September 2005 Archives
i always wanted a pet catapillar who would be my friend and love me, and take me out to dinner. Maybe he could eat kidney stones, and i could make him crawl up my wee and eat the one that is causing me so much grief. And then it could morph into a butterfly and fly away and live for a day and die, having been content with the kidney stone meal it thrived on.
I drank too much last nite. WAAYY too much. And typically, I'm way tired after drinking that much. But ... I just couldn't sleep... So i stayed up and watched a movie called "A Touch of Satan." It was actually one of those MST3K movies and was an absolutely terrible movie, but amusing nonetheless. There were so many plot holes that I could have been lost forever had I fallen into one. I think the director's approach was "oh this was be cool, let's throw this in there too," regardless of whether it had anything else to do with anything.
The movie was about this girl who had been possessed by Satan in agreement that her sister (who was being accused of being a witch) wouldn't be killed when they were burning her to death. Apparently, she should have been more specific because the sister was still horribly scarred. LOL Damn the luck. She couldn't die apparently, cuz she was now like 127 years old. Well she meets this guy, and he falls in love with her after a day.
Apparently the only way he can unpossess her is if he fucks her. Well, of course, he does, and of course age catches up with her in about 1 minute (must have been one hella load he dropped). Well, he freaks out cuz she's all gross looking and agrees to be possessed by satan if she is made young again. So he does, and is, and she is young again -- becuase he loves her -- after a day.
Now I've had some pretty fast-moving relationships, but I think giving your soul to Satan after 1 day because you think you love someone (or are at least going to get some) ranks pretty high on my list of being desparate. Perhaps I'm wrong, who can say. My relationships haven't been successful, perhaps that's what I've been doing wrong.
Anyway, that movie was, apparently, enough to put me to sleep, cuz I zonked out almost immediately after it was over. And thankfully, I didn't dream about it -- or at least I don't remember my dream last nite. Perhaps that's a good thing too.
I don't really understand how movies like this get made. I mean, if it's a college assignment -- that's understandable -- and i hope they failed the course. But still -- I have a lot of projects that could use financial investment that could, no doubt, shine in comparison to that poo.
Then again ... how does this shit get made, and yet we still can't cure a lot of cancers, the HIV, or kidney stones? HELLO. Not an unreasonable investment, me thinks.
When you read the CNN headline "D'Angelo critically injured in SUV crash" and your mind instantly thinks, "OMG, Beverly D'Angelo was in a wreck!?" -- that's how you know you're an old fag.
Who is Beverly D'Angelo? Well, she's no "r&B crooner". LOL She was Shelia in the movie version of Hair -- and she was the mom in National Lampoon's European Vacation.
I'm such a freak. LOL
I'm going to be moving in November, and I've been trying to prep things to make this move as easy as possible. One of those things is getting ride of my old couch. It's a sleeper sofa that is heavy as shit. In fact, the movers charged me extra to move it. And on top of everything, it's broken. (I bought it from a friend, knowing it was broken, as I had no intention of using it as a sleeper sofa -- particularly knowing what all had gone on IN that sleeper sofa.)
But, now that it's come time to move, I don't want the damn thing. It's heavy, has holes in it, and -- in general -- is something I don't want to be burdened with. Moving something THAT big and THAT heavy down three flights of stairs is no picnic.
So -- I bought a new couch today. :) Hooray! The lady said that, while there is no guarantee, the movers might remove my old sofa when they deliver my new one -- if I tip. Well, I was planning on tipping anyway, so I guess that's a good thing. Of course, they'll probably lift it and be all "oh, hell no."
Anyway, here's a picture of the couch, taken from the store. It will be delivered on Saturday.
Ok, wow, that picture is way ugly. It is much nicer in the store. I hate my damn cell phone camera. Bastard piece of shit.
Well, Rita came and went. We got like 1" of rain and there was no damage to any of my familes' houses/apartments. My mom's house was without power for like 9 hours, that's it. I, however, still do not have power -- so I'm back over here for another nite. I did go back and drop my sad kitty off. It was kind'a warm, and I did sit there for a while with the windows and doors open, letting cool breezes (and bugs) pass through.
I had expected to have power when I got back ... and it worries me that we don't. Makes me think a power line must have fallen because everyone else seemed to have power (and yes, my power bill is paid up. :) ).
I did take some pictures with my phone of pre- and post-Rita. Not that impressive to be honest. I'm just glad it's over and done with. I slept the through the worst of it. Woke up with no power (although I had some VERY vivid dreams that nite of a somewhat sexual nature with some interesting people -- one of whom it seemed to center around that I've never seen before. Weird.)
Anywho ... I'm trying to catch up with school, but it seems almost pointless on my mac. Having a mac mini makes life much MUCH easier when you have to move a computer around (and you don't have a laptop).
Anyway, I'll try to post some pictures later. I need to charge my phone up and email them to myself.
Things didn't quite turn out as we had planned. I did not go to Oklahomo after all. I'm at my mother's house in Friendswood, roughly 30 minutes from Galveston. It is one the evacuation zones, and we don't really know what to expect.
As of now, there is no rain. The wind is beginning to pick up, and we can hear the occasional howl outside. Thank god it's gown down to a cat 3.
We had left yesterday morning at 4:30 to head to Oklahoma. We made it to about 2 miles before 610 almost immediately with no problems. Then ... we sat. And sat. And sat.
We traveled 17.3 miles in 6 hours. We started to worry because of the gas shortage and figured the chances of us getting to Dallas (which the radio said was a 24 hour drive - normally 4.5 hours) were low. So ... we turned around and came back to my mother's house.
It's been so sad hearing the news. Peoples' animals have died from the heat in the cars, some died of cabon monoxide poisoning in the back of a truck. People have stopped and let their animals go on the side of the road, thinking it better for them than dying in a car.
The city is like totally empty. I went with my grandmother this morning to her house to pick up some more supplies (food, water, etc) -- and it was kind'a freaky. Totally empty roads, boarded up houses. I kept expecting zombies to race out and attack us (go me for watching too many zombie movies).
I've spent the past two days chopping up huge tree limbs that were sitting in the drive way. My arms/shoulders/legs are sore from that.
Oh, and that kidney stone that sorta went "innactive" a month ago decided to rear his head again two days ago. I seem to piss blood on and off. Probably all the heavy lifting and muscle work. It sucks -- but I'm not hurting. Thank god.
As far as I know, all of my friends have a safe place to be. David, Alex, Patrick, and Rocky made it out of the city (sorta). Michael-gurl is back in Pearland with her family. I hope they make it ok. Her area floods a bit.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know I'm ok and what not. I probably won't post again until after the storm passes and we have electricity/internet again.
Pray for my friends, peeps. Their saftey worries me, and I wish I had a way to be directly in constant contact with them. We've been text-messaging back and forth on cell phones ... but still. I wish they were here with me.
I'm kind'a in a rush at the moment (but never too busy to blog, right? ROFL. right.) I really hope and pray that everyone comes out of this ok. I worry still. I'll be back on to post whenever I can.
In the meantime -- I know this song isn't so literal, but still -- I found it appropriate.
Ya know ... when I said I wanted a 'rita -- I should have been more specific. Cuz now we got this Rita bitch floatin' around the Gulf of Mexico with a fancy eye on Houston.
I'm leaving to go somewhere north with my mother and a few members of my extended family. Looks like we're going to Oklahomo, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain. And ya know, the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet ... yah, yah. I know. I'll stop -- I'm not THAT gay.
Anyway, as of this posting (10pm, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005), I am very much alive and have all my possessions about me, some which are about to packed and loaded into my car.
I worry about my friends here. I know everyone for the most part is leaving ... but I still worry. I would be devastated if something happened. So, friends -- if you read this -- I expect you to text message me to let me know you're ok, please.
PLEASE.
Or I'll so kick your ass when we get back.
So much to say ... but not here. Another time, another place, I suppose. So let's raise our glasses to those lessons that go unlearned, and those things that are better left unspoken. May the ghosts of those secret skeletons forever lie in peace, until the day comes when they deem themselves worthy enough to move on, redemption through forgotten penance and virtue.
My mother and me at her birthday in August.
I left my apartment this morning, running late (as usual) only to find a note on my doorknob. That means it was placed on there sometime between 9:30 last nite (when I got home) and 8:30 this morning when I left. Interesting in and of itself.
It was a notice from the City of Seabrook. It goes like this:
Your apartment's management company has repeatedly failed to keep its utility account with the City of Seabrook current. Unfortunately we must change the service delivery to one 3/4" common water hydrant located at the northwest corner of Building 3. This will be in effect at 10:00 AM on Thursday, September 14. We regret this inconvenience but suggest you contact the apartment management company at [number].Thank you.
City of Seabrook Utility Billing Department
What a bunch of asshats. It is no secret that I hate my complex. The management company that took over SUCKS ASS. People who may read this -- do not lease an apartment from Forest Cove Apartments in Seabrook, TX. They are terrible. One of the buildings burned down about 2 months in a 3-alarm fire -- and all they did was put a chain-link fence around it and let it sit. Quite the eyesore. I heard previously that they had not been paying their insurance from someone who worked for the property. Of course, I also sorta question the source.
But it's apparent that they're a little short on cash if they can't pay the damn water bill. And the big question is ... if I pay my water bill for the complex ... why is the complex not paying the bill.
I just called the utility department to get more information - and it seems that they also have not been paying their phone bill because the line is disconnected and distributing these notices was one of the ways they used to communicate the issue with the property since they are not getting in touch with the utility billing department.
Rediculous. I called the management company (that was listed on the notice) and they told me they are researching the claim (bullshit, it's called you either pay the bill or you don't.) So, I may not have water on Thursday.
(And can i mention that the date on the notice was wrong? Thursday is the 15th, not the 14th. heh).
So I might be moving if they turn off the water. Cuz that should void my lease. I think. We'll see.
I finally broke down and bought a 20gb iPod yesterday. I've been wanting one for quite a while, and now that we're having some problems at work withour gateway, I don't have a way to transfer large files. So now I have portable storage that is way cool and trendy.
Of course, one of the big factors in buying in an iPod is naming it. Being as it's an external hard drive, you literally ahve to name it -- so David and I were discussing the issue yesterday. I named his for him, and he named mine for me. His is now Poddy LuPone. Mine is Podicus. Cute and clever! :)
So I've been transferring files and stuff on and off all day today, and listening to stuff while i work. It's really cute ... I just wish it weren't white. I know there are places i can send it to get it colored (i think it's like $50 to do that) and you can choose from 20 colors or something.
Maybe for Christmas, eh? :)
I did a lot of thinking today about a number of things. I do that a lot it seems. Just take time to myself to sort through stuff, figure out my direction, evalute where I am, what I'm doing, where I'm going, what I want, what I don't want.
So I spent the day in my apartment -- and I even cooked a lasagna. I thought about everything that has happened to me in the last 6 months. New job, boyfriend came, boyfriend gone, quite a few rock chips in my windshield, closer relationships with friends, unexpected turns in friendships -- both good and bad, hurrican katrina, increasing oil costs ... so many stressful things. So much ... life.
And that's really what everything is about. Life. I mean, what would we do without fairly signficant events that happen to us? We'd get so bored. Yah, sure, the fincanical toll is rough. But it makes us use our brains to figure out how to get around that stuff. We have to strategize and move those chess pieces around to still come out on top. And some of the time, we don't. In fact, I'd say it's always a 50/50 shot. And it just sucks to hell when we lose.
But ya know what I realized today?
I don't know what I want. And what's more -- I don't really want to know what I want. I'm tired of looking at things for what I want them to be. Because I do that and it becomes damn hard to see what they really are. And why not just take it for what it is? There's the real value. The real investment. I don't want to invest in "futures." I want to invest in the here and nows. Futures are built on here and nows.
I thought a lot about the victims of Hurricane Katrina today. About all the death that happened. How it must have caught them by surprise, the lack of resources, the fear, the sorrow. And I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like. I haven't gone to volunteer to help, to work with the evacuees. I haven't taken them clothing or worked at the dome. I've heard a lot of people who have. Some who did it to help, some to eleviate their personal guilt. I guess the reason doesn't really matter as long as it happens.
With that being said -- I did donate to the Red Cross. If you are interested in donating to something, here is a good list of different places, including the Red Cross, who would be happy to assist you.
I hope that these people feel they have found hope, help, and solace in our communities. I hope that their grief is a minimal as possible, and that their future can be rebuilt through the love and charity of loving human beings.
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Friday nite, Alex and I ventured into Houston to go see the reunion concert of Anything Box. Who is Anything Box you ask? Well, you remember in the late 80s (prolly like 89 or so), there was a song called "Living in Oblivion" -- well that was them. They have continued to release albums, although their style has changed pretty signficantly from 80s pop.
Anyway, so the concert was supposed to start at 11, and we preordered tix for $20 a piece. Not unreasonable. We arrive at this club, Club 1415, to which neither of us had ever been before -- and there was a line wrapped around the block waiting to get in. We were like "uhhh." Luckily, there was much much shorter line for people who pre-ordered tickets. We get inside and wander around a bit (this is about 10:15) and eventually go up to place our drink orders, which still -- with only a handful of people, took us prolly 10 minutes to place our orders. We opened tabs and took our drinks to the floor cuz they were playing some great 80s new wave stuff.
It's about 10:45 and we decide to get refresh our drinks for the show. 20 minutes later, we still don't have drinks and the place is absolutely crammed packed. We decide to blow off the drinks because the floor is getting packed and we wanted to make sure we had ok places.
More and more and more and more people crowd in. It is SO hot in there, and they opened the back doors which line this place, letting in the hot, humid Texas air (which really helped to cool us all off, let me tell you). We're standing there crammed in behind the Elephant Couple and this really hot latin boy ... (I totally kept staring at his chest, cuz he was totally built, and I just wanted to touch -- but I imagine his skank of a girlfriend probably wouldn't have liked that -- nor would he have for that matter.)
One comment that Alex and I both made was the number of Asian people in attendence. I mean, I'm certainly not a racist person -- but the VAST majority of people there were Asian -- and we were like "uhhh, what's up with this? Did we miss the memo? Do Asians inheritently like 80's synth pop?"
So 11:00, 11:15, 11:30, Midnight ... hot as fuck, beads of sweat keep rolling down my back, smoke EVERYWHERE, the fat elephant man behind me keeps touching me, the asian girls behind us keep screaming, NO drinks ... and finally at like 12:15, the show starts.
Next, it was just amazing, as soon as they started singing, it was like everyone's arms got erections. They were ALL up in the air (not minding the heat and sweaty pits, of course) and there was a cell phone in EVERY hand taking pictures. I was like "good dear sweet jesus." We couldn't see shit, and we were only like 7 feet from the stage. We sorta stood there dancing a little bit (trying to dance in the 1 inch square space we had to move in) and I turned to Alex and was like "i'm gonna go try to close my tab." She thinks that's a great idea, and off we go throught the crowd.
20 minutes later, Alex gets her tab -- and the stupid bartending bitch (who obviously had an addiction to SOMETHING) never did my card, so 15 minutes later i'm like "HELLO. MY CARD." Bear in mind, it was only $4 because we could never order drinks again. She looked at me and was like "for this?" and rolled her eyes.
Needless to say, the bitch did not get a tip.
We stayed for about 45 minutes of the show and decided that we'd rather be living in oblivion than living in that nasty as room full of skanky people and their cell phones. So we left and listened to the new Goldfrapp album the whole way home.
It was certainly an experience. And -- the band was actually fantastic. We didn't see much of them, but the songs they did were great. So, if you can ever see them -- go! Just not at Club 1415.
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I don't understand the world really, and I'm actually having something of a difficult time grasping this whole New Orleans tragedy. In fact, I think I've rather chosen not to deal with it, just sort'a staring at it with incomprehension, almost like a deer caught in the headlights.
I'm not really sure why, i don't know anyone affected -- I just watch. And wonder what the hell is wrong with people. This is difficult situation, and lots of people are helping each other -- and that's good. Because no one will get through this if there isn't help. And the federal government is sure dragging it's feet. Thank God for organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army who are able to act almost immediately.
And you know -- I can't help but think that if New Orleans was a predominantly white Republican state, a lot more relief would have been provided at a much quicker rate. And to that, I say Fuck You, Mr. President. The small things, like having New Orlean's flood prevention budget cut by 45% percent to help fund the war -- cutting research into levee engineering ... why wasn't this a priority, particularly when NOLA provides 25% of the oil for the country. HELLO, Mr. President. Get off your honkey ass, grab a soul, and help these people. It is not that difficult. Do your job already.
