Well, the last day of work has finally come and gone. I spent the weekend showing my buddy from TN around the city, and now it’s time to check out of vacation mode and get to planning/execution mode.
A couple days ago I asked a bartender in Flushing about how to get into the industry. His advice was just like every other bartender’s that I’ve talked to so far: just get a job! Lie if you have to. (Seriously, multiple people have said this). Don’t worry about paying for a school, just get yourself in the door somewhere. ANYWHERE.
Well, duly noted, friendly bartender! Working in a bar is still my main focus of attack because a.) it has flexible hours, b.) it can pay well, and c.) I’m really interested in learning it. At the very least I think it can provide a baseline level of support to pay my bills and still keep most of the week open for other projects. So this weekend I’m planning to print a million resumes and just go door to door to a bars right around opening time. Eventually I gotta find someone that wants a hand!! I’ll keep you posted.
As a part of my “shoot the moon” initiative, I’m also searching out contacts for the Prince of Broadway show that will debut in Osaka, Japan. I’m reaching out to see if I can get in as a guide, interpreter, trip planner, or whatever they might need help with! I think it would be a blast to go back to Japan for a while in that capacity.
On a totally different note, today I found myself absorbed by a “side-quest” of sorts. For the longest time I never knew what to say when people asked about my ancestry. I just knew I probably trace back to somewhere in Europe (very specific, I know). So I finally got a trial membership on Ancestry.com just to see if I could dig anything up. Wow, did I ever!
Every one of my paternal great-grandparents was a child of two full-blooded immigrants that were pretty much fresh off the boat. One was Scottish, one French-Canadian, one Irish, one German. Then on my mom’s side, pretty much everyone has been around since the Pilgrim days! No matter how far back I went, almost every ancestor was still living somewhere in New England. Clear into the 1600’s! It was pretty wild.
But what does it all mean? Sure, I can look at my heritage and see some parallels with my own personality. Like my heavily immigrant father’s side, I’m very willing to go somewhere new for a fresh start, and I get excited by a new challenge. But what about my Pilgrim side? Perhaps that’s where I got my penchant for homebrewing and the tendency to dislike authority?
In any case, I definitely still have a lot to learn. But I’m glad at this time of moving forward in my life, I took a little time to look back as well.
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.
– J. R. R. Tolkien