76 Days: Crazy ideas for next year

Cruise Ship Art Auction

Am I running away from doing the healthy grownup things that I need like finding a partner, fulfilling my ability and dream to be a published novelist and chef, and building a beautiful safe home?  Or am I fun-loving, smart-minded, creative adventure nut, set on seeing the world, expanding my knowledge, and making a decent buck while I’m at it?  You decide.  Let me know.  Honestly.  Here are things I am seriously considering doing (aka jobs I have/will be/am considering applying for):

1. Cruise ship art auctioneer.  Yup, I’m serious.  Yes, I don’t adore vacationing on a cruise, but selling art, something I know just heaps and heaps about, and getting a salary, and making commission, and getting to visit dozens of new countries…why not?
2. English teacher in China and/or Japan.  We’ve all been there.  Considering this decision.  Well, at least among people I know, we’ve all known people to go down this path.  I’m a bit old for it.  But my qualifications have gone up.  And it’s a better salary than I can find here in Israel.  AND it would be in China or Japan!  Places I’m desperate to visit!  And are expensive to visit.  So…why not get paid to go…?  And get to save up a decent salary while I’m at it… I thought of this today because one of my closest friends is going to China for a year, and he’s made me promise I’m going to visit him.  So, I either shell out for a trip for a couple weeks to a month (if I can spare the time…I’ll be in job searching mode when I get back from the States in a month), or maybe go for 6 months (I hear it’s possible to go for less than a year) and earn something, plus get to see my friend.



3. A Really Goode Job.  What this entails?  Being the media-savvy wine ambassador for Murphy-Good Winery in Sonoma County, CA.  A dream.  It’s a 6-month position, getting paid a lot, and all you do is learn, blog, twitter, and be the excited young highly functioning PR face of this winery.  All I have to do is make a compelling 1-minute video…that gets posted to their site…and people vote on which is their favorite…I have two weeks to do this, if I want to contend.  And really, I have a day to do it, as I’m leaving my good Mac computer here (video editing) in Israel in two days when I go to the States.  But really, what would be better?  It’s a dream.  I love wine.  More than that, I love teaching people about wine, and introducing wine, wine history, wine making, and everything else there is to folks who otherwise wouldn’t give a damn.  It’s exciting stuff.  The opportunity to reach out to millions.  So, what do you say…will you vote for me if I go head and spend all night making this video???  Pretty please?  With a cherry on top?
   

   Sonoma County

Another silly thing I did today was enter one of those travel contests.  It was kind of the most fun I’ve had entering a contest in a while, though, because it involved watching a fun video (vlog) about Paris and London, and then answering questions.  If you win, you get three days in Paris, a 1st class trip on the Eurostar (yup, they’re the sponsors), and three days in London.  Not too shabby.  To see about entering, go here.

The verdict?  Am I crazy?  Am I? If I could only figure out how to be productive, write these novels, get them out, AND travel the world doing these things, I’d be golden.  Someone’s gotta start paying me to blog, I think.  I hope it’s possible.

Have a great weekend, folks!