I am busy this week. Lots of little things to do, to get done. None of it particularly interesting to you, but things that I have to do in order to feel comfortable in my own skin.
I am flying with my son to St. Louis, MO next week for the Pokemon TCG U.S. National Championships. My son will be playing at his 3rd Nationals, this will be his first year playing at Nationals in the Senior division. I will be helping as a Junior division judge. I am incredibly honored to be chosen to be invited by Pokemon to staff Nationals this year; I have a free flight and room, and am even getting a little folding green to cover food and incidentals, so by using some frequent flier miles for my son Charlie’s flight, we have a free trip when we would have been okay with bearing these costs to share another vacation together.
With help from a much better player in our region, Charlie has a solid and novel deck list of cards to build and play at this year’s Nationals. We had 53 out of the 60 cards needed for this deck. The remaining 7 cards needed cost less than $6.00 online. This is the cheapest deck build for a major tournament ever.
Not wanting to be less current than the Junior division players I will be helping to judge, I will be studying the rules compendium and any updates and recent rulings and decisions for the next week. With scholarships and invites to the World’s Championships on the line, I want to give a flawless, mistake free, judging experience to my players.
A couple of weeks later, I fly into Detroit, MI on July 7 for work. I booked flights for me and Art, my associate, a rental car, hotel. We are scheduled to do three shows, Wyandotte, Plymouth, and Ann Arbor. We are scheduled to fly back on July 19.
Ann Arbor hosts the nation’s largest Arts and Craft show, with over 500,000 attendees over 4 days. I have sold my wine bottle stoppers there for the last 4 years, in booth A3 of the courtyard off Liberty street roughly across from Seva restaurant. Art and I work the show together, and make a nice bit of money at the show.
This year, I hope to abandon Art to work the show alone, or possibly fly my brother up from New Orleans to join and help him. I hope to be interviewing for my dream job instead of working the Ann Arbor show.
Since submitting my video job application, #1015, to Murphy-Goode, 297 more video applications have been submitted. With help and support from lots of people, my video job application is the #25 most popular having received 487 votes so far. If you have 60 seconds, you can view the video application at the link provided; if you have an available email address, you can vote the video your favorite. I would appreciate it. Murphy-Goode’s really goode job is my dream job.
http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=A1m7ZIwYMbw
The application period will close this Friday, June 19. One week later, the Top 50 candidates will be chosen; I hope to find myself in the Top 50 from St. Louis. If I make the Top 50, and then the Top 10, I will have to scramble; I will fly home after working Wyandotte and Plymouth, on July 13, so I can interview in person July 14-18. On July 21, one of the Top 10 will find that they are the winning candidate for my dream job. August 15 is the first day of work for Murphy-Goode.
In addition to booking travel for upcoming trips, studying Pokemon rules, and asking for favorite video votes all over the interwebs, I have been enjoying a new (to me only) book, Anthony Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour. Again, I am constantly impressed with Bourdain’s writing. Paying bills, housekeeping, and dealing with familial dramas round out my busy week.
Each week night, Mon-Thur, I have been enjoying a horrible vice. I have been joining others in an internet chat room and watching “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!” on streaming video three hours earlier than it is shown here in northern California. There is something less than noble about watching this trainwreck of a show, deriving delight and entertainment from the bad actions of first Speidi, then Janice Dickinson. Even less noble, I voted for Janice to be safe, so that the entertainment can continue.
I first started this East coast stream watching and chatting during American Idol, which I blogged about earlier this year. It is nice to watch these shows with others who find the funny in the unintended entertainment provided in badly sung karaoke and z-list celebrity Survivor-type shenanigans.
I have been rotating among four musical choices as I work at my computer. As always, the Grateful Dead is tops on the iTunes, but this week the Cardiff Reefers, Railroad Earth, and Yes We Can, Voices of a Grassroots Movement are also in heavy rotation. I am finding strength, sustenance in the positive messages and happy vibes of this week’s musical favorites.
Instead of focusing on the 80′s and 90′s Dead, during the time I toured and saw them live, I have been enjoying some older 60′s and 70′s Dead for the difference that PigPen, then Keith and Donna provide.
A friend, Bill, and I found recently that we share a fondness for the Cardiff Reefers, a band that played about 1,800 gigs before breaking up. San Diego marijuana loving ska/reggae/rock/jam brilliance. I don’t smoke, but I almost get a contact high listening to two CD’s Bill burned me of a concert from Santa Rosa’s old Magnolia’s. Bill and I both may have attended this concert, but not recognized each other then, caught up in our own lives between high school graduation and now.
Clare, an old girlfriend who turned me on to a lot of really cool stuff during the time we spent together, introduced me to Railroad Earth. An East coast folk rock jam band, Railroad Earth is just a nice tasty groove in this week’s menu.
Rounding out this week’s choices are songs sung by Lionel Ritchie, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, Dave Stewart, Shontelle, Los Lonely Boys, John Legend, Suai, Jill Scott, Ozomatli, Jackson Browne, Sheryl Crow, Nulik Yusef, Kanye West, Adam Levine, Yolanda Adams, Keb’ Mo’, Ken Stacey, and Buddy Miller.
This week, an incredibly sweet gal from my long distant past reached out, asking for help. I let her know that we are interconnected, all things part of a greater whole. When in need, ask for help, and watch out, because help is coming. The trick is to ask for help. Too many people stay quiet and suffer alone, never knowing there is a way out of the unhappiness they find themselves in. Ask for help when you need it. Be prepared to work when help is offered. Not everyone has all the answers, you may have to ask more than one person for help.
The internet has provided me constant access to over 50 of my former high school classmates, hundreds of forum acquaintances – some friends, and countless unknown readers of my writings. You have lifted me when I felt down, you led me to the news of Murphy-Goode’s job offer, you have stepped up and voted my application into a a noticeable position. I have asked for help, and you have responded. In real life, I receive similar support and bounty, and a measure of difficulty at turns as well; I am trying to be open and receptive to the needs of others in return.
I might not be the right person to ask for help in all cases, and you might have to speak up, I’m partly deaf – but we are not alone.
As always, thanks for reading.
