…the ground beneath your feet… Thursday, Jan 31 2008

Ahoy there!

This just in- I has a roommate! Her name is Kristen and she accepted my offer at 8 pm today. Hoorah! I am very happy because she was pretty much the only person I met in my search that I thought I could easily live with. And she was the very first one to come see the place, too. I’m telling you, it was just like the Christmas tree…

Anyway, she’s 28 and blonde and from the Midwest somewhere, and works a 9 to 5 job like a normal person. She’s coming by this weekend with the deposit, and then I will feel confident in my roommate-finding ability.

This weekend is also the weekend that Dan is moving out. The piano went away yesterday morning. My living room looks positively cavernous now. It’s gonna be even worse when the couch and coffee tables go. So sad..

I was gonna have a party for Groundhog Day, but that got cancelled, what with the moving. It seemed rude to throw a party as the trucks are driving away. I think I will instead have a “no roommate” party sometime in the next two weeks, as Kristen will not be moving in until the end of February. There will be lots of room for a dance floor.

I’m gonna miss MoMo. And the DVD player. Gonna have to get a new one. How else am I gonna indulge my new obsession?

Oh, have I even mentioned my new obsession? Well, aside from samurai movies. I am also hooked into the BBC series “ROME”. Oh, Man, it’s good! I am enjoying it throughly, and I’m only two episodes in. God bless the British.

Today was frustrating. First thing, I had a meeting with the director for the big spring UYT show. She didn’t want to just hire me sight unseen, which I guess is fair, but it still feels like I’m interviewing for a job that I ought to already have. . . Anyway, she wanted to meet me and see my portfolio. So I had to get up early and trudge my big black folder up to Times Square at 10 am this morning. The building we met in was above the Hard Rock Cafe, and it was one of these where they check your ID when you walk in, and it’s like a bazillion stories tall, with big GOLD elevators. Could it have -been- more intimidating? Maybe, but not by much. Thank you, New York.

I mean, the meeting went just fine, I suppose. I was dressed nice (though not super sharp, as I had to go to my dayjob right after), and I feel like I said all the things I was supposed to say.  I was kind of excited to show my portfolio- almost nobody has seen it since I got here, as people mostly have just hired me off my resume or on a recommendation. But course, now that I look at it everything seems crude, because it’s almost two years old now and my rendering skills have improved so exponentially since then. But it is what it is. I brought my laptop with pics of my more recent stuff on it too, and we spent a lot of time looking at that. And I told her about what it was like working with the kids, and how I help them with their makeup and tell them they do not look fat. She seemed glad to hear that. So that all want well.

But she did say at the end of the meeting that she was still talking to people and that she would be in touch. Which worries me, but I did my best and that’s all I can do. If she hires someone else she is a fool and that is not my fault.

But that’s the sort of day I had.

I opened up what I thought was a check from NYU today, that turned out to be a 1099. Which, you know, I do need, but not quite as urgently as I need that check.

It’s been a stressful week. I’ve had to wait for people a lot, and all of my electronic equipment is threatening to fail me at any time. It makes me want to break something. Something I’m not likely to need later. Gah.

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…I thought I heard the shuffle of angel’s feet… Tuesday, Jan 29 2008

So I started my roommate search today- well, I guess I technically started yesterday when I posted my ads, but today was the first day I had people over to look at the place. The first lady I saw was super sweet and I really liked her, and if I don’t meet anybody Magical I will probably offer her the room. The second lady was nice enough, but I wasn’t feeling as comfortable with her and it made me babble a lot. So… yeah. But I have like, five people coming to see the place on Wednesday. One of them at 9 am because that was the only time she could do it. Oh well.

It would be weird if roommates were like Christmas trees. If you understand what I mean by that you are also awesome.

Thursday I have a 10 am meeting with the director of the big Spring UYT show. She wants to see my portfolio! Nobody has actually asked to see it yet, I’m sort of excited. Usually I have to force it upon unsuspecting visitors. I feel sort of bad that I have not updated it at all since I got here, but I can bring my computer and show her new stuff if she’d rather see that than my school projects..

Speaking of… I think the fan on my laptop is broken. And it’s way in the deep recesses of the machine, so I don’t wanna open it up and see if I can tinker with it because there is too much important looking stuff in the way. Curses!

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…stand in the place where you live… Thursday, Jan 24 2008

Oh man I have had such a good day.

So today was my last morning at NYU this time around. I spent it sanding chairs because the designer thought the finish was too dark.  It was stupid, but whatever. Now I just hope I get the checks in time to pay my bills…

Then this afternoon, I had my meeting with the landlord. I got just dressed up enough that I felt good about myself, but not so much that it looked like I really dressed up. It’s a fine balance. Anyway, it went as well as I could have possibly wanted. They didn’t even do a credit check or ask about a cosigner or nothin’. They said, “Oh, you’ve already been there since last March, and you’re employed? Have some paperwork.” Also it was super busy in the office because they just moved and one of the guys was out on vacation, and I think the fact that I was waiting all patiently and stuff worked to my advantage, because they were super nice to me.

And honestly, I think it helped that I am a moderately attractive white girl and I was all on time and looked nice. I gots the female privilege, but I know when to use it..

It was way smooth because Dan’s lease was up this month anyway, so all he had to do was sign a form via email. They kept all the terms of his lease, and they didn’t even raise the rent! They just told me that if I renew next year they can legally charge me a certain percentage more, blah blah. Still super cheap for what it is. And here I thought rent stabilized apartments were an urban myth! Well, it ain’t no myth, ‘cos I’m living in one, babies! Holy crap! I cannot BELIEVE how lucky I am.

Yeah, so as of Feb 1st I am a leaseholder, and thus I have attained another rung on the perilous ladder of grownupedness. Whoohoo!

Now I have to find another roommate, and I guess that’s the next scary thing. Gonna sit down and write a nice craigslist ad tomorrow. But now I shall have the power! Bwhahahaha! I’m excited. Now that I feel like the place is mine, I can Really get all decoratery. And I’m gonna move myself to the bigger room  down the hall once Dan moves out. It will be all the fun of moving into a new place, without the woes of packing up to move out of the old.

The other good thing to happen today is that I went to pick up my check at my dayjob, and while I’m there my boss mentioned that it was my anniversary. I have been there a whole year! So we had a little meeting in which he told me I was awesome and I got a 50 cent raise. Which, you know, is little, but that stuff adds up. Hooray!

A good day was had by me! Let us hope such days continue.

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…but if I did they’d have a samurai… Tuesday, Jan 22 2008

Ey-o y’all,

So yesterday was my very first day off since new year’s day, and I am proud to say that I did absolutely jack. I stayed at home in my skivvies and watched me a Kurosawa film. The Seven Samurai, to be exact. I picked up the netflix envelope and I says to myself, “Mr. Akira! At 3 hours 45 mins this had better be some darn good stuff.” And it was. This black and white classic did not disappoint. Freakishly Fantastic, in fact! One might even go so far as to say Magnificent (haha, get it?Huh? Do ya? Huh?). Anyway, I loved it so much that I am now a fan and must acquire me some more samurai movies.

This above paragraph was originally composed with many swear words. But being that this is a family operation, I have since censored it a little. You may make the appropriate substitutions forthwith. Or not, as is your pleasure.

This week looks to be stressful. Massive painting emergencies abound, for which I have been hired extra days to fill the cracks. Sometimes literally. Again.

There’s a terrible joke here, that I will neglect to tell. Family operation! Alas.

Suffice it to say that there’s no excuse for me.

Also this week I have a meeting with the landlord, in which I shall proffer my paystubs and hope he won’t notice my ID has expired. Oh, and convince ‘em that I am a responsible adult and they should let me sign the lease and get on with my life. Once I do that I can begin my massive roommate search.

I’m nervous because this is either going to be super easy or a massive pain in the ass, and there’s not much I can do to tip the scale and there’s no way to predict which way it’s gonna go..

Ahhhhh! Being a grownup is hard! If the recreational activities weren’t so massively superior, I might reconsider the whole thing..

I have been most lax in my drawing every day streak. My AMM ‘08 sketchbook is shamefully sparse. But I have been writing every day, so I am at least getting a certain sort of artistic practice in. Perhaps I shall decide this new development is acceptable.

Wish me luck with the landlord!My appointment is on Thursday.

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…on his Italian leather sofa… Sunday, Jan 13 2008

So my weeks of painting continue, and I have been consistently smelly. I did a load of laundry yesterday and it felt life changing.

This set is a very boring one to paint. It is the interior of a really modern minimalistic apartment, and so it is all smooth white walls. It requires many many hours of puttying and sanding, followed by many many coats of white-on-white paint. I swear I have trouble seeing after an hour or two of that.

Mind you, rollering on smooth smooth coats of paint does take a surprising amount of skill. But it is very boring. I will be happy when there is something else to do.

The charge painter dude on the other show did tell me that he wished I was in charge of the show I’m helping out with, rather than the bratty grad student I’m currently working under. Which made me feel sort of good, like maybe once this annoying person graduates they might put me in charge of something. And that would be pretty cool.
This particular student is the same cheezeball that implied I was unskilled labor on the last show I did there. Just to give you a clue as to why this person is kind of a brat. Anyway, it seems they stuck me with her because I’m the only one who can stand being in the room with her all day, ironically enough. It’s sad, because she could be a decent person to know if she wasn’t so accidentally condescending.
Oh well. She’ll be gone forever, come May.

So the other big stressor in my life… My roommate called me up during my lunchbreak the other day to tell me that he is moving out. In February. Which is like, two weeks away. Holey rusted metal, Batman! He’s gonna try to get me on the lease and stuff, so’s all I have to do is find a new roommate. And, you know, BUY SOME FURNITURE. Because pretty much anything not in my own room is his. The tables, the couch, the TV, the kitchen shelving… Also all those beautiful pots and pans will go away…

I’m stressed because it is so short notice, and also I have yet to speak to him face to face about it, as we are NEVER home at the same time. I’m sure I’ll feel better once we do that and I get some of my questions answered. ‘Cos right now I have no idea wot’s going on..

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…girl with a bird, she found in the snow… Saturday, Jan 5 2008

Oh, man. I am so sore. If I don’t convince someone to give me a massage tomorrow I might have to send Sunday in Bed, and not in the good way..

So my Scenic Art job started on Wednesday, and, much as I predicted, there is no actual painting involved at first, just prep work. But what prep work! We have to put a crapton of joint compound on these flats because the designer wants the whole set to be Perfectly Smooth. All right, whatever. It’s a pain in the ass under normal circumstance, but not entirely crazy. What’s crazy about this is that these flats we have to putty and sand are on the CEILING. That means putty, sand, and eventually paint, Above our Heads.

Yesterday I spent on a scaffold on my back with a face mask scraping white goo onto the wall. Today I spent on the same scaffold on my back with goggles and two, count ‘em, two dust masks, pushing an orbital power sander around while the joint compound shed fine white powder into my every exposed pore.

There’s a crude joke here that I’m not going to tell, because I’m told that people’s moms might read this blog…

Anyway, I got to hear comments about Michaelangelo all day, and my back and neck may go into open revolt soon. Also I really don’t want to do anything that involves extra wrist movement right now. Do you know how many things you can do at home without moving your wrists? Not much, that’s how many. At least nothing I wanna do for fun, that’s sure. Curses!

Well, on the plus side, one of my new year’s resolutions was to gain some more upper body strength. Looks like I’ll be well on my way to that by the end of next week. By the time this job is over I’m gonna be frikkin’ Ripped.

The kittycats are getting along so great since the vacation that I have moved Iso’s food dish into the kitchen with the other cat’s. Big drama at my house! Life is so exciting.

My new happy hour drink is whisky and ginger ale. It is delicious. I do Declare!

Also it seems I am a nerd.

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