{"id":544,"date":"2006-08-18T17:13:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-18T17:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/wordpress\/?p=544"},"modified":"2006-08-18T17:13:00","modified_gmt":"2006-08-18T17:13:00","slug":"friday-update-american-apparel-young-professionals-21-40-who-network-peabody-rooftop-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2006\/08\/18\/friday-update-american-apparel-young-professionals-21-40-who-network-peabody-rooftop-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday update: American Apparel, young professionals 21-40 who network, Peabody rooftop, and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I sat there at the Saucer, surfing the women’s clothing<\/a> section of their website, and watching one of the waitresses walk around. I thought to myself, it may be called American Apparel but I’d sure like to see some of their clothes become Romanian apparel.<\/p>\n

So I tabbed out, went back to work, and enjoyed an excruciating afternoon of trying to remember how to use T-SQL to join tables in two different databases. Finally, 4:45 came, and I drove home. I put my stuff in my apartment, then walked to the Flying Saucer for a beer.<\/p>\n

At 6:00 I walked down to Zanzibar, where an arts group I’ve been a member of for 5 years was having their season opener\/kickoff. Their calendar of events for 2006-07 looked like the best I’ve seen since I first got involved with the group, and I discovered that one of my good friends is on the board. But you know what? I didn’t re-join for year 6.<\/p>\n

I don’t know… it’s nothing against the group, nothing at all. But I just stood there among all the “young professionals, 21-40” in their plaid button-down shirts and their neatly-pressed khakis and their nice shoes doing their “networking,” and quite honestly, I was bored. “Young professionals” can be so stuffy when they get together in a group. They usually wear “business casual” attire to events like these. Some wear suits. Because I have the personality to pull it off, I can get away with jeans. But it bothered me that I put on long pants of any fashion on when it was 100 outside, in an attempt to fit in and impress people that I really didn’t care about impressing.<\/p>\n

Again, it’s a really good group and I’m not knocking them. And I’ve done the “young professionals” thing for a while and fit in just fine and even got on the board of one organization for a couple of years. I’m glad I had that experience. But I just don’t feel the need to do it anymore.<\/p>\n

I’ll miss out on “networking opportunities” by not re-joining, but you know what? I’ve done almost no “young professionals, 21-40” events this year and yet have done PLENTY of networking. Heck, I’ve probably turned down five grand in consulting work this summer, simply because I don’t have time to do it. I referred potential clients to a couple of friends who are entrepreneurs, and helped a few people find jobs. But this year I’ve done my networking while drinking duck farts at Sleep Out’s, or while drinking wine at South Main Trolley Tour, or while drinking beer at the Saucer. I’m still networking with other young professionals but it’s a lot more relaxed. People tend to be themselves more in those environments. And I can wear shorts without feeling out of place.<\/p>\n

So anyway, I slipped out of the event earlier than expected, about 7:00, and stopped by the Flying Saucer for a beer. Afterward I went to the Peabody rooftop for their weekly party. While up there, I noticed a building on fire about a half-mile to the southeast – there was a lot of smoke and I could even see flames. I checked the Commercial Appeal and all the TV stations’ websites this morning but couldn’t find any info on it – does anyone know what was on fire?<\/p>\n

Otherwise, not much interesting to report from the rooftop – saw a girl I danced with at Six-1-Six nine years ago and talked to her for a few minutes. After I left the rooftop, I went to the Flying Saucer for a beer, then went home.<\/p>\n

I think that’s a new record. 4 trips to the Saucer in one day. And yet in those 4 trips, I only drank 3 beers (I had a coke with lunch).<\/p>\n

So that brings us up to today… currently I’m sitting at the Flying Saucer, eating lunch and typing this. Not sure what I’ll be doing tonight… some of my friends who live in my building are having “game night”… trying to decide if I want to do that or go out.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow I’ll be attending a friend’s plate party at the Flying Saucer in the afternoon, then later on I’ll be at a friend’s graduation party in the South Main district. Hmmm… that means I’ll be walking back up Main to my part of town at some point, and I just might have to make a detour into Raiford’s, assuming it’s open. Still don’t know why it was closed last week.<\/p>\n

Sunday will be another Emma extravaganza at Sleep Out Louie’s, starting a little later this week, at 4 PM and continuing on until close. Semi-Charmed Kat<\/a> has said she’ll probably return this week, although I’m not allowed to take any more pictures, because we certainly wouldn’t want any “young professionals, 21-40” who Kat “networks” with to think badly of her. More and more I’m beginning to understand why Kat’s Cordova neighborhood is such a good fit for her.<\/p>\n

There’s a Database Analyst<\/a> position open at the City Schools where I work. Unlike my contract position, this is permanent, full-time. The position is at the school board office at Hollywood and Avery, and it’s not a bad place to work – more relaxed than corporate America, and lots of good places to eat lunch in Midtown.<\/p>\n

That’s it for now – hope everyone has a good weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"