So Super Tuesday is next Tuesday and for the most part, Tuesday is Go time in the election. Whoever does better between Hillary and Obama gets the bead on the candidacy. Obviously, this is of great interest because I've drank the Obama kool-aid and then drank it again.

Despite my affection for Bill, Hillary has kind of bugged me. I don't doubt she'd be a decent President (the bar is mighty low these days) but it's the dynastic portion of her candidacy, the fact that she comes off like she's owed this election that kind of grates. Not to mention that despite the supposed Girl Power symbolism her election would mean, the reality is that she wouldn't be even near where she is if she wasn't married to somebody famous. If her name was Hillary Jones, nobody would care.

But whatever, I'd still vote for her in a general election without worrying about it.

Like a lot of people, however, the past few weeks has grated on me and I don't really like her anymore. I don't even really like her husband anymore. It's like the week before and after South Carolina, the facade was stripped off the both of them, revealing the cynical, calculating, sense of entitlement that lurks beneath them. It also brought back what somebody in the New Yorker referred to as "the circus" those two bring with them.

If you read the press, there's a lot of Obama-mania out there. Republicans breaking down in tears during his speeches, young people getting off of Facebook long enough to go vote for him, lepers being cured just at the sound of his voice. At this particular moment it actually looks like somebody who does represent major change and hope, a candidacy based primarily on idealism than anything else might actually win.

But, of course, he won't win. Because cynical and calculating always beat idealistic. Because our election system is severerly twisted and beaten and is geared towards the lowest common denominator winning. And because the mass of voters out there still think "Oh, it's a Clinton-- I've heard of her. I've heard a little about Obama but I've been too busy watching American Gladiator to pay attention to the election."

Just you wait and see.

So today I had that interview with that place that kind of forgot to let me know that they wanted to bring me back for another interview. When I got there, they didn't really have a record of me coming in for the interview. Something which I kind of expected, actually.

Luckily, some dude appeared out of nowhere, said he was the guy who had an interview, asked me if I was him and then off to the interview. Thing is, though, the HR person didn't really tell him who I was. Or what I was interviewing for. Or pretty much anything-- he just got some email saying he had an interview at 5. He hadn't even seen my resume. So, with all that, he just basically said "well, whadda ya got for me?" and I went on to do usual shpiel, trying to say whatever I thought I needed to say from what I had figured out about what they were looking for. At the end, he said "I'm good," ran off to check in with the HR person to see if there was anything else they needed, and with that, the interview was over.

Again, none of this was that much of a surprise.

Yeah, I know, companies are never as desperate to hire somebody as much as the interviewee is desperate to be hired. Still, if you're going to make somebody leave work early, rush home from work while driving in a nasty rainstorm, and drag their ass over there for an interview, the least they can do is make some sort of effort. It's kind of, well, kind of disrespectful. It might not that important to them but it is to the person who is doing all that. Which, of course, matters not to anyone who sets these things up. I'm pretty sure an HR person has never said "Gosh, we didn't quite treat that person that well, maybe we should apologize or go out of our way to help him if we bring them in for another interview?"

All of which is another reason why HR people roast like pigs on a spit in hell when they die.

Okay, so you're Luke Skywalker. As we all know, at the very last second and with the fate of the rebel alliance on his shoulders, he let's the force be with him and switches off his radar as he fires the torpedo down the shaft of the Death Star. A pretty ballsy move if you ask me, if only because if he missed, the planet would have been destroyed, the Death Star would still be in operation and only a rag-tag fleet of planes would be able to assemble somewhere else to continue on with the rebellion, their forces depleted. And if that all happened, Luke would then have to explain that the reason why he turned off the radar, or whatever that was, was because he heard the voice of a half-senile old man in his head telling him to trust his feelings.

I'm guessing that wouldn't go over very well.

So I'm watching the tv coverage of Obama beating Hillary in SC and everyone seems mystified that Obama won such a majority of black voters. And again, you just want to shout at the tv "that's because he's black you motherfucking idiots. Why wouldn't he get all of their votes."

And also, the spin seems to be that Barack only won because he got the black vote and and just chalk it off to him just being a black candidate in a predominately black dominated state, despite the fact they never say something like "well, Hillary won New Hampshire because it's a predominately white state."

Or something like that. Either way, I hate the fucking campaign pundits.

So today is the South Carolina primary and I love how they've been conducting all these polls that show that while Obama is doing very well with blacks, he's not doing very well with whites. So all the pundits and media are trying to figure out what it all means when it's just obvious that the reason why he's not doing well with white people in South Carolina is because, hello-- it's South Carolina.

And, yes, I might be stereotyping a bit, but if you're going to keep the stars and bars and your state flag, you gotta accept everyone calling you a bunch of knuckle-dragging hillbilly rednecks.

And, so, hey, I called that place yesterday, the agency that had me interview for two different jobs at once. I actually got the HR person, which is a little surprising but also presents itself a problem-- I don't think they remember who the hell I am, but what am I supposed to say? So I just say "hi, this is Hooray for Anything..." and left it at that.

She didn't remember me. After a few seconds, she did the "oh...hi...how are you?" with that tone of voice that suggests she still has no idea who I am. So I tell her what I was calling about and what the job title is. A bell sort of went off and she told me they decided to put that position on hold. Oops. But then she rallied and said that one of the jobs (the one I didn't want that much) was on hold but that the job I wanted wasn't on hold and that, essentially, she wanted to bring me back for a second interview but kinda forgot to let me know. Now I have an interview next week.

Here's the thing, though, the fact she completely forgot about me and the job and setting it up could be either bad or good. Here's the breakdown:

Good: she's so flustered that she can't even remember to interview anyone else or invite anybody else, thus clearing a path for me
Bad: She's so flustered that she can't even remember to interview anyone so it'll be months before she puts anything together in hiring anyone.

You know what makes you feel really good when you're about to get laid off? News all over the place that the economy is about to go in the toilet.

Yay?

Anyways, just to keep everyone abreast of the sitch, in the past week, I

-Got an email from a place that blew me off saying they have another position opening up and whether or not I'd like to come in this time.
-Did a phone interview with somebody who came off right quick as crazy. The type of person who asks me about where I grew up and why I came to California before even asking me about my skills on the job. I knew something was up when in an email she asked me if I read Hebrew. Turns out the printing company she works for does a lot of work for synagogues. Now, nothing against synagogues, but I don't see them paying very well. Or being that exciting. Regardless, I don't know why she'd think I'd go from four years doing direct marketing at Super Mondo Corp to direct marketing for Temple Beth Siduit
-Got another email from a company in Santa Cruz. Bad, right? Except they said I can telecommute. Good, right? In all honesty, I dunno. I kinda like the idea of working from home but it's too easy to think you're at home and start doing things you'd normally do when you're home. Like watch tv. Or surf the web. Or go see bargain matinees.

And finally...

Last week I had an interview at an agency. A really good agency. After the interview, I had fallen in love with the place and agency. I thought I did really well in the interview too, with somebody even telling me she'd like to bring me back to meet with her boss. Haven't heard back from them, of course, and I didn't get an email giving me the standard "position is closed" or the line that's really popular these days: we have an internal candidate.

The thing is that I was supposed to go in the interview for an online job, the kind of job I'm looking for. But they threw me a loop and had my first interview be with somebody who does mainly print. Okay, I can do that. I kinda like doing that, but wha? I kept on thinking in my head if I got this job mixed up with another job. Plus, I was all prepared to say one thing but found myself desperately scrambling to say what I needed in this particular interview.

So they leave and in comes somebody to talk to me about an online job. So I switch gears again and talk online, still massively confused as to what the hell is going on and why is it that two different people gave me two different descriptions of the job. It kinda reminded me of the dot.com days when you'd interview for a job nobody quite knew what the job exactly was so you'd hear three or four descriptions of the job while interviewing with people.

Anyways, then the HR person comes in and I actually tell her I'm kinda confused as to what's going on and that two people gave me two different descriptions of the job. You know, to let her know that people are confused out there. Turns out another job opened up and they decided to throw me in there just to see how I'd do.

And how'd I do? Well, naturally, confused.

The pisser of it is that if I knew I was up for the first job, I would have said what I needed to say and probably had a better shot getting that job then the job I interviewed for. Mainly because my interview with the dude was one of the best one's I've had.

C'est la vie.

So I've spent a lot of time over the years looking for work. I've also spent a lot of time being rejected while looking for work. And just when I thought I had heard everything in terms of rejections, from the place that kinda sorta wanted to hire me and kinda sorta wanted to give me another change at the end of January, there comes this:

Hi Jon -- Thanks for checking in. Turns out I am leaving Screwy Ad Agency. Back to freelancing for me! Since we did not make a hiring decision while I am still here, I don't think one is going to get made. I think you'll have to consider this opportunity closed. Good luck to you!

Alright, I'm all better now and back to the ole blogging.

So I haven't been writing much about the job search. Part of it is denial that I'm doing it. And part of it is because I've done it before. Writing about looking for work on "Hooray" is like Ben Stiller deciding to do another movie in which he plays a neurotic Jewish guy with a hair-trigger temper. Or U2 doing another album full of semi-heart lifting anthems meant to inspire everyone to end war and feed everyone in Africa personally.

So I'm not. At least for now.

But for those looking for some job-hunting goodness, here's what I got for you:

-The crazy place I interviewed for, the one with the guy who rambled on for 45 minutes without really letting me speak didn't even bring me back for the second round of interviews. For whatever reason, I did something in those few sentences that I was able to speak to let them know I wasn't the right fit for the job.

-Some design agency left a message for me to call them back for an interview so I did. Never heard back from them. A recruiter then tried to get me into that agency for an interview but wasn't able to. Then another person at said agency saw my resume posted and called me for a phone interview. They never called me back. The job, however, keeps on being posted and reposted again.

-An agency I spoke to today had on their web site a picture of employees playing foozball in their office. The job listing also mentioned that people at the agency work hard but are also experts at "Guitar Hero."

-And finally, the agency that kinda sorta wanted to hire me and kinda sorta wanted to check in with me if things fall apart with the person they kinda sorta hired instead kinda sorta has the position open again. So I sent them a "hey, what's going on?" email. So far, they haven't responded.

You'd figure if they need somebody, they like me, and I want to work for them, they'd say hell to the ya. But......

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I've had a busy week or so. I've:
-rewatched season 4 of the Wire
-started watching Friday Night Lights
-recorded every episode of Everest: Beyond Limits from the previous season, to which I am catching up on
-started watching and recording both Ghost Hunting and Paranormal State.

I can't recommend Paranormal State, btw, because despite it's kinda cool concept- college students go out investigating cases of hauntings and/or demons, it's really kind of too slickly produced to make it that believable. On the other hand, how many shows feature a demon haunting a trailer in a trailer park home in which the demon possesses some 250 pound guy named Tiny with a god-awful moustache, leading to an actual excorcism. In the trailer, mind you.

Two things about that show I'd like to add:
1)In every single episode, the members of the group try and rid something of evil spirits and it always involves some sort of Catholic ritual/saying/excorcism technique. Considering all that, what the hell is someone supposed to do if they get chased by a demon and are Jewish? That whole "the power of Christ compels" you thing probably might be a little awkward. Or maybe Jews don't get chased by demons unless Jewish mothers count.

2)If I knew of some sort of paranormal investigating group in college, or right after post-college, I'd be totally into joining. I love that stuff and some part of me thinks there's something to it. However, I would definately be the type of ghost hunter who upon hearing the slightest sound, would run out of a house as fast as I possibly could.

So, yeah, Barrack Hussein Obama just won Iowa. I know I've been on board the Obama train for the past month or so (I gave him money) but even if you don't support him, you have to admit that the fact that a black person just won an election in a white, rural state is pretty darn cool.

To paraphrase a blogger out there-- "thank you George W. Bush for screwing the country up so much that people are actually considering having a black guy be President."