Chivalry is Dead

So far this week, I've been keeping pretty busy. I've really been focused on work, which has been good. Monday night I interviewed the band Cut Copy based in Australia. I think it went well and now I'm even more in love with them, especially the idea of Australia. There is such a good music scene emerging from there now. Someday I'll have to go there. In preparing for the interview, I started listening to a lot of electronic/new wave music. I've been getting into that genre a lot more lately, which is coming in handy.

On Tuesday, I found out my music editor is quitting. I can't believe this. She's been at the publication for a few years. It's always a bad sign when the stalwarts start jumping ship. I don't know what this means for me or for the music dept. I'm wondering if they'll promote the current guy. If so, that position I applied for will be open again. I don't know if I want a permanent position at this point, but if offered, even temporarily, I'll take it. Also, I'm going to be taking over the Clubs section listings in a couple of weeks. The editor is going on paternity leave (which I had no idea men could even do) and they're going to pay me to write the entire section for a week or so. I'm actually really excited about this. I don't know that much about clubs and djs and such, but like I mentioned above, I've been getting into it a lot more. I started writing for the Clubs section of New City a couple of weeks ago, so it's all tied together. I did some training today and it doesn't seem too hard. Just another thing I can slap on that resume. I'm getting more serious about building a career out of freelancing. I've been networking with a couple of people who are making a living doing this. I met with one friend over coffee the other night to discuss it. She does a lot of copywriting and that's where the big bucks are. I have no idea how to get into it--I'll probably have to take a class in it or read some books--but it's definitely a good skill to have. I also should probably launch my own website so I can throw all my clips on it. Both freelancers I know have their own sites and biz cards and such. Afterall, this is a business, so I need to approach it like that. I guess I'm still waiting to see what's happening with some things, but ideally, this is what I want to do with my life. If I never have to work a job I hate or work in a non-creative environment again, I'll be happy. It's now or never. I'm also taking on another (paid) freelance gig, so there's yet another publication on the horizon. So far I've been able to balance all this, but if I had a regular day job, I wouldn't be able to do it all. Another gig I've been doing requires me to stop by bars and check them out. It's easier for me to write about a place I've seen then not seen. It's like, do I really need to spend more time in bars then I already do? But this is what I'm getting paid to do, so it's different. Plus I'm not allowed to accept "freebies," which is probably a good thing. So, I'm in a sort of transitional period and I keep hoping everything will somehow come together soon. I just have to keep plugging along and hope the opportunities will continue to be there. I keep wanting to quit the unpaid internship, but as long as they're willing to pay me for stuff, I'll have to hold on a little longer and see what transpires.

So, I'm convinced chivalry is dead. Last night my friend and I went to an event, er, open bar. We were discussing guys, as usual, and what douchebags they are. My friend was frustrated about a certain guy's behavior or basically how this guy didn't treat her properly the other night. I made a comment how I thought chivalry was dead and this random girl heard our conversation and started talking to us, agreeing. She told us how she ran into some guy she'd met years ago and how he asked her out and how she expected a lot from the date when in fact, this guy failed to meet her expectations. Even though we live in a new century, and feminism still exists, women still want to be wined and dined. We want to be picked up and driven to a nice restaurant. We want flowers and romance, etc. But the guys I know don't do this. Why is that? Why are guys raised with the sense they don't need to do anything? Why is that guys think taking a girl to a dive bar and buying her a couple of PBRs is considered a date? When this girl mentioned how she had expectations, I stood there dumbfounded because I was thinking, wow, I don't have any expectations anymore! I never expect a guy to go out of the way for me. I have no sense of what a date it. I can't remember the last time a guy actually took me to a nice restaurant, especially without me forcing him to (wait, I think it was Feb. of 2007). Well, I suppose the symphony was a nice date, but it was technically a friend date and there was no dinner involved. It was a half date, I suppose. How sad. I used to think the problem was me gravitating towards douchebags, but my friends have the same problems. Or maybe it just comes from living in a big city. Maybe if I lived in say, Omaha, NE, guys would go out of their way to woo a woman, but in Chicago, they just don't care. They want to keep everything casual, they want things on their terms, they feel they don't need to call a woman after spending the night with her, they just don't feel obligated to do anything really. But, there are definitely exceptions to these rules. I think if a guy is looking for a wife, maybe the rules are different, but since I'm not looking for a husband, maybe this is actually my problem. Maybe I want everything to be super casual. Sometimes my idea of a nice guy is when he offers me cab fare after spending the night at his place. How fucking romantic.

Well, enough venting. I really hope chivalry isn't dead, that I'm completely wrong, but from my experiences in the past couple of years and seeing friends go through the same frustrations, I'm beginning to wonder. Note to guys reading this: Try harder! Don't be a frat boy. Be a man. My life becomes more Sex and the City-esque every week.

I still haven't done my taxes yet. I still haven't received or heard anything about a 1099 form. The whole thing is very shady. I emailed the accountant and he never wrote me back. He send a former co-worker his info the other day, so I don't understand why he can't do the same for me. I'm definitely going to report my earnings, but this company is going to get into some serious trouble. That's not my problem.

The weekend ahead entails a concert Friday night (possibly an open bar), and doing my taxes. I'm sure some other things will turn up. I'll probably visit my friend at the bar she just started working at. I'm hoping the weather will be nice again. It's been absolutely freezing here. The other night it stormed and the past couple of days, it's been cold enough to need gloves. It's April! I know it's going to jump from winter to summer, but I want spring! Tulips are started to spurt from the ground. This is a good sign of things to come.