Tumblr

I've decided to go with tumblr. Go here.

Take on me

We all hear about how terrible the economy is, and most of us have experienced it, at least on some level. Still, it sucks when I can directly relate to what's going on in the news.

On a happier note, Ryan played me this gem yesterday. For those who don't know, A.C. Newman is the front-man of the New Pornographers. I love them.


Doing a trial run of tumblr vs blogger. May switch over to tumblr permanently for ease and style.

Gadzoots

I can't figure out if I can actually post videos directly or not. If not, I may have to switch blog-providers (I may be trying to get rid of the beast that is facebook, but I don't need to be sent back five years internet-wise either). Until then: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rska-Z3oDtY

Also, I just opted out of the "easy share" option. It would allow all of you to easily email, tweet, fbook whatever I post here... kind of defeats the purpose...

Life in a balance

"Poetry, indeed, cannot be translated; and, therefore, it is the poets that preserve the languages; for we would not be at the trouble to learn a language if we could have all that is written in it just as well in a translation. But as the beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was originally written, we learn the language." -Samuel Johnson

This quote is here to remind me of one of my passions. Well, two, actually, since I love both poetry and lexicography, and these past few of months I've had a hard time keeping them (and more) in sight. It's been a difficult summer: I am still jobless, won't have a place to live in three weeks, am broke and possibly moving back to Colorado. I took two weeks off from the hunt, admitting to myself that moving home isn't the worst thing in the world and actually seeing some of the positives that could come from that sort of transition, but I've been having a hard time letting go of Portland. Preemptive grief, I guess.

I am not sure whether or not I'm staying, where I will live and how I will make money if I do stay, or what will really happen after August 25th. I do know that I love poetry and words, music, art, and even politics from time to time.

I am getting rid of my Facebook and will be using this blog as a space to post the things I would otherwise post there: videos, quotes, poems, articles, etc. Facebook has become to impersonal, I am ready to downsize my "network" back to something a little more intimate.

So, to wrap up my first post in almost three months I will leave you with a poem. From now on I don't expect to say too much about what's going on in my life besides brief updates, but I hope that what I share will give a good enough sense of who I am at any given moment. Life is a balance; it's a tightrope walk, but the falls very rarely kill us.

MOONLESS NIGHT

A lady weeps at a dark window.
Must we say what it is? Can't we simply say
a personal matter? It's early summer;
next door the Lights are practicing kezmer music.
A good night: the clarinet is in tune.

As for the lady– she's going to wait forever;
there's no point in watching longer.
After awhile, the streetlight goes out.

But is waiting forever
always the answer? Nothing
is always the answer; the answer
depends on the story.

Such a mistake to want
clarity above all things. What's
a single night, especially
one like this, now so close to ending?
On the other side, there could be anything,
all the joy in the world, the stars fading,
the streetlight becoming a bus stop.

-Louise Glück

Internship!

Well, one of my networking connections worked out! I emailed Sara from Write Around Portland (a really awesome non-profit, I'll talk more about that later) and asked for an informational interview. Last Thursday we met and I asked her about being a writer while still having a career in non-profit, how to break into the non-profit arts world and just overall tips for finding a job. We then started talking about internships and she told me that most non-profit arts organizations hire from their intern or volunteer pool.

Then...we talked about me interning for Write Around Portland and I will be doing that starting in September!

Networking!

I keep hearing the benefits of networking and am willing to give it a try. Last week several alums came to talk with us about their experience. Some of them answered question, some of them interviewed us and all of them explained that entering the job market with a liberal arts education under our belts is a definite plus.

Over the weekend I ran into two different alums at two different places around Portland (and both nights I almost didn't go out). On Saturday I saw Celia who works for a domestic abuse advocacy organization. Sitting at the Someday Lounge I noticed a woman who looked familiar sitting at the table next to me. I realized who it was, mustered the courage to talk to her and pulled the line "Hey, you're an LC alum, aren't you?"

We chatted for a bit but the club was loud and it wasn't really the right place for work talk, so I asked for her number and we are going to have coffee soon. I want to pick her brain about getting a job with a non-profit.

On Sunday I went to the Schnitzer to see the symphony perform some Beethoven with a guest pianist. Walking up the stairs to the mezzanine when I saw Larry, another alum who came to speak with us on Friday. He noticed me and remembered my name, we shook hands, I thanked him for coming to visit us. He told me to find him on LinkedIn and I now have. I'm not sure what will come of that, but it's still good to solidify connections.

Today I sent out five requests for informational interviews and emailed my former boss at Development to let her know if any positions become available I'd be interested in applying (shameless? maybe!).

Right now I'm living in two houses straddling Terwilliger. Moving is stressful and time consuming. It will be good to have a desk set up so that I can go to "work" each day. Until then I'll do bits and pieces, write, work at special collections and NETWORK!

If the sky is the limit...

that leaves a lot of options open!

So...I recently graduated college and have just spent half a week learning how to find and get jobs. I've had to think about what my values are, how the experiences I've had translate into marketable skills for the job I want, what type of jobs I'd be interested in the first place. It's been a lot of self-reflection over the past four years of my life. I've had some minor freak outs in the past couple of weeks (or months) and a few major ones, but for now I'm feeling ready to step out into the world on my next adventure.

Last summer's European adventure blog fell through due to the high cost of internet and limited access. So I think this is a perfect opportunity to share my experience out in the job world with you. This is the worst job market in recent memory (my next door neighbor informed me that it's the worst he's ever seen) and while we all hope that the recession will be lifting soon, for now it's tough out there.

Here are a few things that I figured out about myself in the past week (or maybe always knew):

Name: Larkin Flora
Age: 22
Education:
BA in English from Lewis and Clark College (it feels very good to be able to say that!)
National Outdoor Leadership School, Semester in Baja spring 2007

"Mission Statement" aka Elevator Spiel (at this point):
I love poetry, art and music and have been involved with these in one way or another throughout my whole life and am now interested putting these passions to work through community outreach programs that use creative projects to bring people together. I believe in making the world a better place on the local level and want to get more involved in the wider Portland community.


Ok, so I guess I'm doing this because I've started to notice how difficult this is and I want to make it fun for myself. Maybe I'll come up with some good strategies to cope with the stress of how overwhelming the job search is. Anyway, the real work starts on Monday. Until then, bon chance.