onto a DS case, but I may be wrong.
Adieu!
Icarus really encourages y'all to go read Vampirates.
"Just keep smiling," were the words that my uncle imparted upon me, when he and my grandmother drove me into Chapters for my interview today. "You're exactly what they're looking for. Just be yourself, and keep smiling."
I kept those words in mind when I hopped out of the car. If I do say so myself, I looked utterly fabulous. I'd spent quite some time last night picking out the clothing for the interview, and woke up this morning, got a shower, ironed everything, woke up my sister to do my make-up, and borrowed a pair of decent shoes off her. (Which is fortunate, in restrospect, because the only other options I had in terms of footwear were super ugly. I figured my only hope at some point would be to wear them and make some witty crack about how ugly they were, but then my sister saved me.)
I went inside, and the first thing that happened was: something I was wearing set off the alarm. I was so surprised that I started to laugh, along with several of the other people who were standing nearby. That being done, I wandered around for a while wondering what the hell to do with myself. I spotted the assistant manager, Nancy, who was doing the interviews, but she was running around like a maniac, so I wasn't sure exactly what to do with myself. I stood around like an idiot for a while, until I spotted a pair of young women who were standing in similar awkwardness. I plunged in headfirst and asked if they were there for the interview, and indeed it was so.
Two more people joined us shortly thereafter, another girl and a young man, and we all lingered around for a while until finally Nancy appeared out of literally thin air and asked us to follow her. We did, in a cloud of silence, and all sat down around a table in the employee area.
The fellow, who I later discovered was named Tim, said as we did so, "I suddenly feel slightly overdressed."
"Don't worry," I assured him. "I'm wearing heels." (Small heels, but heels nonetheless.)
"Yeah," he said. "I considered that briefly, myself."
And just like that, we were all friends. Secretly, in the back of my mind, I was hoping that all the people I would be interviewed with today would be horrible trolls (thus securing my own standing), but I was thwarted. All of them were sweethearts. I want all of us to be hired and be awesome together. I'll actually be disappointed if/when I find that one or some of them don't get a position, although not quite as disappointed as I'll be if I don't get one.
Nancy was just as nice as the rest of them. She made everything very relaxed and calming for us. After brief introductions, she started in with the questions, which we were all expected to answer honestly and however we liked. We had the basics, like "What would you be bringing to the team if you're hired?" and "Describe one of your best customer experiences," but I think my whole body went tight with lust--yes, lust--when we got to the fourth or fifth question: "What is your favorite novel, album, movie, or other item that we carry in-store?"
I can't make this up.
The whole thing went astronomically well. I don't think I've ever been quite so comfortable in a formal setting. At the end of the interview, Nancy gave us the information we'd all been waiting for--that Chapters is actually looking to hire for about five positions, rather than just one. We weren't the only hopefuls, either--there'd already been two other groups of five before us. That raises the bar pretty high, but I feel pretty confidant for two reasons. One, I have two years of experience working for one of the most trying companies in history, and one that originally hired me on a temporary basis, no less; two, I was recommended to apply for the job by one of the employees (a distant cousin, actually, but they don't need to know that), and Nancy seemed really happy when I mentioned that his happiness with Chapters fueled my desire to apply, in part.
That being said, I think I have some serious competition. One of the ladies (Carol Ann [sp?]) applying for the job has been a flight attendant with Air Canada for nine years (nine!), and another is really bubbly and happy and energetic. The other girl seemed pretty quiet, and the guy (Tim) is nice but pretty inexperienced, so I'm hoping I have a little leg-room, at least in my own group. Oh lord, competition is really stiff.
I'll find out by next week whether I've got the chops. Chapters' general manager is apparently getting back from two weeks of vacation sometime soon, and then next week they'll be conducting one-on-one interviews. If I'm a prospective employee, they'll give me a shout to come in for that, and then by the beginning of July I'll know if I'm employed. Even if I don't get the position (heaven forbid), Nancy assures me they'll pretty much be hiring steadily til Christmas, so don't even think I'll be discouraged.
The interview only took about forty minutes, give or take. I wandered around in a fantastic mood, bought a book for my sister, and put in a compliment about one of the employees when he gave me a quarter out of his own pocket to call for a ride home. Also I had an orange mocha at Starbucks and told the baristas all about Jam. Well, I didn't mention his name, I just said I had a friend whose student loan ran out and he was most depressed about not being able to buy orange mochas anymore. One of them said, "I wish I knew who this guy was. I'd give him one for free the next time he came in, just for his sheer dedication."
"Just keep smiling," my uncle said. Funny how since I had that interview, I haven't stopped smiling all day.
[P.S.: Go below and rate me and Philon. Since I left this morning, he's gone from being a jackal to a mouse. I don't know who rated me, but I can't stop laughing.]
[P.P.S.: Wow, this post marks my 50th! I think this is the longest I've stayed with anything journal/diary-related. Thanks for sticking with it!] Icarus hopes she won't get in trouble for discussing fun friends with baristas.
I took Jam's advice and went and rated his Daemon. Funny, she stayed a raccoon. I'm betting she's accurate. Oh Jam and his raccoon. I am actually charmed by this.
So charmed that I did the same!
This is Philon. Right now he's a jackal, but like Jam's Haythia, he'll change in accordance to the answers people give if they rate him/me/us. Part of me is like, "What? I'm a dishlicker on the inside?" but then I calm the hell down because jackals are neat.
I have an interview in about two hours. Time to go get ready! I'll make a second post about the whole experience when I get home. Philon, you're in charge! Guard the blog!
Icarus feels weird about making such a short post.
I went to see your brother 'cause he still prefers my frame And they kept asking who she was and how she knew your name I get a taste of iron when I breathe I get a taste of iron when you bleed. Your brother with the tattooed face, he told me you're in love You sleepwalk and you say 'Your Grace' like five times in a row I get a taste of iron when he speaks I get a taste of iron, and it leaks.
Following the cracks around my shoulders Jamming up the backdoors of my mind Flooding down the wicked stuff I told her I'm the sickest girl you'll ever find.
If you have never heard of Bertine Zetwitz, don't hurt yourself, please. She's a Norwegian singer, which you obviously could not have discerned from her name. If anyone is actually interested in any of the music I make mention of here, may I suggest her Sweet Injections album? Please avoid The Italian Greyhound as long as conceivably possible.
Moving on, my news today is something of a source of both extreme joy and nagging concern. I am addicted to books. As such, one of my favorite hang-outs is Chapters. When my cousin got a job there, I became interested in doing the same. He had been formerly employed by Wal-Mart as well, and was very content to leave it behind. I tried to pass in a resume, but they told me, "Sorry, we only accept applications by monster.ca." What? God forbid they'd actually have to talk to a real person face-to-face. Whatever, I didn't care. I checked job postings every day for several months, praying for an opening.
My wish came true about a week and a half ago. I checked Monster one morning to find that Chapters was hiring people with sales experience. I jumped on that like a southbound train. The morning the application was put up, I sent in my resume, filled out the questionnaire, and sat back to wait for a week.
Last night I finally came home to the news I'd been waiting for. I got home last night to find a note on the countertop, telling me that Chapters had called. This was roughly quarter to twelve at night, so Chapters was closed, of course, therefore making any call I would have made completely useless. I was so eager that I didn't sleep all that well last night. Instead I woke up periodically, checked the clock, and went back to sleep. Yes, that is how badly I want this job.
One of my up-wakings was at around 6:15 a.m., and it was to find that my Dad was up and about, preparing to jaunt off to a golf tournament he's playing in today. I stuck my head out to tell him that I'd gotten a call back from Chapters, and he informed me that he knew, and that apparently my friend Rykea had also gotten a call, but she couldn't go in for the interview because she already has a part time job with creepy stalker Agriculture Canada (which my Dad called the "experimental farm"). I was a little surprised by this, but eventually I just went back to bed. As I did, my Dad called, "You know Chapters is looking to hire full-time, right?"
I knew. And I didn't care.
I woke up about half an hour ago, at 8:30, jarred out of a sound sleep by the sound of my alarm going off. (Don't ask me why I set it. I actually don't remember.) The effects of that alarm still haven't quite worn off. I'm still jittery and shaky, and I'm trying to chase off this feeling of nausea that accompanied it. I actually don't know why I feel so lousy, but I do. Anyway, back to the task at hand.
I called the number Chapters left for me, and the woman I was looking for picked up right away. When I told her who I was, she said, "We'd like you to come in for a group interview!"
Shit, I thought.
She proceeded to explain to me just what a group interview was, as I'd never been to one before, and throughout the whole thing, all I could think of was Benji's group interview at American Eagle. It doesn't sound like this one is going to be quite as bad as that one was, as there will be a maximum of about five people, but still I can't help but be concerned. I was really counting on a one-on-one interview, which I would be distinctly better at, I believe (not that I have that much experience). The woman on the phone assured me that the idea was to see how the applicants respond in a group and to create a more "relaxed interview", but I, personally, am probably going to be even more nervous with a group interview than a one-on-one. A group interview for me sort of just computes as having to prove that you're not only the right person for the job, but you're better than applicants A, B, C, and D, all of whom will be sitting only about five feet away at all times.
So while I feel very off-put indeed at the moment, I don't intend to admit defeat that easily. I've wanted to work in Chapters ever since it opened in town, I have the experience in retail and customer service necessary to secure a position, and I think if I don't get out of Wal-Mart soon, I may kill myself. Besides, I actually react really well in groups. If I can go in there, be calm and sociable and generally good-tempered as I usually am, I think that I can hopefully convey how eager I am to work there.
The interview is tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. Already I'm trying to decide what to wear. I have a doctor's appointment and a five-hour shift at work tonight, which already pales in comparison to this large, new entity of a problem. If you have any well-wishes, advice, or both, please leave them for me. It would really be appreciated, and I get this feeling that I'm going to need them.
Icarus is going upstairs to write a bit and calm the hell down.
This is the Glass Parade A fragile state And I am trying not to break And the stars are shining The moon is right And I would kill to be with you tonight.
Hold me now As the car lights fade And we are dancing in the Glass Parade...
If you haven't heard of Cary Brothers, you don't know what you're missing out on. Thanks again to Rykea for sending me magical musics!
It may be 1:19 a.m. and I may be dying of exhaustion but I figured I would put up a short post to reaffirm that I am in fact still alive. Yes it's been almost a month, but I had several good reasons. There was a pretty major family crisis for a while that thankfully is on the way to resolution, and also I have been working like crazy at Wal-Hell to earn some cash monies. This is still ongoing, actually. My crazy-as-hell hours start next Saturday. Le sigh.
Another factor that's had a major influence on my free time has been the occurance of a very significant event in my life. My labor of love, book one of my Usurper series, was completed Thursday morning. It still needs to be severely edited, and I do mean severely, but I have to say that this piece is definitely one of the ones I am not only extremely proud of, but also one of my better ones. I like the characters, I like the plot, I like the style of writing, and I adore that I'm so comfortable with everything about it that I can just let it go and see where it takes me.
A conversation with my Dad basically lead to the stint of avid writing leading up to the completion of this book. I gave him a chapter to read once, and occasionally I'll inform him that I'm still in the process of writing, but he has never taken the initiative to ask about it until the other night. I was kind of flattered that someone cared enough to ask me how my work was going (excluding several of my friends, who are also great about the whole thing), so I decided to just sit down and hack away at the last few chapters until it was done. My circadian rhythm actually shifted in accordance to this desire: I stopped sleeping in til noon and going to bed in the wee hours, and instead I now get up with the sun and am ready to drop by 1 a.m. Part of me says that now that the book is done I can just go back to that, but truth be told, I really like getting up early and seizing the day.
Anyway, I'm now entering editing mode and have been attacking my brick of a manuscript with my little orange editing pen and going insane. Fortunately I have Rykea, who has proven herself invaluable yet again and offered to give me a hand. I'm always glad to have fresh eyes on the piece, as it's hard for me to pick out what I think is superfluous, since I'm so familiar with it. It always brightens my day to hear her actually laugh aloud when she reads. It makes me feel accomplished.
For the record, Ryk has been letting me read her own pocketpiece, which I will refer to as SR. Words cannot describe how amazing I find this piece. I wish I could eat it, it's that yummy. Sometimes reading it weirds me out, because there are parts of it that can be frighteningly similar to my own Usurper. Most people would say that we're stealing ideas off each other, but that's difficult when we don't discuss our ideas with each other before we write them... or when we don't see each other for months at a time. Somehow she and I are just on the same wavelength. Don't ask me how, but I believe it has to do with our relationship as is. Whereas with most people who don't see each other for long periods of time, they grow apart as time passes, but with me and Ryk, no matter what, we just pick up where we left off. How we manage it will probably never be fathomed. Maybe it's a World Wonder.
Moving on, Cole and I have been avidly planning our flight up to the "land of bureaucrats" (a.k.a. Ottawa) to visit lovely Rae. We finally have most of the information we need for the trip, so really all we need right now is for Cole's mother to stop worrying about everything and just book her a ticket. That being said, I am very glad that I talked to Cole's mom before booking my ticket, because otherwise everything would have gone straight to hell. This being my first trip unchaperoned (because trust me, Cole does not count as a chaperone), I completely failed to take into account such vital matters as food, transportation, and shelter. Haha. That got sorted out fast, trust me.
There's probably more to be said, but my sleep cycle is heralding the arrival of bedtime and I think I really ought to get this finished before I pass out on the keyboard. Loves to my muffins.
Icarus wishes she could stop singing Cary Brothers songs. No, really, she does.
I'm a third year English student at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's. I have been in and out of retail jobs for two years and am currently employed in a convenience store/deli with the most awesome boss ever. I enjoy meeting people of a similar level of insanity. Regular haunts include MUN, Jeremiah's, Starbucks, Chapters, my den, and the Internet. I will level entire city blocks for an order of General Tso's chicken.
