Mopey No More

I have never been able to tolerate self pity. I suddenly realize it's becoming my defining trait.
No more.
Turning over a new leaf.
To be continued...

Fairy Tale

Once upon a time I was having a bad day. I decided to take a walk and get some fresh air. Surely a walk in the brisk afternoon cool could do me nothing but good.
The first half of the walk was nice, in spite of my efforts making me realize how miserably out of shape I have gotten.
On my way back, for no reason at all, I decided to take an unnecessary short cut. Instead of walking around to the road side I figured I would hop down the gentle slope below that led to the road.
The hillside was covered in snow except for one small opening where many had clearly trodden before.
Step one: foot successfully planted on the hill.
Step two: left foot also successfully planted.
Step three: disaster.
Before I even realized what had happened my pelvis made contact with the wet ground throwing my head back with a force I was not anticipating.
Bounce, went my head off the soggy grass.
I quickly recovered and as subtly as I could I scanned the area for spectators. That was a negatory.
Without slackening my pace I made my way back to the office. After a moment it occurred to me that the entire back and right sides of my body were muddy and soaked. For a moment I considered walking past the building, getting right in my car and driving home. I remembered that I have very little shame and decided this was not a good enough reason to go home.
I made it back to my desk entirely unnoticed; a testament to my notoriety in the workplace. After having a candid discussion about what had just occurred with my trusted office mates I realized a dull pain growing on my back, neck and head.
This was a good reason to leave work early. (That and the fact that I had become keenly aware of a swamp-like odor building up from the damp mud covering my pants and jacket.)
So I headed home, took a shower and called it a day.
If I end up going to work tomorrow I think I'll just stay at my desk, because now I know for sure the answer to the question, "how could a walk possibly make my day any worse?"
The end.

Sour grapes

I read my last post and I'm a little ashamed of myself.
The truth is I was really excited for my friend to get that ring. It didn't end up happening this time, but I'm sure he's got a long and fruitful career ahead of him.
My failures are my own and I should take more time to appreciate the successes around me.
We'll get 'em next year, Sly.

Life After College

I earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in Journalism. While in school I was exposed to two types of people who were also drawn to this major.
The first is the girl who wants to be the talking head/failed actress who reads your local nightly news. The second was the guy who thinks that because he watches a lot of sports and has "interesting" insights, he will be given a job as a sports reporter. And not a sports reporter in the realistic sense that he will write about high school sports for the local paper, but sports reporter in the sense that Jim Rome is sports reporter.
There was also a significantly smaller group of people who were actually serious about journalism, but those nerds don't serve a purpose in making my sad, sad point here.
In every journalism course I took, I made it my mission to help these people, who in my eyes were simply lost souls looking to be saved, to see that journalism is a noble profession and a worthwhile pursuit. More often than not my efforts were fruitless, but occasionally someone would see that real journalism can be a powerful tool to affect change.
Then were a few instances where my efforts, seen clearly in hindsight, ended up being me getting suckered into doing someone else's work for them.
Why am I bringing this up?
For starters, in spite of my academic prowess and passion for the trade, my life since graduation has been less than stellar. My full time employment isn't by any means fulfilling, and my independent endeavors have been financial liabilities more than boons.
I learned yesterday that a person who fit in to the last group of people I described above was drafted after college to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I am happy for him, but there is the spiteful, petty old man who lives inside me who couldn't help but think about how I pushed my brain to its limits to finish college with an impressive GPA while this person, who got by to some extent on the efforts of others, will be playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday.
See? Who says you can't do anything with a degree in Journalism?