Thursday, September 1st, 2005

The Employment Pages

So there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that starting next month, I’ll have considerably more time to devote to this blog, hopefully resulting in better-written and proofread entries on a daily basis, as well as fewer late nights for me, staying up to finish stuff off. The bad news, at least from my point of view, is the why – I’ve been laid off from my job and effective mid-October, will be re-entering the exciting world of freelancing, which until I actually GET some work, is just a euphemism for unemployment.

My job was great, I had a terrific three and a half years there, but it was a numbers game and there just weren’t enough numbers coming in. That’s okay. Once I get my head wrapped around the massive shift in life circumstances, I think it’ll be for the best. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t already some restlessness on my part, so this is the kick in the pants I needed. And being pushed rather than jumping means I get to suckle at the teat of our nation’s fine social security system for a while. And now when I meet people and they ask what I do, I can say “I blog for a living!” and they’ll be all impressed until they catch me rooting through their garbage for leftover cat food.

But seriously, this will be an interesting adjustment for me, obvs. I’m still coming to terms with the implications of this. There’s anxiety, anticipation, other words that start with ‘a’. Medium- and long-term plans are now all up in the air. I’ll have to curb some of my CD shopping and concert-going and SxSW next year if a big honking question mark (of course, if I haven’t gotten my situation stabilized by next March, then I’ve got bigger problems than getting to Austin). I haven’t had a resume in years. I don’t even know the last time I interviewed for anything. I expect I’ll try and enjoy the freedoms of self-employment for a while. The truth is, I’ve probably been afforded a rare opportunity and just have to work out how best to take advantage of it… but I’m mostly looking forward to sleeping in for a change. But if anyone out there needs a PHP webmonkey/lapsed mechanical engineer/wannabe music and pop culture pundit for anything, drop me a line. For serious. I do windows too, but not well.

Okay, to business. Just some bits and pieces for today.

Chart jumps off the news cycle and talks to Mercury Rev about The Secret Migration.

JAM! gets on the Death Cab For Cutie media merry-go-round.

Teenage Fanclub was in the studio at KEXP earlier this month and the session is now online.

John Vanderslice leads the Pixel Revolt at the Horseshoe October 10, tickets $10.

The Torontoist week-in-shows.

Interviewing Brian Wilson must be a simultaneously exciting and frightening prospect for any music writer. On one hand, he’s a musical legend and genius, one of the most influential of the last fifty years. On the other… he’s a little touched in the head, y’know? That doesn’t stop The Onion AV Club though, God bless their little onion-y souls. And lucky for them, Brian seemed to be having one of his good days.

Okay, time to go use my dental plan for the very last time.

By : Frank Yang at 8:31 am
Category: Uncategorized
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  1. mark says:

    sounds stupid to say but A GUY with your talent doesnt stay down 2 long. Good luck looking for a new job, think of this time off as being a little unpaid vacation

  2. shane says:

    you AND torr?! wtf, mate!

    crisis in the blogging world?

    good luck mr. chromewaves.net, sir.

  3. Paul says:

    Fortunately they’ve given you about a 6-week warning. I mean, if you’re crafty, you may be able to pick up something before your current job is over and barely miss a paycheck.

    Anyway, good luck to you sir!

  4. Frank says:

    Crafty? Maybe, but lazy outweighs crafty for the moment. I’m actually looking forward to a little break… and I’ve got big plans a-stewing, yessir. Big plans.

    Most involve having breakfast, but it’ll be a BIG breakfast. I’m talking flapjacks.

  5. david says:

    Sorry to hear the news, Frank. The same thing happened to me four years ago, and I was able to get a better gig without skipping a paycheck, so there is hope. Good luck in the job hunt.

  6. John says:

    Best of luck. Sounds like you’re in the right frame of mind in terms of seeing this as an opportunity for slight reinvention. At least now you’ll have time to listen to all of that music.

  7. Honey says:

    I’m sorry you’ve been let go, but I think your attitude about the whole thing is great and positive. You’re a wonderful writer so maybe something in that field will open up for you!

  8. Torr says:

    I’m with ya, man. I just lost my job.

  9. karen says:

    good luck with everything. hopefully it really is for the best even if it’s a little daunting.

  10. Five Seventeen says:

    I welcome you into the fold. Be sure to take advantage of EI’s many programmes if you don’t find anything worthwhile in the coming weeks.

  11. Quinn says:

    all the best with the job search, frank.

  12. Glenn says:

    Good luck, Frank! Maybe this is a good time for a vacation? Or you can get to work on all those project you never had time for? I’m sure many working stiffs are with me when I say I envy your impending freedom.

    Three words of advice: Amazon tip jar.

  13. mr g says:

    sorry to hear about the layoff, frank. keep yr head up.

  14. Patrick says:

    mid october? i’d mentally check out right now and coast for 6 weeks. enjoy!

    perhaps you should reconsider the exciting world of mechanical engineering.

  15. Frank says:

    Ah, good ol Patrick – always ready with a recommendation of sloth. Folks, you’ll note that he hasn’t updated his blog in nine months and yet he links to it. This is how proud he is of his inactivity.

    And tuning out is exactly what I intend to do. No return to mechanical engineering, though – I’ve come too far. And I lost my ring. They don’t let you back in without a ring.

  16. mike says:

    Frank, good luck with the job search, but them’s the breaks with the private sector. Government jobs are where it’s at. ;-)

    Oh, Mark’s comment above was funny in the way he expressed "A GUY with your talent doesnt stay down 2 long"… He probably meant to emphasize "talent" :-)

  17. thomaus says:

    Frank’s a GUY?!? OMG! (Maybe that’s why Phranc spells it the other way…)

    I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.

  18. Thierry says:

    Frank, I wish you the best of luck in your job hunting. What to do with all that extra time you’ll have when you are made redundant? Two words: vinyl hunting. ;-)

    As for government jobs, well, after wrist-slittingly dull stints as a speechwriter for Canadian Heritage and then as an editor for Natural Resources Canada, I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy…

  19. pearly says:

    don’t get discouraged, i’m pretty sure you’ll find something soon

  20. Ieinz says:

    Im sorry mang. Follow your heart.

  21. Matt says:

    So I’m coming up to toronto for university monday (from nyc) and i just got an email from U of T about a free show on Sept 9th and well this ones too good to not share. Sloan and controller.controller are playing @ back campus from 4-6. Now I have no idea were that is since I’ve never visited the school but just thought it would be of interest some people here. Also I saw that stellastarr is playing a show on the 10th, if anyones interested in going and showing me how to get to the place it would be greatly appreciated.

  22. Ninja says:

    Frank, I’m completely envious.

    …and I’m not sure you can have "better-written and proofread entries on a daily basis" but I’m eager to see you try.

  23. Matt says:

    Good luck with the job search Frank. Thanks for a great blog, as well.