Your Life, My Thoughts

What a Way to Make a Living

Q. I want to pursue a career in a non conventional environment, i.e., NOT a 9-5 corporate lifestyle. Any suggestions on how to get the ball rolling??

A. Move to New York City. The odds of you landing a 9-5 are slim, and after a few weeks working a fluctuating schedule that orbits around an 8:30-6:30 frame, you’ll be pining for the structure and stability of the conventional variety.

An exorbitant cost of living not your thing? So be it; there are more standard ways of breaking the 9-5 mold.  You’ve achieved enough self-awareness to determine what you don’t want to do, now try and make a list of the areas that do capture your attention.  Don’t have any? That’s ok! You can always start an advice blog to help people whose problems are so much greater than your own, that in time, you’ll become so immersed in their issues that your own will sink down to the unreachable (and preferable) depths of your subconscious.  

But I digress. Try to at least think of a field or function that ignites some sort of desire, no matter how ridiculous (here’s looking at you, clown college class of 2012). Establish a quantifiable objective with a definitive date for when you will achieve your new employment.  To help get on you the right track, try using one of these life-after-college templates. 

The most important part of this process is to stay positive and keep on keepin’ on. To help with the positivity factor, since I am hardly an expert in that department, I’ll turn to the wise words of the dead. To quote Alison quoting Hilldawg’s favorite first lady, 

Perhaps the older generation is often to blame with its cautious warning: ‘Take a job that will give you security, not adventure.’ But I say to the young: ‘Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of a competence.’

Or, to quote Tupac, “if you believe it, you can achieve it, just look at me.”

If those inspiring words still aren’t enough for you, seek professional help elsewhere, namely, here. 

Books Are Silent Friends

Q. Have any good summer reading recommendations? -asteriskerin

A. So glad you asked.  In an alternate universe (sideways LOST universe?) I’d run an independent book store. Unfortunately, in this one, I have bills to pay and a misinterpreted disposition that makes customer service a no-go. None the less, I am a bit of a bookworm (mostly contemporary fiction), so I have a ton of recommendations.

If you liked Veronica Mars try Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. It’s probably my favorite of all the ones I’m recommending. A fantastic murder mystery written with great wit and an incredible ending.  

If you want to read what every other straphanger is reading, then pick up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the late Stieg Larsson. The first in a trilogy, it’s already received a kick-ass Swedish film adaptation currently playing (with subtitles) in select N. American theaters. The second film will hit our shores July 2. Hollywood’s version will likely surface in 2012.

If you want to read a younger, female version of David Sedaris (that isn’t named Amy) check out I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. It’s truly delectable.

For an addictive cult classic, nothing beats Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. 30 million readers can’t be wrong. Too bad the movie doesn’t do it justice.

If you’re taking a great American road trip consider State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. Like the states themselves, some essays aren’t as interesting as others. Here’s lookin’ at you Kentucky. 

Want a highly amusing, modern-day Holden Caulfield? Then you’ll enjoy The Every Boy by Dana Adam Shapiro. Non spoiler: he’s dead by the end of the first page.

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor would match well with those looking for a lyrical book. It’s a suspenseful mix of poetry and prose that centers on a typical suburban block on an an atypical day. 

if you’re one of my friends to whom I’ve loaned a book and still haven’t returned it, you better be reading: Await Your Reply, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, and Call Me By Your Name. I know where y’all live.  

Lastly, if you want to read what I’ll be reading this summer get The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, which currently has 477 holds at the NY Public Library; It Could Be Worse, You Could Be Me, by Ariel Leve (a title I identify with); and How Did You Get This Number, the latest from Sloane Crosley. 

Special request: if someone could find me one of those early 90s READ posters with either Andrew Shue or Oprah Winfrey for decorating my apartment alt universe book shop I would really appreciate it.