Please excuse my absence, Gitnerblog loyalists. These past month or two have rendered me busier than ever, with marathon-length work weeks and stacked assignments. Highlights of the month so far include my interview with musician/hero Kaki King (photo below) for Autostraddle and my latest for NPR, a write-up on Ratatat's LP4 for our First Listen series. One year ago, I was graduating with no job prospects and had just barely secured a summer internship with Sirius XM. Honestly, I felt like a failure -- that all I'd worked for and come to expect after taking this certain path was imaginary.

Today, I'm happy and relieved to say that, so far, things have worked out. There were some bumps along the way, times I doubted what I was doing would pay off -- living in a 1-bedroom apartment with 3 people, not having health insurance, eating meager dinners of canned tuna with rice, for example. But here I am, doing job(s) I genuinely enjoy and living in a neighborhood I love. I didn't do it alone. (Does anyone?) But I did work like a damn dog (and still do) to make it happen.

2010 seems to be a kinder year for new graduates but if anyone's having trouble, I have this advice. Work hard and stick it out. Find something, whether it be retail or restaurants or coffee shops, to weather the storm. And lastly, aim to do what you love because anything else will make you miserable. That's a pearl of wisdom from this 22-year-old.

To close the post, here is me with Kaki King. Just because it happened.

I write this from my favorite summer meditation spot, the radio studio. During the year, it's only empty from 2AM to 8AM. In the summer, it's gloriously free almost all the time. I park myself at a couch or even the studio window where I can be alone with my lap top, my thoughts, and a Subway sandwich. While my student card no longer provides me access to computer labs or the library, I can at least come here without feeling like I should be gone.

Man, I feel old. But I'm young and I know it! How can I combat this paranoia? For the past few days, my left hip has been bothering me and my first reaction was to flash forward to a scene at age forty where I have trouble walking. I suppressed that image only to be bombarded by an even scarier scene: me having trouble walking at age twenty-five! And then I thought of health insurance. And then I metaphorically slapped myself in the face, addressed myself as "Jessica," and told myself to get a hold of myself.

I came to the radio station to do just that. For the past 2.5 hours, I wrote some emails, nibbled at a foot-long tuna sub, and stared at the racks of cds meditatively while listening to the rotation playlist. I think I feel better now.

One Year Since Graduation

Radio Meditation