My Twenty-Something Quasi-Soap

So I was enjoying my morning coffee (at 1 in the afternoon) and flipping through the local newspaper when I was once again reminded that I am back in New Jersey. Between the local arts scene here and all that New York has to offer, I could potentially be a very busy person. I no longer have to read articles in the Times and sigh because I won't get to see that show or that movie because South Florida can be a cultural wasteland at times. I can actually get in my car or hop on a train and go do stuff and see things! Hooray! With that in mind, and to lift my spirits a bit, I've decided to put together a list of all the shows that I want to go see in NYC over the course of this year. It'll be tough to work it around my work schedule (positive thinking, remember?), but it's doable. So here's the list of Broadway and some Off-B'way productions I plan to see in 2009: 1. West Side Story. In previews now, opens March 19th. Quite possibly the one single musical that I ha

According to the Weather Channel, it's currently 63 degrees outside. You wouldn't know that by looking outside, however. It's overcast and windy, with gusts up to 30mph at times. I've adjusted to the cold. I'm slowly getting adjusted to not seeing the sun every day. But all of this wind nonsense has got to stop. I fell like I'm at effin' Wuthering Heights or something. It's insane. Oh, and it's supposed to snow on Sunday. Joy and rapture. And once again, the difficulty of transmitting sarcasm in print gets the best of me. In other news...I've finally recieved my first severance check. Didn't get around to applying for unemployment will a few days ago, so it will be a while before I see any of that money. My sincere hope is to not have to get any of it at all since I'll have a job by then. Hopefully. I'm supposed to be hearing back from the store sometime today regarding my interview on Tuesday. I guess if I don't hear anything tod

I was going to post about how bored I am. Then I got too bored to even do this. Hopefully I'll have better news on Friday.

Provided that I have not destroyed the coffee maker and have actually made a drinkable pot on my own (after spending 5 minutes looking for the coffee filters), today will be off to a better start than yesterday. Feeling a teensy bit more stable. Which is a good thing because the big interview is today at 1pm. So I'm going to go and have my coffee and read the paper, then pick out my outfit and get ready, and try not to freak out or fuck anything up. Just wanted to check in.

Me (on Saturday, to one of my BFFs): Just think, this isn't a dream. When you wake up, I'll still be here in New Jersey. I'm back! BFF: You keep saying that like you're trying to remind yourself that you're really back. My BFF is right. This is all very surreal to me. My whole game plan for coming back to Jersey was totally different from what's been happening. I was supposed to have a job secured and waiting for me to start as soon as I moved back. I was supposed to have time to say goodbye the way I wanted to say goodbye. I was supposed to go ahead and do all the things I wanted to do, like seeing Key West and Universal Studios. I was supposed to move in the summer, while unbearable in Florida, would be quite tolerable here in Jersey. Instead, I became unemployed at the drop of a hat, I have the most crucial job interview ever tomorrow afternoon, I had 3 weeks to pack up everything and leave, and I got here in the winter, and it's freaking cold outside. T

...where the temperature is currently 26 degrees with a wind chill of 13. Today's high will get up to 34 with wind gusts between 10 and 20 mph. Yay. I haven't even been home for 24 hours yet, and the weather is showing no mercy. So now I have a dilemma. Do I go ahead and get out of bed, get presentable enough to drive to Starbucks for some much needed coffee, and potentially freeze to death in the process (I know I'm exaggerating)? Or do I stay here in bed all day where at least it's warm and I can catch up on all the tv shows that I missed over the past few days? Or, I could go and get my coffee and get back in the bed. That is another option indeed. Hmmmm...

I guess the official farewell tour started on January 31st. A house party up in Boca, where I got to drink wine and dance to old school merengue songs. Then there was the Superbowl party in Ft. Lauderdale. A week of packing and tracking down my final paycheck. The final Bru's Room Monthly Rap Session, refreshing as always, yet bittersweet and surprisingly deep. That's when it all started to get real, and I knew I was truly leaving. I also vowed to take some of South Florida with me back to Jersey. How exactly that will work is the mystery, but I think it's more of a state of mind (and a willingness to party) than anything else. My Relo-Cube arrived on Thursday. My sister helped me move my bed and wardrobe on Saturday. Saturday night was the surprise going-away party thrown by the work crew. Yesterday I loaded the rest of my stuff. And loaded. And loaded. After a a few trips to Walmart and a near disaster with a rachet tie-down, it was done. Today I said goodbye to my store.

Get your mind out of the gutter right now! I am not on the toilet. The laptop is on the toilet and I'm on the floor. I brought the laptop in here to provide some music while I pack up stuff. Then I got some e-mails. Then I started checking my websites. Then I got the idea to blog. This is a first. A blog from the bathroom. Who would have thought? OK, enough stalling. Gotta go check the mail and get back to packing. Just had to document the absurdity of surfing the web from my bathroom. T-minus 5 days till moving day.

...but I have effectively spent the majority of my day putzing about the interwebs. Then I got motivated and did some more packing, but I ran out of tape. And I need a container to store all of the Guitar Hero crap (drum set and 4 guitars...2 for PS2, 2 for Wii) in. And a box for the microwave. And lunch wouldn't be a bad idea. But doing all of that stuff requires motivation to brush my teeth and shower and get dressed. Then I have to make sure that everything's on my list. And of course, it's now after 3pm, so traffic is starting to get icky. And it's not sunny out today, which makes it even harder to get motivated. I'm leaving Florida in exactly one week, I still don't know how I'm going to get my bed loaded into the moving container that arrives tomorrow, and I'm pretty much over it all right now. The good news is that I have a job interview lined up for the 24th. wOOt! I shall feed off of that enthusiasm and get some more packing done. Out.

Just so you know, if you're able to get past the fact that OxiClean is pimped by that god-awful Billy Mays (I always get mad when his commercials come on, and I yell back at him "why are you yelling at me?!?"), you should buy some of the stuff and keep it on hand. That stuff works. I soaked my moldy purses in hot water and OxiClean last night and then ran them through the rinse and spin in the washer. Poof! Mold is gone. Hooray! They're now air drying and will be completely dry before I store them again. In their airtight container. With the lid closed (like it was supposed to be). And cedar sachets on the inside to trap any moisture and prevent mold. Mold: 1; Amber: 2. Yeah, I'm just really freaking bored.

I just got the grossout of my life. Ok, it's not as bad as finding a gimormous roach in your hallway or spiders in the showers or ants commandeering your bookshelf. But finding out that at least two of your handbags are partially coated in mold -- mold!!!!! -- is pretty freaking gross. This is my sister's fault. If she wasn't such an energy freak we could run the air conditioner enough to keep the dampness out of the apartment. But such is not the case. And now I have to figure out the best method of removing mold from two of my bags. She's lucky that my good pieces appear to be unharmed. So that's another thing I will not miss about South Florida. Let's add it to the list, shall we? 1. Ants 2. Dampness leading to mold. Note to self: Find a way to thoroughly wash and dry Crate & Barrel rug before bringing it home. God only knows what's growing in there.

is the effing ants. While I haven't been nearly as irritated as my OCD control freak sister by the constant stream of ants coursing through our apartment since we've been here, I'm especially irritated today. The ants have commandeered my bookshelf for no particular reason. This is frustrating because I'm packing up my books, and the ants are everywhere. All I could do is smash them ans yell at them, "Stay away from my books!" Fortunately, I'm not keeping the bookshelf. It's going in the dumpster. Don't yell at me for not giving it away or selling it on Craig's List - it's undonateable and unsaleable. It barely survived the move down here, and it will be a miracle if I can get it down to the dumpster without it completely falling apart. And it's infested with ants. Sigh. Back to packing, then to the U-Haul store for more boxes...I still have a shelf's worth of books to pack, then it's on to the CD's...that should be fun, sin

...and I'm ready to go get it done. Packing sucks. Not like I've really started or anything. I just realized that it's not going to take me a long time to get everything packed, so I can go and get it over and done with fairly quickly. On one hand, that's a good thing. I'm currently so angry with my sister that I could not get out of this apartment fast enough. On the other hand, I have to finish saying my goodbyes. I don't like saying goodbye. But the sooner I get home, the sooner I can start working, right? At least, that's provided that they find me a position to transfer to. But if I'm home, I can start looking for work if I don't get a transfer. By just sitting here...well, I'm just sitting here being bored. Being bored gives me reasons to go and spend money on things like movies and random road trips because I have nothing else better to do. This limbo phase is not a lot of fun at all. Ok. Off to go get myself in a public-presentable state.