Razzamatzz! Jazzamatazz!

When you're feeling down and out and feel stuck in a rut, nothing picks you up like going to a good live show (it works for me). Of course this only works if all the planets are aligned, a clear weather forecast in effect (for fear of wrecking the hair). When you don't feel like getting dressed up for a night out, you can trick the brain by looking good which can transpire into feeling good. In other words pick your favourite outfit that never lets you down no matter how you are feeling, even after a heavy meal the night before. In this case, I opted for a basic black outfit ensemble (simple top & flirty skirt) with my tall Kenneth Cole wedge boots. My hair was straight and sleek, I had subtle make up accompanied with red lipstick for a dash of colour and minimal silver jewellery.

Of course a night like this can't be complete without having your favourite music aficionados accompanying you (in this case it was my sister Thalia and The Complicator). Sometimes, it's just nice to have a small group with you to enjoy the music without the hassle of "When's the main act coming on? What kind of music is it?" You catch my drift... This kind of show is for the serious lovers of of  jazz, neo-soul and a touch of hip hop blended with live musicians for a magical evening of music for the soul. There is no time to explain this to friends who love Top 40 (I won't mention any names in particular - Karina).

A few weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the mega talented Jose James perform at The Great Hall in Toronto. This was my third time seeing him perform live and he didn't disappoint. But first let me set the scene. It was a damp, yet unusually mild Friday night in March (so much for the weather forecast, my sleek and straight hair turned into wavy hair. I embraced the wave at least it was frizz free). Thalia and I decided to go together and meet The Complicator at the venue. Thalia looked like a dangerously, beautiful vixen and had her no fail outfit on (we both chose black). We were both in a really good mood and there was no pressure to get to the venue, as we were arriving separately from The Complicator.

When we arrived at The Great Hall, the mood was set by other enthusiastic music lovers, an array of low key, cool, sophisticated hipsters (and a few oldsters, I say that with love). Now there's nothing that great about The Great Hall aesthetically other than the name, (to be honest, it needs a little love). I get that's it a Toronto staple, but it needs a bit of a face lift if you know what I mean. Anyway, Thalia and I walked in and all eyes were locked on us. (A good feeling, just what the doctor ordered). We both knew this was going to be a wonderful night, you could just feel it in the air. The Complicator joined us later in the evening and we were grooving to the hypnotic tunes of the DJ before the show and having a great time. The energy was magnetic, everyone was there to have a good time. No out of place drunk losers there to make a scene (thank goodness), just a peaceful, fun loving group of people.

Not only did we have the benefit of enjoying the mesmerizing sounds of Toronto's gems, DJ Paul E. Lopes and DJ John Kong throughout the the night along with Jose James of course. But the opening act Rinse the Algorithm turned out to be a delightful surprise. This experimental jazz quartet were a real treat to watch as they were superbly talented. They should be headlining their own show, they were that good. It's been a while since an opening act had caught my attention like that. Imagine my reaction when I found out they weren't from NYC (they had that cool Brooklyn look) but actually from Toronto, okay I was wrong. (For the record there are talented musicians in Toronto also).

The night was off to an amazing start, and then when Jose James came on, the night transcended into outer orbit territory with his new band and new style for this particular CD. The musicians almost upstaged Jose James at one point, the drummer was so passionate that he practically stole the show. I felt my mood lift and was transported into another world. Everything that had weighed me down during the week had disappeared. I looked over at The Complicator and he was grooving in his usual way. I looked over at Thalia and she was having a good time. A perfect night indeed, the kind that is so few and far between like a blue moon. But when it comes around you have to enjoy the moment and bask in its light as it will quickly pass.

Moody Girl Out.

Networking is Not Working

Trying to switch careers and enter a new field was an incredibly ambitious idea on my part, especially with record high unemployment. Searching for a new job is a painstakingly difficult task and a full time job in itself. My good friend Lily keeps reminding me of the job market statistics, and how 90% of the job market is hidden. Well, where the hell is it hidden, on a different planet? In a last ditch effort to find a new job, I decided to explore the hidden market in hopes of a positive outcome via a non traditional route.

A couple months ago at my friend Mariya's place, I was introduced to Mariya’s friends Floyd & Didi. Mariya mentioned to Floyd that I was looking to change careers and we had a nice conversation about Floyd's contacts that I could utilize. Floyd recommended that I contact him on Linked-In and that I could access all his contacts. I was so excited about my new contact and the possibilities of this new contact’s contacts.

Well Floyd's first, hugely exaggerated contact turned out to be this insipid man called David Davyd (yeah, creative name) who seemed nice virtually through email contact, until my actual phone conversation. Keep in mind this was not supposed to be a job interview but merely a connection that could point me in the right direction.  It was supposed to be a friendly, casual phone conversation with the hopes of setting up a meeting. The interview (full on) turned into the interrogation from hell. This moron wanted every aspect of my life and back tracked all the way to high school, when I couldn't remember what I ate for dinner last night. I was extremely frustrated and disappointed with this contact. I had half the mind to tell him off, but I didn't.

The next day I sent a short, diplomatic email to Floyd saying his contact didn't pan out and thanked him for thinking of me. Imagine my surprise when I got scolded via email by Floyd about how I didn't handle David Davyd properly. (What? Oh no you didn’t!) I was thinking to myself.  I wasn’t going to send a long winded email to Floyd stating what an ass---- his contact was to me. Secondly I don't even know Floyd, so why was he scolding me under the guise of helping me? Suffice to say, that networking episode not only didn't pan out but succeeded in getting me riled up by two complete strangers! I'm not sure if Mariya was aware that her friend Floyd turned out to be useless (but I wasn't about to say anything). On a separate note, I did notice Floyd had changed his Linked-In picture, to try to appear less geeky than the last pic. News flash, it doesn’t work Floyd!

My next "networking" mission was through my Russian friend Karina. Every time, I would speak with Karina, she would ask me the same thing. "How is job search going?" "Are you on Linked-In? Connect with me so you can access my network". I did connect with her on Linked-In, only to discover that she kept avoiding “accepting me” as a contact for weeks. When I mentioned this to Karina, she shrugged it off as a “technical issue” and offered herself up as a reference instead.

A few weeks after that, I had an interview at a marketing agency downtown and had provided the company with my reference list which included Karina's name (a marketing and finance graduate) with her place of employment and contact number. Well the next day I got a call from the employer saying they were unable to check my second reference as the contact I provided was no longer with the company, and for this reason they decided to go with someone more reliable. Gee whiz, thanks Karina!

Feeling utterly embarrassed and livid at Karina for not giving me a heads up about this, I decided to send her an email instead of yelling at her over the phone and getting yelled back at by her in Russian (she reverts to her mother tongue when she's angry. (Not fair, as I don’t speak Russian).

Hi Karina,

Thank you so much for your offer for me to list you as a personal reference.  I can't thank you enough for willing to help me out like this. Someone with your skill set and education is exactly what I need on my reference list.

A couple of days ago, my potential employer tried to reach you at Global Source Marketing at the phone extension you had provided, and couldn't reach you but someone called Harold Baxter.  Harold apparently had no idea who you were and my potential employer was left puzzled. Apparently after a few enquiries, they were able to ascertain that you are no longer employed with Global Source Marketing and had apparently quit a few weeks ago and therefore were unable to verify my reference.

I know we haven't spoken in two weeks, but you could have given me a little indication about you planning on leaving the job you told me to list as a reference.  Well, I didn't get the job after all, I'm sure it had nothing to do with my references, so please don't feel bad.

Hope you're well. 

Love, MG.

I finally received a reply from Karina after a couple of days:

Oh, sorry sweetie, I changed jobs, I was going to tell you when I saw you. Don't worry, those people are  "ass----s", you can do better. Let's go out this weekend. Love, Karina xoxoxo

Anyway, chasing my contacts for their contacts or contacts of contacts had proven to be futile and a big waste of time for me. It turned an already frustrating situation into an even more exasperating one, by people in my inner and outer orbit wasting my time with futile goose chases, under the guise of helping me. I'm happy to say that since the networking debacle, I am now gainfully employed again :) It had nothing to do with networking. (Details to come later, &/or when I'm fed up with this position!)

Moody Girl Out.