Tuesday, 01 September 2009

Monday, 10 August 2009

  • State of the Blog

    Yesterday, Alex asked me to make something for dinner, and I couldn't find the recipe, and I thought, correctly, that maybe I had posted it here at one time. So I went back through a lot of my old entries. I didn't read all of them, but I read some, skimmed over some, and finally I found what I was looking for. I remembered how much I used to enjoy blogging.

    Today, I went to see the movie Julie & Julia. I'm not going to review it other than to say that anything with Meryl Streep in it is worth every penny, even if it's a bad movie (it wasn't--I'm actually thinking Bridges of Madison County, which I hated but was still glad I saw it, because I thought she was incredible). Anyway, that movie, as you probably know, is partly about a blog. And it reminded me that I used to really enjoy blogging.

    The thing is, I don't want to write this blog anymore, at least not right now. I am still sort of working the same job, but it's all kind of complicated and I don't really like to think about it, let alone offer it up for your amusement, because, well, it's not funny.

    I know I didn't only write about my work life here. But that was a big part of it.

    Here is something on this topic that I emailed to a friend after the movie:

    That movie kind of did inspire me to start blogging again. I'm wondering if I should start a whole new blog or go back to the one I had before, which was mostly dumb stories from work about (Mr. S) running around in his underwear and obsessing about post-it notes and stuff. I don't want to write that kind of stuff anymore, even though that blog was (ahem) funny and a lot of fun to write, and it was almost totally anonymous. Not many people who read that blog know my real identity. And really, I did kind of write for the audience, I watched my language, because I knew there were people reading who would be offended by certain words, and I didn't let my real personality out that much. It was like I was telling these stories but I wasn't really in the stories, because I didn't want to reveal too much about myself.

    And maybe that blog was like a microcosm of my life, keeping a lot in, so as not to let my real self out, not to offend anyone or turn anyone off, go along to get along. [Note--people who know me know this is true]

    Maybe I should start a new one. I could still be more or less anonymous (or not), but write about a broader range of topics and be myself. It might be a good project for me in this period of relative unemployment, if that's what this is. At least it would get me writing more, which is always good for me.

    So I'm trying to decide what to do now. I could just start writing right here again, though I admit I'm disinclined to do that. I could get a new Xanga account or go to Blogger or WordPress (which I like a lot), or blog somewhere else, or post the same content on more than one site.

    I have actually been doing a lot of writing for about the last 6 months, just really kind of working out some presonal issues and stuff, and I went back and read some of the stuff I've written in that time, and it's a lot more authentically me. At the time I thought it was mostly cringe-inducing, navel gazing kind of stuff, when I read back over it I found that it's actually, if I may say so, funny and real and kind of charming.

    I'm not trying to get you all (whoever of you "all" might be left here) to tell me how much you like my blog or whatever. I know a lot of people are reading their friends on Xanga and blogging elsewhere. If that's you, where did you go? I'm just looking for ideas.
    Currently
    Sag Harbor: A Novel
    By Colson Whitehead
    see related

Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Tuesday, 10 March 2009

  • This and That

    I'm doing a good job of keeping busy. My closet is clean, people. Clean and organized and color coded. I watched about 10 minutes of Oprah a few weeks ago and they had some organizer guy on there who said to hang up all your clothes backward--the hook of the hanger facing out. When you wear something and it goes back to the closet, hang it up the normal way. Then, in 6 months, take what you haven't worn (with exceptions for seasonal things) and get rid of it.

    I have recently dropped some weight so I was able to get rid of a lot of stuff already; took 4 or 5 big trash bags to the Goodwill. What I have left is a lot of T-shirts. Not much else.

    I have a job interview today.

    My garage is cleaner, but still needs some work. I deep cleaned the kitchen, for all the good that did. My kids are unbelievable slobs.

    I need to rent one of those carpet cleaning machines.

    I cannot stop playing the Jonathan Coulton song "The Future Soon." That thing is just looping through my brain (and my iPod) all the time.

    My ice maker isn't working and this is a really sad thing. Actually, a lot of stuff isn't working so well right now, but the ice maker really bums me out. I didn't realize how much I used it.

    Am thinking of applying to law school for 2010. Not too enthused about taking the LSAT and it would all depend on how much financial aid I could get--would have to be enough to live on. I don't mind moving to an apartment or whatever.

    My tennis team gave me a cool watch as an end of the season captain's gift.

    Cosmo graduated from puppy class last night. He's a cute little bastard.
     
    He's very into his teacher (that's her holding him), not so into that hat.
    I love his spotty little legs.
    Currently
    Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow
    The Future Soon
    see related

Monday, 23 February 2009

  • Unemployment, Day 4(?)

    Applied for more jobs, sent resumes to employment & temp agencies. Started cleaning the garage yesterday and I have a load of things for the Goodwill, going today.

    Today: more garage cleaning. Laundry. Puppy class tonight. Watch Blockbuster movies (at least 1, they are due tomorrow). Walk dogs. I'm doing so much but I feel lazy and unproductive.

    Speaking of movies: Kate Winslet!

    Also, I saw Frozen River the other day. It was good, Melissa Leo was great in it. Nicely shot--something about the frozen river itself was appealing to me. Definitely not a feel-good movie though.

Thursday, 19 February 2009

  • Crash: Burn

    There is so much stuff going on that it would take hours to write it all. A lot of it is good stuff, but it's more of a personal nature...So, me being me, I'll lead off with the disaster that is my so-called-professional life.

    Mr. S has really come up against some hard times, financially, like the rest of us. I have a little sympathy for him, but maybe not that much, since his financial "plan" included hundreds of thousands in car loans plus all kinds of other crazy stuff.

    So when the last payday rolled around, almost two weeks ago, he told me he couldn't issue me a check. It was just a temporary thing, he said. I complained loudly for a couple of days and he gave me $100. He kept promising a check and I kept going to work, only to get no check.

    I haven't been at work for the last few days. I don't intend to go back. I have filed for unemployment, and have applied for several jobs. Meanwhile, Mr. S calls 20 times a day. He doesn't seem to understand that I can't work for no pay.

    It sucks. I don't really want to go into all the gory financial details, but things are very bad right now. Like they are for millions of people. I'm resilient and will bounce back just fine, but this is really hard at the moment. It sucks that I did everything I was supposed to do and have not been paid for work I've already done. It sucks that my car payment is late for the first time in the entire loan. It sucks that I can't take my friend out for her birthday or meet an old friend for coffee this weekend. It sucks that Mack's paycheck will have to be used for bills. If I don't get paid in full by the end of the month, we will probably have to move, and of course we have no money to move.

    I'm really trying not to be negative. Positive feelings, positive outcomes.

    Things have been worse for me, but not much worse.

    At least Jonathan Coulton makes me happy.
    Currently
    Smoking Monkey
    see related

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

  • Strange Conversations

    Mr S. called at 11:59am yesterday. He always calls right before I'm supposed to go to lunch, or go home.

    Mr. S--rips into me because I hadn't been keeping records of his phone conversations with people. I've worked here 8 1/2 years and this is the first I've heard of it.

    This goes on for about 10 minutes. I need to come up with a system, it's totally up to me, etc. etc. etc. It's never totally up to me, anyway. It's basically up to me to come up with ideas, so he can shoot them down, even though he has no idea what I'm talking about most of the time.

    He's really worked up. I'm just sort of bewildered, already know the system I'll propose.

    At 12:15:

    Mr. S: Is there some reason you didn't break for lunch at noon? I'm expecting a call at 1.

    Me: Because you called me at 11:59.

    Mr. S: Well, I can't think for you (ed: this is exactly what he tries to do all the time). Just go to lunch.

    Me: Um, okay?

    ---

    Mr. S called at 4:59pm yesterday.

    I answered the phone.

    Mr. S: So, what are your thoughts on the matter?

    Me: Um, what matter is that?

    Mr. S: Anything.

    Me: What are you talking about?

    Mr. S: Anything.

    Me: I, uh, don't know.

    Mr. S (suicide voice): I'll just talk to you tomorrow.

Monday, 19 January 2009

  • It was a busy weekend, but not a particularly interesting one. I played some tennis, ran around all day Saturday doing errands, played more tennis yesterday, and went to see The Wrestler.

    Last night, I went to watch my friend's tennis match, and then we went downtown to pick up her son, whose Boy Scout troop was serving dinner at a homeless shelter. I met someone there (one of the moms of Boy Scouts) who went to my high school. That was interesting, but not really that interesting.

    The Wrestler is just a brutal, devastating movie. Mickey Rourke is great in it. As you may have heard, or seen for yourself. It was very hard to watch. I also had a little problem in the theater and that was I hadn't eaten much and had played a couple of hours of high-energy tennis earlier in the day. I had been so busy that I just sort of forgot to make time for a meal. I'd had a couple of Soyjoy bars and thought they would be enough to hold me.

    We (my friend Lisa & I) sat toward the middle of the row, and the theater was packed. Next to me, someone had already spilled someone else's drink and tempers were running a little high--also the movie itself was stressful. Anyway, about 45 minutes in, I started feeling a little funny. I have fainted a few times before (many years ago, not an eating disorder) and I started to feel like it might happen. My ears were ringing, my vision was all weird, and  I was in a cold sweat...fortunately, I was was already sitting down. I didn't think I would be able to get up, climb over everyone, and make it out of the theater. To compound the issue, that particular theater does not take credit or debit cards, and I didn't have any cash, so I wouldn't have been able to buy something to boost my blood sugar. So I just sat there. I don't think I actually fainted, though I might have, I didn't feel confused, which I have when I've fainted in the past. I knew right where I was.

    Anyway, after about 15 minutes of feeling terrible, I started to feel better and got really cold (and stayed really cold). I got some food as soon as we left and everything is totally fine. I was pretty tired last night and a little weak, maybe, but all is well. I'm totally fine today.

    When I left the theater, I said to Lisa, "It was a good movie, but I don't ever want to see it again." But now that I've had time to think about it, I might want to see it again sometime.

    Tonight Cosmo has his first puppy class. It will be interesting. I think he's really smart, but has a really short attention span, even for a puppy. I've been working with him on "sit" and he gets it now, but he still sort of has to think about it before he does it. I can see the wheels turning as he struggles with it sometimes--he knows it means something, he knows he's supposed to do something...what is it?

    He's a really cute puppy, though, and he has a great personality. He will be able to go to the dog park starting this weekend, and I'm excited, because as it is now, he wakes up every night at 2 or 3am and wants to play. I'm hoping the dog park will wear them both out so we can all sleep at night.
    Currently
    The Wrestler [Theatrical Release]
    By Mickey Rourke
    see related

Thursday, 15 January 2009

  • I had crochet class last night. The class was for total beginners, but I was the only total beginner there.

    Compared to how I crochet, I look like a genius at sewing.

    I think it may be hopeless, but I'm going to practice anyway.

    Strawberry14, I may take you up on your offer.

    Not much else going on. This week has been busy, but not really busy with anything in particular. Tonight I have tennis and then tomorrow night I have nothing. Which is handy, because Friday Night Lights returns tomorrow night. I don't watch much TV anymore (at least right now), but I love this show.

    I've been busy every night this week, so I've eaten frozen dinners and Subway sandwiches and stuff, but I think tomorrow night I'll cook. There are some interesting recipes in the new issue of Cooking Light that I want to try. A lot of the stuff in there sounds good, but especially the sweet potato-pecan burger with carmelized onion. This sounds so good, but it also sounds like something I would totally mess up. I am also dying to make this mango pudding.

    I'm supposed to be getting a pass to the Nike employee store sometime this month. I hope it's soon, because I have two pairs of court shoes that literally have holes in them, and I noticed last night that my running shoes have very little tread left. I didn't think I had worn them that much, but I wonder if the treadmill is hard on them.

    I'm playing in a tennis tournament at the end of the month. Last year, my mixed doubles partner and I came in second in this tournament. This year we're playing at a higher level, so it will be interesting to see how far we get. If we play as well as we did last week, we should go far. I'm also playing in the women's division with my partner from last season. I'm looking forward to that--we play really well together. We only lost one set all last season. We're mainly entered as a tune-up for the upcoming season, but I think we could surprise some people. Especially if we get a good draw for the first round, and have a chance to sort of ease into the tournament.

    Has anyone seen The Reader? The more time I've had to think about it, the more I think it was brilliant. I don't know if I mentioned that I also saw Revolutionary Road, the day after I saw The Reader. Seeing them back-to-back like that gave me so much more appreciation for Kate Winslet (and I was already a big fan). It hardly seems like the same person in both films. Anyway, I think The Reader has crept onto my all-time top10 list. I want to go see it again, but it's leaving the theater near me after tonight. I'm going to go downtown to see The Wrestler this weekend, so maybe I'll try to catch The Reader while I'm down there, if it's playing somewhere.

    Well, what a riveting entry this is.

officeconfidential

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