Some Random Thoughts For Friday

I am really sad about Anna Nicole. I don't know why. We all saw it coming. It makes me really sad, though, because she's the sort of person who kept trying and kept trying, in her own weird way, and ultimately failed because of being judged by this world.

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The weather is still out of control, and I nearly screamed this morning when the light changed just as I got to the crosswalk and I was expected to stand still for a complete round of traffic. The horror, the horror.

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The weekend is going to be busy busy. I was looking forward to burying myself under blankets and comforters and reading The Voice and fiction. Alas, tonight is drinks and dinner and tomorrow will be brunch and a movie and a museum and a show at Webster Hall and then more drinks. Sunday will be a movie and then buying stupid frames and then starting the car because it might be frozen and then some sort of road trip, and hopefully another movie. I guess that whole saving money thing only worked for a little while.

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Although, I feel like its ok to spend money during one's birthday month. Well, I'll spend a lot of money next weekend for the party and during Sister's stay here, but then, after that, no money will be spent. Actually, I probably won't spend much money because I'll be in MA the next two weekends.

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I wrote a letter to the hotel we stayed in at Portland voicing my concerns over something sketchy they did. I didn't ask for anything, I merely asked that they not do this to future people who stay there. The general manager left me a voicemail late yesterday wanting to talk about our experience, and that is enough for me. I don't even need to call him back, because it pleases me that he actually read the letter and actually cared enough to call. I will, of course, call, and it will be awkward and weird and will hopefully result in some sort of credit. We'll see.

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Speaking of writing letters, I went out to dinner with some girlfriends last night and one of them recently took a class at a reputable school in the city. One of her fellow students disliked the professor, and basically told him that she couldn't work with him and demanded that he leave the class. And you know what? He did! I said "Did you complain?" The friend who took the class is very meak and non-assertive, and of course hadn't said anything. I would have been outraged. Can you imagine paying for a class and not really getting a class? Can you imagine being paid to teach a class and not teaching it because a student asked you not to? Is that even allowed? This deserves at least a letter, but my friend won't do it. I offered to write it for her, but she's not into it. I would be flipping out.

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I'm tired. I got up at 6 am yesterday (D thrashing about looking for running layers so he wouldn't get ice on his body from sweat - the boy is nuts) and went to bed at 12:30 because I wanted to be at least semi-productive after Ethiopian food. I cleaned the bathroom and finished watching The Black Dahlia, which was lame but then I watched the bonus features because they had real photos of the crime and as much as I'd like to say I didn't look at them or find them compelling, that would be a lie.

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I'm stressed at work. There is much work to do before a conference and The Boss, not knowing that my time is limited, isn't really giving me the guidance I need to make progress. It's not his fault, because he doesn't know, but it is hard for me to push myself when I'm not sure what to do and when my motivation isn't good work, but finishing as much as possible to make it easier on other people when I leave.

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The hours have been longer than I'd like, and the work pace is intense. I wouldn't mind if I felt like I was developing my career or en route to a promotion or raise, but this is not the case. Well, I guess I can put all of this stuff on my resume (the poster, the paper) for when I get a science job to make some money post-school, but it's still difficult because my heart isn't in it.

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Another source of stress: art. A friend at work commissioned an art project from me and told me her limit was $100. I was like "Sure, no problem!" and then concocted an art project that would, without my realizing it, cost around $100. It's because its two pieces that go together. If I'd been less ambitious and just done one, fine, $50, no problem! I didn't realize it, and one without the other would be weird so it's not like I can even sell one and give her one. The problems are these:

1. I bought too many supplies for the actual art. So that sucked, and I sent back what I didn't use but only got back $5 after shipping them back to CA. Bad bad bad.

2. The color scheme - I want a maroon-ish matte. Mat? I don't even know. Impossible to buy at stores. Custom-cut in NYC? At least $15 each, which means $30. No way. I found some pre-cut on-line with the right opening size, tried to order them, they would only be $14 with shipping, was thrilled, and then couldn't order them because the minimum order was $100. Ergh. I finally ordered them from Adorama, which is a few blocks from here, and they cost $5 to ship. I figured they wouldn't have them at the store. But that's annoying, and the openings aren't quite the right size so I may have to go back and rework the whole piece.

3. The frame - shadowbox frames are expensive. Who knew? And very hard to come by. Again I tried for a custom frame online but they are pricey and also you have to assemble them yourself, which is not something that I have time for. I looked online and found some at Adorama, so I went to order them and it was going to be an additional $13 to ship them! No way. I went to Adorama on Wednesday straight from work and got there at around 7:30 and they were closed, which upset me because it was freezing and I went half an hour our of my way to go there, twenty minutes of which involved walking outside. I went again last night after work and got there before they closed at 6, but they only had one frame. Bastards! They said they could get one from the wharehouse and have it for me today, but they close at 1:00. Wtf? I can't get there at 1! And they're not open on Saturdays. I am going to go to B&H because I think they have the same ones, so I'll go on Sunday and they better have them or there is going to be a major meltdown.

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Best story of the week: yesterday morning, D was frantically looking for the keys to the CD cabinet. "When was the last time you went into the CD cabinet?" I tried to remember, and thought it was maybe over a week ago. "Did you lock it?" he asked. I explained to him that it never even occurs to me to lock it, because it's not intuitive to me to lock up media (although it should be, because our combined CD/DVD collection is probably worth at least like $10,000). I said "I don't even consciously register that there are keys to the cabinet, so I didn't lock it, nor did I lock it and move the keys." He was freaking out, and said "I wonder if someone broke in while we were gone and locked it and took the keys!" He was totally serious. Totally serious! I was like "I don't think so... you probably just hid them before we went to Portland." He kept insisting that someone broke in and locked the cabinet. He was all "What kind of person would do that?" "Did you check where you usually hide them?" "I just don't remember locking it! I don't think I did!" "But did you check where you usually hide them?" "I don't even know where I usually hide them... I must just be flaking out..." "What about the drawer?" "I think someone stole them!" "Why would someone steal the keys to the CD cabinet and not take anything else, including the laptop?" "I don't know... I can't believe someone did this..." And then he found the keys on top of the top kitchen cabinet, where he clearly put them because even standing on the counter I couldn't reach that. Hilarious.

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I really should be working. It's going to be a busy afternoon so I'm taking advantage of the chill this morning, and am also still trying to wake up. Have good weekends!