Days Like These

So, Monday was a double dose of fun as Isaac’s school called Salomé to let her know he was complaining about an earache which turned out to be the very early stage of an ear infection. Poor kid’s had so many, he knew it right away; even the doctor said she might not have noticed it if not looking for it specifically. Later that night, in the parking lot of the Rite Aid where Salomé was picking up his prescription, I happened to look into India’s school bag to check her communication notebook — where her teachers and Salomé and I communicate about her progress — and found a note about the rash on her ear, which we thought was eczema, asking whether or not it was ringworm. Folded into the notebook was a letter from the school warning about a ringworm outbreak and letting us know that any kid with ringworm would need a doctor’s note clearing them to return.

Thank goodness for Dr. Julie! Having a pediatrician for a friend has gotten us out of a jam more times than I can count, and this time, at 7pm Monday night, she was able to check India’s ear, write a prescription and a doctor’s note, and limit her to only missing a day of school.

That was yesterday, which meant we got to sleep in while Isaac returned to school — catching the ear infection that quickly meant he was good to go — and Salomé went to work. I had to pick up her prescription at 10am, so we hung out relaxing for a couple of hours, did a little water painting and talking about animals, before getting dressed and heading out for a couple of hours. Snuck in an oil change and a car wash while we were out before returning home to a shitload of email that I still haven’t caught up on.

Six months in to editing Buzzscope and I’m thisclose to stepping down. When it’s fun, it’s great, but more and more, it’s becoming Work, which isn’t fun. The redesign/relaunch still hasn’t happened and content hasn’t been posting as regularly as I’d like since there’s one guy who handles all of that and he’s been swamped. Some of our contributors are better than others about deadlines, and the amount of editing I have to do varies greatly, too. Late submissions + sloppy submissions make Guy an angry boy.

It’s my fault, really, for once again jumping into something with both feet that I don’t have full control over. Yes, I’m a control freak, that’s not news, but when things break down and the causes are beyond my control, it gets frustrating. Especially when it’s not really anyone’s fault, per se. Shit happens, no one’s getting paid for working on the site, so it’s hard to be mad at anyone who chooses not to make it a priority. I’m getting to that point, where I now just go to bed instead of pushing through editing something that may not run on time anyway, and that’s not fair to our contributors, especially the one’s who get their stuff to me on time.

I also feel like I’ve crossed the line a bit and am more “connected” than I really want to be, privy to some of the more unpleasant aspects of an industry that eats its young and feeling increasingly frustrated and cynical about it all. It’s like a kid tugging on Santa’s beard too hard only to realize he’s sitting on drunk Uncle Bob’s lap and all of the fantasies he had about Christmas were lies. Not that extreme, of course, but yeah, frustration, disappointment, and a bit of boredom, which is the kiss of death.

It’s the internet’s fault, I think. Access to information is a great thing, but too much of anything can be, well, too much. And I’m an information addict so the internet is like a 24/7 open bar where I can rationalize the drinking as learning to bartend.

It’s one of the reasons I blog here so infrequently these days. I don’t really have anything interesting to say that Salomé’s not saying better than I would, and the internet doesn’t need yet another “Today really sucked…” blog.

So, yeah…yesterday didn’t suck because India and I got to hang out, and we picked up Isaac a little early from after-school and he was pleasantly surprised to see his sister, which always brings a smile to my face. All things considered, we’re doing a pretty good job raising them, which is a good bit of news in the midst of the other depressing, angsty shit we’re going through.

Today, I’m back at work, still digesting the fact that my boss handed in an open-ended resignation last week, not to take another job elsewhere, but because she’s burned out. Being a Director of Marketing who spends the majority of her time cutting budgets each month in order to maintain a profit margin, instead of, you know, marketing stuff, will certainly do that to you. The worst part is, what should totally be an opportunity for me to step up is reason #273 to get the hell out of dodge, as there’s no way in hell I want her job as it currently exists, and am in no mood for the inevitable clusterfuck reorganization that looms on the horizon.

Apologies if this rambled as much as I think it did, but I don’t have time to reread it. I figure at this point, if you’re still checking this blog, it’s because you’re a friend who’s emails I’ve not answered recently and are simply trying to stay in touch. Bless you for your tenacity!

PS: As much as I think Kevin Covais making it to the Top 12 was an embarassment for American Idol in an otherwise surprisingly strong season, there’s a part of me that wants to see Ace Young voted off first. That falsetto of his makes me wince, and he’s more boy band material than solo star. Also, what the hell was Paula on last night?

Written by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass, and former publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest. Previously, he was also project lead for the Panorama Project; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for the original Digital Book World.

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