head on

The cold weather came in quickly without much transition. Yesterday, when I went to lunch at work, it was cold outside. I was only in a t-shirt and needed something to protect me from the chilly wind. I went to the Salvation Army, put on a sweatshirt, and walked out wearing it. I clasped the sweatshirt together against the wind trying to reach my skin. And this act, huddling against a chilly wind brought me into the happy land of nosalgia, of doing this same act every fall, of fall rock music (think Jesus and Mary Chain), and I felt like a different person. Fall is mood lighting sans the tackiness, a more natural, more rock version.

Also on my break yesterday, I ran into Melissa and now I have good news, something to look forward to, a reason to cross these fingers of mine. I was complaining about still working at the Strand and telling her that I was going to apply at temp agencies this week, and she asked me if I knew Quark and Photoshop. I said that I sort of knew Quark and barely knew Photoshop, both perhaps slight exaggerations. I haven't used either program once in three years. She then got really excited and told me that I should take her job, since she is an art director now at some magazine and needs to leave this copy shop job of hers, but I guess needs to find someone to replace her. The job would pay twelve an hour and would be a nine to five job. I was so excited about this, am a little less so today. Last night when I was e-mailing her my resume and cover letter to forward to her boss, I thought about how unqualified for this job I might be. I am scared that I will get the job, which would start real soon, and not remember either of the two programs and mess up in some gigantic way. I got a Photoshop book last night to refresh my memory, and am going to go hang out in Barnes and Noble's a lot to read their Quark books.

But I would also really love that chance to learn these new skills, to do pre-press stuff at a fancy print shop. I've always wanted to do work with the technical side of printing, and this is basically that chance. So we will wait a couple days and see whether boss man likes my resume or not, and until that time, I will be learning and relearning these programs in case I do get this job. God, I love getting excited, and this coninciding with the abrupt change in weather is making me so giddy. The coffee also. And the J and M Chain. And the way I feel tonight / Oh, I could die and I wouldn't mind / And there’s something going on inside / Makes you want to feel, makes you want to try / Makes you want to blow the stars from the sky / I can’t stand up, I can’t cool down / I can’t get my head off the ground.