| fucking college. |
[Aug. 19th, 2008|11:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | fucking idiot college children. | ] |
Haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since I moved in, what with living on the ground floor, in an apartment with ancient windows and walls made out of paper mache, swiss cheese, etc.
I landed my new job, which starts tomorrow, and so I thought I'd at least attempt to go to bed early and get some rest. Half an hour later, I'm just drifting off, and some fuckwit pulls the fucking fire alarm.
Cue insane buzzing siren, loud voices in the lobby outside my flimsy door and windows, and nonstop working of ancient building doors next to my crepe paper bedroom walls, so that I can hear every nanosecond of the evacuation, until I throw some clothes on and slump outside to squint at the army of fire trucks pulling up.
Ten minutes later they leave again, after flipping the alarm off and not getting to use their giant fancy axes or anything.
Jesus fucking Christ, someone just fucking pulled it again, on the next floor up. This is not making me feel any better about picking up and returning to Eighteen Year Old Insanity Land. Since I clearly won't be able to sleep anytime soon, I'm going to scavenge Craigslist for apartment listings, and daydream about lining my walls with hideous soundproofing foam. |
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| day 2. |
[Aug. 17th, 2008|06:37 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  discontent | ] |
They had the apartment painted. They said the carpet was cleaned last Thursday, but my feet keep turning black when I walk around, so I'm going to call their bluff on that. We had the door and all the windows open yesterday while we moved stuff in, so the smell is gone, but it's still a little mildewy. I blame the carpet for that, as well.
I cleaned like I was on a rampage and got through most of my unpacking, put up curtains and moved furniture, so now the place is at least functional. But it's not good. The bathroom could still use a million more years of scrubbing, as I expect that's how long it's been since the last time it was cleaned. It's really loud; all of my windows look out onto the street, and my bedroom wall shares the front doors to the building on the other side, so whenever anyone comes or goes I can hear every second of the doors opening and closing, and feel the vibrations of it. Before it was made into an apartment, this area was actually part of the lobby, so the layout makes me feel exposed and uneasy, like the walls aren't substantial enough. I keep worrying that I'll be broken in on and robbed.
At least the Internet company came faster than expected, so now I have some distraction.
I have a job interview tomorrow at the campus computer center, which I'm thankful for and I think it will be an easy ace, though even if I get the job, paychecks won't start coming soon enough.
My parents said they'd be helping me, because I only took out loans for tuition and not living expenses, and a part time college job won't be enough. I tried to talk about the need for money as little as possible, because I feel bad about the stress it puts on them to have to provide for me long distance. But I have bills to pay already, books to buy, groceries I forgot about, and my bank accounts are empty, so I'm going to have to call them. They only just wrote me a rent check for this month.
I really wish my dad had been able to stay another day, but he had to get the van back to New York and start his own work this week. Getting things done and acquiring what I need is a lot more time consuming without a car or the subway. |
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| roadwork. |
[Aug. 16th, 2008|12:13 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | She & Him - Black Hole | ] |
I've made the move out to Madison. Sort of. Spent the last two days on the road, in a van full of stuff with my dad, driving from New York to Wisconsin. We made it through Jersey, Pennsylvania, and just over the border into Ohio in day one before crashing, and got through Ohio, Indiana, and north through Illinois around Chicago today.
It wasn't exactly a Sam and Dean style road trip extravaganza, but we did pass the Zippo Museum, the RV/Mobile Home Hall of Fame, the Mustard Museum, and the Hhffrrgh! Inn. No, I'm not kidding.
I hadn't seen my exact apartment when I came out to look, only a model in the building, because back in April they still didn't know which apartments were being vacated and which were renewing their leases. When they knew, they mailed me a lease which I signed and mailed back.
And I tried to prepare myself for the place being bad, I really did, but it was still unpleasant. Dark and depressing, windows that probably hadn't been cleaned in decades, the only apartment whose front door opens right into the lobby. The paint was old and stained, fake wood molding chipped and cracked and worn, screws and nails sticking out all over the walls. Half of the lightbulbs were blown in the ceiling fixtures, and there were random pieces of furniture and storm windows standing around.
Plus, though the kitchen appeared to be the cleanest part, it reeked so badly of garbage that we couldn't possibly move stuff in and crash there for the night, as we'd originally planned. We found a hotel out in Monona, instead.
I've resolved not to think about this mess until tomorrow, when we can talk to the management company and figure out what to do, but it was not what I was hoping to arrive to. I don't want to set foot back in that place, let alone spend my first year back there. I'm a hardcore homebody, I always have been, and the idea of not having a comfortable home and needing to stay away from it is hard to swallow.
Here's hoping that things will seem better after a decent night's sleep. Or that Craigslist will have some incredible last minute steal. |
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| rant. |
[Aug. 6th, 2008|10:01 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | annoyed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Zero Punctuation is my saving grace when I'm angry | ] |
I have this massive backlog of images I've found out there in the ether that I want to keep cataloged, but Ffffound is still invite-only, and that's not looking to change. The only person I even know who uses it is an artist whose paintings I really like, but it would be really rude to leave her a comment being like, "Hey, love your stuff, throw me an invite?" I could make a Tumblr blog instead, which I might do, or join WeHeartIt, but that feels like defeat, and neither of those sites have an image rec system in place that works the same way, or at all.
I also really wanted to make a Flickr account for all of my photography, but since Flickr is now owned by Yahoo, you can only make a Yahoo ID/email address and use it to sign in to Flickr. And I don't want a fuck-mothering Yahoo ID, I have an email address just fine. It also means that, while the username I wanted to use is wide open on Flickr, having to sign up for a Yahoo email address as your username instead means that anything I could possibly come up with has long been taken, unless I want to start adding a bunch of dipshit arbitrary numbers on the end.
And I give the fuck up on ever being able to come up with a name for Last.FM that hasn't already been taken. I ran into the same bullshit I did with DeviantArt, where my default name was taken and then never used. And of course those sites have a policy of never deleting accounts, even if they've never been touched and the fucking email addresses listed don't work anymore.
Clearly the internet does not want me contributing to it or finding inspiration in it, in the least, other than spewing vitriol into my LJ. It's a good thing I paid for this computer with my own money and worked in service so long, fixing rich pretentious assholes' computers, otherwise I might do something like they did and put my fist through the screen. |
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| packing. |
[Aug. 5th, 2008|10:06 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  hot | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Bjork - Alarm Call | ] |
And packing, and packing. I had the sudden realization that I move in just over a week, and that freaked me the hell out of my lethargy. It's amazing how just putting shit in boxes has left me with a list of about a million little errands to run and things to do: getting enough jewelry supplies to last me a while, selling things, donating things, throwing things out, cleaning. I still have a long way to go.
But I did find chai powder at Trader Joe's, and I bought a pair of jeans today that are this fantastic bottle green color. I need to buy new sneakers.
I'm shooting to lose another five pounds before I leave next thursday, but I'm not sure I'll manage it. My brother is studying abroad in Chile this semester, and I've been sending him packages of chocolate chip cookies to keep him from getting homesick, but it means that we now have a cake plate full of extras in the kitchen, and I've started eating them for breakfast. Bad bad bad.
On the other hand, I can almost run an entire 5k, taking breaks because I run out of breath really fast.
Still no tax refund checks in sight. At this rate, with the way flights are going and by the time it gets here, I'll probably have to spend the whole thing on my Wincon ticket. And that sucks, because I was hoping to start putting away for my next (big!) tattoo. |
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| weirdness. |
[Jul. 24th, 2008|09:03 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  weird | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | one of my neighbors rocking out on a steel drum | ] |
I can't believe I forgot to mention this for so long, but I also managed to watch both seasons of Torchwood in like a week, slogging through chapters on youtube.
I'm not going to even attempt Dr. Who until I either get netflix, or after I move, because Madison has an awesome rental place near my apartment that has everything. |
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| gym rat. |
[Jul. 24th, 2008|06:09 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Jucifer - When She Goes Out | ] |
Ten pounds gone! And a little extra. I'm gonna shoot for another five before I leave New York, and then another five/ten in the long term. It's the first time I've weighed under 150 in... well, a while. Before Japan, certainly.
And I finally got my hair cut, which could have been another half pound right there, considering how wild and crazy it had gotten. It's in a layered bob right at my chin, at the moment, and I think I'm going to mullet it out again a bit more, before I move.
Everyone loves the mullet, where I get my hair done. Melissa and another stylist were telling the assistants about it, when I was changing. Seriously, I'm like a legend at Aveda, now.
I'm doing my last flea market of the summer this Sunday, and I still have clothes and books and shit to sell off, which will hopefully bring in a bit of cash. Still no word from the state and fed bastards holding my money hostage. |
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| catch up. |
[Jul. 14th, 2008|06:00 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  working | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Uh Huh Her - Explode | ] |
Last week was not great. Getting a little better. A lot of little stress inducers caught me all at once, and I needed to have a big gay freak-out, until it all settled down again. But I've got my moving plan mostly solidified, and now I just have to acquire boxes and a floor plan from my landlord, or at least measurements of some kind, so I can think about arranging things, buying curtains, etc.
A friend of mine from the first college attempt in Wisconsin is coming to visit for the long weekend. Supposedly to see his sister, who also lives here, but it's become fairly obvious that he wants to sleep with me. I'm picking him up from the airport, and have determined that I will not freak out about this until he actually arrives, and I can sense the lay of the land.
I spent $20 on chain today, so as soon as I throw a few things together and photograph them, necklaces are coming to my Etsy shop. I also really need to do a photography day in Chinatown.
The feds and the state also really need to give me my tax refund. Seriously, I filed this shit the first week in April, I'm due over a thousand dollars, and I kind of really fucking need it right now. First they were saying my information was not found for months, then for some reason I had to be processed manually instead of electronically. Now they're saying I should get a check by August 11th, but I do not like seeing my bank account this empty, and a stimulus payment is not enough to buy away my intense hatred of the IRS, anymore.
Also, I've been at the gym five days a week, and on average I eat just under 1000 calories a day, and I'm so close to my 10 pound goal I can taste it, how the fuck am I plateauing? These last three pounds should not be such a big deal. |
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| sundries. |
[Jul. 9th, 2008|03:31 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  crappy | ] |
I feel like such a freak. Like there's something wrong with me, an indistinct sense people pick up and steer clear of. I hate that it keeps everyone away, but it's better that it keeps everyone away. I've gotten good at pretending to be normal, but it's too tiring to keep up all the time. I've got nothing to wear and no one to talk to.
I've got just under two months left and I'm ready to start classes and get on with it, especially now that it's looking more like four years ahead of me, instead of the two or three I'd originally expected. There are no classes to be had during the summer semesters, nothing to condense that time, at all.
But it's the only thing I'm looking forward too, because I'm anxious and stressed about moving all of my crap, and worried about the apartment I settled for being terrible.
Trying to get more drawing practice in, between open sessions at the Art Students League and museums, when I'm not at the gym.
I'm getting a little thinner, at least. |
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| in business. |
[Jun. 22nd, 2008|10:39 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  productive | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Kaki King - Goby | ] |
kiniro.etsy.com
My Etsy shop is up and running. I've got 14 pairs of earrings listed, and plenty more to put up in coming updates, as well as vintage jewelry from my collection. I got much better pictures this time around with my mother's D40, which is a gorgeous little SLR and she'll never make proper use of it.
Etsy is an awesome site, for those who have not come across it. Just about anything you could ask for, all beautiful, unique and handmade. For NY people, they also have a studio in downtown Brooklyn that you can join, to get access to all their workshop equipment and take classes.
Most of my free time not spent on the shop has been in my swanky gym, which I can only afford because my mother has been a member for six years and they cut me a break on a two month membership. I would actually hang out there, even if I weren't working out, because it's that nice. I've been busting my ass to get in there daily, on top of watching what I eat, and so far I'm down 7 pounds this summer. Which is awesome, provided I can keep losing and keep it off. Some muscle tone would be nice, eventually, and I'd like to regain the flexibility I had in high school, when I was dancing and doing yoga regularly.
The cafe also makes these freaking awesome smoothies out of chai mix, whey protein, bananas, soymilk and ice. I've been wanting to recreate them at home, but I have yet to find any good chai mix.
I went to Coney Island for the Mermaid Parade yesterday, but ended up on the beach because it was too crowded to bother, and then a party on the subway at midnight, for no reason at all. But I finally finished off my first roll in the Rolleiflex, so once that film gets back from the lab, I'll hopefully have good pictures to put up. |
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