I too rode the 55-hour train to my unpaid internship. For one month I sub-leased the in-law apartment of Douglas Evans, a children’s author and amateur composer who I never met. I traveled under the San Francisco Bay twice daily. I fact checked and touched one famous man’s hand. There was a twenty person waiting list [...]
Archive for the ‘Introductions’ Category
Synopsis of the once-lofty-minded-middler’s destiny
Posted in "Adventures", Introductions on February 24, 2009 | 1 Comment »
So Many Possibilities.
Posted in Introductions, The Condition on February 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’m unemployed. I got laid off a little over two months ago from a job at a highfalutin magazine and since I just applied to graduate school, but haven’t heard back yet, I’m caught in this… middleness? I now have a ridiculous amount of time on my hands. With unemployment checks and the occasional freelance [...]
Living in a place that is no place
Posted in Introductions, The Condition on February 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The life of the Middler is an odd one, desultory and easygoing, yet full of pressure and anxiety. In this murky state between the here and there, we find ourselves surrounded by obligations. Obligations to people (should I keep my old friends or make new?), institutions (student loans; perhaps the military), the world (climate change!) [...]
I’m living at home.
Posted in Introductions on February 10, 2009 | 1 Comment »
(This post is written by the fine Jon Gold, who has some WordPress difficulty). If people ask, I tell them I’m living at home. It’s really a great response. It simultaneously admits that you’ve become enough of a failure to have to move back in with your parents without actually croaking out the words “I [...]
“What do you even do?”
Posted in Introductions, The Condition, tagged Andrew Swift on February 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It’s a stock question. The scene: The Mill, of course, two Pabst Blue Ribbon tall-boys deep, on a Tuesday night in early February. The question, posed by a friend I’ve known for all of a month, was interpreted incorrectly by myself. I gave the stock answer. A university job, enough to pay for living expenses and forays [...]
Pigeon-holed Part I: John the Front Desk Associate
Posted in Introductions, The Condition, tagged John Schlotfelt on February 3, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Being the ambitious, go-nowhere Twenty-something I am, I’ve decided to kick off my fruitful and fitful term at Middleness with a three-part piece: Pigeon-holed.
I’ve experience a lot of anxiety and/or bemusement since graduation over not just what my role is after school (or between school) but what I am and what defines me (my job, my hobbies, my aspirations?).
Never give money to people on the street/at your door
Posted in "Adventures", Introductions, tagged Sam on January 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
This seems like common sense, right? Well let me tell you a little story… Second semester of my senior year of college, I had a job interview for an organization called the “Green Corps”. The idea was to be like the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps for the environmental movement. I didn’t get that job, though [...]
No Nothing.
Posted in Introductions, tagged Brigid Marshall on January 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“I can’t afford this gas, so I’m stuck here watching TV.” Thanks, Sheryl Crow. I literally live my life by that motto, especially lately. Yes, I too am one of those middlers. I’ve been one all my life, in one way or another. Middle child. Midwest bread. Mid-field player. I’ve nested for quite some time [...]
Twenty-three is still pretty young
Posted in Introductions, tagged Jonathan Van Dyke on January 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If we must claim it a name, I’d suppose middleness is as good as any. Personally I’ve been involved in this whole thing for a little longer than the editors here, but that’s not to say they aren’t much more mature than I. Sometimes I wonder if the whole maturity factor comes into it. Unfortunately [...]
Would you like your receipt in the bag?
Posted in Introductions, tagged Danielle Boucher on January 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
[Disclaimer: I am not, and have not ever been, a student of positive thinking. Some call it cynicism. You be the judge.] Oh Jesus, Susan. Flexing my creative writing muscle could not be further from what I wanted to do as I checked my trusty G-mail at midnight on this frigid FRIDAY evening—I mean, I have [...]
