Jaya Ganesha, Jaya Ganesha, Shri Ganesha, Shri Ganesha

[dr_pretentious]

I took my troubles to the Remover of Obstacles today. Ganesha has never yet objected to my propitiations, even though I don't know how to do proper puja and I don't know more than a handful of words in Sanskrit. My pronunciation of the handful of Sanskrit words is probably not so great, either, and stringing them into a sentence is entirely beyond me.

But I brought candy. Candy is one of those international languages. Gulab jamun with pistachio and rosewater--very good, and it's what he's used to.

And I said everything twice, the way you're supposed to when propitiating Hindu deities, so you have a chance to catch yourself and correct errors, in case you accidentally pray for the wrong thing.

I'm pretty sure I'm praying for the right thing.

I need to bring home more money. I assume that's going to necessitate either a conventional job of some kind or a lot more tutoring clients. Basketball season has cut my schedule down to a mere five students until the end of February. If I don't find more students really soon, I can't afford to stay in the tutoring business long enough for the basketball players to come back. This is a problem I was not expecting. It didn't happen last year.

I need a day job that does not suck and that won't get too much in the way of my writing. A job that doesn't try to own my soul, that I don't have to bring home with me unless I own it. (Those requirements rule out a return to academia rather decisively.) The day job I have would be fine, if there were more of it. Its equivalent or better--that's how the Wiccan spellwork legal boilerplate puts this kind of thing.

The lotus-footed and the great, he who holds the armies in his hand, he of the sweet tooth who did not look down his trunk at caramel that time when it was all I had for an offering, is invited to remove the obstacles.

If I knew Sanskrit, I'd have some more dignified way to tie it all off than, "Pretty please with pistachio on top."

Comments

[reynaud.livejournal.com]

Any particular reason you went Hindu in this endeavor? I'm curious, since I thought you were primarily European wiccan orientated. Although, as I type that, I get the sinking feeling that my ignorance is showing rather embarressingly.

As for jobs that a) don't suck, b) leave time, and c) don't go for that whole soul-sucking thing, I just have to say ... eee. The problem is that most jobs that leave you time and energy for writing tend to suck, and also don't pay much beyond crap. Perhaps trying to be a bookstore clerk? Except that the whole foot thing might be unhappy. You could try doing adult ed classes. The problem with leading ANY book groups is that I think they all are volunteer stuff. What's you present day job?

In any case, good luck, and may Ganesh look down upon you with favor.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

No need for embarrassment. In general, yeah, I am, but my cosmology is pretty crowded. Everybody's welcome in it. Ganesha's the best obstacle remover in the business, and my patron deities don't mind if I seek the assistance of a specialist.

My current day job is my tutoring practice. If I could get 20 hrs/wk of work, even assuming that student absences and turnover would make for a 40-week year, I'd beat my old faculty position's salary--the faculty job that alternated 50-hour work weeks with 70-hour ones during the 40 weeks of the academic year. The first time I played with my calculator about that, it seemed like such a good idea to quit the part-time gig I had. But chasing down 20 hours' worth of students turns out to be really hard.