" title="Juliane Huang"> Juliane Huang

Men Aplenty, Jobs None.

“…and he’s only 29!”
“You should date him.”

…

I can’t find a job for the life of me, though lately, I have not been looking.  I scrape by on the very little income I make each month, budgeting the hell out of my wallet and going to museums only when admission is free.

Initially, not having a full-time job felt like a gaping hole in my personal identity and I filled every one of my unemployed days searching uninspired listings and sending out uninspired cover letters.  I eventually found a match with a part-time job to throw into the pile of my other part-time jobs and have been unsteadily riding the poor wave since.

To be fair, I really enjoy my part-times and if I could somehow transition just one them into a full-time, this girl would be all set for glory and future-planning.  Unfortunately, as we’re all painfully aware, that won’t happen or happen anytime soon.

And yet, despite HR directors and headhunters being wildly unimpressed with my modest attributes, friends and acquaintances are all about trying to get me to meet their single friends.  I’ve somehow located the secret passageway to meeting men and have unwittingly snuggled in rather comfortably.  Want to introduce me?  Sure why not.  Think we should hang out sometime?  Give me a call.

Though, like a job, I am not really looking (wait, is that where in my appeal lies?).  I’ve gotten involved in a local free clinic, signed up for a volunteer health care excursion, ran a half-marathon, put my friends and family first, read the books I wanted to read.  With all the downer recession news stories, no one told me that life can be fucking awesome not having a full-time gig.  My time is my own!  I do what I want!  Maintaining a good credit score, psh, for suckers.

What I’m saying is, I’m still busy despite being without.  And I’ve gotten used to the luxury of taking actions that interest and challenge me and help me grow.

What if a job or a man throws a wrench in all of that?  I can stay with bad jobs much too long and love bad men much too deeply.  It’s just who I am.

Libraries. Cool.

About a week ago, I presented myself with a new goal.  One that likes the smell of study aides and number two pencils.

Having gorged myself to a near caffeinated coma on my neighborhood internet cafes, I was looking for some place bigger and quieter.  Also, some place that didn’t require a minimum purchase.

Drawn in by the flashy photos and promise of free wifi,  I found myself speeding down the 80 on a temperate Monday morning toward what I hoped to be my new  happy place.

I recognized the building instantly.  Poised on the apex of a small hill, the Hercules Public Library makes a powerful impression with two colossal glass walls which converge into a razor sharp corner that slices into the buttery Contra Costa air.  The deep, earthy red of the remaining exterior walls offer an amicable color balance to the cool frosted windows and slivers of stainless steel.

Admittedly, that is the most attractive angle of the building and one that has been photographed for the AIA and Architectural Record.

The much less impressive entrance may be forgiven for the library’s beautifully open and bright interior.  If the floor-to-ceiling windows weren’t enough, architects have also included an impeccably maintained light court in the center of the structure.

The furnishings are basic and predictably Ikea-like, but the seating plenty and the power outlets always available.  Book and video selection upon initial inspection seems acceptable for a relatively new library, though hopefully they will keep adding to their collection.  As always, noise and hormone levels are much lower when the kids are in school.

Hercules Public Library, I choose you.

Patience is Your Virtue