Tales from the Job Front

With Just a little Pixie Dust

| Viciously Sweet

I don’t fit into my office. This is not a new secret. Like, I don’t fit in so bad that it’s nearly comical. It’s almost like I’m a mystical being stuck in a land of protocol and unyeilding emails. Actually that is almost exactly what it’s like, it’s hard to be a Lauren in a 9-5 kind of world.

And the best part of all of it… is that my boss hasn’t the slightest idea. And the worst part is… I think he’s such a nice boss, that I kind of never want him to know how hard it is to work with some of the other people in our tiny office space.

I’ve been tinking about it a lot lately. Have you ever thought that maybe Tinkerbell was really just tired of being treated poorly by the lost boys? And maybe she was tired of always being put in cages and treated like a weird sparkly decoration? I do. She was totally over it because she know she can do more than that.

Now several times last year I thought of quitting my job, without any back up plan. And not for reasons people usually do… No one ever has a great boss, and bad coworkers. No one has ever said that! And no one ever says when they are in a bad work environment that they love the work they create. Which… I do. I like the clients I deal with. I love the idea of something I draw being built and occupied by people who are learning, and working and changing the world with their existences and thoughts and dreams. Right now at this moment, that is what architecture means to me.

Things I don’t like about work is being harassed by coworkers, being asked to quit to make certain people feel better about themselves (several times, actually) and feeling totally unappreciated for all the actual effort I put into creating a product that we are proud to put our names on.

I have actually tried to think through these issues a lot in the last few days. How can you get past these kinds of work problems?

The first one… well I’ve tried a few things. Including ignoring, trying to talk it through, and finally giving up. And then I stumbled upon these little words from every cool chick’s homegirl, Tina Fey:

“So, my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: “Is this person in between me and what I want to do?” If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way. Then, when you’re in charge, don’t hire the people who were jerky to you.” -Tina Fey, Bossypants

I have taken these words to heart, and my days have felt so much lighter and brighter than they used to. I can do my work really well, and I will be in charge of a firm someday. And maybe I’m also better about this type of situation due to the fact I may (or may not) have concealed and color coordinated weapons on me pretty much at all times.

Basically this is me getting ready for work. Except I’m more partial to flats. Image Courtesy of: Photobucket & the Weinstein Company

And secondly, I’m not going to disappear to ease other people consciences. You are an adult, I am an adult, we make our own decisions. And I’m sticking around to get stuff done, and you can’t be rid of me so easily. Also you have no right to banish a good fairy, unless your name is on the business, which it is not.

No one ever to told Glinda to get the Heck out of Oz. She was just doing her thing and being sparkly. And that is how I want to be. Especially with that hat!  Image Courtesy of: Photobucket & Warner Bros.

And well the other one…. Hmm, there isn’t much I can do about this. All bosses everywhere do this in some shape of form… I mean if you keep pulling off impossible deadlines for them, they think that you can do so much more. Sometimes to fulfill my boss’s requests I find myself alone in the office in the dark of the night clicking and clacking away at the computer just to meet the deadline. And then after it’s all printed, he will say, no lets go back to the other thing we were at a few days ago. And then I will smile and know I tried. This actually happens a lot, and it used to make me really mad. But now I think he requests crazy things because he believes I can make magic. So now instead of getting upset when my work is shelved… when I complete the impossible tasks he asks of me, I just feel a little bit magical.

And well all of the analogies in this post came from my truly desperate grasps at happiness. Online Quizzes. Yes, when I feel a little blue I take internet quizzes that tell me things like I should paint my walls blue… or eat a margherita pizza. So this time when I was feeling a little down I took an internet quiz about Fairy tales and even the internet agreed:

You Are the Fairy! You are charming, cheerful, and a little bit magical. You make other people’s lives better. You are a bit eccentric at times, but you truly care about people in your own way. You are hyper and restless. It drives you crazy to sit still, and you are usually the first to leave any event. You are unpredictable and flighty. No one can guess what you’ll be up to next … or where you’ll be!  Image Courtesy of: Blogthings

And then I applied that knowledge to my actual existence, and found that it’s not really too far off. Eccentric, cheerful, probably coated in glitter. Maybe being a fairy isn’t so bad, as long as someone thinks you’re magical.

♥Lauren

p.s. Sorry Amber who reads this blog, but you know how it is ;)

2013 is going to be Awesome

| Viciously Sweet

So I’m back at work.

I’m sorta reeling from the sad knowledge that I have to sit for 8 hours a day again, and for my inability to wear yoga clothes to work… as I spent several days in the last week sporting some of the most bad-ass pajamas you can imagine. Penguins with popcorn, cats with little hats, neon green and gray yoga pants that would make David Lee Roth a little jealous. I’m all class in the jammy jamz department! I’m also realizing that I will not have any time out of my work confines until I vacation at the end of the year.

AT THE END OF THE YEAR.

That sounds so far away now.

Anyways… back to me in my cubicle. Everyone is talking about stuff as people in offices do. Apparently we’re moving locations in March. And actually, I’m getting a window… Imagine that, a window for little Ole’ Me! Back to the windowless rectangle I work in… some professional is doing something, and of course there is always someone trying to gossip. Is it sad that I’m used to this as my existence?

Well I’m just going to get past all of this, this year. And I will get through it with wit, smiles and far far less tears than last year. This is not the first time I will admit to get through my days I rely extensively on my imagination, and I promise myself this year that when things get ugly around me I’m going to take to my imagination and make something good instead of getting upset. And the silver lining in all of this is when I imagine things maybe I can make somebody have a giggle or two at my doodles. With that I present today’s doodles:

Cubicle thought time with Lauren is brought to you by Lauren’s crazy brain!

And then maybe someone else will ponder the current actions of Stevie Nicks. Which will start a whirlwind Stevie Nicks revolution and then people will be dressing like her… the mall will be covered in sparkly black shrouds, and then everyone will hate and simultaneously love Lindsey Buckingham, and we will all have sweet sweet necklaces:

I have been thinking about Stevie Nick’s a lot lately. Anyone else want to see Fleetwood Mac this summer? Anyone else really love the song “Rhiannon” or “Go Your Own Way?” They are personal favorites.

And then maybe someone will be driving and will smile at a stranger (and totally make their day) because their mind is being regaled by the thought of a sheep in Alpaca wooly sweaters:

This sheep is so handsome… He’s practically the George Clooney of the sheep community.

And everyone who reads this blog, thank you. I hope your new year is incredibly wonderful… and full of great and unusual thoughts and experiences. If you have some you need to share. Just drop them here. I am a recycling center for weird things.

Also all this weird I just recorded here reminds me of a truly fabulous quote:

Image Courtesy of: If you wish it- Tumblr And Lewis “Why is a Raven like a writing desk?” Carroll

♥Lauren

The Fortress of Solitude

| Viciously Sweet

I have been having a bad time at work. Because I haven’t been being myself or being honest. I have not been giggles and Wang Chung. I was being the person I thought everyone would rather me be, and I was making myself miserable.

Yesterday, I found out that even though you make situations really bad, it can all be fixed. And sometimes that person you think hates everything about you, doesn’t really… just some where your words and actions got lost in translation and made things worse than they ever had to be. And sometimes you can’t choose how important certain people are to you, and although it can really suck. It can also be really awesome sometimes…

Anyways, last week and yesterday until lunch I really just wanted to be alone… Because 6 personalities in 1,000  S.F.  (that is including a bathroom and storage) is very hard to deal with. Especially when you are fighting with 1/5 of the people you work with.

I contemplated working in a more secluded spot… so logically I thought working in the Fortress of Solitude could really work out for me:

But alas… we couldn’t figure out how to link up the phone with all those large ice crystals. And, I don’t think I would have survived very well in solitary confinement. and none of my coworkers agreed with this doodle.

Here are the reactions of my coworkers:

Dab: “That’s such a freaking lie! I just don’t see that working out for you”

Professional: “I think it wouldn’t be solitary for very long. Actually you are the only person who could probably unsolitude the fortress of solitude”

Amber just knowingly giggled.

I guess I should probably invest in a batcave… especially if I can be there with Joseph Gordon Levitt.

 

Today was a good day. I hope you had a good one too.

♥Lauren

Where is my mind?

| Viciously Sweet

I have been very scattered lately. I have all these ideas floating around on loose leaf paper, and post-it notes. I have accumulated so many of these scraps my desk at work and at home is beginning to look like I’m starring in a remake of “Memento.”

I actually even have physical post-it notes on my phone. and they are written on front and back. I am aware of them every time I pull my phone out… because as many people have told me they make apps that negate my use of actual post-its. But lets just be honest, if I have to click around on a screen to find this graphic post it note… I’m not going to remember it if I’m in a rush. And true story I have digital post-its on that program from May, and those things are still incomplete.

No problem in 3 months I’ll be wondering what I meant by “incandescent toboggan” and your digital reminder will be lost to the world…

You may be saying to yourself right now… why are you having a traffic jam of thoughts in your imagination? And I will tell you, I have let myself get busy. I tell myself that if I get it half done I can finish it later. And later just isn’t showing up. I’m so stressed at work my hair is graying, and I find myself nearly passing out from exhaustion at 7:30. Yes 7:30, I can barely make it past the time the elderly are watching Wheel of Fortune. Also trying to figure out the business end of all the projects I’m trying to start right now is also killing my brain. I realize the reason I didn’t go into business is because I frankly find it confusing. Numbers and marketing? No thanks, I just want to bust out some of my thoughts with the free crayons I got at lunch.

And they are freaking crayola’s… FOR FREE. I FEEL LIKE I JUST WON PUBLISHERS CLEARING HOUSE OF CHILDISH ART SUPPLIES!!!! In my day they would just give you those knock off really waxy crayons… kids these days are all about the name brand.

The only thing that has been calming me the last few art-less days is listening to music. However now my imagination is mixing with the sweet sweet melodies and the next thing I know I am preoccupied with my ideas again, and then out comes another sheet of paper, another post-it. And the vicious cycle continues. You can’t comprehend how much I don’t want to be looking at these ceiling plans and renderings. They are trying to consume me with their evil stringent rules and budgets.

Anytime my coworkers have talked to me in the last few days they first have to break me from the spell of Joy Division, New Order or Of Monsters and Men to get in a word to my brain… and even then it’s questionable if I can soak in what they are telling me. My brain is lost in the music:

Tonight I vow that I will make time for my artistic needs. Hopefully this will clear up my brain so I can get more done for the big Friday rush. And seriously… does anyone have a post it? I have this great idea about a…

♥ Lauren

Classy Pony Afternoons

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I’m working on a really important doodle right now, and *hint hint* it’s about my wonderful friend Isabel. While it is not done right now I feel sad neglecting the doodle-hood of the internet… So I drew a pony. A pony that wants to be shared with the world.

And in related news Isabel is trying to lure me into leaving the San Gabriel Valley for the lush oceany wonderland of San Diego. And it does sound promising. My Brother and Sister-in-law are luring me with Seattle. For some reason I’m eternally lured to Chicago. And somehow Christine and I ended up discussing Boston. Does anybody else have any ideas of where I should relocate? Maybe France? Australia? The Moon…. of Jupiter?

All I know is that I can’t stay where I am anymore. I just know I won’t make it. I don’t know whether to put a song in this place to describe how I feel about where I am at work and in life or a picture. But since my picture idea can have Jim from “the Office” I’m going to go with picture. And if you watch “the Office” even the context of this picture is right:

I need advice to figure out what I really want, I guess. Or a transfer to Stamford.

♥Lauren

Turning Back time on technology!

| Viciously Sweet

There is no doodle today because I have been working like a mouse making a Cinderella’s dress!

I am still at work and my brain hurts a bit. I have to take PDF’s and make them into a power point. When I asked if I could just make a multiple page PDF. I was told the person did not comprehend it…

So I’m being the Cher of technology and turning back time on it’s butt. Hey there power point!

Next Goal take away all the Xbox 360s with Call of Duty and replace them with DOS computers with the Oregon Trail!

UPDATE: Everyone in my Target audience was amazed with my hysterical story!

My audience of 1.

♫Lauren

The boring-est boredom that has ever been bored

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Today I have not much to post or any desire to color… because work is really boring. Here is an artist interpretation of my boredom:

And then I got really excited that I get to go to the doctor’s office. This has never happened before as I really don’t like going to the doctor… like it’s at the bottom of my fun list… but today it’s like a blessing from the Lord of Healthcare. Go bad back!

And also go work! I think they like to make sure all my dreams are dead by Wednesday, so they are really ahead this week.

♫Lauren

Wool Gets In Your Eyes

| Viciously Sweet

I have been growing up a little more lately. I still want to be a goof, but I realized to “get along” with a broader spectrum of people I have to pretend to be a “professional”.

I know, I know that is a total blurgh in the face. Especially when your initial thought of a great day is show up to work and tell your coworkers that it is time to Wang Chung tonight, and hand everyone a bag of chiclets! And when you know in reality, they just want you to greet them with a “Hello. Business is splendid.”

I think that because of recent events in my life, I have been seeing the world more clearly now… work is not supposed to be a place where you have fun, because most people aren’t satisfied with what they do, they just do it because that is what they think they should be doing. (I like what I do though, it’s beyond rad to draw for a living!) And this has further led me down a path of understanding what I am expected to do in certain situations, and understanding what I want to do. And guess what? In true Lauren fashion, they are very different things.

And lately to get through the days at work I have turned to television to help a girl out. And what is a better learning example about working in an office, than “The Office”? I’ve been taking advice from sassy Pam Beesly of season 3. I want to be more honest and gutsy, I want to have an art show, I want to tell Jim that he should be my friend. And I want to stress like Pam did, Jim isn’t the important part of being a shiny new Beesly… being happy with yourself is the answer for that. You can hear her say this in the link below:

Pam’s Awesome Beach Speechs.

Here’s an important part of her speech for you non link clickers:

Anyways, I’m done with the woolly eyes. I want to see the truth, and I want people to respect that. I want people to know that I like me, and I can do anything, and not because I have to… Because I want to. And maybe sometimes I will be too helpful and emotional… but that is how I am, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that!

♫Lauren

Also I really love to draw little doodle sheep.

Work Confessions: The Hive

| Viciously Sweet

Today’s post is short and sweet (just like me!)

I go to the bathroom a lot at work. Sometimes it’s because I drink too much water, other times it’s to calm myself from being stressed, sometimes it’s because I have to cry in a private situation… and sometimes:

I can’t be the only person in their mid-twenties thinking about beehives during work hours. Think about how big you could make it… maybe it could hold office supplies… or a switchblade like that girl from La Bamba.

I was briefly worried this doodle would make me sound weird, but we all need a little work relief sometimes… and I know someone who has eaten lunch in the bathroom to escape their office.

♫Lauren