NYT reports: The economy is a shit show

Alright so they didn't officially say shit show. But they did say the jobless rate has hit 10.2% in October. A 26-year high. Are you kidding me? This is the same economy I'm hoping to find a new job in? Really? I was never very good at math but those odds are not good, my friends. Is there anyone employed still?

"While the pace of the job losses has slowed significantly since the peak of the recession last winter, the unemployment rate, which measures the number of people actively seeking work, continues to climb, and economists do not foresee relief until well into next year."

The foreboding article here.

rubbing elbows, running late.

I'm getting ready after an unproductive day to meet friends in the city for a networking event so I leave you with this post-appropriate recessionista rule:

Keep friends close and those who can hire you, closer.

-s

stimulating me at the moment

one thing i realized being unemployed, it's important to stay inspired. personally i think finding those things that feed you are likely to be the things you should've been doing for a living all along.

for me, writing has always been a passion so i found a job copywriting. waaay different kind of writing though. sure, it exercised the same brain muscle and allowed me to get paid for banging on a keyboard, but somehow it didn't feed me the way i hoped. that isn't to say this was incidental to me getting laid off, but my heart wasn't in it. had it been, would i still have a job? that's a coulda, woulda, shoulda i'm interested in exploring.

i went to barnes and noble yesterday for tactile inspiration. man that's an interesting place. either it's full of people on their lunch breaks or everyone there is between jobs. it was so packed there wasn't room to sit and indulge in the following reads i picked up.

The December issue of Psychology Today for the article, Everyday Genius: How to Tap Your Passions.

And for, Zodiac Science: Why Your Birthday Matters because I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.

Small Business Opportunities Magazine. The monopoly house exploding with money is a bit much for me and the headline: Start Your Own Small Business, Profits Skyrocket screams Tony Robbins conference, but it promises quick-cash businesses to start for under $100. I have shoes that cost more than that, obviously I'm intrigued.

Monocle Magazine: Should you or shouldn't you? Go and launch your own business.

What, you may ask, prompted all this small business research? That remains to be seen. I just thought it smart to verse myself in some small business know-how in an economy that insists now is the time to start one.

And of course:

The Moleskin Notebook. Legendary notebook that held the inspirations of Van Gogh, Picasso, Hemingway and the Professionally Unemployed.

-s

hmph day

Yes, that is a very clear and distinct hmph in the post title. The employed me once loved hump day wednesday, probably because my weekends started on thursday. But now that I'm unemployed, wednesday is just wednesday which only means tomorrow is thursday which would be getting excitingly close to the weekends, but as i've already made clear, everyday is a weekend now.

I'm beginning to establish a little bit a routine, however. It gets me until about 2 or 3, a time in the day I call the dark hour because I've either exhausted the to-do list (obviously not long enough) or I can't pretend to enjoy this laissez faire lifestyle anymore. An unemployed friend of mine who lives in San Francisco (her amazing story should be shared) emailed me after she heard the news from our mutual friend (who now lives in London, her amazing story should be shared, too). Her advice was to take some time to figure out all the things I've been too employed to actually do. It's all very "stop and smell the roses" but she's right on. So, I compiled a list of those things. In no particular order here they are:

1. Finish a book. A long and intellectually stimulating one. Something Tolstoy.

2. Volunteer.

3. Visit one museum a week.

4. Travel.

5. Start a blog.

6. Learn Spanish.

7. Learn html, flash, dreamweaver

8. Clean out my closet.

9. Donate contents.

10. Learn to cook.

11. Learn to surf.

12. Start a novel.

13. Take an art class.

14. Run a marathon. Amend that: start with a 5K.

15. Buy a camera, dabble in photography.

16. Start swimming again (I did it high school. Best damn exercise there is).

17. Mediate, learn how to mediate.

18. Self-publish a book.

19. Understand the elements of Typography.

20. Play chess.

I'd like to revisit this list in the coming months (employed or unemployed) and see just how many I've accomplished. Some were sparked by Seth Godin's Grad School for the Unemployment Grad. His list was intended for college grads entering the job search looking for ways to fill that limbo six to 12 months before landing employment. He asks "what happens to job prospects" when you accomplish everything on that list? Adding to that I ask, what happens to perspective when you accomplish everything on that list and your own? Maybe a lot less hmph days.

Still keeping the paper bag nearby.

s

Suze Orman hates me

Checked my savings today. Not sure why. I have none.

Must find ways to save money. Must find ways to save money.

The tighter my purse strings, the further away from my old lifestyle i get. No more taking cabs just because i'm too tired to wait for the train. No more dinners out just because. No more expensive yoga classes, organic shopping, starbucks, shoes. The list keeps getting longer. I'm stopping now to prevent another freak out.

Next post should be about a new budget. That'll motivate me/make me have a panic attack. Do I have excel on here?

s

nothing but time

The trouble with being the only unemployed one out of your friends is you're the only unemployed one out of your friends.

This gut wrenching realization happened last night when it dawned on me: I am the only one who doesn't have to wake up and be on time to anywhere in the morning. I failed miserably at trying to persuade both my roommates to come out for a cocktail to help ease this epiphany. Yes it was 9:30 on a Monday night, but I flashed the I've-just-been-laid-off-face and dangled the it's-on-my-severance-check-carrot. No budge. So I went to bed early knowing I'd just wake up early to catch them getting ready for the jobs they still had.

So, this is the bummer that is being unemployed. And then the downward

spiral

happened.

What am I going to do with all this free time? How long am I going to be unemployed? I'm going to be unemployed forever. What if I'm unemployed forever? I'm going to have to move back home with my parents. What if I have to move back home with my parents? I'm going to be like those losers who sit on the couch and watch TV all day. This is a recession. No one finds work in a recession. I'm going to be poor. When my severance runs out I'm going to be on unemployment. I'm going to be on unemployment forever. But I can't be on unemployment forever, unemployment runs out. What if i don't find work when it runs out?

It got borderline psychotic. I think I cried at one point. I have an ill-feeling more of these freak out sessions are in store.

Keeping the brown paper bag nearby.

s

Weekends, meet weeknights

In these troubled times, the best thing we can do is celebrate.

I would be lying if i told you the job i was let go from was a dream job. actually, it was the furthest thing from it. so after the initial ego bruise wore off and i finished sulking and sleeping in, i began to celebrate.

And apparently all of new york was celebrating too. this recession is like one big party with the entire 8.5% in attendance monday-thursday until 2, 3, 4 a.m with no one to answer to, no work to bring home at night, no job to go to hung over the next morning. now this. is. freedom.

of course i couldn't do it alone and my loosely-employed, could-work-from -home-but-rather-get-dressed-up-and-wear-that-missoni-dress-to-work roommate came with to toast this newfound freedom.

my weeknights have officially become my weekends and look something like this:

monday: balthazar's

tuesday: hotel delmano

wednesday: soho house (so not my scene but whatever)

thursday: rose bar (always wanted to go here, now have an excuse. what excuse? i've been laid off and I deserve it).

friday: i think little frankies because i was burnt out and needed some comfort food (read: pizza and vino)

it all seems so shameless but i have nothing but time on my hands and severance in my pocket. that, and right now a stiff drink and some fabulously unemployed new yorkers are the only things making me feel better about this inevitable long road ahead.

more on that later. for now, i'm partying like it's 2009.

enjoy the pics. special thanks to the bus boy for making the last one feel candid.

s