Progress

Yes, this job hunt just may end one of these days. Surprising. Maybe not to anyone else, but to me this has been a surprising development. All this volunteering, networking, resume building, cover letter writing, emailing, waiting, planning, hoping, and finally dealing with rejection has felt quite endless.

Don’t get me wrong. I DON’T HAVE A JOB YET, but things are looking up.

I have an unpaid internship with MSH lined up for the summer or until I find a job that pays (as the MSH staff encouraged me to do). I’m lined up to audition this coming week for a yoga teaching position at Fitness First (getting paid for teaching yoga would be a plus). Plans for my Yoga for Runners Class are underway—I just need to settle on a time and a park so I can start advertising. And sitting on my desk is a stack of business cards newly acquired from the Annual Society for International Development Conference—and some of the people actually handed them to me with enthusiasm (so following up with them just might pay off).

I’m still working out the details of exactly what I want to be doing, but I think I have a better idea than when I started this whole job hunting process in mid February. And if you’re a potential employer who has happened on my blog after reading my resume, than the job you have available is exactly what I want to be doing.

So, all in all I’m making progress.

Aunt Liann

I've never been comfortable with titles. I became an aunt when I was 12 years old so my oldest nieces just called me Liann. But most of my younger nieces and nephews know me by my full title. Whenever they try to get my attention by yelling out, "Aunt Liann! Aunt Liann!" I always want to respond, "Yes Niece Eve (or Nephew Henry)"



Well I decided to take up my sister's invitation and I drove up to New York for my nieces and nephew's spring break. Having received the "Honorary Lindberg" status by Ethan (represented by a circle of yellow construction paper with the word Lindberg penned on it) before I left for DC, I decided it appropriate to walk in the back door without knocking.



Jana, my sister, was making dinner and hugged me hello. Jane, the toddler who would have nothing to do with me the first week I was living there, walked up then allowed me to pick her up and hug her. And the other kids came in with the usual "Aunt Liann! Aunt Liann!" hustle and bustle. It was great to be home--at least "home" is how it felt.



The week was delightful. The older kids and I went to see How to Train Your Dragon in 3D (we sneaked in some candy and ate so much of it I think we all left with a desire to eat veggies the rest of our lives). All of us braved the crowds at the MoMA--each kid bought a postcard at the gift shop and we had a great time finding the originals in the museum. I also read a book recommended to me by Ethan and got the chance to talk about it with him and Kate. Of course we read plenty of picture books and I even lost a round of Settlers of Catan (I'm SO ashamed!).



By the end of the week I realized that I'm starting to get used to this Aunt Liann business.

Speaking of Movies...

Has anyone else seen the movie Ladyhawke?

Surprisingly delightful, but what were they thinking when they added that soundtrack!? Lots of synthesizer when portraying a medieval story?

Really guys?

Too Practical for Poetry

I watched the movie Bright Star with my sister this week. The movie tells the story of the poet John Keats who falls in love with his neighbor’s daughter, Fanny Brawne. In case you haven't seen the film this involves a few awkward conversations and several shots of them walking around, looking at each other, then eventually holding hands, cuddling, and kissing in a way that reminds me of the obnoxious PDA I so often saw (and possibly participated in) at BYU. After making their engagement public he moves to Italy for health reasons, dies, and leaves his fiancé to wander among their old stomping grounds alone quoting poetry for the rest of her life still wearing his engagement ring.


Seriously?

I found myself constantly rolling my eyes at the dramatics of Keats and the immaturity of Fanny. Every half hour or so I would blurt out, "The pacing of this movie is so weird!" I don't know if the director was intentionally trying to achieve a feel of poetry throughout the film--i.e. short scenes packed with visual images and emotion. I generally prefer a story based on at least some dialogue and scenes that clearly fit within context and relate to one another (you know the stuff that conveys character development).


Intentional or not I was having a hard time swallowing it all. However, the only other film Netflicks sent to her mailbox that week was a kid’s film. Reluctantly we decided to finish the movie.

As the credits rolled I turned to Jana and over the voice of Keats reading one of his poems I said, "I think I'm too practical for poetry."

She laughed and said, "I was thinking that EXACT same thing!"

We must be sisters.

While there are some poets/poems that do (and I quote) "speak to me." I'm glad I'm not completely alone in the sentiment about my relationship with poetry. Thanks sis.