February 7, 2008

• Good Things

  This blog’s been gloomy. I won’t deny that I’ve been battling gloom for the past few months, but this afternoon I was happy all at once. There are lots of great things happening; I’ve just been a bit numb to them. I felt them for the first time this afternoon.

  When writing about “sudden epiphanies” I know you are supposed to compose a sense memory of that exact moment in time when the realization happened. But I have no such time. I was drinking coffee at my desk, sorting through a list of students who were supposed to receive screenwriting software and suddenly I was able to feel again. I was hungry for the first time in months. I laughed out loud at lame jokes my colleagues told. I came home and went running and I was really, really fast. The happy was just tangible all of a sudden.

  Here is a list of the goodness:

  * The colleague that I sit next to at work recently met the love of his life. Thus, he is stupidly happy and very fun to chit chat with.
  * I’ve started picking away at a short story that I’ve not touched for months. It is funnier than I remembered.
  * The writing workshop that I’m in is keeping me in good practice for when I am an instructor one day; I almost forgot how much I thoroughly enjoy helping others through their writing process.
  * I bought a pair of jeans on Saturday. In girly tradition, I enjoy spinning around in the mirror to check out my ass in them. Not too tight, not too low, and not too short.
  * I am drinking a new tea: Yogi Chi Redbush. Each tea bag tag has a message on it, like a fortune cookie. * * Today’s was “Open your soul and let the universe in.” I laughed out loud.
  * I’ve set aside Tuesday nights, between work and before my 7PM writing workshop as Cafe au Lait time. I like mine in a mug, with extra frothy love and one packet of sugar in the raw. I make final comments/edits on the workshop pieces. I eat a tupperware salad from home for dinner. Sometimes I get a biscotti.
  * Shaun and I have been watching the entire two seasons of Twin Peaks on DVD for the second time over the last few months. We got the DVD set for Christmas. I will never tire of it. Ever.
  * I’ve been listening to a singer who is new to me: Jolie Holland. Her mastery of vocal dynamics and tonality reminds me of Billie Holiday. 
  * One of my new New York friends just scored a job with Sesame Street. Isn’t that amazing? Amazing! She is fabulous. I’m seriously happy for her. I have a brag-worthy friend!
  * All my friends are brag-worthy. I love them!
  * My partner is brag worthy! The comic book guide he frequently freelances for is flying him to the San Francisco Comic Book Convention later this month to cover it. Happy travel. Happy paycheck. He is hyped.
  * Partner’s day job is sending him to DC to lobby on behalf of first amendment rights in early March. I feel good to know that someone as well informed, as smart, and as articulate as he is standing up for these things in our country. We are in capable hands.
  * At a party last Friday, I met someone who runs an interesting small company that organizes book events/readings at cafes, bars, and other non-bookstore places in the city. I’ve applied to help out part time, on evenings and weekends. I love running events. They also sell books at the events, so even if I’m only doing that, it would essentially be going to author readings and getting paid for it just to set up the table and sell the book at the end. Love it! Plus, I am really keen to make a little extra money. Life is expensive here and if I want to save a cent, I need some side work.
  * I sent an invitation to my 16-year old brother to live with us this summer while he attends an art camp. So far, he seems pretty positive about it. I really hope he goes through with the camp application process; I just think that working intensely on his art could be a life changing experience for him. And on a selfish note, I just like having him around. He makes me laugh and I want to show him around.
  * I am planning to go back to MI in May for my cousin’s graduation. I am thinking of driving back so that I can bring my bike here to NYC. My days in Chicago improved ten fold once I stared biking to work. Once you get over the scary, it is fun and way faster than public transit. I sort of worry, though, as I rarely see cars respecting the bike lanes in Midtown. It’s just as well that I won’t have a bike until my health insurance kicks in in March; I may get hit. I shall wear my helmet and do my best to avoid death. Its part of the fun. And probably just as dangerous as many things that happen in a day here. On the upswing, my boss said it would be find for me to keep my bike in our storage space if I wanted to bike in, so I won’t have to worry too much about theft.
  * I’m hopefully entertaining this weekend – the Sesame Street friend and her very cool animator partner. I’m thinking of making them Spinach Pie, which I made when our dear old pal from Glasgow, Susie (she’s originally from Boston), was in town. It was a hit. And very fun to make. Crusts are fun. I shall try it on our new friends.
  * In other cooking related news, I made my peanut-butter date cookies and brought them to work. They were a hit!
  * I’m reading a good book.
  * I renewed my subscription to Bust Magazine.
  * I’ve been cleaning the park on Sundays with Shaun. The park has great potential, but it is a sea of litter. We’ve been collecting returnables there. Its been a while since I’ve lived in a state that had a deposit on cans. 5 cents is not as good as Michigan’s 10 cent return, but it will do. We collected nearly $4 in cans last weekend in an astoundingly short period of time. We are keeping a tally on what kind of cans we find. So far, El Presidente beer is in the lead. I plan on making a map of where different types of bottles can be found. I will mark the spot on the map where I found twenty used condoms and a case of Corona bottles. I will mark the spot where I found the red bull from which a roach scuttled and a slug slithered. It will be an anthropological study/artwork. We’ve been saving the deposit money to give to Shaun’s parents. They keep a bank account called the Grandkids Account. The idea is that the whole family contributes bits of money to the fund. When we all have kids and its time to send them off to college, the fund will be split by however many kids there are. Isn’t is so sweet you could puke? It’s fun, though. I like that family a great deal.

  See? Good things. Also good: Shaun made homemade mac and cheese for dinner. I’m off to eat!

  xo,
  Chicagoartgirl23

  • 8:01 pm
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