I want to live in Kid Nation.

I have no real work to do (well, none that the temps can't do when they get here), so I'm planning to spend the day catching up on Kid Nation, listening to the new Fiery Furnaces album, and playing Scrabble on Facebook.

I'm not going to go into great detail about Kid Nation, by the way, since I'm three weeks behind in watching it (I just discovered you can watch episodes on CBS's website), but I'm pretty amazed with it. I think the best thing about it is that the children act their age, yet they are so much like the adults you see on every other ridiculous reality TV show. My favorite part: when one of the children yelled that he hoped he didn't have to poop in the outhouse. Can't you see someone on The Real World screaming the same thing?

My interview on Monday went well, although I'm not sure I really want the job. I also had two phone screens, as well, and one of those was very good and I expect to get an interview. Meanwhile, I'm still applying; I've sent my resume to seventy jobs at Northwestern alone.

I don't like Mondays.

I called the recruiter to see if she'd heard from the job, and she wasn't in the office, so I had to listen to the Irish receptionist tell me that the company had hired someone internally, which means that interview was a complete waste of my time. Surprise.

And I can't find the third episode of Gossip Girl online.

I want to die.

My sentiments exactly.

...[S]he had relented when Gareth told her that he and Blair had broken up. He said he had spent so much time being antisocial that he found it difficult to accurately judge others' characters; it never seemed clear to him if someone was an asshole when he'd already decided that all people were assholes. Michelle said that was a really excellent attitude for someone joining the Peace Corps. Gareth said that this attitude was called "humanism," which made him a fine candidate for the Peace Corps--he respected humanity; he only found individual people to be assholes.

Adam Langer. The Washington Story.

All Ready for Halloween: A Friday Monster Mash.

Let me get this out of the way first: My mom sent me (and my brother) the following video last night in an email with the subject line "Watch this and think of me."

It doesn't make sense. But it does make Momsense.

I responded, "I question your sense of humor."

Now. I haven't heard from the interview yet, and am hoping I hear something this afternoon. I was supposed to have another interview at Northwestern today, but I had to reschedule it for Monday because I have to go to Dave and Buster's. For work. I have to go to Adult's Chuck E Cheese so I can participate in "team-building exercises" and then drink with my co-workers. Yaaaay. (No.)

I also have a phone-screen on Monday for another job at Northwestern. A woman called from the main HR office yesterday, which surprised me because usually I get calls from the departments that are hiring new staff. At first, I expected her to say, "Please stop applying for five to six jobs here every day."

And I'm waiting for a woman to call me back and schedule an interview for another job at NU, but after talking to her on the phone yesterday I'm kind of hoping she won't, as she didn't sound very nice. That's not very promising.

And here's a direct quote from presidential hopeful John McCain on using Alan Greenspan to lead a review of the tax code:

If he's alive or dead it doesn't matter. If he's dead, just prop him up and put some dark glasses on him like, like Weekend at Bernie's.

And if that's not enough of a mind-fuck: Does Jenna Bush not suck?

Post-interview ennui.

My interview yesterday was not two hours, thankfully. In fact, I was there for about forty-five minutes, and that includes the time spent filling out my application and taking brief paper quizzes on homonyms and spelling. (Apparently their online system was down, so I was unable to take the assessment test.) The interview was fine, I suppose, although I can never actually tell, since I've never actually gotten a job that I had to interview for. I said the same old thing: what I did, how I handled myself when faced with angry customers or coworkers, how I manage numerous projects at once. And, again, I feel like there's no reason I shouldn't get the job unless the other applicants are better interviewers.

The thing is, however, that I felt oddly uncomfortable there, as if I just did not belong. It was probably because of seeing, as I immediately walked into the office, huge plate-glass windows separating the lobby from a board room, where a group of business men in suits and ties sat, looking out over the north Chicago skyline. It was an impressive image, and I felt so fucking young and ridiculous in my Gap khakis, H&M shirt, and the tie I bought at TJ Maxx for thirteen dollars. I felt so out of place, and it put me ill at ease, which I'm sure showed during the interview.

But, honestly, no matter how hard I try to picture myself in such an atmosphere, I can't seem to make it happen. I don't see myself working at a financial firm, no matter how much I wish I could make the salary one would in such a position. I'm obviously more of a non-profit kind of person; I'm not interested in business or corporate practices, and I don't want to work someplace where people would look first at my clothes and then at my job performance. And that's frustrating, because I know I could do anything, but I don't want to do anything. I'm still not sure of what I want to do, if I want to stay in Chicago and work someplace and make lots of money so I can buy shit, or if I just want to go back to school for the next several years, which would prevent me from starting a real career until I'm in my thirties. That prospect is terrifying, but I'm not sure yet if it's scarier than trying to fit in someplace that already makes me uncomfortable.

I called my recruiter today and told her that I thought everything went okay, but that I was never really sure (which is true). She said that she was expecting to hear something by this afternoon, and she'd give me a call as soon as she talked to the company.

Having said all of that, I will take the position if they offer it to me. It'd be silly to turn it down because, honestly, I feel uncomfortable in the majority of settings I find myself in, even school. So all of the stuff above was most likely me being self-conscious about my awkwardness, which I think at times is not as apparent as I like to think it is.

Holy scary interview, Batman!

I have a big interview this afternoon about which I'm slightly terrified. My recruiter called me yesterday to prep me for it and said that it may be on "the longer side": two hours. Apparently financial firms don't eff around.

She also told me to get "suited up," which made me think of this, but probably because I don't own a suit. But I do have a sharp tie! That'll work, right?

The More You Knoooow.

Dear Producers: Since you're still reminding us who Spencer is (as if none of us read US Weekly), why don't you also remind the young, impressionable, female gals who watch The Hills that this is also what a rapist looks like.

PS. That picture isn't blurry. That's just his facial hair.

Halloweiner.

Halloween is just twenty-nine days away. If you know me at all, you're aware that this is a stressful time for me, as I am typically unable to come up with a costume and resign to wearing my father's leisure suit and have everyone else at whatever party I attend (who is not my roommate) give me blank stares when I say that I'm Charles Nelson Reilly or any other '70s television personality. And despite my vow a few months ago to only wear that leisure suit on Halloween (perhaps in an attempt to admit costume defeat and forgo future costume stress), I want to come up with something new.

I had a kind of creative idea that Christina loved, but then Adam shot it down yesterday, saying, with a sad shake of the head that suggested pity, "Don't do that." I still haven't decided about that idea, so I'm not going to bring it up yet, but last night Christina and I brainstormed some other options.


As always, if you have any ideas, comment away.

Facebook me.

I kind of love Facebook more than MySpace these days, and yes, I will tell you why, thank you.

It's rather refreshing to log-on to someone's Facebook page and not have my screen freeze from too much HTML. Honestly, that's the main reason. Thank you for that, Matt Zuckerberg. Also, thank you for not being my pity-friend. (Fuck off, Tom.)

Also, Facebook makes it really easy to stalk to the people I already know, and keeps stalking semi-strangers challenging.

Anyway, because I'm bored, and the only channel I get right now is WGN and Two and a Half Men is on and I'm too lazy to get up from the couch to find a movie to watch, I've decided to do a little experiment, which will hopefully keep me entertained at work for at least a day.

If you'd please, and you know, are also on Facebook and not already my friend, add me! (It's like a whole new way to find out who's reading my blog!) Also, you can join my awesome Facebook group, Tevye is The Shit! I created it a few months ago and it only has thirteen members, and I KNOW that there are more than thirteen people out there who agree that Tevye is, indeed, The Shit.

I hate it when I can't think of a title.

I dropped my creative writing class yesterday because I realized that there's no point stressing over it when I decided to take it for fun in the first place. I don't think studying for a midterm and then a final on anthologized short stories that I've read several times already is fun. And since my professor is giving subjective grades on short, crappy sketches of fiction, I can see myself taking offense at receiving grades on my actual stories. And it took a lot of effort to read the first batch of student stories, as most of my comments and corrections were focused on grammar. (Seriously, who doesn't understand how to use commas? Or the correct way to punctuate quotations? You're in college now. This is your major.) (Note: This did not apply to you, Brittany. Your knowledge of correct punctuation was refreshing.)

Anyway, I'm not taking any more English courses here, as I have learned my lesson for the fourth time. If for any reason I do get a better job here and the free tuition tempts me again, I shall just get a MBA instead.

And now, something truly amazing:


Also, I watched Death Proof last night, and it was fantastic.