The boobs are still aching. Eric like to poke them, then ask, "Are you that sore?" when I yelp.

Potentially good news! I have a job interview tomorrow morning! And better yet: it's for a position as a children's librarian. Now, without trying to sound too boastful, I have to say that this is a position extremely well-suited to me. Well, except for the fact that I lack a degree in library science...

I dropped off a resume there a few days ago. I knew that they were advertising for a children's librarian, but the ad had said that the candidate needed an MLS. I figured that if they were hiring for one position, though, that there may be others open as well. What the heck, I thought. The librarian seemed slightly bemused when I dropped off my resume; I guess most of the people who apply either have degrees in library science or are young people looking for jobs as pages. I fit neither category, though had the page positions paid well enough (I doubt they do), I would have happily accepted one of those.

Well, they called me yesterday about the children's librarian position! I asked about the MLS requirement, but she said that they may be willing to overlook it for the right person. I told her I'd be willing to pursue it if they needed the degree. And they asked me to come in tomorrow for an interview! I'm so fired up over this!

For my entire life, I've enjoyed working with children. I taught the two's and three's Sunday School for about six years back home, and it was always a treat. Even when I went off to study music, children's work stayed in the back of my mind as something that would be great to do, if only I hadn't got this other, bigger dream to do first. Then one day, during a summer stint working for CitiBank, I stopped to read some letters hanging on a wall. Apparently, CitiBank had sent these elementary school kids to a symphony concert, and the kids had written thank-you notes, talking about the experience. The really cool part was that the concert had had lots of complicated, 20th century pieces on the program, and the kids got it. Nobody had ever told them that the music was hard to understand, so they understood it. Their comments were brilliant!

It's been found that less than one half of one percent of the American population cares about new music. That's depressing in the extreme for composers such as myself. Reading the words of children, kids raving over serialized percussion pieces, made me see the future with new hope. I've since toyed with the idea of writing Children's Opera - not simplifying the music, but working with childlike subject matter - and I've written some smaller works geared toward kids. It's wonderful!

While I don't expect that the library position will involve opera (hmm, but if I could convince them...), it would put me back in a position of working with children, having my finger on the pulse of the very young. I find it energizing, and I flourish in the environment. (Not to toot my own horn, but I had a high school teacher who, after seeing me prepare for and teach a group of preschoolers, pleaded with me to become a school teacher. Alas, my dreams lay elsewhere.)