Nekkid, Clueless and Feelin' Good: August 23, 2001

Thursday,
August 23, 2001

It's also another name for the Princess of Darkness, but we won't go into that

Hum. Nancy found a site that will give you a breakdown on what your name means, so being the investigative journaler that I am, I headed over there to find out the hidden meanings behind my name.

This. . .is what I found:

Your name of Melanie creates an intense desire for association with people and new experiences, many of which have been rather bitter. This name has given you a gregarious personality and a quick-thinking, creative, and versatile nature, but one that is unstable emotionally. You desire change and travel and would enjoy opportunities that allowed you to be creative and to act independently, rather than to conform to system and routine. However, this name does not allow you to complete your undertakings, as farther fields always look greener. Although you may appear confident and positive, you actually lack confidence and feel self-conscious at times. This name spoils patience and depth of thought, and weakens your stand in matters of principle. You are too open to suggestion, and thus you could become involved in detrimental associations which could lead you into by-paths of thrill-seeking or emotional indulgence. Any weakness in your health would appear in the fluid functions as kidney, bladder, or circulatory problems, or in a sensitivity affecting your stomach.

Well, I don't know about any other Melanies out there, but I feel moderately offended at this evaluation. I wasn't aware that I was emotionally unstable, impatient, or unprincipled (Lyndon, you know me best -- would you like to comment on this?). Self-conscious -- yep, but that applies to 80% of the women on the planet, thanks to bizarre fashion trends that promote a rare body type as the ideal in beauty.

Then again, I don't believe in astrology, numerology or Dubya's budget plans either, so take that as you will.

Once again, into the breach

The recruiter called back today and asked if I was available for an interview tomorrow -- apparently the tech writer I'm replacing liked my writing sample (take THAT, Macromedia!) and waived the need for a phone screen.

And then she dropped the big one -- the job would start on Monday, so I would be available for that, right?

For those of you playing along at home, I was supposed to leave for Worldcon on Wednesday. Excuse me while I shriek out the window here:

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!

Ah, that's better. I mean, yes, a job is more important than a con, even Worldcon, so I would give it up if I had to. BUT -- I've been hoping to go to this all summer, only to give up on those hopes a week ago, when they were gladly resurrected by the friend who advanced me the funds to go. AND I was invited to go to an off-site publishing party. AND even though I'm not on any panelling this year, I will be fencing with the SFWA Musketeers and doing a reading in the SFF.Net suite, and I was just going to RELAX, dammit!

I called Lyndon up to whine and bitch at him about this, and ran into the male/female disconnect -- a woman will sit there, sympathize and say something like, "Oh, man, I'm glad you might get a job, but what sucky timing!" A man will try to fix the situation by saying, "Well, it's sucky timing, but you really do need this job, and there's always next year's Worldcon."

Needless to say, I didn't need to be reminded of the realities of the situation, even by my beloved. So I called Julia instead and bitched for about a half hour, at the end of which I felt much better. I dunno how I'm going to handle it tomorrow -- if he asks me about my availability, do I risk it and ask if I can take some time off to go to Philadelphia, or will that tick off the client and make them want to hire someone else?

Decisions, decisions. . .

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