It has always been my passion to spread love and kindness in this world. I have had a tendency to be too nice, but have never found a reason to cease being kind. When my resources were more abundant, I was always willing to volunteer and help people out whenever I can. Now I'm the one needing the help. I've been in between jobs for quite awhile, driving for Uber and interviewing into the abyss of nothing, and need some stable grounding in my life. As one of my favorite quotes goes, "in order to receive much, you must give much." Karma began coming back in my direction when I needed it most.
From October 2017 until now, a new chapter of my life is being created.
At the time, I was living with two of my dearest friends. When my life started taking a sharp downhill turn, since I sometimes use Facebook as my public diary (only disclosing the basic whereabouts of course), the general population knew something was up in my life. I am a member of a number of nerd communities and one of them, being called the "Belegarth Medieval Combat Society" was the beginning of the outpour of love towards me. About 4 times a year for the last almost 5 years now, I've been able to hit every single major camping trip in Illinois. I was struggling with finances at the time and my checking account was badly overdrawn. My friend Nigel offered to give me a ride and hook me up with all the resources I'd need to have a successful camping trip and decided to go to the event 2 days prior. I returned from my camping trip fresh and ready to try finding a job some more.
At the end of November, one of the places I had located on a "job hunt tour", meaning driving around looking for places nearby my apartment that had "now hiring" signs outside and going inside and applying, randomly called me back and asked me to come in with 3 hours notice. Me being desperate for a job decided to accept said job as a server at a restaurant called Leona's. I walked into Leona's with my head held up high ready to be the best server ever and was ready to start training. Since I usually connect with males more, there was one male server named Chris. We talked whenever we were on shift together and one day in casual conversation, he told me, "if you ever need any "partying goods", let me know". One day, I hit him up, and he wanted me to grab the goodies from his girlfriend, Iris, who also worked at the restaurant. This ended up happening several times, including after I quit the restaurant.
Fast forward to January 2018, one of the days when I went over to Iris's apartment, she mentioned there being a vacancy in her apartment that would be cheaper rent than what I'm paying right now. Two days later, the people I was living with before and me had "the talk", but I was so out of it I had no idea what happened. Four days later, I decided to meet with the rest of the people living there to see if this would be a worthwhile move for me. After we met, I went to go pick up one of the current at the time roomies from work and I told him what I did when we were discussing how our day was. We then talked again and the information from "the talk" was clarified to me while being more in tune.
In an instant, I found out my living situation of two and a third years was changing. I was scared to death, especially because my mental health was failing and I didn't want any new people to see it.
Iris and Chris welcomed me into their lives with open arms and even helped me move. Special thanks to Iris to helping set up the place and making it feel like home for me... and for doing most of the cleaning. I promise I'll help more, don't worry!
Not only did my living situation change, but also in January 2018, I sought help to better my mental health. I also began picking up my hobbies that were lost to lifeing and trying to get my act together. One day while randomly scrolling through Facebook, in one of the other communities I'm in involved in, a "flow art", also known as a style of dance using an LED light prop, called "orbiting" with the prop being called an orbit, someone posted asking for some pointers on "glorbiting", which is using LED light gloves and an LED light orbit together in one act. I decided to comment on the post with my two cents and the original poster messaged me. For whatever reason, we hit it off pretty quickly, even though I was scared to warm up to new people at the time. This lovely fellow named Joey felt like the first real friend I've ever had even though I'm over here in Chicago and he lives in bufu North Carolina. A lot of the times we would talk, it would be about flow arts and orbiting. More of the times we would talk, I would message him at xyz late at night or early in the morning telling him I'm pulling an allnighter driving for Uber while completely losing my mind. Many of these same messages and talks later, I didn't expect anyone to be there for me in this super low state of mind. Each time, aside from talking me down, he would tell me to quit driving for Uber. He would also tell me how much he cared about me and how he was sick of seeing me hurt myself. Two months and hours and hours of phone calls and texts later, not only have my flow art skills increased, but I finally escaped the wrath of Uber after twenty six and a half months. Not only that, but he's saved me in money emergencies and gifted me this super snazzy prop for my recent birthday. He also gifted me with the quote, "if you don't like this world, create a new one!" And with this prop, I will express the newfound confidence and new life I have gained in the past several months. Through all of the changes and adventures, this show is dedicated to spreading love and light and thanking those who have been there for me recently and showering me with unexpected kindness when I needed it most. This is what I have to give back to you! Enjoy!
*insert light show here*
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Monday, March 12, 2018
Usefulness of the Amazon Alexa
One of Amazon's most memorable creations, the Alexa, is breaking barriers and taking control in the voice-activated speaker industry. The biggest consumers? The millennials of course! Millennials and all technology users alike appreciate the Alexa because of it's use of artificial intelligence in supporting functions such as ordering food, playing music, being used as a hub to host meetings for business, and much more. In households, Alexa is helpful because it automates certain features of daily life, such as using the voice command "Alexa, goodnight", which turns off the lights, locks the doors, and lowers the thermostat. For businesses, Alexa is handy for helping people at their desks complete simple tasks such as organize their workday, dial into meetings automatically, check inventory levels, and notify IT when the printer is broken. The Amazon Alexa is making life easier, one command at a time!
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Top 3 Most Interesting Gigs I've Had Through 8-24-17
Since Joni Mitchell was a lady of many gigs, as am I, here are the top 3 most interesting gigs I’ve had over the course of this last year and a half:
1. I have been in between jobs for the better part of time since February 2016 and have been living the gig life. This first brief gig entailed me selling Hello Fresh products aka meal kit delivery services similar to Blue Apron. How would you feel if you were randomly out on the street in the city and asked if you liked to cook by some stranger in an apron... when there was bad weather outside? Imagine being the stranger in the apron standing outside in the cold trying to play the hustle game? That's what I did for just under 3 weeks. When I walked in the door for this “job of a lifetime”, it felt like I was told, “welcome to your commission-only job, where the name of the game was, "have fun and make money". After arriving at 17 N. State Street in the morning, I walked into this standing-only room into a meeting called "atmosphere", where we would go over the pitch and do some training in the morning before going out into the field. I had a mentor who would work in atmosphere meetings with me to teach me the pitch. It took me awhile to learn the pitch, but after several days, I eventually got it down. Everyone was super helpful and kind to me the entire time, which was nice. After atmosphere meetings, someone would come to the front of the room for an "impact" meeting, which was a lesson on how to sell shit. Sometimes, there would also be conference calls with the top representatives in the US, which also explained to us how to sell shit. The field was a very rough and cutthroat place. It looked all smiley and dancey and like you have pep in your step, but it was getting cold since it was around November and the field was outside on the street you and your group were assigned to. Each day in the field on average I managed to make 1 sale a day. Some days I made 0 and one day I made 3, which is called “ringing the bell”; the next day at work, you’d get announced before going out to the field in “noise”, which is honoring the people who made 3 or more sales in a day. My dear roommate friends noticed how unhappy I was when I would walk in the door and would often pass out on the couch; I had also been eating out a lot and unable to work out as much as necessary. When it was time for my appointment with my therapist, he told me to get the hell out of there; that was a sign. After spending two and a half weeks at this place, I told the commission-only job I was done. I needed to make more than $150 dollars in a week period. No, this "experience" is not going on my resume. While I am now looking for a new full-time job that won't mysteriously end 2 weeks after my start date and driving for Uber/Lyft in the meantime, this gig of mine has told me I am a lot more worthy than asking random strangers on the street if they like to cook!
2. One of the places I’ve had some decent luck finding gigs is on Craigslist. I randomly found an ad saying they needed people to wear costumes by Wiener’s Circle in less than 24 hours for decent pay. I decided to contact the poster, not expecting a reply, and received a reply to my surprise. The person told me they wanted to call me via Skype at 5:30pm that day. I also had a performance at 6pm that night I had to get to and it was a 15 minute drive. I jump on the Skype call, find out I got the gig, and rushed over to my performance. I found out the gig was to wear a hot dog costume in front of Wiener’s Circle to advertise for a minor league baseball team… from 6:30am to 10:30am in the morning. RIP! I’m not used to being up that early in the morning, but decided to do it anyways for the money’s sake. When I arrive at the Wiener’s Circle at super early in the morning, I was given my hot dog costume and left to stand around for a little bit. Since it’s super early and there was a DJ at this event, he decided to play the Cupid Shuffle and the Cha Cha Slide. So here I was, dancing around in a hot dog suit at early o’clock in the morning with a bunch of other people in hot dog costumes. As the morning progressed, a bunch of news stations came to record us holding signs for the Chicago Dogs minor league baseball team and waving. They also recorded us playing wiffle ball in these costumes. A bunch of standing around happened in between all of the madness. When I eventually checked my phone, a bunch of people, including my roommate friends, said they saw me on TV. I had always wanted to be on TV and finally got the opportunity to!
3. I also got to be on TV a second time in the same week! This time, it was a bit more of a surprise! I had applied to another freelance gig on Craigslist and ended up getting a call back. I trek to Michigan Avenue for an interview and get a call a few days later saying I got a gig. The gig was at 1:45am to do what I thought was to “help set up for an event” at the Garfield Park Conservatory. When I arrive at the conservatory, I get there and see some snacks and coffee, balloons, and plastic silverware. After having some coffee and noms, I was instructed to help roll up silverware. After rolling up silverware for awhile and talking to the other people in the room because we were all artists, the man in charge of the gig told me to come outside into the hallway and put a vest on in order for the security guards to know I was allowed into the conservatory. I’m then greeted by a man named Mike who claims he’s worked with plants for a long time. He tells me to water these pods for awhile while we’re having a general conversation. While I’m watering the pods, Mike pulls out a “forbidden plant” from his bag that was one of his coworker’s babies, but he got fired for it because he wasn’t allowed to have this Cuban accelerator plant at the conservatory. Mike then touched his orange to the plant and the plant began multiplying in size and sprouting a fruit the size of an orange in it. He throws the plant back in his bag and steps outside to call his manager. His manager doesn’t answer because there’s no signal. Meanwhile I’m still remaining super chill and not having much of a reaction to anything because I don’t get scared easily. He then takes the plant back out of his bag to notice it’s multiplied even more in size and began taking human form. It was sprouting a face, eyes, nose, and even looking and blinking at me. I thought it was some kind of magic trick or illusion. He proceeded to tell me the plant was morphing due to the “Carbonaro Effect” and I’m like “whaaaaaa???” And then he tells me the Carbonaro Effect is a TV show and I’ve been pranked. I was like, “cool, I’ve always wanted to be on TV”. We both start laughing, he walked me out of the room into another room where I signed some waivers and showed my ID, was given $100 bucks for an hour and 45 minutes of my time, told I'd air in September or fall time, and escorted to my car. Someday I will be famous and now is my time to shine!
1. I have been in between jobs for the better part of time since February 2016 and have been living the gig life. This first brief gig entailed me selling Hello Fresh products aka meal kit delivery services similar to Blue Apron. How would you feel if you were randomly out on the street in the city and asked if you liked to cook by some stranger in an apron... when there was bad weather outside? Imagine being the stranger in the apron standing outside in the cold trying to play the hustle game? That's what I did for just under 3 weeks. When I walked in the door for this “job of a lifetime”, it felt like I was told, “welcome to your commission-only job, where the name of the game was, "have fun and make money". After arriving at 17 N. State Street in the morning, I walked into this standing-only room into a meeting called "atmosphere", where we would go over the pitch and do some training in the morning before going out into the field. I had a mentor who would work in atmosphere meetings with me to teach me the pitch. It took me awhile to learn the pitch, but after several days, I eventually got it down. Everyone was super helpful and kind to me the entire time, which was nice. After atmosphere meetings, someone would come to the front of the room for an "impact" meeting, which was a lesson on how to sell shit. Sometimes, there would also be conference calls with the top representatives in the US, which also explained to us how to sell shit. The field was a very rough and cutthroat place. It looked all smiley and dancey and like you have pep in your step, but it was getting cold since it was around November and the field was outside on the street you and your group were assigned to. Each day in the field on average I managed to make 1 sale a day. Some days I made 0 and one day I made 3, which is called “ringing the bell”; the next day at work, you’d get announced before going out to the field in “noise”, which is honoring the people who made 3 or more sales in a day. My dear roommate friends noticed how unhappy I was when I would walk in the door and would often pass out on the couch; I had also been eating out a lot and unable to work out as much as necessary. When it was time for my appointment with my therapist, he told me to get the hell out of there; that was a sign. After spending two and a half weeks at this place, I told the commission-only job I was done. I needed to make more than $150 dollars in a week period. No, this "experience" is not going on my resume. While I am now looking for a new full-time job that won't mysteriously end 2 weeks after my start date and driving for Uber/Lyft in the meantime, this gig of mine has told me I am a lot more worthy than asking random strangers on the street if they like to cook!
2. One of the places I’ve had some decent luck finding gigs is on Craigslist. I randomly found an ad saying they needed people to wear costumes by Wiener’s Circle in less than 24 hours for decent pay. I decided to contact the poster, not expecting a reply, and received a reply to my surprise. The person told me they wanted to call me via Skype at 5:30pm that day. I also had a performance at 6pm that night I had to get to and it was a 15 minute drive. I jump on the Skype call, find out I got the gig, and rushed over to my performance. I found out the gig was to wear a hot dog costume in front of Wiener’s Circle to advertise for a minor league baseball team… from 6:30am to 10:30am in the morning. RIP! I’m not used to being up that early in the morning, but decided to do it anyways for the money’s sake. When I arrive at the Wiener’s Circle at super early in the morning, I was given my hot dog costume and left to stand around for a little bit. Since it’s super early and there was a DJ at this event, he decided to play the Cupid Shuffle and the Cha Cha Slide. So here I was, dancing around in a hot dog suit at early o’clock in the morning with a bunch of other people in hot dog costumes. As the morning progressed, a bunch of news stations came to record us holding signs for the Chicago Dogs minor league baseball team and waving. They also recorded us playing wiffle ball in these costumes. A bunch of standing around happened in between all of the madness. When I eventually checked my phone, a bunch of people, including my roommate friends, said they saw me on TV. I had always wanted to be on TV and finally got the opportunity to!
3. I also got to be on TV a second time in the same week! This time, it was a bit more of a surprise! I had applied to another freelance gig on Craigslist and ended up getting a call back. I trek to Michigan Avenue for an interview and get a call a few days later saying I got a gig. The gig was at 1:45am to do what I thought was to “help set up for an event” at the Garfield Park Conservatory. When I arrive at the conservatory, I get there and see some snacks and coffee, balloons, and plastic silverware. After having some coffee and noms, I was instructed to help roll up silverware. After rolling up silverware for awhile and talking to the other people in the room because we were all artists, the man in charge of the gig told me to come outside into the hallway and put a vest on in order for the security guards to know I was allowed into the conservatory. I’m then greeted by a man named Mike who claims he’s worked with plants for a long time. He tells me to water these pods for awhile while we’re having a general conversation. While I’m watering the pods, Mike pulls out a “forbidden plant” from his bag that was one of his coworker’s babies, but he got fired for it because he wasn’t allowed to have this Cuban accelerator plant at the conservatory. Mike then touched his orange to the plant and the plant began multiplying in size and sprouting a fruit the size of an orange in it. He throws the plant back in his bag and steps outside to call his manager. His manager doesn’t answer because there’s no signal. Meanwhile I’m still remaining super chill and not having much of a reaction to anything because I don’t get scared easily. He then takes the plant back out of his bag to notice it’s multiplied even more in size and began taking human form. It was sprouting a face, eyes, nose, and even looking and blinking at me. I thought it was some kind of magic trick or illusion. He proceeded to tell me the plant was morphing due to the “Carbonaro Effect” and I’m like “whaaaaaa???” And then he tells me the Carbonaro Effect is a TV show and I’ve been pranked. I was like, “cool, I’ve always wanted to be on TV”. We both start laughing, he walked me out of the room into another room where I signed some waivers and showed my ID, was given $100 bucks for an hour and 45 minutes of my time, told I'd air in September or fall time, and escorted to my car. Someday I will be famous and now is my time to shine!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)