Friday, July 26, 2013

Reading about SEO

The book I bought on the basics of SEO finally came in, but I'm still waiting on the book on hold at the library. I'm about a quarter of the way through and it isn't so bad. I'm learning a few things about HTML which is interesting and unexpected. Also, I'm learning the reasons behind all of the blogging rules my aunt gave me when I wrote my first blog post for the company. I'm so glad I decided to wait to apply for the social media jobs until after I received this book because I would have looked like a complete fool in an interview. There's so much I didn't know or, worse, thought I understood and misunderstood. I've already learned a number of things I'm going to put into practice.
Oh, I'm still working for TripRental.com, by the way. I just have student loans coming in and need a paying job now in order to pay the upcoming bills. I'm looking for a job in social media so I can learn more about the field and be able to take anything I learn and apply it to what I'm doing for TripRental. There are certainly more jobs available in social media than in writing or editing so finding jobs hasn't been a problem. The problem came when reading over the requirements. Reading over them, I knew I had performed most of what the employers were looking for but I had no idea how to describe them in such a way that would make me appear like I knew what I was doing. Mostly because I didn't.
Basically, I like my job but I always felt like I was a chicken running around with its head cut off. Now I feel like I'm not so clueless and have some direction to take a strategy, once I create one. I'm also learning what a bunch of the terms mentioned in the job applications mean and can now explain myself in such a way I'd have confidence in an interview.
Gosh, I love being able to focus on just a job instead of a job plus papers, grades, and classes.

Friday, July 19, 2013

So you think DJs are cool?

It's 4am and I can't sleep so I came downstairs in hopes of tiring out my brain with internet surfing (It seems to work in the middle of the day). I happened across this article on MSN titled "So you think DJs are cool?" It's the tiniest little article about "posing" DJs who I guess people are hiring and finding not to be as good as they expected.
Before even reading the article I knew it was going to be about the DJs that play music in clubs, raves, parties, etc. and a thought crossed my mind. For those of you who don't know, my dad is a DJ and has been for many years. When I was a kid, I would usually use this tidbit of information to answer the "something unique about you" question teachers liked to ask in questionnaires or as ice-breakers at the beginning of the school year (I'd either use that or say I have twin younger sisters. Apparently I couldn't think of anything actually unique about me). Almost as soon as I answered, someone would immediately ask "Oh, what radio station is he on?"
What I'm saying is, there seems to have been a shift at some point where people stopped most associating DJs with the radio hosts and started associating them with the people in charge of the music at parties like my dad. As I'm writing this, I'm starting to remember there was a time somewhere in the middle when DJs were known for riffing records (or perhaps that's still how they're perceived for many people). It's interesting how our perception of certain jobs seem to change over time even if the job itself hasn't changed at all. As I mentioned before, my dad is a DJ and he's been in charge of music at parties for over 20 years. In fact, he did my eighth grade dance kind of as a favor to my school (I'm assuming it was discounted because I know he did the music one night for Budweiser during the 1996 Olympics and there's no way a public middle school could afford that. Granted, it was a smaller party with less equipment needed... I digress).
I can' think of any other jobs that have had the general perception of their work change so much, can you?

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Healthy Living

This all started with a physical I had to go to in order to continue receiving my anxiety meds. I mentioned my stomach issues and she decided I should try going without dairy for a week. So I didn't do it last week because I still had milk left over (that and I was craving cereal like socialite craves attention). However, I started it yesterday and I've already had some realizations.
For one, most products that typically have dairy in them that are sold without dairy tend to also be missing gluten, making it difficult for me to figure out whether it's the gluten or the dairy. I'm purposely eating my regular pasta instead of the gluten free pasta I bought to see how things go. I actually found chocolate cookies without dairy or gluten in them. They aren't half bad either. I also found lactose-free yogurt that is also missing gluten. The yogurt tastes just like yogurt, meaning I'm reluctantly drinking it down. I also found dairy and gluten free milk chocolate. They used rice milk. I also had it and it wasn't bad either. I'm seriously starting to believe I might be okay if this is the solution because I felt like I was given a death sentence at first.
Still, there's the problem of whether or not it's the gluten or the dairy.
In other news, I'm seeing a chiropractor that's more like a physical therapist for my hips. When we found out I still had health insurance my aunt suggested I see a chiropractor about my hips. She has clearly figured me out because she suggested we go then and actually took the dogs with us and sat there while I filled out the paperwork. If that had been left up to me, I probably would have taken a couple weeks because setting up a time to see a new doctor always makes me anxious. I've had two visits and I'm seeing him two more times this week and will continue to see him three times a week for twelve weeks. I also have two exercises I need to do everyday. The first one is probably the most difficult and uses my ab muscles which are non-existent. This works out pretty well though because I've been complaining about my stomach for forever and this way I don't have to think about what I'm going to do to solve it or research how to solve it- he tells me what to do and I do it. Simple. I like simple. The second one makes me feel like I'm working out in the 80's. It's that lift the leg exercise while you're laying sideways.
Apparently the whole problem is my gluteus medius and how it has no strength whatsoever. I mean, if you google that and look at the pictures or where it is, it's exactly where all my pain has been. So we're relaxing it, working it, and everything elsing it.
I also planned to start using that unlimited yoga classes for a month groupon today but I woke up late. They have a class called "Sunrise" that's from 6:30 to 7:30. I woke up around 6:30 so I just need to get myself to wake up a little before six, like I did in high school, and then I'll be able to go. The class is every weekday morning so it should be easier to follow than something that's once a week. Hopefully, I'll wake up early enough tomorrow.