Friday, July 15, 2011
Harry Potter: The Epic Finale
SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 AND DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
A smattering to share
So this weekend has been a really good one. And this week should be equally as good. As I've mentioned here before, this summer I'm doing a big pleasure reading campaign. To date, I have read fifteen books. I've still got seventeen on my list to read. No, not this entire summer. I'll probably get through five or six more before school begins. Especially once I sit the MPRE and get that out of the way. Plus, at that point, I'll also be only working my weekend job. I haven't read this many books in a long time. Last year I read the Percy Jackson series and maybe one or two others. Still, that's only six or seven. I am really loving being able to discover all these new series and continue ones I've picked up previously. Of course, once I finish the list, I'll have to wait a year or more for new installments. I've got eight series to wait for. Only one of those is non-sci-fi/fantasy, too. Which is kind of impressive. I'm not 100% sure of the break down but I think only 3 of them are young adult series. The rest are all adults. Which for me is kind of odd as I really like young adult novels.
As for writing, I'm nearly halfway through the first draft of Shanna O'Guinn (family saga set in Northern Ireland). After starting two other novels this year and stalling out a little over the 10,000-word mark on each, I'm quite pleased with the progress I'm making on this project. I've also been thinking about what I'd like to write for National Novel Writing Month this year. It's likely going to be a kind of futuristic sci-fi with sword fighting, political assassinations and winged badass leather-clad women. Currently called A Broken Hallelujah. I'm also planning in August (again, once the MPRE is completed) on getting back to revising Euterpe's Song. If you haven't heard, I'm turning it into a young adult novel from a middle grade. I've already added about 3,000 words in word count. And I'm only on chapter 3! I'll definitely be able to beef up the storyline. Then probably in like October-ish (hopefully) I"ll be able to start querying it.
In a more temporally proximate line of thinking, I'm only 4 days from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I will be going to 3:10am showing at the theater up the street from my apartment because the 12:01am showing was already sold out. Yes, you read that right. Three o'clock in the morning. And then I'm going to work that day, too. Now I know I"m not a college kid anymore and I never did pull all nighters (the awesome folks of the Boston Wrimos will tell you crashed near the end of our twenty-four hour write in last November) but I've got a plan. I'll get home on Thursday, the fourteenth (between 4:45-5:00) and sleep probably until ten o'clock or so. Grab something to eat and maybe watch Suits. Then I'd like to get to the theater around midnight (hopefully they'll be letting us into the theater at that point in time. I'm bringing a book (I do have to keep up that campaign, plus it's a 3 hour wait). I'll be reading The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry. I'll get home from the movie around 5:30 or so and probably nap for a bit. Til maybe seven o'clock, then get to work by 8;30 per usual and work until 4:30. I'll come home, sleep for a bit and hopefully get up and watch Torchwood at ten and then go back to bed and be up the next morning to go to work. I've been planning this for weeks so I really hope it works out properly. I've read a few reviews of the film and they are positive. I'm really hoping they do the parts of he book justice that they've not done so well in the past (i.e. Snape's memory in the fifth film was pretty pointless).
The last thing I'd like to share is that I recently bought concert tickets to see Hanson play the House of Blues here in Boston on October 9th. I saw them at this venue two years ago and it was all right show. I couldn't get out of class so I was a little late to venue so didn't have a very good spot in line to get a good spot within the venue. This time I'm getting there early and getting in line. I want to be near the stage damn, it. I'm also bringing a friend from school. This will be her first Hanson show so hopefully it will be a great experience for her
As for writing, I'm nearly halfway through the first draft of Shanna O'Guinn (family saga set in Northern Ireland). After starting two other novels this year and stalling out a little over the 10,000-word mark on each, I'm quite pleased with the progress I'm making on this project. I've also been thinking about what I'd like to write for National Novel Writing Month this year. It's likely going to be a kind of futuristic sci-fi with sword fighting, political assassinations and winged badass leather-clad women. Currently called A Broken Hallelujah. I'm also planning in August (again, once the MPRE is completed) on getting back to revising Euterpe's Song. If you haven't heard, I'm turning it into a young adult novel from a middle grade. I've already added about 3,000 words in word count. And I'm only on chapter 3! I'll definitely be able to beef up the storyline. Then probably in like October-ish (hopefully) I"ll be able to start querying it.
In a more temporally proximate line of thinking, I'm only 4 days from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I will be going to 3:10am showing at the theater up the street from my apartment because the 12:01am showing was already sold out. Yes, you read that right. Three o'clock in the morning. And then I'm going to work that day, too. Now I know I"m not a college kid anymore and I never did pull all nighters (the awesome folks of the Boston Wrimos will tell you crashed near the end of our twenty-four hour write in last November) but I've got a plan. I'll get home on Thursday, the fourteenth (between 4:45-5:00) and sleep probably until ten o'clock or so. Grab something to eat and maybe watch Suits. Then I'd like to get to the theater around midnight (hopefully they'll be letting us into the theater at that point in time. I'm bringing a book (I do have to keep up that campaign, plus it's a 3 hour wait). I'll be reading The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry. I'll get home from the movie around 5:30 or so and probably nap for a bit. Til maybe seven o'clock, then get to work by 8;30 per usual and work until 4:30. I'll come home, sleep for a bit and hopefully get up and watch Torchwood at ten and then go back to bed and be up the next morning to go to work. I've been planning this for weeks so I really hope it works out properly. I've read a few reviews of the film and they are positive. I'm really hoping they do the parts of he book justice that they've not done so well in the past (i.e. Snape's memory in the fifth film was pretty pointless).
The last thing I'd like to share is that I recently bought concert tickets to see Hanson play the House of Blues here in Boston on October 9th. I saw them at this venue two years ago and it was all right show. I couldn't get out of class so I was a little late to venue so didn't have a very good spot in line to get a good spot within the venue. This time I'm getting there early and getting in line. I want to be near the stage damn, it. I'm also bringing a friend from school. This will be her first Hanson show so hopefully it will be a great experience for her
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
My Dream Job
So, everyone probably has that one job they would totally love to do if money and loads of other factors weren't an issue or consideration. And yes, I'm one of those people. However, I might actually be closer than some to their dream jobs. Right now, I'm working as an intern with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). I am in the Enforcement Unit handling the investigation of cases. Right now, I've got seventeen (17) on my plate right now. And I'm loving it.
I should probably backtrack just a tad. Last summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to intern with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It's the federal agency that handles employment discrimination. MCAD is obviously the state equivalent. So this past winter when I was looking for jobs, I thought I'd see if MCAD had any positions open for interns. Lo and behold they did. I sent in my application and got an interview. The interview went great. I interviewed with the person who became my supervisor, Karen. She has been a great support during my first month with the Commission. She is very much a believer in the open door policy and she's always got time to discuss my cases with me. I think working for EEOC gave me a leg up in terms of understanding the process a case goes through and what are needed to prove a claim of discrimination.
I also came into my current internship with a semester of employment law and disability law under my belt. I thoroughly enjoyed both courses and am still in touch with my professors. So beyond just knowing how to write a disposition, I really know the law. I think having all this background knowledge on the subject matter is extremely useful. Plus it makes me feel as if I really have learned something in law school and that I have found a real, practical use for it. I am putting what I know into practice.
So as I said earlier, I've currently got seventeen cases on my desk that I'm working through. Sure I got through about fifty during my summer with EEOC but this summer, I am the primary investigator on thee cases. I'm the contact person for the complaining parties and the respondents. I think I'm making up for the smaller volume with the ability to really analyze each case more carefully and really think about what kind of information I need to ask fro to make a decision in each case. Another thing I've come to realize no that I've got my own case load and have requested quite a lot of information from various parties is that the process takes so long because there is a lot of waiting around for responses. I have been waiting on documentation on the majority of my cases since my first week on the job. I don't like to be idle when it comes to work. I'm extremely efficient (probably why I have 17 cases right now and other interns haven't even gotten through all o their original ten cases). I have a system I've developed when I get a new cases where I go through and summarize the complaining party's allegations and the respondent's position. Then, all that's left is really to apply the facts to the elements of the law and see what I get. It allows me to make excellent use of my time. But it also tends to leave me wanting more cases with a day or two after receiving new cases.
So you may be wondering how all that ramble about loving the work I'm doing right now ties in with y dream job. Well, I think it's pretty clear I would love to work for MCAD. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear they are hiring for the coming year in the Enforcement division (or any division for that matter). While I'm really enjoying my time with MCAD (and it's not just the work. I'm making a lot of friends with the other interns which I've never really had a previous job), I could see myself working for EEOC as well. I really want to work for a government agency at either level. But as I'm beginning to realize that government jobs are hard to come by, I might need to settle for actually working for a firm that handles employment law. So I'm planning to use the connections I've made in the last year with both my professors and my contacts at EEOC to see if I can find a way to stay in the employment discrimination area.
I should probably backtrack just a tad. Last summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to intern with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It's the federal agency that handles employment discrimination. MCAD is obviously the state equivalent. So this past winter when I was looking for jobs, I thought I'd see if MCAD had any positions open for interns. Lo and behold they did. I sent in my application and got an interview. The interview went great. I interviewed with the person who became my supervisor, Karen. She has been a great support during my first month with the Commission. She is very much a believer in the open door policy and she's always got time to discuss my cases with me. I think working for EEOC gave me a leg up in terms of understanding the process a case goes through and what are needed to prove a claim of discrimination.
I also came into my current internship with a semester of employment law and disability law under my belt. I thoroughly enjoyed both courses and am still in touch with my professors. So beyond just knowing how to write a disposition, I really know the law. I think having all this background knowledge on the subject matter is extremely useful. Plus it makes me feel as if I really have learned something in law school and that I have found a real, practical use for it. I am putting what I know into practice.
So as I said earlier, I've currently got seventeen cases on my desk that I'm working through. Sure I got through about fifty during my summer with EEOC but this summer, I am the primary investigator on thee cases. I'm the contact person for the complaining parties and the respondents. I think I'm making up for the smaller volume with the ability to really analyze each case more carefully and really think about what kind of information I need to ask fro to make a decision in each case. Another thing I've come to realize no that I've got my own case load and have requested quite a lot of information from various parties is that the process takes so long because there is a lot of waiting around for responses. I have been waiting on documentation on the majority of my cases since my first week on the job. I don't like to be idle when it comes to work. I'm extremely efficient (probably why I have 17 cases right now and other interns haven't even gotten through all o their original ten cases). I have a system I've developed when I get a new cases where I go through and summarize the complaining party's allegations and the respondent's position. Then, all that's left is really to apply the facts to the elements of the law and see what I get. It allows me to make excellent use of my time. But it also tends to leave me wanting more cases with a day or two after receiving new cases.
So you may be wondering how all that ramble about loving the work I'm doing right now ties in with y dream job. Well, I think it's pretty clear I would love to work for MCAD. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear they are hiring for the coming year in the Enforcement division (or any division for that matter). While I'm really enjoying my time with MCAD (and it's not just the work. I'm making a lot of friends with the other interns which I've never really had a previous job), I could see myself working for EEOC as well. I really want to work for a government agency at either level. But as I'm beginning to realize that government jobs are hard to come by, I might need to settle for actually working for a firm that handles employment law. So I'm planning to use the connections I've made in the last year with both my professors and my contacts at EEOC to see if I can find a way to stay in the employment discrimination area.
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