Two Weeks Before the Mast

Time in L.A.: 2 weeks
Jobs: 0
Non-inflatable beds: 0
Friends within a day's drive: 2
Ice cream sandwiches consumed in last 3 hours: 2
Men I wish I were spooning: 1

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens."
-The Great Kahlil Gibran

This must be the quote of the day, seeing I need it to ring true so badly. In light of my current disparity, and my new industry’s staunch efforts to deflate my flappable optimism, let's drown this first entry with pleasant adages, to boost the spirit:

"Good things happen to good people." (I am good person.)
"What goes around comes around." (I am okay with this.)
"If you build it, he will come." (God? Shoeless Joe? Henson’s creative ghost? Hmmm.)
"Distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes." (Good reminder from Thoreau, and will help financial destruction, as well.)
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." (Churchill. In light of past few days, should tattoo this on other foot.)
And, what I consider the most practical:
"Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work." (H. L. Hunt, oil tycoon, exemplary “American dreamer.”)

It is funny how little quotes often sum up a person’s contribution to humanity. Today we are much too busy to read biographies. We want just one line that we can hold on to about a person from the past. Just a few words strung together, so we can reference them and feel intimately linked to the legend behind the message. When we say them aloud ourselves, we feel wise—whether they really assist anyone or not—sometimes they are employed just to shut a person up, in a most subtle, profound, delicate way.

A friend with questionable intentions of boosting my unemployment blues told me just today: “It doesn't matter where you're going, as long as you're still moving.”
I cannot think of almost any instance in which this thought is true. Not true in tour- guiding. Not true in sex. Definitely not true in Oregon Trail. Remember everyone who left to find food and shelter died, just missing the rescue crew by a sunset?

I think he meant that any job is a good start. After our talk, I applied for a job that specified, "Would be great bonus if candidate has large car in order to transport two big dogs." No doubt they would get me moving.

Snarky can only get one so far. Have meeting in an hour with “personnel agent Carolyn!” Not one sentence she spoke to me on the phone ended with a period. “Aaaabbey! We’ll get you a job! Or…we won’t!...hahaha, just kidding! See you at 2:30! Don’t be late! Remember to find me in the big office! Ask for Carolyn! Oh, and hun, you do have a car, don’t you?!” [Yes.] "Great! Some job postings request that you do some driving of some, you know, higher ups!” [I am aware, thank you.]

So, Los Angeles can be a strange place, and I can feel strange in it…It’s okay…mama said there’d be days like this, and every cloud has a silver lining, and the show must go on…And, I’m on my way.