Stress, This Economy, & The Greater Good

I will just lay it on the line here, folks.
I went to university for approximately 15 years. Within that time I acquired 2 Bachelor's of Art degrees and a certificate of study. Supposedly, I know enough to be a socio-cultural anthropologist, an aficionado of Chicano/Latino culture, and a digital artist. The thing is, with all that schooling, I work at a fitness club/video store.

I am by no means "fit", nor do I represent the image that a fitness club probably prefers to sell to its potential clients. I'm a bit tomboyish in appearance. I prefer skate sneaks, ironic t-shirts, and pigtails, to sweats, running shoes, and sculpted muscles. Over the past 6 months, I have visited the inside of the ice-cream cooler more frequently than the inside of the gym. My prior job, teaching kids to waveboard (http://www.thewave.com/) kept me without the need of a spare tire, but with an aching back and sore, dominate foot. It was a rock star job that I had to forfeit but, it didn't pertain to my degrees either. Just my hobbies.

I digress. I love the video store side of my job. Mainly because I look forward to seeing regulars, gossiping about Battlestar and Big Brother UK, and asserting my non-managerial self on a somewhat passive-aggressive staff. All the while pining for a job as a production assistant turn director of photography at a local film production company.

The economy sucks. My as-of-today domestic partner (paperwork and courthouse approved) Holly and I are thinking about second jobs. I am so tired from working evenings, I can't imagine having to get up and work in the mornings. On top of that, there's no way I want Holly to have to work another job on top of her 7 to 4 job. We barely see each other as it is.
My job pays s**t. The only redeeming qualities are the above said traits and my benefits.

You see, I have this nasty little disorder called Fibromyalgia. It was at the root of why I had to abandon my rock star job. Rock stars should be able to afford insurance, but I didn't work often enough to be able to. Plus, I was an independent contractor. They didn't take taxes out and that hurts at the beginning of the year when you are living paycheck to paycheck. And by you, I mean me.

Holly was informed last week that her job was cutting salary pay by 10% or some foolish amount. Enough to where I see the worry in her eyes and disappointment in herself for past spending. She is afraid we may end up losing our house, which is actually her house when it comes down to it. All I can do is try and comfort her with empty words and warm embraces.
Both hold a lot of truth, but the reality of the outcome is a bit terrifying. I want to do so much more. I want to solve all the financial woes and worries. I want to make her smile like sunshine.
But all I can do is sell gym memberships, rent movies, and hope somebody out there may want to buy an occasional photograph at the right moment.

All that said, the dogs and kitty are fed, the roof is still above our heads, and I have the best friends ever. Life really isn't so bad. Things could be much worse.

I just need to remember that. Cheers.

General Salvez & The Fall of the Empire!

So, I sez to myself, "Hey, Salvez. Why don't you actually post something on this blog of yours so you can become part of that trendy blogging community on the interweb?". Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and didn't bother to answer.

<----That's an emu.

I think one of the problems I have with blogging or writing in general is that I am like a 12 year-old with ADD. I see something shiny to my right and get distracted quite easily. Or, I see an emu to my left and find the randomness funny. I cannot seem to hold a thought very long or I cannot type a consistent story or I am grammatically terrifying and use very long run-on sentences.

Perhaps, I should outline my thoughts before writing. For example, I could write about my day yesterday.
I. Morning
A. Woke up
1. Rolled over and continued to sleep until 10 a.m.
B. Woke up again.
1. Thought about doing some sit-ups. Dozed off.
C. Woke up yet again (riveting!)
1. Rolled out of bed, read a text, and stumbled to the loo.
D. Bathroom stuff (yada, yada, yada)
E. Turned on laptop.
1. Checked email, Flickr, did some top-secret government stuff, made coffee.
2. Photoshoped pictures for Photoshelter and Flickr accounts.
a. Waited for money to roll in from photos. Still waiting.
3. Turned on tellie and drank coffee while watching a show about a haunting in Conneticut.
II. Afternoon.
A. More of the same until work @ 3:30.
B. Things went downhill from there.

And that's where I will leave you. Suspenseful, I know. Quite telling of why I'm not a published novelist, as well. But hey, I'll give a try on a more daily basis.