Reading and Seeing

I confess to having an advantage. I live in Washington, DC where there are hundreds of free things to every day. Most of the museums are free, events take place on the National Mall, and different neighborhoods offer distinct flavors.

Today included a trip to the Renwick Gallery where they have an exhibition on art made by Japanese-Americans while in internment camps. The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946 is open through January 30, 2011. Click here for more information. It's a small exhibition, but very well done.


If you'd like to explore this time period and subject a little more, I recommend Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. It's fiction. Very well written and a fairly fast read. It's about an unlikely friendship/romance between a Chinese boy and Japanese girl during WWII. It takes place in the '80 with a series of flashbacks. Click here to go to Amazon, but you can find it at your local bookstore or library.


So if you pick up a copy of this at your library and go to see the exhibition - you have a few days of totally free entertainment.

Mottos to Live By

I firmly believe one should have a motto during difficult times. For example, this one is mine:

Which is swiftly followed by:

Painting and painting and painting . . .

One of the first things that happened after I lost my job is one of my room mates moved out. And took all of the furniture. We looked like we'd been robbed. The only thing in the living room was a TV, the TV stand, and the Christmas Tree which I insisted we leave up so the room wouldn't look too empty. Our dining room consisted of a rug and the kitchen even managed to look a little on the forlorn side.

The plea went out to friends for anything - tables, chairs, rugs - and thankfully, they answered. I also send blessings to Craigslist as I located a table and chair set for $25.

The table and chairs were more than a little worn, but I thought with a coat of paint it had potential. I stripped the finish off the table and chairs with sandpaper. Then I took some black paint and gave it a few coats. I finished with a nice semi-gloss lacquer.

I should warn you, I did this back in late February and painted indoors (why my room mates didn't throw me out afterwards is a bit of a mystery - possibly because we'd actually have a decent surface to eat off of when finished.). The paint itself was fine, but the lacquer fumes hung around for days even though I ventilated the house. I also had the good sense to place a plastic tarp under the furniture while painting -- this was smart as I dropped the can of lacquer at one point and spilled it everywhere.

I'm quite pleased with the finished product and if/when I move, I'm taking the set with me. And don't worry, I finally took the Christmas Tree down.

Welcome~

As someone who is currently unemployed a question that frequently crops up in conversation is "So, what are you doing?" The typical response is "Job applications and such" and which is more polite than the honest "banging my head against the wall and praying for deliverance" which is a real conversation killer.

But there's only so many job applications one can do in a day before head banging commences. The questions remains, what are we unemployed doing with our time?

I can't speak for everyone, I can only report what this unemployed individual is up to. I can't promise action packed adventures, but I can tell you daytime TV and bonbons are strictly forbidden (the daytime TV makes me feel stupid and the bonbons aren't in the budget).

I have a fellow unemployed friend who introduced me to the term "Funemployment." And certain aspects of it can be, it's an opportunity for a bit of self discovery and finishing (or starting) all those little projects that never seem to get done or interests that there's never enough time to explore. So, hang out with me as I stumble through this process.

Best,
LLN