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Seattle blogger in PJ's unites the unemployed

By Erik Lacitis, The Seattle Times, Source: MCT News Service

SEATTLE _ Keri Robinson, a laid-off Microsoftie, started her blog for the pink-slipped when she found herself still in her pajama pants at 5:30 in the afternoon.

She remembered thinking, "It's disgusting. I haven't done anything all day except e-mail, and I'm in the same clothes I went to bed in. Do I shower or not shower? You don't have a reason to shower."

Deciding she needed to shake up her life, she reached out to her fellow unemployeds, who now make up one out of every 10.8 people in Washington state's labor force.

Given her Internet background, Robinson decided she'd blog, and on Feb. 14, started lordsandladiesofleisure.wordpress.com.

The blog struck a chord with fellow pink-slippees, who began reading and now even meet regularly in person.

Like many who've started blogs, Robinson initially thought hers somehow would generate ads. It hasn't. "I like what I am doing and I'm not making a dime," she wrote.

But the blog has given Robinson something else: fulfillment.

"When I got laid off from my job at Microsoft, I felt like a no-talent ass-clown wearing house pants and growing a muffin top. Then, I did something crazy and started blogging about this experience and a funny thing happened.

"I discovered a new talent and a new passion _ creative writing ... And, thanks to my blog and my outgoing personality, I've also discovered that I really like networking and helping people who are jobless find themselves, find a job or when all else fails, to simply find humor in their house pants."

UNEMPLOYED EMPATHY

Robinson's fellow unemployeds understand all too well the irony in her blog's title.

Sure, they have plenty of time on their hands, but it certainly isn't the kind of leisure they want.

They understand when Robinson writes about eating way too much comfort food, like ice cream and cheese-drenched casseroles, which inevitably results in the infamous "muffin top," in which your tummy spills over your waistband.

They understand about looking at a savings account that diminishes by the week.

And that in the lonely search for a job, Robinson's closest daily companion is her cat, Louie.

It isn't supposed to be this way.

There was a time in Seattle when being one of those young Microsoftie types was golden.

Robinson, 35, was one of them. She was making $79,500 a year as the consumer public-relations manager for Zune, the company's challenge to the ubiquitous iPod. She had bought a home in West Seattle. She didn't have to think twice about meeting up with friends at a restaurant.

But on March 23, Robinson lost her job for the usual "it's the economy" reason and now her income had dropped to a $611-a-week unemployment check. (She started the blog earlier because she knew two months in advance of her layoff.)

Life is not so golden anymore.

She is luckier than most because she didn't have credit-card debt, but she still has to make her mortgage, electricity, utility, cable and cellphone payments and buy food, car insurance and medical insurance.

Her daily routine became one of waking up in the morning, jobless again, drinking coffee and searching her e-mails to see if potential employers had answered her queries.

Then the routine continued to searches on Craigslist, Monster, Jobster, Indeed and the rest of the Internet employment sites.

Then it was e-mailing friends, former co-workers and anybody else who might know about a job.

'THANKS FOR THE LAUGHS'

Her first blog was on Valentine's Day. The subject was, "Cheap lovin' on a budget?"

Robinson, who has a boyfriend, suggested, "How about a scavenger hunt inside your house? Sure, it might seem cheesy at first, but think of all the 'things' you can do for your sweetheart at each stop along the way?"

The audience for her blog grew slowly, mostly the results of her e-mailing friends, family and former co-workers.

Robinson kept posting, always using humor and sometimes tossing in some raw language.

She wrote about the five levels of housepants to wear while surfing the Internet looking for a job.

Levels 1-2 of housepants were "not meant for anyone's eyes other than your own," while Levels 3-4 were "OK for quick visits to the curb to drag out the trash or grab the mail ... "

Finally there was Level 5, "your nicest pair ... They don't have any holes or discoloration; they aren't misshaped in any way ... "

On March 18, the West Seattle Blog mentioned lordsandladiesofleisure, and, at one point, Robinson's blog spiked to 1,600 hits. It's now settled to 50 to 100 hits a day.

The comments from readers began coming in: "Thanks for the light laughs about the situation. Keep writing _ it really helps those of us who are also unemployed."

Robinson took her blog a step further. She e-mailed her commenters and asked if there was any interest in meeting at a West Seattle coffeehouse.

There was.

In late March, 15 pink-slippers showed up at 11 in the morning, ranging in ages from 27 to 50, split evenly between men and women.

They began to try to help each other. In another meeting, a professional resume; writer analyzed their resumes for free.

And they had fun. On one occasion, three of them went to the Pike Place Market, popped in for free samples at a wine and truffle store, did a wine tasting for $5.

These days, Robinson reports that she's making headway in reducing her muffin top _ she's drastically cut her ice-cream eating.

She still hasn't found a job.

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(c) 2009, The Seattle Times.

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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): leisureblog