A New Year

I'm going to try to keep up with this again in 2008. It's not a resolution, just a desire to get back to writing. I enjoyed doing this back when I was writing entries regularly. It's just hard to keep up and find the time. I used to make resolutions, but I really don't any more. Now I view the start of the new year pretty much the same way every year. It *is* a time to do some taking stock, to look both back and forward, to see what I can learn from the past year, and most importantly to do some thinking about where I can take my life in the coming year. Are there any actions I can take to bring myself closer to the person I want to be? Sounds pretty dramatic.

Anyway, stay tuned and we'll see what goes on. The 2007 pictures are below, if anyone is still looking for those.

2007 Pictures

A few pictures of us in 2007. Click on any picture to view a larger version. I've been asked to enter captions and also to tell people how to comment, if they wish: just click on the words "0 comments" (or "2 comments", or however many there are) at the very bottom of this entry.



Julia dolled up for homecoming.

Julia and Katie O'Donohue ready for the Harry Potter release party.

Julia's birthday...she and some of her pals all in a pile.

Sam running in a cross-country meet.

The World's Largest Frying Pan! How can you NOT stop and see this?

Just a few days ago...Julia and Sam in front of our tree.

On top of Mill Mountain in Roanoke.

On top of Mill Mountain in Roanoke.

Missing in Action

Well...it's been a long time since I posted. I've been absent, but busy.

I started at VSAIA on October 8. Since then I have been ...occupied. Even when I didn't have all *that* much to do at work, it was tiring. I'd forgotten how tiring it can be to be in a new job and just trying to soak in as much information as you can.

So far I like it quite a bit. It has many things that are novel to me...structure, clarity of mission, resources. I'm getting to know the staff, and getting busier by the day.

The main reason I'm busy and will be for a couple more weeks is that our major event of the year, Architecture Exchange East, takes place November 7-9.

So far I like all the people I work with. There are a couple with some idiosyncracies, but nothing truly weird so far. Just odd enough to be interesting. The CEO is very smart and very politically astute. I can learn a lot from him.

What else is new? Well, I bought a new laptop. After having one for several years that belonged to my employer, I got really used to having one. Then I didn't have one anymore, and three of us were jockeying for the one desktop computer, and it got to be too much, so I bit the bullet and picked up an HP Pavilion on sale.

Also, I went back to Weight Watchers. When I was going there over the summer, I lost 15 pounds, then I lost my job and started eating everything. So I went to my first meeting again the other day, and my weigh in was 6 pounds up from what I had lost. not too bad, I expected it to be more.

OK, that's enough for now. more later

A Walk In The Woods

Every once in a while I have to go out and walk through the woods. I find it provides me with a certain amount of re-centering of my thoughts, and my attitudes toward life, the universe, and everything. Given everything that’s gone on in the last few months, I had a strong urge to do that this week, and fortunately yesterday was open...the only day this week with nothing else on the calendar. Except hearing Lyra at Christ Church, but I felt I could give that up for my mental health.

I've visited various places depending on how much time I have available and how much I feel like driving, but one of my favorite places to go is Shenandoah National Park. So yesterday I drove up there and got onto the ridge by around 11:00, and the fog was just burning off. I wasn't looking for particularly strenuous hikes or anything, just some places where I could get out among trees and breathe that wonderful air. So I did the first three hikes I came across, Turk Mountain, RipRap, and Blackrock Summit. Probably less than 7 or 8 miles all together, but just exactly what I needed. I am so refreshed today.

Here are a few pics of my wanderings yesterday.

The view from Turk Mountain:



The view from Blackrock Summit:




A couple of deer by the road:




A Mama bear and three cubs! This was so cool!



I walked up to about 100 yards from them to take this picture. A good rule of thumb with bears, or any wildlife, is that if you're close enough for them to notice you, you're too close. I was just about that close. As I was taking the picture, I saw Mama glance up in my direction. I beat feet out of there after that.


If you're interested, Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods is a wonderfully funny book about hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Fret factor: Very low

Music factor: Gomez (good call, Nat!), KT Tunstall, Fountains of Wayne, Alison Krauss

My New Job

A quick post now...more later.

This morning I accepted the position of Director of Professional
Development for the Virginia Society of the American Institute of
Architects. I'll be working in one of the coolest buildings in
Richmond, Branch House, at 2501 Monument Avenue.

I start October 8.

VSAIA: http://www.virginiaarchitecture.org/vsaia_index.jsp

Branch House: http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/virginia/richmond/branch/branch.html

Pop!

All of a sudden things took off on the nonprofit front. As many of my two readers may know, I have been taking classes nonprofit management at VCU. I had to skip this semester due to my impending job-free status. I’m not unemployed, I’m unencumbered by work. Anyway, in addition to training/education jobs I have been sending resumes out for nonprofit jobs, and just last week three of them popped. So, I have an interview with a professional society tomorrow (Monday), one with a conservation association Monday the 1st, a phone interview with a University on the 4th, and I’ve been contacted by a homeless-oriented charity who wants to talk to me, interview date TBD.

The positions (in the same order) are Director of Professional Development, Executive Director, Manager of Instructional Design, and Executive Director.

This seems to come in waves. Early last week I had nothing going and I was really getting cranky. Now I have several possibilities, and I’m not as cranky, though I’m a bit anxious. Psyched, I mean. That’s it, I’m psyched.

Fret factor: Dude, you’re harshing my mellow.

Beer factor: Octoberfest!

Music factor: KT Tunstall, Alison Krauss, The Police.

P.S. I’m considering moving this blog to WordPress. For a while, there will be a duplicate blog at the URL below, though I doubt I will keep up the duplication for long…I’ll either make the switch or not.

http://moresignal.wordpress.com

Don't call us...

In the previous post I wrote:

Conventional wisdom says that you don’t get jobs through the newspapers. You’re supposed to contact the companies directly and talk to a person, and do your networking. However, more and more it seems to me that companies are discouraging the direct personal contact route, and asking for seekers to apply through the web site, only for openings that are listed on the web site.

Several of the companies I have called to attempt a followup have responded with something like this: “We get a lot of resumes. We’ll go through them all and we’ll call you if you are one of the people we want to talk with.”

So, how do you get around this and talk with a human?