What Is It About 20-Somethings?

[AliEnvy]

I just want to know how to contact people who can help me further my dream (and how to pick the genuine help from the scammers) and things of that nature. I have the motivation, the interest, all that good stuff. I just need the contacts/connections.

I don't know squat about the literary world except that the term struggling writer is literal and the publishing world is in transformative chaos. So I'd think there must be many writing discussion forums similar to this one dedicated to supporting fledgling writers on the path to publication. It would be especially helpful in separating the sleazy literary agents from the reputable ones.

Also, writers of all stripes love to blog. There must be some great blogs you can find that offer hints and tips.

Maybe pull together an online portfolio?

 

[Liesje]

The tuition/aid/loans situation is crappy, BUT not impossible. When I post about it it's more to show that it IS possible than just get down on myself all the time. Phil and I have six figure student loan debt and neither of us have high power, high salary jobs but we are perfectly capable of paying our bills and living comfortably (I consider owning three dogs and two vehicles "comfort"). You don't HAVE to live at home and work 80 hours a week to go to college (in Phil's case, twice) and pay off your student loans. We have good credit and would have absolutely no problem buying a comfortable home that would suit us for the next 10 years (we've just waited because we haven't decided where to settle). The cost of tuition is insane but should not entirely prohibit people from getting their degrees and pursuing whatever career and lifestyle they want.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I don't know squat about the literary world except that the term struggling writer is literal and the publishing world is in transformative chaos.

So I've heard. The lone downside to such a profession...

So I'd think there must be many writing discussion forums similar to this one dedicated to supporting fledgling writers on the path to publication. It would be especially helpful in separating the sleazy literary agents from the reputable ones.

Also, writers of all stripes love to blog. There must be some great blogs you can find that offer hints and tips.

Maybe pull together an online portfolio?

I've actually got a few things on a specific site in a "portfolio" of sorts-it's not much, and most of it's from when I was a teenager, but hey, it's a start. I'll certainly keep searching around for blogs and other sites, too-of course, I'll need to separate the good from the bad online, too-sometimes it's harder to tell on there as well, but there's bound to be something helpful. I'm also going to try and look around here in town for a writing group to join-I used to belong to those when I was in school and really enjoyed them (and met some great people as well), so we'll see what happens.

Thanks for the advice .

Angela

 

[dazzlingamy]

I think a main issue it comes down to is choice. We all have too much choice in this day and age, and an over saturation in the consumer market. While on one hand this is good for us, and something pushed for by earlier generations, it also can trap people into a spiral of never ending desire or confusion. We as human beings are quite fickle, and having so much choice can be overwhelming. You can basically do anything you want to, study anything you want, have any job you want, you just need to work out how to get there. Most of my friends have two or more degrees because they changed their mind after the first one, or found a new interest in something else. While i think this is an amazing option we have, that is 5/6 10? years out of your life, so you're finishing studies in your middle 20's.
We also have the consumer side of things which makes it harder to save and go onto those tradional 'adulthood' ideals marriage, house, family etc. 20/30 years ago, there really was tnothing much to buy. Maybe a few household appliances, a rang eof a few cars, clothes and small items were all there was to tempt us. Now we have such a range of everything, from cars, to household goods, to clothes, not to metion the range of computer goods, electronics, phones, video games etc, that people are only living in the here and now, keeping up with the jones type of living, blinded by the new flashy things. Coupled with an economic downturn, no wonder people in their 20's seem like we're a bit stuck. We're still studying, or working jobs we don't like to pay for study, or new flashy things, while other things such as housing are completely out of our grasp.

I LOVE choice. I'm glad I was born into this generation, but I can also see what a trapping choice can be for others.

 

[anitram]

We have good credit and would have absolutely no problem buying a comfortable home that would suit us for the next 10 years (we've just waited because we haven't decided where to settle). The cost of tuition is insane but should not entirely prohibit people from getting their degrees and pursuing whatever career and lifestyle they want.

That's true because you live in an affordable area. You can't buy a 1 bedroom condo on my neighbourhood for under $350K and those are closet-sized.

I know many, many people whose lifestyle is restricted severely due to their monthly student loan payments. When they come out to $1400/month and you're paying $1700 in rent, nevermind your other expenses ($150/month parking + utilities + cable/internet/cell phone), you're really going to be struggling unless you're sitting close to a 6-figure salary.

 

[financeguy]

That's true because you live in an affordable area. You can't buy a 1 bedroom condo on my neighbourhood for under $350K and those are closet-sized.

Yeah, but swings and roundabouts. Anyone that goes to live in NYC knows that.

 

[anitram]

Most of my friends have two or more degrees because they changed their mind after the first one, or found a new interest in something else. While i think this is an amazing option we have, that is 5/6 10? years out of your life, so you're finishing studies in your middle 20's.

By the time I was done with my second degree and taking into account the three years that I worked between my degrees, I was in my late 20s.

And I couldn't be happier with my life today. I am so grateful for having options, like you said. There isn't a price that you can put on happiness and I think that the ability and willingness to change when you are not happy with your current situation isn't a negative trait. Frankly, walking away from something definite and defined is a hell of a lot riskier than staying put. At some point, like Irvine said, settling is re-defined. But I don't fault anyone who is 22 or 23 and graduating from college from not knowing what they want to do or deciding a few years later that they want to do something else.

 

[anitram]

Yeah, but swings and roundabouts. Anyone that goes to live in NYC knows that.

I am back in Toronto right now. Which is considerably more affordable than New York, though our taxes are higher.

 

[Liesje]

That's true because you live in an affordable area. You can't buy a 1 bedroom condo on my neighbourhood for under $350K and those are closet-sized.

True, but it's yet another choice (or a sacrifice, I guess, in the absence of there being a choice). $1400/mo in loan bills is about where we started, it has dropped a bit since I've been paying for 4 years and the interest rate drops every so slightly every year you pay on time. We've looked all over the country coast to coast for a new place to live (mainly Florida, Texas, and NC since Phil had many job prospects there) but moving or living in a really nice place isn't worth the expense at this point and many other choices were immediately ruled out because of cost of living. Nobody has to live in a $350K condo, nobody is forced to live in the most expensive cities or the most desireble neighborhoods. Would I love to live on the lakeshore in downtown Chicago? Sure. It's just a balancing act. I don't care to work more than 40 hours a week at the regular job or have to go back to school for years to be worth enough to maintain that lifestyle, but many do and make it happen. Either choice is better than living in my parent's basement doing nothing.

 

[maycocksean]

^I'm coming around to your thinking on location, Lies. I never thought we'd consider buying a home in Ohio. We wanted to live on the West Coast, be close to the ocean etc, but Ohio is nice and to be frank, you can buy a hell of a lot of house here for an amount of money that would get you a shack in some pricier parts of the country.

We'd like to move overseas again in maybe five or six years, but I really think I could see Ohio being our "home base."

Really interesting thread,everyone!

 

[Liesje]

A year ago I wanted nothing more than to MOVE to *anywhere* but I've come around. For one, I'm so much more involved with the dogs, and I'd be giving up SO much by moving. It's not as simple as just joining a dog club somewhere else. When you are training such advanced obedience, and something like bitework, you need the right experience and the right "helpers" (the decoy is called a "helper"). I was driving two hours one way sometimes three times a week to train with the right people. Now the training has moved closer to me, and people all over the country and world would kill to be in my position. Anywhere within a few hours of Chicago is also a prime spot for show and trials. Chicagoland has several clubs that I wouldn't train with but they put on great events and bring over very reputable judges from Germany, something my group can't afford.

Also I'm thinking ahead to starting a family, which is something I've always wanted so it irks me when people think of it as "settling", and my mom is eager for grandbabies. Free child care is nothing to joke about, really. Staying close to my mom would give me the opportunity to have a family AND have a job (something I'll always need, not to make money but I can't be homebound all day every day). My kids would not have to be raised by strangers and I wouldn't be spending every penny I make on daycare.

The housing market is fabulous for me right now, and the cost of living is always very low around here, but there's always the flip side to that. We have the highest rate of unemployment in the nation. Finding a teaching job is like winning the lottery. Granted Phil has turned down several offers in the past year, but he is highly qualified to teach special ed and has the right endorsements but was getting jobs like being an aid for $13/hr in someone else's classroom. When he got the position he has now, a colleague of mine said he was the first person she has heard of in two years who has been offered an actual teaching contract in west Michigan. Housing might be cheap but so is everything else. Phil's uncle is a dentist in Chicago and lives in a multimillion dollar condo on Millenium park where a parking space probably costs more than the house I'm looking at. Here a good dentist can live in a comfortable house and take a ski trip to Vail once a year.

That said I could never live in a small town or in the middle of nowhere or without beaches. There has to be a skyline, a Target, and a body of water I can't see across. Plus we love Chicago and it's basically our home town as far as nights on the town. We don't live there but spend way more time there than we do downtown here. I know the Chicago train and bus lines better than our own (which I don't know at all).

 

[maycocksean]

That said I could never live in a small town or in the middle of nowhere or without beaches. There has to be a skyline, a Target, and a body of water I can't see across. Plus we love Chicago and it's basically our home town as far as nights on the town. We don't live there but spend way more time there than we do downtown here. I know the Chicago train and bus lines better than our own (which I don't know at all).

I Chicago. Lot of good memories associated with that city. Babs and I used to go there all the time when were going to college in SW Michigan. We even spent the first two nights of our honeymoon there, at the Fairmont downtown. It's one of our favorite cities.

 

[Diemen]

I Chicago. Lot of good memories associated with that city. Babs and I used to go there all the time when were going to college in SW Michigan. We even spent the first two nights of our honeymoon there, at the Fairmont downtown. It's one of our favorite cities.

I've been here about a month, and really like it so far (though I haven't gone through a winter yet...). Though it is a bit hard moving away from friends to somewhere where you have almost none.

If you should ever find yourself in town, with free time, let me know!

 

[Liesje]

Sean if you come back for next summer's show I hope we can meet Babs too!

 

[maycocksean]

^That would be cool! We don't have tickets but I'm hoping we can get them and I've been telling Babs I want to take her to the show this time. (Elijah should be old enough by then to spend the night with his grandparents--last year she was with him).

Diemen, it'd be great to meet you too!

 

[deep]

Teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blog |

"My students are out of control," Munroe, who has taught 10th, 11th and 12th grades, wrote in one post. "They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."

 

[yolland]

Munroe did not use her full name or identify her students or school in the blog, which she started in August 2009 for friends and family. Last week, she said, students brought it to the attention of the school, which suspended her with pay.

Yep, which is why you don't see more blogs like this, from teachers at all levels of the educational system. Not taking a position on this particular teacher's opinions, just an observation about the consequences.

 

[Canadiens1131]

As far as the 'pay more and live in the city' argument vs 'pay less and have a long, frustrating commute', if you have the financial freedom to make that choice then always close to work for me.

I believe one of the biggest factors in quality of life is commute time. One reason why I will NEVER move to California for a technology job unless it's something I can do the bulk of the work remotely.

 

[deep]

Our School District Superintendent has been indited. The case hinges on emails.

It is amazing how many people are answering for emails, Facebooks, and tweets, and other electronic postings. I rarely use any of those and do so with the understanding that anyone and everyone will have the chance to see it.

As for this teacher, another article I read made me have less sympathy for her.
She may be losing her job.

 

[deep]

As far as the 'pay more and live in the city' argument vs 'pay less and have a long, frustrating commute', if you have the financial freedom to make that choice then always close to work for me.

I believe one of the biggest factors in quality of life is commute time. One reason why I will NEVER move to California for a technology job unless it's something I can do the bulk of the work remotely.

commute time can be quality time with NPR.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

As far as the 'pay more and live in the city' argument vs 'pay less and have a long, frustrating commute', if you have the financial freedom to make that choice then always close to work for me.

I believe one of the biggest factors in quality of life is commute time. One reason why I will NEVER move to California for a technology job unless it's something I can do the bulk of the work remotely.

you and me both. in a dream world, i'd either be able to: work from home, live in the same building where i work (e.g. multi-use skyscraper), or live within close walking distance to my job. i've had all sorts of commutes ranging from 10 minute drives to over an hour each way.

i just don't want to waste a huge fraction of my life sitting in traffic.

 

[PhilsFan]

As far as the 'pay more and live in the city' argument vs 'pay less and have a long, frustrating commute', if you have the financial freedom to make that choice then always close to work for me.

I believe one of the biggest factors in quality of life is commute time. One reason why I will NEVER move to California for a technology job unless it's something I can do the bulk of the work remotely.

My father has had an hour commute for about 12 years now. I did it with him one summer when I worked at his company. Just brutal.

I currently have about a 30-40 minute commute due to having to walk to a bus stop a mile away and then waiting for said bus. I try to avoid going as much as possible, and have actually bought equipment for use at work just so that I can work from my place more.

 

[Irvine511]

i walk 10 minutes. ride the metro for 40 minutes. walk another 10 minutes. it's only truly awful in the thick humidity of July and August.

it's better than 45 minutes of traffic any day of the week.

i recommend ass kicking headphones, a subscription to "This American Life" podcast, and a good magazine or two.

 

[financeguy]

My commute is a 10/15 minute tram ride - including waiting time and walking to the tram stop at both ends of the journey. I'd like to move to a more suburban area but the thought of the 45 minute plus commute puts me off.

 

[maycocksean]

In Saipan, my commute was about a minute and a half. Which was especially nice when I forgot something at home (or work).

When we first moved to Ohio, my commute was three hours round trip from Dayton to Columbus. I did for about seven months and couldn't have taken much more (the quality time with NPR not withstanding). Thankfully, my wife found work here in Columbus and now my commute is about 12 to 15 minutes.

 

[Vincent Vega]

I commute about 40 minutes, but not daily. A lot of work I can do from home, since it's mostly Excel sheets. I don't have to go to Uni (40 minutes as well), which is nice. Can write my thesis here.
When I was looking for an appartment after I returned to Berlin I found it more important to find something in a nice area where it's not too far from friends and the more interesting districts. I prefer being home quickly after having been out, than having the shortest commute to work.

 

[Irvine511]

and Berlin has, possibly, the coolest subway system in the world. or at least in Europe.

 

[Vincent Vega]

24h all weekends and before holidays.
Our subway system, and public transport in general, is quite advanced. At the moment it's always with a grain of salt due to the problems with the S-Bahn (Berlin public transport consits of busses, trams, subways and additional trains running overground, called S-Bahn. The S-Bahn debacle is a perfect example why we all have to love privatisation to death ), but their service is getting better again. And tourists usually don't even realise there are any problems because they are used to so much poorer service from home.
The relative ease and speed with which you get almost anywhere in the city, day and night, is a very important factor of quality, in my view. You don't think twice before going out.

 

[Irvine511]

German public transportation is fierce. so impressive.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

ich liebe deutschland.