Instant Therapy

So I've been going to work everyday and this means that I have to be amongst other humans and learn new things.  This is not bad, because if left to my own devices, I would probably only be around the same 11 or 12 people for the rest of my life, eventually retreating to my one room shack to live a very "unabomber-ish" lifestyle.  So yeah, it's healthy - I'll admit it.

However, it's really interesting how much I've picked up on in the past couple of weeks.  It's like I'm catching back up with life and getting a glimpse of the interesting goings-ons.  One of my best friends says that I have a funny way of seeing things.  She's calls it "Arnetta-cam" and says that when she has strange experiences, she always wishes I was there to do the commentary.  Fortunately for me, I do my own commentary and I can always go back to some of my favorite episodes in life and laugh about the situation or just ponder and eventually, dump my ideas out on this blog.  So here are a few Arnetta-isms that I picked up on after being out of the confines of my home for so many months.

#1 - It's Good To Be Out
No seriously, it's good.  It's great for my health because I'm not constantly eating and sitting around my apartment.  All this time I was wondering how I managed to gain so much weight and now that I go to work every day, I'm realizing how many calories I've been taking in over the past couple months without doing so much as getting off my couch.  And even though I've been working out like a maniac, eating very light and then going to work where I'm constantly standing and squatting and walking and running, I'm still losing weight at the rate of 11b. a week.  So . . . yeah, that's doesn't feel awesome, but it's good to finally see how much work it's going to take for me to change my bad habits and start actually dropping some weight.  It's good for morale because the weather is getting sunny and I am actually going outside (even if it is for a twenty minute car ride) and this gives me incentive to leave my house more.  (Confessions of a hermit crab).

#2 - People are Freaking Crazy
Yeah, that's something I totally forgot.  Now, of course, there are the people who are just flat out looney tunes.  You know, the ones that talk to themselves, yell for no reason and walk around with a foil hat.  Those folks don't catch me off guard too much.  They're normal . . . you know . . . in their craziness.  But I'm not talking about those folks.  I'm talking about the people that need an instant leather couch. For example, I work at a doctor's office.  Folks walk into the office and fill out some information before the doctor examines them.  Now I've done this thousands of times in my life time.  Go to the doctor, fill out a form, get seen, go home.  But for some odd reason, most of these people are shocked beyond belief that they have to fill out any paperwork.  I apologize and tell them that it's part of procedure.  This is what I call skimming off the first layer of crazy.  Because who goes to a doctor without filling out a form that at least lists their allergies, the insurance they'll be using and I don't know . . . their NAME?  So after I skim this first layer of crazy off, most people just sit down and fill out their paperwork.  But then come the surprise folks who have an underlying layer of crazy and decide that this is the moment to break free from the confines of society.  For example, one lady said "No! I refuse to fill out this form."  She looked at me with bold defiance.  I stared back at her with confusion.  Lady!  What are you trying to prove? I guess it just cracks me up because as Americans we have to take it up the pooper all the time when it comes to ridiculous laws and inequalities that disenfranchise the majority of middle and lower class Americans and this is beside the usual crappiness of life on this planet.  So why in the world would someone use filling out a form at a doctor's office as a moment to "not take it anymore."  Either way, my manager (a tall, white guy) came out while the crazy lady was having her moment and said, "Just fill it out."  And she suddenly jumped to attention and became a law-abiding citizen.  I was relieved, amused and a little offended.  Maybe it was just me, but I had already apologized to the woman for the inconvenience, explained that it was procedure and was trying to be as professional as possible but when the manager (in essence, some dude that just came out of nowhere) told her, in an exhausted tone, "Just do it!" suddenly it all came together for her - and "Ohhh! just fill this out?  Yes, of course, sir!" LOL, get outta here!  Sometimes, it sucks to be a Black woman.  I swear I'd get more respect if I was a white man.

#3 - Getting a Paycheck is a Good Feeling
But waiting for it every two weeks . . . sucks.  LOL  But it beats getting one once a month like in Japan.  Talk about budgeting - sheesh!


All right, I'm exhausted.  Wish I had more, but I'm sweepy.  Goodnite!

Being a Director is HARD

So I have one and a half episodes under my belt, thus far and things are crazy.  Pumping out a scene means getting locations, actors, equipment, time, etc. and these are all things that don't come easy.   It's kind of like trying to take a civilized picture of a house full of animals.  There is always someone straying out of the photo or the flash doesn't go off and you have to keep everyone's attention before they all wander away, going in opposite directions.  Regardless, I have never been so sure that this is what I want to do.  It's kind of like, the more I have to work hard for this - the more I realize that I'm cut out for this kind of work.  *sigh*  Either I'm a glutton for heart attack inducing situations or I'm a director at heart.  I'd like to think it's the latter.  :-)

Scorcese . . . I'm coming for ya!

I'm a Statistic

Life has been truly crazy lately and in a moment of insanity I was going to delete this blog. Fortunately, a good friend told me that I should keep it. And thankfully, I listened.

Here's the deal . . . I'm unemployed. UNEMPLOYED!!! And it sucks monkey balls. I cannot describe to you the agony of applying to jobs. Never in my life have I felt so inadequate. Everyday I wake up, check my email and receive tons of messages from Career Builder, Jobfox, Monster, Linked in, TV jobs, Media Match, etc. but absolutely nothing from recruiters for jobs that I've actually applied for. I have sent out over 10 applications a day, every single day for over two months and haven't even gotten so much as an email or phone call back, much less an interview. It's exhausting, confusing and makes you want to jump off of a bridge.

Networking feels kind of awkward, but I do it anyway. I've even spent over $800 to go to a networking event, introduced myself and handed my card out to practically everyone I could find, followed up with emails and have yet to hear back. I took my resume to a professional resume writing service to see if there was anything I could do to increase my chances of getting a job and still nothing.

The confusing thing is that I'm qualified for the jobs I have applied for. I have all of the skills, requirements, references and years of experience. But I can't get a call back to save my life and the frustration is literally driving me crazy. I check my email every three seconds, think about outrageous ways to get my resume seen and am even starting to wonder if I've been blacklisted by "the man." I've been told that it's a reflection of the U.S. economy and I shouldn't take it personal. And while this may be true, it's hard not to take it personal when you read articles that tell you that finding a job is as simple as spelling everything correct on your resume and directly addressing a person from human resources in your cover letter.

I guess the worst part is feeling like the only person in this situation. I was telling my boyfriend that I need to join an unemployed person's therapy group. I'm just hoping that this country can get it together so I don't have to move back to Japan to find a decent job. So that's my little venting session.

Until then, I will continue to fight the good fight. Hopefully, someone will hire me.

Proud to Be An American - Well, Kind Of

So let me start this off by saying that I am the last person that anyone would describe as being patriotic. Sorry, but it's true. I'm that annoying person that when asked who I voted for, I'll say "Jesus" and what's more annoying is that I actually mean it. Now, don't get me wrong . . . there are a lot of wonderful perks to living in America, but I also think that there are a lot of wonderful perks to living in countries all over the world. Which leads me to today's subject.

Japan is a country that works hard. And this is because the Japanese work ethic is through the roof. They push their children to excel academically. They push for recycling and doing things the "green" way and pay high taxes for things like trash in an effort to curb waste (which is pretty darn effective - despite the lack of trash receptacles on the street.) The crime rate is very low, their sanitary standards are thorough, and I could just go on and on and on. Now with all of this said, would I be confident as to say that the Japanese people just have it all figured out? No. Would I say that they are model citizens for everyone? No. Would I say that I would want my children to grow up living the Japanese way of life? No. <---But that's just me.

My coworker on the other hand has had nothing but wonderful things to say about Japanese people, which I think is really cool and for the most part, I agree with her statements . . . BUT she can never say a kind word about them without putting down Americans. Like I said before, I'm not the most patriotic person and I know that Americans can be rude, loud, fat, lazy, stubborn, racist, wasteful, the list goes on and on and on but some of the stuff that she says is a little extra. Also some of the ish she brags about for them (I think) is less than praiseworthy and some of the things she downs about Americans (I think) are actually commendable.

For example, during an exercise today with one of my adult students, I asked them to name all of the stereotypes they can think of for Americans. (If you want to see the complete list, go to that other chick's website!) One of the things that my student mentioned was that American children go to bed early. Now I asked her, "What's early?" and she says, "9pm." She then looks at me with the question mark face so as to confirm or deny this stereotype. I told her, "Yes, we do put our children to bed around maybe 8:30 or 9pm - but to us that's not early at all. We think that's normal." I then asked her what was a normal time for children to go to bed here in Japan. She says, "Maybe 12am." Now personally, I don't think that's ideal (and it occurred to me that that's probably why a lot of my students are half sleep in my classes every day). Especially considering that these children have to wake up at like 6am or 6:30 to get ready for school that starts at around 7:00am or so. But I respect the fact that this is their culture, not mine. Not better . . . not worst . . . just different. So when I brought it up in casual conversation, my coworker went into her "God Bless Japan for being better than America" talk, that she normally does.

"They work sooo hard . . . Unlike our lazy American children who go home, eat and then go to bed because they don't have anything to do." Wait, what? Since when did a child getting less than 7 hours of sleep turn into something that's commendable. And why are American children lazy because they go to bed before The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson comes on?

Next, the topic of household chores came up. Now I've read (and heard from my students) that in Asian countries children are expected to focus on their academic responsibilities more so than any household responsibilities. Again, not good, not bad . . . just different. Generally, in American culture, it's expected that the children help out with household chores.

"Japanese children are so busy with their schoolwork, unlike lazy American children who have nothing to do except maybe eat or sit around the house and do chores."

This was when I asked her, "What kind of privileged childhood did you have that you just sat around the house all day?" First of all, I had to change the whole focus of her statement from the "American people" to just her. Second, maybe she didn't have a privileged childhood and maybe it was just her "American guilt" speaking, but I don't have "American guilt." I don't feel guilty for my "American" childhood (or adulthood for that matter.) I also don't feel sorry for the Japanese people who are obviously just living life the way that they feel is best for them. And yes, I'm an American but I'm not rude, loud, ignorant, racist and DEFINITELY not lazy. And, I wasn't going to sit and generalize or apologize for the American people as if we're all overly privileged, ignorant and lazy. I've always gotten good grades in school, did my homework and worked my butt off whenever I had a job.

YES, I got more than 6 hours of sleep every night and yes, I also enjoyed some of the perks of being an American and living in a superficial, leisure-driven culture, BUT I've also had to suffer right along with the 44 million who have to work their butts off in order to pay an exorbitant amount of money - out of pocket, mind you - for healthcare . Yes, I enjoyed junk-food when I was younger, but (contrary to common Japanese beliefs) I wasn't allowed to eat that ish everyday! So when she says all of those negative things in front of my Japanese coworkers, I try to make sure to clean that ish up real quick. This woman is speaking about HERSELF!!! At one point, I also added (and I deeply regret this) that I would never want to raise my kids in Japan. Now I didn't mean to go overboard with that statement - maybe I was caught up in the heat of my newfound patriotism and maybe I would like to raise my future kid(s) in Japan, who knows? - but I didn't want to mince words. The Japanese are great . . . but they don't have it all figured out. Why? Because nobody has it all figured out.

So there I was, attempting to defend the American people . . . or at least attempting to defend myself. It was a weird situation. But it has given me a broader perspective on how I view the world. I know that I had my little stereotypes about the Japanese people before I got here, but being here has destroyed those beliefs for me. On the other hand, I hope that my work ethic, intelligence and character serves to disprove the negative stereotypes against Americans for someone (even if that someone happens to be a fellow American.)

Random Ish

. . . About Michael
(Disclaimer: Still going through some grieving over here so bear with me)

- What's with the news calling Michael Jackson the "self-proclaimed" King of Pop. That man was the KING of Pop. Buy a clue!

- Me and the annoying girl from work were talking about Mike, our childhood memories, how much we love him, where we were when we found out, and how devastated we were. We even cried together a little. I seriously even considered contacting my ex-boyfriend about MJ's death. (We were both big fans). But decided against it because of the weirdness factor . . . still thinking about it, though. Bottom line: Michael brings people together.

- This is honestly the second time in my life that I'd ever shed a tear over anyone, much less, someone famous. It's not that I don't have a heart; it's just that I have been fortunate enough not to have experienced a lot of people close to me dying. (FYI: The first death that ever moved me to tears was that of my grandmother.)

- Last, but not least (another one for the news). Why the comparisons with Farah Fawcitt's death? Why be so tacky as to bring her up in a snarky tone as if people are obligated to mourn over her just as much as Mike. How about having enough respect for the dead to let people mourn over whoever they want to mourn over; however they want to do that. Yes, she died. And for the record, I watched the news tribute special about her too. She was a beautiful actress and it's terrible that she passed away from cancer. But if anybody thinks that it's not fair that Mike's death is getting the attention it's getting, they need to move to a planet where he wasn't the greatest performer to ever moonwalk across a stage. (So I guess that eliminates moving to the moon as an option. I heard Mars may have sustained life once, though :-).
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. . . About Men

- If I could bottle up the confidence that men have I'd be so rich I could buy gravity and just fly away!!!

- On that note, I called up an "old friend" the other day to tell him I was in his area and wanted to see if I could visit and get his insight on a project I was working on. (We work in the same field). Anywho, he called me back too late and was disappointed that we missed each other. However, he gave me this little gem . . . "You're always free to come by and spend the night." Then he added a precious, "The invitation's always open to you!" Now tell me something, How could I be so lucky? lmbo Also, how much nerve does it take to extend someone that kind of invitation. A LOT, that's how much.

- Speaking of nerve . . . A friend of mine stopped by my new place to attend a salsa lesson with me. After we went out (I assumed as friends considering I filled up his parking meter and paid my own way-which is not a privelige I would give to "my man") we came back to my place and watched a movie. Whilst falling asleep, I almost got straight-up molested. #1 - I can't believe his behind didn't leave when the movie was over. And #2 - If you want to date rape someone, aren't you supposed to get them liquored up first? And at least buy them a meal, pay for the salsa lesson, something! Dang! Then he had the nerve to leave mad. But outside is where the weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be. Aaa, hahahahLOL (Is it wrong to laugh at your own joke? Neverrr)
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. . . About Work

- The hustle is on. Starting yesterday, I will try to treat finding a new (or additional job) as a job. I'm scared, but here goes nothing. First things first, though, I gosta get my internet service switched. AT&T is just too frickin much.

- My dog bit the lady at my job who thinks she's the dog whisperer. I have never been more proud of his timing and execution. (Although the bite was enough to scare her a little, it wasn't a vicious bite. He was just playing with her). And the best part was she couldn't say anything because she'd just finished scolding me for telling him to chill out. hehe! You can't play tug of war with errbody's dog. Sometimes the dog owner knows what they're talking bout Willis.

That's what's swimming around in the chrome dome this mornin.