o kate, where art thou?

Sorry I haven't written in a while -- as you can imagine, it's been kind of busy, what with my NEW JOB AND ALL! (who's the coolest? Oh, yeah, that'd be me!)

So, those of you who know me know that for the last eight years or so I've been an actor in the city, and, as such, have had a need for Ye Olde Dreaded Dayjob. I landed in a really good one, with good pay, good bosses, good flexibility and overall general goodness. Of late, however, I've grown weary of Said Olde Dayjob, because I'm not acting anymore. So I started the process of looking inside myself to see what new career path I wanted to follow. (I recommend the book Finding Your Own North Star to anyone who is undergoing the same process.) I put a ton of pressure on myself to do Something Perfect (sheesh!) and hated everything anyone else suggested. I even once had a job-searching conversation with Christina in which I said "we have to change the subject now, or I'm going to have to hate you."

Somehow I found the courage to give myself a break, and take the summer off. I was going to focus on the things that made me happy (like Tuvan throat singers, for example) and let the job find me. Secretly, though, I knew I was just postponing the inevitable disaster that awaited me in September, when the summer was over and I still hadn't figured out what to do with my life.

I listened, smiling, while people suggested a variety of options to me. "You should be a dentist!" said one of my co-workers, whose husband is in dental school.

"Yeah," I said, "except that I don't really like mouths very much. Or teeth."

"Well, how about a physical therapist?"

"Yeah, I'm not so much with the broken parts of people."

"Oh! I've got it! You should be a vet!"

"Yeah, ok, except for that's the broken parts of animals..."

I had a vague sense that what I wanted to do would incorporate the parts of acting that meant the most to me -- analysis, communication, teaching... but how to combine them? How to execute that? At one point, my mother sent me a job posting for a computer trainer at another law firm. And it really grabbed me, since I have a solid background in computer programs used by legal secretaries. But... something was wrong. I wasn't ready to uproot my life like that just yet. or something.

And anyway, it was summer. I didn't HAVE to.

So a few weeks went by, and I asked for a trademark paralegal position at the firm. I didn't get it (for a variety of reasons) and I went back to not paying attention to the job search. Until last week -- Friday the 13th, to be exact.

I was in the word processing department (which makes it sound like more than a guy in an office, which it's not), and the head of WP (that's legal sec'y slang for word processing, yo!) said, when I told him I wasn't acting anymore, that the firm was looking for a trainer.

Kismet! Karma! Kate!

I heard about the job at 11 and by 3:30, I had it.So I'm really excited! I don't think that legal computer training is my end goal or destination, but making this switch right now feels really right. And I'm really proud of myself. It's not Perfect, and I'm doing it anyway!

On top of it all, I came up with a salary that I thought would be appropriate for the position. Now, as a sidebar, I didn't actually realize what I was currently making. I thought my net was my gross, and, well, duh, it's not. So based on my erroneous math, I came up with this number (which was, eek!, less than what I currently make), and worked up the courage to make my salary pitch $5,000 more than that. I screwed my courage to the sticking point, went to HR and said "this is what I want." And he said, "um, ok, we're actually going to give you more than that." But the most important part (to me) is that I found the self-worth to ask for the money.

Around Christmas, we'll talk about the raise.

So, that's the story, pretty much. Down the road, I'm going to need some guinea pigs to run my training on, so stay tuned. And if anyone has any background in training and wants to give me advice, or book suggestions, I'm totally open to that.

And I'm not too proud to take any congratulations that find their way to me...