Six down, ten to go. Job hunt rant ahead.

Three more applications out the door! I wish I had more of a handle on how many more people are still looking for reslife jobs and how many more there will be, because it feels like there's not a whole lot of new jobs going up at the moment (I'm searching at the Chronicle of Higher Ed and Higher Ed Jobs). Of course, people are also snagging jobs at their colleges which will soon be their alma maters, so for me it looks like taking a summer job is getting to be a better and better solution. Still haven't applied to outward bound baltimore, I suppose I'll get on that and be done in the next hour on that. Maybe there is still a chance I can be a assistant instructor for the summer and maybe even into the fall. I could always apply for Semester At Sea, but I don't know that I want to be on a boat for that long. Even I draw the line someplace. Few greater are the buzz-kills to graduation than actually having to move and find a job, decide where to settle or how the heck I'm going to make my way. In addition, the job I'm applying to at my own school has gotten no response to me. I've seen the heads of reslife and student affairs more than a few times but have no idea where I stand, if I stand at all as a candidate. I would really love to know whether or not I'm even in the running, considering in the past my performance has been less than perfect as an employee of residence life (I've learned! I swear!). But I tell a lot of my friends and acquaintances that I applied, and they are excited about me potentially being around. It doesn't hurt that my love Megan, my own RA from my freshman year, has decided not to compete with me for the position, a huge sigh of relief, though word on the street is the position is not free of competitors. But I know that I want what's best for the residents. Recently MICA ResLife redid it's goals, and I have to say that if this is how Scott's running the joint now, then I want in! We will offer the best housing program in the country for students specializing in the education of visual artists. (okay, the grammar could use some work)) We will become experts on our students. We will appreciate the gifts that they bring to our community and educate ourselves on perennial challenge areas within this distinctive population. We will share what we have learned with our colleagues through both publications and presentations. We will keep an open mind, promote inclusiveness, and challenge expressions of intolerance. We will educate the whole student. We will provide an atmosphere, augmented by structured activities, that encourages introspective exploration and personal growth. We will promote personal and community accountability, model effective communication, and stress the importance of responsible citizenship. We will be teachers, students, advocates, and allies. We will dedicate ourselves to issues of accessibility and excel in serving students of all abilities. (One I'd personally like to see in student affairs and academic affairs here at MICA). What did you/do you like about your on-campus college experience?

Oh to be a Pro Blogger

It takes a lot of hard work to make a lot of money. This is the case whether you make money in mid-town Manhattan wearing a suit and tie or you commute from a recumbent to semi-recumbent position in your bed (my personal office of choice). Those of us who heeded not the wise, wise words of Dooce "My advice to you is BE YE NOT SO STUPID. Never write about work on the internet unless your boss knows and sanctions the fact that YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT WORK ON THE INTERNET." Us idiots, we know the massive negative effect blogging can have on your life. You have a lack of freedom, can't publish what you are thinking for fear of being connected to those thoughts that you do, in fact, think in your heart. You have to keep in mind your audience, i.e. am I a summer camp counselor or do I work in Residence Life with minors during the summer and would it be bad for them to know that I could potentially be a sexual human being due to sharing of posts from sex blogs? And sometimes you have to resign from your job because you make a dumb youthful mistake without the benefit of the time afforded by the leisurely past-time of letter-writing, including (but not limited to): uncapping the pen finding the notepad summoning up an envelope and the saliva white-outing and waiting for the white out to dry re-folding to fit it into the envelope looking up the address a 20-yard walk a 36 cent stamp putting on of pants BUT, that's not what this post is about. Earlier this week I replied to a pro-blogging post asking what the biggest mistake people made regarding blogging...most people it was not doing it soon enough, or often enough, not having faith in their own integrity and interest as bloggers (writers+people) that someone wants to hear what they had to say, even if it is your own mom (Happy birthday Mom!) Now that I have truly adopted the life of a blogger in the past 18 months at this here blog as Elle, now that I am part of the dialogs going on at my favorite sites and articles and am becoming part of the second-lowest faction of internet blogging elite, the technorati if you will, an avid Twitter-er and aggregator of information: my hits are up. Quantitatively, a more regular blogging schedule and a tiny bit of authority that I've earned from length of time and variety of topics has accumulated a healthy readership (for a personal blog). But qualitiatively, I am an active participant in the online conversations, a subject of posts every once in a while, and have even gotten the attention of a favorite author who I 'blogged about. I've also met some professionals who I would never have gotten in touch with otherwise: case in point is Susan at Hug The Monkey). I'm pleased that I've been able to be as much of an open book as I have on this blog for the past year. And while I got myself in trouble and learned the hard and dumb way, I find that I'm liberated in so far as I don't want to work for companies who can't handle me being who I am. I have strong opinions that I can't always camouflage into the apathy so endemic to fellow members of my generation. Am I the person I seem to be on this 'blog? What do you think? A blog entry, just like a photo, is just one moment of one angle of a person. Occasionally it's an insightful art student with her finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist. Sometimes it's an angry bitter ex-girlfriend. Often it's an overwhelmed adolescent who just misses her mom and dad and wants people to know what she's up to. And those it's that combination that makes this blog what it is. Could it be more "targeted" towards a "niche"? I know you guys--my loyal and exclusive following--are only getting glimpses and flashes of memory and experience, and that this blog seems to be just as much about the person I am as the world I live in, but I have grown to truly value the attention you pay me with your time and comments. I value the blank space that this blag has become to me, a place to empty my brain so I can move on. And even if you stop reading, I know my mom, dad, and twin sister will still remember to check up on me every once in a while. I don't get paid to 'blog, and that's not because my 'blog isn't interesting. It's because that's not the goal of it. If money was all I cared about, you know I would not be at art school, would not be reading blogs all day. But that's the luxury of being in school, that working part-time and going to class full-time allows just enough time to explore the interwebs and find my place in that realm, as this identity, and to some extent to my identity as a whole. I'm not relying on that right now to make me a living, but one day blagging via satellite phone in the wilderness and posting images or selling evidential sculptures could make me a living, too. Where do you stand on the subject of blogging as occupation? It's relation to citizen journalism, user-created content, and on-demand media?

Free books? Not at Baltimore's THE BOOK THING?

The Future of Reputation, a book by Daniel J. Solove, is (each chapter as a PDF file). For anyone interested in thehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif phenomena of being Dooced, here are the chapters in the book: THE FUTURE OF REPUTATION: GOSSIP, RUMOR, AND PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET by Daniel J. Solove Yale University Press (2007) Chapter 1. Introduction: When Poop Goes Primetime PART I RUMOR AND REPUTATION IN A DIGITAL WORLD Chapter 2. How the Free Flow of Information Liberates and Constrains Us Chapter 3. Gossip and the Virtues of Knowing Less Chapter 4. Shaming and the Digital Scarlet Letter PART II PRIVACY, FREE SPEECH, AND THE LAW Chapter 5. The Role of Law Chapter 6. Free Speech, Anonymity, and Accountability Chapter 7. Privacy in an Overexposed World Chapter 8. Conclusion: The Future of Reputation Notes & Index Once again, I wish I could put all of this filtering of information and research into an art piece, but I have no idea where to begin, or where I would end on such a project. Part of me is very into high-touch art, physical constructions that are strong, purposeful, durable, and full of meaningful matter. The other part is into hypertext, interconnected dynamic flow of information, vast fonts of knowledge. Anyway, let me know what you think of the book if you read it!

Motvational Quote of the Day

Keep writing. Keep doing it and doing it. Even in the moments when it's so hurtful to think about writing. Heather B. Armstrong of Dooce.com. I've been thinking about starting a historically-based blog on being dooced (that is, losing one's job for what one has written on their weblog), as sort of a warning to bloggers out there and support for those who's online and off-line lives have converged in that perfect-storm sort of way that causes you to reasses your values and existence. And, you know, find another employer. In case you're curious, here's a link to my previous entry On Doocing.... The entry lists 19 bloggers as of March 2007, so obviously it needs a little updating. I think it's also an art piece I'd like to work on, maybe a commemorative quilt or graveyard quilt?

Retrospective.

As I wait for my lasagna with matzo to cook in the oven before heading off to a critique in the class I TA for, I can't help but think of the past. I think of the past almost as much as I think of the future, and certainly more than I live in the present. Anyway, when J broke up with me, I felt like it was the end of my world. Then I lost my job, and then I -really- felt like it was the end of the world. Now, I felt like the world had ended, yet here I stand, enjoying the cherry blossoms and pleasant spring weather, and the world continues. It's funny, because I'd never thought of breaking up with someone or losing a jobas the end of the world before. My visions of the apocalypse included zombies, global warming, nuclear war, various and sundry medical outbreaks. But those are simpler, in certain ways, with obvious enemies and tactics. What tactics does one use to reconstruct their emotional life? I'm really not as depressed as this post may let on, it's just that I'm having a hard time focusing on anything other than the holiday, you know? Last night was interesting. My sleep schedule's been messed up, I've been taking lots of naps but not staying up late, and there were several points last night where I didn't know whether I was awake or dreaming, and even in retrospect I'm not sure if I was asleep or not. Bizarre.

...On Doocing.

Internet is mildly horrible at best at the station building where my personal art studio is on-campus. And, since I did a ton of prep-work on Thursday-Saturday on my two latest pieces, I'm able to stay in bed with my sunday New York Times. It is from this contemplative station, and three meals into the day (scrambled eggs and raisin bread toast, palak/saag paneer, with queso fresco substituting traditional Indian cheese, and Spaghetti-O's) that I read my blog-roll, catch up on reading my blogging articles, and Google the phrase, "I was dooced." One must wonder how I thought I was immune. The following is a list of links, each of which is a fairly well-known or prolific blogger who was fired as a result, directly or indirectly, of blogging. The list is far from complete, but I'd like to expand upon it as time goes on, sort of as an homage to the phenomenon that almost always ends in the blogger not feeling that bad about venting, the employer seeming pretty petty, and a whole lotta' grown-ups being butt-hurt over what's generally someone's opinion. If I've forgotten anyone you feel needs must be included, please comment and link-at-will! Note: Out of respect for the self-branding that titling a blog acts as, and lack of publishing of most people's full name and surname on their blogs, I'm listing blog name, not blogger name. Except where Heather Armstrong is concerned. Because, I mean, really. The Dooce herself. Heather B. Armstrong of Dooce fame (i.e. where the term comes from) was fired from her I.T. job in February 2002. Raspil, currently of The Noisy Kitchen was dooced at some point in 2002, for something written on another blog of his. Eclecticism at Michaelhanscom.com October 2003. Fired by Microsoft. Mark was fired from Google in 2004 at some time. His blog is Ninety-Nine Zeros. Jessica of Washingtonienne was fired from a staff assistant position in Washington, DC in May, 2004. Erin of Giggle Chick was dooced in June 2004. Troutgirl.com, fired by Friendster, August 2004. Ellen of Queen of the Sky fired by Delta in September 2004. Karsh, who writes at Black Gay Blogger, January 2005. Ambra Nykol, who writes Nykola, dooced January 2005. Jeremy of Ensight was dooced for "divulging company secrets in a public space" in January 2005. The Phantom Professor of blog of same name, an adjunct professor at a small private college, was dooced for writing about his bratty students in May 2005. MEGABLOG at http://www.megspohn.com/. Blogger was a professor at DeVry and was dooced December 2005 for a couple uncited disparaging remarks about the school/paperwork. Singing Sally of blog of same name, who worked for "a large, bureaucratic, publicly funded institute" (her words), found her blog postings printed, copied, and circulated at the office, culminating in being fired for having opinons on things in February 2006. Petite Anglaise, an englishwoman living and working in France as a secretary at some sort of firm and a pretty important member of the european blogosphere, dooced April 2006 for "bringing [the] firm into disrepute." Jessa, http://jessajeffries.blogspot.com/, May 2006. Mr. Fabulous of Pointless Drivel was dooced in July 2006. I'm not sure why. T.K.O. ...more or less... dooced August 2006. Reluctant Nomad. No idea when or for what. There's also an NPR report by Eric Wiener about all these doocing's and bloggers rights.

I love cable.

The only major moving I did today was my small metal tables, my television, my step-stool, and my folding chairs. I worked six hours straight doing my Desk Assistant thing, and have off the next three days, which I will use to finish moving and maybe go to DC on Monday (can you say "painting cherry blossoms like woah?"). I've still got loads of kitchen packing, clothing folding, and, finally, cleaning to do. Not to mention the loads of papers which I can never seem to handle completely. At one point it'd be nice to just go ocra/paperless, once I get a computer that's going to last me a while. I've had my little Averatec since Freshman year, and it's case, though replaced once, is showing it's wear, in the form of cracks (not even hairline anymore). The smell of smoke is sort of pervasive in this apartment, I have to close my door and even then it doesn't stay out entirely. I'll have to figure something out. I know it's sad that I'm back in bed, but I'm really happy watching Discovery channel from my loft bed and working on camp staff applications. So glad it's spring break, even though moving sucks. I apologise for the relatively thoughtless nature of these posts, as I've got no huge insightful blog posts on blog theory or on what being dooced so thoroughly feels like. You know? Of course you do, Interweb. Of course you do.

Ladies and Gents, I was Dooced!

Today, I found out that an amateur artist/teacher in Brooklyn online acquaintence of mine is having a baby with his girlfriend, to which I say "HOLY CRAP!" But, it's reassuring that even as my life as I know it has fallen apart in the last two weeks, people are still having babies, meeting future in-laws, and otherwise getting on with existence. Which brings me to the bomb-dropping section of this blog. I was asked to resign from my position as a Residential Community Advisor in the freshman dorms at MICA in not-a-small-part because of this blog. I know what computers accessed the entries I probably should have left unpublished, I know how many were residents and how many were staff members and how many were friends outside of the MICA bubble, but ResLife is covering themselves, and I don't really blame them. Which means come spring break, once all the residents are off to the airport and Greyhound stations, I will be moving into the Meyerhoff house residence hall, and I have allready lost my keys to the ResCoordinator's office, any duties and programs I had scheduled, and the free meal plan and housing. For those who are counting, ResLife 1, Lindsay 0. Breaking up with my boyfriend was the best thing that could happen for my performance with my residents, but things on staff didn't work out as well. It's really frustrating that my love of this work is not enough to let me keep my job. But, on the plus side, now I only have two jobs, will get a full-size loft bed and an apartment I can smoke cloves in, have tons of free time, and get cable channels on my sweet 27" Samsung. But not being an RA is a big minus, and that sucks. Still, if it worked for Dooce, it could work for me, right? Dooced: To lose one's job because of one's web site. (Of course, it's more complex than that, but this is kind of what it comes down to.)