My Twenty-Something Quasi-Soap

I could go on and on about how fucking miserable I've been ever since I moved back to Jersey, but it's a waste of energy. My latest tweet says it all: Running out of options, money and time. Should probably start saying goodbye to my car. Poor Ramen-mobile, I hardly knew ye.

It's bad enough that I'm sitting here at almost 5 in the morning still on the computer (because I had too much coffee today so I'm just now getting tired). It sucks that I got my last severance check today and now have to rely on laughable unemployment checks to pay my bills (seriously, when was the last time that $5oo a month was enough for anyone to live on? Unemployment is a joke .). It's unfathomable that I have been out of work for a month and a half now, trying to be patient and secure another job at the neighborhood book store. If all this waiting amounts to nothing, I'll be even more pissed at having sat around for a month and a half instead of finding another job. It's frustrating having to put up with unexplained bullshit (once again with the bullshit) from my (presumably?) best friend who still hasn't learned how to use his words and just fucking tell me just what his problem is. It's laughable that all I do is sit around in my parents' h...

At all. Welcome back to New Jersey, where the temperature is currently 23 degrees and there's approximately 6 inches of fluffy white stuff on the ground that blows around when the wind gusts to 24 miles an hour. I am not amused. Seriously, I haven't been a fan of snow in a long time. And having to look outside at that wretched wasteland of ice and snow and cold is just insult to injury. (I know, I'm acting like I live in Siberia as opposed to the Mid-Atlantic Coast. I spent 18 months in Florida...work with me here.) It's bad enough that I've spent so much time putzing about the house not doing anything for the past month. Now I really can't go anywhere even if I wanted to go outside. Ok, the roads are clear enough that I could go somewhere if I wanted to, but seriously? Unless I was headed to the airport so I could go fly somewhere warm, I would not venture outside today. I am bored bored bored. With cabin fever. Yay.

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....

...that's what I'm saying to Wall Street. Can we give some props to President Obama for calling out those a-holes on Wall Street who paid themselves, what was it, $20 billion in bonuses in 2008? They drove the economy straight into the shitter, and they got $20 billion for it? $20 billion for putting people out of work and out of their homes and effing up finances worldwide. Dude, I'd love to get some of that money. I'd love for someone to pay me a shit ton of money to create a global economic crisis of epic proportions. But back to the President. He called those banks out on their shady ways. Called them "shameful," and told all of us just what they did. President Obama (will I ever get tired of hearing that...nope) said that "there will be a time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses -- now is not that time." You hear that, Wall Street? Now is not the time to rake in tons of cash for yourselves and buy brandy-new...

...people who just lost their jobs this week. I've been laid off from the neighborhood bookstore. Nothing to do with me as a person, or my work ethic. No conflicts with management. Nothing shady. It was a numbers decision that came from the home office. And I am no longer gainfully employed. Holy shit. I kept it together when my DM told me. I had the presence of mind to make it clear that I want to stay with the company and I'd like to transfer to New Jersey. If I had a dollar for every time I said, "I'm OK," or "It's OK," I'd be able to fill my gas tank. I lost it when I was told I couldn't go back the next day to do story time or work a planned event. I've been very good so far at looking finding silver linings and keeping a stiff upper lip. I even pulled the ultimate Bree Van De Camp and took my sister out for her birthday dinner (to Legal Sea Foods) without showing a hint of something being wrong. But today... I want to be angry. I wa...

I know I shouldn't get back into my usual ranting and raving so soon after such an amazing historical event. I know this. But there's something I need to rant about. I do not want to have to be subjected to the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover episode happening in two weeks. It's bad enough that we're only 2 weeks in from the holiday break. You mean that not only do I have to wait 2 weeks for my next episode of Grey's, but I have to deal with Private Practice on top of it?!? Dude. Seriously. I have been hooked on Grey's Anatomy since the very first episode. I stuck with it through thick and thin. Even when the show was at its worst, I kept watching. I admit it. I like the show. Even though the whole Gizzie disaster was something we never need to talk about again, they did a horrible (almost cartoonish) characterization of someone with Asperger's, Meredith tried to kill herself, the Chief had a brain tumor, Erica Hahn disappeared into the night...

Work today started like any other day. Morning meeting, got my latte, picked out books for story time. Of course, I was none too pleased about having to read to the little ones today. I never am, although I've accepted the fact that they're just too young for Dr. Seuss. But today, I got through it as quickly as I could. I had a date with history. By 12pm on the dot I was running back to my office, where I had (and still have) a live streaming feed from CNN on the computer, and got back in time for the main event. I make the mistake of answering the phone and dealing with some business, so I missed most of the oath. But I fell into my chair on the words "so help me God." Barack Obama is officially our president. I watched his address to us. To the country and the world. And I felt something that I haven't felt in a long time, if ever - - true love for my country. Don't get me wrong. I've said before and I'll make it clear again that I have always felt l...