As the pipe clamp blisters began to pop and heal on my hands, I knew I was in a race against myself to find my next gig in woodworking. I had just quit my job after I was put on a mandatory 72-hour work week schedule, which was neither safe nor necessary in the warehouse where I was a full time furniture maker. From my first taste of sawdust, I was hooked. I loved everything about it, especially the aches & pains associated with putting in a hard day of manual labor.
I had moved thousands of miles from my industrial Michigan factory roots, only to go to college and decide the blue collar life is what I wanted. I quit my job, only when it was obvious that it would either kill or permanently injure me...but it was still one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. Besides the fact that I love it, I realize now how wrapped up I was in the identity of being just one thing...In my working life, I have always had to have at least three side hustles going on and I've done everything from nude modeling, to being a maid, a well-paid executive assistant, an extra in movies, a make-up artist, to an apprentice sander in a woodshop.
When I call home to update my family, typically, whatever it is I describe is met with unconditional love & acceptance, even if there is a tinge of it not necessarily being understood. As a woodworker, I was finally able to align myself with an identity - one thing that I loved being and doing...and it was so much easier to explain that!
Predictably, when the job fell apart, I scrambled for any paying gig I could find on craigslist. As it turns out, it was a good time to be involved with film making and I even signed up for acting classes. Being involved in the process is as exciting as it seems like it would be - even the long hours of waiting, while being completely dressed to the nines for a 6:00 a.m. call time, shouldn't be exciting, but it still is.
Around this time I also found work as a fit model, working for a local design house. It's a job that pays very well but the work is inconsistent. Still, I am extremely thankful to have it, even if it is a bit weird for me to use it as an identifier at the dentist's office and have the receptionist squeal and ask me a bunch of questions about the job. That's a rock star moment, I'm not going to lie, but it's completely foreign to me to identify myself as "model" in any capacity...especially when "factory rat" was a closer signifier just weeks ago.
I'm not sure if all the discomfort in lacking a fixed occupation or identity squarely rests on my shoulders, or if I am reacting to other people's confusion when I try to explain, "Well, I'm actually a furniture maker, but I'm out of work, so I'm doing the acting and modeling thing, while looking for another woodworking gig." Who does that? I'm not sure if I even understand myself anymore.
In the long run, it's probably a good thing that I am so versatile & adaptable - I always have something relevent for any type of resume I'm creating for myself (and I have at least 3); but I long for the day when I have a short answer to the question, "So what do you do?"
The holidays are in full effect, so tell us: What's your favorite holiday song? Bonus points if you share it with us!
My first job was working as a make-up artist in my mom's cosmetic shop, which was located in "the dead mall" across the street from the mega-mall, where everyone respectable went to shop. The only folks who ventured into the dead mall were those with bizarre fetishes they wanted to try out in "public" without actually being too far out into the public sphere. My four hour shift was often punctuated with high school principals and construction workers in drag, trying out the new high heels they just scored at Payless; a 60 yr. old woman dressed as a naughty school girl being led around on a leash by her husband; your occasional flasher; foot fetish guy who would creepily make me show him the colors of "toenail" polish we carried and on & on...
Anyway, it appears that Vox is now the dead mall. Of course, I'm sure there are still many "respectable" folks on here...but more so, there are a lot just letting their freak flag fly. And I love it. You are my people and I'm happy to be back. But don't send me pictures of your penis. Thanks.
Hello Members of Girl Germs,
I am very sorry that I went MIA for so long and spammers have been allowed to contaminate this space. I'm back now and ready to lay the smack down. I nuked as many spam posts as I could find and members that are clearly robots...but I'm sure I didn't catch everything. If you see something that should be destroyed, please let me know so that I can take care of it.
Thank you so much for adding all this wonderful content to the group - I have enjoyed catching up with everything I missed and have learned a lot. Also, you have inspired me so much! I can't wait to start writing again!
xoxo,
Miss Scotch
Some people vote the same way every time: Rs for Rs, Ds for Ds. Then you have the wildcards. The wave. The pendulum. The moody middle swayed by who knows what -- "Dancing with the Stars" perhaps or McDonald's dollar menu? Who knows... I don't... Ask the people at Pew.
Anyhow, if I had to venture a guess, I would bet that some fussy pendulum-riders were already skittish about health care reform (i.e. they fear change -- they can't love the outrageous health care bills that are bankrupting them and their families) and they got a few too many e-mail forwards from wackadoo friends about Obama trying to take over private businesses (I guess we should just funnel tax payer money to big business to save them and not takeover?) and then the White House got pissy about Fox News and then somebody got too meddlesome in gubernatorial elections (when there's a country to be running) and there are a fair number of folks throughout the country who arent sure about whether that dude in the White House is Muslim/born in the U.S. -and/or- just they're just plain racist/ignorant/fill-in-the-blank and there you have it...
[extended run-on sentence for your reading pleasure... I hope it helps someone's superiority complex. Maybe I should make this post public to infuriate the masses. You're welcome.]
You can't ask for more than that, can you?
Especially in private messages from strangers...
Note to self: give this a whirl --- maybe this weekend or next
From Cooking Light
Our variation on the classic French wintertime dish uses meaty squash for body, rendering it much more healthful than the original. Though not as traditional as a turkey, ham, or roast, this is a great main course for a smaller holiday gathering or intimate dinner party.
8 servings (serving size: 1 3/4 cups)
Ingredients
- 1 whole garlic head
- 4 ounces pancetta, chopped
- 2 cups vertically sliced onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 4 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
- 1/2 cup organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 (16-ounce) cans cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 (1-ounce) slices white bread
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap garlic head in foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Set half of garlic pulp aside; reserve remaining garlic pulp for another use. Discard skins.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pancetta; sauté 5 minutes or until crisp. Remove pancetta from pan, reserving drippings in pan. Add onion and 1 tablespoon oil to drippings in pan; sauté 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 25 minutes or until onion is very tender and browned, stirring frequently. Stir in vinegar.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Add garlic pulp, pancetta, squash, and next 6 ingredients (through bay leaf) to onion mixture, stirring well. Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure about 1 cup. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon olive oil; sprinkle evenly over squash mixture. Cover and bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until squash is tender. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until topping is browned. Discard bay leaf. Sprinkle with parsley.
Nutritional Information
- Calories:
- 259 (27% from fat)
- Fat:
- 7.7g (sat 2.6g,mono 3.6g,poly 1.4g)
- Protein:
- 9.5g
- Carbohydrate:
- 38.8g
- Fiber:
- 8g
- Cholesterol:
- 11mg
- Iron:
- 3mg
- Sodium:
- 679mg
- Calcium:
- 131mg
Charity Ferreira, Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2006
What’s your favorite quick, easy, and healthy recipe?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.
I was going to share something but it really varies by the week/month/season... the important thing is to be prepared with the basics: good oils, vinegars, salt, pepper, herbs, and whatever fresh produce you can grow or keep on hand... having other stuff like canned beans and tuna, olives and cheeses in the fridge, frozen veggies and pasta can be a lifesaver too. I think that having that stuff around and being creative is half the battle -- the other half? Knowledge and willpower -- good luck there!
... to see how many will actually appear here...
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