What Does An Out-of-Work Film Programmer Do?

This post is like the opposite of a Bring-Your-Gainfully-Employed-Adult-to-School type of show and tell. My days usually look like this, though the setting varies. The present set-up at James and Jenn's in San Diego is definitely the warmest...



The important thing is to face each day hopefully, with a lot of clothes on.



This is not always easy. A few months ago, on the day that I first sat down to start my job search in earnest, the very first thing I came across was news of the 25% staff reduction at Film Society at Lincoln Center. Today there's this again...

It is at once 1) validating re: my current condition, and 2)extremely depressing.
I do not see light at the end of this tunnel, though I'm sure it's there, somewhere, far off...

Meanwhile, I am taking advantage of the, um, free time for visits with friends and family who are good enough to take me in and let me feel productive in their lives while I search for a job. This involves a lot of kid visits and babysitting. In the case of my nieces, the kids are really happy and excited when I arrive and couldn't be cuter...





And by the time I leave they are miserable and can't wait to see me go.



Maybe it's a good thing for our relationship that I don't get to see Malcolm T as much?



In the case of Oliver, after the last 3 days when it was just him and me, we both really wanted more of each other. Here he is at a big gaping garbage hole that we checked out on the daily coming home from school.



I also got to see some kids I haven't seen in so long that they don't even look like this any more...





I've also taken to crashing birthday parties of kids who I don't know...yet. Free cake!



Then there's housesitting, which is a nice way of saying that my wonderful friends let me stay in their awesome homes while they are away so that I don't feel quite as home-less as I am. I break up a day of futile resumés and cover letters with useful things like watering their plants...



And I take care of their pets and pray that they don't bring flailing lizard tails into the house.



My favorite task is cleaning out the kitty litter. Mmmmm!

I also give impromptu lectures and book reports to visiting friends, just to hone my public speaking skills...



Bassemah just tried to talk me into going to work with her tomorrow by saying, "You can have 3 hours of internet!" I am not a sucker. Why would I go to her yucky work at school when I can do my futile work searching in this setting?


Cheers! Here's to finding a job before 2011!