Choices

WSJ recently conducted a study with the following conclusion: “The starting pay of certain liberal arts major generally clocks in well below that of graduates in engineering fields.”

Ummm…duh. They needed to have a study for this?

The salary chart that they provided was interesting to me though, because it reminds me of the way my own career path played out.

When I was in high school, I was headed for the liberal arts trajectory. I wanted to go into fine arts, but my parents strongly discouraged me (something about not wanting to support a starving artist). I also briefly considered majoring in languages (how cool would it have been to translate for the UN?!), until Mom and Dad reminded me that gazillions of people apply to the UN and competition is stiff. What a couple of killjoys.

Feeling lost, I consulted career guides and pay charts very much like the one posted above. Ultimately, I decided that accounting was a safe bet, so off I went to get an undergrad business degree. Right out of school, I landed a job in the internal accounting group of an investment bank. I thought I had it made -- the pay was good, the job was stable and I befriended many coworkers. The only catch? I hated my job.

So, after a few years I went back to business school and redefined myself as a marketer. Was it worth it? Well, I’ll be paying down my graduate school bills for the next 10 years and I am probably making less than what I would’ve made if I had stayed in the accounting field., but... it was definitely worth it, because I love my job now. And despite the occasional off day, I almost always look forward to going to work.

I wouldn’t change a thing about the choices I’ve made. In reality, I would’ve made a crappy artist and would’ve gotten bored as a translator. But I have learned that in the end, if you enjoy your job and find it rewarding, you will be happy and you will succeed. I hope that when it comes time for EB to choose her career path, I will encourage her to follow her dreams and passions regardless of the career outlook.

But if you  know me, you also know that I can be a control freak, so controlling guiding EB’s career path will be in my nature. Note to self: refer back to this blog when you feel the desire to pull out one of these salary charts to "guide" her career decisions.

Little things that make me happy

As I was pulling out of my driveway yesterday morning, I saw a big, orange hot air balloon, floating over the neighborhood, getting ready to touch down. It was beautiful.

I followed the balloon, windows rolled down, head sticking out, almost causing an accident or two in the process. But I didn’t care; I found myself grinning ear-to-ear. There’s something magical and special about hot air balloons, I suppose because the only ones I’ve ever seen are those in the movies. In a childish way, I imagined the balloon landing down near me. The balloon pilot would invite me to go around the world or go visit some imaginary place.


I followed it for about a quarter of a mile before it disappeared behind the trees. Sometimes its little things like this that makes me happy.

Fashion Statement

Even at her young age, EB has developed a particular taste when it comes to fashion. She does not like to wear anything with buttons (too constricting) and dislikes jeans (soooo 80's!). And, she has a penchant for matching stripes with flowers and layering bold colors from different points of the color wheel.

Folks at her previous daycare dubbed EB "Punky Brewster" for her fabulously loud, layered outfits. I prefer to think of her as a fashion maven. As a case in point, Louis Vuitton paraded big, bold colors down its catwalk in his showing of Spring 2011 collection. Pfftt. EB had predicted this trend months ago.

EB Spring 2010 Collection

LV Spring 2011 Collection
(courtesy of Vogue.com)

And apparently, mis-matched patterns will be all the rage next year, as showcased by my little girl and the glam model.
Look out, Vera Wang.

Glam model favors black
stripes with
orange spotted pants

EB favors flowered print
with orange striped pants

Still hungry, so sad

Dear Kashi:

I love your food and have tried many of your products--cereals, granola bars and waffles--just to name a few. So, I bought your $7.99 pizza the other day and while it was delicious, I was left hungry for more. Literally.

It. Was. So. Very. Small.

So small that we finished it in a few quick bites. As I savored my first and last morsel, I realized that not having a lot to eat actually frees up time to pursue outside interests. So, I used the found time to productive use and wrote you a Haiku:

Got Kashi at store
Tiny pizza great big box
Still hungry so sad


(OK, I never said I was a poet)


Here’s a picture. Note, the widthof the box was around 11.5 inches. The diameter of the pizza was around 9ish inches…what happened to the rest of the 1- 2 inches?

"Where's the Pizza?"

I wanted to give you the benefit of doubt; maybe there’s some type of pizza packaging requirement of which I was not aware. So, I got two other brands to compare: Paul Newman and Kroger brand. Turns out, both of the pizzas were almost the same width as their respective boxes. See below:

Not bad; only slightly smaller than the box

Paul knew how to do pizza

Please increase the size of your pizza next time so that I'm not misled into thinking I bought something more substantial. Or charge less. Or both.

Hungrily Yours,

Twirly

Cranky

I've been feeling rather cranky this week, so this will be a crotchety post about my top pet peeves. So here we go:

Elevator talk.
I generally prefer the stairs to elevators because I. Hate. Elevator. Talk. This is how it goes each time, without fail.
Random person: "Hi."
Me: "Hi."
(silence)
Random person: "Phhew. Another busy day."
Me: "Yes. Ugh. But at least it's Tuesday." (Or replace with "Wednesday" or "Thursday." If it's a Monday, I roll my eyes and say: "I knoww…and it's only Monday." Or if it's a Friday: "Yes! But at least it's Friday!")
Random person: "Yup, better than Monday." (Or if it's Monday: "Well it's almost over." Or if it's a Friday: "Yes, thank God.")
Me: "Yup."
(silence)

And speaking of days of the week...

Facebook status updates that mainly talk about days of the week. 

You are guilty of this offense if two of your last five status updates include the following: "Ugh, Monday", "Got over the hump", "One more day till Friday!" or "TGIF!" I know what day of the week it is, no need to inform me (or everyone else for that matter). You know who you are, so just cut it out. Please.

Multiple question marks and/or exclamation points 

Ever get emails/instant messages with a lot of these??????? It really irritates me!!!!!!!!! And when folks mix things up a bit with ???!!!???!!! I take cover, because I'm convinced that they're about to jump out of the computer and clobber me, so crazy and angry they sound.

More than two bumper stickers on your car.

For some reason I always find myself driving behind people who like to make lots of statements. One or two bumper sticker is fine, but I don't need to know your political affiliation, that your kid is in the honor roll, your favorite basketball, football, roller derby team, that you ran 26.2 miles, 13.1 miles, 1.37 miles and the five different causes you promote. I know you're an interesting person, but for the sake of all that's good, please find a different avenue to share your passions.

That is all. The end.

Lighten up

There comes a time when you realize not everyone shares your perverse sense of humor, as the following exchange fully demonstrates.

K went to pick up EB from her school last week and had the following exchange with EB’s teacher.

Teacher: “I had to put EB on timeout today.”
K (with concern): “What happened?”
Teacher: “When the kids were lining up to go outside, EB wanted to be the ‘line leader’, so she wrestled the boy standing in front.”
K:  “Did she win?”
Teacher (stunned, speechless)

I thought K’s comment was pretty darned funny. And for the record, K was absolutely kidding; he knows that EB’s behavior was unacceptable, and he heavily reprimanded her. But heck, sometimes, people just have to lighten up.