Product!

While I'm on the subject of appearance and the massive debt academia is burying me under, I might as well talk about why these seemingly incongruent lines of thought have become tangled together in my mind right now. As mentioned in my profile, I'm finishing up my degree. That accursed piece of paper is taking me a couple of extra years to acquire, due to the fact that I spent several semesters going less than full time. Had I not done this, I wouldn't have been able to hold a paying job while going to school, and I'd be even deeper in debt than I already am.

Anyway, this was my first year without studio classes, which meant that I was able to go full time, since a studio course is about twice as time-consuming as an academic course.* Silly me, I thought this would allow me to finish up by the end of this summer. Nope. Turns out, the last class I'll need to finish my computer science minor is only offered in the spring. Because of technicalities with student loan grace periods, that means I need to stretch everything out if I don't want to be shelling out $1,000/month on top of living expenses while I'm taking that last class. In other words: an entire extra year of working and schooling. Joy does not begin to express my feelings about that.

*Note: They actually decreased the studio course requirements, starting this year, because they were so unreasonably high. Basically, full time studio when I was doing it entailed being in class 9AM-12PM and 2PM-5PM four days a week, with about 20-30 hours of out-of-class projects per week, if you took the projects seriously.

Last semester, I went overkill on the work thing. I did two part-time jobs that each paid around $10/hour. That was, to put it mildly, hellish. Particularly considering that one of them was a graveyard shift an hour's drive away. This semester I came off of the Federal Work Study waiting list, so I figured I'd try scrimping and just doing that. Turns out that $80 a week isn't enough to live on, even if you happen to live at home. Go figure. I think working two jobs and going to school full time was actually less stressful than trying to live on $320 a month.

So my strategy this time around is going to be different. I'm going to do my damnedest to find something that pays better. This will hopefully mean that I can build up some reserves for when the debtors come a-calling, and that I can get through the next year without borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. This also means I'm going to need to polish myself up into tip-top bourgeois shape for the interviewing process. Fortunately, I have a slight advantage in that area: not only in my taste-enhancing gay genes, but also in a couple of friends who work on Newbury Street. This means free top-of-the-line haircuts and free fashion advice. However, there's one area where my proverbial bases are not covered: skin care.

You see, my skin is something of a challenge. First problem: I'm half Irish and half Mediterranean. As a result, I have pale, sensitive skin and coarse, dark hair. Combine the two, and I wind up with a five o'clock shadow a full five minutes after shaving (along with razor burn from hell, if I don't follow a precise and esoteric washing-shaving-moisturizing ritual). Oh, and did I mention that my skin instantly becomes mottled if I so much as look out the window on a partly sunny day? Also: combination skin, though fortunately it stays closer to the normal spectrum than the extremes of dry or oily.

I've developed a pretty decent skin care arsenal at this point, but there's always room for improvement. So if anybody happens to read this and has some tips, please do share them. If you can't tell, I kind of have a thing for Aveeno.

The current line-up, including razor:

• Aveeno Positively Radiant Facial Cleanser, alternated with
• Aveeno Ultra-Calming Foaming Facial Cleanser
• Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer
• Aveeno Continuous Radiance tanning moisturizer
• L'Oreal Expert Circle Eraser Anti Dark Circle Eye Moisturizer
• Aveeno Positively Smooth shaving gel
• Gillette Fusion razor (I've tried electrics -- they shred my face without touching my beard)