Keep it Simple

I just want it simple, I just want it easy. I ain't trying to hurt no one, I don't want no one to hurt me. Maybe we can be friends, maybe just a little more. Let's keep it simple like it was before.

- The Hackensaw Boys

Just because everyone you work around is crazy doesn't mean you have to be. - Janney Lockman

The first quote (from the song Keep it Simple on the Hackensaw Boys' album with the same title) and the second quote sort of describe the way I've been trying to live my work life. But it's difficult when money is involved and you're dealing with people and not machines. People act like people and have their own needs, desires, and personal histories. I just want to get along with everybody.

In the non-profit world, especially in small communities, people seem to bite off more than they can chew (as far as I can tell). They become involved in multiple work related projects, volunteer activities, and of course there are family, friends, relationships, and things like sleep to deal with. I refuse to be a part of this insanity. I do take on more responsibility than I can handle sometimes, but I'm also really good at quitting things and flaking out. Just because the people I am surrounded by are working stressful full time jobs for not enough money, volunteering away their spare time, and spending what little they have left with their families, friends, and significant others, doesn't mean that I have to live the same way.

By no means am I dissing people who are busier than I am. I just can't do it. Personally, I am more of an asset to my workspace, my community, my family, my friends, and myself if I'm not running around trying to juggle too many things. Oh but it's hard.

I found a cat. He is orange and young and his name is Hasil Adkins (google it...). He's kind of like me, red hair, blue eyes, physically affectionate, kind of noisy, independent, and drinks a lot of water. I'm going to spend part of my first pay check getting him neutered. He keeps me from being lonely in the big house I'm staying in by myself.

This summer I devised a list of priorities for the next 15 years. They were:

Cat

Job (so I can support my cat)

House

Husband

Not that these will all happen (although I hope the job one does). But I'm at 1 of 4 right now, which freaks me out a little bit. Still need to finish college before the job, so that's 2 years, but a cat at 20 younger than I expected. Guess it's way better than a baby.

Books and Lists and Book Lists

The other day while talking to a friend, I realized that this is MY semester off, and I should do things because I want to do them. It sounds simple, but for me, it's a big step. It's not Appalshop's semester off (although they are benefitting from my workaholic tendencies), STAY Project's semester off, WMMT's semester off, the city of Whitesburg's semester off, etc. Which means that if I want to spend a Thursday night in my kitchen having a crappy pop music dance party instead of hanging out a Summit City and being sociable, that's what I should do. If I think it's better for me to spend the morning subbing a radio show than drafting letters of intent for grants, then that's what I should do. Of course, it is my job, so it's not like I'm going to blow off work or anything (and honestly, what would I do if I didn't work? I'd probably just watch Jersey Shore and play mahjong. And that's not how I want to live). I just need to remember to do things because I want to, and not because I feel obligated to. Work doesn't feel like an obligation. I'm so lucky.

The things I want to do:

1. RECOVER FROM MONO!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Work with the STAY Project

3. Work with the Kentucky Health Justice Network project (more on that when I understand more)

4. Sub radio shows on WMMT

5. Be in the country band!

6. Play old time music (bass and banjo)

7. Square dance as often as possible

8. Do more radio journalism

9. Make significant progress on my book list

10. Do yoga/hula hoop/run/hike/pilates/something to keep in decent physical and mental shape

11. Cook healthy food

12. Turn 21

13. Get to know friends and acquaintances better

14. Meet more women from Whitesburg (they've got to be out there... I just don't have any local non-Appalshop female friends and it's a shame).

15. Open a bank account, pay my own rent, pay for my own gas and food aka be a big girl.

And honestly, none of this stuff is impossible. I've already started working on most of these goals.

An updated books I've read list:

Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe - really good but you can definitely tell it was written in 1929.

5th Avenue, 5 AM blah blah blah about the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's - disappointing! Too much about the process of making the movie and not quite enough dirt on Audrey Hepburn and significance of the movie for feminism, American women, et al.

Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me by Richard Farina - I wanted to read this one because he was friends with Thomas Pynchon and I really liked the Crying of Lot 49 (plus it's Farina's only book -- he died before he could write anymore). Too many venereal diseases for my taste, plus I wasn't that crazy about the main character. I think I'm either a fuddy duddy or was born in the wrong decade for this book.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston - I think this was the best book I read during this round. The setting of this book really intrigued to me. Rivals Old Yeller for rabies scene.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - The stage where I appreciated Vonnegut's writing the most has ended. So it goes. I later read a book called The Book Thief that took place in WWII Germany. I know very little about Dresden. WWII was no picnic for German civilians either.

A Room With A View and Howard's End by E.M. Forster - A common theme in these books was women not being able to have any sort of opinion or say because they lived in times when it wasn't socially acceptable for women to do anything besides sit still and look pretty or have babies. Another common theme was women being engaged to men who are controlling assholes. They were both really good, and made me thankful that I live in the 21st century.

Those Pesky Mountains: Employment, Fame, and Fatigue

Well it's happened again. I packed my junk in my Subaru (all the while creating an ad for a company called, inexplicably "Subaru Moving Service, Janney Speaking."), and drove to Whitesburg. I've done some work, consumed some fried food, gone to Open mic night, drafted some grant-related stuff, seen some friends. It's Friday evening and I feel like I got hit by a bus. Going from mono recovery, doing absolutely nothing mode, to working 9-5 and then attempting to exercise and socialize afterwards has been a rough transition. I'm just plumb tuckered out. But I'm in my PJs, I bought some orange juice and am ready to curl up with Thomas Wolfe's "Look Homeward Angel," and/or the movie Grease. As you can see, I'm not exactly up for a wild night of Kentucky craziness quite yet.

Work is going really well so far. I'm working for a group called STAY (Stay Together Appalachian Youth). We're trying to create a network of young people in Appalachia who are looking for economic and environmentally sustainable ways to live and work in the region. My wonderful co-worker and I spent the last two days working on a report for a grant we got last year, and working on a short application for a smaller grant (now that I'm working with grants and grant money, my perception of "smaller" has gotten distorted. $3,000 isn't shabby, but in the world of grants as I understand it, it feels like mere pocket change). I've been uncharacteristically productive, cranking this stuff out then working together with my co-worker to make everything tighter (I know I try not to use names, but this is unwieldy, so the person I've been calling "my co-worker" will now be referred to as "A"). "A" has a lot more experience and knows a lot more about the organization and issues than I do, but I think having another person there who is eager to get things done has helped a lot. Together we've done a lot of work this week. It feels good.

Also, I found out that a radio piece that I did about the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Allegheny Mountain Radio is being featured in this week's Inside Appalachia, a radio program that is on NPR. It airs on West Virginia Public Radio on Saturdays at 6 am and Sundays at 6 pm, but you can hear the program online afterwards at http://www.wvpubcast.org/insideapp.aspx. I'm really excited about this and sort of want to tell everyone I know and did a little internal jumping up and down and probably spoke in a high-pitched voice a little bit when I found out.

I just wish I felt a little better physically. I've been feeling down and was worried that I was going to get really depressed, until I realized that it's probably just that my immune system is depressed, which is affecting my mood. It's good to know this, but I'm also sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm not good at playing the invalid.

I also forgot how shy I can be when I'm feeling kind of crappy. Lately I've been fine one-on-one, but add another couple of people into the mix and I don't really have much to say. I blame the mono and hope that with a relaxing weekend and a lot of orange juice I can get back to normal.

Finally, lest you think that I have forgotten all about mountain-top removal, I share with you the following brochure. Sheer and utter stupidity I found this while doing research about the Eastern Kentucky Elk Herd. I was reading it in the office and started laughing really hard because I thought it was a joke. A informed me that it actually wasn't. Although it does read as excellent satire in my humble opinion. Future Jonathan Swifts take not. This brochure would be hilarious if people didn't actually believe this. Oh those pesky mountains.