Eight Random Things

I don't surprise easily, really. I was surprised, though, when Mark Stoneman tagged me for this meme. I've been tagged for this one before on RockStories and just recently on What's Wrong Around Us? , but Mark's tag gave me the opportunity to write something personal on my brand new personal blog. It took me a while to get around to it because I was busy sitting around an marveling about the fact that Mark had participated in a meme. No, I'm kidding. Really. I've just been really busy with work. But I'm giving this one some thought, because unlike any of my other five blogs, this blog is ABOUT ME, and this kind of thing is actually appropriate here.

1. I spent years actively trying to quit the job that eventually evolved into the amazing opportunity that just came my way.
2. I'm such a workaholic that my daughter, at about age 8, observed, "It seems like the way you get most of your friends is by hiring them."
3. It's been 17 years since I last saw an ocean, and I've never stopped longing to go back.
4. I am a better friend than I am a significant other; fortunately, I manage not to muck things up too much in the significant other phase and so can revert to friendship without too much trouble.
5. I like public transportation. I realize this requires some explanation since it's wholly irrational, but I haven't got any. I just like it.
6. I'm going to be a step-grandmother in June, and it's a little weird to contemplate.
7 . Chi Chi's was my favorite restaurant ever, and I'm still not over it closing. It's been several years, and when someone says "out to dinner", it's still Chi Chi's that comes to mind.
8. I love to dance in the rain, preferably with all of my children. (I wonder how long it will be before I can get that grand-baby out in the rain...)

And since we're branching out, I'm going to grab some totally new people to tag this time around. First, Carma, whose blog I discovered for the first time today due to a lovely comment she made about one of my posts on RockStories. And Brigid, because she recently made the mistake of saying, "There must be something I can talk about..." on her blog. She's a writer at heart, so it shouldn't be too hard. And finally Carol, at Can't Holder Tongue, who will not respond unless I go and tell her I've tagged her because this blog is so new that I'm quite sure she doesn't know it exists.

Every Writer Needs a Personal Blog, Right?

I know, I know...this is number 6.

But it has a purpose. Really it does.

If you're thinking that this is one blog too many (or maybe three or four too many), I respectfully request that you blame Jenn over at Thrift Shop Romantic. You see, Mark Stoneman started a personal blog and announced it on Blog Catalog, where there was much rejoicing because Mark is a very educated, insightful contributor to discussions over there and we're all very interested in hearing what he has to say on more varied subjects. But then Jenn said, "it's funny how much of our lives we partition into blogs", and I suddenly had no choice but to start a new blog.

You see, I'm changing jobs. In fact, as I write this, I'm technically unemployed, having left one job on Friday and scheduled to start the new one on Wednesday. In many ways, I'm really sad about leaving the old job, which was fantastic in more ways than I can articulate here (I'm sure more of them will emerge as time goes on). But in another way I'm really excited, and not just about the new project I'm taking on. I'm excited to be reintegrating my life.

For two years, it's been pretty tough for me to do anything except work during the week and be with my daughter on the weekends. It was a great job and I have a great kid, but there was no life in between--and no easy transition between the two, with a 3+ hour commute making for 12-13 hour days every weekday. I hadn't seen most of my friends in months. I hadn't hung curtains in the townhouse I moved into a year and a half ago, and I didn't do much writing anymore.

So I had five blogs, and they were just like my life: one about writing, one about religion, one about social issues--anyone who read just one of those blogs might have come away with an entirely different impression of me than someone who'd read just another of them. That's the nature of the niche, of course, but "partitioning" my life is the last thing I want to do about now. So I decided to create a center point, a personal blog that reflects all of those little pieces of me.

It might be really boring. But at least it will be three-dimensional.