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We are overwhelmingly middle-aged and male. Typically, there have only been two or three women in the group at any one time, and I find their presence to be a great plus to lifting the general mood. One of the group’s recent female members had the lanky appearance and humorous presence of Katherine Hepburn in her madcap movie comedies of the 30’s and 40’s. She recently accepted an attractive offer, one of three she had at the same time, a true embarrassment of riches.
One of the few rules of the group is that members who find a job (“land” in placement parlance, a term I secretly bridle at) must bring in treats when they announce their big news. I have eaten a lot of bagels and doughnuts.

A post by an Illinois man who attends a weekly job search networking group.

05/25/12

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‘I got a hug from someone in PFLAG,’ [Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays] Hames says, tears welling up in her eyes. “A hug from someone else’s mom.

If you hear on the news tonight about a one-person derailment on the R Train line, this Dispatch, about a mom who lost custody of her kids, her church, and her own relationship with her mother after she announced her lesbianism, is the reason. It trainwrecked me to a stupid degree.

The quote was like a standard River Kwai maneuver, and her retelling of her son’s response (“My son said, ‘Mom, this doesn’t change anything.’ That was the most Christ-like response there is,”) was like another locomotive following right behind it.

02/24/12

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It is ridiculous that my future is in question because of how other people feel about it. They don’t know me.

Andrea La Ronde, an Iowan who wants to marry her fiancee, but fears Iowa Republicans will push a constitutional ban on same sex marraige.

Her partner says that after worrying about the cloud hanging over them, they both got to “a point where we just didn’t care anymore. If us being happy screws up your marriage that is your problem.”

01/18/12

“It’s definitely been really tough, especially at first, after finding out [I was laid off] and some days breaking down and crying that you got, you know, your wife working and you can’t really provide anything for the future of the child. I mean, it’s pretty much y’know, whatever you can do around the house to contribute. You just kinda feel not much like a man.” -South Carolinian Michael Pay.

“The child” he talks about is his unborn child, whose sonogram you can see stuck on the fridge at the one minute mark. Directly after that, he laments the political leaders he feels stuck with.

01/13/12

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We don’t see people browsing the aisle labeled 332.1572 because that frankly doesn’t get us excited to read. But when you go to a bookstore and walk in, there are big signs for business, crafts or home.

Wisconsin librarian Kathy Klager, quoted in “Libraries Rethinking the Dewey Decimal System.”

The OCD and champion of esoterica in me in me mourns this, but the person who cares about user experience loves it.

01/12/12

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After the surgery, Nancy woke up with a giant bandage on her head, unable to speak. Troy remembers being petrified.
“I went home and prayed and lit a candle and went to sleep. Then the phone rings at 2:30 in the morning — it was her. I just hear this, ‘How are you?’ and I swear, at that moment, the candle went out. It was the most amazing feeling — I was crying and saying, ‘Thank you, thank you.’

From this amazing Patch story, “Family Finds That Sometimes `Doing All the Right Things’ Just Isn’t Enough.”

If you’re like me, and you don’t think it’s a Love Story unless there’s as much pain and perseverance as a 19th century Russian novel, Instapaper this one.

01/9/12

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I like to go to my Browns’ games. I like to travel.

Clevelander Bryan Marshall, talking about why he works two jobs. He’s quoted as part of a Patch piece profiling locals before Obama comes to town today to talk about the economy.

Marshall seems resigned to the idea that he should have to work two jobs if he wants to see pro football and travel. My gut is that a guy like Marshall wouldn’t have felt that way a generation ago.

This report from The Center for American Progress says, ‘Americans who are neither rich nor poor have a median annual income of $64,000 … Their median income has fallen 13 percent since 1979.’

Marshall seems to have a Herculean work ethic, so good on him. But that didn’t use to be a prerequisite to being an active Browns fan.

01/4/12

Local community wants to attract big businesses and capital, so it invests in a great school.

I don’t know if this will attract any more capital than the ill-fated stadiums or upmarket malls of the 90s, but it seems like a safer long-term investment. It’s less of a gamble when the worst-case scenario is your community has more classroom space than it knows what to do with.

12/29/11

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It wiped out everything. Now I have nothing for (my son). But what do you do? (Would) you make sure he has something to wake up to for Christmas or have a roof over his head?

A working mother in Minnesota whose savings for Christmas were wiped out by a $100 administrative fee her local utility charged when she feel behind on payments.

12/27/11

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I work part time, and I’m very careful not to take too many hours.

Tami Haught, president of PITCH (Positive Iowans Taking Charge), who has been HIV-positive for 18 years. She says that if she makes over $14,000, the US government will stop paying for her antiretroviral drugs.

12/1/11

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