Moving Time!

This is going to be one of those quick posts because it is 5 a.m and I haven't actually slept in my bed yet. I'm done packing and I leave for New York in 4 hours. Can you believe it? I can't. Today was my last day of work at McKeldin Library and it went by pretty fast. People brought food, we partied (as only librarians can) and I got a cool Testudo beer glass and an awesome sweater no one has claimed in the two years I've been at the library. I'd say a good day all in all.

But on to the awesomeness...I start at SPIN Magazine on Monday. Yes, this Monday and yes, that SPIN Magazine. Now there are pros and cons to this and I'm sure I'll catch flack for taking an unpaid internship, but sometimes you've gotta do, what you've gotta do. It's a great opportunity and aside from being paid zilch I'm extremely excited, but confident. I had to complete a writing test last week in less than 24 hours and it was an annoyingly vague assignment, but I did it. I'm going to include it below since I'm so proud of it and no one will probably ever read it between SPIN's pages.

Ahhh! I'm moving! :) I don't know when or if it will ever fully set in. The car is packed with an obscene amount of my stuff and I'm ready to go. My only hope is that I don't have to move again for at least two years. I'm so tired of moving from place to place. I'm ready to settle in for a while and just enjoy as my life unfolds.

Here's the piece I wrote for SPIN. The assignment was to write about the band I thought was most important to SPIN.com right now and why. I think I did a pretty good job. :)

Kings of the World

By Adaora Otiji

Summer is all about concerts, fun and freedom. The season wouldn’t be complete without the sweat that comes from moving, intoxicated, to your favorite band as they own the stage and make every cent you paid for your ticket worthwhile.

In the past few months many bands have graced stages across the U.S., but the one that captivates SPIN has fast become Nashville’s Kings of Leon. It seems almost impossible to escape the repetitive croon of “Use Somebody,” as the Kings command radio airwaves and sell out amphitheatres around the world. The band’s unavoidable and unforgettable electric indie sound has helped them to gain a fervent and ever growing concert fan base.

Until their 2008 album, Only by the Night, Kings of Leon received praise in Europe, but failed to reach the same success in the U.S. The album catapulted the quartet to stardom, winning their first Grammy for the single “Sex On Fire,” two BRIT Awards for “Best International Group” and “Best International Album,” and an NME award for “Album of the Year,” all in 2009 alone.

Kings of Leon haven’t slowed since their 2003 debut album, Youth and Young Manhood, and the summer has brought a plethora of possibilities for the band. The fuel of “Sex On Fire’s” static guitar rhythm and raspy vocals has landed them sold out headlining tours, a spot on Saturday Night Live and, most recently, a stop on their North American tour at Chicago’s Lollapalooza alongside music legends Jane’s Addiction and Depeche Mode.

After years of working to be noticed, accepted and respected in the U.S., the Kings of Leon finally have it all, for now, while the world waits with bated breath for another amazing album.

The End of an Era

Hello all,

I haven't written lately because for some reason my musings have been mainly about life, not employment, per se. It's all just setting in. The fact that I'm actually moving is progressively hitting me harder everyday. Especially when I look at my closet...and my dresser...and my shoes... If anyone ever asked me if I am a materialistic person I would say no, but if you walked into my room someone might suggest driving me to a shopaholics anonymous meeting.

Anyway, finally, really leaving the nest has caused me to spend a lot of time thinking about my childhood and my friends and always ends with "Oh God! I am so old." It feels like the end of an era and how fitting that today is my last day with Esme, my car. She's so much more than that though. My car represents my first real step into adulthood. My little Mazda was my first car and I paid for it on my own, so seeing it go is painful, but necessary to move onto the next phase of my life. Like cutting the umbilical cord, as graphic an image as that is.

After this evening I can finally start packing. I have my huge suitcases and I'm ready to go. :)

The only recent development I can share with you about my job hunt is that I am continuously applying for jobs and I recently had an interview at SPIN magazine. I really liked the office. It was right in the middle of Canal Street in New York. I have no news to report on that except that I realized after the interview I am not an articulate person by any stretch of the imagination and I subsequently realized that this is why I write. I can't edit myself when I'm rambling verbally instead of on paper.

I'm not sure how many of you are unemployed and watch TVlike I do, but the trailer for "Post Grad" looks pretty good. For some reason it makes me happy to see Alexis Bledel playing my, and pretty much everyone's, role in her movie. I'm seriously wondering if they're going to make the ending a fairytale where Bledel gets a great job or if it will end realistically with a tired, frustrated and jobless college graduate.

One last thing, In an effort to turn you on to the woes of others besides myself I've added an application to the blog. It's a newsreel on the lower right hand side of the page listing current articles related to unemployed college grads. Enjoy!

Data, Data Everywhere

Apparently data is where it's at. An article published in the New York Times claimed that being a statistician will be the "it" career in ten years. As it is now those who have the gift of data analysis make $125,000 on average.

I can't help but feel that I've missed the boat. My most painful class during my last semester was all about analyzing data for media use. Granted I sucked at everything that it entailed, I completely wrote statistics off as a viable career, not just for me, but at all. More power to those who have a gift for numbers, but it isn't me.

Blame College for Your Employment Woes...

A woman who became a college graduate in April is placing blame where it is apparently due...her college. Trina Thompson, a 27-year-old New York woman, has filed a lawsuit against her Alma Mater because she can't find a job.

The entire situation seems a little drastic to me, but I do think Thompson has a pretty strong grievance: her so called "career center" hasn't done their job in helping to assist her. As someone who found little to no use for the "career center" at my university I can completely relate. Granted, Maryland is currently in a deficit and the University of Maryland has seem major cuts in the last few months, but I feel like one woman in no way constitutes a "career center."

I've never been one to blame my problems on others, but this may become a fad if she follows through...and wins. The last thing our economy needs is a trend of young, lazy college graduates blaming schools instead on putting their nose to the grindstone and sticking this crappy economy out.