Lay your weary head to rest.
It's been a long time.
27-ish has come and gone. Mostly gone. Largely with a whimper, although some brave souls made it through a collection of Devo videos with me that night. Danke Shoen, baby.
December was quite a month. Finally I started hearing about places at which I might spend my career. I flew out to the great white north (although mostly grey than white, these days), and hung out with Klaus, the Missus, the Madman, and a collection of regular characters from over here. It was an enjoyable trip, although I felt like a complete ass when I showed up at Klaus' doorstep as hungover as, well, I don't know who, but anyway, really freakin' hungover. On a side note, did anyone know that in the great white north, you can write checks for drinks at the bar? Checks! And if you're really hard up, you can get cash back! With CHECKS! I'm astounded. I bet the Pio doesn't even charge a convenience fee.
And tomorrow I go out to The Convention. I'm actually not as nervous as I thought I'd be. I've done loads of research. I've got my speil down (I think). I've actually had a few interviews already, with two flyouts. No job offers as yet, but the night, as they say, is young.
Anyway, back to December. Everytime I play the waiting game, I get superstitious. Anyone who's a regular reader (or not so regular these days) knows that I'm one hell of a superstitious cat. But this one takes the cake. Everytime I'm waiting to hear from an important process (grad school applications, etc.) I pick one song to listen to every day from that point until the whole process is over. And it's not like I even know it's a lucky song until the process is over. Actually, during grad school admissions time, the song I picked must have been unlucky because I kept getting rejection letters. Now you know not to trust Survivor with your waiting-game needs. Anyway, this time it's "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas. I picked it for several reasons. First, you know, the band's name is "Kansas". That's where I'm from. Second, well, it used to be on that tape my dad made of the radio that he'd listen to in the car all the time when the radio wasn't working. That's another story. But anyway, I heard it a ton when I was a kid. So I figured, you know, it was connected to my roots or some crap like that. But I haven't exactly done super-star awesome on the job market, so I figued a closer look at this little ditty was in order. Turns out I should have recognized that it was all wrong from the get-go. Here are the lyrics:
Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Now don't you cry no more
Now that part sounded OK to me, you know, like it was a bunch of trevails or something that eventually I'd get through. But here's the first verse:
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I'm dreamin',
I can hear them say ...
[Chorus]
Aside from being a decidedly tin-pan-alley collection of lyrics, these are definitely wrong for a dude who wants to do well on the job market. "I still was a mad man"? "I flew too high"? What did I think was gonna happen? Anyway, it gets worse:
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune, but
I hear the voices say ...
Yeah. Way to go, pal. Way to pick 'em. Well, now I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure if it's worse mojo to keep listening to a song that's clearly unlucky, or to stop listening to a song during the whole process. I'm torn. So far I've been keeping it up, but one never knows.
There has been a ton of blog-worthy stuff that has happened to me in the last few weeks. But I think I'll leave that stuff for another time. Mostly consists of me being pissed off at fellow travelers, or the odd noises one hears when spending the night in the Dallas airport. Actually, that shit is really weird. They've got CNN blasting in your ear every ten feet in that place, but still, you swear there are ghosts hanging out.
One more night in the land of my youth, then off to the Convention. I'm nervous.
Wish me luck, internet.
27-ish has come and gone. Mostly gone. Largely with a whimper, although some brave souls made it through a collection of Devo videos with me that night. Danke Shoen, baby.
December was quite a month. Finally I started hearing about places at which I might spend my career. I flew out to the great white north (although mostly grey than white, these days), and hung out with Klaus, the Missus, the Madman, and a collection of regular characters from over here. It was an enjoyable trip, although I felt like a complete ass when I showed up at Klaus' doorstep as hungover as, well, I don't know who, but anyway, really freakin' hungover. On a side note, did anyone know that in the great white north, you can write checks for drinks at the bar? Checks! And if you're really hard up, you can get cash back! With CHECKS! I'm astounded. I bet the Pio doesn't even charge a convenience fee.
And tomorrow I go out to The Convention. I'm actually not as nervous as I thought I'd be. I've done loads of research. I've got my speil down (I think). I've actually had a few interviews already, with two flyouts. No job offers as yet, but the night, as they say, is young.
Anyway, back to December. Everytime I play the waiting game, I get superstitious. Anyone who's a regular reader (or not so regular these days) knows that I'm one hell of a superstitious cat. But this one takes the cake. Everytime I'm waiting to hear from an important process (grad school applications, etc.) I pick one song to listen to every day from that point until the whole process is over. And it's not like I even know it's a lucky song until the process is over. Actually, during grad school admissions time, the song I picked must have been unlucky because I kept getting rejection letters. Now you know not to trust Survivor with your waiting-game needs. Anyway, this time it's "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas. I picked it for several reasons. First, you know, the band's name is "Kansas". That's where I'm from. Second, well, it used to be on that tape my dad made of the radio that he'd listen to in the car all the time when the radio wasn't working. That's another story. But anyway, I heard it a ton when I was a kid. So I figured, you know, it was connected to my roots or some crap like that. But I haven't exactly done super-star awesome on the job market, so I figued a closer look at this little ditty was in order. Turns out I should have recognized that it was all wrong from the get-go. Here are the lyrics:
Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Now don't you cry no more
Now that part sounded OK to me, you know, like it was a bunch of trevails or something that eventually I'd get through. But here's the first verse:
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I'm dreamin',
I can hear them say ...
[Chorus]
Aside from being a decidedly tin-pan-alley collection of lyrics, these are definitely wrong for a dude who wants to do well on the job market. "I still was a mad man"? "I flew too high"? What did I think was gonna happen? Anyway, it gets worse:
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune, but
I hear the voices say ...
Yeah. Way to go, pal. Way to pick 'em. Well, now I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure if it's worse mojo to keep listening to a song that's clearly unlucky, or to stop listening to a song during the whole process. I'm torn. So far I've been keeping it up, but one never knows.
There has been a ton of blog-worthy stuff that has happened to me in the last few weeks. But I think I'll leave that stuff for another time. Mostly consists of me being pissed off at fellow travelers, or the odd noises one hears when spending the night in the Dallas airport. Actually, that shit is really weird. They've got CNN blasting in your ear every ten feet in that place, but still, you swear there are ghosts hanging out.
One more night in the land of my youth, then off to the Convention. I'm nervous.
Wish me luck, internet.
posted by dd0031 at 7:02 PM
3 comments
