Serendipity

For someone who is decidedly not all lovey-dovey moon and stars, the movie Serendipity is one of my favorites. Fairly certain I've mentioned this before but I'm reiterating because even the concept of serendipity, for someone who generally is cynical and jaded is one that I really like. It's somewhere between blind faith and mere coincidence. Formal definition is: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.


Recently, Andy and I were discussing that I needed SOMETHING (his exact word) to do with my time. He jokingly sent me (I never asked him how/where/why he found these) a series of craigslist links in our IM conversation. The first one was for a legit writing gig about college football. The others were for silly things like home healthcare and sperm donation. I emailed myself the writing gig one, but let it languish in my inbox for a few days. I mean, I know my college football. But I'm not an ACTUAL writer. This here little blog read by, what, five people? doesn't exactly make me J.D. Salinger, just a j.d. (rimshot. Awful joke). I would LOVE to be a capital W writer, I think on old lists of life goals is "published writer", but I can't actually do that, right? I mean...come on! (Note to self: only you limit your potential, no one else does. So knock it off, asshat.)

But I was sitting at the beach house this weekend and I fired off one of my generally sarcastic, ridiculous emails to the email address listed in the craigslist ad. Why the heck not? It was of the tone found in any of these blog posts or if you've been lucky enough to get my more personally point by point detailed emails, it's in there too. Even after sending it I was like, sha, as if, I've dealt with enough online resume deals to know chances of ever hearing anything are slim.

Two days later I get an email from the very clever site proprietor wanting to set up a phone interview. Really? Me? I get nervous the next day as the time for the conversation approaches. I HATE, and do all things necessary to avoid, talking on the phone. But it's not so much an interview as, "You want to tackle writing? Go on ahead!"

I'm going to write six snark filled pieces on the SEC East. For money. I am a paid motherfucking writer. For the first time in my life. Whhhhhaaaaa? How the...?

As Andy said, "Welcome to the world of slave wages blogging!"

I'm a little petrified. And part of my gig involves actual like journalism stuff. Which, um, it never even occurred to me to take a single journo class at LSU while I was taking various playwriting and short-story classes. (Did you know I took those? I did. There are some bad short stories buried on this hard drive somewhere.) And that phone avoidance thing? Yeah. Gonna have to get over that right quick.

But I'm also terribly excited. I got more excited this evening when website bossy dude said that out of more than 100 resumes I (and others) had been chosen. *I* stood out. The...hell...

So for the happy ridiculous circumstances that led to the confluence of events that got ME to write for a (hopefully) bigger audience, I have to thank Andy.

Now pray this goes well. And if you have anything snarky to say about the 6 schools of the SEC East or want to enlighten me on their traditions, as I never went to any of their stadiums, pass it along.

WHEEEE!