Neil Gaiman's 100K competition

In celebration of 100K followers on his Twitter, Neil Gaiman is hosting a competition. The premise is this: caption one or both of two photos posted on his blog and send it to him (using the #100K hashtag) via twitter.

I decided to do a LOLcat sort of caption ON picture B. I could have uploaded it to Twitpic, but apparently that's on the fritz, so I thought it would be better to upload it here. Also, all you non-Twitterers that read my blog get to enjoy my marvelous wit. Lucky you. :)

Without further ado, my entry (perhaps the first of few?):

The future, creeping up slowly

Places I've applied to:

Miami Seaquarium (http://www.miamiseaquarium.com/visitor_info/jobs.asp) - Internship
Georgia Aquarium (Guest Services)
Zoo Atlanta (Internship)
Oregon Zoo (http://www.oregonzoo.org/Intern/show.htm) - Internship and Guest Services

Places I've heard back from:

Miami Seaquarium
Oregon Zoo (Internship)

The interview for the Miami internship is tomorrow at 2:30. Thanks to my father's flight benefits, I'm flying there in the morning and flying back after the interview around 6:30ish. This will give me some time to explore the Seaquarium too. The only thing is this is the internship I want the least, as it requires 40 hours a week at only $7.50/hr. Yet, I have to give it a try, just in case the others fall through...I just haven't put very much thought into the interview yet.

Actually, let me rephrase that - the Zoo Atlanta internship (and I must focus on these internships, as they are what's actually giving me the animal handling experience I need) is the one I want the least, because I truly don't want to stay in Atlanta this summer. It's time to venture out, see the world, experience life somewhere besides Atlanta...somewhere like here:



Downtown



Rose test garden



Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, home of the Oregon Symphony, among others



The copper statue Portlandia above the entry to the Portland Building on SW 5th Avenue.

In case you hadn't gathered as much, these are all shots of Portland (courtesy of Wikipedia, thank you), and while it's far away, I really have my heart set on it. If I don't get this internship, I might die a little inside, as much as I love all of you in Atlanta. Unfortunately, the Oregon Zoo internship is unpaid, but it's less hours (only 8 less, now that I'm looking at it again), and I don't know...there's something about Portland that's just calling to me, conservative as I am. The interview for this one is Thursday the 26th, over the phone, so please pray for me. Maybe I'll be able to negotiate a shorter work week, but I doubt it...

The Zoo Atlanta internship is also unpaid, but it requires the least hours (16/week), which would definitely allow me to work somewhere like the Georgia Aquarium and support myself, and it's the most convenient, as it would mean staying in Atlanta. However, I have not yet heard back from either of these places...

I know what I want, but I would truly be grateful if everyone would please pray for me in this time of decision-making...and for all these interviews. Especially that phone one...*shudder*

Do you have an overdue library book? 'Cause you've got fine written all over you.

I was at the public library today. You think you'd be safe at the library, right? Place to study, surrounded by books, only people there are people who are going to keep to themselves?

I take out the paper I'm supposed to read, then open my laptop (and proceed to get distracted by the lack of chat and write the previous post, in which there is a certain irony). I'm busily updating my blog when a guy walks up to my table. The conversation is as follows:

Guy: You look familiar. Is your name Heather?
Me: *thinking, "Did he really just use that on me?"* No...
Guy: *sits down without asking* Really? 'Cause you look just like a girl I know named Heather. Do I know you from somewhere?
Me: Did you go to Lassiter?
Guy: Long time ago.
Me: Go to Georgia Tech?
Guy: I actually go to Southern.
Me: Guess not then. *looks back at computer*
Guy: You really look like her though, except your eyes are more...shiny.
Me: *trying not to snicker* Oh, really?
Guy: Yeah, and when you smile, your cheeks get all pink. It's really cute.
Me: *laughing again* Um, thank you.
Guy: *says some other stuff I can't remember* And my friend and I, we're both actors...*other stuff I can't remember* And I'm in this band where I play <some instrument>. We're pretty good.
Me: Oh, really?
Guy: Yeah. *we say something about spirituality, i guess?* You might be interested in this book! *throws out a book on karma and the Dhali Llama*
Me: Oh, I don't believe in karma.
Guy: You don't believe in karma? You don't believe in anything.
Me: No, I'm Christian.
Guy: Oh, I see! Well, I'm not one to have a serious conversation with a total stranger...
Me: .....
Guy: But I've been a lot of places. I went to India, and this guy I was talking to there was remarking on how the Christian civilizations have the highest rates of suicide and alcoholism.
Me: Well, that's possibly because many people in our so-called Christian civilization don't really have any sort of spiritual connection to anything, and see no need to have any because they're nominally Christian. Thus, they drown their sorrows in alcohol and commit suicide.
Guy: ...I suppose that could be true.
Me: I'm sorry...what was your name?
Guy: You don't remember?
Me: No, you said it rather quietly.
Guy: Ryan.
Me: Well, it was nice to meet you, Ryan. *shakes his hand* I have dinner with a friend to go to, but perhaps I'll see you around. Good-bye!

This was heavily edited, due to time lapse and the fact that it was longer than I care to reproduce, but it is true to his character. He really said all that stuff about shiny eyes and a band and India. And I really was just sitting there, thinking, "Is this guy for real?"

This could easily turn into a lecture on the etiquette of wooing women, but we shall save that for another time. Suffice it to say that timing, observation, and subtlety are key.

Perhaps all that arrogance (and cheesy one-liners, I was half-expecting the library line) might have worked in a bar. But alas, I'm afraid it did not work on this girl in a library just trying to get her work done.

Ew, a jellyfish.

I submit that I should update this more. Yes, yes I should...

It is very, very difficult to get any sort of work done during spring break. I'm currently at the public library, complaining about how the internet here has prohibited access to any sort of chat client (AIM, gchat, etc), while this paper on dolphin whistles sits beside my computer, whispering to me how desperately I need to read it so I can start writing that 12-page paper due Wed. Thus, it's probably a good thing that I can't chat, especially as I seem to be finding all sorts of other distractions, such as facebook, and lo and behold, updating my blog for the first time in a month. If I've learned anything from Georgia Tech, it's how to be a master of procrastination. It doesn't help that my brain has decided that it wants to take a vacation along with the rest of the school. It could easily be somewhere in Disney World or on a beach somewhere. Some poor soul is going to be walking down the beach at sunset, hand-in-hand with that special someone, then step unwittingly in some gooey mess. "Ew, a jellyfish," they'll say, then continue on their merry way. If only they knew.