Dealing with the Quarterlife Crisis
You don’t need to freak out if you have no idea what you want to do with your life.
Forget about how much money a job will pay you, forget about societal prestige, and forget about what your parents and friends think about your job.
Maybe you believe you’re the only college twentysomething who feels so confused. You’re not.
Well, I’ll just say that writing this entry is part of my lunch break. There, said. Moving on… Things I Learned This WeekendTM:
1. Musical shows that are performed by high school dance departments rather than theater departments usually have pretty good dancing numbers; however, the singing and acting is often not too hot. Also, canned music with the actors singing over the Broadway cast album just plain sucks.
2. High school aged kids are worlds away from middle school aged kids. High schoolers are friendly, helpful, and respectful, especially when they are treated as adults. That’s all they want really—for the world to recognize that they are capable and to give them a little credit. There’s a lot we can learn from this—too much to go into at the moment.
3. Cast parties sure have changed since I had them in my parent’s house during high school. These days there seems to be much more “dancing.” I say “dancing” when what I mean is “pulsating grinding.”
4. There’s a reason playing video games is popular with some people. It is the same reason that said activities are decidedly unpopular with others. When you see the sun coming up in the glare on the television screen as you’re trying to destroy some monster, you know it’s time to go to sleep… that is, as soon as you’ve completed the level.
Lately there have been occasions when I have started to feel like a whole person again. Then again, there are still instances when I still imagine myself as completely worthless to society. It’s a world of extremes. My problem here, at this moment, is I either overreact to situations and allow other people’s actions to control my feelings or mood, or I don’t react at all.
There are some good things going for me. I have a steady job, one much more stable and secure than anything I’ve ever done since graduating college. I’m friends with my coworkers. I’m friends with my friends, for the most part. I’m in good health as far as I can tell, and soon I will be able to see doctors and dentists without having to worry about money. My debts are being paid. I feel attractive, and I even get the impression that people like me once in a while. But there are still the doubts:
1. How long do I really want to stay an Administrative Assistant? Any high school drop-out could do this job.* I need something that’s a bit more challenging.
2. Do I go back to school to get a new degree? Full time or part time? What do I really want to study? I am interested in so many different things. Is there something both practical and fulfilling that I would love to do with my life as far as my career goes?
3. There’s probably more, but I should be working and not thinking about this at the moment. Sorry for the rambling…
* Well, maybe not any high school drop-out. Maybe a drop-out who knows a little bit, but not terribly much, about computers and who does not do any drugs (which tend to get in the way of being hired).
George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford are apparently trying to convince Tom Stoppard to write the script for the forthcoming fourth coming of Indiana Jones (that was the dog’s name). There’s something to look forward to in the theaters after the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
Info and link were egregiously pilfered from dvg who shamelessly ripped off Brad.
Unrelated note: I updated my About Spike area to include some boring technical information about this site. I also added an area to the sidebar curiously called “Features,” to leave some room for future expansion.
I have decided, because these things are in fact up to me, that the only indicator of intelligence is whether someone is able to use the apostrophe correctly while writing. Here are some more guidelines.
Speaking of apostrophe, I think that would be a great name for a kitten. In fact, you might have two and name them Apostrophe and Catastrophe (‘Pos and Cats for short, of course). But that’s my idea. Don’t steal it.
Speaking of Cats, here is All Your Base Are Belong To Us for those of you who missed it. While we’re on the topic of video games, if you’ve been thinking of buying me an Xbox, you should hesitate no longer. I really just want it to play Gauntlet but there are probably other games I’d be interested in as well. The thing is that I don’t really have time for video games… or perhaps I just don’t make time for it.
Speaking of time, I should probably be getting back to work now. Okay, I love you, bye bye.
That’s the theme to Night Court, in case you didn’t catch that.
I was at work today… for just a few hours since I had my court appointment in the late afternoon. In the morning I got a call from my lawyer’s secretary who told me that my lawyer had taken on another case and would not be able to meet me at court until an hour and a half after our scheduled appearance time.
Well, that didn’t make me entirely happy, but you have to do what you have to do.
I had to still show up at the appointed time to tell the judge that my attorney would be late. So, that’s what I did.
After sitting in the courtroom for over an hour, listening to case after pathetic case, my lawyer showed up. We went over the information and made sure we had the facts straight. After that, he disappeared for a while to talk to the police officer who issued the tickets, way back in October 2000. (You can check my archives.)
Eventually, they came back in and my case was called to the bench. The damage (monetary, that is) was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I ended up going home with no suspended license, no points added, and a small fine of $640 total, including court fees.
So that’s that.
Today I get to go to court. My guess is that they’re going to fine me $500 or so. I have another appearance in a different court at the end of the month; the maximum they can give me there is five days in jail. Let this be a lesson to everyone: always pay your speeding tickets on time!
Today is also JessaJune‘s birthday. Don’t forget to tell the waiter so everyone will come over to her website to sing a generic Happy Birthday song (with lots of clapping) and to deliver a free piece of ice cream cake.
Scott and I are both planning to see the Thursday, 12:01am showing of Attack Of The Clones next week, but I’ll have seen the movie in its entirety as he’s just sitting down in the theater. Well, I guess that’s one good thing about living on the east coast.
John Nathan-Turner, the last producer of Doctor Who (the television series), has passed away. There was a lot of backlash for years after JN-T joined the series. No one seemed to like what he was doing with the show.
Well, I was a fan of the more classic episodes rather than the “modern” JN-T type, but it’s still sad to see somebody who cared about the series gone.
For me, the most nerve-wracking part of the “Getting A Job” dance is not the Interview. It’s the Drug Test. Not because there are any drugs in my system, but because of the process used to determine if there are drugs in my system. It’s just… difficult to perform under pressure. I have to remember to drink plenty of liquids beforehand.
Now back to your regularly scheduled Monday.
Well I saw Spider-Man last night, with fourteen friends an acquaintances. (Who knew I knew so many people?) It was quite a movie. I laughed, I cried (well, got a little teary-eyes), but unlike Julie I was a little frustrated when the computer generated imaging looked fake. I have to say Spider-Man is an incredibly cool superhero character.