Friday, May 05, 2006

It Was Impossible For Me To... (aka Not So-lame)

... rent my apartment (although still up in the air will this ever end!? and why do I have to pay all of May even though someone will be living there?), get my eyeglasses refund, get my tax refund, and get Radiohead tickets in the same week.

I swear the tickets sold out in approximately one second.

I'd hatched an elaborate scheme in which D and I would both attempt to get tickets by computer, work phone, and cell phone (in my case) at exactly 10:00 am. "Make sure you are at your desk at 10! Call if you get the tickets."

D kept saying "I really don't think it's going to sell out..."

"Look, it is going to sell out. It will sell out in five minutes."

"No, it won't. I don't think anyone knows about this."

"Everyone knows about this! It's all over every blog out there!"

I finally conceded and said that the 5-prong approach to getting tickets was of use because we would be assured actual seats and not have to stand. D was sold.

But it didn't matter, because there were no tickets remaining at 10:01.

I am sad, but things are otherwise acceptable. The weather is nice, it is the weekend, experiments are working, I am going to go to bed early tonight...

And D and I went to The Cirque last night in a rare example of my weilding my girlfriendly powers of coercion.

Half way through the first act, D leaned over and whispered "This is fucking rad!" and I thought "Oh how I love this boy."

We took the ferry to and from the Cirque, and ooh-ed and aah-ed over the skyline.

I do appreciate the wonders of digital photography and the fact that everyone can develop their photographic skills, but dear god must people ruin everything with their cameras? The dark ferry ride back to 34th Street was tained by every third person with his or her digital camera popping flashes every two seconds. I wanted to kill everyone.

I am looking forward to the weekend, although not to tonight when I succomb to the boyfriendly powers of coercion and attend a Cinco de Mayo party (and yes, I have had the Liz Phair song in my head all day and it will not go away!) that I have no desire to go to. I had no desire to go even before I learned that VB will be in attendance. Tomorrow will be unpacking and breakfast and a free movie and another party I'm not terribly excited about but I have duties to perform. Hopefully there will be time for the flea market and a moment to gawk at David Blaine in the bubble. Sunday will be sleeping in (!) and then nothing in particular other than possibly performing more girlfriendly duties that involve an hour plus train ride to NJ to meet a friend who is an email-once-a-month friend to whom he is not close but "I want you to meet her!" so I guess I have to. Maybe a movie. Maybe laundry. Maybe a doughnut. Maybe groceries. Ah, groceries, it's been too long.

Until Monday...

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Impossible

I had a change of heart last week and decided that I wasn't jealous that D gets to go to the Mission Impossible 3 premier because I was, in all honesty, thrilled by the idea of being in my apartment alone! All by myself! With spare hours to clean the bathroom and find receipts and go through photos and organize books and watch my very own DVDs by myself! Yeah!!!

I have very much been looking forward to a night alone, a night on which I will be able to go to bed at 10 pm after sitting in bed eating cookies and watching Breakfast On Pluto, which has been sitting, unopened, in its red Netflix envelope for a week.

Oh yes, the idea of going to be early has sustained me today, as I go through the day in delirium interrupted only by the occasional energy brought upon by trying to conjure up a phone call from The Management or The Potential Tenant.

D sent me an email this afternoon indicating that he may not be going to the premier, because it starts later than he thought - in that, he is supposed to meet his friend at 6:00 but the movie doesn't start until 9:30 and this is not something he is terribly interested in.

I tried to convince him that this was interesting! A great opportunity! Tom Cruise! With bangs! What fun! And the movie will be free! Yes! YAY! Rah!

I then convinced myself that it wouldn't be the end of the world if he didn't go, because we could, together, get the apartment a bit in order after last night's book/CD explosion and then we could watch separate movies and be alone but together.

He appeared a few moments ago and said "Well, we're going to head up there and see what's going on and if its at 9:30 we're going to bail and hang out... we'll probably just come back to the apartment and just chill out and listen to music or something."

OH NO YOU WILL NOT!

I didn't say that, of course, because the first time these sorts of things happen you don't really know what to say because you hadn't realized that these sorts of things could become issues.

I said "Oh... ok... well... you know... I am going to be early. Like really. early. And if you're going to hang out at the apartment... can you just call me so I'm not, like, in my pajamas or something? Yeah... can you just call me?" instead of saying "Could you guys maybe go out for a drink? I'd really like to be alone. And unconscious as soon as possible."

Ugh. Hopefully he'll call either way at which time I can say "Hey - why don't you two go grab a drink somewhere not in the apartment?"

Yeah. I'll totally say that. Right. Wish me luck.

Suspense

OH MY GOD why can't anyone just PLEASE call me to tell me what is going on with the apartment!??! WHY WHY WHY!?!?

D said that nobody is calling because they are all busy signing leases and having copies of keys made, etc.

I hope this is the case.

The management gushed today when I called to see if they talked to Potential Tenant. They adored him. They were anxiously awaiting the arrival of his credit report and would call me as soon as they knew anything.

The Potential Tenant said that he was on "pins and needles" waiting for any news... he asked that I think positively and told me he'd get back to me as soon as he knew anything.

I have no reason to think positively about this. Nothing positive has happened yet. Tenants have been denied, people have lied, doors have been broken by realtors, people don't call me back, there is really no reason to think positively.

Why oh why will they not just call me?

I can't take it.

I warned D that there may be tears if this doesn't work out.

I am so very tired.

Senile

Speaking of being senile, en route to work this morning whilst alternatingly daydreaming about Ethan Hawke (somehow encountering my blog and listening to the song I wrote about him and contacting me and then becoming my dear dear friend) and fantasizing about my stupid old apartment being rented, I managed to completely walk by the subway.

I walked two entire long blocks extra across this beloved island before realizing I'd gone completely out of my way.

Sleep - I miss you ever so.

Geography

National Geographic came out with a survey about the world and American kids aged 18 - 24 performed poorly.

I took the questionnaire, and everything was fine, but it is occurring to me that I know absolutely nothing about geography. Nothing! I don't know where anything is. If I am looking at a map I can pick things out, but if I try to imagine in my head which country El Salvador is I have absolutely no idea. I might know where it is in relationship to other countries, maybe, but unto itself? No clue.

I have never been good at geography. And since I am getting dumber with time and have Alzheimer's and can't remember anything I read or see and can't even remember what entire books or movies were about (for example, the other day I had to ask D what 2046 was about because yes, I saw it, but I can't remember anything about it), things are getting much worse.

I hate that my mind is going. I used to be smart. I was a smart kid. I was smart in college. As soon as I hit the real world, the dumbing began. I instantly forgot everything I had learned. I can't remember song lyrics. I can't remember where restaurants are. I can't remember what happened in the news a week ago. I can't remember what I read three seconds after reading it. I can't remember entire books. I will remember if I liked them or not, but can I quote from a movie? Absolutely not. I can't remember what normality is. I surely can't remember how to calculate it. I can't remember neuroscience. I can't remember who directed what movie. I'm not even good at the Kevin Bacon game anymore. I can't remember what words mean. I used to be complimented on my vast vocabulary. Now I have to ask D what he's talking about because I'm not sure what his words mean.

I have, however, evolved an uncanny ability to remember what people say. I can also remember movie times and dates, but only dates in the future. If I know something is happening in the future on a particular date, awesome. If it already happened? It's as though it never happened at all.

I don't know if this is because I am getting older or because I can't focus as much as I used to or because there is just too much information in my brain or, most likely, because I am not sleeping enough and am in a daze a majority of the time. Or maybe things are spread too thin. I think this is it. I think there is so much going on in the world, so much stimulus, that I don't concentrate on any one thing and therefore don't commit anything at all to memory and therefore can't incorporate anything that happened or was learned into my neurons.

Sometimes I actually worry that there is something wrong with my brain.

Mostly I'm just embarrassed and keep quiet and don't participate in conversations that involve trivia or politics or news.

I'm a sham.

I'm a scam.

I have everyone fooled, and I'd be lying if I said that I don't worry that someday D will find out. There will come a day when our child is doing homework and asks me to point out Azerbaijan and I will have no idea, and D will walk out immediately. He will be disappointed. He will feel fooled.

I've become more conceptual with time. I definitely want to make crafts instead of learning about my field. I want to sit on the grass reading fiction instead of reading nonfiction, which I will forget instantly. I want snippets instead of depth. I'd rather talk to a friend for two hours than read The New York Times. Not that I ever read The Times, but people do, and I feel stupid for not reading it.

I have no idea what's going on in the world. I've been so out of touch since the move. It is atrocious how unconnected I am right now.

I've been staring at maps all day, trying to remember where things are. I am wondering why so many mountain ranges begin with "A." Is this on purpose? I am trying to memorize things I will have forgotten by tonight.

Ugh.

Terrible, terrible, terrible.

More later.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Showtime, Synergy

Instead of showing the accursed apartment last night, I opted to take a break and dine with my friend J.

When J and I get together, we eat too much and drink even more. We split a bottle and salad and cheese plate and bread pudding. We devoured baguette. I accidentally ate meat because there was meat in one of the breads in the bread basket, but did I care? No, because I was happy drunk.

Which resulted in my taking the wrong train home. I wasn't thinking. I was on auto pilot, and therefore heading, apparently, to my old apartment.

I realized as soon as I got on the train that I was on the wrong train. It's not that I was on the wrong train - I was just on an express train that wouldn't stop at the closest stop to my apartment.

I got off at the stop nearest to my apartment and exited on the northwest side of the street, and then proceeded to walk south... to MY OLD APARTMENT.

It took me two blocks to realize that I was going the wrong way.

As soon as I realized what I was doing, I smiled and basically started running home because I thought "Wait! Yay! I live with D! And D is there, at my apartment, waiting for me! I can see him very soon!"

I literally ran.

And when I walked in, I fell all over him and smiled and thought "This is how it will be once my life is back to normal and I don't have to be a realtor by night."

Scientist by day, rock star... er... realtor by night. Heh.

Please

Is it asking too much of the gods-of-things-actually-working-out-and-not-being-a-total-pain that both the shelves and CD cabinet be delivered as scheduled and that my apartment be rented all in the same day?!

Oh please, please, please make this the best day ever. Please.

A hyper-enthusiastic guy sent me not one but three emails last night, begging me to show him the apartment. When I got off the phone with him after a 20 minute conversation, I said "That was the guy who is going to live in my old apartment. I just know it." I begged D to show it to him at 8:00 am today. I said "This guy is overeager. He wants the apartment this minute. If we show it to him first thing in the morning, he will get the ball rolling immediately and will be living there by the end of tomorrow. I just know it. This guy is motivated. He has follow-through ability."

"What about that other girl?"

"Screw that other girl! She didn't follow through! She's irresponsible. I can tell these things about people! She is not going to get her ass in gear to apply for the apartment. This is the guy."

D, bless him, agreed to show the apartment.

I said "Look, I know it's early in the morning, but I swear this guy is going to take it. He is going to be there at 8:00, but I have a feeling he's actually going to show up at 7:20. I can just tell."

At 7:30 this morning D's phone rang, and it was the guy, saying that he was already at the apartment.

I knew it!

D claimed that the guy wanted the apartment and that he was headed directly over to the management post-viewing.

I called the guy at around noon. He was amidst trying desperately to get all of his paperwork in order - proof of employment, W-2's, all the nonsense required to live in New York City. He said that if they gave him the apartment, that he would take it.

He also said that he was going to try to talk them down on the rent and that he was still going to look at a few more places this afternoon and that he would call me when he knew what was going on.

He hasn't called.

I am freaking out.

What if they were distressed by his trying to talk them down on the rent and they are not giving him the apartment just to spite him?

What if he found a better apartment?

What if he was run over by a bus on the way to the office?

WHY ISN'T HE CALLING ME!?!??!?

I hate dealing with strangers. Seriously. I finally had a good feeling about someone and now this! How can I trust anyone? How can I trust what people tell me? So many people have claimed to be "definitely taking the apartment" and still nobody has!

Please please please let this guy take the apartment so that this nonsense can be over.

Update:

The shelves and cabinets have arrived, which means that the apartment will not be rented. I figured, at best, we'd get 2 out of 3. Ugh.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Living

Genre: Emo
Date: 4.21.06



Description:

"Music is fiction."

Right.

Living together is a big transition.

It's been good. It just wasn't for a moment, and MG didn't answer the phone because she was at a diner, so during that moment I wrote this song, while he ran and showered and existed without realizing that I was freaking out and missing him even though he was physically closer than ever. So the song, of course, is fictitious, but inspired by true events.

It's mostly inspired by (and is a homage to) the Liz Phair song "Go On Ahead" from Whitechocolatespaceegg, which is one of the best songs ever written, in my humble and currently drunken opinion, and has been going through my head non-stop since the cohabitation began, not because it's accurate, but because it's good and is relevant without actually being relevant.

This song, however, is not good. I wrote and recorded it in about 30 minutes, while realizing that it's hard to write and record songs when you have a roommate who might care about the songs' content.

I'm not going to write anymore because I feel like I am going to slur my typing too so here you go.

Lyrics:

It wasn't in order to get less of you
It wasn't in order to make less of us
Not to be business partners
Not to stop drowning in duplicates
Not to self destruct

It wasn't in order to feel alone
It wasn't in order to be on my own
Not to have the most sparkly
Windows on the island
Not to write sad songs

Not to go to sleep without saying goodnight
Not to not go to sleep at all
Not to wish for information
Or smiles and kisses
Not for convenience
It's for you
To be nearer to you
It's to be nearer to you

Not Crying At Work

I am in a much better mood today.

Things that improve moods include:

1. Friends who answer the phone when you really need them to
2. Talking
3. Remembering that people are not psychic
4. Talking more
5. Being nice to each other
6. Sharing burdens
7. Enthusiastic people in your old apartment
8. People being nice about your old apartment
9. Meeting cool people in your old apartment
10. Meeting cool people while accompanied by your boyfriend in your old apartment
11. Getting New York history lessons in your old apartment
12. People following through on your old apartment (although this is merely a guess, as this has yet to happen despite being promised over and over again)
13. Superballs being located
14. Trees
15. Sun
16. Stars
17. More than 8 hours sleep
18. Perfectly scrambled eggs
19. Family
20. Getting out of the city
21. Exciting news
21. Doing laundry together
22. Not actually taking a nap
23. Experiments working when they really need to
24. Clive Owen
25. Not feeling alone

Things are better today because things aren't just mine anymore, which is one of the main points, right?

Until tomorrow...