Just under two weeks ago, I published this post about being in-between jobs and looking for work. And I want to say thank you to all of you who connected me with people you know and have been looking out for me. It means a lot to me - thank you!
I am fortunate to have been offered (and accepted) a job this past weekend. It's true! I start in 3 weeks and am very excited both for the work that I'll be doing and for the ability to better support myself financially going forward. All good things. :-) I won't go into the details of the work right now, but suffice to say that it builds on my analytical and policy background and is an excellent place to get started in Los Angeles.
That said, I am definitely still looking for different ways to connect and plug into the LA community, so if you you know if people you think would be good for me to talk to, please let me know! While my new job did not come through the networking that I've been doing, I do credit that networking for giving me a much better sense of the community and ways to get involved. Every reference sent my way (so far) has been super, and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has been so supportive of me in my journey.
Thank you!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Your home... You're home
This past weekend was a big moment for me. I had my housewarming, which involved inviting lots of friends over and commiserating over gnoshes and drinks. I also played host to my mom and her friend, with whom I drove to LA after a quick flight up to San Francisco to surprise my brother for a live jazz recording he was doing.
I was nervous, honestly, to show my mom my place. It wasn't even just my apartment that I was nervous about sharing as much as showing her my new city. At the brunch that my mom hosted a couple months ago on the day that I moved here, one of her friends blurted out how awful LA was and how he just loved SF so much more. Readers of this blog know that I've heard this sentiment a lot, but coming from one of my mom's closest friends, and in the context of my final brunch in San Francisco before I moved to LA, it was more jarring than usual. I'm certain this is a sentiment that mom has heard time and time again, as have I.
As we made the long slog southward down the 5 toward the grapevine, I began to worry. What if mom thought LA sucked? What if the air was horrible and aggravated my mom's friend's breathing issues? What if our visit would just be a slog from one destination to the next?
As it turned out, not only were my worries unfounded, but my mom and her friend had a great time. Mom was ecstatic about being in Hollywood and walking along the Hollywood Walk of Stars. She and her friend loved the view from Griffith Observatory, and mom and I had a lovely walk to my garden and onward to get some herbs and seeds to plant. While our time together was short, we did make the most of it and saw a few different parts of LA - enough to give my mom a sense of a city she admits she'd never visited before (quite smartly, she doesn't include a three-day trip to Disneyland a few years ago as being a visit to LA). Mom and her friend enjoyed the warm sunshine, the walkability of my neighborhood, and the overall accessibility of LA that I have been enjoying myself.
What struck me most, however, was our first evening here after finally finishing our long drive, after mom had briefly seen part of my neighborhood and also walked around my new apartment. She looked up at me and said, "Luke, this is truly your home... Your home." And the restatement of "your home" was inflected in a way that meant "You are home," which gave me pause for a moment. It was a recognition from her that I had not anticipated, and it meant so much to me to know that she could see what I have begun to understand in my couple months here, even as I have struggled to find work, and routine, and friends. That recognition was that I am home. And I am really happy to be here.
I was nervous, honestly, to show my mom my place. It wasn't even just my apartment that I was nervous about sharing as much as showing her my new city. At the brunch that my mom hosted a couple months ago on the day that I moved here, one of her friends blurted out how awful LA was and how he just loved SF so much more. Readers of this blog know that I've heard this sentiment a lot, but coming from one of my mom's closest friends, and in the context of my final brunch in San Francisco before I moved to LA, it was more jarring than usual. I'm certain this is a sentiment that mom has heard time and time again, as have I.
As we made the long slog southward down the 5 toward the grapevine, I began to worry. What if mom thought LA sucked? What if the air was horrible and aggravated my mom's friend's breathing issues? What if our visit would just be a slog from one destination to the next?
As it turned out, not only were my worries unfounded, but my mom and her friend had a great time. Mom was ecstatic about being in Hollywood and walking along the Hollywood Walk of Stars. She and her friend loved the view from Griffith Observatory, and mom and I had a lovely walk to my garden and onward to get some herbs and seeds to plant. While our time together was short, we did make the most of it and saw a few different parts of LA - enough to give my mom a sense of a city she admits she'd never visited before (quite smartly, she doesn't include a three-day trip to Disneyland a few years ago as being a visit to LA). Mom and her friend enjoyed the warm sunshine, the walkability of my neighborhood, and the overall accessibility of LA that I have been enjoying myself.
What struck me most, however, was our first evening here after finally finishing our long drive, after mom had briefly seen part of my neighborhood and also walked around my new apartment. She looked up at me and said, "Luke, this is truly your home... Your home." And the restatement of "your home" was inflected in a way that meant "You are home," which gave me pause for a moment. It was a recognition from her that I had not anticipated, and it meant so much to me to know that she could see what I have begun to understand in my couple months here, even as I have struggled to find work, and routine, and friends. That recognition was that I am home. And I am really happy to be here.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
In-between jobs
Perhaps the biggest challenge in moving to a new city has been finding work. And it's not even just that I don't yet have gainful employment, but that I also have very few elements of a routine - something that I took for granted before moving here. I have always been very involved, had lots of people to spend time with, and any number of activities on my plate, and now that I'm in a new city a lot of that has changed.
As you probably know from personal experience, being unemployed is tough. To make matters worse for me, I was told just a couple weeks ago that the job that I'd been promised before I moved here, that I understood would start in late October, has no funding. So now I am doing everything I can to change that situation for the better.
In keeping with that effort, I'm putting this out there, in case someone is reading this and has any ideas or people they would be willing to connect me with as I continue to get settled in my new home:
I'm looking for work.
I've got my resume and bio up on my fairly barebones website. Every day I'm applying for a new job. And although the job market sucks and looking for work is a trying experience, as my boyfriend encourages me to do every day, I'm focusing on the positive.
I've had a number of meetings with different movers and shakers in the Los Angeles area, all of whom have been incredibly friendly and helpful. I've been looking into consulting opportunities and trying to find opportunities to provide financial, analytical and communications contractual services. I've already had a preliminary job interview this week for an opportunity about which I'm very very excited. And I've even been reaching out to organizations that are doing work that I care about so that I can plug into different volunteer opportunities, since those are another way to get involved, create a routine, and meet other people with similar interests.
That said, I am still [very much] in-between jobs.
So... I'm asking for your help. If you know of someone in Los Angeles who you think would be good for me to talk to. If you've heard about an opportunity you think is worth exploring. If you think there is some organization or two that I ought to check out. Please tell me.
My resume and bio explain a lot about me. My passions are building community, empowering people out of power, truly understanding key issues (i.e. knowing the second, third, fourth, etc. layer beneath the public story about any issue), developing sustainable transportation systems and land use patterns, providing high quality education to all people, and providing equal rights to the disenfranchised. My background is policy and financial analysis, with a focus on local government and nonprofits. I love working on teams, and thrive in an environment where people are encouraged to speak their minds so that everyone can learn from each other.
My email is lukehklipp [at] gmail [dot] com. You can find me on Facebook. You can check out my website. Please let me know if you have ideas to share.
Thank you!
PS - I will get back to sharing about my experiences in Los Angeles shortly. Frankly, it was around the time that I learned that I didn't have this previously-promised job opportunity that my blogging petered out, as a lot of my time has since been dedicated to my job search. That said, I continue to have any number of experiences that I would love to share, and will share... soon. :-)
As you probably know from personal experience, being unemployed is tough. To make matters worse for me, I was told just a couple weeks ago that the job that I'd been promised before I moved here, that I understood would start in late October, has no funding. So now I am doing everything I can to change that situation for the better.
In keeping with that effort, I'm putting this out there, in case someone is reading this and has any ideas or people they would be willing to connect me with as I continue to get settled in my new home:
I'm looking for work.
I've got my resume and bio up on my fairly barebones website. Every day I'm applying for a new job. And although the job market sucks and looking for work is a trying experience, as my boyfriend encourages me to do every day, I'm focusing on the positive.
I've had a number of meetings with different movers and shakers in the Los Angeles area, all of whom have been incredibly friendly and helpful. I've been looking into consulting opportunities and trying to find opportunities to provide financial, analytical and communications contractual services. I've already had a preliminary job interview this week for an opportunity about which I'm very very excited. And I've even been reaching out to organizations that are doing work that I care about so that I can plug into different volunteer opportunities, since those are another way to get involved, create a routine, and meet other people with similar interests.
That said, I am still [very much] in-between jobs.
So... I'm asking for your help. If you know of someone in Los Angeles who you think would be good for me to talk to. If you've heard about an opportunity you think is worth exploring. If you think there is some organization or two that I ought to check out. Please tell me.
My resume and bio explain a lot about me. My passions are building community, empowering people out of power, truly understanding key issues (i.e. knowing the second, third, fourth, etc. layer beneath the public story about any issue), developing sustainable transportation systems and land use patterns, providing high quality education to all people, and providing equal rights to the disenfranchised. My background is policy and financial analysis, with a focus on local government and nonprofits. I love working on teams, and thrive in an environment where people are encouraged to speak their minds so that everyone can learn from each other.
My email is lukehklipp [at] gmail [dot] com. You can find me on Facebook. You can check out my website. Please let me know if you have ideas to share.
Thank you!
PS - I will get back to sharing about my experiences in Los Angeles shortly. Frankly, it was around the time that I learned that I didn't have this previously-promised job opportunity that my blogging petered out, as a lot of my time has since been dedicated to my job search. That said, I continue to have any number of experiences that I would love to share, and will share... soon. :-)
Monday, November 1, 2010
VOTE
Tomorrow is a big day for our country. Every two years it seems like people are saying "this is the biggest election ever;" and this is a year that I wish I could say, "this election isn't as important as elections past." But I don't think that I can say that, because I'm not sure that would be right.
Take the "tea party," for example. This is one of the most ginned-up phenomenons I've seen in my lifetime. The "tea party" is a well-financed grasstops (as opposed to grassroots) cadre of organizations run by people whose primary motivator is cutting taxes for the wealthy and eliminating the social safety net (in other words, the economic self-interests of the few people financing the "tea party"). Contrast statements by "tea party" candidates Sharron Angle (AK) and Joe Miller (AK) who want to gut Social Security and Medicare with all the health care town hall protesters who simultaneously lamented "government-run healthcare" while vigorously defending their own medicare. In a genuinely grassroots operation, the message being spoken by the people at the "bottom" of the organization is the message of the organization, by definition. In the case of the "tea party," the message from people at the "bottom" is the opposite of those at the top.
Take social issues. This election is particularly notable for the level of vitriol being spoken by people who claim to have god on their side. A candidate for Congress compared LGBT people to alcoholics and another candidate defended his choice to dress up as an SS guard (i.e. Hitler's army), and both of these men continue to have the support of the GOP leadership. Nearly all the "tea party" candidates for Senate oppose a woman's right to choose, even in the case of incest or rape, which is such an extreme anti-choice position that very few elected officials have been willing to venture that far outside the mainstream until now.
Take anything you care about. Access to college? The wealth gap? Don't Ask, Don't Tell? A woman's right to choose? Tax fairness? You name it.... it appears to be on the line this election with a cohort of some of the most extreme candidates for office we've ever seen.
I am sad, because it appears that Democrats will handily lose the House tomorrow, which will mean that one of the most outspoken and powerful advocates for equality and fairness - Nancy Pelosi - will lose her ability to keep moving the national needle toward equality. That needle will be left with Barack Obama who, quite frankly, has been disappointing in his willingness to buy into the GOP narrative. I am sad, because it appears that people like Pat Toomey, Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio will dominate DC for at least the next two years, with their primary intent being to undermine this President (even as the President doesn't seem to fully get that this is in fact their primary intent). I am sad, because Democrats had a unique opportunity to create a sea-change in our national narrative since 2008, and instead they punched a couple times and then crawled back into their collective shells, surrendering to the GOP months before their time was up, and basically handing over the keys to the Capitol without a real fight.
I hope I'm wrong about what appears to be the certain outcome of tomorrow's election. I sure would like to be. And one way you can change that is to get out and vote. There's so much at stake, and it is through our vigilance and commitment to sticking with it, even (and especially) when times are tough, that we shift the narrative and the direction of our country toward increased fairness and equality for all.
Vote.
Take the "tea party," for example. This is one of the most ginned-up phenomenons I've seen in my lifetime. The "tea party" is a well-financed grasstops (as opposed to grassroots) cadre of organizations run by people whose primary motivator is cutting taxes for the wealthy and eliminating the social safety net (in other words, the economic self-interests of the few people financing the "tea party"). Contrast statements by "tea party" candidates Sharron Angle (AK) and Joe Miller (AK) who want to gut Social Security and Medicare with all the health care town hall protesters who simultaneously lamented "government-run healthcare" while vigorously defending their own medicare. In a genuinely grassroots operation, the message being spoken by the people at the "bottom" of the organization is the message of the organization, by definition. In the case of the "tea party," the message from people at the "bottom" is the opposite of those at the top.
Take social issues. This election is particularly notable for the level of vitriol being spoken by people who claim to have god on their side. A candidate for Congress compared LGBT people to alcoholics and another candidate defended his choice to dress up as an SS guard (i.e. Hitler's army), and both of these men continue to have the support of the GOP leadership. Nearly all the "tea party" candidates for Senate oppose a woman's right to choose, even in the case of incest or rape, which is such an extreme anti-choice position that very few elected officials have been willing to venture that far outside the mainstream until now.
Take anything you care about. Access to college? The wealth gap? Don't Ask, Don't Tell? A woman's right to choose? Tax fairness? You name it.... it appears to be on the line this election with a cohort of some of the most extreme candidates for office we've ever seen.
I am sad, because it appears that Democrats will handily lose the House tomorrow, which will mean that one of the most outspoken and powerful advocates for equality and fairness - Nancy Pelosi - will lose her ability to keep moving the national needle toward equality. That needle will be left with Barack Obama who, quite frankly, has been disappointing in his willingness to buy into the GOP narrative. I am sad, because it appears that people like Pat Toomey, Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio will dominate DC for at least the next two years, with their primary intent being to undermine this President (even as the President doesn't seem to fully get that this is in fact their primary intent). I am sad, because Democrats had a unique opportunity to create a sea-change in our national narrative since 2008, and instead they punched a couple times and then crawled back into their collective shells, surrendering to the GOP months before their time was up, and basically handing over the keys to the Capitol without a real fight.
I hope I'm wrong about what appears to be the certain outcome of tomorrow's election. I sure would like to be. And one way you can change that is to get out and vote. There's so much at stake, and it is through our vigilance and commitment to sticking with it, even (and especially) when times are tough, that we shift the narrative and the direction of our country toward increased fairness and equality for all.
Vote.
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