Back on the blog and ready for Brit!

I would have to say it's been a good week. I started a new job as a managing editor, I am going to see Britney Spears in concert for my bachelorette party (see video immediately below) with some of my best friends and, finally, I don't have swine flu.



Now, I realize it's been quite some time since I last made you laugh hysterically, and, for that, I apologize. I've been horribly rude, inconsiderate, selfish, [insert adjective of how you envision me for leaving this blog here]. But the truth is, I wanted to see what you guys thought I should turn this blog into. Now, the poll has closed, and here are the results:

Keep it coming as often as possible in this same style!	9 (22%)
GET OVER IT. You're a Working Girl, not a Nonworking Girl. We're done.	8 (20%)
Switch the tone of the blog to follow life as a Working Girl.	15 (37%)
Change the style of the blog to something else, but keep it.	8 (20%)

So what I'm gathering from this poll is that I must, must, must keep the blog...but how I do it is up to me...but I'll try to change the tone to follow my new life.

Here we go.

This week, I started work on Monday. I was horribly tired, as I am on medicine that apparently makes me unable to sleep. After work, I came home and attempted to catch up on all of the TV I missed during the day, but to no avail. I apparently was watching way too much during the day to still keep up on my shows at night. Needless to say, I was thoroughly disappointed and contemplated quitting my new job so I could watch TV.

Not really.

But it might have crossed my mind.

The next day I convinced myself I could get through that TV if I just really, really devoted myself. After watching about 30 minutes of the "Today" show in the morning and catching up on about two game shows before Patrick got home, that was it, and I surrendered myself to deleting these shows from my DVR and my life. And then I cried.

Not really.

But it might have crossed my mind.

Today, I went to work and devoted myself to packing for my bachelorette party/bridal shower/weekend in Napoleon. I resigned myself to the fact that all I needed to do was catch up on my prime time TV from this week, and I accomplished my goal. I even met my goal of quitting watching "The Hills."

Not really.

And it really didn't cross my mind.

So now, I'm preparing for bed as I half pay attention to "The Duel 2" and wondering why I am even devoting half of my attention to it. I am really just anxiously awaiting seeing my idol, Brit, on the stage tomorrow. Perhaps I will provide you all with some high-quality photos from this concert.

Because what better things does a Working Girl have to do than upload photos of Britney while at work? Perhaps if I knew that, I would never have been a Nonworking Girl in the first place.

Juuuuust kidding.


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Any ideas of what I should blog about, now that I don't have a job? I realize this blog wasn't funny, but I might need a little ammunition. As my college roommate once told me, "unemployment makes me wittier." So now I am completely drained of wit, knowledge and ideas.

I love college, I love springtime

On this beautiful day, and in preparation for the 80-degree weekend, I will simply do a short post of things that nice springtime weather reminds me of:

1. Rollerblading trips to Frosty Boy in Napoleon.
2. Going boating out on the beautiful, pristine Maumee River.
3. Most of all, college.

As the song says, I love college. For those of you who knew me way back when, this might not seem like an accurate statement. But after I got through those first two quarters at OU (and, Patrick will say, started hanging out with him...not true), I began to take in everything that is Athens in spring.

You see, Athens, Ohio, in the spring is the most magical place on Earth. We used to say, as we would lay out behind Jefferson Hall freshman year, that Springtime in Athens is when ponies flowed like wine. Why? I don't know. But it made sense at the time. Anything could happen. It was magical.

You'll see it's magic in the video below (just turn down the music. It is not magical.).




Go out and enjoy your magical day. I hope I didn't make anyone too sad, either because you went to OU and miss it or because you didn't go to OU and are depressed now.

As for me, it's time to pretend I'm still in college and watch "Price is Right," then lay around all day. I love college.

Live like I'm unemployed

Years ago, Tim McGraw had a big hit, "Live Like You Were Dyin'." Well, I'm not dying. But, my life as a Nonworking Girl is. So I've decided to compile a list of things I should do before I go back to work on Monday.

Ten things Tim did, according to the song:

1. Went skydiving.
2. Climbed the Rocky Mountains.
3. Rode 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu.
4. Loved deeper.
5. Spoke sweeter.
6. Gave forgiveness.
7. Became a better husband and friend.
8. Went fishing.
9. Read the good book, aka the Bible.
10. Analyzed how he would live his life if he could all over again.

What I hope to accomplish by weekend's end:

1. Stop diving off of my steps onto the couch because I will have finished putting together the wedding invitations strewn across my floor.
2. Climb onto my couch to completely clear out my DVR from all the TV shows I've recorded but haven't yet had the chance to watch.
3. Ride to the dog park with Nick's dog, Miss Elizabeth.
4. Finally love Cleveland because the weather has decided to be nice.
5. Be sweeter...to myself and go shopping with money I still don't have.
6. Forgive Patrick for not letting me spend money these past few weeks that I've been unemployed.
7. Be a good friend and sister by going to see Nick and Katie's wedding band perform live!
8. Fish for compliments, like always.
9. Read a good book by finishing David Sedaris's "While You Are Engulfed in Flames." Maybe even read two, by reading "Tales of Beedle the Bard."
10. Analyze my life and why I am already going back to work. Then complain about it.

We lead similar lives.


Anything else I should do before I'm done being unemployed? I'm open to suggestions, and I've got four more days to enjoy the life.
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And just in case anyone was wondering, here are the results to yesterday's poll. Apparently, many of you think that I actually have a social life and can mix into Cleveland's inner social circles! Sheesh. I've got a lot of work to do (if this blog continues at all! Vote in the poll to the right!).

Gossip about the socialites of Cleveland: 40% (16 votes)
Pictures of me doing my day-to-day activities, like watching TV: 30% (12 votes)
TV show reviews and analyses: 17% (7 votes)
Live blogs throughout the day: 13% (5 votes)

A tribute to Nonworking Girl

Today, we celebrate the life and death of this blog.

Oh, Blog, you had a short yet great life. But at just over 2 weeks old, they felt they had to take you away from your adoring fans.

Here's a picture of you at your birth:


And here is you on your last day. Such a beautiful life. My, how you've grown and changed.



We all apologize for Emily's rude behavior in getting a job yesterday. She meant no harm to you, and I know she will lose sleep over your death.

Emily couldn't be here with us today at this funeral, but sends out her deepest regrets about your death. In fact, she is hopeful that the fans of Nonworking Girl will want to keep her alive in spirit and has requested that, in lieu of gifts, you make a donation with a vote in the poll at right in Nonworking Girl's honor.

Please do your part to help keep Nonworking Girl alive as the author becomes a Working Girl again. Vote in the poll and remember the good ole days in which you loved to read about absolutely nothing in this blog.

Things I'm glad about

Well, let's just start today's blog by saying I'm glad I never tried to offer my wares on Craigslist or sell my superstar child in India. I may not have money, but those are two things I will refrain from now and in the future.

I'm also glad that I have TV, as everyone reading this blog knows. So I've decided to instate a new weekly blog topic: what TV shows I'm looking forward to most this week. From now on, this blog topic will appear on Sundays, as no one seems to find it important to visit my blogs on Sundays. Perhaps this will change your mind!

Some shows I was looking forward to this week but have already watched: the days following the death of Edie, played by Michael Bolton's ex Nicolette Sheridan, on "Desperate Housewives;" coming-into-his-own college sophomore Rusty silently fights with his "little" frat brother Andy, played by Jesse McCartney on "Greek;" Serena gets fake married in Italy on "Gossip Girl;" and a 40-year-old woman looks for love with men in their 20s on TV Land's "The Cougar," hosted by Vivica A. Fox.

Coming up the rest of the week (I will be selective with my picks, I promise):

Tuesday
-"People's Court" Judge Marilyn Milan on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show"
-My man Delonte West and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers play their second playoff game against the Detroit Pistons
-Bob gets emotional, Jillian yells, Tara wins yet another challenge on "The Biggest Loser"
-Tori Spelling performs in her second episode of a four-episode stint as her iconic character Donna on "90210"

Wednesday
-An Earth Day special on "Martha Stewart"
-Stacey narrows the field of potential young lovers on "The Cougar"
-Someone else annoying goes home on "American Idol"

Thursday
-A random episode of "Bridget's Beaches," starring one of Hugh Hefner's many exes, just because I've never had the pleasure of watching before
-Tyson playing assistant coach to Coach on "Survivor," and hopefully turning his back on the dragon slayer
-Everything on NBC from 8:30-11. This is: "Parks & Recreation," "The Office," "30 Rock" and "Southland." Do I like all of these shows? I'm not sure, but I'll watch anything with Ben McKenzie brooding (see definition No. 3) and the guy who looks like an Indian version of my old coworker.

Friday & Saturday
-Catching up on everything I missed throughout the week because Friday and Saturday television is absolutely awful
-The Cavs winning their third game of the first round, Friday night at 7:00


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What is there that I am just flat-out missing? What shows do you think I should start watching? Let me know! If you need to know any show times, also let me know. I'm a walking TV Guide.

So long, my money

I have been convicted of fraud. And many of you have aided this criminal.

As you may notice, I no longer have ads along the bottom right-hand side of this blog. While I previously asked many of you to click on the ads to provide me my sole source of income (or, "give me spare change as I lie helpless on the side of the road," as my sister Megan so kindly compared it to), I didn't realize that clicking on the ads wasn't enough. (If you remember my previous post, I really would have just laid there, waiting for you to throw money at me. Remember this photo?)

Anyway, I got an e-mail from AdSense yesterday, the Google program that generates ads, saying my account had been disabled because it "posed a significant risk to our AdWords advertisers." I guess because people weren't staying on the ad sites long enough to make an impression, they realized it was all a scam to make me money. Oops. So, thank you for all your help (I was almost at $100!!), and I apologize for wasting your time.

So now I'm back to Square 1 on how I will get money to buy much-needed souvenirs at my upcoming Britney Spears concert (my bachelorette party!). Any ideas?

In other news, as we enter the third week of my blog, I have now been viewed in nine countries and 32 states more than 1,200 times. Who are all these people? I'm not sure, but I am thrilled they're here! For those of you reading, become a follower of my blog by clicking on the link on the right. I don't know what purpose it serves other than making me feel good about myself, but for a girl who's entering her third week of unemployment, a little self-esteem boost can't hurt.

A sign of the times

Maybe everything really can be chalked up to timing.

Now, I love Ohio University and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism more than most things in life (other than TV and Diet Mt. Dew), but according to this article in the New York Times, J-schools around the country are struggling to mesh the teaching of new Web-focused journalism tactics with old-school journalism principles. The biggest difficulty lies in the fact that no professor or dean—or anyone, really—knows where journalism is headed.

"Right now, there may be no other field of education where 'I don’t know' is spoken so often," the article states.

For now, journalism schools are shifting their focus to making sure students are completely involved in Web initiatives, from posting the articles they write in "news writing" class (what normally would have been written solely for printing in a newspaper) to designing a Web site in "online reporting" class (which would have mostly focused on how to research, write and edit for a Web site).

The thing is, I was just a few years too late. I didn't take any of the online classes OU offered (which was very few at the time), nor was there any effort to mesh print with Web at the time (to no fault of my professors, just the times).

So now I'm sitting, waiting for a job to come along that doesn't require knowledge of CSS, HTML or any other acronym that I know what it stands for but don't really have any clue what it means.

But I bet this girl does: