Spring news from Ruthfordville

Dear Friends and Family,

I have decided to give up my current occupation as Recession Victim and instead go in to the field of being a Misunderstood Genius. My first foray into misunderstood geniusdom is a photo essay I have put together about signs that you might have too many hobbies and not enough time. There are seven photos, just keep clicking "next" in the upper-right corner.

These days, I continue to apply for jobs. I've applied for seven over the past few days and Last week, I applied for a job as the PR guy for a chemical weapons depot. There's one assignment that won't get boring. Maybe I should get one of those "If you see me running, try to keep up" shirts.



Miri continues her two jobs, one at Point Defiance Zoo as an animal keeper in the Asia department, and the other as a dog-training class instructor at PetSmart. She likes the zoo better, although it's a temporary job and it's minimum wage.

I like the zoo, too. I got to visit Point Defiance earlier this month, and the whole place was really cool. The beluga whale was the most interesting creature there, with the way he squeaked and sputtered at his trainer. If you do want to see him, I'd recommend you go soon because the zoo has decided to send him back to Sea World in San Diego. Beluga whales are social creatures, and this whale had another whale in his exhibit, but he died a couple of months ago. Friendless, this beluga needs other whales to talk with, so they're sending him to Sea World.

Being a recession victim certainly is frustrating, although we have to keep in mind how we've got most of what we need. Our living situation isn't ideal, but at least we haven't been evicted or foreclosed upon like many people have with this burst housing bubble. We are living with my parents, which has been the inspiration for some aquatic land art (the aforementioned photo essay). Every few days I kick myself for having gotten in to this mess, and then Miri points out to me that there isn't any better way it could have turned out: Point Defiance was the only zoo that offered her a job, and despite the one hundred job applications I've sent out, I have not had any offers.

I wasn't crazy about my old job, and it just so happened that I quit during that manic week in September when all the banks failed. That job wasn't paying all the bills either, so it was a good idea to try moving. It's such a self-defeating way of thinking when you compare what you have to what you want -- rather, you should compare what you have to your other options.

I have had a few job interviews, most of which went pretty well, but in the end, I was not the lucky fellow who got chosen. Maybe I need to take this strategy:



With my free time, I have completed two manuscripts, one about the people whom I met in Ukraine and San Francisco when I was in the Peace Corps and working for the homeless shelter. The other is a humorous guide to dating for church-going singles. The second one, I think, has the potential for getting published and making money. Did you know that there are no funny books about Christian dating out there on the market? No wonder the American family is disintegrating -- nobody thinks being a good kid can be fun!

If you would like to read either of these manuscripts, please let me know, and I will send it to you. If I sent you my manuscript two months ago and you haven't done anything with it, hurry up before I start punishing the laggards. Ten lashes with a wet noodle! I am looking for content and context-based comments to answer the question: How interesting is this stuff?

I am also working on a short story right now about a choir director with an impossible singer.

I'm not really sure what's going to happen to these manuscripts, but I had been wanting to get them down on paper for some time, so it's satisfying to have them be real rather than ideas floating in my head.

Last bit of news: I got to see the new Star Trek movie twice, which certainly was exciting. The actors all got their parts spot-on, although Star Trek characters never have been particularly complex. It's not really science fiction anymore, though, as it didn't really raise any ethical questions about how our future should be.

Anyway, that's what's up. Let me know how you're doing!

Your friend,
Eric Ruthford