The move is, thank god, pretty much done. We picked the hottest, nastiest weekend to move all of our possessions up to third-floor apartments. Even now, just sitting on my bed typing this, I'm sweating. I truly hate humidity.
I'm reading this amazing book that a friend recommended to me: "Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books" by Paul Collins. It's an apparently true account of the author's move (along with his wife and infant son) to a small town on the Britian/Wales border called Hay-on-Wye. The town is overrun with booksellers, with 1500 inhabitants and 40 bookstores. Collins, who is an antique book lover, blends his experiences trying to buy a house there with anecdotes about being an American moving to Britain, a first-time father, a passionate reader of books, and also with amazing amounts of fascinating arcane trivia. I love it when people exhibit an evident love of knowledge, especially if it doesn't seem to be at the service of any practical need. I was grinning ear-to-ear last night after reading the first 25 pages. Highly recommended.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
coincidence, or something more?
Two nights ago, I couldn't sleep and for whatever reason spent significant amounts of time thinking about two movies, "The Langoliers" and "The Blair Witch Project." Yesterday when I woke up my friend Lauren had posted a blog with a Longoliers reference in the title, and last night I had conversation about the Blair Witch movie with a friend at a bar. I haven't thought of either of these movies in a long-ass time, much less talked about them. Weird.
Tomorrow's the move, or at least most of it. It's going to be like 95 and humid, and I'm not done packing yet. Good times.
Tomorrow's the move, or at least most of it. It's going to be like 95 and humid, and I'm not done packing yet. Good times.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Hahahahaha!
I just quit my job! Haha! That's a record for me, I've only worked three days and that was enough.
Monday, July 24, 2006
i have no cohesion lately
Anna got published again, on an online Chicago lesbian website! Her article is the review of the Lynnee Breedlove show we went and saw last week, it's right under the Gay Games pictures. Yay Anna!
I cooked tonight for almost the first time in the last few weeks. That's right; I, who normally will cook meals that require two hours of concentrated effort in order to relax, have been experiencing cooking apathy. We've been existing with the help of frozen foods such as crinkle-cut fries and veggie potstickers. No good. I've also wholly succumbed to a brand-new addiction: Haagen Dazs. I'd never had it until a few months ago, and now I eat at least half a pint every damn day. The mango ice cream is excellent, I must say.
We're moving this coming weekend. Anna finally found a place happily located only about a block from my apartment, so now we can have a little more space but not have to travel long distances to see each other. Girlstown, here we come!
I cooked tonight for almost the first time in the last few weeks. That's right; I, who normally will cook meals that require two hours of concentrated effort in order to relax, have been experiencing cooking apathy. We've been existing with the help of frozen foods such as crinkle-cut fries and veggie potstickers. No good. I've also wholly succumbed to a brand-new addiction: Haagen Dazs. I'd never had it until a few months ago, and now I eat at least half a pint every damn day. The mango ice cream is excellent, I must say.
We're moving this coming weekend. Anna finally found a place happily located only about a block from my apartment, so now we can have a little more space but not have to travel long distances to see each other. Girlstown, here we come!
Saturday, July 22, 2006
drama drama drama
I feel very traumatized by my dreams this morning. As I told Anna (via email, since she's still hopefully sleeping peacefully-- it's not quite 8 in the morning), my dream was not outwardly very bad. It involved, truth be told, elf lords and sacrificial death. Also short little people on horses. I think maybe it was Lord of the Rings inspired, or at least influenced by that entire genre of stuff. But regardless of the cheese quotient, I woke up very upset. I'm still feeling a little disoriented from the whole experience.
I have to go to work again today, but only for four hours. That I think I can deal with.
We are moving out of our apartment in about a week. It seems ridiculously crazy to me that we've been here a year already, but we have (almost, anyway) and I guess it's time to move on to apartments with sunlight and adequate heating. Lately also, we've been overrun by giant spiders and all sorts of other creepy crawlies. But anyway, I'll still miss this little basement apartment with all it's idiosyncracies and drawbacks.
That's enough from me.
I have to go to work again today, but only for four hours. That I think I can deal with.
We are moving out of our apartment in about a week. It seems ridiculously crazy to me that we've been here a year already, but we have (almost, anyway) and I guess it's time to move on to apartments with sunlight and adequate heating. Lately also, we've been overrun by giant spiders and all sorts of other creepy crawlies. But anyway, I'll still miss this little basement apartment with all it's idiosyncracies and drawbacks.
That's enough from me.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
it's all right...
I'm attempting to figure out what exactly constitutes early 90's fashion so I can go to my friend's theme birthday party this weekend in style. While doing this, I found a picture of the guy who used to play Screech in "Saved by the Bell." Whoa! I never would have guessed that one. (PS any fashion tips would be appreciated)
Sunday, July 16, 2006
dancing queens
So work was bad, but not impossible. I spent five hours trying to get people to buy overpriced pictures of themselves in front of this giant captured German submarine. Afterwards, (and after my hour-and-a-half trip home) I basically collapsed. I forgot how tiring it was to do mindless customer service work!
But last night, we went over to a friend's house and had a super fun six-person queer dance party in the backyard! We got there around 9 and had a few beers, more people came, the music got turned up and people started grinding on each other. I managed, for perhaps the first time I can remember, to sustain the exact level of drunkenness where I'm still functioning but also still loosened up enough to want to dance for HOURS. We left finally at about 3:15, at which point we stopped at a 24-hour mexican place for a veggie burrito and then immediately caught a bus home (a small miracle). I had a ridiculously good time. And now, we're going out to breakfast. Hooray!
But last night, we went over to a friend's house and had a super fun six-person queer dance party in the backyard! We got there around 9 and had a few beers, more people came, the music got turned up and people started grinding on each other. I managed, for perhaps the first time I can remember, to sustain the exact level of drunkenness where I'm still functioning but also still loosened up enough to want to dance for HOURS. We left finally at about 3:15, at which point we stopped at a 24-hour mexican place for a veggie burrito and then immediately caught a bus home (a small miracle). I had a ridiculously good time. And now, we're going out to breakfast. Hooray!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
:-/
I have to go to my first day of actual work today. I am unmistakeably nervous. I went to orientation yesterday, which was mostly just really boring, and went to get my uniform. I was under the impression that we would buy shirts and provide our own shoes, black pants, etc., but no. It's all regulated. I'm surprised I don't have to wear special underwear or socks. The pants fit terribly; one pair fit better overall but was too tight around the waist to tuck a shirt into, so instead I ended up with pants where the crotch hangs down to about mid-theigh. And the shirt is huge on me! It's a small, and they didn't have extra-small, but it's huge. The best part of all this? It's ridiculously expensive. They pay for 1/3 of the uniform, but the whole shebang supposedly costs somewhere between $150 and $200 dollars. What?!?!?! Probably because I had to buy a leather belt and shiny leather shoes. Anyway, my question is what happens if I hate it and quit right away? Will they send me a bill for this ugly, ridiculous uniform?
Anyway... rant rant rant. I'm working at the museum today at least, and only for five hours. And if I quit today, I have enough money to pay for the damn uniform anyway.
Anyway... rant rant rant. I'm working at the museum today at least, and only for five hours. And if I quit today, I have enough money to pay for the damn uniform anyway.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
grumpy randomness
I feel incredibly bitter tonight, for no good reason and not even about anything in particular. I just wish I could sleep. This is fucked up.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
khaki-clad and at your service
It's 7:51 at night, and I'm totally wiped out. I can't believe the sun is still up.
I got a job today. In fact,I kind of got two jobs. It's a record! Anyway, this morning I went to a kind of lame interview for this photography company that takes pictures of tourists at a few places around the city, and a few hours later I got a call saying that I was "invited to work for them." I have to pay for 2/3 of my own uniform: a khaki button-down shirt, black shorts or pants (do I have to buy new ones of those?), and black shoes. My workplace options are Navy Pier, outside the John Hancock Building taking bluescreen photos of what it would look like if you were standing at the top of the building instead of the bottom, and the Museum of Science and Industry. I'm heavily wanting the museum job, even though it's the furthest away; it would involve dressing people up in funny period clothes and making them ride a fake Model T. Definitely better than whiny people at a ferris wheel, in my opinon.
My second somewhat-job is teaching this student of my teacher's for the summer. We're planning on meeting twice a week. She seems very nice, but today we spent most of the hour talking about how stressed out she is about the future and how she has no one to talk to. She's already super worried about college, and she's only going to be a junior this year! I felt bad, but I tried to tell her things that might be reassuring. It felt more like therapy than a lesson.
Anyway, so I'm employed, at least for the time being. That photography job, though... if it totally sucks, I'm out of there, even if I still have to pay for the damn uniform.
I got a job today. In fact,I kind of got two jobs. It's a record! Anyway, this morning I went to a kind of lame interview for this photography company that takes pictures of tourists at a few places around the city, and a few hours later I got a call saying that I was "invited to work for them." I have to pay for 2/3 of my own uniform: a khaki button-down shirt, black shorts or pants (do I have to buy new ones of those?), and black shoes. My workplace options are Navy Pier, outside the John Hancock Building taking bluescreen photos of what it would look like if you were standing at the top of the building instead of the bottom, and the Museum of Science and Industry. I'm heavily wanting the museum job, even though it's the furthest away; it would involve dressing people up in funny period clothes and making them ride a fake Model T. Definitely better than whiny people at a ferris wheel, in my opinon.
My second somewhat-job is teaching this student of my teacher's for the summer. We're planning on meeting twice a week. She seems very nice, but today we spent most of the hour talking about how stressed out she is about the future and how she has no one to talk to. She's already super worried about college, and she's only going to be a junior this year! I felt bad, but I tried to tell her things that might be reassuring. It felt more like therapy than a lesson.
Anyway, so I'm employed, at least for the time being. That photography job, though... if it totally sucks, I'm out of there, even if I still have to pay for the damn uniform.
Friday, July 07, 2006
mysteries of pittsburgh
Lately, I feel confused as to whether a lot is going on, or nothing at all. Last weekend Anna and I went to Pittsburgh to visit (this is mildly complicated) a friend from Phoenix who was visiting this guy from Pittsburgh that she'd met recently and really liked. He let us stay on his couch cushions arranged in a bed-like fashion on the floor for about three days, which was super nice of him considering he didn't know us at all and Kara only somewhat. But anyway...
Pittsburgh was nice. We went to a lot of bars, a lot of restaurants, kayaking, on a picnic, saw live-band karaoke and a Violent Femmes concert for a dollar at a summer festival. I also saw my friend Raquel, albeit briefly, for the first time in about four years. Ironically, she lived in Pittsburgh but was moving to Syracuse the day after we got there.
This was perhaps the funniest thing for me, or at least the one I'm most able to remember. We were taking a cab to the karaoke place; it's impossible to get cabs there without calling ahead apparently, but we snagged a woman who was filling up at a gas station. After we got in the cab, she called somebody and told them she had picked somebody up and he was going to have to eat dinner on his own. Here's a rough transcript:
(cab driver hits curb with rear tire as we turn)
driver: "Sorry! I can't see for shit at night!"
(We all give slightly nervous laughs)
me: "Are we making you miss dinner?"
driver: "No, that dickhead just wants me to sit there while he eats. What a fatass dickhead!"
(general laughter)
She continued like that the whole way to the bar, calling him a slew of pejoratives and enjoying our appreciation of her language. Perhaps it was because we were all exhausted, but she was hysterical.
Anyway, since we got back, things are back to the norm: checking my email, checking craigslist for job and/or apartment openings, and eating. I'm a lazy bum. But Lauren H-L is coming tonight to visit, which is incredibly exciting! I also haven't seen her in maybe four years or a little more.
Yesterday I got a whole new box of checks that have my current address on them. I'm moving in less than a month, and it takes me about three years to work my way through a box. Excellent.
Pittsburgh was nice. We went to a lot of bars, a lot of restaurants, kayaking, on a picnic, saw live-band karaoke and a Violent Femmes concert for a dollar at a summer festival. I also saw my friend Raquel, albeit briefly, for the first time in about four years. Ironically, she lived in Pittsburgh but was moving to Syracuse the day after we got there.
This was perhaps the funniest thing for me, or at least the one I'm most able to remember. We were taking a cab to the karaoke place; it's impossible to get cabs there without calling ahead apparently, but we snagged a woman who was filling up at a gas station. After we got in the cab, she called somebody and told them she had picked somebody up and he was going to have to eat dinner on his own. Here's a rough transcript:
(cab driver hits curb with rear tire as we turn)
driver: "Sorry! I can't see for shit at night!"
(We all give slightly nervous laughs)
me: "Are we making you miss dinner?"
driver: "No, that dickhead just wants me to sit there while he eats. What a fatass dickhead!"
(general laughter)
She continued like that the whole way to the bar, calling him a slew of pejoratives and enjoying our appreciation of her language. Perhaps it was because we were all exhausted, but she was hysterical.
Anyway, since we got back, things are back to the norm: checking my email, checking craigslist for job and/or apartment openings, and eating. I'm a lazy bum. But Lauren H-L is coming tonight to visit, which is incredibly exciting! I also haven't seen her in maybe four years or a little more.
Yesterday I got a whole new box of checks that have my current address on them. I'm moving in less than a month, and it takes me about three years to work my way through a box. Excellent.
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