Fake It 'Til You Make It

I've been trying to figure something out: does being a grown-up mean actually being a competent, functional member of society, or is adulthood really just perfecting the art of convincing people you are a competent, functional member of society?

In the past month I have been very fortunate to turn an internship into a bonafide job. The process was daunting and overdramatized on my part but at the end of that tunnel I found a salary, retirement plan and even real health care (the excitement I feel when I think of never having to return to Medicaid-quality doctors is unprecidented).

For the past week and two days, I've plopped down at the very same desk in the very same cubicle and felt really, really scared. The technology I'm working with is exactly the same and I have a functional knowledge of the information I'm supposed to handle, but none if it is good enough to make me feel comfortable. I am terrified someone will find out I don't have any idea what I'm tinkering with most the time. After a few hours I seem to figure things out, but right off the cuff, I have zero idea what is happening.

The emperor has no clothes.

I shared (share being a loose interpretation of an extra computer being jammed into a pre-existing office likely against the will of two photographers) an office in Alaksa with two photojournalists. One of them told me once that he just wakes up every day and does his very best to convince the world he knows what he's doing. I didn't find that news reassuring then, but it seems strangely true now.

An Ill-Equipped Population

Today I saw a guy using a leaf blower in lieu of a shovel. I'd hazard to guess that 70% of my co-workers chose to stay home because of the snow.

I'm with the president, D.C. needs to tough up.

The Internet is Not a Truck -- It is a Magical Place, Operated by Unicorns and the Jonas Brothers

Lately I've focused a lot of my energy on understanding a generational workplace divide. My fear is that this is a one-sided endeavor and 'boomers have yet to realize that my g-g-generation isn't the same as theirs.

Here's me in a nutshell:


Raised on Number Munchers, Pizza to Go and Oregon Trail, computers have never been confusing or particularly scary to me. Certainly, I'm not a whiz but I am not afraid to figure out what's keeping me from achieving my digital goals; even when that means irreversibly screwing things up for my boss to fix.

As a card-carrying member of Generation Y, I need to multitask to stay awake. As I write this I've got no fewer than 3 work-related projects open and about as many personal items online too. I care about leading a balanced life and that means home bleeding into work and work bleeding into home. If you need me at 3 a.m. on a Friday to update a work project, I'll probably do it. If my friend needs me at 11 a.m. Tuesday to consult on a life crisis, I'll probably do that as well.


I've put a lot of time and energy into learning the skills I've got (and learning how to absorb new ones). I feel entitled to more than I should, probably because I've been positively reinforced in everything I've done since birth.

A paper-less office makes more sense than mimeographs, iPods make more sense than a radio and emails make more sense than a fax ever has.

My confidence may come off as arrogance, silence disrespect. I can assure you, however, that there is little ill-will intended. I am doing my best to learn and observe how things operate in the hope that by understanding the system I can bend it to include me.

Fourbuhfours and NPR

I was thrilled to hear Cal Worthington on NPR's Morning Edition today. Unfortunately, it' wasn't great news. I think, however, a man who can comfortably pose next to a tiger will probably weather a rough economy.

I really enjoyed this piece on the NBC Page Program. Jack McBrayer (Kenneth from 30 Rock) is kind of a super stud:

At 35, Mr. McBrayer is rather long in the tooth for the page program, which is usually peopled by recent college graduates. Mr. McBrayer was not a page himself. But he has been mistaken for one.

“It happens mostly when people are delivering stuff, and there I am at a desk in my page uniform,” he said in a telephone interview. “Instead of giving the whole spiel, that I’m an actor in a fake show, I just look down at the phone list and type ‘2379, Marci Klein.’ ”

And a final note: I am giving some serious thought to riding the rails like a depression-era hobo. Do people still do that?

Overdone, Done better somewhere else

But I just wanted to catalog my life here.

Yesterday Andrew and I (some big sleep afficianados) got up at 5 a.m., put on 3 pairs of socks (4 for him), 3 pairs of pants, 4 layers of shirts and sweaters, hats, scarves and gloves and set out on a 17 block walk to the national mall.

Needless to say, there were hassles and headaches on the way. I have never seen so many people in such good spirits.

We sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, watching the sun rise over the Capitol and huddling together for warmth. We weren't much for the bustle of the mall and had a pretty okay view of Washington's magesty, chilling like G's with Abe.

It was an amazing moment for America. I'm glad I got to share it with a million or so other people but mostly glad I got to share it with Andrew.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say election night was still more electrifying for D.C. But yesterday didn't belong just to the district, it belonged to everyone.

Secret Canadian Celebrities Really Upset Me

I hate it when I find out some celebrity who has been celebritying for a long time is Canadian.

Tonight: Tommy Chong, Christopher Plummer and Brendan Fraser

Jerks.

Leggings are not pants.

Stop pretending they are.