meet me @ strawberry & vine.

GUYS I did a thing! I actually went out and did a thing & participated in culture, yada, blah, et cetera. But for real: yesterday, I went to the Museum of Ice Cream, & I am not kidding you…it was amazing.

To be plainly honest, I had pretty darn high expectations. I mean, I’ve experienced my fair share of LA pop-ups in my twenty-three years living in this city, & really they’ve all been quite decent. So I went in to this museum of food & art (my two most favourite things in the world) already sure of its greatness as a pinnacle of high LA culture (plz tell me you read that with at least a little bit of sarcasm, but not totally? thnks.).

To kick off the venture…….we were late. Our damn uber pool fellow needed to be dropped off at frickin’ ikea. IKEA. So needless to say, when we got back on the five, it was jammed. But LA peeps know this, & the fifteen-year-old museum guide at the door waved her wrist with ease & said ‘Pfft. You’re good, girl.”

So we waited in line in front of the highly-noticeable cotton candy pink building in the middle of goddamn downtown LA (Mateo & 7th), & waited our turn. Upon entrance, we were immediately instructed to stick our hands into a vat of chocolate candies #mydream & enter through the pink door…….into a room with pink rotary phones (& for any of you readers under ninety, it’s those below)!

the phones of yester-year.

We progressed, & ate so much. Honestly, I was full by the time we left, & I couldn’t finish my In-n-Out #travesty. The first room, dubbed ‘Venice Cream,’ instigated the piling us with ice cream situation. We were given the daily sample, which yesterday was from Santa Barbara’s McConnell’s. It was an earl grey ice cream with shortbread cookies, & it was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. No joke.

We then progressed onto the banana room, with the set of swings that’s in everyone’s boomerang videos, which I obviously also posted to insta, because this museum was built for consistent insta-ing. BUT THEN THE MINT ROOM. We were serenaded into the room by the tale of the Ancient Greek roots of mint, how some god was dating Persephone but was lowkey obsessed with a nymph named Mynthe (say that five times fast), but Pers turned her into a plant because she was jealz, & when the god found her amongst the identical plants, he laced her with the scent of mint so that he could always come back to her. And then they gave us mint chocolate chip mochi & I was in heaven.

Other rooms on the way to the only one that mattered included a sherbet room, an all white ice cream accessory wall, a gummy bear room (in which I learned that gummy bears originate from Germany…who knew!?!?), a popsicle room,

drip but don’t touch

Abel Benton’s melted cone wall (in which we received a sample of charcoal cookie dough

charcoal cookie dough on a fucking cone

 

 

 

 

 

WHICH WAS UNBELIEVABLY DELICIOUS LET ME TELL YOU), & then finally…to the main event: the sprinkle pool.

Now, I’m not generally a very fun person, so I was not expecting to get into the sprinkle pool all too much. But boy was I fundamentally wrong about the sprinkle pool. You get 2-3 minutes in the pool, & we were hoarded in with a bunch of whiny pre-teens who actually spent the entire time cussing, rather than enjoying the goddamn moment. But whatevz, they’ll learn one day. Anywhooooo. THIS IS THE MAGICAL & WONDERFUL LAND THAT IS THE SPRINKLE POOL:

enjoy it. love it. throw shit. never regret it.

We jumped & played & threw & loved every second of those 2-3 minutes of it. I cannot express to you a) how long those 2-3 minutes felt, b) how much child-like wonder I felt, & c) how many sprinkles fell out of my clothes for the rest of the night. (PSA: those sprinkles are not real. They are fake. They are plastic. Do not be a loser & eat them. You will be sad. Although that was great for me, since I’m allergic to real sprinkles. Okay. PSA over.).

And then we come to an end. The next room is the gift shop/lounge/exit situation, BUT they do give you pancake ice cream sandwiches, which were honest to god so delicious I cannot. There was also a fabulous neon sign under which I took an insta, & that ice cream sandwich swing that you see all over the internet. Then we made our exit, took an uber pool back home, but were in this awkward minivan situation with a Danish couple who gave our driver the wrong address & then started yelling at him in Danish. It was odd. But sure.

Moral of the story: GO TO THE MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM. They just extended their stay in LA for another month, so go get those tickets! It is absolutely worth it, if not worth your weight in ice cream & your self-esteem in instas.

am i qualified yet?: a memoir (rant) on job hunting, part deux

Guess what, you guys!? IT’S STILL REALLY F***IN’ HARD TO FIND A JOB. Like, legit. #icannot

As of today, I have submitted applications for THIRTY-TWO – yes that’s 32 – positions. How actually absurd is that? (actually really absurd). And guess how many interviews I’ve had so far? Three……YUP.

me @ my interviews

It’s funny. It’s funny how surprisingly qualified I am for some of these positions, & I’m not getting interviews for them. But, the ones that require three years of experience feel so inclined to listen to me talk about my internships over the phone & tease me like a lil child who has to obligitorily eat his steamed corn before he gets his goddamned lollipop.

Adjusting from part un of this rant memoir, I am now less than fifty-three days away from graduating, with still no job prospects in sight. It’s starting to get legitimately terrifying; I may actually, for the first time in my life since middle school, not be employed. Simply put, I am not okay with that. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong here, or what I’m not doing, or what I’ve over-done. Why isn’t there a friendly spectre hanging over my shoulder helping me along in this process? #whhyyyy

Oh, AND, let’s chat for a sec about the fact that Mr. #notmypresident is threatening to de-fund the IMLS, which is literally the source of all governmental funding for libraries, archives, museums, & other information institutions. I damn well did not dedicate two years & $25K to this degree for the leader of our country to rip it all away before I even graduate. But alas, I digress.

Again, I reiterate: PLEASE. HIRE. ME.

mr. cuban says…

If you’re anything like me, you’re a millennial semi-luddite who has been forced into the instagram generation just by simply being born in the 90s (thanks, mom). We’re in the midst of an unfortunate time when mathematical & scientific skills need to outweigh those all-important/incredibly applicable humanities skills in order to gain employment. Now for me, this KILLS ME. The height of my technical skills is developing a kickass insta caption, which, let’s be real here, stems from my training in the social sciences & my intense grad school writing skillz.

BUT, there may be hope for us humanitarians yet! According to a recent article in Inc., crazy rich entrepreneur & Mavericks owner Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban, the god-entrepreneur as he is.

cites creativity & humanities-driven skills as ‘the next big thing’ in the job market in the next decade. #hellzyeah Cuban stated, “What looks like a great job graduating from college today may be not be a great job graduating from college five years or 10 years from now,” meaning that the tech focus of the current job market may be slowly going out the window.

Cuban also indicated that he believes that “technology will eventually kill tech jobs themselves.” This. Is. HUGE. Many tech jobs are rooted in math – coding, developing, engineering, etc. These jobs will eventually be automated, just like other manufacturing jobs before them. But what will be highly in demand is the skill to understand the data that these mechanisms put out. Thus, an influx in graduates in liberal arts, philosophy, anthropology, & foreign languages is expected amongst the horribly-named ‘Founders.’

This is just plain exciting for people like me, who literally have master’s degrees in understanding information. This wonderful news is coming at a time when I’m literally drowning in job applications. So here’s to all y’all humanities winners out there who may have a job in the next decade!

ACTUAL PHOTO of me drowning in job applications, resumes, & letters of interest for information science positions. pls help.

 

 

am i qualified yet?: a memoir (rant) on job hunting

You guys. D’ya know what’s, like, really hard? APPLYING FOR JOBS. Like, applying for real-life, professional, legitimate career jobs is really challenging. Let’s just say I’m not a fan.

I have been spending actually all my free time seeking out/applying for jobs within the library & information science (LIS) field, and it has been ROUGH. Since this past September I have applied to ten professional positions.

Actual photo of me applying for jobs &/or my gladiator alter ego fighting my way to the love of my life behind that desk

Is that not ludicrous!? You’re right, it is totally ludicrous! And devastating, & harrowing, & trying, & back-breaking, & annoying, & depressing, & so on & so forth.

On the one hand, I’m super impressed with myself for really hunkering down & getting. this. shit. done. But I’m also coming to realise how unqualified I am for a lot of the professional work in my field. My graduate program deems itself a “professional program,” meaning that I am supposed to be receiving practical experience in my field, rather than a theory-heavy education. Well, ALL I’VE LEARNED IS THEORY, BITCHES. A whole shit ton of theory. Critical theory, archival theory, library theory, curatorial theory, the theory of relativ- wait, no, not that one…but you get the idea. At this point in my academic career, when I am less than six months away from graduating with a Master’s degree in this godforsaken field, I have very minimal experience working with & applying the aforementioned theories to materials (aka the actual work for the actual career I am actually attempting to have). This is not so hot. How am I supposed to get hired for one of the positions for which I’ve applied when I have very little real experience? #freakout

Job hunting is like the Catch-22 of life: you need work experience to get hired, but you can’t get hired without any work experience; it’s a vicious cycle of torment in this society overrun by the strict capitalistic mayhem — whoa, whoa, there. Glad I stopped myself before I went all Marxian framework on you guys.

Possible photograph of Joseph Heller trying to figure out this whole work-life balance thing

But realistically, getting hired for a full-time, permanent position with benefits is not nearly as easy as it used to be. Most non-managerial positions in my field pay between $2500-$4500 per month, often term or contract positions, without health benefits. And now with the looming threat of the repeal of Obamacare, how the hell is a young professional supposed to stave off the sniffles in her own/shared apartment? How, I ask you!?

As a very frightened twenty-three year old emerging professional, I am nervous. I’m just simply nervous. Of the ten positions to which I’ve applied, will I actually get one? Or any? Will I have options? Will I get to choose my future, or be saddled with a paraprofessional position, or a job outside of my field that I am forced to take out of absolute desperation? And on top of all that, I don’t know when I’ll know. These dang job postings don’t put application deadlines, expected start dates, expected hiring range, etc. What the hell am I supposed to do with that little info, man? Do you actually want to hire someone? Because I’m here, dude! I’m here just waiting for the taking! Basically, my message is: SOMEONE, DEAR GOD, DEAR LORD, PLEASE HIRE ME. Thank you, & goodnight.

#goalz

I approached this post thinking “Oh gosh, it’s been like a month, what on earth do I even write about?” & then I thought “Wow, I should really try to plan these topics ahead” which took me into the deep dark abyss that is my brain & led me to contemplate what my goals actually are (or should be) for the end of this shitshow of a year, 2016.

Real image of  the year 2016 going down in flames

I’ve decided to really hunker down & write out my goals for the upcoming new year, in conveniently bucketed categories, & share them with you all! And so…

Educational Goals:

• I’ll be graduating from UCLA in June 2017! Huzzah! #butforrealz this shit needs to happen. I have no doubt in my mind that I will obviously graduate, & with flying colours at that (full of myself, I know), but I feel like I have to keep motivating myself to actually realise that THE END IS NIGH. The end is nigh, people! We’re all actually going to graduate, & have Master’s degrees, & be all professional, & wear those ugly lemon yellow velvet hoods, et cetera. Rambles. Yes, my goal is to legitimately graduate.

Career Goals:

• And so to piggyback off of the previous goal, I would really like to get a job in my field. A professional-level job, with real co-workers, & real money, & real benefits, & a real collegial working environment. The university “guarantees” us employment within our field within six months of graduation, so by December of next year I best be employed.
• Side note: any of you peeps seeking employees in Library & Information Science, I’M YA GURL. Feel free to e-mail me for my résumé & references.

Financial Goals:

• Again, piggybacking off of the previous all the goals, in 2017, I’d really like to begin my professional life & make professional-level money. I’ve worked tirelessly in part-time jobs since I was fourteen years old, just striving for the possibility of one day achieving any semblance of financial independence. Little did fourteen year old me know that the world/economy/everything would go to shit as I got older. So here’s to twenty-three year old me still working tirelessly & striving for those dreams.

Life Goals:

• Pending my (hopefully soon & abundant) employment, I will be moving out of my tiny town & moving to the big city (eh, Sherman Oaks) in August! Next year, I’d like to force myself out of my comfort zone more, & this starts with leaving the warm nest that is my parents’ 1960s ranch-style in Oak Park. Not having the opportunity to go away for college, I’m really planning on treating this opportunity as exactly what it is: my first whack at adulthood. I want to explore the world, & seize opportunities, & figure out who I am, yada, blah, et cetera. But yeah, I really do. I’ll try. I promise.

#squadgoals:

• Couldn’t pass up this rockin’ wordplay opportunity

Hopefully, some, if not all (*fingers crossed*), of these goals can be realised in the new year that can not possibly be any worse, 2017! I’ll keep ya posted…

o, mecca!*

So, we meet again. It’s halfway through the fall quarter, & I’m…well, exhausted, frankly. Hence the lack of posty-posts. But I digress.

Here is the news: I’m creating a catalogue for a private artist! It’s so cool! #PAYD

But fo realz. Like as we speak/write. I’m doing it right now. It’s so easy. I love my field.

When I applied for my first archival internship last April, I was tipped off to a part-time cataloguing job with a private artist, whom will heretofore be referred to as “IHG.” So I immediately contacted IHG, made a case for my hire, & the deal was done! Quickest hiring process I’ve ever experienced. …But little did I know that that speedy train would end immediately.

From that point on, aka May 2016 to the here & now, all proceedings have moved at a snail’s pace. Truly slow beyond recognition or human capacity. Or so I thought. IHG is actually the slowest, craziest, most stereotypical artist there ever was. Like having a conversation with the person actually hurts my brain. I internally wince at the rate at which our meetings go.

So. Literally nothing happened between us until approximately three weeks ago. Like wtf? You hire me in May, & can’t get your act together until October!? No. Just, like, don’t hire someone until you’re ready. I was expecting to be working on/finish this project OVER THE SUMMER. Like a normal person! Ugh. Anyway.

So work has just begun, and IHG is literally a nutball. Like I can’t. She doesn’t give me ANY work for over five months, but the day after she hands me some hard drives, she expects immediate and voluminous results! WHAT ARE YOU DOING.

I can’t. Not okay. Rant over.

 

*haha punny, the program I’m using to create the catalogue is called “Omeka.” Like, o, mecca. Ya get it?

why do we stay?

‘Why do we stay?’

What an applicable question to so many, many facets of life. Why do we stay in abusive relationships? Why do we stay to watch the crashed car burn? Why do we stay friends with people who think that wearing black with brown is okay? But one of the most fundamental parts of our lives that I will consider here below is: why do we stay in our jobs?

To put it plainly, we stay in jobs because they’re good. What makes them good, you may ask? Statistically, there are ten characteristics of jobs that people define & use to consider whether their jobs are good or bad. And those would be:

For reasons that are blatantly obvious & so stupidly commonsensical, the factors listed above are scaled characteristics of our day-to-day interactions in our working lives. And we’re gonna talk about how they rank when considering to stay in your job.

1. Paid well. Hell yes I want to be paid well. I for realsies don’t know anyone who wouldn’t say that they want enough green for at least some thing or some reason. But #fuckingduh people like to stay in jobs that pay them handsomely, whatever their definition of handsomely may be.
2. Mentored. As discussed in quite a few previous posts, millennials seek mentorship in the workplace. I would rather be mentored than bossed. Mentorship creates a relationship based on mutual respect & wisdom-sharing, rather than the traditionally authoritative superior-subordinate relationship, which is far less desirable.
3. Challenged. Contrary to popular belief about my generation, we/I actually am not a lazy sit-on-my-ass-&-do-nothing kind of person, & I enjoy being challenged at work. I like using the skills that I acquired & am still acquiring whilst I complete my expensive, fancy degree. That’s why we get the damn things! I would rather tackle a problem that requires me to engage my creativity & knowledge base rather than complete mindless tasks that contribute little to nothing to the greater good of the company or the world. Shocking, right?
4. Promoted. No surprise here, if you do a good fucking job at your job you should be fucking rewarded. Employers, at this time, please refer to #1. kthanksbyeee
5. Involved. In the vein of mentorship, us millennials like to interact with one another. It fosters a respectful (hopefully) & fun work environment. Now, I know that work isn’t supposed to be all fun & games, but taking the time to be involved with your co-workers & maybe even build friendships with them makes working more fun & enjoyable.
6. Appreciated./7. Valued. This combination is a huge one for me. Coming from personal experience, I know very well what it’s like to work for a company that under-appreciates & under-values its employees so much that you actually cry of happiness when they force you to quit.* Businesses, particularly small start-up companies, have a very apparent top-down effect re: respect & value. If there’s an issue up at the top, that behaviour trickles down to the front of the house employees, & it fucking sucks. It literally makes employees feel like they want to simultaneously cry their eyes out & smack their manager in the fucking face. Believe me, I know. As an employer, manager, etc., if you do not show your employees that you, well, basically that you give at least a single fuck about them, you can create this bottom-up effect of happiness & even financial success. Happy employees –> Happy managers –> Happy execs…….what a concept.

seriously…this one should be so easy.

8. On a mission./9. Empowered. Show me a problem, I’ll show you a solution. It really can be that simple. Employees are hired for a reason; they provide something for the company that it doesn’t already have or is seeking: they have a mission. Let your employees pursue that mission! Empower them to find a solution to your problem, & they will. Or at least they will feel like they can even try. These are two very important concepts in the workplace that encourage employees to stay in their jobs. If employees have something they want to work toward, & their management team is not just letting them, but telling them to pursue that, there are gonna be some happy employees.

Aaaand finally… 10. Trust. FOR REAL. Employers hire employees when a certain level of trust is present. Equally so, employees accept positions with employers when a certain level of trust is present. Now, that level of trust is up to the individual, but relationships, whether they be superior-subordinate or personal or romantic, simply cannot exist without some form of trust.

*that’s a whole ‘nother story

you talentless fool.

Greetings, you talentless millennials! How is this marvellous Sunday morning treating you? You’re still wasted, right… Stupendously? Excellent!

We millennials, as I’ve mentioned before, continuously take the heat for having a bad rap, for being senseless & stupid & talentless & unfortunately unavoidable. And honestly, we’re not helping ourselves too much. Living the #instagramlyfe isn’t exactly maintaining our image to our elders as professional or not a waste of our time & youth. So to add to that pre-existing headache that juuust never stops pounding with the constant disappointment we’re both feeling & causing, I’d like to discuss a few parts of life that require absolutely zero talent. And here they are!

I shall discuss these ten things in much further detail below…but right after I take a break, because I can’t.

…

*yawn* Ah, that nap just hit the spot. Oh, hi! Mkay, we’re back. Let’s go.

1. BEING ON TIME wake up & smell the coffee, peeps! Being on time really isn’t all that hard. Now, as a millennial who honestly loves nothing more than spending the forty-eight glorious hours of the weekend lying in bed, I feel obligated to mention that this particular brand of laziness may actually work to your advantage re: Monday punctuality. Sounds crazy, right!? WRONG. By eight o’clock Sunday night, I’m so exhausted from doing nothing all weekend that I actually go to sleep. Like fall asleep at this time & sleep the whole night through. Personally, I’d call that talent, but others (aka my mother) prefer to call it “intellectual understimulation,” or “lack of exercise,” or worst of all “a shame to generations past.” But whatever. Talent is talent, my friends.
2. WORK ETHIC now this one is a toughie for us Gen-Yers. Work ethic is defined as:

noun

1. a belief in the moral benefit and importance of work and its inherent ability to strengthen character.

          Now, I’m sure those words are a little scary &/or undefinable in some of your cases. But let’s break it down:

• belief: you, like, actually have to believe
• moral benefit & importance: repeat after me: “work is a good thing. work is helpful.”
• inherent ability: work is naturally a positive influence on your life
• strengthen character: work can improve your life

Essentially, just get a goddamn work ethic & care about the shit that you do.

3. EFFORT actually try at something in your life. You many find one day that you actually like the feeling you get when you do.

4. BODY LANGUAGE this is actually super important & a subconscious part of our every day. Naturally, when you have positive feelings toward someone, your body relaxes & tends to orient in the direction toward that person, while, for instance, engaged in conversation. When you hate don’t have positive feelings toward someone, your body naturally closes off & recoils. Be conscious of this – when interviewing, or in the workplace, or even on a date, it’s important to realise how you naturally come off to people.

5. ENERGY see #1.

6. ATTITUDE see literally every other point.

7. PASSION work ethic & passion often go hand-in-hand. If you have a passion for something, it makes sense that you would work harder at it #duh. Many of us were raised with the mentality that we could grow up to do anything we wanted, anything we loved, & that it’s important to find something about which you’re passionate. And now as adults, we see that passion & salary don’t always coincide. But happy people exude passion. When you’re talking about something that you love, your eyes shine a little brighter, you smile a little bigger, & your friends understand you a little more.

8. BEING COACHABLE *rolls eyes at another sports-related core value* As sports analogies abound, this one is actually kind of valid. As millennials tend to seek out mentorship rather than management, being mentorable is a huge asset. You show your moldability every day by unconsciously working as a team with others, by making compromises, & by listening to criticism. Your reaction to/ability to handle these things in stride represent themselves as you being receptive & open.

9. DOING EXTRA just do extra. Don’t be lame. BE extra.

10. BEING PREPARED now this one applies not only to your work life, but also your personal life. Bring the shit you need. Look up directions to wherever you’re going. Basically just don’t be an idiot.

am i a professional now?

When exactly are you considered a full-fledged professional in this crazy,mixed-up world? Is it upon the obtainment of a high-level degree? or the moment you purchase your first big boy suit? or the first car payment you make all on your own? NOPE. It’s when you actually get to interact with other professionals in your field on neutral ground: aka “the conference.”

Conferences are frightening & magestical places where you feel either totally at home or totally lost & freaked out of your mind. Conferences are the heart & soul of academia: the proper & appropriate time when you can rip the heads off of partake in spirited debate regarding the issues & topics of your shared field with your loser co-workers diverse colleagues.

Conferences provide you with an opportunity for travel (hopefully to somewhere far away/warm/not annoying). Sometimes you even get to go to a different country for fuckin’ free on scholarship from your parent institution. Isn’t it just so gratifying that the institution to which you pay all of your money in return for a piece of paper with a gold sticker on it sends you to represent them through all of your hard work? Isn’t it just so?

But really. Conferences are a rite of passage for graduate students & otherwise into the tried & true kingdom of the academe. And isn’t that what we all work toward in our graduate & post-graduate education?

…this post was just a really long, drawn-out way of me boasting that I’m presenting at a conference. I’M PRESENTING IN THE MEMORY & REPRESENTATION SECTION OF THE PCA/ACA NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN SAN DIEGO, BITCHEZ.

That is all.

my weeks with susan*.

This week & last, I participated in two courses through the California Rare Book School, & I feel ever so inclined to share my story! And so, we begin…

Week One: Special Collections Librarianship

What. A. Whirlwind. I learned more in this class than I have in a year of information science coursework (well, in terms of practical application of theories, etc.)! Instructors Carrie & Laura absolutely outdid themselves in this course, a true production of art in the information discipline.

This course, filled with the most diverse group of librarian & information professionals that I have ever seen, was more than enlightening. Special Collections librarians, rare book cataloguers, book processors, subject experts, university archivists, public librarians, & emerging information scientists filled the air with nothing but talk of rare books. And it was amazing. We shared our experiences & aspirations, our misgivings in the field, & our hopes for a highly funded brighter future.

We took field trips to The Huntington, UCLA Special Collections, History & Special Collections at the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library (a particular favourite of mine), & the shop of a private bookseller, in which we learned how to instruct with special collections materials, how Advancement & Registrar departments work within large-scale institutions, & how to acquisition rare & semi-rare materials: all incredibly useful information when one is attempting to become a special collections librarian!

 

Week Two: Introduction to Archives from Historians & Librarians

Less of a whirlwind, but still a distinctly helpful & practical resource. Instructor Dan is a true wealth of knowledge about archival, museum, curatorial, & conservational work! The quadrifecta (is that a word?) of the information field!

This course, while the name dictates that its clientele is not made up of archivists, for some reason I was under the impression that I would be gaining some major insights into the practical world of archives from actual practitioners. #duh #sowrong Rather, it was composed of area studies librarians, rare booksellers, PhD candidates, MLIS students, and subject experts — all operating well within the scope of the library. But nonetheless, it reaffirmed my own level of knowledge of archival theory & practise, & I was able to contribute meaningfully to conversation #afirst

We also took field trips to three of the exact same aforementioned sites, because, like, what else is there do to in LA? Apparently nothing, but okay. We acquired less concrete, practical skills in this course, but that’s because archival work is inherently subjective; it is dependent upon the collection itself, the mission of the institution, & the philosophy of the archivist.

 

*Susan is the director of CalRBS, & has amazing glasses. Just FYI.