"It was a dark and stormy night..."

"To be, or not to be..."

No, wait, someone already wrote that. Let's try:

"Call me Ishmael."

Nope. How about:

"Once upon a time..."

Um...not just "no," but...well, you know!

But I digress. (Really, how many trite literary references can I include in this, my first blog post of My New Normal?)

CAPTAIN'S LOG: Stardate 2012.03.15. Commencement of maiden voyage of USS Self-Employed across the known universe. Mission: to seek out new opportunities, explore strange new worlds, forge new alliances with unknown entities, and not get eaten by aliens.

Thus far, my voyage has been nominally successful, at least as far as not being consumed by undernourished extraterrestrials is concerned. Everything else? Well, let's say it's a work in progress. Yeah, I'll go with that.

Seeking out new opportunities: I've applied to countless job postings, even had a handful of interviews. What I really hope to do is to finish the certification program in surgical technology that I began a few years ago, and THEN get a job. Let's hope the State of Texas agrees with my goal.

Exploring strange new worlds: I've decided to finally write that book! (Yes, really.) I've joined a meetup group which examines authorship for fun and profit from the perspective of, well, profit! I'm currently in the process of dissecting literature which targets my market (young adult), choosing a main theme and plot, and developing my characters. In this vein I've read two thoroughly engrossing books, Daniel X, Alien Hunter: Game Over (by James Patterson and Ned Rust) and The Scorch Trials (second of The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner), both of which I plan to thoroughly analyze and plunder over the next three days.

Incidentally, I have written a tentative first chapter. But since I'm not yet sure where the book is headed, no, you can't read it.

Forge new alliances with unknown entities: I'm so excited that I've found a concrete way to be involved in music again! I've attended several rehearsals of the Dallas Women's A Cappella Harmony Group, for which I will audition next Wednesday,  May 2, 2012 to become a regular member (really, really hoping I can fool them into thinking I can sing!).

These are the milestones thus far in my journey- aside from various and random brushes with harm and destruction, plus a few other networking organizations which have dared to cross my path. If you've read this far: seriously, dude, you need to get a life!

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of, "Career Trek." Same bat-time, same bat-channel!