Geekdom.....and other musings

Ok. It's official. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is finished. And it's available for preorder on Amazon. And it's due in bookstores on the 16th of July at midnight. I'm very excited. July can't come quickly enough. Not that I won't enjoy the rest of the year here in the Boston area, or anything.

I actually am very content here. I was falling asleep the other night -- Friday night to be exact -- and realized that Bil and I have been dating now for 2 1/2 years, and engaged for a year and a half of that time. Crazy how time flies when you're having fun. . . and I have been. Bil's even had a couple of haircuts since then. Just a couple, but I'm really not picky. He's got beautiful hair when he takes care of it.

We're celebrating fake Christmas in our house today, the shortest day of the year. We exchanged all of our presents and Bil seems to like the new cell phone and the set of the Curb Your Enthusiasm second season DVDs I bought him. I'm in love with the beautiful necklace and earrings that he gave me and I'm very excited about the Return of the King Extended edition boxed set.

Our flatmates, J. and E. showered each other with gifts. Bil and I only got a couple of things for each other, but then, we give gifts often. Not big things, not stuff that costs a whole lot, just little tokens: he uncomplainingly does the laundry because I hate doing it, I pick him up sweaters and jackets that I've seen him eye at the Gap (I do wait 'til they're on sale and get my discount). We drop each other off at work when we can.

When I get down, because I feel like I never get to see him, or spend any quality time with him because he's off in a play at night and we're both working during the day, I think about these tokens, about the jacket that I just bought him that I can't wait for him to come home and see, about the fresh laundry that he's found time to do. I realize that even when we're not seeing a whole lot of each other, we're still in our hearts and on our minds. What is love, if not that?

We're off to California in the morning. We will see my parents, and his, and all of the friends we left behind six months ago. And we'll get to see our cats. Finally. I've missed their warm presence for too long. I need to confirm with the airline that I'll be bringing them back out here with me when I fly home in January. And back to reality; out of my head. And out to buy some cat food and fixin's for a very Cajun "Christmas" dinner.

That is all.

Sometimes my brain amuses me

I started messing around with a scanned piece of shattered safety glass and Photoshop and this three-cheeked figure (go on, count 'em -- I dare ya!) was the result. Very mysterious. . . .

...and I breathe a selfish sigh

I really wanted to accomplish some things today. I wanted to reorganize our room, finish the curtains odyssey that I began last night, get over to the Galleria to acquire that particular holiday gift for the anonymous lucky person mentioned in an earlier post. It's only three things on the list, but they're all time-consuming, and I needed the majority of the day to get them done. I'm not saying that I didn't have a great day. . . I just wanted to have some all too selfish me time, and I haven't gotten any. And I won't today. Not this evening, anyhow. I get frustrated and pouty when I feel like this and I know that I'm a brat to be around, but dammit -- I have very little me time lately. Even when I'm alone in the house, I feel like I'm always working on Christmas cards from us, or whatever. I feel very awkward typing this right now, as Bil is looking over my shoulder, and even though I know he is my only reader I feel weird venting about him when he's here. I really do love him and we're good together; we get each other. But, like everything, we all need our own time. Or something. I've lost track of this soul-wrenching rant. Whatever.

That is all.

Bloody Hell.

So, I had a stupid day. Not really the stupidest day ever, or anything, but nonetheless, stupid. Argh. Been composing this in my head for the past two hours, so maybe it won't take all night this time.

Bil had a show tonight, so I decided it was a great time for me to go to a particular store in the local mall (the Cambridgeside Galleria, if you must know) and pick up a particular present that I have been ruminating about for some time. It's a good one, and I'm pretty excited about it. I hope that the recipient (who shall remain anonymous for safety's sake) will be as excited about it as I am. So. I get directions from one of the flatmates to get to the Galleria, and then double check on the internet so that I can look at a map, thereby guaranteeing that I won't get lost. Right.

I hop in the car, pleased with myself, pop in a CD, bop along and follow the directions that I wrote down. Down Somerville Ave. Check. Left at Union Square. Check. Stay straight and avoid McGrath Hwy. Wait. What? McGrath Hwy is straight ahead. How the hell can I avoid it? Ok. Calm. Look on nifty cell phone Mapquest feature. It says, "Go straight on Somerville Ave, Merge left up the ramp to stay on McGrath Hwy. Turn right on Edwin H Land Dr." Sounds easy enough. I go straight through the intersection, go over a bridge, already in the left lane and ready to look for the ramp, but I don't see it. I turn around, try again, and nothing. I keep driving, thinking maybe I'll see it.

And I end up in Boston. At Fenway Park. Mind you, it's raining. Shit.

I figure out where I am, get my bearings, find Mass Ave, get back into Cambridge, and get new directions from Mass Ave. I hop on the MA-3/Memorial Dr. Head away from the Trader Joe's that I know and love, and see a bunch of signs: Left into Kendall Sq. Slight left to Downtown Boston. And a third sign that had three lines of text on it: "Expressways, Charlestown..." and something else that I miss. Well, I don't want to go to Charlestown, so what ever. But how to I stay on this side of the river and not end up downtown?

I somehow cross a bridge and end up at the Mass General Hospital. Ok. I'll turn around. Legally. I go back. Get more directions. Down Memorial, Slight left on H Land Dr. Got it. But where the hell is Hand Dr? And who is this Edwin Hand fellow, anywho? I cross back over to Cambridge. And try again. This time I go left at the sign for Kendall square. I can feel that I'm close. Except I think I need to go left, and I can only make a right. Ok, I'll turn around. I cross a bridge. And I'm back at the Mass Hospital. Again. Fuck.

I turn around. Again. Legally. Again. I go back over the bridge, get Back onto Memorial, and turn around. I take the second left this time at the three mystical magical evil signs: "Downtown Boston, Gov't Center." Maybe there's another left along this stretch of road that I haven't yet seen. I see a sign that says "Mass. Gen. Hospital." Been there, done that, don't care to repeat it. Ok. I'll go the other way in the fork. And I end up on Storrow Drive (Memorial's Boston counterpart). How the fuck did that happen? I miss the turn to go back into Cambridge the way with which I'm familiar, so I keep driving and hope for the best. Eventually I get myself back to Central Square. Good.

I could just go home and take the T. I bet if I went now, I could still make it to the unnamed store before closing time. Hmmm.... No, damnit. I will find my way there, come hell or high water. (Probably I shouldn't be so stubborn, especially when driving in the rain, nonetheless...) It's been and hour and a half now that I've been driving. The CD is over, and I'm listening to whatever radio station that Bil left it on. My coke has gone flat, and I have tossed my scarf helter skelter somewhere in the backseat. I am a woman enraged. A good time to be driving in Massachusetts. Truly.

I get back onto Memorial. I decide to take follow that third sign, the one I didn't properly read the first few times. I look at it as I pass by: "Expressways, Charlestown, Land Dr." What?! I've been thinking it was Hand Dr. the whole damn time. Land?! ARGH!

I follow the signs. Land Dr. Cambridgeside Place. And there's the mall. Tears of Joy spring to my eyes at the sight of grotesque consumerism. And then I look at the clock and realize that it's 10:01pm and the mall has just closed.

Tears of Joy are replaced by liquid hot tears of Lava (similar and only slightly related). I see a sign for MA-28, and decide to take that way home, to see where I got screwed up in the first place. A block later, I'm there. Bloody hell.

I come home, and nobody's here, so I decide it's time for a nice, hot, relaxing bath. I draw the water, grab a book, add bubblebath, and get my new foot scrubber to rid my feet of unwanted callouses. The water's on the hottest setting, so this should be wonderful. I hop in and sit down before it registers that the water is only lukewarm. Ok. I'll make do. I read a chapter in the book while my feet and the hair on my legs soften, and then shave my legs. Halfway through the right leg, I cut myself. Damnit -- how old am I? Wait. Don't answer that. And the fucking thing still hasn't stopped bleeding entirely.

I give up. I'm just not cut out for this shit.

Going to go wallow with some popcorn and hot chocolate.

That is all.

Stupidest Day Never.

So I wrote this incredibly brilliant, if not slightly long-winded post last night entitled, "Stupidest Day EVER!". It featured waking up late for work with my closed cell phone stuck to my face, a pissed off chickie, a set of missing keys, my car being held hostage by Leslie University, musings about newsletters in Christmas cards, a quick dinner, a game of Songburst, some bitter resentment, and an apology to Kimberly, Brian, and Sasha-who-used-to-be-known-as-Alexandra for having to endure a long car ride while I was drunkenly making out with now-ex Martin years ago. I went and highlighted everything so that I could "copy" it in case everything became suddenly lost, and what do you know---it disappeared. All gone. Forever. Alas.

Bil tried to console me, but I was determined to sulk and cry and glare with one eye at my evil computer. Finally, I went to bed. And slept 11 hours. I think I might have been tired. And now, I don't have the time, energy, motivation, or (most importantly) the angry resentment to rewrite that particular behemoth of a post.

Am annoyed though, at the realization that I have to work tonight until 10pm, and again tomorrow at 6:30am. Didn't the manager tell me upon hiring me that she wanted to ensure that people maintained their current quality of life? Didn't she realize that when I wasn't working at the Gap I had beautiful, uninterrupted afternoons of bliss reading novels and non-fiction borrowed from the library? Hasn't that all changed already? And isn't it cruel and unusual punishment for a person to have to work retail all afternoon and evening, go right to bed, get up ass-early, and go back to working retail before the sun bothers to get its lazy ass up in the am? And while I'm at it, let me tell you all that the customer is almost never right. And usually they smell funny.

That is all.

Need a better title than this. . .

So, my first post on blogger. Very exciting. I signed up with this with the intent to write down all of those thoughts that I keep meaning to document. Also, to rant. Lots. And now that I'm here, I seem to be having a bit of, well. . . performance anxiety. Yikes.

A bit about me, then, because goddamnit, I'm really interesting. I have relocated to New England after a warm 23 years of life in sunny southern California. I live outside of Boston with my fiance, Bil "G" (for anonymity's sake), and a houseload of flatmates. I'm perpetually trying to find work in the arts (specifically Costume Design for theatre and the odd film), and in the meantime, I work at the Gap. Fascinating, riveting stuff, ain't it? Actually, Janeane Garofalo does it better in Reality Bites.

Anywho, I am hoping that I will remember to post regularly on this and that I can keep the exciting nature of my life documented in all of its fascinating glory. Also, I was hoping to hone my sense of acerbic, sarcastic wit to a fine point with which to stab out my own eye.

And with that charming thought, I will leave you.



That is all.