This morning, I am breathing a sigh of relief, feeling a lot less anxious, one of my big concerns now no longer one. That would be the issue of a job. There, of course, is still the big issue of a place to live, which having become an issue with Niki telling me to move out also became the reason for me to seek out a job, to have a more steady income to make a move to another apartment. But perhaps even that issue of a place of residence has been solved, but we will address these in turns.

First, the job. In this past week or two, I have probably sent out close to a hundred resumes and cover letters, occupying way too much of my time and mental energy, applying also to just about every temp agency in New York. Doing this and not hearing back from anyone while flipping back and forth to reading the latest grim economic news on the internet is not and was not a pleasurable experience. With the market's giant swings downward and my inability to find work, I was feeling very unmoored and had more concern about my future than I perhaps ever normally do. A couple of days ago, I did finally hear back from one of the places I applied to, and mind you it's not like I was applying to work at Goldman Sachs or Google. I was applying at some shitty office jobs, some shitty retail jobs, shitty low-paying editorial jobs. But the one I heard back from was the [redacted to avoid Google searches by said job] to be a bellhop. There was a group interview yesterday at SoHo House, a mildly intimidating environment. They interviewed us three at a time in a fucking screening room. They had us seated on the stage while six really hip people sat in the audience asking questions, taking notes as we answered questions, and sizing us up clearly for how cool we appeared to be.

It definitely induced quite a bit of nervousness and self-consciousness in me, the slightly scary interview. I started to relax when it became clearer to me what they were looking for. I was glad I had dressed the part, wearing skinny gray jeans, a ladies black tux shirt, and white dress shoes. The other people being interviewed had done similar work at upscale hotels, but it was clear that these interviewers didn't really care too much about that. They kept stressing that they were going to be a party hotel, where media and fashion people came to party hard. Wank. Superficial latching on to the idea of hip. It was a look and a type of person they wanted. Luckily, I can play the part well. In my individual interview afterwards, the woman interviewing me again talked to me about the environment they are creating - a cool place where people come to party - and then she asked me about nightlife and New York and where I went out to. It was such a funny interview, one that seemed so distinct from the other ones I have had in my life in which they try to access your skill level or intelligence; this interview seemed solely about gauging my level of hipness, my coolness.

Even though there were twenty or so people being interviewed there that day, I left pretty certain that I had gotten the job because my interview went so well. And this morning, I got an email telling me that I had gotten the job and so on Monday I go to pick up my offer letter and on Thursday start a few weeks of training before the hotel actually opens. The job pays really well, has excellent benefits, and will probably be a lot of fun I imagine. I am quite excited about this. It is obviously not where I imagined myself at 27 and certainly not what I hope to do long-term, but it will hopefully allow me to transition to that spot, giving me enough money not to have to worry about that, to move somewhere comfortable where I might be able to work, and health benefits! It has been so long since I have had health insurance. I am quite excited about that.

So, with that worry alleviated, there is the second twin concern of my life these past few weeks, and that would be of where I am going to live. Richard has proposed that I share a room with him in the house(!!!) he lives in near Prospect Park. I am not necessarily that excited about sharing a room, but he is perhaps the only person I could actually see doing that with. He is going to be in California for the most of the next couple of months anyways. So I am thinking that I could try it out, that maybe a room would open up in the house at some point, and either way in a couple of months should I want a room of my own, I would have plenty of money saved by that point to go about finding a place to live. So I am quite relieved about that. However, he is still out of town and doesn't get back til Monday and so has yet to discuss these things with his roommates. So it is still a big maybe at this point, but a maybe is better than nothing, and a maybe with Richard is also better, way better, than the straight 37 year old bodybuilder, who was the only person to reply to my numerous emails to people off Craigslist.