My Life on the B List

Okay, so Monique and Mom thought my humor was funny on the last two entries I wrote, so I felt like I had to keep it going with another laugh-inducing post. And with a title like that, how can I go wrong, right? (Is there an acronym for sarcastic remark? There's one for laughing out loud [LOL] and laughing my ass off [LMAO] but not one for 'that was sarcastic'.)

But it really is true. I mean, planners really are on the B list when it comes to social circles. We know political figures (although not in the schmoozy way that most others have encountered them). We are in the Fresno Bee or on the news, but never in the headlines. People occasionally blog about us. But when you go to a dinner party, or just hang out with some friends/acquaintences, and you have to explain your job, the inevitable question pops up every time: what the heck is a planner? Do you, like, plan events?

No. We plan LIFE.

It's so funny, though, because we planners usually take our jobs so seriously, and have to try to explain that our field is a hybrid between architecture, engineering, and landscape architecture, but on a broader scale. After a few minutes of blank stare, I'll usually draw an analogy with the game Sim City, which takes the glaze away. Or for the less technologically saavy, I usually just say "I try to make Fresno pretty."

Back to taking our job so seriously, I really do think we have a B-list complex as professionals--I mean, the one article I have posted in my cubicle reads "Planners Can Save the World" (in reference to, of course, our efforts to stop global climate change through requiring more bike lanes and thus more alternative modes of transportation) and the most recent article I read on Planetizen (our trade website) today was entitled: "Can Planners Save the Overlooked Masses?". You know, it's tough bearing the weight of the world on our shoulders from 8 to 5.

(Please sense the sarcasm and satirical tone at this point.)

But honestly, I am just really excited to be in a field where we are taking on the challenges that seem really impossible, like making Fresno more bike and pedestrian friendly, and eventually, undercovering the dynamics that make southwest Fresno what it is now and helping to make it a vibrant community in the future.

I just wish it was more clear cut! How on earth do you maneuver through the politics with a clear conscience?

That's something I think I'm going to be grappling with for awhile. I think Cornell will be a nice break, a completely different perspective, and hopefully some new experience in different political climates.

Enough philosophy.

If you see Scotty this week, give him a huge hug. He's been working major overtime for the end of his credential. I really think this guy could convince a KKK member to like Martin Luther King. No really--watch the link! He's so dedicated, I was making dinner the other night, and he made me listen to a podcast of a MLK speech while he was in the shower so that we could talk about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdMrWVJ2oHk

Public Meetings? Count me out.

Seriously. I think I hit one too many tonight. I've always been one to get extremely uncomfortable when people are arguing in front of me (but I always wanted to be a lawyer?). But I still chose to enter a profession where people like to think you are ridiculously stupid and yell at you because, you are a public servant. And a profession which requires countless hours of mediation between different interests and being extremely diplomatic. I'm taking off my diplomat hat off for a bit.

Tonight completely sucked!

I'm not going to go into the gory details, it will make me more frustrated. That being said, usually working with the public is pretty rewarding. Occasionally, I get yelled at for no particular reason just because someone thinks their taxes pay my salary (which they don't, for better or worse, development fees do). Sigh. I do like to help people. Honestly. But when they are yelling at me (and my co-workers) for something they do not understand, but something that we are schooled in, and practice on a daily basis-- I find that hard to just swallow. Really makes turn the other cheek come alive, I guess. And since community development is my fate in life, I guess I better accept it now. I'm hoping that maybe it's just a Fresno thing, and the people here will grow out of it eventually (and think, read, or educate themselves before speaking)....but let's not hold our breath.

On a happier note, how amazingly awesome was The Office tonight? BEST NIGHT EVER. :) And I'm getting more into 30 Rock, especially since Will Arnett, BEST ACTOR EVER was on tonight.

Back and at it!

I'm back, after a brief (9 month) hiatus. But so much has happened since then, it's overwhelming! Scotty and I got married, I became an auntie, applied to grad schools, got accepted to grad schools, and then just decided to move to New York [state] to attend Cornell! (I feel I have to clarify, because everyone assumes that New York is New York City, and Ithaca is far, far, far from being NYC).

I'm pretty stoked on Cornell. I think the thing that excites me the most is that I can be just like Andy Bernard [The Office] and always brag about my Cornell status. Not really. But when people are like, what? Where's that? I just remind them of the most famous alum of Cornell. And, I guess Janet Reno too. But most people (at least my kind of people) think Will Ferrell boxing Rudy Giuliani when they think of Janet Reno.

But, that is still a good 4 months away from now! I have to keep reminding myself (with Scotty's help) that we still have some solid time here in California to savor. And we're going to Europe in July, which seems like it has been overshadowed by our grad school decision! Not to mention, my job is keeping me more than busy lately! It's funny, I told my boss a few weeks ago that I really needed more work. Silly me. They didn't assign anything to me, the work just naturally came. But I am loving it. Neighborhood meetings, public outreaches, working on design guidelines--my job is awesome. Not that my job description doesn't involve being a paper pusher at many times.....but why would I mention that?!

For now, Scott and I are going to be living it up here in Fresno. Dr. Mario 24-7, eating dinner on our tiny balcony in the sun, going to Kingsburg to enjoy the small-town life when we can, seeing all of my valley friends.....and of course, saying dude and like totally awesome all the time, because we can. When we move to New York, Scott has decided that we are really going to have to live up to our California stereotype and just say dude and rad all the time and ride our longboards everywhere and talk like we are major surfers. I'm hoping it will be endearing. Not annoying. We'll see.

Anyways, enough NY talk. It's so hard, but I'm going to try to focus on my life here still, and not on how to arrange the furniture in our new apartment....

I've always wanted to have a blog. I have a journal, which I write in every so often, but really more so if something large or grandiose happens in my life.  In fact, I believe the last entry was the night I got engaged, and the entry before that was the day I graduated from college. I used to frequent the journal much more when my life was ever-so-dramatic-- fights with roommates, getting my heart broken, putting new crushes in the intrigue file, struggling to find my identity and independence, figuring out who God really was and if I wanted him in my life (only to discover that he's not leaving any time soon), deciding what I was going to do in life (should I be a Doctor in a third world country or a lawyer?) and so on and so forth.  

Right now, I'm in a place in life where I can't tell if I am apathetic or just plain content.  I have my 8 to 5 office job (which, surprisingly enough, I love). Not because of the hours, but because of so many other things, which, I assume, I will write about later. I'm getting married in just about 3 months, which I am quite ecstatic about.  Someone asked me the other day if I felt too young to get married, being that I am at the ripe old age of twenty-two.  I don't know if I might ever feel completely ready.  I am a person who loves new adventures and trying the next step--but at the same time, I'm a very hesitant person at the last minute. Moving away to school was an amazing experience for me--but I don't think I felt ready for it all the day I moved. But I knew myself, that I am very adaptable, that I would be a better person for it, and I don't regret a day. There's an episode of Scrubs that really describes the feeling I have about getting married. I believe it's in the second season--Carla has turned down a million proposals from Turk, and cannot figure out why she keeps rejecting the guy she loves more than anything.  There's a moment she has at the nurses station where I don't think she's even talking to anyone in particular, maybe Elliot- where she acknowledges her fears and realizes that despite them all, she still only wants to be with Turk, more than anything. That monologue, I must say, was quite profound for Scrubs.

I suppose I best be getting back to enjoying my Sunday evening in typical summer fashion: barbeque, playing with photoshop, and trying to escape Parker the Psycho Puppy.