Correspondence: October 5, 2005

I haven’t heard from you since my last scary e-mail (a friend of mine said I came across as too psycho), so I thought I’d holla.

I’d love to write something comical and entertaining here, but my brain is numb with ennui from the complete and utter lack of work we have right now. Another day in paradise.

So, instead of holding forth on some obscure, yet amusing, topic, I’ll invite you to tell me about you. How do you like being 32? Have you stumbled into any unexpected maturity? How inopportune to become encumbered by maturity just when you’re old enough to start enjoying yourself.

I remember when I was 32 at the end of the 20th century. Wait … no I don’t. I was drinking pretty heavily in those days. I remember a blur of proposals to fast-food restaurant chains, doing work for a major soft-drink company in Atlanta and an all-around sense of job security that seems to be lacking now.

How’s California these days? Are you near the fires? What’s the worst thing you’ve seen today? The best? If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be?

… Sounds like your date was more disastrous than my last date. On mine, after 45 minutes she said she had to go get something to eat, but, “good luck in the future.” That means I’m not going to see her again, right? At least there was no vomiting involved.

Ahh … where do I work, you ask? I’m in the struggling Atlanta office of an agency based in St. Louis. It’s not quite advertising, not quite PR, not quite a production company, but has elements of all of the above. We produce large meetings which may include video, live entertainment and the like. We also produce Mobile Marketing programs.

I’ve been in this job for two years. Before this, I was an Associate Creative Director for a similar company. I was there for seven years before they downsized and, ultimately, closed the office.

How about you? Have you recently gone from freelance to a staff position? That would explain your new regimen. What do they have you writing?

… I believe I already expressed our curious lack of work at the office. I spent my day working on a poem and eating an apple. Hard to say which one was more invigorating.