“I did everything I was supposed to and I have nothing to show for it.”

It’s not the arrests that convinced me that “Occupy Wall Street” was worth covering seriously. Nor was it their press strategy, which largely consisted of tweeting journalists to cover a small protest that couldn’t say what, exactly, it hoped to achieve. It was a Tumblr called, “We Are The 99 Percent,” and all it’s doing is posting grainy pictures of people holding handwritten signs telling their stories, one after the other.

More at the source.

Guys, listen. Here’s the deal.

I love you guys with every shred of my hard-left leaning heart. But I think you might be doing something wrong. Here is one thing that can help you.

Tomorrow, wear a polo and khakis

Seriously. polos and khakis. Every time you guys DO finally get some fucking press, it’s a scrawny dude with dreads in a ratty t-shirt. You’re going big here, dress it. Tomorrow, Polo shirt and Khakis.

Why? Because you need to get the right-leaning equivalent of me on your side. I’m 35 right now. I understand where the hippy thing comes from. I get it as well as a guy who’s 35 can. My Counterparts do not. They think you are scummy druggies on welfare and when they see on tv a bunch of people who they think are S.D’s on W, they root for the cops to hit you again.

Speaking of the cops, Who do you think they’ll mace first? SD’s on W, or a guy in khakis and a polo? Seriously, it’s fucking cop camouflage. And if they DO come for you. When people at home see PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE THEMgetting abused by police… That’s when shit changes.

Seeing protesters get beat up means nothing because protesters get beat up all the time. Therefore, don’t look like a protester! This connects you to the person watching and opens them to your side!

So for serious. Do it. You’re almost about to tip this thing over. Polos and khakis. Cop Camo + target audience = Shave, shower and polos and khakis.

TL;DR: Polo shirt and Khakis = dress code for nyc protests tomorrow.

Do it.

Edit: Going to bed soon, one more thing before I turn it over to all of you.

Please spread this as much as you can. Professionalism will help push this thing over the edge. You have labor pushing you. National Media is starting to wake up to you. You’re almost there. Keep pushing.

Think: Business Casual Friday. Don’t play it up like the Billionaires for healthcare. You’re just a guy, going to work in this big office building here.

Even if you don’t think that you SHOULD be judged on appearances (which I do agree), You have to realize that you ARE. Fight the appearance fight another day. Polos and khakis.

Do it.

Source: reddit.com/to_all_occupy_wall_street_participants_here_is/

Being unemployed, I’m looking for ways to be employed, at least somewhat. As miserable as I was at my last job, I know I wanted to try something where I am in control. I decide when to work, what to do, how often. I was a cog in a machine before, and I wanted nothing more than to experiment and try something else.

I have always been a tomboy. Not the sporty type, just the “I don’t give a shit about girly stuff” tomboy. My idea of getting dolled up was putting on mascara and maybe (for a big event) some lip gloss. I hadn’t worn nail polish in about 10 years. The only jewelry I had were bracelets, mostly the beaded unisex style.

I think since getting involved with my boyfriend over the past several months (that’s right, man, I’m blaming you!), I have turned into a woman who likes girly/womanly shit now.

Also, as I was pondering what the fuck I’m going to do next now that I have no job, I saw a commercial on freaking TV. About selling Avon/mark. products. Watching it, I thought, this… might be something I’d have some fun doing! It’s completely out of my usual character. This is a time for some change though, try something new, take some control.

Avon calling!

So now, laugh of all laughs, I am an Avon lady!

To be honest, my previous thoughts of Avon was that it was for grandmas and other older women. Like, 40+ at least. But, shockingly, they have tons of great stuff that I want. I had absolutely no idea. It’s definitely not your grandma’s Avon anymore.

I have to share a few of my favorite things. Things that you would be insane not to adore. Srsly.

Sunscreen with insect repellent! Genius!

Sunscreen plus insect repellent?! Fucking genius! I want a million bottles.

Butler bag

The compartmentalized butler bag. I love cute bags, but mine have, like, one big compartment, and a little zip pocket. Which means all my stuff is a jumbled mess, impossible to find anything quickly. As soon as I saw this in a catalog, I knew that it must be mine. It may have even been the first thing I ordered. All the compartments are amazing. All my shit fits in my bag neatly, and I can find it! It looks sexy, and it’s roomy enough to toss a light hoodie or sweater into!

mark Hook-ups

As far as make-up goes, I’m still a bit of a minimalist, though I am experimenting more. The mark brand hook-up is the best. It’s 2 products, one on either side of a little connector. I have a lip gloss and a mascara on mine. Keep it in my purse, always ready to doll up or touch up. I think the gloss and mascara are perfect on this thing, because they’re just the right size to be all used up by the time you should be throwing gloss or mascara away (germs, ew!).

There are tons more things, of course, but I had to share these.

As for profits, I’m not making much of anything yet, but I’m not frustrated. I wanted to spend the first couple of months trying things out, seeing what I can recommend to customers. I got a bunch of samples of things to try (and give away). I’m having fun! When I start school in the fall, I’m hoping I’ll have more opportunities to share this stuff with others.

If this stuff looks great to you, be sure to shop my own store: avongorgeo.us Just hit “Shop Now”.

Besides doing Avon, I am still doing freelance web design work, selling a few things on eBay. Keep trying to move forward. I’m a trillion times happier now than I was at that job, so I want to keep this happiness and excitement up. Keep my eyes on the prize of a BFA in Graphic Design (btw – I was accepted!!!), make a little money to stay afloat.

And have new cute things!

A graphical representation of my feelings.

I suppose I shouldn’t go into too much detail. In a nutshell: they’d been putting me under an insane amount of stress for a couple years now. Last week my employer went out of her way to make sure I felt worthless, and that was the final straw. I called a meeting with the owners. Let them know I was very unhappy working for them, laid out all the problems I had. Asked that they let me work my web design position remotely, or let me go. The following day they sent me an email saying they were letting me go.

You’d think I’d be angry about being fired. Or freaked out about not having my main source of income. In all honesty (at this point at least!) I feel relieved. I feel free! When working there, every day I’d wake up miserable and dreading the day. That kind of thing wears on you after awhile, and I know I was no longer myself in the rest of my life. I felt trapped. I had sought out a new job off and on for a long time, with no luck.

I am still planning to go back to school in the fall, try to finish out a Bachelor’s Degree. Right now I’m trying to focus on my freelance work to hold me over and continue to hone my skills. If a good employer comes along and expresses an interest in hiring me, I’m all for it. I’ve wanted to be a “location-independent” web designer for a long time, so now that I have the time and dedication to put into it, we shall see what happens!

This is all I have to say, and then I am done: Call the fucking waaaambulance. And go volunteer at a soup kitchen.

This is for you, tea partiers.

One of my biggest peeves about higher education is the higher price tag. For me to go to uni this fall, tuition alone will be $11,000+. For one year. Then add on the absurd price of books (yay half.com!), overpriced food if I forget to bring any with me to the campus, plus any other fees (I’ll be in the art department, I don’t doubt there will be plenty of extras I’ll need to purchase).

Yep, a homeless man is richer than you are.

Add to the cost, all the silly hoops you have to jump through and pointless, useless classes you have to take to meet the requirements for a degree. The justification of all these extra pointless classes that have nothing to do with your goal is to “make a more well-rounded student” of you. I think that’s a pile of bullshit right there. The more classes they require you to take, the more fees and tuition they can milk out of you.

But all that money must surely be going toward getting excellent professors! I have my doubts there. College administrators drive the fanciest cars in the lots, and live very well. Is my money going toward my own advancement in life, or theirs? I think more of it is going toward theirs.

Unless you come from the kind of family where mommy and daddy could actually afford to pay cash for your college education (where the fuck do these people come from?!), you’ll be incredibly deep in debt from day 1 until fucking retirement age.

I was hoping to avoid the crushing weight of student loan debt, but alas. I think you can pretty much guarantee your résumé or job applications are trashed if you don’t have “Bachelor’s Degree” at the very least listed. It doesn’t matter what your skills and experience are in the real world. Unless you have that degree. I’d say it’s incredibly rare that an employer will look past the lack of degree and just focus on your portfolio and what you can do for them. It happens, but not often enough.

I hate that what you can do isn’t as important as something as expensive and useless (remember those pointless classes?) as a big degree. I think it’s another magnifying glass on the elitism out there. Employers will say a Bachelor’s degree shows you can put your mind toward something and accomplish it. What I’ve seen, they’re just blowing smoke up your ass. It shows you’re a part of their club.

I’m certainly not trying to knock education and learning. For fuck’s sake, learn all you can, fill your brain to the brim. With the internet, you have tons of information available to you for free. I’m just wagging my middle finger at the goddamn colleges and universities that cost an arm and a leg and don’t focus as much on truly learning as they claim to.