the “elusive” nature of creativity.

“Creativity” has always been a sore spot for me. I fancy myself an artist of sorts – obviously I write (quippy blogs, of course, but I can also write a mean response to literature or research paper), but I am also a digital photographer, mediocre sketcher, tapa cloth maker, and creator of abstract and pointillist paintings and drawings (as creative/artist in the traditional sense). Now, to my friends, coworkers, etc., I am this (in fact, my most recent letter of recommendation calls me “extremely creative”), but in the eyes of my family, this I have never been.

According to blogger Jacob Airey’s article “Who Is Creative?” (located here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/who-creative-jacob-airey) creativity is a roadblock for many an individual. Persons fear that they may not be creative after failing at one assumed aspect of creativity. But first, let’s define creativity. To Airey:

“There is no such thing as “creative people.” People are creative. Some say, “what is creativity anyway?” Creativity is the ability to think outside the box mixed with the boldness to color outside the lines. Accept constructive criticism, but do not listen to people who are critical. Create because it is in you, no matter what anyone says.”

Creativity, therefore, is not a characteristic, but a concept that each individual fulfills on his/er own terms. To one person it could mean painting sea turtles and beautiful ocean waves, but to another it could mean composing a symphony, but to even another it could mean figuring out how to get out of the California State University system in four years with a double major (#me).

“Besides fine art mediums like painting, drawing, writing, music, film, sculpting, fashion, and even make-up artists, I see creativity in other things. When architects design a building, they are being creative. When inventors design something innovative, they are being creative. When computer programmers write new codes, they are being creative. When business owners raise their business from the ground up with no outside help, they are being creative.”

Airey points this out, because even beyond the “traditional” meaning of the word, there is creativity all around us  – there is creative problem solving, there are creative ways to organise things (be it objects in a room, or a hierarchy of staffers in your organisation, or even your own thoughts), and creative ways to approach the circumstances of one’s life.

So the next time that you are asked “who is creative? The answer is simple: everyone.”

smoke + mirrors

Okay. I actually have to like calm myself down in order to write this one. Nope! I SAW IMAGINE DRAGONS AT THE FORUM LAST NIGHT, AND IT WAS INCREDIBLE.

The show opens with a literal smoke screen (hint at the name), and the band emerges from behind this and bang out with “Shots,” and what an intro. #ijustcannot …And then they play my favourite song off the new album (“Trouble”), and I’m toast. I’m sold. I’m done. Be mine forever.

And then as lead singer Dan begins to speak, I melt into a puddle. He introduces his fellow bandmates, and as he so kindly pointed out, bassist Ben needs to be my future husband. He’s a self-proclaimed knittist for goodness sake! He was impeached from his high school class presidency for misappropriation of funds: he bought too many milk and cookies for his class. Honestly, how much cuter can you get than that? None. None whatsoever. I want an art deco ring, Ben. Let’s make that happen.

Crazy cutest moment: Dan heroically sang through this show with a cold (and beautifully, I might add), and so he laid down frequently on the stage. During a guitar solo, Dan lies on the stage, and all of a sudden just turns over on his stomach, places his chin in his hand, and watches his friend and lead guitarist/rockin’ banjo player, Daniel (one of the three Daniels in this band), just solo it out in sheer alt rock awesomeness and admiration. #cutestcoupleaward

Most poignant moment: Dan made this speech about how this generation of millennials is stronger than anyone thinks, and that we are about positive changes in the world. #righton And to commemorate this, thus commenced the most prolific version of “Forever Young” ever sung, prompting this response from the millennials in attendance:

This show of (cell phone flash) lights is Gen Y’s version of waving lighters (smoking is bad, kids) in a moment of unity, which exemplifies how music sees through age, skin colour, gender, politics, and place.

Best effect: the lighting. Hands down. If I had any scrub of musical talent, I would only want to work with ID’s lighting crew. It was honestly, and sometimes literally, a showstopper, and it heightened the night exponentially. I would include a video to represent this wonder, but in all of my videos you can hear my singing along like a walrus, and that does not need to be experienced by anyone ever. #yourewelcome

I am honestly still reeling over this performance. I will never get over the band’s obvious commitment to its fans (and how utterly beautiful they all are). This was the experience of a lifetime, and I cannot wait to see them again, and create more lasting memories like these.

But for real, the main memory of the night was probs the impromptu stop at Krispy Kreme on the way home. #goburbankboulevard

introvert in the extroverts’ world.

As a very perceptible and self-proclaimed introvert, I regularly encounter certain issues that others need not endure. Crowds are annoying and bothersome, yelping assemblies are simply unnecessary, and my alone time is my own personal sabbath. BUT, sometimes you just have to work around those obstacles and deal with the idiots that surround you on a daily basis. *ugh*

The article “Getting Credit, Shining in Job Interviews, and More: A Job Q & A with Susan Cain” (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/getting-credit-shining-job-interviews-more-work-qa-susan-susan-cain?trk=hp-feed-article-title-hpm) is crazy helpful for learning how to deal. Although you readers may not be in the same particular business situations as the individuals in this article, it is a great read for introverts searching for work, or those like myself seeking success in grad school.

Since I haven’t technically started my program yet, I’m freaking out about how to, like, deal with the people. As an introvert/undeniable old soul, I definitely tend to gravitate toward the older individuals around me (in college, I befriended this seventy-five-year-old Hungarian woman in my Ethnographic Research Methods class day one. I just get along better with more mature people [aka I cannot deal with people my own age].)

I’m the youngster amongst the MLIS-ers, but I just didn’t feel a connection with any of the other students that I’ve encountered (at a meet-and-greet in May). I am generally silent in, well, most all situations, but that can sometimes leave the impression of being standoff-ish or arrogant, of which I am neither. And in this particular setting, I was highly uncommunicative. One way that Susan suggests dealing with this such quality in situations like this, as well as those within the working world, is that:

You do not need to change; you only need a way to advertise your true strengths in a way that speaks to potential employers. I hope one day our culture will come to think of quiet as an asset! Until then, speak of your ability to focus, your incredible persistence at solving problems, or your tendency to forge strong alliances with fellow team members, one person at a time—whatever is true for you. And take the time to prepare concrete examples of these—stories you can tell of past experiences where you used your natural strengths.

Even if you’re not explicitly an “entrepreneur,” per se, as the article suggests, you are a self-impressario. In a world where your success hinges upon your ability to properly brand yourself, attitude becomes everything and the core of your prosperity. Passion for your brand/product/education/etc. supersedes all.  I am certainly not the most electrifying personality in a room, but when I start talking about things that I am passionate about (i.e., library things, archives, anthropological nonsense, art historical jibber jabber…), charisma naturally ensues, and excitement and commitment becomes visible and vibrant. These are the qualities that get you noticed and help you to engage with the higher-ups you’re forced to deal with. These are the attributes that help you to stand out from every other cow in the herd.

Thanks to Susan and the wonderful world of Quiet Revolution LLC (http://www.quietrev.com/), a company dedicated to unlocking the power of introverts, like ourselves, for the benefit of us all, for reminding us that quiet time is okay; that basically shunning people for the sake of that quiet time is not really socially acceptable, but often necessary; and that the efficacy of that quiet time gave us successes like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Wozniak.

…Off to go spend the night alone. by myself. with popcorn. and chocolate-covered cranberries. in bliss. thank the lordy. kbye.

i’m always hungry.

I just am. Aren’t you? You should be. You’re not living correctly if you’re not. I feel like it’s my responsibility – no, my duty – as an Italian Jew to be constantly consuming delicious foods. It’s just my nature. #sorry

*mm I could totally go for some devil’s food cake that’s super spongy with like really fluffy dark chocolate frosting. whoo, okay, focus*

Growing up in these two food-centric cultures, I developed a deep and committed love of food from 8.10AM on the morning of 16 November 1993 (the exact moment of my birth). I was basically trained to pass through my days with meal times as my markers of time.

ugh, I’m so bored at work. But oh! It’s ten o’clock – only two more hours until lunch! I can make it. I can DO THIS.

But honestly, holidays are like the most incredible days ever for food. There are only four people in my family, and we make enough food on Thanksgiving and Chanukah and Passover for honestly like fifteen individuals with unusually large appetites. We eat it for DAYS and in mass quantities. And Rosh Hashanah? Do not even get me started. The new year is one week before Yom Kippur (the one day of the Jewish year that you’re supposed to atone for your sins and fast, aka not eat), and on this holiest of days, we feast. Like we literally just continue eating all of the Rosh Hashanah food for the entire week until Yom Kippur ends and collectively fail at being good Jews.

*ooh, like really, really well-done deep fried chicken sounds super good right now. with whipped mashed potatoes that have like a pool of butter on top ooh or like alouette whipped into them, yum. ugh, no! gotta keep going!*

I just cannot understand people who are not constantly hungry and/or thinking about food. You make no sense to me, you non-hungry people! Like what do you do all day if you’re not wasting the day away daydreaming about your next meal? Are you actually doing your job? Yeah, you’re probably doing that. Good for you..? *unenthused, non-committal shrug*

*whoa mad craving for baked cheese puffs, nbd. like a really salty, parmesany cheese puff. ooh, or baked mac ‘n’ cheese custard from Sweet Arleen’s (which can be found here: http://www.sweetarleens.com/) OOH, NO, CANNOLI, I NEED A CANNOLI LIKE PRONTO*

But like what’s with people who say that they “forgot to eat.” No. How the hell does someone just forget to eat. I do not find this nugget of information either legitimate or acceptable.

*ugh, right now I want to eat LITERALLY EVERYTHING on this menu http://www.in-n-out.com/menu.aspx. I need a black and white shake in my life kthanksbye*

Mkay, gotta go eat second dinner. ¡Mangia!

could i have that job, please?

Applying for jobs, not only as a post-grad, but in any life circumstance, is a really terrifying process. It is ridden with feelings of anxiety and inadequacy and fear of rejection. But according to this article “Job requirements are mostly fiction and you should ignore them” http://qz.com/255565/job-requirements-are-mostly-fiction-and-you-should-ignore-them/ maybe those feelings aren’t so called for.

According to Max Nisen, we need not fear the “Job Requirements” portion of a job listing anymore. He writes:

Some skills [listed] genuinely could be required. And companies generally want to check off as many boxes as possible when seeing how different candidates match up to the posted requirements. But much more of a job listing than many realize falls into the category of nonessential.

Thank goodness that blurb about my practical experience in Nordic rune divination on my CV may actually help me when finding a job! No one saw that one coming.

Now, what I’m going to say next makes total sense, but something that I guess the world has rarely thought: people who create and post job listings for their companies include everything that they dream of having in a candidate; they advertise for someone who has the skills that they think they possibly may think about utilising in the future someday. In other words, the job descriptions that are being disseminated to you and me are for the ideal candidate that they dreamt up that day. Maybe tomorrow they would write a completely different description to fit the new ideas that they had for the future last night, we don’t know. They advertise for individuals that they think will help them in the future company that they hope they will have.

Nisen also quotes Scott Purcell, a Silicon Valley-based technology recruiter, in saying:

“If you were to ask most hiring managers if they care about somebody that has every skill listed, versus somebody that has four or five [relevant skills] with a good attitude and a good work history, they’re all going to say they care about the type of person, not some brand new technology skill.”

In accordance with this point, the parent of a friend once told me that when you’re sitting in an interview, the hiring manager or whomever is not only evaluating your skills and abilities, but also judging who you are, as a whole. If (s)he doesn’t feel like getting a beer with you after work is even a remote possibility, then you’re likely not getting hired. Co-workers do not need to love each other, but friendly tolerance is key. Your managers and co-workers spend more time with you in the office than with their families at home, so if they don’t like hanging out with you, they sure as hell don’t wanna work with you.

There is also a significant gender confidence gap being revealed today in feeling qualified enough to apply for jobs. This chart reveals why persons of the male and female genders do not apply for jobs:

Apparently in this patriarchal world, women feel confident in applying for jobs only when they feel ~100% qualified, while men will often apply for jobs when they feel ~60% qualified. This is partially due to individuals taking the “Job Requirements” at face value. Sifting through the listing and picking out what is really required is a skill that all of us millennials must learn if ever we hope to land our dream jobs.

I recently applied for a series of jobs within the library system at UCLA. I cannot tell you how many positions I passed on because I don’t have a working knowledge of French, Russian, Czech, etc. Or because I don’t know the Library of Congress system of organisation. Right now, I’m thinking about going back through those positions and applying to a few for which I am otherwise qualified.

So basically, read this article and enlighten yourself, because I’m sure you want a job, all you grads out there, and I know I want a job, so let’s get crackin’ and ignore those requirements!

why am i alone (on a saturday night)?

That’s an excellent question. Why am I alone on a Saturday night? And on the Fourth of July at that? Because everybody has plans except me.

Ya know what sucks about being a grad student? You’re poor. Like, so poor. I was at work this morning, and a eight-year-old boy took out his Thomas the Tank Engine velcro wallet and took out $21, and I literally responded to this by saying:

“that is SEVEN TIMES more money than I have in my wallet right now. SEVEN. TIMES. MORE.”

How sad is that. The eight-year-old is beating me. #pathetic

Being this broke means that I can’t afford to go anywhere or do anything fun, so Fourth of July plans? Buh-bye. Not even a thing. Like two-hundred, thirty-nine lightyears away from being a thing.

And ya know what else? Everything is, like, really far away. For instance, having an Independence Day bonfire at the beach sounds like a lot of fun, right? And it’s free! But in order to do this, you have to drive all the way down to Manhattan or Redondo Beach, and that’s not exactly a ten minute drive down the coast, amirite? And let’s be real – my mom wouldn’t let me go that far anyway with people that she doesn’t know (and she knows like none of my friends, so…). Squash that dream, why don’t ya?

Oh, and another problem with making plans: not having all that many friends. When you make your tight-knit group of friends, you don’t really think little qualms like this will be a problem, but then one day like this arrives and boom, it is. So that kind of throws a wrench in our plan-making sessions, but whatevs I guess.

So since I’ll be alone this Saturday in particular, I’m going to spend it with my favourite people: the characters of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Today is “Alice’s Day,” which is the day that Lewis Carroll began telling his muse and friend, Alice Liddell, what was to become his most famous fantastical tale. Mad hats off to you, Carroll, and down the rabbit hole I go!