This Wednesday is a BIG day for us. We are going to our most exciting (and exotic) location thus far…Dinosaur Barbecue in Harlem.

646 W 131st St.
New York, NY 10027
212-694-1777
NYC Directions:
Dinosaur BBQ NYC is located on the corner of 131st St and 12th Ave.

Just South of Fairway Market and North of the Cotton Club under the Riverside Drive Bridge.

Exit 125th street off of the Henry Hudson Highway. The closest subway stop is the 1, at the intersection of Broadway and 125th St.

http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/

Try and get there around 5 and be prepared to eat!

On a more somber note, I have to give notice that after Buy Your Unemployed Friend a Drink Day on August 12, I will be resigning from Garden Club leadership. It has been a lovely summer and the moments with you all have been precious, but getting hitched and working and all I feel that I cannot give this lovely organization the attention it deserves. If you notice, my postings to the blog, as have yours, have been dwindling to an almost pointless proportion.

So let’s think of a fun place for next week and make our last bash a special one.

Peace be with you,
M

Rudy’s Bar & Grill
627 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10036
at 44th St.

August 12, 2009 is Buy Your Unemployed Friend a Drink Day- or BYUFADD if you are cool- so we can all share the love and cheer up those who still can’t find a steady source of income. No matter where you are or what you are doing, take some time and invite that unemployed and likely bored friend out for a beer.

Hope to see the bars full!

See you around 4 at the Greenwich Tree House

http://www.greenwichtreehouse.com/

Still a hot topic

I just want to thank you for making these last few months of unemployment so enjoyable. While I can only imagine what a head case I have been with all the depression, sobbing, lethargy, and stress my unemployment has caused.  You, on the other hand, have been absolutely delightful. I am sorry that I have been such a biznitch the last year or so but really it was the circumstances, if you recall I was quite nice up until the layoff rounds began at Lehman.

Now that I have apologized, onto a more important topic. I know you have always sought to be the “Provider” and my workaholic feminist mannerisms are nothing short of emasculating (a complaint I received often in the past- starting from when I would sneak in and pay for the fro-yo while my college beau was turned around), however, unemployment has taught me the error of my ways.

First of all, what is up with feminism anyway? For thousands of years women were brilliant and convinced men to go out and toil on our behalf while we sat around making ourselves pretty, spending quality time with the kids and our elderly parents, and having time to do things like cook and keep a home clean. Now, I find we still want to do all those things but added on 12 hours of toiling. Where is the logic? Would there even be an unemployment issue in my life had I been born 200 years ago? I think not.

You have kindly showed me that feminism has gotten me nothing except premature worry lines. And since I have given it up in lieu of you treating me to lunch everyday and then treating me to dinner since I am too lazy to cook even though we both know I have the time, I now fear that since I have a job things might change. Unemployment has worked wonders for our relationship. At first getting treated all the time made me feel guilty. Then I started to enjoy it- the way I enjoy naughty things like sniffing markers or drinking wine in the morning. But now, the truth is I just feel plain entitled. I know I have not merited this gift but you are guilty of spoiling me and now you must contend with the monster of your own creation.

So the point is, can you still pay for everything I do even though I am now going to be making almost as much as you are? I, in turn, will spend my money on clothing that will make me prettier for you. So it all evens out. But really, when the pay check comes please continue to grab it before I can pretend I want to pay.

All my love,

M

Bexy

So a few months ago I decided to plan a big trip for myself.  This trip was meant to be part gift to myself for passing the bar, part self-discovery, part take advantage of this free time while I still have it.  But now, my big hope for this trip is that it will lift my spirits and maybe even give me the confidence I need to beat out some of the competition in this hellish job market.  In case you haven’t guessed from the title, I am headed to Thailand for an amazing hike, bike and kayak trip.  If I have access to a computer, I will definitely try to keep posting and I will let you all know how badly the trip is kicking my ass.  In typical Bexy style, I have done next to nothing to physically prepare myself for what promises to be an extremely active trip.  On the plus side, I have been otherwise planning for this trip in a very non-Bexy style, aka, ahead of time.  So as long as I can manage to make my connecting flights and not pass out while biking through Kanchnaburi in 100 degree weather (with 100 percent humidity) I should be good to go!  I’ll see you all at the end of July – Be good!!!

- Really fun bar in the UWS

- Great HH specials

- Video games

- HUGE selection of beer – many with over 10% alcohol

- underwater theme

Same Garden Club day (Wednesday), same Garden Club time (4:00).  Hope to see you all there!!!

Bexy

The other night I attended the most amazing and surreal karaoke party at a friend’s apartment.  We ate, drank and sang the best of the eighties and nineties at the top of our lungs until the neighbors started to complain (at which point we decided that we could continue to sing if we just tried really hard to sing everything at half volume).  And then this really weird thing happened around 1:00 in the morning.  Nobody left the party.  It kept getting later and later, but our numbers remained strong even as the sun started peeking out over the nyc skyline (and if you’re under 25 and reading this, just wait a few years and then tell me this is not a strange phenomenon).

We were all tired.  I think I even passed out for about 15 minutes on the couch, but then woke up again just in time to join in on “Sweet Child O Mine”.  After the song I looked over at my friend who was asking one of the guests: “Are you really leaving this purgatory of karaoke?”  I couldn’t help laughing because it did feel like we had somehow reached a purgatorial level of partying.  Somehow we all got stuck in this strange place between partying and passing out.  We were unable to tear ourselves away from that book of songs, even though our heads were aching with exhaustion, our arms were reaching for couch pillows and cushions and our voices were becoming sore and weak.  The songs just kept coming: Bon Jovi, Aha, Outkast, Madonna, and of course, MJ.

When I finally did get home I was still lost in that purgatory.  My body was begging me for sleep but all I could think to do was brush my teeth, wash my face and then sit down at my computer.  It was like I missed my chance for sleep.

I started thinking about the other purgatory that I’ve been in since graduation.  Stuck between school and career, I’ve been trying desperately to figure out how to make the transition from student to professional.  But I keep getting turned around, lost, nervous and confused.  It’s like I’ve been reading through the same songbook for months, trying to decide which one will work out, trying out a few, hoping for the best, all the while just wanting to give up and pass out.  But as Bon Jovi would say: We’ve got to hold on, ready or not.  You live for the fight when it’s all that you’ve got.

Sometimes in karaoke I will pick a song that I absolutely love, only to find out that it is unnecessarily difficult to sing and I can’t remember the melody for the non-chorus sections.  “Umbrella” by Rihanna is a good example of this.  Other times, someone else will pick a karaoke song that I generally detest but I find myself (almost uncontrollably) singing along at the top of my lungs while thrusting a clenched fist into the air or pointing furiously at strangers.  “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is a good example of that.  In unemployment, as in karaoke, you never know how things are going to turn out until you try absolutely everything and probably make a total fool of yourself in the process.  For example, I applied to a job a couple months ago that I am totally unqualified for, but I recently got called to come in for an interview.  I never thought that after law school I would be going back for yet another degree, but here I am, getting ready to register for classes.  As Alicia Keys puts it: All I know is, everything’s going to be alright.

And yes, I realize this is a blog about unemployment and this post has basically been about karaoke with some very dubious connections to unemployment.  So as Outkast would say: I apologize a trillion times.