More starving than artist...

It's true that I've recently started a new full time job after being tenuously employed for about 14 months. That said, and considering today was only my 5th day on the job, I've never been so broke in my life, or so I say today. I've always been one of those people for whom poverty has been in the eye of the beholder. I've always thought I was broke, even when I was scrimping my pennies, not for groceries or bills, but for a pair of Marc Jacobs shades or a jaunt to House on the Rock for the weekend. I will admit that I've never been truly on top of "the value of a dollar." It makes me cringe to say the dreaded words "in this economic climate" because really, I have no idea what it's like for a lot of people out there, but let's face it, things have looked better. I'm not sure the US economy is entirely to blame for my months languishing on the couch getting bloated right along with Vincent D'Onofrio on Law & Order Criminal Intent, but I'd like to believe that I'm qualified enough and intelligent enough to have landed a job more quickly under better circumstances. Having been scraping the bottom of the barrel for some time now, I thought I knew all about being "poor" and having to be a mastermind of monetary delegation, all the while managing to find a way to take myself out for drinks or splurge on a lunch at Fox and Obel more than is reasonably sane considering my income. Today though, I may have turned over a new leaf in being fiscally humbled, yet again. I bought $1.65 worth of gas with change scraped out of the bottom of my purse just so I wouldn't run out of gas on the highway. Here's to getting my first paycheck and using it for something practical instead of blowing it on shoes with the faces of little mice. Feel free to buy me a cheeseburger though, really. I'm not too proud to accept your charity.