Health and Wellness for Freelancers & Independent Workers

Gentle readers, your MatchGirl is happy to announce that registration is now open for the next Work It Brooklyn event. Read below to learn more!


We’ve all been there, working away for hours, focused on only the task at hand - maybe staring at a computer screen as we write, maybe it’s hours bent over jewelry wire, or time spent standing in front of a canvas. And then we look up and realize it’s 4PM and all we’ve eaten all day was that bagel with our morning coffee. That we’ve been in the same position for hours.

Friends, this is no way for a creative entrepreneur to live!

Whether you freelance, working from home or coffee shops for multiple clients, or are starting your own business, like so many of the members of Work It Brooklyn, you’re spending a lot of time focused on the business you’re trying to grow. But how much time are you spending focused on yourself?

Our next event, April 18th from 7 to 9PM and graciously hosted by our friends at Human At Ease,  is centered on how to stay healthy and well while you are focused on growing your business, and the best way to make all the parts of your life balance while you are doing this.

We’ll have a discussion, led by our own Aja Marsh, of North Brooklyn Runners, and with panelists including  Dishan Elise, a certified personal trainer and the founder/owner of Human At Ease and Kim Ann Curtin, a life coach who is founder and CEO of The Wall Street Coach.

Whether you’re working on starting your own business, freelancing from the cramped confines of your studio apartment, or a member of our community with a focus on food, health and wellness, this event will provide answers to achieving a better, healthier, life balance.

Don’t worry - we’ll also have our signature speed-networking, too!

Want to join us? Register here.


A few words about our amazing host!
Human at Ease is a fitness and wellness studio whose goal and desire in strengthening the “whole” person is to facilitate an overall sense of well-being & fulfillment, and to improve overall quality of life using one or more of our various offerings. Their objective is for the community to recognize Human@Ease’s name for what it is--a haven for strength & serenity. A place where we can all learn to “Love Ourselves”. At Human@Ease we all share in a common vision of positive human change.

Job Of The Future? Will They Be Inspired By The Past?

Your MatchGirl, gentle readers, has been thinking about the jobs of the future, about how to get them and about what they might be.

I have been thinking that the job I currently hold, Head of Social Media, didn't even exist when I was at university. People barely used the internet. I had a roommate who wrote her term papers on an electric typewriter (for the young'uns - this is what that looks like). To say that I could have been working towards a career as a social media professional would have required some amazing foresight and, perhaps, a time machine.

And when I think of the jobs that are to come, I know that there will be jobs like mine - as technology changes - that one can only prepare for by living life and learning and adopting and adapting.

But your MatchGirl thinks, dear readers, that some of the jobs of the future are jobs that we already know how to do. Or we did at one time.

I watch the people around me, my friends, and the paths they are on. I am lucky to live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and have as friends and neighbors some true artisans who are interested in looking to the past to provide for the future.

I have a friend who keeps bees and chickens and teaches classes on urban farming.
I know a woman who runs a rooftop farm.
I live down the street from the lovely couple who make bacon marmalade.
I am pleased to know a woman who wrote a book on homemaking in the modern age.
I have friends who have an ice cream empire.
I know the people behind The High School for Public Service Youth Farm.

I know canners and sausage makers, chocolate crafters and pizza makers.

I know people who have taught themselves to do things that their parents might not have even known how to do. But things that sustained their grandparents.

Is it possible that to prepare ourselves for the future, we need to look to the past?

Your MatchGirl thinks this might be the case.

The Emotion Itself

"The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself." --Gore Vidal


How true this is, gentle readers. When we set out to do something we need to feel the passion for our task, otherwise how can we fully commit?


What we are tasked with, at least in your MatchGirl's opinion, does not matter as much as how we feel about the work we have to do. It doesn't matter if you're a writer or a painter, a musician or a tax attorney, a chef or a social media geek (like me), What matters is that you need to find what where your passion lies - what makes you feel enthralled and excited and a little bit in love - and then go.


Feel it. Do it.

It's Alive!

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. If we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

When did you feel most alive recently? Where were you? What did you smell? What sights and sounds did you experience? Capture that moment on paper and recall that feeling. Then, when it’s time to create something, read your own words to reclaim a sense of being to motivate you to complete a task at hand. - Sam Davidson 

This prompt is a tough one, gentle readers. So much has happened to your MatchGirl over the course of the past year - so many amazing things - that I'm not sure I can quantify one moment over another. When I felt the most alive?

A lot of things have happened. Highs and lows. Near nervous breakdowns. Ecstatic moments of life. And I know they will keep coming. It's hard to think seriously that one moment could make me feel more alive than another.

Some cool things have happened. Some things that certainly made me feel "alive."

I stood on the top of the highest point in Bogotá and looked out over the city, feeling like I could go anywhere- that that one stop on that journey was just the beginning of great things to come (it was).

I walked out of my apartment one Sunday afternoon to meet a friend for a drink and saw that friend, that man, suddenly in a whole new light (you can read about that here).

I held my friends' preemie son and heard him coo, happy and healthy and strong, even though born nearly 4 months early.

I went to a friend's house with Boyfriend one night when the snow was just beginning to fall and left three hours later with snow still falling and the whole world covered in white, up to my knees. We walked down the middle of Manhattan Avenue and Greenpoint was silent and clean.

I saw two dear friends marry, in a beautiful, sun-filled room, and cried (I couldn't help it) when they danced their first dance as husband and wife - it was perfection.

Something that I have learned, dear readers, as I have been on the journey that I share with you here, is that every single moment matters. Every single moment is important to the next. It doesn't matter if that moment is spent watching some "trashy" TV. It doesn't matter if that moment is spent working on your pet project or having a drink with a girlfriend or spooning with your hunny or sitting outside in the sun with someone you've not seen for a long time.

These moments, each and every one of them, no matter how mundane they may seem, these are the moments that you should feel the most alive. Pay attention to every one of them - the smallest thing might lead to the greatest opportunity.

Work It Brooklyn Industry Focus: Music

Registration is now open for our next event– Industry Focus: Music!
Click here to register.

—
It’s no big secret that Brooklyn is the epicenter of independent music in America and Work It Brooklyn is psyched to announce, in partnership with Women In Music, a very special Industry Focus event on Wednesday, April 20th at Coco66 in Greenpoint. This panel and networking event geared towards independent musicians and artists (of all genders) is bolstered by a panel of heavy-hitting music industry professionals eager to share their knowledge and insight as well as answer your burning questions as well as a select group of local industry VIPs who will be ready to network with participants during the mingling slots of the event.

The Panel
• Jeff Price, CEO/Founder/President, Tunecore
• Liz Leahy, CEO/Co-Founder, Section 101
• Michael Corcoran, President, MusicSUBMIT
• Ben Markowitz, Product Experience Manager, Fanbridge
• Jayce Varden, Director/Co-Founder, Pledgemusic.com
• Shamita Carriman Esq. (moderator), Carriman Law Group & Women In Music
Have questions for any of these panelists? Please email them to info@workitbrooklyn.com

The Evening
• 7:00-7:15pm Check in and Mingling
• 7:15-7:40pm Speed Networking
• 7:45-9:00pm Panel Discussion and Q&A
• 9:00-10:00pm Mix, Mingle, and Demo Exchange

What is Speed Networking?
Think musical chairs meets speed dating, where attendees get to meet and speak through this spunky and time sensitive activity.

Demo Exchange!
Bring a handful or two of your CDs to swap with other musicians, VIPs, or anyone else you encounter. There will also be a table where you can put your CDs as well as collect those of other attendees.
Look forward to seeing you there!

Projects!

Gentle readers, your MatchGirl, besides being a working girl, has been working with a variety of projects, so I thought I would take a moment to share them with you.

If you want to read more of my writing, as I have been blogging less on Unemployed Brooklyn of late, you can check out the blog for my company, From Bogota With Love, where I edit content, create the editorial calendar and, from time to time, write here.

If you want to know more about the direction that my life is moving, as Boyfriend and I look for an apartment and start a life of living and growing together, you can read about that (and please follow!) A Precious Environment. I'm blogging there 5 days a week.

I've started a Tumblr, too. Found, by MsMatchGirl is a place for me to share random things I find on my travels through the interwebs. It's updated from time to time, with no particular rhyme or reason - except that I've found something that I think is worth sharing.

I'm still working with Aja and Joann on Work It Brooklyn and you can find out more info on our blog, follow us on Twitter and join the conversation on our Facebook page.

Of course, I'm sure you all follow me on Twitter already!

There are a few other things in the works and a few other things I'm really excited to share with you. And share them, I will. In due time!

Work It Brooklyn - We're Back!

That's right, friends, Work It Brooklyn is back!

We know it's been awhile since you've heard from us, but we are now getting busy revving up for an exciting 2011 for WIB and have set the date for our next big mix-and-mingle event: Wednesday, February 23, from 7 to 10PM. We'll be at Public Assembly in Williamsburg, where we'll have plenty of room for speed networking and general excitement.

Register to join the fun at Eventbrite. And while you're busy clicking links, make sure you migrate over to our new Facebook group to join the discussion and mingle, in advance, with your fellow creatives.

To keep WIB running (for operating costs and to bring you bigger and better events all year long) we will be asking for a suggested donation of $5 at the door, though we will turn no one away. Unless you didn't register, of course!

Get those business cards ready!
Aja Marsh, Briana Campbell, and Joann Kim
Work It Brooklyn
Blog | Facebook | 2.23.11 Registration

P.S. Have a friend that wants to join our mailing list? Have them email us.

About

Work It Brooklyn is an event-based networking organization formed in 2010 to connect inspired creatives working independently within the creative fields. Graphic designers, dancers, musicians, tech gurus, painters, and others gather in our evenings of productive debauchery. WIB is devised as a forum to connect folks working from home without the benefit of a network support system, opening up the opportunity to meet and forge partnerships, fine and create work, instigate healthy competition, and encourage the exchange of ideas and potential collaborations, all the while having a whole lot of fun.
Work It Brooklyn is produced by Aja Marsh (North Brooklyn Runners), Briana Campbell (Unemployed Brooklyn) and Joann Kim (Greenpoint Food Market).

Online Ticketing for work it brooklyn - mix and mingle event - february 23, 2011 powered by Eventbrite

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Two years of Unemployed Brooklyn!
Thanks for reading, gentle ones.
Your MatchGirl loves you all.

Think Tank Pot Luck

Save the date, Saturday June 26th to come out and support my dear friend Joann and the awesome vendors of the Greenpoint Food Market.  The DOH has already done away with bake sales at schools and the true spirit of the Red Hook Ball Fields and now they want to hurt our neighborhood market...

Your MatchGirl will be there.  Please check out the info on the GFM website and come out to support this amazing community.

Holiday Weekend

This was a holiday weekend, gentle readers.  It's been a long time since your MatchGirl has enjoyed a holiday weekend.  And, before those of you who have not lived the unemployed life say that the whole thing is a holiday weekend or a vacation or whatever you say - believe you me, it's not the same thing.

But this weekend, your MatchGirl was able to really enjoy a three day weekend (because, even in previous employment, I always had such crazy schedules that they just weren't the same as my friends who worked in the 9 to 5 world).  And enjoy it, I did.

While the whole weekend was mellow and lovely, it was really Sunday that epitomized the start of summer.  The way I hope sets the tone for weekends for the rest of the summer.

Sunday started mellow, listening to NPR and puttering about the apartment.  But in the afternoon, I met up with my friend T and went to a little BBQ on my friend Tony and Jackie's roof.  There was a ton of meat, cold beer and interesting conversation on a Greenpoint rooftop.  When T and I were leaving the rooftop, we ran into a couple of the guys from Cafe Royal, sitting outside and enjoying the weather, so we stopped for a chat - where the conversation ran from barbecue to the neighborhood to the intricacies of the Arabic language to the USS Iwo Jima.  Then we touched base with a couple of friends who had a friend in town from Germany and, though we had just eaten delicious grilled meat for several hours, we somehow found ourselves at Fatty Cue eating even more.

It was one of those easy, sleepy, dreamy summer days with not a care in the world.

It was one of those kinds of days that is so easy to not appreciate when you're unemployed.  But it was also one of those days that is so easy to overlook when you are used to the rhythm of the working world and those Bank holidays that happen from time to time.

I'm happy to be in the working world, and happy to be getting into the swing of things.  And very happy that it's still new enough that I can truly appreciate things like a three day weekend.

Work It Brooklyn: Industry Focus - Fashion

As you know, gentle readers,  your MatchGirl has been involved in organizing a pretty amazing group called Work It Brooklyn. Our first event, on February of this year was a phenomenal success.  While we'll be going forward with larger mix and mingle type events, we'll be having smaller, focused events (about once a month), where people working in specific fields can come together to network and learn from one another.  At these events, we'll have panel discussions with established professionals and a mixer afterward.


We're excited to say that our next event will be tomorrow evening. There are still a few spaces left (it's free to register!).  Details below:

To balance out our larger primary events, Work It Brooklyn is beginning a series of smaller, intimate industry-focused events and May 12th's FASHION event will kick it all off!

There will be a great panel of local industry self-starters to offer you their insight, help you learn from their experiences, and offer their thoughts on how to "make it" in the fashion and accessory business-- whether as a designer, publicist, retailer, publicist, or wherever your path may lead you. Q & A will follow. Submit your questions for our speakers here.

This is a great event for Brooklyn-based (and beyond!) fashion and accessory designers, stylists, fashion writers, producers, students, photographers, publicists, and boutique owners. All participants are strongly encouraged to bring business cards to pass onto all of the new contacts you'll be making at this event! Feel free to also bring clips or portfolios to share.

REGISTER NOW!
Pre-registration is required and capacity is strictly limited to 45 participants.



THE PANELISTS


Bob Bland
Founder and Brand Director, Brooklyn Royalty

Bob is a professional menswear designer with experience at Triple Five Soul, Rugby by Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Banana Republic. The Brooklyn Royalty line she started is inspired by the fiercely independent spirit and highly individual aesthetic of King’s County residents. The line combines timeless design principles, premium materials and hand-printed graphics that are meant to look and wear better over time.


 
Toni Hacker
Owner and Creative Director, Hayden Harnett

Working as a designer since 1999, Toni Hacker launched indie fashion company Hayden-Harnett in April of 2005 with her partner Ben Harnett. The brand, known for fine leather goods and women's apparel, is sold globally and has grown to include two NYC-based retail stores. Big believers in group synergy, the couple launched The Collective Showroom, an incubator and mentoring project for local and emerging designers in September 2009.



Elaine La Personerie
Founder, Wink PR

Wink PR specializes in publicity, marketing and event planning. Clients include fashion/accessories, food, authors, personalities and consumer product brands. Elaine's experiences in building her own business from the ground up will lend great insight to the panel and guests.




THE EVENING
6:45-7:00pm - Check-In
7:00-8:00pm - Panel Discussion begins, followed by Q+A
8:00-9:00pm - Networking Cocktail Hour

Location: Kingdom, 170 North 4th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Questions? Let us know! workitbrooklyn@gmail.com

One Year...

Good morning, gentle readers.
Can you believe that it was one year ago today that your MatchGirl, depressed and disheartened, crawled out of bed on a dismal February morning and started this little tome?

I can't begin to quantify how thing have changed for me since that day.  I'm still an unemployed gal in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  But the quality of my life, except for that pesky no income part, could not be better.

I have been lucky enough to meet some amazing people, to work on some great projects and to bring together people in a way that wasn't available previously in our neighborhood.  I've been able to focus on what I enjoy doing and, at the same time, grow my profile and my resume.  And, most significantly, and importantly to me personally, I've been able to let a few of you know that you are not alone in this unemployed world.

Thank you for reading, dear ones.

xoxo

Work It Brooklyn

                                                           

Work It Brooklyn

February 24th

7 - 10pm

Arsenal

170 N4th btw Bedford & Driggs Ave

Free

Calling all freelance creative workers of Brooklyn!

Join us on February 24th for Work It Brooklyn, a networking event formed to connect inspired creatives working independently within the creative fields. Graphic designers, dancers, musicians, tech gurus, painters, and others are welcomed in this evening of productive debauchery. WIB is devised as a forum to connect folks working from home without the benefit of a network support system, opening up the opportunity to meet and forge partnerships, fine and create work, instigate healthy competition, and encourage the exchange of ideas and potential collaborations, all the while having a whole lot of fun.

It is no understatement that North Brooklyn is bustling with new initiatives at every turn, in food (Greenpoint Food Market, The Meathook, CSA's, Rooftop Farms), green ambitions (North Brooklyn Compost Project, additional Green Markets), art (3rd Ward, North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition), community and social issues (Williamsburg Walks, Northside Town Hall), and sports (North Brooklyn Runners, McCarren Tennis). WIB is an effort to connect the residents of this region, individuals already filled to the brim with activity, bringing them together for an evening of conversation and partnership.

The evening will be held in two parts. The Arsenal will be divided into six field-related stations, providing a hub for folks to gather within and outside their primary concentration. At the center of the space there will be Speed Networking. Think musical chairs meets speed dating, where attendees get to meet and speak through this spunky and time sensitive activity. We will also be raffling off tickets for a chance to win prizes provided by our proud sponsors, local businesses and organizations that believe that WIB rocks as much as we do.

There will also be a projection screen with a presentation of any attendants who wish to submit a page with a portfolio sample and contacts. That way if someone likes what they see in what you do on this screen, they can contact you once the evening is over, or serendipitously meet during the event and start what could be a beautiful collaboration between creative minds. Read the instructions attached and check out our blog for details on submitting templates for the presentation, due Feb 19^th.

This is a free event and pre-registration via eventbrite is required. Registration closes Feb 19^th or whenever we reach 100 attendees.

workitbrooklyn.eventbrite.com

^{Work It Brooklyn is produced by Aja Marsh (North Brooklyn Runners), Briana Campbell (Unemployed Brooklyn) and Joann Kim (Greenpoint Food Market). For full details and schedule for the evening, check out workitbrooklyn.wordpress.com}

^{Please feel free to contact us at workitbrooklyn@gmail.com}  

Work It Brooklyn is proudly sponsored by Brooklyn Based, The Arsenal, The Skint and Ladies Who Launch. Raffles graciously donated by Kombucha Brooklyn, WORD, Brooklyn Brewery, Ladies Who Launch, and more to come!

          

Greenpointers: My G Train Shuttle Adventure

Read about my Sunday adventure with the G Train shuttle bus on Greenpointers.

Year In Review

Ah, gentle readers, it's that time of year when people list their favorites and their best and worsts of the previous year. This December 31st there's even more lists as we are embarking on a new decade. There has also been a lot of talk about how much 2009 truly sucked and how excited people are for 2010.

Here's the thing, dear ones, I enjoyed 2009. A lot. Sure, I'm unemployed. And sure I'm ending the year with about $50 in my bank account. And sure I'm heading solo to a New Year's Eve Party (though with dear dear friends). But 2009 has far surpassed 2008. The previous year, I can honestly say, sucked. Sure, a few good things happened (notably the birth of my pal Dash), but mostly it sucked. In 2008 I got dumped, my grandfather died, I cried myself to sleep on my birthday and I got laid off. In 2009, however, things looked up. Don't laugh.

One February morning in 2009, I woke up and decided that Iw as going to write a blog abut my life as a single and unemployed person in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I didn't really expect that anyone would read it. I just wanted to put it out there and feel less alone in my unemployment. Then one summer day in 2009, a reporter from NY1 emailed me and things took off from there.

In 2009 I lived off my unemployment check. I sent out resumes to which no one responded. I stayed home while my friends went on fabulous vacations as I barely had the cash to take Greyhound to visit friends in Boston. But, in 2009, I started organizing meet-ups for my fellow un(der)employed in North Brooklyn. And through those meet-ups, I met a few of you - some of whom have turned into very close friends and collaborators. I had the opportunity to really spend time in my community, in my neighborhood, and I feel more a part of it than ever before.

I have high hopes for 2010, dear readers. I have exciting opportunities I'm looking forward to sharing with you. But for now, my gentle ones, I simply want to thank you for reading and sharing in my little world and to wish you happiness and health and employment in the new year.

The Toby Project: Greenpoint

Check out my post on the Toby Project on Greepointers.

Many thanks to Miss Heather for alerting me to this cool (and very necessary) event coming to Greenpoint this Thursday at 8am!

Thanks Giving

It's that time of year, gentle readers, when one takes a moment to reflect on all that has come to pass in our life over the past year. As you know, with the recent anniversary of my lay off, your MatchGirl is no different. And, as I am sure many others will do today - on blogs, on television, on Twitter feeds and on Facebook - I want to share with you, my dear ones, the things that I am thankful for.  The things that, though I am unemployed and single, make me glad, every day.

I am thankful for my family.  It's constantly amazing to me how very supportive my parents are, during this rough time.  And, to those of you who will e-mail or comment that you knew they were supporting me and I'm just another Trustafarian - Stop.  That is most certainly not the kind of support I mean, because they don't support me financially.  I mean that I can call my dad and talk in the middle of the day - and he'll tell me about when I was a kid and he was laid off, and now that he's retired what he does with those long days.  And my mom will tell me how much she enjoyed reading my blog and how proud she is off the things I have been doing with my time - in my job hunt, with my networking and with getting more involved in my community here in North Brooklyn.  I am thankful that they have never pushed me to do something that wasn't right for me.  I am thankful that they have stood 100% behind me - even when the decisions I've made may not be the same that they might have.

I am thankful for my friends - those close to me here in Brooklyn, those I've known forever, and those I've recently met.  Being unemployed in New York, anywhere, stinks.  Let's just say it.  When you have friends you can lean on, though, things don't look so bad.  I'm thankful for every drink and dinner and cab ride home.  I'm thankful for heart to hearts and sitting saying nothing.  I'm thankful for all of the people I can call my friends who enrich my life every single day.  They are brilliant and beautiful, witty and kind.  I have been long blessed with friends who I can aspire to be like - who inspire me to be my best - and for this, I am beyond thankful.

I am thankful for you, gentle readers.  Some of you now fall into the friends category - but I met you through here.  To those of you I've not met in real life - who read my blog, fan me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter - I am thankful for your support and your comments and your e-mails.  I am thankful to know that I'm not the only one out here going through what I am.  And I am thankful that you've found me here so that you know you're not alone, as well.

I'm thankful for all the frogs I've kissed.  Boys/men who know who they are.  Who may or may not still secretly read this little tome.  I'm thankful for you, boys, because, through meeting you and dating you - sharing a cup of coffee, a conversation, a meal, a cocktail, a kiss - I have learned a lot about myself.  I've learned that some things I thought were my truths are not and that things I'd never realized could be great.  So, guys - the losers, the jerks, the sweet ones who just didn't click - I am thankful for each and every one of you.  I'm still single (and unemployed) in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, but I'm figuring it all out.  I'm thankful for that.

And I know we're all thankful for that 14 week unemployment extension that Congress just passed!

Have a very happy Thanksgiving, gentle ones.  Enjoy your friends and your family.  Drink good wine and eat way too much food.  Forget about the hardships and the stress of your everyday.  Pause, if only for a moment, to be thankful for the little things that make you remember life's not so bad.

Anniversary Party

Unemployed Brooklyn 1 Year Anniversary!
Thursday, November 12th @ 4PM
t.b.d. bar, 224 Franklin Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Thursday, November 12th is the one year anniversary of my lay off and I invite you, my gentle readers, to join me for Happy Hour at t.b.d Bar in Greenpoint at 4PM. They have a full bar, a ping pong table, loads of room for unemployeds to lounge about and happy hour specials. Meet your fellow unemployed Brooklynites (those who dwell in other boroughs are entirely welcome), share your lay-off stories, get some advice from a few former unemployeds who are now gainfully employed and see if you can put a fresh spin on your search for employment in these dire times.

The more, the merrier, so please come and bring your un(der)employed friends! I look forward to seeing several of you again and meeting many of you for the first time!

If you will be attending, or for further details, please R.S.V.P. to unemployedbrooklyn (at) gmail.com

Make New Friends

Make new friends, but keep the old.
One is silver, the other is gold.

A circle is round, it has no end.
That's how long, I will be your friend.

A fire burns bright, it warms the heart.
We've been friends, from the very start.

You have one hand, I have the other.
Put them together, We have each other.

Silver is precious, Gold is too.
I am precious, and so are you.

You help me, and I'll help you
and together we will see it through.

Your MatchGirl has been spending a lot of time thinking, gentle readers. To those of you who know me, you will know that this is par for the course. I have always spent a lot of time in my own head, with my own thoughts. But my thinking lately has been more focused. I think on the job hunt. I think on the fact that it has been nearly a year since my lay off and I am not sure what is to come. I think, a lot, on the fact (especially as my birthday - a few weeks away - approaches) about how this is not the place I thought I would be in my mid-30s.

Tomorrow, your MatchGirl has some friends coming into town - old friends whom she has not seen in probably six years. They live across the country, in a city I love but rarely get to. But they are old friends. And, at a certain point in my life, they were dear friends. And I am very excited to see them and catch up.

Their visit, coupled with the impending end of a year being unemployed, has gotten me thinking, though, about friendship. About cycles. About the past year. About the song (above) I learned, at 6 years old, in Brownie Girl Scouts.

While over the past year I have lived frugally on my unemployment check, while I have had not luck finding employment, while I have been frustrated and hurt by men, I have also been a lucky girl. Because it's in one's bad times that one really has a chance to gain some perspective on their life, their friendships and on what is truly important. Not only have my old friends, my core Brooklyn peeps, been truly there for me when I needed a helping hand, a shoulder or a cocktail, but I have made some truly amazing new friends - people who I would not have met had I not been laid off, started this blog and then gotten a little press about it. And, for that, gentle readers, I am truly thankful.

Through new friends in our adulthood, we learn about ourselves. People who have known us forever, know us. They see us inside out. They see us, probably, the way we remember ourselves and maybe in ways that we don't want to look at ourselves. New friends, however, give us a little perspective. They open our eyes to things about ourselves that maybe those who have known us a long time don't notice or forget, or maybe even parts of ourselves that we didn't know were there.

So, while I may not find a job any time soon, and while the men in my life may continue to disappoint, I am grateful for, and inspired by, the people I have been lucky enough to meet during my time of unemployment.

And that, my dear readers, is definitely the silver lining to this very grey cloud of a year.

For What You're Worth

Last night, dear ones, I had the opportunity to have dinner with some of the ladies from The Greenpoint Girls Group, at Papacitos. It's not often that your MatchGirl has an opportunity to break bread with so many smart, interesting and creative women. It was not only a fun evening, but inspirational as well. I came home wanting to make more art, to be more focused and to spend more time with like-minded people.

A few nights ago, I had a conversation with a fellow that I've just met. In telling a story about the purchasing of my first lap top - a gorgeous tangerine iBook - I was telling this fellow that, at the time, that was a really big purchase for me. I told him how I was working retail and making, something like, $10 an hour in 1999/2000. Instead of taking this as it was, an endearing story about me needing to make sure that I got this fantastic new computer in the cute tangerine color instead of the boring blue, he looked me up and down, saying that he didn't mean to be judgmental, but what was I doing, at 24/25 years of age, working at a job that only paid $10 and hour (plus commission)? Not to be judgmental, but didn't I have any plans for my life/future/etc...?

I related this to the ladies last night and they were appalled. More so than I had been, even.

You see, it came up as a natural part of conversation about un and under employment. It came up as one of the gals in the group said she kept seeing jobs posted in her industry that would maybe pay $8 and hour. It came up as part of a conversation about how, if you work in a creative industry, while it's always tough, it's even harder right now. And how it is an employer's market. And how everyone is trying to get something for nothing. And I related to the girls - artists and writers and food makers - the anecdote from above. They all said they hoped I wasn't going to see that gentleman again.

Now, I think I will give Mr. Judgmental another chance, and consider that perhaps he just has no idea how to speak to someone who is unemployed in this economy (or doesn't roll with too many people who are purely creative types).

It's not that I don't want to make money, gentle readers. But it's never been my priority. I want to live comfortably - more so than I have been able to live recently - I don't, however, want those who have never worked in my industry telling me how to do so. I don't want people who have never struggled to tell me how much they think I should make - or, more to the point, how much I should have made. I can't go back to 1999 and re-do my life. There's no use discussing it. Would I even want to? Probably not.

As I near a year of unemployment, my dears, I am thinking hard about those I spend my time with. I am thinking about how to make the best use of my time (even more so than before). I am thinking about the people I need to surround myself with. Amazing, creative folks, all looking to meet more creative and interesting folks? Definitely. People who are going to ask me if I am looking for a job (duh) or judge me based on decisions I've made in my distant past? Not so much.