done

--> There’s a place I’ve been where the walls are wearing skin

Where no one lives inside, it’s just an empty hollow hide

The snow falls briskly, leaving you thin, so prickly

Where short, short skirts tend to silken shirts

and we are all so low.

There’s a place I’ve been where you would only hear that pin

Where no one says hello, how dare you consider your friend your fellow

The sky turns purple, orange, red, you might as well rip yourself to shreds

Where wavy hair meets a woman’s stare

and she whispers hello, goodbye.

There’s a place I’ve been where all you want is out

Where children fear

and I tear

Where there is no air

and I tear

Rip it. Deface it. Call it Nothing.

There is a place I have been.

How to Not Be Depressed During a Depression

1. Remember at least once daily, at least you’re not dead or dying. Don’t say things like, “But then I wouldn’t have to deal with this sh*t” right after. People will become worried about you, no matter how true the statement.

2. Write down five things you love each day, even if they’re seemingly dumb. Example: reading, capitalism, road trips, earrings, & lists

3. Blink a lot when you feel like you might start crying. Whatever you do, don’t let the tears well up, they will fall, and you will look and or be pathetic. You know what, carry tissues with you at all times.

4. Read a lot of books, and tell yourself things like: You’ll look back on this period as a great time in your life. At least you still have eyes. At least you can still process this novel intelligently. Look, you read a crap ton of Ayn Rand. You’ve always wanted to do that.

5. Listen to your iPod extraordinarily loudly whenever parents, siblings or friends attempt advice, which will not only be the opposite of helping, but will annoy you to no end.

6. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Meaning, if someone says they might be able to help you, don’t believe them until you’ve got your first paycheck in tow and you’re walking into a bank.

7. Substitute teach. Seriously, it’s a great way to make a few, and you get to feel intellectually superior to at least someone.

8. Continue donating money to good causes. You will feel better and you will have helped out someone else.

9. Volunteer. Even though it’s not a real job and you don’t get paid, it’s still a solid thing to jot down in your schedule. Filling up time slots is important.

10. Catch up on all that sleep you missed out on during those all night study sessions that really helped you get to this great place you are in now.

11. Take a deep breath. The water’s not warm. They lied.

Addendum: Don't think about what you don't have.

Classrooms to Social Class

So, I've often heard it said that life goes in cycles, but I never really believed it to be true.

Now that I seem to have loads of time on my hands, which for anyone who knows me in the slightest knows I do not enjoy, I've used some of it to reflect. [I'm more of a busy body who detests the silence, and revels in the quick-witted world of journalism.] Honestly, at this point I have no choice but to reflect.

You see, jobs are scarce. And yes, I am capable. Yes, I am intelligent. And yes, of course, I can deliver a beautifully crafted 500-5000+ word story for a vast readership. But no. There is no opportunity for that. I get it. I know I can't simply call up my buddy Sam Zell and actually receive a job chalk full of benefits and a company car. I knew that when I signed on as a journalism major, applied to the School, and subsequently graduated with honors. But this whole cycle business -- well, isn't it about time for it to cycle some more? I'm not advocating a mass withdrawal of babyboomers from the jobs that I desire to be mine, but I am advocating for some sort of position open specifically to post-students like myself, and not just one here and there.

Capable. Talented. Intelligent. And really, someone who is unwilling to ditch her dreams to become another desk-riding worker in some office somewhere. It's not even so much the dream of becoming a reputable reporter, but in all honesty, that's what I am trained to be. This is what I paid for, with not only money, but effort and long hours writing, reporting and studying.

As has become obvious with the Bush administration and multiple media outlets finally calling the "subtle beginnings" of what "may be" a recession, it is clear there are going to be a lot of layoffs and much more of what's already started in the job market. However, there should always be room for talented, hardworking people.

I am not living in a dream world -- unless I believed everyone is capable of attaining the American Dream, which I don't subscribe to. Failure happens. Social Mobility happens. Success happens.

The President has used the influx of students released from universities out into the disappearing workforce as a scapegoat for why jobs are seemingly evaporating into thin air, with all this summer heat around, and what not. But I do not buy it. The work force cycles, comes in waves just as everything else, but it probably won't go back this time. Not to how it used to be. We're living in a global economy. Jobs are outsourced, and it's more than just Qwest Internet connections forwarded to India. It's everywhere.

But where is journalism in all this? Should we be effected the same way? It's all that Internet, right? It's newspapers slashing newsrooms 19% like the Chicago Sun-Times. "It's competitive," they say. Or at least they say after we've walked out of the classroom for the last time.