everything changes every weekend

let's use those bullet points! *high five bottom slap RUN*

BOOK PROGRESS:

finished 'milagro beanfield war.' won-der-ful. first story i've finished in which i wished it hadn't ended not due to remaining interest in 1 or 2 characters, but due to remaining interest in every one of them

began 'i saw the sky catch fire' by t. obinkaram echewa - a fictional tale discussing the lives of women living in nigeria. i have read 10 pages, and am already wrapped up in its world

i read hermann hesse's 'the journey to the east' this weekend. a delish sunday afternoon read.

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Thank God I Be Po'
last friday, i took the CalTrain to palo alto with stacey....

1) taking non-BART trains kicks butt bc i inevitably feel like i am in glasgow or the czech republic

2) stace's cousin (sue) works with a non-profit that offers $500-1000 worth of FREEEEE 'nice, fancy' work clothes to below-low-income women seeking better employment (i.e. me). so sue got us appointments: we had a "dresser" and the choice of ridiculous amounts of siiiick clothes - gucci, ann taylor, saks 5th avenue. holy crap i walked outta there with:

FANCY CLOTHES PROGRESS:

3 suit jackets/pants

2 skirts

4 sweaters

undergarments (lessa keep it clean)

a pair of shoes

a poise (brooklynesque purse)

2 pieces of jewelry

HE-LO. i have never been more materialistic in all my days. i thought i was going to cry when i walked outta there - i've haven't seen this much nice stuff (that belongs to me?!!) in a long, long time, if ever. and folks, the nice clothes situation was quickly approaching dire: i dont know how i have accrued so many holes in so many of my belongings.

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I Thought I Hated Networking, Part XVI
a few weeks ago, stacey and i were tag-teamed my two dudes when at a bar. Lord knows what happened with stace and Dude A, but Dude B was insistent on exchanging numbers with me (which i abhor in bar settings). he prevailed due to a high number of parallel work/traveling-related interests (seriously).

so we've talked on the phone for about 2 hours in the previous 3 weeks. didnt think much of it. we exchanged work stories, talked about couchsurfing, shows, how there are always people at shows who look like the members of journey. but he seemed particularly eager to hear more about how i balanced my projects, and who/what i was working for, for money and independently.

yesterday, the Dude B calls me and leaves a message: "Jen, I want to hire you. Call me back."

WHAT.

so Dude B (Tony) runs an a-maz-ing organization called sf peer court, down the line from the national office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. gist: instead of a kid being expelled from school or arrested, he/she is able to be 'tried' by a court of their peers from their school. a (real) judge and (youth) jury then decides what happens next. most exciting for me: sf peer cohort, tony and soon-to-be myself are in direct contact with the sf police, the majority of public middle schools in the city (inc. school boards, principals, etc) and about 50 additional CBOs (community based organizations) and/or non-profits throughout the city. i am interested in each of these sectors - this job has the potential of being totally insane/ amazing/ perfect/ ruthlessly insightful.

and i met him in a bar. A BAR.

they have large amounts of funding from the city (very very hard to get). they are thriving. they are highly revered throughout the youth-focused and non-profit sectors.

i checked out the site today, talked with him more and took the job on the spot. its only part time, for three months... but if they get funding and things work out, this could be the full-time job id been avoiding finding, my friends.

but i am really, really excited about this - and not sure how stuff like this keeps happening to me...

* * *

you get long posts because i love you. i am less and less capable of summarizing. and im really excited about this stuff, so summarizing can kiss it.

miss you a lot. be good to each other. i miss you. see most of you very very soon

jen