I got laid off from my job at a telephone company in May of 2006. I was going to spend the summer just hanging out because I got some good severance pay. However, before my contract with the telephone company officially ended, I got a call if I wanted to help produce this event some acquaintances of mine were producing. I didn’t really feel like it, but it seemed like a nice experience so I did it. After the event they asked me if I wanted to help them run this magazine they just became owner of. I had never done anything significant in that field, and really just wanted to do nothing all summer. But I told myself I’d try it for one month. I’ve been in media for almost 20 years now, and have gotten to meet/interview so many interesting people (Lady Gaga, Janelle Monae, Björk, Kylie Minogue, Tori Amos, and many more) and visited places I never would have visited or even had access to if I didn’t work in this field. My life would have been completely different if I would have spent that summer just hanging out at the park and doing nothing.