“…and it’s name is ‘I Love You.'”

I’ve been shying away from “kids say the darndest things” entries, but I couldn’t resist this one. A little boy in the other 1st Grade class approached me a couple of days ago. This happens to be a VERY intense little boy- a future eccentric genius, I’m sure. Anyway, he tells me it’s his mother’s birthday that day. I ask him if he got her a present, to which he replies, “No. But I just made her one this morning. It’s a paper airplane. And it’s name is ‘I love you.'”
Oh those crazy… Well. You get it.
I don’t really know what to write about. I’m feeling better than I was, but still sort of defeated. 4 out of the 19 people in my cohort have jobs now, which is wonderful. For them. I’m a job application machine these days, cranking out essays and letters of interest like nobody’s business, but no new interviews have been scheduled. I really want to work in Portland Public Schools, but they don’t post their openings until June at the very earliest, while all of the other districts in the area are doing their hiring now. Which means that if I want a job in PPS it means potentially passing on job offers that come in earlier, in the hope that I can secure something with them. And that’s such an intense gamble! Of course, I haven’t progressed past screening interviews with any districts yet, so maybe it’s a moot point. Ideally I would like to work at Boise-Elliot, the school right up the street from the apartment I’m moving into in July. I could walk to work, be part of the community in which I teach, make a good salary… all the idealistic stuff. In reality I will probably get a job in Gresham or Vancouver, WA with a 45 minute commute each way, because ain’t no way I’m moving to the suburbs. It’s cool, though. A job is a job, and if I have to travel a bit so be it.
On the other hand, I’ve been seriously considering applying for an internship with ‘This American Life,” which is now broadcasting out of New York City. It pays pretty well, and it sounds fucking awesome. It’s a 4 month internship, and you get to actually write and produce segments. The application looks pretty fun (compared to yawn-fest teaching apps), and I think I’m just going to go for it this weekend. I’m sure it’s really competitive, but I think I’d be a strong candidate. I have radio experience (if you can call my tenure at jenky ol’ KLC ‘radio experience’) and I think my degrees in theater and teaching would look pretty good. Plus if they want to know more about my narrative style, they could wade through the last two years of Perfect Heart posts (god help them). I mean, they like earnestness, right?
I have been missing New York a lot. I think I have the 2 year itch. Or maybe I’m just sick of being dumped and soon-to-be unemployed in Portland. Taking a few months off from this town could be pretty nice. And then I could come back and substitute teach for the rest of the year when the internship is over.
Oh, wishful thinking.
I feel so boring right now. I’m sorry.