It's 6 am, but we've all been up for hours around here. Steve woke up at 2 stressing out about a crisis at work. At 5, he gave up trying to sleep and just took the bus into work. I got up with him partly out of sympathy and partly out of perverse perkiness. I've got an extra hour to plan out the day.

Now that I'm home, I have to be super disciplined or the day degenerates into mindless Internet surfing. I've finally got my writing project for the year in focus. I even made a chart with goals and a status column and everything. Getting published is a huge, long shot, but I really have no alternative. So, I'm keeping at it, even as the inner demons laugh.

A few days ago, I heard about another friend who was dropping out of academia. His seven hour commute was killing him. So, he was looking into teaching at private schools in Manhattan. After a tough morning of self-doubt, I googled "private schools Manhattan teaching." After a few errant clicks, I somehow ended up at the jobs section on Craig's List.

Craig's List didn't have any jobs that I was interested in, but that didn't stop me from blowing an hour skimming ads. One woman is looking for a "humble nanny" to watch her five kids, clean, and make dinner every day between 3 and 8. Any "humble nannies" out there? The woman made sure to describe herself as a "professional mother." I bet she would be a joy to work with.

There has been a lot written about how this is a jobless recovery, ex. the Atlantic Monthly article. My friends, impractical types who majored in the liberal arts in college, have been hit especially hard. There are no editing jobs, no writing jobs, no public school jobs, no part-time jobs, no jobs for musicians, no academic jobs. Even lawyers can't find work. While Wall Street was able to pay back their TARP money last year, the
mood there is still pretty grim. Nobody is hiring, and stress levels
are high.

Joblessness is slowly grinding away on society, as people work through their savings or go on food stamps Those with jobs wake up at 2 in the morning with stress — this is not a good time to be on the job market.

Are things going to get better soon? Phone calls from friends are full of doom and gloom. Maybe things will get better when the crystallized dirt on my front lawn finally melts away and it's time to plant my tomatoes. Maybe we'll have to wait until next year.