Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Oh hey guys. Let me quickly reference where I was the last time I caught you all up.... Oh wow. It's been A WHILE. I mean, this one KINDA counts, but really this was just me showing you a few pictures of shenanigans I had gotten into, and not really a recap of where I had been , or where I was heading....My bad. I'll look to correct that, starting now. So where does that leave me to begin?

Well...

As you may (or may not have?) realized, I have been living in Coastal South Carolina for the entire summer. At my parents house. Which I haven't lived at for 10 years. It has been weird, to say the least. My original plan was to leave all my stuff in Seattle (check!) sell my car on the West Coast (check!) fly home to SC for the summer (check) get a job, work, save, live rent free (check, check, check) and then fly back to the west Coast in late August to start a life over in that area of the country. (not. so.check). You would think, after 5+ years of moving about, randomly, that I would know myself well enough that I wouldn't make 'plans' for something that was 4-5 months down the road...but, alas.

About halfway through the summer I took a trip to Asheville, NC and it hit me that I wanted to call that city home. More than Portland or Seattle or any other smaller town on the West Coast. Asheville is about 5-6 hours from my parents house on the coast of SC, is in the mountains, has a great outdoor scene, lots of local breweries, and in general is an cute as hell town, and a great size. (Also, four seasons, great music, good food trucks, brick buildings....yeah). I discussed much of this with my sister Hayley, and she agreed that Asheville sounded like a good fit, and wanted to move with me. I knew I had a few obstacles to work through (a music festival in Atlanta I already had ticket for mid September. A gig house sitting the beginning of September in a close town on the coast. A cousin's wedding in Seattle the beginning of November. A camping trip throughout the PNW the beginning of October.) So I started brainstorming.

I had a new plan, which included moving to Asheville in November after the wedding. Then work started sucking (fiscally and otherwise) so I quit, mid August. This changed things. I immediately bought a ticket to Seattle, flew out late August, bought a car in 4 days, and then began my drive back across the country, new car packed full of all the stuff  left there 4 months earlier on its way to a new home.

Travel time again! and a S'more cupcake outta Springfield, MO

My new Lady, a 2004 Subaru Outback (so fancy!) and me atop the Flat Irons in Boulder, CO

What? Katie's shoes in a undisclosed location? (Montana), Tubing with friends on the Wyoming/Utah Boarder

The new plan was this: House sit for a few days. Go to music festival. Get PFD from Alaska deposited the beginning of October, and move immediately after that to Asheville, having to give up my PNW camping trip, but hoping to still have money enough for my cousins wedding in November. Well then I got two tickets for expired plates on the drive cross country. And unfortunate circumstances canceled my housesitting gig. I was now back on the coast, SUPER in debt, without a job for a month, scraping together money for rent and deposit in Asheville. 

I applied for a barista position I saw on craigslist. Figured, hey, why not. Work a month there (don't tell them that till I'm hired) make some extra cash, and be on a little better footing before moving in a month. done.

I go in for a interview at a local boutique that wants to also become a coffee bar (which we lack in these parts). I can walk to it from my house. The interview? 'Can you make me an espresso drink?'. Immediately I know that this is more than a barista position. They need my help. They explain they love coffee, know nothing about it. Want to hire me as someone who creates their coffee menu, sets price points, makes list of what they need to order. Hires other baristas and trains them. I know I cannot give them just a month, we talk. We strike a deal. I give them TWO MONTHS, get the ball rolling, set up a coffee bar for them, they pay me WELL and (under the table). So, now I have a new plan. I get a chance to create something new (which really excites me) without having to use my own money (more exciting) and come November 10th, I'm done. Hayley and I head to Asheville. I still get to go to my music festival in Atlanta. I still get to go to the wedding in Seattle the beginning of November. I will have money to live off of in Asheville while getting my footing, and I may even sneak in a Neutral Milk Hotel show in ATL mid October. It  took a lot for me to push back leaving Pawleys (it kills my soul a bit) but as long as I'm doing something worth while, and making $$$ I can give up another month. To quote the basement wall in Egypt: 'Oh life, stop being so funny.'

So, that's where I am at. In the GRAND scheme of things. (I also have this little item going on, but no updates as of yet). I have a  few more posts coming up to detail some smaller events that have happened over the last few months, but I figured a general catch up was due. I leave you with my favorite portion of Wallace Stevens 'Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird', a poem I was reminded of recently while reading a good  book :D

V

I do not know which to prefer,   

The beauty of inflections   

Or the beauty of innuendoes,   

The blackbird whistling   

Or just after.   

Jauntaroo DREAM JOB

Yesterday morning I woke up to a text message from my kickass friend Tyler that pointed me to THIS ARTICLE.  As I read, I was astounded. This has to be a hoax, no way this is like, for realz. Here I was reading, word for word, my dream job description.

"Help wanted: An "enthusiastic" traveler to fly around the globe for a year, all expenses paid, earning $100,000 in salary for blogging about it – and for volunteering to leave each destination “a little better than when you found it.”

The company in question? Jauntaroo.com  Don't worry, I hadn't heard of them either. I immediately hoped on over to THEIR site and took a look. To my amazement, only 72 people had applied for this job. YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME. I mean, just 72!? Have we really gotten THAT lazy? Well, So I HAD to apply. It was that simple. I go to see the requirements and it is simply to make a 60 second video on why I would be good for the position. Okay. One) I've never worked with video software in my life Two) What the hell am I going to say, that someone hasn't already? Isn't that always the hard part? So I take a look at the videos that have already been posted.

Now, I don't mean this mean or anything but.... really? I mean, YES there are people who have traveled a shit ton. and YES there are some very qualified post college students who have journalism degrees. But YES they also all seem like snore fests. I'M SERIOUS. so boring. How can this be? So I look at more videos. More snores. I mean, I don't even want to watch a full minute of these people, how am I supposed to be interested in the travel they are going to represent for Jauntaroo?

So I buckle down. A video. I can do this. i start rifling through all the old video footage I have on my hard drive. Spoiler: It isn't a lot. I decide I def. don't want to do a video of me just sitting there talking. I also don't want a video showing far away places, because, duh. that is what travel is. But you know what else travel is that no one has seemed to care to show? FUN. Frickin' dirty, stinky, messy, laugh inducing fun.

Okay, so I have to silly video. That explains me pretty well...But what else? Do they need to also know the serious stuff? The fact that I never wear pants? or that I obsessively take photos of my feet in different locations, b/c loafers and tiles are cool? You know, the hard hitting, get me the job, type stuff. I decide they do. And this, this is what I end with...

Now, even though you just watched the video here, can I PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE implore you to click the link below, and simply click 'Like' at the top of the page? You don't have to watch the video again, I promise. You just have to tell the world you like me, and you think I'd be a cool person to travel around the globe. OR maybe you just want to get rid of me for a while, well here's your chance for a WHOLE YEAR. So DO IT.

VOTE HERE. OH GOD PLEASE.

Then, pick up your smart phone (you have one don't lie) and hit the 'like' button on that link again. Then your tablet. Then your girlfriends tablet. Then your cats. and I BEG YOU, tomorrow, REPEAT. You never have to watch my face again in that video, you simply have to take a minute out of your day, vote on all your electronic devices, and then be on your merry way. Think of the children.