I have spent so much time the past two weeks trying to find a job and figure out a way to be able to pay for rent. My brain has twisted and turned around so many ideas, I've written so many emails and made so many phone calls ... all of which have led to this post, where I have come up with 101 ways to make money. Some can be done quick, some are probably out of reach (for me they are anyway), but maybe they'll help you on your money hunt.
Let's go:
1) Have a lemonade stand
2) Walk your neighbor's dog
3) Become a professional athlete
4) Publish and sell a "How-To" book
5) Create a new diet fad (then return to item 4)
6) House sit
7) Pet sit
8) Baby sit
9) Become a personal valet
10) Recycle bottles and cans
11) Create and sell homemade crafts
12) Become a guest writer on other people's blogs
13) Exploit Google Adsense
14) Sell plasma
15) Sell sperm
16) Participate in medical studies
17) Shovel snow off sidewalks/driveways
18) Hold a garage sale
19) Mow lawns
20) Deliver papers
21) Write personal ads for other people
22) Sell love poems at Valentine's Day
23) Sell items to drivers stuck in traffic
24) Haul people's stuff
25) Sell your art
26) Tutor
27) Sell your books
28) Sell your magazine subscriptions
29) Teach a class
30) Rent out your extra room
31) Sell song lyrics
32) Sell short stories
33) Sell advertising space on your T-shirts
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Slacking off
I've been a slacker.
It's okay to agree. I have been and I know it. It's just, what kind of attention do you expect me to give these random blogs when I don't have a job and am running on fumes when it comes to my savings? Yes, being unemployed is annoying me almost as much as this dang sticky 'g' key on my laptop.
So instead of doing what I should be doing and writing about my process I have sulked and moaned the past week. Writing for me is therapy, it is the outlet for my aggression. And hey, I do some of my best work in the face of adversity. (What is it, great work comes from great sorrow?)
I guess I'm just frustrated because I found myself on a great role while being in New York for Christmas. The ideas wouldn't stop rolling. I should know by now that writers go through spells of low motivation and low creativity. I just don't like genuinely wanting to be creative and finding myself distracted by the obstacles in life right now.
Okay, enough pity talk.
Simple response is, "Okay, I need a job, and then there will be no more reason to be distracted." Which is true. If only finding that job were easy. You's think a college grad could find something.
Okay, I'm done. If you made it this far bravo. If not, I can't blame you. Hell, I barely made it myself.
It's okay to agree. I have been and I know it. It's just, what kind of attention do you expect me to give these random blogs when I don't have a job and am running on fumes when it comes to my savings? Yes, being unemployed is annoying me almost as much as this dang sticky 'g' key on my laptop.
So instead of doing what I should be doing and writing about my process I have sulked and moaned the past week. Writing for me is therapy, it is the outlet for my aggression. And hey, I do some of my best work in the face of adversity. (What is it, great work comes from great sorrow?)
I guess I'm just frustrated because I found myself on a great role while being in New York for Christmas. The ideas wouldn't stop rolling. I should know by now that writers go through spells of low motivation and low creativity. I just don't like genuinely wanting to be creative and finding myself distracted by the obstacles in life right now.
Okay, enough pity talk.
Simple response is, "Okay, I need a job, and then there will be no more reason to be distracted." Which is true. If only finding that job were easy. You's think a college grad could find something.
Okay, I'm done. If you made it this far bravo. If not, I can't blame you. Hell, I barely made it myself.
Friday, December 30, 2011
A Message from the Past
Every year I sit down just before the ball drops and the confetti rains and I write down my goals and aspirations for the coming year. Then I fold it up and tuck it into my wallet and fight the urge to read it again until a year passes. By that time I forget what I have written and I get to evaluate whether the year was a 'success' or 'failure'.
As I sit to write my aspirations for 2012, this is what I have to reflect upon from the 2010 edition:
[Written December 31, 2010]
Well, to say the least, 2010 was not what was expected. It was hard, difficult indeed for all those reasons. There were so many lost promises to others, but more importantly to yourself. At this point you really haven't done anything. By now you're out of college, but what else? I hope you are reading this from a small apartment on the coast, taking off your suit and settling in after a successful day. I hope you are in love, laughing everyday, fulfilling all of your dreams. I hope you got published, I hope your social network spans far beyond Facebook.
But most of all I hope you have become a man among boys, a gentleman in every way possible. I hope you worry about your looks, I hope you stopped swearing at every instant, I hope you stopped being afraid to do what's right. I hope you worked hard and never settled.
No more promises. No more guarantees. 2011 is going to be the year that defines you as a person. This is a challenge, did you live up to it and take those chances, make those mistakes and give it all you had?
Live, Love, Laugh
As I sit to write my aspirations for 2012, this is what I have to reflect upon from the 2010 edition:
[Written December 31, 2010]
Well, to say the least, 2010 was not what was expected. It was hard, difficult indeed for all those reasons. There were so many lost promises to others, but more importantly to yourself. At this point you really haven't done anything. By now you're out of college, but what else? I hope you are reading this from a small apartment on the coast, taking off your suit and settling in after a successful day. I hope you are in love, laughing everyday, fulfilling all of your dreams. I hope you got published, I hope your social network spans far beyond Facebook.
But most of all I hope you have become a man among boys, a gentleman in every way possible. I hope you worry about your looks, I hope you stopped swearing at every instant, I hope you stopped being afraid to do what's right. I hope you worked hard and never settled.
No more promises. No more guarantees. 2011 is going to be the year that defines you as a person. This is a challenge, did you live up to it and take those chances, make those mistakes and give it all you had?
Live, Love, Laugh
The Hunt Begins
First, I must apologize. There is supposed to be a new short story posted, Twitter says so. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get around to completely posting it today. See, I was job hunting.
Yes, even wannabe authors need a day job.
If I had it my way I would leave this life and shack up in a cramped studio apartment downtown and live off Ramen and just tweak my novel for the next 6 months, letting my beard grow long, lighting candles to save on electricity and avoiding my landlord at the end of each month.
But my parents weren't in full support of that plan. And despite how great that life sounds, they are probably right.
So armed with a cup of Seattle coffee (I missed you while away) I entered several establishments (sorry, no free advertising here) and handed in applications. I am still scouring the web and posting resumes everywhere.
Crossing fingers that something comes up quick, something fun and exciting, something that gets me meeting people in this neighborhood. Really, I just want something!
Yes, even wannabe authors need a day job.
If I had it my way I would leave this life and shack up in a cramped studio apartment downtown and live off Ramen and just tweak my novel for the next 6 months, letting my beard grow long, lighting candles to save on electricity and avoiding my landlord at the end of each month.
But my parents weren't in full support of that plan. And despite how great that life sounds, they are probably right.
So armed with a cup of Seattle coffee (I missed you while away) I entered several establishments (sorry, no free advertising here) and handed in applications. I am still scouring the web and posting resumes everywhere.
Crossing fingers that something comes up quick, something fun and exciting, something that gets me meeting people in this neighborhood. Really, I just want something!
"The Old Year," by John Clare
The Old Year's gone away
To nothingness and night:
We cannot find him all the day
Nor hear him in the night:
He left no footstep, mark or place
In either shade or sun:
The last year he'd a neighbour's face,
In this he's known by none.
All nothing everywhere:
Mists we on mornings see
Have more of substance when they're here
And more of form than he.
He was a friend by every fire,
In every cot and hall--
A guest to every heart's desire,
And now he's nought at all.
Old papers thrown away,
Old garments cast aside,
The talk of yesterday,
Are things identified;
But time once torn away
No voices can recall:
The eve of New Year's Day
Left the Old Year lost to all.
With New Yer's less than 48-hours away, this seemed appropriate. A Happy 2012 to all!
To nothingness and night:
We cannot find him all the day
Nor hear him in the night:
He left no footstep, mark or place
In either shade or sun:
The last year he'd a neighbour's face,
In this he's known by none.
All nothing everywhere:
Mists we on mornings see
Have more of substance when they're here
And more of form than he.
He was a friend by every fire,
In every cot and hall--
A guest to every heart's desire,
And now he's nought at all.
Old papers thrown away,
Old garments cast aside,
The talk of yesterday,
Are things identified;
But time once torn away
No voices can recall:
The eve of New Year's Day
Left the Old Year lost to all.
With New Yer's less than 48-hours away, this seemed appropriate. A Happy 2012 to all!
Finally home
Sometimes I say things like this because I think I'm funny (and very modest), but the washer tried to eat my shirt this afternoon. No really! I had to pull the sucker out from under the agitator, I thought it was a goner for sure.
Welcome home to me!
After departing Hancock Airport at 6am EST this morning I arrived in Seattle about 10:30 local time. I love how traveling west saves you those three hours. I also love that I am more comfortable in this neighborhood than when I was in my own hometown, maybe its the convenience of being in the suburbs here, not the farm country of Upstate New York.
Or maybe it means I'm home.
I discovered somethings about myself in my three weeks in New York. For one, I drive faster, which doesn't sound like much probably, but to a 22-year old kid that once felt like he was a 45 year old father driving a minivan around town and following speed limits, it was a sweet realization.
I also realized I'm much more outspoken about my beliefs after spending 6 months in Seattle. I have always considered myself a liberal, but in the words of an old man I met here my first week, I've become a 'liberal' liberal. Really though, being here has just enhanced my positions on marijuana legalization (for), gay rights (pro) and some other usual hot topic issues. I found myself arguing with my own father this break about why gay marriage should be legal, and not that either of us came away with a different stance, but to feel like I could stand my ground on the issue and believe in what I was saying was a first.
Some friends come and go, and some last forever. The ones that last forever are the ones you can see after years of being apart and can pick up in conversations like you had been away only a few hours. I saw my old high school friends for a great but way too short reunion and reminisced about old Spanish teachers and skipping class, getting into (and out of) trouble. As hard as we try to push away certain parts of our pasts, it is refreshing to miss it. I love them all and thank them for creating the person I was then and am now.
And finally, not that this was news, but I realized that Seattle is my home. I love my family, I miss them dearly when I leave, and I miss my friends and glimpses of my old life, but the only reason I appreciate them so much is because of my time here. I have grown into a child, and chased away the old man inside of me.
Welcome home.
Welcome home to me!
After departing Hancock Airport at 6am EST this morning I arrived in Seattle about 10:30 local time. I love how traveling west saves you those three hours. I also love that I am more comfortable in this neighborhood than when I was in my own hometown, maybe its the convenience of being in the suburbs here, not the farm country of Upstate New York.
Or maybe it means I'm home.
I discovered somethings about myself in my three weeks in New York. For one, I drive faster, which doesn't sound like much probably, but to a 22-year old kid that once felt like he was a 45 year old father driving a minivan around town and following speed limits, it was a sweet realization.
I also realized I'm much more outspoken about my beliefs after spending 6 months in Seattle. I have always considered myself a liberal, but in the words of an old man I met here my first week, I've become a 'liberal' liberal. Really though, being here has just enhanced my positions on marijuana legalization (for), gay rights (pro) and some other usual hot topic issues. I found myself arguing with my own father this break about why gay marriage should be legal, and not that either of us came away with a different stance, but to feel like I could stand my ground on the issue and believe in what I was saying was a first.
Some friends come and go, and some last forever. The ones that last forever are the ones you can see after years of being apart and can pick up in conversations like you had been away only a few hours. I saw my old high school friends for a great but way too short reunion and reminisced about old Spanish teachers and skipping class, getting into (and out of) trouble. As hard as we try to push away certain parts of our pasts, it is refreshing to miss it. I love them all and thank them for creating the person I was then and am now.
And finally, not that this was news, but I realized that Seattle is my home. I love my family, I miss them dearly when I leave, and I miss my friends and glimpses of my old life, but the only reason I appreciate them so much is because of my time here. I have grown into a child, and chased away the old man inside of me.
Welcome home.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Winter's Chill
There's a chill under my skin that I can't shake.
It must be Christmas!
The winter air has lingered, staying cold and unfriendly despite their being no more than traces of snow. If I ever move across state lines again I'm picking a place that is sunny and warm twelve months out of the year. Seattle is great, but I know that when I get back in a week the weather will be the same as it is here in Syracuse.
But there is a certain joy from sitting in front of a roaring fire and feeling the heat soak into your body and heat your bones. Something about the warmth of a flame that feels better than any other heat source (the only exception being a loving woman).
Nevertheless, having to curl under a blanket and throw on an extra hoodie has my mind wandering to warmer climates. I missed the sun so much today I changed my Facebook picture to a summer shot of Alki Beach, just to add a little sunshine into my life.
Too desperate?
But with each chill in my toes my mind races to warm sand under my feet, the rush of sea water crashing against the shore, and cool margarita in my hand and sun tanned skin. I find myself reclined in a beach chair with a good book, with the soothing melody of wooden chimes in the wind.
No worries, only six months until the sun really comes back.
But for now, care for a margarita?
It must be Christmas!
The winter air has lingered, staying cold and unfriendly despite their being no more than traces of snow. If I ever move across state lines again I'm picking a place that is sunny and warm twelve months out of the year. Seattle is great, but I know that when I get back in a week the weather will be the same as it is here in Syracuse.
But there is a certain joy from sitting in front of a roaring fire and feeling the heat soak into your body and heat your bones. Something about the warmth of a flame that feels better than any other heat source (the only exception being a loving woman).
Nevertheless, having to curl under a blanket and throw on an extra hoodie has my mind wandering to warmer climates. I missed the sun so much today I changed my Facebook picture to a summer shot of Alki Beach, just to add a little sunshine into my life.
Too desperate?
But with each chill in my toes my mind races to warm sand under my feet, the rush of sea water crashing against the shore, and cool margarita in my hand and sun tanned skin. I find myself reclined in a beach chair with a good book, with the soothing melody of wooden chimes in the wind.
No worries, only six months until the sun really comes back.
But for now, care for a margarita?
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