Second Life of the Call Center Girl

First, because I love the stories, I wanted to be a writer. But I found that I can make great plot lines and settings, but not very compelling characters. So I studied information technology just in case, and learned to code a little. While I'm not a programmer now, I work in a call center in Quincy. Refer to last post.

Instead of feeling like I didn't accomplish something, it's more like the dream changed. I can still learn to write compelling characters, but instead, I feel like I became a compelling character in a larger story. That trip to New York for the Mysteryland electronic dance music festival came and went.

EDM is fascinating, at least at first. The beat encompasses your whole body, and it becomes a second heartbeat in your head. The voices, whether male or female, pour their emotions into the simplified lyrics, while different overlapping rhythms supplement each other in an orchestra of adrenaline and urges to move your muscles. It feels better to give in to it, and once you do, then you'll find that your own body is in synchronization with pulsing music, your heart is pumping too, and the adrenaline will take over, and it'll all just feel good. When it finally gets repetitive, some people take drugs, but I didn't, and I won't.

The family cruise trip to Alaska was also interesting. No drugs there, but lots and lots of meat and sugar. There were different kinds of meat for the main entree every night, followed by extremely luscious dessert, served by these two Indian guys by names of Deva and Avinash. There are 4 courses: appetizer, soup or salad, the entree itself, and dessert. There's bread before appetizers as well. I thought I would falter in "high" society, but the many forks and knives were pretty intuitive to figure out. Fish is great as an appetizer. I felt guilty the whole time I was eating the delicious veal.

We visited 3 places in Alaska: Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Ketchiken. The first was an island where we were supposed to ride on ATVs and zip riders, but it got canceled due to a storm. Juneau was a giant glacier with mountains sticking out of it, and there was this really pretty waterfall that we all took pictures of. The hike to it was about 20 min, and I enjoyed making my way through the trees. In Ketchiken, we had a forest tour where we looked at different trees, fungi, then bears, and eagles. There was also a guy sculpting totem poles, who you could tell is a huge Native American rights activist. When someone asked if the paint is all natural, he goes, "We're just like you - we take a trip to Home Depot!"

Those were the big adventures. The smaller adventures included rock climbing and sky diving. I have a pair of rollerblades now. I can't use them very well, because I need to actually let go and trust myself to glide, but I mean, I keep my balance and kind of shuffle around.

Rent was raised, so I may be moving again. I know I'm only 28, but I really want to settle down already. Then again, I can't really make a career of taking technical support calls, so I might have to keep going anyway. This means the story will obviously continue, even though I don't know what the next step is, why or how. They say this is what being a twenty something is all about, isn't it? Wish me luck.

Braintree on the Red Line

Okay, it hasn't been THAT long since I've updated. *guilty face* Ever since I was a child, I was that strong willed curious one who walks long and far, and by the time I remember to look back, I don't know where I am. No one is around anymore, because I forgot to ask anyone to walk with me - the landscape is just so breathtaking.

Well, Happy New Year. Since it's been about half a year, of course the world has changed into unrecognizable proportions again. While I haven't had the resources to travel to any new destinations, life has thrown a few waves for me to surf over, and I'm still riding, uncertain of when I would crash. What animal year is it according to the Chinese zodiac? Ah yea, Year of the Horse.

About a month before my contract with Americorps and Phoenix Charter Academy is over, I had quit. I still have a small window into some students' lives through social media. A temp agency had snapped up my resume from the internet wilderness and presented me with Broadband Repair Analyst at Granite Telecommunications. I just received my quarterly review. I'm happy so far.

Despite how perilous financially it is, I've moved out from living with my mom and Annie, and now I live in Cambridge. The art scene is strong here, and I'm surrounded by people around my age, which is nice. Not that I really interact with any of them, but I appreciate their presence. I live in a studio apartment, with my cat. I bought and built all my furniture myself, excluding the two folding chairs that mom gave me. Two pieces of furniture belong to the cat. There are 3 closets. The dining table folds into the wall. Laundry is in the same building. I haven't done much decorating, because I wanted to think it through and take it slow.

Mom and Annie want to take a cruise to Alaska in June. I'm planning for this as well. Meanwhile, I'm kicking myself in the butt at work. The only thing this has to do with an English degree is the attention to detail and the detailed notes we take for each case. I'm not close to anyone yet, but I have found people to hang out with at work during the breaks. There are people to talk to around me when a telephone company puts me on hold for too long. My supervisor is good to our team, the guy I'm dating lives three blocks down from me, and, for the first time in my life, I am happy and continuing to strive.

Ford and I are also planning a trip to some rave music event named Mysteryland. This will be the end of May, in Bethelwood, NY. I had gone to Brooklyn, NY, to play some board games. I had gone to Connecticut to visit with Jared and Angela, and wrote them a thank-you letter afterward, but it's still in my purse, because I'm apparently too absentminded to mail objects. Boyfriend speaks admiringly of Colorado because there are awesome ski slopes there. I plan to keep traveling, but can't foresee a point beyond these plans when I would have enough money. I've become too interested in computers to become a travel writer anymore, but this is not a failure - just a shift in perspective.

Maybe the world will change over a few times more in the next half year again. Hopefully it will be for the better, though I'm plenty happy now.