Chrissy's Blog

This is City Hall, looking lovely and pristine after the recent snowfall. I love the way this city looks after it snows. Unfortunately, it quickly turns brown, slushy, and gross. Oh well, city life. I was down in this area for a job interview. It went really well, and I was actually offered the job, told to start Monday. It seems like a great place, and they offered me good things. Before the celebrating starts, read about the 28th…

On this snowy Wednesday night, I decided to go to church. I stopped regularly going to church when I was around 15. I was raised in the Lutheran church, and my family was always heavily involved in church activities. However, when I became a teenager, it no longer fit into my life and into my beliefs. In times of confusion in my life, I find myself going back. It started in Seattle when I realized I lived so close to a Lutheran church. In the five years I lived in Seattle, I probably attended this church five or six times. It was comforting to say those same prayers and sing those same hymns I knew as a child. Everyone is always kind and welcoming, and they give you free coffee if you stay the whole time. I also particularly liked the pastor at the church who was rather liberal. She spoke out against war abroad, about protecting the environment , about equal rights for everyone despite sexual orientation. I enjoyed hearing a group of religious people embracing the bible as a text meant to be continuously re-interpreted and re-examined in order to deal with modern issues in a responsible way. This church visit was not as successful. I was one of only four people who showed up for the weekday night service, and I was the only one for a good long while. There were no songs, and the pastor went on and on about loving God. It fell flat for me. I know that is the first commandment. But it feels like too great an abstraction. I’m supposed to sit around and focus on loving a being that I can neither comprehend nor believe to be truly there. When it comes to religion, I try to just be good. To do good in this world and appreciate the wonderful life I have. I believe that in basking in the glow of a beautiful moment or by helping out a stranger, I am honoring the “Creator” more than sitting in a musky church focusing on love. That is what I seek in religion, finding peace and happiness with what I have. Unfortunately this church is not the place for me to do that.

I went to a University of Washington event in Midtown. I walked by a jewelry store, glanced inside, and saw this. What the heck?

If this statue of Mr. Bryant in Bryant Park could talk, he would be saying how damn cold he is. I had another interview with the temp agency and met up with Travis and his friends for lunch. Before I left my apartment in the morning, I checked the weather. 6 degrees. 6! What got me was the “Feels like” which was -1. Man, oh, man. I ordered a really puffy winter coat from Amazon on Sunday, and I cannot wait for it to get here.

Saturday was rather hum-drum. We didn’t get home until late the night before, and it was freezing outside. So, late at night, while watching “Hook,” I got up to take a picture. The most interesting thing in the apartment at the moment was my boyfriend. He was camera-shy for probably the first time in his life which resulted in this paparazzi shot.

Fortuitously, I had an interview with a temp agency. They came highly recommended by my friend Kayla, and I was so miserable at the Dentist’s office that I’m willing to find any way out. Things went extremely well with the Agency. My recruiter is fantastic, and he was introducing me to practically everyone in the building. We talked about what kind of work I ideally want, what I would be good at doing in the meantime. He even introduced me to the Direct Hire team which helps place people in permanent positions. One of them mentioned a job that my experience is ideal for. Frankly, it is also a DREAM job, but I won’t go into too much detail because I don’t want to jinx anything. They had me sit in the waiting area while they tried to get a hold of the direct contact person for that position. Sitting there, I had a huge grin on my face, and I felt like doing a happy dance through the entire office. This meant I could quit the dentist office. This meant I never have to go back. This meant I AM FREE! The direct contact person was not in the office that day, but my recruiter set up an appointment for me Monday morning. As he walked me to the elevator, he told me that even if that doesn’t work out, he’ll get me a temp job at the very least, and I’ll be working right away. For the first time in months, I felt like I was finally on the right track. As I walked outside, it was freezing, the wind had picked up and snow was rushing by. But it was all beautiful! I am not petty enough to mention the dentist’s name on my humble blog (which not many people read anyways), but “Screw you, dentist-man. Screw you!”

This was the picture I took in the midst of my exhilaration on my way to the subway. The mighty Chrysler building and Grand Central lightly dusted in snow.

I was in that limbo of half-asleep when I realized I hadn’t taken a picture. I hate taking last minute pictures. I mean I’ve been so good about not doing that lately! Alas, here is the cheesy (no pun intended) pizza box that was sitting on my counter waiting to be recycled.

When it’s not deathly cold outside, I prefer to walk the extra five blocks to the 6 train instead of catching an N, Q, or R to transfer. This time on my walk, my ipod played some Billy Joel for me, particularly “Uptown Girl.” I remember when I was little, my parents made a VHS tape of Billy Joel music videos from VH1 which I watched all the time. I remember thinking how pretty Christie Brinkley was dancing around the gas station. I wanted to be an Uptown girl without knowing what one was. Now, I technically am one.