you say hello, and i say good-bye

it looks like quite a few people missed the official memo, so here goes nothing:

i am leaving california

i signed my pee+gee paperwork last week, and i will start my new job in either cincinnati or boston on either april 28, may 12, or june 1. in mid-april i will receive my marching orders and then i will be able to give you more information.

many of you know that i had been chasing down one last job that would keep me in the bay area. i did 2 interviews, nailed them both, but didn't get the job. sad? i'm not sure. all of the women in the office wore batik or peasant skirts, and one of them described the company as "70% activists and 30% meditators". add to that the fact that the office has a huge, centrally located meditating space, and if you know me well, you know that i probably wouldn't have lasted more than a month there without punching someone out. i don't gel well with the patchouli and hemp crowd.

alas, i think everything worked out for the best, and i'm excited about my new job in consumer & market knowledge. for years i've been stuck with the same limited set of entertaining party facts:

• hispanics like things that are orange scented
• hispanics brush their teeth less often than white people
• hispanic women use huge fat enormous disgusting maxi pads because they are afraid of tampons and don't believe that thin pads actually work
• hispanics prefer spray-on deodorants
  
• top selling items are placed lower in predominantly asian markets because asians are short

finally i will learn new facts. i will have new insight to share. i will take consumer needs, and help turn those needs into actual products. hooray!

the only thing i'm sad about is leaving my amazing group of friends. i could not, in my wildest dreams, conjure up a finer set of people to have my back. i officially promise to write (real letters) often, visit as frequently as possible, and consider taking my 2nd role with the company (after 18 months in my first role) in the bay area.

i also pledge to sing "california dreaming" every time i go to a karaoke bar, even though it's really hard to sing without back-up vocalists.