Saturday, November 18, 2006

What with One Thing and Another...

Yes, I've been kind of busy, but mostly I've been kind of out-of-it: tired a lot of the time, getting depressed sometimes, and not feeling very creative or communicative. My temp assignments have been spotty, boring, and far too underpaid... very catch-as-catch-can and unpredictable and disastrous to my already disordered finances, which is where a lot of the bleah feeling is coming from; I think the time has come to get serious about a full-time permanent job now.

Also, I think I've simply lost the knack of blogging. I write a hell of a lot on JUB these days, but I think it's because there's interaction... I'm always responding to something. It's so much easier than just shouting into space. And though I love hearing comments from you, Will and Luis and everyone, it's always after the fact. So I've been reduced to memes. The following was lifted from Dan Renzi.

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Explain what ended your last relationship? He didn't love me "that way." Which is to say he wasn't into me. They never are. And I'm having to use "relationship" in a rather loose manner, since were never officially together. It was all in my head.

When was the last time you shaved? Wednesday? Yeah, Wednesday morning. I hate shaving.

What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.? Sleeping, sort of. The guys started working next door, sawing and hammering and playing salsa on the radio. I dreamed odd dreams.

What were you doing 15 minutes ago? I.M.ing with Miss Madasin, who just got a new computer. I hardly ever I.M., but I was signed in and these things happen.

Are you any good at math? Relatively good at it, I think. I can do long division and simple algebra without much effort. But I'm not so good that I can figure out tips in my head.

Your prom night, what do you remember about it? Junior prom: I remember getting a bad haircut and a touch of sunburn, looking a little like a marshmallow in a white tailcoat, and ordering our evening wrong so that we missed most of the dance and then had an unfashionably late dinner. The food was good, though. Caroline and I had a good time anyway.

Senior prom: all I remember is being dressed wrong. I'd rented a classic black-and-white dinner suit, white jacket and shirt with black everything else; but the stupid rental place gave me white pants and shoes with the white jacket, as well as a black tie and cummberbund . I looked like Mr. Rourke's understudy in a high-school production of Fantasy Island.

The rest is mercifully a blank.

Do you have any famous ancestors? My great-grandfather was a pioneer in the canning industry. And I'm laterally descended from the Mayflower, William Bradford to be exact (via his third daughter Clara, if I remember correctly). That's all I know about.

Have you had to take a loan out for school? Well, I didn't have to... I had grants to cover my tuition and books and most of my transportation, and I had a little part-time job for mad-money; but I didn't want to have to work more than six hours a week, so I took out the loans they offered for spending money and clothes and entertainment and other necessaries... it added up to $25k over three years, and I'll be coughing up $150 a month for the next decade.

Last thing received in the mail? A "friendly reminder" from the bank to pay my credit-card bill. But I already had, so I was able to snap my fingers at it (figuratively, of course... a letter doesn't notice if you snap at it, which rather defeats the purpose of such a gesture).

How many different beverages have you had today? Two? Three? It depends how you count... I've had several cups of coffee, a few glasses of water, and a glass of grapefruit juice. That's three by my reckoning, but I'm not sure if you'd count the water, or if the individual cups of coffee and water were separate beverages. I leave it to you.

Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine? Of course! What am I, some kind of savage?

Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to? Oh, this is embarrassing: the Osmonds. Donny and Marie and their multitudinous siblings (not counting the deaf ones) at the Oakland Coliseum in 1978. I didn't want to go, but my step-sister for whom the ticket had been bought had the chicken-pox and couldn't go, and my parents weren't about to waste ten bucks on an empty seat.

Oh, and by the way, it's "To whom did you lose your concert virginity?"

Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach? God, when was I even at a beach last? But no, no name-writing. I once drew a really big picture of a naked man in the sand, about twenty feet long, with seashell eyes and seaweed pubes, who could only be viewed from the cliff. It was fun.

What’s the most painful dental procedure you’ve had? Molar extraction. Seven shots of novocaine before he resorted to lidocaine, and it turned out the roots of the molar were fused to the jawbone. Hurt like a motherfucker, especially when the tooth, which was cracked, broke apart under the pliers. I was on Vicodin for two weeks afterward.

What is out your back door? The alleyway between our house and the house next door, separated by a short fence and the railing of our back steps.

Any plans for Friday night? Friday was yesterday, and next Friday is too far away to plan for. But I'll hazard a guess and say No, nothing going on Friday. Except for leftover turkey and pie.

Do you like what the ocean does to your hair? No, I do not! I don't like what it does to any part of me. I don't like the ocean at all. Except in Hawaii, and even then I'm always shocked that the water is salty; so clear and blue, it looks like it should taste like Evian.

Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns? No. Other people have received them and shared, but never was one given directly to me. I don't much like popcorn, anyway.

Have you ever been to a planetarium? Yes indeed! The one in the Museum of Natural History in San Francisco. I loved it! Twice!

Do you re-use towels after you shower? I use the same towels until either they smell (which takes a couple of weeks) or until Grandmother changes them (which happens rather more frequently). I've never understood about changing your towels every day, since I only use them to dab clean water off my clean person. It's the dampness that makes them smell, and if your bathroom is ventilated properly, it should take a while for the damp to take root.

Some things you are excited about? I haven't been excited about anything in weeks. I got very excited about my Halloween costume, which was a great success, and before that I was excited about a job prospect that didn't pan out and was a great disappointment. I don't get excited much, and can't think of a single thing to be excited about right now.

What is your favorite flavor of JELL-O? Raspberry.

Describe your keychain(s)? "Boring" just about covers it. Two keys to the house, a big fat black-handled key to the car, a black car-remote fob, and a little blue rubber tag from the car dealership.

Where do you keep your change? I put it in my pocket, then when I get home, I leave it in my pocket, where it either falls out on the floor or comes out in the wash. Sometimes, if I remember, I put it in the ashtray of the car for use at parking meters. Sometimes if I have a lot of change, I'll put it in this green bowl I have near the door in my room. And when I clean, I pick up all the coins that have fallen out of my pockets and put it in a coffee-can. Last time I emptied the coffee can, I made $173 at the Coinstar.

When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people? How large is "large"? I speak at AA meetings all the time (or rather, I used to, when I went to meetings regularly, a habit I have woefully fallen out of), and that's usually about twenty guys or more. A couple of years ago, I read the Promises at the Living Sober Conference, which was just over a thousand people, but I was reading rather than speaking. I can't think of much else.

What kind of winter coat do you own? I have a few, for different kinds of winter. For real winter weather, the serious cold-and-wet-and-windy, I have a big blue parka, hip-length treated cotton with a quilted flannel lining and attached hood; for less severe or specific kinds of weather, I also have a flannel-lined camel microfiber trenchcoat, a green GoreTex raincoat, and a brown suede motorcycle jacket.

What was the weather like on your graduation day? From high school? Sunny and warm. From University? Partly cloudy and cool.

Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed? Closed. I like my privacy when I'm nude, and I usually sleep nude.

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So there you go, another set of completely useless information about me. I feel better! Don't you?

Now for something we'll all enjoy (I found this picture last week and fell in love with it, I even use it as my message-board avatar):

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