KWICK 6: Moving, New Job, and Continuous Learning

Thought of the Week:

Kids pick up things quickly because they are not afraid of looking like idiots. They ask questions that may seem super obvious to an adult. That is the mindset I have had over the past couple of months. Be willing to look stupid learning my job. It has been hard adjusting, but I've been having a blast. 

What I've Been Up To Lately:

It has been a while since my last KWICK 6. During the absence, there have been numerous changes. For one, I am back in Georgia! I am super excited about being back closer to family and friends. Living so far helped solidify some things in my life. However, moving is expensive and time-consuming. It is never a simple process, and it always brings headaches. This move was the worst move I have ever had. I am thankful this was my last move for a while. I was still not settled after being back in Georgia for three weeks. Now, after four months, I feel settled personally and professionally. I am thankful for my family. They have been flexible and willing to help during the first couple of months I was here. This process would have been more challenging without them. 

To be honest, I have not consumed much. My new job consistently takes more brain power than my last job. Sometimes, I could fly through a review because I did them so much that I understood the pitfalls. I started a job as a contracts attorney. However, with government contracts, fiscal law is also included in the review. It's tough. The contract reviews I did before this job were more straightforward. These contracts are more complex. Even so, I am enjoying the work. I am looking forward to becoming more knowledgeable in this area of law. Over the last four months, I have learned a lot, but I still have so much more to learn. 

I will say, professionally, I have had to remind myself to be patient. I won't catch everything. A lot of the issues that I am seeing are novel to me. But I will learn and grow. I am excited about this new chapter, but I know it will be one of continuous learning. I think that is why I am so excited about this job. Yes, eventually, I will be able to point out the most common legal pitfalls. However, the government is constantly changing policies and strategies. That means I will never run out of learning opportunities. There will always be questions to ask the more senior attorneys. 

📚 Currently Reading:

As I said, I have not done much reading since moving back to Georgia. I've been crashing after work and watching something mindless. However, for my birthday in June, I bought many books to celebrate. Check out my Instagram to see what I got. But I am back to consuming media and writing. My reading is all over the place, from fantasy to romance to different types of non-fiction.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

59% completed. I have seen this book a lot in bookstores, so I decided to try it. I got the physical book from the library, but it is also available on Kindle Unlimited and Audible at the moment. So far, I have enjoyed the book. It follows Kell, an Antari, magicians who can travel between the parallel Londons. Kell is from Red London but also travels to Gray and White London. Kell is also a smuggler; however, that seems to get lost in the storyline pretty early. He runs into Delilah, a thief, and she forces him to take her to a different London. There is a mystery element to the book that is intriguing. The story seems fast-paced in some areas but slows down considerably in others. Also, the secondary characters are not fleshed out much. Kell and Delilah are better fleshed out, but I do not understand their motivations. That characterization hasn't been fully developed. So far, I enjoy it, but I don't know if it'll get anything higher than a 3.5-star rating. 

The Accidental Queen by L.R. Jackson

11% completed. I own this book physically, but I started listening to the audiobook on Libby on my drive back from Charlotte. I am only a couple of chapters into the story and have met the two love interests of this book. Dafari has just been crowned king in his country and is expected to pick a suitable bride. We learn that his father was murdered, and he is set on figuring out who did so. Ebony Rose struggles to meet ends in NYC and just lost her job. There has been a hint of some secrets floating around, but nothing concrete yet. It is too early to tell if I would thoroughly enjoy the story, but it certainly grabbed my attention. 

Octavia E. Butler: The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Melville House (Samuel R. Delany - contributor)

20% completed. This has recently been published. It is a collection of interviews with Butler throughout her career. I have not read any of her books, but I have a few on my to-be-read shelf that I want to get to soon. I picked this up because I am interested in her as an author and wanted some insight before reading. Based on an interview, she has"...written several times about people striving for power." With this in mind, while I read her books, I want to explore the theme of power fully. She states, "Power fascinates me, at least partly because I have so little of it. And people fascinate me." I am excited to see how this thought process informs her world-building and characterizations. 

How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised by Thomas C. Foster

26% completed. This book takes the reader through common themes found in literature. There are many examples of books I have not read, but the author does an excellent job of breaking down the theme that would enable a reader to pick up later. The book is a fairly easy read, but I've been taking my time with it.