Penelope Trunk

I just wanted to share with you guys a blog that I read. It's Penelope Trunk's Blazen Careerist. It can be found here: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/

Backstory:

My friend Roger told me to start reading this blog when I was in a HUGE job slump. I was (and still am) in love with my boyfriend so when he was in Charlotte after grad school, it only made sense for me to be there too. We had been living together (actually I just moved my stuff in after the summer and gave him no choice) for a few months prior but then our apartment was robbed and with him finshing grad school, his mom, asked him to come home to the Queen's City. Well I wasn't invited so I was living with MY mom in Norfolk, VA but was trying to find a job in Charlotte. This was around Feburary 2008ish so there wasn't an official economic crisis yet and the job market was still steady. I was fresh out of college with a degree so I figured EVERYONE would want to hire me right?

RIGHT???

So I'm sitting in my mom's one bedroom apartment filling out yet another online application at another large corporation that I felt would benefit from my "wonderful" marketing skills (keep in mind I'm fresh out of college so I now know EVERYTHING there is to know about marketing)and Roger calls wanting a life update.

I love Roger, not in the same way I love my boyfriend but Roger is just a great person and almost always twists any horrible situation into something better. This is why he's Executive Director of Eastern NC Regional Science Center aka (GO-Science) and making BANK. He gives me life tips and he told me about Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist. He tells me that this lady is REAL and gives practical advice to my generation about how to get a job. So I subscribed. I tend do try to follow Roger's advice cause he's way worldly than I am so he must be doing something right.

I start getting the Blazen Careerist in my gmail once a week. I was gobbling it up like cake but I realized...her advice sucked. I felt like it wasn't for me. Of course I'm in my 20's and I feel like it should be targeted to ME!!!! Well one day I was reading the blog and I realized the reason I felt so unfuilled with the blog was that I wanted to be JUST like Penelope! I had always wanted to start my own business but in my mind, businesses were not about work. It would just happen. I didn't like having to hear about how hard it was to run a business. I didn't like hearing about how it was hard to balance home life and your start up. I wanted it to be easy.

That's when I woke up about my job search. I was thinking that people should be seeking me out to give me a job. That it should be easy. I needed to get REAL about my job search, so I started looking for cheap apartments online in Charlotte. I had been using a friend's address on my resume who actually lived there but it was time for me to be IN my job search not driving back and forth from Norfolk, VA to Charlotte, NC every few weeks for an interview.

I have this huge realization and get really excited about this next stage in life...and then the boyfriend gets a job in Binghamton, NY with a great company. So what did I do? I didn't wait for an invite, I started looking online for apartments and jobs :)

Next post...How unlike Charlotte, NC, Binghamton, NY is and how people with degrees make minium wage.

I forgot about this thing...

So we moved to Endicott.
Our new house is WAY nicer.
Living here still sucks.
I'm bored on weekends.
I'm off this Friday so I want to go somewhere out of town.
The boyfriend doesn't want to go anywhere.
I miss the people I called friends.
I miss going out and doing stuff.
I think I'm going to join a new gym.
I think I'm actually going to go to said gym.
I'm using Twitter A LOT.
Follow me: www.twitter.com/happywalks
The boyfriend and I have watched the entire 3 seasons of Heroes.
Now we are bored again.
I've been fishing lately.
I want to out on a boat and go fishing.
I still have my job.
They just finished layoffs at work.
I'm currently reading "The Gatecrasher" by Madeleine Wickham.
I should be reading stuff for that book reviewer thing.
The books for reviewing were very boring.
My car died on the way to work sometime last month.
I had to pay alot to get my car fixed.
I got a new cell phone.
It's touch screen.
I'm now kinda broke.
I tried going on a diet.
It worked for about 3 hours :(
I like to eat.

You are now pretty caught up on my life. Isn't that sad?

Books I've Reviewed

THINK AND MAKE IT HAPPEN- Dr. Augusto Cury

Think and Make It Happen was not the book for me. I was not very impressed with it at all. It’s a self-help book that outlines a program for “conquering anxiety, overcoming negative thoughts and discovering your true potential.” Cury starts off by giving different ways to read the book: Read it as you would any other book (which I did), read one chapter a week, or work through the 12 principles in small groups. I chose to read it as I would any other book because I thought it would be an interesting read…boy was I wrong. Cury is very redundant and long winded throughout the entire book. I feel that he was trying to break it down for everyone to understand but man…after a few pages it was like, PLEASE get to the point!

I picked up this book strictly as a self help book, not as a religious book. It seemed like everything tied to Jesus as a man but then Cury would link it back to himself and how he overcame a situation. It got old after awhile plus Cury gave a bunch of medical terms that the average person would not understand. Overall, I would not recommend this book to others unless they have at least a Masters in Psych and are willing to be bored.