In my job search, I’ve recently come across a career opportunity in, of all things, CLAY. And it’s a real job, with like, a real company. Not that a job at a pottery studio wouldn’t be a real job, but this job is with a very well known international company who isn’t exactly famous for its work in clay.

I had pretty much resigned myself to marketing myself as if I had earned a liberal arts degree, so I never expected to find a job in clay. I even called the representative to confirm that I was qualified for this job. She told me they were looking for people with experience in sculpture, fine arts, and/or clay. Um… check, check, and check! So I’m trying to reconfigure my resume to reflect my clay sculpture experience, since I intentionally left off most of that sort of thing in my “just-as-good-as-a-liberal-arts-degree” resume.

While reviewing my transcript, I noticed two things that have been updated since I put together my previous resume. First, my GPA has somehow gone up from at 3.65 to a 3.75. This makes no sense to me, since I haven’t had any new grades tabulated in the last three weeks. The second thing I noticed is that there is now a section called institutional honors and under that heading, I’m listed as Cum Laude. And, as much as I wish it wasn’t important to me, I love having that distinction attached to my transcript. (Though, now that I’ve checked the guidelines for academic distinction, something isn’t right. Cum Laude is listed as 3.50-3.69, and Magna Cum Laude is listed as 3.70-3.89. So either my GPA is listed wrong, or the honors section isn’t updated. Whatever. I got Latin words besides stupidus asinus attached to my transcript, so I’m happy.)

So after whining and complaining about writing my 19th century art history essay, I forced myself to sit down and do it. And I have to say, I’m pretty happy with the finished paper. It didn’t end up being five pages like some of the other students told me it would be, but I covered all the necessary points. I rechecked her syllabus and there is nothing in there about the required length. It only says I need to cover all the points, and I did. It’s about two and a half pages, but it feels like total fluff. But that’s art analysis for you, right?

Now I just need to force myself to write my two take-home essays, and I’ll be done! For now.

Six weeks into my Fall semester, and things are getting a bit hectic. I haven’t taken a full course load in quite a few years, and when I did, I was able to fit all my classes into two days a week. This year, I have classes four days a week. I have two studio classes, and two lecture classes.

Ceramics
Ceramics isn’t too bad, but I’m seriously behind on my work. While the other students all chose a large vessel for this project, I am working on my self-portrait bust. I’m only about halfway done now, but we’re supposed to be moving onto the next project already. I think I’m allowed more time for this than the others are allowed for their projects, but I’m not positive.

My professor hasn’t given me much feedback this semester. Usually, she comes around to each student at least once a day to show us things that can be improved upon on our projects. She’s been doing it with other students this year, but not me. Every once in a while I get a, “It’s coming along well” or “Looking good” as she passes by. One time, I did get a “No one’s ever done it like that before. Will be interesting if it works.” I have a few theories about why I’m getting this unusual treatment, but so far, they don’t seem like good theories. I suppose it’s possible that my project is coming along just fine at this stage, and she’ll offer me that feedback when I get to the head part of it.

Drawing 2
I’ve never worked so hard in any class as I have in my drawing classes. Really. It’s WORK. My first big project this semester earned me a B. I don’t disagree with the grade, but I’m still disappointed. I really gave it my best effort. I don’t have my grade back for my second big project, but I expect it will be much the same as the first. My next project is supposed to be a more abstract composition than the previous two. The idea is to learn different ways of composing a drawing. I don’t really feel like I’m ready to tackle these other ways of composing just yet. I’d rather focus on developing and improving my technique, but I think they expect those things to be taken care of in Drawing 1. I’m not really behind in my drawing class, but I struggle with it constantly. Ugh.

Art History
I have both 19th century art history and 20th century art history this year. There is a slight overlap between the two, so at times, it can be confusing. On Thursday, I had a quiz in 19th c. and an exam in 20th c. That’s when it got confusing. I skipped my ceramics class on Wednesday to study for my 19th c. quiz. It put me even further behind in ceramics, but I can make that up. (If I had gone to ceramics, I wouldn’t have had time to study by the time I got home, packed stuff for the boys, picked them up from school, took them to Tae Kwon Do, and got them back home to feed them, bathe them, and put them to bed. Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses.)

I had to learn information for 65 artworks for 19th c. and 45 artworks for 20th c. By information, I mean I had to learn the artist’s name, title of the painting/sculpture, date, artist’s nationality, and the movement/style of the piece. The 19th c. quiz was a breeze. The 20th c. exam less so, but I think I did well.

I have a five page paper due for 19th c. on Thursday. The paper required me to travel over 90 miles away from my home to view a painting at the Toledo Museum of Art. It just figures that I have the second part of my 20th c. exam (two 350 word take-home essays) due on that same day.

So October has been crazy. Add in my job search, the normal stuff like the boys’ school and Tae Kwon Do classes, Rob’s new job (which requires more travelling), a possible trip to Florida (for Rob and the boys, I can’t afford any time away from class!), the holidays, my sister’s upcoming spring wedding, and, oh yeah, aren’t I trying to put together a little jewelry thing too?…. and I’m busier than I’ve been in a very long time. But that’s okay. I’d take busy over bored any day.

Knowing I would graduate in December, my plan was to start looking for a job in October. I don’t expect a job in my field, so I was pretty much resigned to getting a job as an administrative assistant or receptionist or something. I don’t want a career. I want a job.

Then I started looking. Finding administrative assistant positions was easy. I even found a few that were resume-worthy. I wasn’t finished writing my resume, but I figured I’d get to it eventually. But honestly? I was in no big hurry.

And then I saw The Job. I wasn’t looking for The Job. And like I said before, I didn’t want a Job, just a job. I spent the next few days making my resume as close to perfect as I could. That is, perfect formatting, perfect choice of words… uh, somewhat lacking on the content though. I sent the cover letter and resume, and now I wait. And wait. And. Wait. I’m trying to stay grounded about this job, but I REALLY WANT IT. If I don’t get an interview, well, I guess I can send my resume to those other jobs.

If I put all my eggs in one basket, it’ll make it so much easier for me to count my chickens before they hatch.

Rob left work early, and we packed up the kids and sent them to Aunt Tracy’s house for the night in to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We had a relaxing dinner, a kid-free movie, breakfast the next morning, and lazing around all day until late afternoon. This year, our finances are a bit more strained than usual (thanks to my student loans, gas prices, a $490 water bill, and a few other unexpected expenses), so dinner and a movie was the extent of our gift-giving to each other. But, we wanted to let each other know what we were thinking about getting.

Rob liked his gift. I thought him the Family Guy DVD set. I was happy with my gift too. He thought me a new dawn simulator alarm clock.