FINAL-FREAKING-LY!!!*

Yes, I have finally been offered a job. As a librarian. In Virginia. To say I'm ecstatic doesn't quite begin to express what I'm feeling, although right now I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of setting up a new life, after I've spent the past week moving back in with my parents' house in upstate New York.

For a long time now, I've secretly believed that this blog has been sort of working against me in my struggle for independence. I've done my best to remove my surname from it, although the link still comes up if you know what you're googling; I have also severely reduced my posts here, which you may have noticed. This was partly due to not having anything much to say, but it was also because I was afraid that I might say something that would limit my chances to be hired somewhere. My logic runs that, were potential employers to see how my mind works, or where my interest lies, they might think twice before offering me a job. I don't know exactly what it is that I'm afraid of employers finding out, although the sexuality thing is a big part of it. Which is patently stupid, since I haven't been closeted since my teens, and I'm not particularly anxious to start denying who I am now.

So I get the call this morning -- I drove to Virginia last week with my cousin for the interview -- and the first thing she asks me is about the title of my blog. My heart sinks: I'm finally getting confirmation that this thing is an albatross around the neck of my professional career. I do my best to explain, it is a character from one of the Gamera films ("Gamera vs. Guiron," to be precise); I saw it on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and I just liked the name. She expresses relief, and tells me that a search online had come up with a definition that is not even remotely what I had in mind -- for the painfully curious, you can look it up at urbandictionary.com, but consider yourselves warned. It is listed as "corn job". Considering what the definition is, she was remarkably sanguine about it. By the way, my blog? The name is changing. Feel free to offer suggestions -- basically, this means you, Roy!

Long story long, she asks me if I'd be interested in accepting the job, and at that moment the word "yes" just didn't seem affirmative enough. My mom was in the car next to me, pounding the arm rest -- she knew what was happening -- and my grin couldn't have gotten any bigger without wires and extensive cosmetic surgery. It's a moment I've waited a long time for, and even now I am wondering if maybe something will go wrong. But I need to work harder to silence my inner Eeyore.

Anyways, after that she tells me that she had found my blog before I even showed up for the interview, and that, name aside, it was a major factor in her wanting to interview me in the first place! Who would've thunk it? She said that she liked what she saw, and I found myself wondering, what did I say? I look at the main page now, and most of it basically seems to be a holding pattern, brief updates, and whatnot. But then I look closer, and there are bits of me here, a bit dispirited, but unmistakeable. It's entirely possible that this blog has been a negative factor in some of the instances in the past where I've applied for jobs, but wouldn't I prefer to work somewhere that my boss can look at it and say, This is a man we think can work well here? Hell yes! I'M SORRY FOR EVER DOUBTING YOU, BLOG!!!

What is ironic is that, when her phone call came, I had just been told by the people at Target that they had finished all their hiring for the holiday season, and would I want them to call me in the new year if any positions open up? And I was on my way to a job fair to apply to work as a technical troubleshooter over the phone for tax-preparation software, which was essentially the sort of work I did before I got my graduate degree. Oh, and yesterday? The three year anniversary of my graduation with my library degree. What a long, strange trip it's been. I remember hearing in library school that the average amount of time it took a new librarian without experience to get hired was six months. I think I may have just single-handedly raised the average.

Oh, and congratulations to Eric for receiving his business degree at the same time I received my wonderful news. At least I found a job before he did!


*See what I did there in the title of the post? It's called tmesis. I learned that from a comic book, yes I did!