On wins and charms

Hello pretties! Apologies for the temporary abandonment again, but things have been kinda insane this past week. How insane, you ask? Well, for starters, I might've gotten somewhere in getting my foot in the door for an architecture job. Yes, really.

It started after I'd gone for a beer with one of my students. He was leaving to go home, and the night was still young, so I made my way to Golden Gai to visit a bar where I know the bartender. Going out drinking alone does scream a little desperate, but I was bored and was just looking to find some good place to read and chill for a bit. Anyways, when I get there, there are a few people there already, including a couple. I ordered my drink from my friend, and we got to talking, seeing as that's usually what happens when people hear me speaking Japanese. Where are you from, what are you doing here, all that jazz. Only this time, the person asking was the owner of his own architecture firm.

After talking for a bit (and with a bit of pushing from the girl he was with), he hands me two separate business cards telling me to contact him. "I'm very busy right now so I may need some more people. Also, I have contacts in various other firms, so I can introduce you to them."

Sou Fujimoto's office being one of the places he claimed to know people in. Sou fucking Fujimoto.

He asked me for my CV and my portfolio, which gave me the best excuse I've ever had to spruce my portfolio up. Seriously, I can't even imagine the degree of not giving a shit that went into what I called my portfolio before. There was just no layout, no finess. Now, it may still be lacking in some aspects, but at least it's presented in a much better way. And you know what? I actually enjoyed working with it. Without the architect man I would probably have been perfectly happy to take forever to do it, but now it's actually done, and I feel so relieved. I still have no idea if he'll offer me anything at all, but I'm done with the layouts and the things are sent and all I'm doing now is just waiting to see what he'll say. And if he says no, I guess that's okay too, but it feels wonderful to have started. Steps have been taken, and I'm both glad and proud of myself because of that, and that feels really good. It's like grown up things are happening now, and while that's a little bit scary, it feels like it's something I'm ultimately pretty cool with happening.

Also, can we just take a moment to remember the charm my mom bought me when they were here? It was a charm designed to a) give the bearer good fortune when it comes to jobs, b) helping the bearer get married, and c) helping the bearer score well on tests. I'm not the type to be superstitious or anything like that, but this charm is getting shit done. It's taking its job very seriously.

On the subject of charm point b, Turtle and I are completely fine. More than fine, I think. He did what no other boyfriend I've ever had could do - he didn't get mad at me for being mad at him. He stated his case and apologized for things getting weird, but he never raised his voice or got pissy with me. When I tried to apologize (because I'm a weak, spineless creature that hates confrontation and constantly wants to placate everybody), he told me that there was no need. "It's important that we're both open with our feelings," he said. "It's okay if you're angry at me sometimes. You're entitled to your feelings, they're important." So yeah, there was no way in hell I was going to be mad at him after that. Especially not since we made up by eating a great dinner and then hitting karaoke until midnight on a Wednesday.

So, in the midst of all things tempestuous, I guess you could say that things are coming up me.