see and be scene

i had a fairly serious job interview in the city today. forty-five stories up melbourne central tower. i did my best not to look out the window, even though the view was literally awesome. what is it about job interviews that stresses people out so much? is it simply because we hang so many of our future aspirations on them? i don’t think it’s that simple. there are just too many problems inherent in the format of being lined up (as if against a wall) in front of a panel of judges, whose function is basically to sniff out and expose any character flaws, dubious motivations or emotional instabilities.

but then i got to thinking, it’s probably the only option there is. personally i would probably prefer to sit some kind of test (with lots of multiple choice questions, where the correct answer can easily be deduced by a process of elimination) or have the whole thing judged entirely on the merits of an application letter or essay, but that’s just me: my writing skills far outweigh my speaking skills (am occassionally prone to st-st-st-stuttering when under pressure), and i notoriously go to water when being interviewed for anything of any significance, major or minor, regardless of quantity or quality of preparation.

this is fairly daunting, really. unless i want to work in part-time/casual hospitality jobs for the rest of my days, i’m gonna have to start getting wise. and you can’t apply the ‘practise makes perfect’ dictum, either: the better you are at job interviews, the less of them you will inevitably end up suffering. so the sheer fact that you keep going for job interviews is probably indicative of your inherent ineptitude firstly, and your inability to learn secondly.

let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. i don’t find out about this interview until april (gotta rendezvous with HQ, i suppose, those homing pigeons like to take their time), and i have a back-up plan lined up for this friday. surely i’m at least 50% successful? if not in interviews, then in life?

anyway, in preparing for my interview, i stumbled across this hilarious thread. please note that i didn’t find that thread by googling “cosplay sluts,” unlike the person who stumbled upon raced rabidly towards this very journal after googling “demure japanese girls.” wish i was joking.

i’m trying really hard to get into this. like i’m really trying. it’s hard! probably the densest (most dense…none more dense) work of fiction i’ve ever read. in fact it’s half like reading a “why, it’s elementary, watson!”-type detective story, half like reading an in-depth academic history of the church in the middle ages. and i’m not the most church-savvy at the best of times. i know that as the story progresses, eco’s ulterior motives will become more apparent, but right now (abuot 100 pages in) it’s hard to reconcile what’s going on within the walls of the abbey, outside the walls of the abbey, and inside eco’s semiotic mind. basically, i know that the whole thing will tie together nicely, if mysteriously, and i won’t have wasted my time with all this carry-on about monks and franciscans and the papacy and burnings-at-the-stake. still, given the academic nature of the novel, the writing is still very emotive; really captures the god-fearing vernacular in a highly literate and effective way. will report back soon (or not, depending on how long it takes me).

what can be said about heath ledger? i loved this guy. i loved everything he ever did, and as an australian was constantly proud of everything that he achieved, both at home and overseas. i am absolutely certain he was oscar material (as if his first nomination wasn’t proof enough) and the circumstances of his death are just tragic. no words of mine can add to what has already been said; heath was a rare talent and we will always be in debt to his contributions to film. i know the dark knight will be absolutely phenomenal. you will be missed.

i know i said updates would be more frequent, but that means they come at the cost of actual content. deal with it.

so long, friends.