Sunday, November 27, 2005

On Company and Parallels

I just heard from "the bird lady" (read: the woman who runs the adoption program where Ringo is, and whose house he is staying in currently). Ringo is doing fabulously. She says that he hasn't shown the slightest bit of anxiety and seems to be really enjoying being around all the other birds. I am so relieved. It is what I expected to happen. I've often thought that Ringo's anxiety might be lonliness.

Here is a parallel that may or may not be able to be applied to our own lives:
In BirdLand, the smaller amount of space that a bird feels is "his", the more fiercely he will guard it. If he is allowed more space to move around in on a regular basis, and perhaps autonomously, the more relaxed he is and able to cope with sharing that space with others. I'm not sure exactly how that can be applied to my life, but if you have an idea, I'd love to hear it.

Anyway, Ringo will be moving to a new foster family on Thursday (I think an older, single lady, and she had lots of birds too) where he will stay up to a year, if not permanently. The "birdlady" says that Ringo is really a very good bird and she wishes that he could stay longer with her and rub off on her other birds. Oh yeah, and she says he is talking up a storm. I am very happy for him. I do miss him, though. But, I know its for the best.

On The 9 To 5

Where to freakin' begin...

I have a new job. It is very strange. I was sitting at home one day working on phone book stuff and I got a call from some company in Vancouver, WA that found my portfolio on Coroflot.com and they were interested in interviewing me for a design position if I was interested. And, of course, I was. So, I did some research and came to the conclusion that I had no clue why this company would want me. Really, even though its been explained to me since, I still don't really get it. Check out my portfolio at bigwhistlestudios.com/ilona, then go to their site http://realityengineering.com/work/index.php

So, I got the job. I am the only female employee other than the HR person. Almost everyone there is a gamer. Dude, I work with a guy named Thor. I do have to say though that everyone is really really really nice. My first day was this last Monday. I had 2 meetings within the first half of the day, both with clients. Talk about being thrown into the fire. It was a good move on their part though-I actually really enjoyed it and think it went really well. The second day, I had a meeting with one of the programmers. I was so afraid that I was going to either a) be totally dumb about interactive stuff, b) be treated like I was dumb about interactive stuff, or c) be expected to know some really advanced stuff, at which point I would have to quit. None of these things happened. I even had some good suggestions. This phenomenon was repeated later that day when I had to go to a brainstorming meeting about a video game for Orthodontists about a new kind of braces. I was pretty much at a loss, but listened during the meeting and managed to make a couple remarkable suggestions that made everyone go, "oooh".

So, I feel pretty studdly. On Wednesday, I went in an hour early and left 2.5 hours early. It was my first experiement with what it means to be an salaried employee. I don't have to work 40 hours a week, I just have to get my work done. weird.

On the flip side, I'm finding that I really miss the people I worked with at the photo studio. I had a really good bye with the owner - he even told me to keep in touch and if I ever wanted to come back that the door would be open. But, I can't. It's less money, part-time, no benefits, contract work, and its production work vs. actually getting to be a designer. It's a no-brainer.
But, I might have to call some of them up and go out with them or invite them over.

Finally.