30-Something Musings

Like the Down of a Thistle

Last night I had some wicked crazy dreams, so much so that I woke up with a bunch of ideas for a blog topic. My head swimming, I tried to narrow one down as I checked into my Facebook to tap my social media vein. I scrolled through my feed, looking at cute baby pictures, laughing at my lawyer friend’s posts, which always crack me up, and suddenly stopped at a college friend’s status. She had chosen today to break her silence about her fight with breast cancer and asked for prayers and positive thoughts for both her and her family as they all struggle to support her through this difficult time.  Continue reading →

Respect the Ebb

It has been a thunderstormy kind of day. We’ve had two big ones pass through, much to my delight. In my book, there are few things better than a mid-summer thunderstorm; they often make me dig deep and think about my life. But I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, perhaps too much. So I enjoyed the storms, watched the clouds clip by as the rain fell, and tried not to think so much. Continue reading →

Love What You Do, and Do It

This morning I had a meeting with a well-known publisher of one of Cincinnati’s preeminent magazines. I had done due diligence and picked up the magazine to browse through before my meeting to try and familiarize myself with exactly what I was getting myself into…after all, I was applying for a position that is normally reserved for underpaid twenty-somethings and here I am a thirty-something with specific needs to keep my family afloat. But it was an in into an industry where I want to grow and thrive, so I donned my suit instead of my normal work attire of jeans and a tee and prepared to put forth the best representation of myself. Continue reading →

Nerdy Girls Love Rubies, Too

A few months ago Sam urged me to sign me up for a class on Ruby on Rails that promised to help newbies like myself learn to program web apps. It’s a class offered through webschoolcincy.com, and I have to admit that while I was excited, I was also a bit hesitant. First of all, the course follows the curriculum of Stanford’s Computer Science 142 course, which requires a new book practically every week and forces us to sit through a series of, well, to be completely honest, very dry lectures. (Apologies to the professor.) Second of all, I learned in the first class that out of 25 students, only one other guy and I were the true newbies. Everyone else had a background in programming and was trying to pick up a new language. There was no way I could compete…. Or so I thought.  Continue reading →

Nowhere Man, Please Listen…

Image photo courtesy of J

A few months ago I bought the kids and I annual passes to the Newport Aquarium. They have been a godsend on those days when it’s too hot to go to the park or pop on our bathing suits for a dip in the Little Miami. The chill of the penguin exhibit is a refreshing welcome from the stank that is a humid Cincinnati day, so we headed down there today. Continue reading →

Ms. Just, You Are Now Dismissed

Those who are close to me know that lately I’ve been going through a bit of an identity crisis. I look at myself now and see how much I’ve changed since my divorce 3.5 years ago and I am amazed by how far I’ve come and also a bit dismayed at all that I have lost. I was talking to my friend Sara the other day and was lamenting the fact that the Destiny! who took her exclamation point just a few short years ago has become simply Destiny Just. That passion, that zest for life and work and love has gone dormant. And it’s not just because I broke up with my pretend boyfriend, Donnie Wahlberg. This has been the case long before he started kissing anything and anyone that came near him, no matter the cooties that they clearly carry. This is a bona fide acute case of “holy shit, what has happened to me?” I only hope it isn’t terminal.  Continue reading →

The Open Journey of the Romantic

Thanks to Artist a Day

Today’s post bears a back story. When I first saw the rendering above, I was immediately struck by the hats on the ladies and Dorothy Parker came to mind. Initially I was just going to post an irreverent quote by the immeasurable Ms. Parker, but I forced myself to up the ante a bit. After a bit of research, I took the meter from Parker’s poem, “A Fairly Sad Tale” and replicated it into my own poem. It took me a day and a half to think about it and seven and a half minutes to write it. Such is the way with my poetry–sometimes it turns out great, other times I just get practice–it is always a quick process of writing it and then I can fiddle with it for years. Without further ado…enjoy. Continue reading →

Naked No Longer

Not quite as decked out as the old lady who has gone to her grave, but still sporting some independent rock band love. Now, if only I could get some PA speakers and a big ole Red Wanting Blue flag like they suggested…then I might qualify as a real Band-Aid. 🙂

Jake's New Tats