For the past year, politics has been my life. Everything else has taken a backseat while I traveled our country to live my dream. Anytime I start feeling sad about my job, I just remember that I had an opportunity few have and there were many many happy times. For that, I am eternally grateful.

There were times when I thought that my life was just too great and maybe it was something God made happen to make up for the fact that I had this not so great childhood. I'll never forget those times and I have many people in my life now that only exist in my life because my job placed me in places where I could meet them (hi Paula and Michelle!).

But I wasn't smart. I let politics not only dominate my life but dominate it to a point where I didn't have much else there. So, this makes me wonder if maybe I'm not cut out for campaign work.

The dirty secret of campaign work is that a lot of the time you get treated like crap, paid like crap, and promised things that never materialize (promotions, pay increases, opportunities, skills). I worked for people during the last year which were pretty good to me but I started out organizing making $400/week. Thank goodness I had free housing, but I was working 80-100 hours a week! The interns in DC were making $2000/month....so annoying.

So the question then becomes, am I willing to put my life on hold to work in politics, not make very good money, not have very stable employment, work insane hours, and work with and under people who can be inept or totally lame?

Sigh. So I've applied to several jobs and it's really frustrating how time consuming it is just to apply to a job. Not only should your cover letter and resume be tailored to each job you apply to, but when you email those out, you should even have a mini cover letter in the email body. And then I'm all confused because most of the jobs I'm applying to ask for no phone calls or faxes and so I email them my stuff. Do I follow up with an email a week or so later? I'm not usually emailing these to specific people because a specific person isn't listed. The whole thing is just really annoying.

The good thing is that I'm realizing how valuable my background is in qualitative and quantitative methodology is. In fact, I wish I had some of my books here so I can refresh my knowledge.

I've discovered I get bad writer's block on my cover letters. The worst part is my intro. I want it to be exciting enough to catch their interest, but nothing crazy or weird. I'm also having a hard time summarizing how awesome I am. I kid. But really, summarizing 7 years of college, 5 years of work experience and several skills I've gained from school and work can be challenging.

So that's the challenge. I'm thinking I might head to Border's tomorrow to get out of the house and work a little on job applications. I'm getting bored here at home...

There were aspects of my last job that I greatly enjoyed. Namely, the candidate tracking. The rest of my job, which encompassed most of what I did, I didn't enjoy. It felt like menial work and everyday that passed, my IQ dropped a point. With this in mind, I continued in my job, worked my ass off and didn't search very hard for another job. Why?

I enjoyed the familiarity I had with the campaign and my coworkers. I loved the casual dress code and other small perks that can be unique to campaigns. But mostly, it was safe. I knew how to do the job, it wasn't difficult, and I made enough money to pay my bills. So when I was laid off, I was pretty upset but realized the silver lining. I wasn't strong enough to leave on my own to pursue something better, someone had to push me out, push me out so I could pursue something great. Greatness doesn't happen when you are playing it safe.

So with a severance package that buys me a month or so to find another job, I begin my search in hopes of finding greatness.

So after spending a few days home in Seattle, I returned to my other home back east. I felt like I was going to a funeral, which sounds so awful and melodramatic, but it's painfully true. My whole life was my job and now it's gone which means I have no life. My social life revolved around my work and co-workers and that is gone. I can only spend some much time job hunting, writing cover letters, tweaking my resume, etc, before I become bored to death. So, I decided to use my severance check to buy a small television and get cable installed...

I haven't had my own access to a tv and cable in almost a year, so I think it's high time I was reunited with one of my great loves-television. I love to sleep with the tv on. It's a bad habit, but I've done it for so long and the familiarity of it feels really nice. I also figure that even when I do find a new job, it hopefully won't require 60-80 hour+ work weeks like my last job so I will have more time to relax in front of the tv.

I've been really toying with the idea of moving to Seattle. I just don't know if I should pull the trigger on that idea quite yet. Here's why; I've spent the last year building up my resume, but building it up for campaign work. Now, I'm not quite sure I want to do campaign work. The hours, the instability, the often times shitty treatment, I just don't know if I have it in me to make a career out of it. So when I look at other jobs that I'm not quite qualified for, but could be soon, I think what better place to be than D.C. to build up my resume and really get good experience outside of campaign work?

I love politics, and if I don't/can't work on campaigns, maybe I should keep myself in my Mecca to still feed that hunger but not gorge myself on it by working on campaigns?

Lastly, I would just like to say that I wish more than anything that my family lived out east. I love it out here, especially New England.

But only temporarily. Why sit around and job hunt and be lonely and bored in Maryland when I can do it surrounded by family and animals??? 

It's the end. Sad. 

So...it all happened today. I'm looking to get my resume out there. Gonna look for work in New England, Washington D.C., Utah/Idaho, Vegas, or Seattle.

Anyone know of any campaigns looking for a tracker or researcher? How about the public or non-profit sectors looking for a recent grad who works her ass off?

So a few years ago in my Sociological Theory class at BYU-Idaho, we were studying some theories by Terry Warner. You have probably not heard of him but I was so fascinated by the theories that I bought the book, Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute.  (he founded The Arbinger Institute).

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So I saw Sex and the City (SATC) today. I was going to see Iron Man, but it was sold out or something. I was a big fan of SATC. It took me a while to get used to the graphicness of SATC, but once I overcame the Mormonishness in me, I fell in love with the show. However, I haven't been too excited about the movie. I thought there was no way it could live up the hype and what the show was. Well, it did.

You laugh, you cry, you reflect, and you remember how important friends are.

It has a well deserved R-rating, so beware. But, if you like the tv show, go see the movie, it's well worth the money.

Having been a big Hillary fan and supporter, I've watched with interest as the primary election has continued on despite calls for her to drop out. I admire her grittiness and determination. I am glad she hasn't dropped out. The primary battle hasn't been the cleanest, but it hasn't been very dirty either.

This is a woman who has probably wanted to run for President her entire life and as each passing day occurs and the realization of her being the first female President slips farther and farther away, I can only imagine how she feels and I can only sympathize with the desperation she must cling to and rely on to not just stay in the race but stay relevant.

She's said some things that have been questionable but up until a few months ago she was running a near flawless campaign, though probably too cocky as they, her campaign, were unprepared for a battle past super Tuesday or even on super Tuesday. But how many people truly foresaw the Obamania? How many people truly believed any other candidate would stand a chance against Hillary? I mean there has to be some diehard Obama fans, but come on! Most people were resigned to the fact that no one could beat the Clinton machine or the chances would be slim and it would only happen if there was some major revelation that would destroy her campaign.

Next, despite some of the negative things about a long primary fight, I think it has been overwhelmingly positive for the Obama campaign and Democratic Party. I know others have pointed it out before, but how many Democrats, or Republicans, were able to start the general election with an organization in ALL 50 states??? That's what Obama is gonna have and might already have.

Not only does Obama have an organization in all 50 states, or will soon, but each state now has more registered voters, more excitement, better lists to work off of for GOTV work (get out the vote work) and all of that. I mean this is awesome awesome stuff for each Democratic state party!

The last great thing I've seen is that each state will be able to claim that its resident voted and their vote mattered (except Florida and Michigan). How much whining did we hear about how Iowa and New Hampshire were the only states that mattered, and maybe, maybe South Carolina and Nevada (and Florida for Rudy)??? That can't be claimed now. Idaho's vote mattered so much that Obama went to Boise for a rally that brought 15,000 people there to hear him speak!

So lastly I'd like to give some props to Hillary. The only thing harder than being President of the United States might be running for President. She has been under a microscope for years and subject to a level of scrutiny we cannot even imagine. Every word is analyzed, every move criticized, and everything questioned. Far more than the men who run, she has faced things, insults, and cruelty that nobody else has.

How would I have acted under the same circumstances? How would you have acted? I truly truly admire the fact that she can get up everyday, knowing she is fighting a losing battle, and hold her head up high. She is a fighter and I love that. Hillary, you have my respect.

So this past week I work I worked the 6am-3pm shift which required a wake up time of 4am. It totally sucked, but it was nice to get off at 3pm. Every night I was in bed and asleep by 9pm, but a few times I fell asleep right when I got home and woke up a few hours later, did some stuff, then went back to bed.

I decided to buy a new laptop because my current one is ginormous. I am still trying to sell my current one but am having some trouble because Fujitsu's aren't very well known. I bought the black Macbook and it is sweet! I use a Macbook at work so I don't really need to get familiar with a Mac.

So I'm sure you've all heard about Ted Kennedy. It's sad and a reminder of the preciousness of life. We know not when our time will come to move onto another world.

So the primary is almost over. I think Hillary will drop out in June. I'm currently thinking about who Obama will choose as a VP. Hillary, Richardson, Clark, Webb, maybe someone else??? Make a guess in the comments.

So Obama is telling his donors to not give money to any third party groups. Most candidates do this sortof thing but he is taking it to new levels. I know he wants to change things, but third party groups can serve valuable roles and the one I work for is clean, ethical, and pretty kick ass. So when Obama tells donors to not give money to groups such as the one I work for, that can make it difficult for these groups to survive. And it isn't just Obama, it's his staffers, and they keep doing it.

So Obama, how about you stick to what you do best and try not to quicken my unemployment status? I was hoping to stall it until after the election, not when the general election is about to start.