I have decided that, for a while at least, I will not be moving to Europe this fall.

I have not heard anything since my interview was cancelled a week ago. And at this point, it is way too late to be planning any move to the UK or Ireland. I have too much that needs to get sorted out (house, car, debt, current job) and not enough time to attend to it. A move like this needs a lot of time to plan effectively, and since I'm a month past my original deadline, it's time to call it off.

I'm pulling the plug partly because I'm heading into tech week with Pride and Prejudice, and I need to focus on that, and that alone. I've been distracted enough lately with back-of-the-mind thoughts and plans, and right now, the play's the thing, folks. And so I realized I needed to make a final decision.

It's frustrating, to say the least. It's what I really wanted to do. I've always stayed, stuck close to home and took the safe, conservative route in my life, when I wasn't being totally flighty and indecisive. And for the past few years the desire to finally do something big and grand and daring has welled up inside me and I knew that this was something I should do.

I guess I'm proud that I've stuck with this plan for so long, pursuing every avenue and doing lots of research and spending massive amounts of time researching schools, NARIC laws, the difference between QTS and NQT and reading OFSTED reports and gathering letters of recommendation and signing up for job alerts and posting my CV and emailing headmasters and trying my damnedest to get noticed while sitting at a computer across a wide ocean.

There's just too much going against me right now. The teacher shortage in the UK ended, and EU laws dictate that EU citizens get first crack at any job, so if there's a Polish teacher that wants a job teaching primary school in Ireland, well, they've got one up on me.

I originally wanted to focus on the International Schools, but they do their hiring through the International Schools Service, and I missed the one and only job fair in the U.S., in Massachusetts, in February. Any contact I tried to make with schools either was ignored or was met with a polite negative reply.

I did my homework, and I busted ass, and so I can at least be happy about that. I didn't think about it for a while and then let the plan drift away like it has for the past two years.

Maybe something will happen a year from now, but I'm getting old, folks. Another stumbling block was the fact that after you turn 26 or so you can't get a working holiday visa, which is what allows those hippie American backpackers to work here and there while they wander the Old Country. I'm 34 and six months away from entering into a new demographic.

I thank all of you out there that encouraged me and crossed your fingers and hoped for the best. It means so much to know that there were people urging me on and wishing me good luck.

I'm still planning on heading over there come August first. I bought a ticket a while back for cheap that would either be my trip over there for good, or if nothing else, the consolation prize.

I'm not sure what will go through my head as I pass through Galway and Bristol and London and Dingle. Will I be keeping my eye out for opportunity and a potential home, or will those cities pass by me like some lost chance, a smoky future that I can't quite get my fingers around?

Only time will tell.

Cheers, everyone. And come see Pride and Prejudice if you live in the area. Party at my house Friday night.

I still say that Marie Antionette looks like the most interesting movie out there, at least as far as the trailer goes.

Lost in Translation is one of those films I go back to over and over again, so I'll put my trust in Ms. Coppola until I get a chance to see the film myself. It got lots of boos from the crowds at Cannes, but somehow that doesn't seem to bother me too much.

And it's not like I get all excited about people all dressed up in fancy French clothes and acting all decadent. There's something interesting going on with this film, and that's the type of thing that gets me excited and interested.

I hope I'm not building this film up too much, which is what I did with The Life Aquatic, which disappointed me greatly when I first saw it, but since then I've grown to appreciate it more, although in the end it didn't feel as complete as Wes Anderson's previous films.

And no, there's no news regarding European employment. Abort, Retry, Ignore...

Step One: Go here to see Pitchfork's list of the 100 Awesome Music Videos ever.

Step Two: Be sure to take the time to discover what they consider to be the greatest moment in the history of music videos. Trust me, it's worth it.

After only going to bed around 1 AM or so (I'm on summer hours, you know), I woke up promptly at 6 and waited for my 6:30 AM phone interview. Phone rang at 6:20 and I thought, here we go...

Or not. It was my contact/coordinator guy from the recruitment agency, telling me that the persons doing the interview had to cancel at the last minute due to some sort of emergencies at the school. I've been around enough administrators who cancel meetings and interviews with very short notice, so I'm not surprised, but sadly, there will be no interview today, so no news, folks.

And the clock ticks, ever closer to midnight...if not past it already.

Bleah...

Not sure if he took it, but I found this pic on The Winter of Discontent, and thought it was pretty damn funny.

More soon, I promise. I'm not dead, just dedicated.

And so apparently the 11th-hour miracle has arrived. I have an interview with a primary school outside of London on Monday. It looks promising, and exciting.

Whoa.

I keep avoiding blogging, mostly because I know I'm going to have to write about what the hell I'm doing about the whole go-live-in-Europe like the cool kids thing.

And I'm not ready to do that yet. The deadline has come and gone, but I'm still holding out for an 11th-hour miracle.

Another busy couple of days for me, as I head back into a couple of 13-hour sessions with the Strategic Planning Committee. Yesterday was the last day of school, and I have to admit, I am finding it hard to muster up the energy and enthusiasm to sit and plan the next five years of my school district's progress. Especially when I have to miss rehearsals, which is where my mind is right now.

So sit tight, dear readers, and spend some time reading The Comics Curmudgeon. It's better than reading the actual comic strips, I tells ya. Finger Quotin' Margo is my personal Jesus right now.

June 6, 1944

To Remember.

I feel like taking every piece of clothing I have and burning it.

Except I have no money for new clothes, so I'd have to walk around wearing a barrel strapped to me.

How come you don't see a whole lot of that anymore?