My kind of town...

As I'm sitting here on my kitchen floor listening to the outdoor metropolitan noises, trying not to type too loud so I won't wake my mom, dad and cousin sleeping in the other room, I'm getting rather emotional. I remember this time last year I was excited to begin the "next big chapter" of my life in Chicago... Somehow, although it's only been a year, I feel a little older, not much wiser and a little more cynical.

The year I've spent in Chicago can only really be described as a roller coaster ride. I entered thinking I could settle for a PR job - only to find that my first job experience was horrendous and did little to help me learn the field. So, after a several-months long search, I found something else I thought would be better. And it wasn't.

Living here has been both wonderful and trying. Despite living n a city filled with diverse, talented, wonderful people, finding my own niche was difficult. I cherished the few friends I had here, but longed for relationships of substance (Don't fret KA - I will miss you terribly!).

Now that I'm moving yet again to start another adventure I put off for a year... I'm finding it more difficult than I thought it would be to leave a city I felt overwhelmed by constantly. I suppose that is because I can feel some satisfaction in knowing that I did accomplish something - I survived my first year out of college, working in a job (no matter how awful) somehow related to my degree, and made my own home in a big city miles away from my parents house - in today's age, some college graduates can't claim those facts.

So, Goodbye Chicago - you gave me a good year. A year of your best winter weather, a sweltering summer, too many cranberry and vodkas at Clark Street bars, some of the most heinous waits for the redline El... butabove all, you gave me the confidence I needed to move on.

I thank you for that.

Be it ever so humble

Oh, cute little two bedroom, two bath, plus den (!), affordable Capitol Hill townhouse apartment. How I love thee.

There are no words to express quite what I feel for you - I have yet to meet you, but I know that we were meant to be. I only hope your close-lipped owner with the world's best poker face will give you to us.

I admire your brightly painted walls, petite backyard, fireplace that we will fill with candles because we're girls and probably couldn't start a fire, your in-unit laundry machines and your included water and satellite fees. To me, you are perfect.

I have imagined my furniture housed against your walls, my dishes placed in your cabinets, my photos sitting on your shelves and candle-lit evenings by the fireplace (again - probably not a fire for fear of burning down said beautifully-painted walls).

So, please say that my credit score is high enough and let us know soon if your owner is willing to lease to us - the time we're currently apart is torture.

Until the time comes when we can finally be together, please stay away from anything that's creepy or crawly, beef-up your insulation and maybe clean up your bathroom.

Perhaps I may be a little too hopeful, but I can only hope that you feel the same way.

Yours truly,

Jodi

So, tell me, what do you consider to be your biggest weakness?

I've applied for many jobs and internships in my life - some of which have actually culminated into an interview and even fewer into a job offer. I've read so many job descriptions that have made me exclaim, "This is PERFECT for me!" only to never hear anything from the company. So many times I wish I could write a cover letter that truly expresses how I feel and how frustrating it is to continually face outward rejection from jobs that would ideally suit me. I decided that, if given the opportunity, I would submit the cover letter below to truly explain why I wanted a specific job. Perhaps I should actually send it in - they say you should make yourself memorable, right?
____________________________

Dear ________:

I've tried many times to adequately express just how much I would like to become the _______ at your company, ________. However, it seems that my many efforts have never actually brought a job to fruition, so I thought I would try to explain through different means just why I would be an ideal candidate for this position.

Basically, I love to write. I love politics. I love people. I love to write about politics. I love to write about people. I love to write about people in politics. The position requires someone to write affectively, succinctly and accurately. I do not know how I could better express my abilities to work for your company than through those short sentences I presented to you
above.

Sure, I could go into my work history, but it's probable you are already turned off by my public relations background. To be honest, so am I. I regret entering this field and wish you would hire me so we could both forget (and forgive) my past transgressions.

I could also tell you about my ability to lead others and work well on a team, but chances are you probably could care less since I worked for a small, weekly paper at a college you've probably only heard of through a friend of a friend of a friend.

It is important in journalism to be truthful, accurate, and pointed. I hope these three very short paragraphs proved to you that I possess those talents.

Enthusiastically,

Jodi, the Unemployed Writer