We will sell no wine before its... brrrp...

Thanks to B. for finding this treasure. Watching this, I can't help feeling the mix of shame and disappointment that one feels watching a trusted parent or mentor falling down at a party after too many martinis. I just want to drag him up to his room and tuck him in with a glass of water on the nightstand.

Also, it's fucking hilarious.

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Ms. Pac-Man Cupcake Tableau

from boing-boing

Hull, MA Blog

Check out photos from sunny Sunday at the beach, and surfers hit the waves!

Hull Blog

An off-beat day. Not sure why. Looking forward to Yoga tonight, then I really must go grocery shopping so there's something to eat around here.

I've been trying to get a vacation organized and haven't been able to decide where to stay. North Shore or South Shore? Quantity or quality? What do I want to get out of my time? Money is of course tight, especially since I worked out how little I will actually be getting paid for the summer course I'm teaching. I may well have to do some tutoring on the side to pay for my trip, which is also fine.

I've thought about going with Priceline.com to book a hotel, but I'm afraid of this kind of thing happening:


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Sunny

Today was sunny inside and out. Had a lovely time at the farmers market this morning, got a new pair of casual sandals, tasted wedding cake with PMP, then went on a walk in one of the many gorges in this part of the state (also with PMP). Now watching the Red Sox beating the Yankees (13-11 bottom of the 8th). I plan to get some frozen yogurt when the game's done and watch "Rushmore" later.

Last night saw "Wristcutters," which is a brilliant dark romantic comedy. My goal is to watch more films this summer, in theatres and on DVD. This is to feed my own writing, as well as to inform my teaching.

My manager friend in LA is interested in representing me with a couple more saleable scripts under my belt. I gotta get a romantic comedy and something thriller-ish to add to the sci fi. Then I can get out to LA for meetings when the time comes. I'm really pumped!

Things are starting to feel like they're coming together. My phone interview with the community college went pretty well yesterday, I think. I know that even if don't get that job, I have a new in-road into the English department there, and there looks to be possibility of a screenwriting class where I teach now, so I'm not too worried.

I still have some personal things to work out for myself, though, and I'm planning on taking some time at the beginning of June while I'm in Mass for a change of scenery and a chance to do some soul-searching. As soon as the semester is over I'm doing a complete cleanse and detox program. Oh, and also I am happy to say my exercise regime (PMP!) is going well. It's all about taking care of myself, and getting back that which I lost over the last year or two (mental, physical, emotional health).

Boston is now up 16-11 bottom of the 8th!

Seahorses take it too far

Fuck you seahorse!

Summer Lovin'

I've landed a summer teaching gig at the community college next door to City on the Edge of Forever. It's a great schedule (MWF 10:30 - 12:30) and runs June 15 - Aug 7. It's not Boston, but I wasn't getting any real solid leads in Boston, and this was a job offer that I feel good about. I'm so glad I held out for a better situation than the first job offer from them for the summer (the one that started earlier in June and would have me in the classroom 5 days a week.) This way I can make some money, teach academic writing, and still have time and energy to make my film and write my scripts.

I will take a vacation to Boston in early June (just after my Mass peeps are here for the burial of the cremains), and may also head back out there in August for surfing lessons at Nantasket.

Feeling a lot less stressed out right now. Money will still be tight for a few weeks but I'm used to that in summer. The only thing that that will really suck is owing the Feds taxes (grrrrrr). Hopefully I can make an arrangement that won't involve signing my name in blood, donating my ears, or bashing anyone's knees in with a lead pipe a la Tanya Harding.

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Ridonculous

Tiger Beat.

Proctologist Kitteh

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I hope my interviews this week don't feel like this:


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Today I put $15 down to layaway a $135 pair of Naot sandals. Not because I wanted to. See, I've discovered that the flip-flop type shoe, even the expensive ones and the Birks (which I have), aggravate my ankles (remember I sprained bofe o' dose suckers last year). So add another tick to the list of my fucked up feet: messed up ankles, pronation, fallen arches, skinny heels, deformed second toe on my right foot. It's a miracle I wear sandals at all. For years I kept the toes of my right foot tucked under when barefoot to hide that toe. If I could have bound my foot Chinese style, I would have. Then a few years ago I had the revelation that that toe needs love, too, and that it's MY toe and my foot would look much weirder without it. I started painting my toes and letting that toe hang out of any sandal it wanted to. I let it off the leash. At first it would run screaming into the night and get all wasted and shit, only to drag itself back at three a.m. and vow never to touch rum again. But since then it's calmed down and pretty much stays at home with the other toes.

GOOD GOD that's the longest tangent I think I've ever written.

Back to the Naots. Right. So I tried on 5 other pairs of different styles and brands (all of which were way less expensive) but of course as soon as I tried on the Naots my feet let out an audible sigh. Arch support, no flip-flop action with a nice back strap, not too high, classy enough to teach in and not look like some crazy ESL lady with lace-up orthotics, polyester slacks, a dickie and a sweater vest. With plastic ball drop earings. Clip ons. And a schrunchie.

So in about 2.5 years I should be able to finish making monthly payments of... let's see... $4.33 per month... and I'll be all set with my sandals for work.

See the reason I want sandals for work is because I may have a line on a summer teaching job at a reputable university in the greater Boston area and I don't want to look like a podunk. And I also don't want to sprain my ankles again wearing insufficient shoes. This means, of course, that I'll have to step up the monthly payments so I can have them by this June instead of 2012.

The things we women do for our careers. Oh by the way, the color of the shoes (if you're interested): "metal." My bizarre and mis-matched wardrobe (or whatever's left of it that I can fit into) sports both blacks and warm tones, and I couldn't very well afford a pair of black Naots AND a pair of brown ones, so I went with some nondescript, brushed-metallic looking color that better not suck when I actually bring them home and hold it up to an actual outfit. They looked great with my jeans and a tee-shirt, though.

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Had a couple days that were very much OFF the mark. But I'm feeling a little less bother-ed. I am back to the gym tomorrow. Also meeting up with my former Korean tutor for dinner; I wish I could afford to get more lessons but oh well.

My latest script is starting to take form. Working on the outline and character descriptions now. Writing and reading my students' work are the only things keeping me sane right now, if truth be told. I am looking forward to my writing group's meeting on Monday. I think that will do a lot to help me feel more like a person with a plan and a goal, rather than a slug with a trail of slime behind me.

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Today I learned what FML stands for: Fuck My Life.

Oh how appropriate... how perfectly apropos.

Although today didn't suck as hard as yesterday did. I think actually yesterday has been the worst day yet since Mom died, as far as how I was feeling and what I was thinking. Jeezus I hope there aren't any more of those days because I honestly don't think I can survive another one or two of those.

In the nick of time

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they didn't!

I have a phone interview next week for the writing tutor job at the community college. It's nice to know they either didn't see or didn't care about the typo on my CV. It's also nice to know that someone saw my resume and thought, "she doesn't suck too much, let's give her a phone interview."

Digits crossed.

Some cheese with that whine?

Everything pretty well sucks right now. The CV I've been sending out to a bunch of places had a typo on page one that I just caught today. The Sox are losing miserably and now Josh Beckett is suspended (and rightly so). My apartment is still damp and cold. I am exhausted in every sense of the word. I just realized my "final exam" time for one of my teaching gigs conflicts with a class period at the other one, and now the dean's office is giving me grief. I don't even GIVE a final exam. It's freaking screenwriting!

And just now someone decided to save some electricity by turning out the hallway light at work. Great. I love walking to class in the dark.

Oh, and this just in: one of my employers FUCKED UP and I now owe the federal government substantial taxes for last year.

Fucking great. This is just what I needed to hear on a completely shit day with nothing but shit news.

Is there any point to all of this? Cause I'm really not seeing it at all.

Ouch

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See, life is good when compared to that of the asshole who let this happen.

Oestara

10. I can't stand these para-archeologists who insist that pyramids were built by aliens or with alien technology. ANYTHING is possible with slave labor and lots of time and money.
9. Easter happens the first Sunday after the first full moon after Vernal Equinox.
8. If alien astronauts were here 2,000 years ago, why the fuck didn't they leave evidence more compelling then half-assed megalithic structures and giant spiders that can only be seen from the air?
7. "Jesus Christ Superstar" is a disturbing musical and I love it.
6. Humans are freaking brilliant. We couldn't have evolved over the eons if we were dumb. Our ancestors built the fucking pyramids. Get over it.
5. Whitley Strieber scares me.
4. DOVE "Chocolate and Cherry Courtship" is my new official favorite ice cream.
3. No-cook noodles are a LIE. Carousel is a LIE. You don't have to die... you can live... LIVE!
2. Only 3 weeks of classes left, a couple of final exam periods, and then it's time to drink Mai Tais on the patio
1. After this ice cream I am going to need to work out for an hour tomorrow.

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Spring is in the air...

I am back to an exercise regimen. I will chronicle my exploits at home and on the blog, to help keep me motivated. Embarrassment is a great motivator. Today I did 17 mins cardio (7 on treadmill, 10 on elliptical) and 4 reps with hand weights. Not bad for the first actual workout I've had in months. I am tracking weekly weight loss as well, though I will not be posting those numbers here. I do have SOME modesty, after all.

In other news: what the fuck is up with the PIRATE SITUATION? The international cabal of navies and seals and commandos and heavy artillery are getting their asses handed to them. If it weren't so sad (with hostages and all) it would be goddamn funny.

This past week I called, emailed and researched the hell out of summer teaching jobs in the Boston area. I have CVs out from Salem to Ashburnham to Lexington to Cambridge. Once I get an offer I will have to find a place to stay, and will be pulling on every string I can find, no matter how frayed.

The UCLA gig is looking less likely, all things considered, and it's okay. I think that would be a bit much for me right now. I am willing to keep working on my scripts and continue a dialogue with my manager friend, and then when the time is right I will strike hard with a 2-3 week visit. I've talked with a couple people who were in Hollywood and who are advising me that there are better ways than moving out there and starving, hoping for a break. Since I'm not in production, I have other options.

I still am going to need a better job situation to move into at some point, but in the meantime I am going to focus on writing, finishing my film, getting my scripts into competitions, spending part of the summer as much by the beach as possible (and learning how to surf if I'm lucky), and will be ready to teach in the fall here in Central NY with bells on my toes. What happens after that, who knows...

Today I'm to meet a long lost friend who I'm excited to see again. She makes me laugh, and I need that right now.

Laughter is good medicine, as the saying goes. So is exercise, Yoga, and good food. Here's to spring!

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WTF Century are we living in?

What a fucking WASP piece of trash.

Betty Brown sez Asians should have names Americans "can deal with."

Flight of the Conchords

Just watched the first 6 eps of this wonderfully silly, surreal, smart HBO comedy. Check it out if you haven't seen it yet.

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A plan emerges...

I am focused on finding summer work away from the Central NY area. I need the time away to process and focus. A few slender tendrils of hope for part time teaching work here at home for Fall Semester are starting to form. I can't do anything about that right now, so I'm focusing on finding a summer job teaching at an ESL program or even a camp for writing or ESL. Preferably in California, and I'm even looking in Hawaii just to be crazy. I am also looking in Massachusetts, since that's sort of my reset button. It is, you know, where it all began.

I don't know why these Putin spoofs make me laff so much but they do. Oh Vlad, you warm my cockles.

Putin + spoofs = poofs? spootins? spooftins?


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Connexions

Last night I went to a panel on "getting your big break" which was part of a week-long film festival in town. It was enlightening, and I got to hang out with the filmmakers and met a couple other adjunct profs from where I teach in the cinema department. Made for a late night, but one has to suffer for one's art. I picked up a few business cards and gave out a few.

Tonight going to try to make it to a couple screenings with Bizarro. I am utterly exhausted though, getting home close to 1 a.m. Will need a nap before I go back out.

Still sorting through where I want to be and what I want to do this summer. I'm hoping maybe to teach in a summer ESL program in L.A. I also hear that there may be some part time teaching for me this fall after all at my current digs.

Meeting the documentarians last night has inspired me to get over myself and just get the Korea doc finished. I realized that I am going to to need help with editing, so I think I'll put together a selection of shots and then maybe in Fall semester I can work out for a student to edit for credit, though they might not let me do that because I'm "only an adjunct" and we aren't allowed to do independent studies. Fuckers. Well maybe I can work something out anyway.

Trying to maintain a positive attitude with everything going on, but it's been tough and I admit I've been feeling pretty depressed (complete with sleeping too much and not having energy or focus for anything but the basics). I guess this is normal, considering the immense loss I just went through, plus the shithole that is my money and job situation, as well as other concerns that demand my attention right now. Overwhelmed much? It's also very aggravating when I get in from a night of schmoozing with filmmakers to an apartment that is loaded with 2nd hand smoke from my smokestack neighbor. And this Central NY weather is not helping! Fucking snow out there today. Not a lot, but it's cold, damp, overcast, rain/snow flurries. What was that about a positive attitude?

Maybe I should just go teach ESL in Hawaii this summer and give myself a vacation!

I need me some of this attitude.

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