Au Natural

My sister told me a story about having to bring a different pair of pants to my niece at school, right away, early one morning.  My sister is NOT a morning person, and the school seemed to have a serious dress code.

She brought the pants right away, but she in no way got ready.  She said that she was wearing sweats, a low-cut tank top (no bra), no make-up, and I'm sure her hair was just pulled back in a ponytail (at best; I know that my bangs get super-crazy some mornings).  When my niece went out to pick up the pants, some friends were with her.  My sister was adamant that they not come to the van and see her.  She's usually very social and welcoming with youth, so this is out of the ordinary.

I feel bad for her that she seems to so dislike the way that she looks that she won't be her enthusiastic and social self when she's not "put together."  I get that some clothes might not be appropriate, of course.  But pull the shirt up a little, and go for it!  It's important for kids, especially pre-teen girls, to see that women, even the same woman, are both glam and natural.  I don't like that my sister seems to feel that if she doesn't have her chunky jewelry and eye shadow that she's not presentable, not attractive.  Both of those looks are who she is.  She is both the made-up and accessorized woman AND a woman who faces the world with a naked face and casual clothes.  But, sadly, may be she's not facing the world that way.  I believe that I am both a woman who gets glam (okay, accessories might be beyond me)

AND a woman who'll face the world au natural.  

Both looks are me.  Let the world come try to get me, whether I'm in a baseball cap and sneakers, or big boots and eye shadow.  I'll take it on.

*The first picture is from a costume party several years ago.  The second was from this year's AIDS Walk; we had to be there at 5am!

Things To Do Tomorrow

1.  Wake up.
2.  Get prettified, but also look intelligent and competent.
3.  Impress a college president so he'll give me a job.
4.  Drive to a "nearby" city to see what the commute is like.
5.  Listen to music for 3 hours while I drive home.
6.  Work out.
7.  Shower.
8.  Go to UU bible study.  Which means, going to the second of a 3-part series entitled "What You Think Is In the Bible, But Isn't".
9.  Pack for another job interview, and a trip to visit my family.
10.  Go to bed.

Interview Season

Right, so I guess I'm back in my interviewing season.  Things slowed down a bit after the mania that was January and February when I was going on a couple interviews a week.  Now, teaching jobs are opening up, and I'm getting calls!!  It's so nice to have the opportunity to get back to teaching, to see if it really is what I want.

My first interview was in small town last week for a teaching job  Teaching!  But the town is shitty.  It's very poor.  I hope that I could live in a bigger city nearby, but the commute might be too long.  The school is small, but, for a small school, it seemed like a nice place.  I have a second interview there this week, with the president of the college.

My second interview was a short phone interview for a private college near where I graduated.  It's a Director of Research position.  I actually worked there briefly (teaching) when I first moved to California.  So I know that the school is decent, and the area is nice.  The interview didn't go that great, though.  The questions were pretty vague.  I later looked and saw that they have a research analyst right now, so my guess is that he's applying and they formed questions that he would be able to answer best (since he knows about the school, what they need, and how they do things).  So I won't be surprised if I don't get a call back.  On the other hand, they just might be bad at interviewing!  It is a private college, so they don't have to follow all of the state and federal mandates...

My third interview will be this Friday (a few days after the second one at the small college).  It's at a college less than 20 minutes from my sister's house! How awesome would that be?!  And it's a teaching job!  So I could get the two things that I really want (teaching and kids/family)!  I'm a little nervous because they only gave me a week to get up there; that could be a problem since I live out of state (to get time off, to get flights).  It makes me think that they, too, are focusing on their internal candidates.  But, I'm going to be up there this Friday anyway!  This is the weekend that I'm heading up for my nephew's birthday party!  So it was great timing.

So, that's the interview rollercoaster that I'm on again.  I'll basically drive home from one interview, unpack, and re-pack for my trip back home.  I've already started my 3-stage process of shaving.  You know that I'm serious about these jobs when I shave my legs!

Small Town

I'm in a small town in central California for a job interview.  Friends who grew up near here told me that it was not a place that anyone chooses to live.  As I passed the prison going into town, I started to believe them.



My first impression of my motel was, "These people don't know how to park."  The room is nice, though.  There's a little room with a bed, a sitting area with a couch and TV, even a kitchen area with a sink, microwave, and mini-fridge.  You could live here!

Wait.  People probably live here.  That explains the woman with her laundry in the hallway...

There's no desk, so this is clearly not the kind of place for business travelers.  The couch was comfortable, until I started thinking of the thousands of strangers who've probably had sex on it.  Ew.

The duct tape on the A/C isn't really a good look, either.  But the motel staff is letting me check-out late, so that's good.



Tomorrow I will "tour" the town before my interview (trying desperately not to spill anything on my suit!!!), then walk around the campus.  I had wanted to take a run in the morning, but there's no fitness room in the motel, and I'm not sure that I'm comfortable (yet?) running through the town alone.  This does seem like the kind of town that has great diners, though.  May be instead of running, I'll go get a diner breakfast.  You know, before I put on my suit.

CoatTails

I don't mind if you hang on my coattails, 

getting to awesome places because of me.

Just don't drag me down. 

Adding to my momentum would be even better.

PoF Adventures: Empty Email

So I got this email from a PoF guy.  I think that something went amiss with the sending, but it's perfectly poetic the way that it is! ;)

Subject: Re: Reflections of the future.

Marina,


.

It's especially dramatic if you read it out loud, pause during the empty spaces, and verbalize the period.  A true work of art.

PoF Adventures: Marathoner

So I was emailing this guy from PoF.  He runs marathons.  He mentioned that he doesn't have sex a week before a race.  I asked him why, and this was his response:

"I refrain from having sex, any type, because it keeps me strong. They mention this in movies like Rocky and Bull Durham. "

First of all, your reference for training is Rocky and Bull Durham?  Really?
Second, since he probably doesn't mean physically strong (he does run marathons), he's saying that not having sex keeps him emotionally strong or something.  My guess was that it's the act of refraining that shows his self-control.  Even then, It doesn't really make sense to me, but, no, he really meant that an orgasm depletes him.  Huh.
Finally, I was a bit confused by "any type."  Like, neither vaginal NOR anal sex before a race?  Is he including going down on someone (or, improbably with me, someone going down on him)?  I asked him about making out.  Is that off-limits?  What about kissing but no playing with Pink Parts?  After emailing, I think that he just was including masturbation.

Okay, I just have to go back to the source.  They say it in Rocky, so it must be true?  Seriously?  You're taking advice from a movie?  A Stallone movie?  Now, Rambo is actually an action-packed movie with a serious statement about returning vets, but Rocky?  I'm not sure that that movie has the same impact, other than the soundtrack.  I'm not sure what to make of the whole thing.  May be this guy just isn't that smart.  Or may be I'm misunderstanding something or taking his choice of words too seriously.  IDK, could be a Weirdo flag, even. 

The next Weirdo flag was when we started texting.  He immediately tried to get me sexting.  OMG, I haven't even met you yet!  I didn't realize what he was trying to do at first, so I just kept answering his questions but trying to lead the conversation away from physical appearances.  Eventually, I got what he was after, and texted that I wasn't interested.

We finally met last weekend.  It was a somewhat painful 3 hours in a coffee shop.  But he tried to take me out to dinner after, so may be he didn't see it.  He texted me three times the next day.  Once even asking me a personal question.  Eventually, I emailed him that I didn't think that we had enough in common, and wished him well on his training.  His very short response was something like, "I agree.  Bye."  Not even a "take care"?  And if you agree, what's with the inviting me to dinner, or texting me the next day?  I would've just let him quietly go, but the texting made me think that he'd pursue if I didn't make it clear.

Anyway, now I know that loving exercise and having shitty fathers isn't enough to build a relationship on!