A time for every season and fashion

I have a meeting today with a magazine editor whose work I have respected for some time ... and I am very nervous. Since I was sick for most of the past two weeks and I've been indoors quite a bit since getting laid off (which kind of sucks for summertime!), I'm concerned that I'll come across as less social than I normally am. I wonder about the timing of this ... I could have e-mailed this editor two years ago when I discovered that she contributed to my boyfriend's lit. journal, but I was too intimidated ... it was one of those deals where the thing you want the most is also the thing that scares you the most. I just plain was not ready.

Now, it turns out that I am copy-editing her short story collection next year and I mentioned to my editors that I would love the chance to talk with her, especially about how to go about recovering from my layoff and moving on to the next step for me in magazines. Working for a print magazine is super-scary right now. I only had my first job at one for five months, but I loved it and I know for sure that it is what I want to do.

Anyway, this could be a fantastic opportunity and I hope I do not ruin it for myself just because I am nervous. I just have to remember that I don't have to prove anything to this person ... I just have to be myself. Right?

Still debating on whether I should bring in a binder full of my published clips ... she said she would like to help me get a meeting with a talent recruiter at Hearst, which makes it all the more fitting that my boyfriend and I rented "Citizen Kane" on Friday night. Not that "Citizen Kane" is encouraging for journalists ...

If I do get the opportunity to meet with this talent recruiter -- as I'm guessing I will, unless I seriously blow it tomorrow or spill scalding, hot coffee on this editor's lap -- it might also be helpful that my favorite journalism professor used to work for him. I was rather surprised to discover that ... as much as people might complain about online journalism replacing print journalism, I mean, c'mon, this medium can provide excellent research tools. As long as you are smart enough to know what to believe and what not to ... which is the danger of it, of course. Maybe we need Kane telling all of us what to believe. Oh wait, we have tabloids for that ... and our government.

Scary times ... but also rather synchronistic times. At least for me at this very moment. The past month I said a couple times that I hoped God had some kind of project he was working on for me because things were pretty damn sucky and surprisingly so. Yes, I added a "y" to create an adjective.

I apologize for the attempt at insight and the over-usage of ellipses ... this is how I write when thinking things out. I promise I'll be back to fashion and grammar nonsense soon ...

Here is something to tide you over, however:

Seems that Urban Outfitters and those born between 1985 and 1995 still have a memory lapse when it comes to terrible 1980s fashion. Yes, this pair of gorgeous, Dwight-Shrute-esque glasses are really, truly available on the Urban Outfitters Web site right now. I know I'm a bit out of touch on hipster fashion since leaving New York, but if I see someone wearing these at any point this weekend when I go into the city ... well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I'm only going to feel truly old when mid-1990s fashion comes back in style ... yeah, I know grunge has made a slight reemergence, but it's not really in full-effect anywhere yet. I did see a suit-warehouse commercial in York, PA, a month ago, though, which featured four models dressed in a variety of crayola-colored suits reminiscent of Color Me Badd, circa 1994. Hence the band name? Maybe they were colored extra bad, so it required that extra "D"? Imagine trying to explain that musical phenomenon to a 14-year-old, as my boyfriend's nephew saw the commercial with us and had no clue what we were talking about. "You've never heard of 90210?"

Thank goodness VH1 broadcasts shows like "I love the '70s". I don't think I remember much of anything earlier than 1982, and if I do, it is in this weird bottom cabinet in the back of my brain. My boyfriend couldn't believe that I had never heard of some weird antiquated video game called "Merlin" that they mention on "I love 1978" (he was born in 1974 -- go figure). Anyway, it made me feel young, which was fantastic.


Yes, I am still watching too much television lately.