The Good, the Bad, and the Average
Aug. 28th, 2008 12:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
memento1The Good:
When bipolar co-worker quit, we took on a part-timer who also works at the SeaWorld bird department. And he gave me and the other girls free passes! So yesterday the other 2 girls had the day off and went, and I drove down and met up with them after work. Part-timer guy gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the bird areas, which was AWESOME. We got to go into the penguin exhibit, which was PACKED with penguins of all sizes, including an elderly Emperor with cataracts who let us pet him.
I pet an Emperor Penguin! He had a rather soft head and a bit courser back. The place was freezing (literally!) and I was in a t-shirt and shorts, but it was still so cool. The keeper there showed us an Emperor egg and pictures of all the celebrities that have visited and seen the penguins. I had to snap a picture of these two portraits above the door: on the left, Kelsey Grammer, and on the right, Gillian Anderson.
Heee! There was also Celine Dion and Reba McEntire among others. So cool. Anyways, then we got to go in with the flamingos of the flamingo parade, who were all hand-raised and thus people-friendly.
We each took pictures with this giant male who was as tall as us, and then as we were talking, a flamingo walked right up next to me, his face in my face, and started softly preening my sleeve and hair. It was surreal. I also got to hold a ground hornbill and a tiny penguin. Hee!
We of course had to see Shamu Rocks, the night show at the whale stadium, and it was impressive. It's all set to music with no talking, so while it's not educational, it's quite a spectacular sight. Right afterwards they have a fireworks display and a really cool gymnastics/dance display as you exit. Oh! And one of the girls, my favorite co-worker Amy, had just learned she got a Mammal Keeper position at the Park. That made me so happy, because she deserves an awesome job like that. So it was a very good day.
The Bad:
Every day, every hour that I don't hear back from the Minnesota Zoo breaks my heart just a little bit more. I'm far too used to having my dreams crushed. I know one week isn't enough time to start freaking out over, but I want that job so badly, and I'm frankly terrified of going back into the soul-crushing job search again. There's only 2 weeks left of work and I'm dreading going back to that jobless, bored, stressed out blankness. I'm not excited about any of the job openings out there and the idea of moving yet again to a place where I don't know anyone into a job I don't like is almost as wearying as the thought of having no job at all. I haven't even applied to anything else, and I know I should have started ages ago, and that guilt just combines with the terror already in place to form a self-sustaining spiral of avoiding the problem. I need to start applying, I desperately do, so I'll just need to try to lift myself out of my terror long enough to do so...tomorrow.
The Average:
I miss the Olympics. I loved coming home every day and watching primetime coverage until 1 in the morning. I loved the gymnastics, and the running, and the diving, and even their silly journalistic stories of China. I loved having it on in the background even if I wasn't actively watching. I loved the expressions of joy on the winners' faces, and even the pangs of sadness for those that failed. I loved feeling proud of my country, yet feeling like a global citizen, that these feelings were universal. A ridiculously cute and sappy set of Olympics commercials from a few years ago:
My favorites? Coragem (Courage), Bronze, and Prata (Silver).
BONUS Fic Update: I really, really enjoyed Cubed. A fascinating look at an alternate universe Mulder and Scully, in domestic bliss, and how that relates to reality. At first it sounded like so much idealized mush, but by the end I loved the message: that they are not broken beyond repair, that they can learn to get past their fears and live and love freely and openly.
She observed Samantha and Fox, together and smiling, the children licking ice cream from their spoons, the cozy little house, the baby wiggling around in her belly. Their lives were so blissfully normal. Scully had to force down the sudden urge to go search the closets to see where they were hiding the mutants.
When bipolar co-worker quit, we took on a part-timer who also works at the SeaWorld bird department. And he gave me and the other girls free passes! So yesterday the other 2 girls had the day off and went, and I drove down and met up with them after work. Part-timer guy gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the bird areas, which was AWESOME. We got to go into the penguin exhibit, which was PACKED with penguins of all sizes, including an elderly Emperor with cataracts who let us pet him.
I pet an Emperor Penguin! He had a rather soft head and a bit courser back. The place was freezing (literally!) and I was in a t-shirt and shorts, but it was still so cool. The keeper there showed us an Emperor egg and pictures of all the celebrities that have visited and seen the penguins. I had to snap a picture of these two portraits above the door: on the left, Kelsey Grammer, and on the right, Gillian Anderson.
Heee! There was also Celine Dion and Reba McEntire among others. So cool. Anyways, then we got to go in with the flamingos of the flamingo parade, who were all hand-raised and thus people-friendly.
We each took pictures with this giant male who was as tall as us, and then as we were talking, a flamingo walked right up next to me, his face in my face, and started softly preening my sleeve and hair. It was surreal. I also got to hold a ground hornbill and a tiny penguin. Hee!
We of course had to see Shamu Rocks, the night show at the whale stadium, and it was impressive. It's all set to music with no talking, so while it's not educational, it's quite a spectacular sight. Right afterwards they have a fireworks display and a really cool gymnastics/dance display as you exit. Oh! And one of the girls, my favorite co-worker Amy, had just learned she got a Mammal Keeper position at the Park. That made me so happy, because she deserves an awesome job like that. So it was a very good day.
The Bad:
Every day, every hour that I don't hear back from the Minnesota Zoo breaks my heart just a little bit more. I'm far too used to having my dreams crushed. I know one week isn't enough time to start freaking out over, but I want that job so badly, and I'm frankly terrified of going back into the soul-crushing job search again. There's only 2 weeks left of work and I'm dreading going back to that jobless, bored, stressed out blankness. I'm not excited about any of the job openings out there and the idea of moving yet again to a place where I don't know anyone into a job I don't like is almost as wearying as the thought of having no job at all. I haven't even applied to anything else, and I know I should have started ages ago, and that guilt just combines with the terror already in place to form a self-sustaining spiral of avoiding the problem. I need to start applying, I desperately do, so I'll just need to try to lift myself out of my terror long enough to do so...tomorrow.
The Average:
I miss the Olympics. I loved coming home every day and watching primetime coverage until 1 in the morning. I loved the gymnastics, and the running, and the diving, and even their silly journalistic stories of China. I loved having it on in the background even if I wasn't actively watching. I loved the expressions of joy on the winners' faces, and even the pangs of sadness for those that failed. I loved feeling proud of my country, yet feeling like a global citizen, that these feelings were universal. A ridiculously cute and sappy set of Olympics commercials from a few years ago:
My favorites? Coragem (Courage), Bronze, and Prata (Silver).
BONUS Fic Update: I really, really enjoyed Cubed. A fascinating look at an alternate universe Mulder and Scully, in domestic bliss, and how that relates to reality. At first it sounded like so much idealized mush, but by the end I loved the message: that they are not broken beyond repair, that they can learn to get past their fears and live and love freely and openly.
She observed Samantha and Fox, together and smiling, the children licking ice cream from their spoons, the cozy little house, the baby wiggling around in her belly. Their lives were so blissfully normal. Scully had to force down the sudden urge to go search the closets to see where they were hiding the mutants.
