However, this is what I came up with:

Yeah… I clearly don’t have a future in graphic design.

Let me start by articulating what exactly my skills are.

Long version:
I’ve come to realize that my “gift”, as it were, is language. For instance, I was able to teach myself Korean by translating song lyrics with a dictionary; furthermore, I got so far using just this method that I was able to bypass 3 full university-level courses. This shows that I was able to not only learn vocabulary, but to pick up on the patterns within the dictionary’s example sentences and figure out structures such as subject/object markers and tense, all without it ever being expressly taught to me. This also demonstrates a high level of analytical thinking and an ability to draw from a wide area of knowledge to form conclusions. I am able to see patterns and connections in language (both within a language and between languages) that many people cannot. It is worth noting, however, that my talent extends only to written language; although I am able to quickly pick up language when I can see it in writing, I have a very difficult time with listening comprehension and speaking. I am not interested in translation or teaching, and although Korean was my primary language interest, I am interested in language as a whole, and not necessarily just one particular language.

Short version:
I am exceptionally talented at finding patterns, seeing connections, analysis, and written language acquisition. I have a very analytical mind and, although this is seen most strongly in language acquisition, it can be applied to pretty much everything.

And, even though I am not interested in programming, I am still interested in high tech in general. So I’d like something that incorporates my skills and interests.

Luckily, the people I contacted were eager to be helpful. Among the things they suggested were cryptography, government language analysis, and linguistics.

One reminded me that computer science isn’t always about programming, which is a point well taken.

Interestingly, even though I specifically contacted people with a wide variety of backgrounds to get as many viewpoints as possible, each of them suggested government work with various agencies. A couple of them were kind enough to offer to introduce me to their contacts (government workers or recruiters) who might be interested in me, or who might be able to further guide me.

I do have a bit of reservation about applying for a government job again, though. Last time I didn’t make it through the security clearance process (and of course they don’t tell you why). Since I had decided just minutes before I got the letter that I didn’t want the job (I made the decision while driving home), it wasn’t devastating, but it was still a bit of a blow to be rejected. I’m somewhat hesitant to apply for a position that I really, really want, only to be denied.

There is also the issue that most of these jobs aren’t in Hawaii. One thing I considered that would keep us here is going into research, and trying to get a job at UH or something. I considered studying linguistics, cognitive science, natural language processing, neuroscience, psychology. NLP/computational linguistics in particular is an area that would make heavy use of my tech background. Buuuuut it’s not something I’m very sure about just yet.

In any case, I really appreciate the fact that my former professors took time out of their day to offer their insights to me. I sent off the emails half-expecting to get no replies, so I’m really thrilled that they not only replied, but replied thoughtfully. Their answers do offer a new area to explore.

I’m also thankful that Toby’s been so patient, especially since I know he doesn’t understand my need to find a career that makes best use of my talents. Thank you, Toby. ♥

Sloganizer

Short answer: It was bad.

REALLY bad. I sounded like I was just beginning– squeaky, unsteady, wrong notes, wrong finger placements. Granted, it’s been at least 5 years since I really played; however, I used to be really, really good. In 7th grade, I placed 4th chair in the city’s youth orchestra. Most of the people seated behind me were older than me. (There are usually around 30 violinists in an orchestra.) I stopped auditioning for the youth orchestra in 10th grade, and dropped out of my high school Strings class starting in 11th grade, but I continued to practice at home, at least occasionally. While I was no longer as good as I used to be, I at least was decent.

Fast-forward to my leaving for Hawaii. I was limited in what I could bring with me, so my violin got left behind. (In all fairness, I’m not convinced that if I went to another school, I would have brought it with me, either.) It was 2 years before I returned, and although I brought my violin back with me that time, when I tried to play, I was dismayed by how bad I’d gotten. So I didn’t play because it was painful to hear myself, to see just how far I’d fallen.

So now, after even more years of not playing, I’ve gotten to the point where I sound like I did when I first started out. I wanted to play something simple for my children– both for their enjoyment and in the secret hopes that they’d someday want to learn to play, too– but found myself incapable. Because I stopped using my talents, I lost them, and it would take a lot of work to get back to where I was. I don’t know that I have the energy or motivation to devote to that, so it seems likely that I’ll never really regain that lost talent.

I can, however, continue to hope that my kids decide they want to play.

First off, our apartment parking deck is being fixed, so during the day we have to find street parking. I got lucky yesterday and found parking after 3 swingarounds, but today after 4-6 times around the block, nothing had yet opened up. I had a doctor’s appointment later, so I decided to just go up to the deck, park next to the door, run inside and grab a few things, then head on out to the hospital, where I could wait an hour or so for my appointment. Since I was parking where I wasn’t supposed to be, I was in a bit of a hurry. When climbing back inside the car after returning from my apartment, I managed to hit the back of my head hard enough to leave me feeling woozy, with a headache lasting for several hours afterwards.

When I got to the hospital, I sat in the car and fed Athena for a while. While doing this, she starts to poo. I figure I’ll wait for her to both finish eating and pooing, then I’ll change her. But of course, once she’s done and I shift her to get out of the car, I discover that the poo… leaked. REALLY leaked. All over her clothes, all over MY clothes, on the car, on the ground… I even discovered some on her bag later, while walking to my doctor’s office. And yes… that means I had to go to an appointment covered in poo. I had no change of clothes, after all. I washed off what I could in the restroom, so I don’t think anyone noticed, but still. It’s GROSS. (And yes, that is why I say today was a “crappy” day. A ha ha ha ha ha ha…)

After my appointment, I go back to the car, only to discover that the jerk next to me parked over his line, leaving me so that I couldn’t fit Athena’s carseat through her door. I had to crawl in from the other side, struggling to get over Tommy’s carseat, just to get her inside.

Luckily, my day improved after that. I found parking right next to my building, and didn’t even have to swing around. I got a good nap, Toby brought me some yummy chocolate peanut butter cake, and we went out to the mall. So aside from a difficult morning, I had a pretty good day. Hooray for chocolate peanut butter cake!

Yeah, I tried to unsubscribe a bunch of times, but I haven’t been able to…

My question is, why bother? There have been efforts in the past to phase out the penny; it is, after all, worth less than any other coin that has ever been in circulation in the US. There is no real reason to keep it in our currency, except for sentimental reasons and, apparently, zinc lobbyists.

But as far as I’m concerned, there are no real benefits to keeping the penny around. Vending machines and parking meters won’t accept them. You can’t really use them to pay for anything, so they tend to just sit around until you finally roll them and take them to the bank. Pennies now cost more to produce than they’re worth. Oh, and apparently they’re toxic.

So I say we as a country try to move beyond sentiment and realize that it would be of benefit to everyone (except the zinc industry) to move pennies out of circulation. Hey, at least I’m not alone in my thinking!

Death to the penny! Long live the nickel (so long as it still has value)!

**Random note: Once while Toby and I were dating, I went out of my way to pick up a penny on the ground. When he gave me  a questioning look, I replied, “Pennies are valuable tender.” How things change…**

Buuuuut… I’m back now. I hope. Maybe I can keep this up and actually write something every couple of days.

My favorite comic Toby drew of me. Mostly because it’s so true. At any given time I am either playing on the computer, playing with my pink DS, or sleeping. I guess I don’t really interact with the rest of the family the way I should.

It’s also my sleep routine. I’m a night owl, so I get really keyed up at night and need to go through this process to calm myself down. So I transition from my computer to my DS, where I’ll play until sleep overcomes me. Reading works, too, and was my method of choice in my high school days, but these days I need to keep the lights off so Toby can sleep. Plus my attention span seems to have… Ooh, look, a squirrel!

Just because the election’s over doesn’t mean that they aren’t still plotting!

I especially liked the “There are many copies” part.