What's In Your Party Wardrobe? A Set of Horns?

I ran into my downstairs neighbor today at the train stop. She is finishing grad school at the Art Institute and was talking about her job search. She went to a job fair in New York, where she said she interviewed with a lot of intimidating art people.

"You know, Orlan?" she asked.
"No," I said.
"Well, she reconstructed her face with plastic surgery and gave herself horns. Her hair is like 'Bride of Frankenstein'. And I sat across from her at the job fair and was all, 'I do landscapes.'" (She said this with total embarassment.)
I said, "Well, it sounds like it was hard to take her seriously!"
I should have said: "It sounds like you dodged a bullet!"

Another friend of mine recently (around X-mas) was arrested for biking with a keg while he was dressed up like Santa. And, he's Jewish.

Enough said about that.

Finally, I broke my Frankenstomach frankenfast of two days without coffee. I realized that I was just too out of it without the caffeine. However, I decided that I'm not allowed to drink coffee on the train. I spilled on my pants (dry clean only), my sweater (white), and my fake zebra skin iPod cover. Mostly, I was concerned about the fake zebra skin - you can't wash that shit! But much to my surprise, fake zebra skin absorbs coffee without a trace. Who knew? Note to self: incorporate more fake zebra skin into polyester-stocked party wardrobe.

Frankenstomach

I've been suffering from a mild flu-bug/stress stomach over the past couple of days. This frankenstomach has no friends, and friends of the special sort that I seem to favor - namely - cheese, coffee, caramel, and spicy foods. Boo! I mean, how much chicken soup and yogurt can one person eat?!?! Both the frankenstomach and the modified diet makes a grumpy Miz M indeed.

All news is not bad though - I had a lovely weekend. I spent a ton of time outside, riding my bike, rollerblading, reading books outside with Mr. D. - I even grilled burgers and veggies in my special marinade. Spring in Chicago is lovely and manic and good.

Spring Shine

Rode my bike to work for the first time in 2007 - !
The temperature was great for riding - sunny, 50s, and no breeze. I saw the usual excitement - some dude repainting a fence along the lake for the park district - with no shirt and some shorts! Someone is ready for summer - haaaaay! (But, hello? It's 50 degrees?)

It takes me an hour to ride my bike to work - an hour! While that is a great workout, and allows me to consume insane quantities of Chinese food at lunch, it can also be pretty tedious and tiring. While trying to plan alternate routes due to "three-track" construction (end result: same commute with a reason to leave work early sometimes...) I discovered a CTA/bicycle hybrid route to work. However, the whole maneuver of putting one's bike on the bicycle rack on the front of the bus seems slightly intimidating. I ordered a flyer from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation so I can study it before my attempt. But if that works out, maybe I can get to work without sore legs and sweating profusely!

This weekend I plan on getting my tan on, vegging out by the lake, and possibly drinking some beers. I'm going out to celebrate my cousins' birthdays, and spending some time with Mr. D. It's called Spring, and that's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Da Good Vibes

It's spring, and it seems like a lot is happening with everyone with the (slow) increase in temperature and (occasional) appearance of sunshine.

A couple items to note:

- a good friend of mine is having some relatively major/minor surgery today so send "da good vibes" to her

- spent the weekend in my hometown catching up with people and hanging out with my parents. I got a good long motorcycle ride in with my dad, which was fantastic. I really love riding on the back of a motorcycle because I always notice things more clearly - the pattern of the clouds, the sparkles on the river, the quintessential craggly tree on the edge of a farm field. It seems odd to appreciate nature so much from a roaring, speeding motorcycle, but it really is rejuvenating to me

- finally, as an homage to my impending life change, I'd like to note some daily details that may reveal my mixed feelings on the subject. Chalk one up for the pro-leaving side: the one working elevator in my office building has a pee stain in it

Pasta Version of "Loaves and Fishes"

It feels like a Friday, as the days of the week are stretching out endlessly into the cold weather and cloudy spring. I ate another meal of the pasta version of "loaves and fishes" - a pasta dish I prepared with Mr. D for dinner on Saturday night, along with our Easter foods of mac & cheese and cupcakes. I am only reminded of the neverending food of the "loaves & fishes" because I cooked the entire box of pasta, and the zucchini/pasta leftovers have created a seemingly endless number of meals since.

This week, I saw my old housemate from my study abroad tour in Barcelona! I was apprehensive (as we hadn't seen each other in six years!) but we had a fantastic time. We had a lot to talk about - grad school, travelling, boyfriends, world religions - and I felt both a sense of continuity of the past as well as looking brightly ahead into the future.

There's A Broke-Ass Fridge Too

Remember the "Fridge Smellification Committee" that I started at work?

Well, here is an email regarding the state of our broke-ass fridge sent by one of my colleagues at work today. I'm glad to see that my legacy will carry on after I leave my job.
-----------------------

Esteemed colleagues:

The refridgerator REEKS. Please take a minute to clear out anything that is yours and past the point of tolerable smellification levels. Don't think you have anything in there that's smelly?... That is probably why it smells so bad. For the sake of those of whose offices are situated within close olfactory range of the fridge, check it even if you think you are not at fault.

I thank you. The now delicate state of my smellification system thanks you.

xxxxxxx

Oh behalf of all those offended

Broke-ass Building

I'm not talking about moola, no, but rather my office building. The building where I work is "ghetto" as we used to say in my high school. The building is probably over 50% vacant, probably because nothing works, especially the elevators. I mentioned the "elevator creeps" in a previous post, but right now the biggest creeps are the building managers and building owner. Out of four public elevators, only one has been working most days. And by "working", I mean you still take your life in your hands - mental clanking and pinging, elevators that don't stop on certain floors, or ALWAYS stop on certain floors (floor 9) because one of the call buttons is broken. They have someone coming in to "fix" the elevators just about every other day and they still never work. It's ridiculous.

As if that wasn't enough, everything inside our office is broken too. We haven't had a copier or printer for at least two weeks. Or a postage meter. I have outdated postcard stamps hidden in my desk (23 cents) and can make essential copies of letters on the fax machine. Letterhead? Forget it! I'll just draw our logo on some legal paper. It's too bad that mental telepathy isn't more widespread because that sure would save a lot of hassle to just be able to mentally copy and fax this stuff instead of getting so frustrated with this crappy junk that doesn't work.

The New Bikini Wireless

Things have calmed down a bit at the end of the week - thank goodness! I've had to adjust my commute, my work environment, and my work projects for the next few months all this week. Damn! Now I'm mentally adjusting to my new routine (or the idea thereof) which has given me some ideas on how to make my *last* summer in Chicago a lot more fun.

I'll be doing a lot of writing for the next few months for work and so I think I may have to set up a satellite office... hmm, maybe on North Avenue beach! Huzzah! Bikini Wireless! Suntan report. Can I write about water quality while drinking margaritas???

So I made the official annoucement today at lunch. Surprisingly, my eyes welled up with tears - I guess I still have some mixed feelings about leaving Chicago. But, it is a huge relief to have it out in the open now and not have to worry all the time about being discreet about my plans. Phew.

The Cat Will Soon Be Out of the Bag!

I have decided to go to graduate school in North Carolina. Hooray! I'm happy with my decision, and now feel I can go about life for the next four months at least at peace with my next move in life. Phew! My family and many of my friends now know, and I make the official announcement today to my coworkers. I'm sure it will cause some degree of hub-bub, but hey -

On to other things -
I've had to adjust my commute this week because of the crazy broke-*ss CTA, but it hasn't been so bad. I've been able to make up some interesting stories about those folks that ride the Blue Line from Bucktown, and I find that commuting on hours that are slightly off have made it bearable.

Easter is coming up and I'm planning to rock a purple church hat on Sunday. I just wish I had some gloves to really pull off the church lady look. Oh well - it'll be freezing cold anyway so dress gloves would maybe have to be tossed for snow gloves anyway.