and i'm having a bit of hard time with it. i guess i should've expected it...i've been tempted to look for jobs around here instead of in boston, and to contact school and see how hard it would be to transfer for my final year. it's a weird feeling, i've always considered myself to be a pretty independent person, and the last year of long-distance relationshipping (ldr-ing) was hard but not nearly as hard as i had been afraid it would turn out to be. so why am i worried now?
because i'm also excited to leave. part of that is the things i have hanging over my head. looking for a job and an apartment at the same time is hell no matter how you slice it, but to be in the wrong city while cheap studios get taken and interviews get postponed is downright torturous. and despite my mom's conviction that i'm a member of the wait-and-see tribe (thanks, jd!), i actually prefer to go out and get shit done rather than let it get all sword of damocles on me (ok, that was gratuitous, i'm sorry). unless it's a paper for school. those are best left until the last minute, because that's when all the good ideas come out and play.
right, so i was going to use this post-work week to get out there and do a whole bunch of touristy things (climb the monument, go to the zoo, stand in the middle of the city and ask the cool looking people how to get to the jefferson memorial, take pictures of every building i see, eat signature dc foods (coffee and steak? every day? i feel like a lobbyist!), etc.) but now i'm gonna be guilty if i don't actually look for jobs/apartments. there's probably some way to equitably divide these things among the hours of the girlfriend-deprived portion of my day--there are far better ways to spend the hours when she's around, snap!--but all i really want to do is work on my latest story. since i'm basically trapped here with lots of free time, i should take advantage and really try to work through a chapter or three. with nanowrimo coming up fast, it's best to get into practice for 2000 words a day.
on top of all that, there's a very real sense that we've already started saying goodbye. shared glances heavy with significance, more hand-holding, lots of um...intimacy. none of which is bad, mind you. but it's hard to start saying goodbye with a week to go. i almost prefer to ignore it until the day i'm leaving, and then be sad for a day or two (or week, or until the phone sex starts) than to feel it dragging out through every minute we have together. she tries very hard not to be sad when we're apart though, more than i do, so i feel like she deserves a little indulgence. i'm perfectly ok with her sadness schedule. when i get sad and we're apart, i'll almost welcome it. i like a little melancholy now and then to spice things up--have a glass of bourbon, put on some mournful, beautiful music, light a few candles and stare at the cieling. i try to revel in the maudlin fun of it all. she's a stiff upper lip kind though. lacking in the "artistic temperament" (that's ok with me, i've got some to spare, after all). she bottles it up when we're apart, so it's almost good for her to be a little sad all week. a small price to pay for me anyway. my job is to cheer her up, and i think i'm damn good at it.
this is a little more personal than i usually get, so let me know if it's too much. not that i would stop. i do what i want, alright? quit trying to change me, jeez.
Showing posts with label DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC. Show all posts
8.08.2006
8.04.2006
the cool kids
the day is fast approaching for my return to boston—land of cold winds, cold hearts, and cold harpoon! sadly, beantown is also lacking in the type of interesting, hilarious, friendly, engaging, welcoming, thought provoking, thoroughly enjoyable, readable, and loveable (and lustable) blog scene that i’ve discovered in just my few short weeks here. i’ve really enjoyed getting to know all the dc bloggers i’ve mentioned, and i’ve posted a few comments here and there on your various sites. needless to say, i’ll still be a regular reader up in boston.
which brings me to point #2. i want to invite any readers i have (i think there’s like 2 of you. what’s up? you should probably introduce yourselves to each other) to send me some links to any bloggers you know/read/met once/slept with in boston in the interests of making some connections.
my days of interning (and having both internets and the free time to make the most of them) are over as of 6pm today, so posts are going to be more sporadic over the next few weeks. sorry, but that’s the way it goes.
which brings me to point #2. i want to invite any readers i have (i think there’s like 2 of you. what’s up? you should probably introduce yourselves to each other) to send me some links to any bloggers you know/read/met once/slept with in boston in the interests of making some connections.
my days of interning (and having both internets and the free time to make the most of them) are over as of 6pm today, so posts are going to be more sporadic over the next few weeks. sorry, but that’s the way it goes.
8.02.2006
it's outrage o'clock
i know, i know. it’s completely uncool to post about politics in washington, but i’ve resisted as long as is humanly (or humanely) possible. now let me get this off my chest.
once upon a time, i--unlike many of my contemporary yippie friends--worked for the minimum wage, which was a paltry $5.15/hr at the time. it basically sucked and as soon as i could, i got a better job. being a white, upper-middle class male, this was easy for me to do. it is very, very hard for other people, mostly because they lack one or all of the traits listed above. also because the man keeps them down. anyway, that long-ago thankless toil came rushing back to me when I found out that the great state of massachusetts had overridden mitt’s veto and raised the state minimum wage. (and speaking of the mittster, he’s still a rampaging jackass)
as for the federal wage (because not all states are as cool as massachusetts, hell yeah!) it’s still only $5.15/hr. gadzooks! somebody call the fucking government, they’ll know what to do!
of course, because it’s congress, and congress is controlled by hulking soulless reptile-men (republicans!), what they did was vote down the minimum wage hike proposed by my good buddy ted kennedy earlier this summer. shortly thereafter, they voted for a congressional pay raise. the hypocrisy and gall that these men exhibit on a daily basis is simply mind-blowing. seriously, if your mind is still in one piece, go back and reread the last three sentences. i’ll wait.
see what I mean? blown like a high school quarterback on prom night. but it doesn’t end there, unfortunately. just this week, they put together a “compromise” bill that slapped a minimum wage hike together with the repeal of the estate tax. in case you’re not familiar with the estate tax, it is a tax levied on estates valued at $5 million or more (double for couples). it is a tax that only affects the super-mega wealthy. and repealing it is a republican wet dream. unfortunately for the rest of us americans, it will cost our government almost a trillion dollars (with a tr-) in revenue by 2021. that’s money that probably would go to programs to help the poor. is it any wonder that republicans want to eliminate this revenue stream? it lets them pour money on the rich and oppress the poor at the same time! praise jesus!
anyway, attaching this ass-rape of a policy to the minimum wage hike is a blatant attempt to lure dems across the aisle and make them vote to repeal the estate tax. if it works, it might just go down as the worst law of the 108th congress. i’d say ever, but i think the USA PATRIOT act still wins that one.
ok, politics over. go back about your business. there’s a post about debauchery coming up soon, i promise.
once upon a time, i--unlike many of my contemporary yippie friends--worked for the minimum wage, which was a paltry $5.15/hr at the time. it basically sucked and as soon as i could, i got a better job. being a white, upper-middle class male, this was easy for me to do. it is very, very hard for other people, mostly because they lack one or all of the traits listed above. also because the man keeps them down. anyway, that long-ago thankless toil came rushing back to me when I found out that the great state of massachusetts had overridden mitt’s veto and raised the state minimum wage. (and speaking of the mittster, he’s still a rampaging jackass)
as for the federal wage (because not all states are as cool as massachusetts, hell yeah!) it’s still only $5.15/hr. gadzooks! somebody call the fucking government, they’ll know what to do!
of course, because it’s congress, and congress is controlled by hulking soulless reptile-men (republicans!), what they did was vote down the minimum wage hike proposed by my good buddy ted kennedy earlier this summer. shortly thereafter, they voted for a congressional pay raise. the hypocrisy and gall that these men exhibit on a daily basis is simply mind-blowing. seriously, if your mind is still in one piece, go back and reread the last three sentences. i’ll wait.
see what I mean? blown like a high school quarterback on prom night. but it doesn’t end there, unfortunately. just this week, they put together a “compromise” bill that slapped a minimum wage hike together with the repeal of the estate tax. in case you’re not familiar with the estate tax, it is a tax levied on estates valued at $5 million or more (double for couples). it is a tax that only affects the super-mega wealthy. and repealing it is a republican wet dream. unfortunately for the rest of us americans, it will cost our government almost a trillion dollars (with a tr-) in revenue by 2021. that’s money that probably would go to programs to help the poor. is it any wonder that republicans want to eliminate this revenue stream? it lets them pour money on the rich and oppress the poor at the same time! praise jesus!
anyway, attaching this ass-rape of a policy to the minimum wage hike is a blatant attempt to lure dems across the aisle and make them vote to repeal the estate tax. if it works, it might just go down as the worst law of the 108th congress. i’d say ever, but i think the USA PATRIOT act still wins that one.
ok, politics over. go back about your business. there’s a post about debauchery coming up soon, i promise.
7.05.2006
forefathers be proud
happy birthday america!
the 4th of july is an odd duck of a holiday. not so much in the reasons for its existence, but more in the way it’s celebrated. is bbq-ing american? sure it is, unless you count all of the other cultures—africans, arabs, asians—who beat us to it. there’s also the pesky fact that holding raw meat over open fire may very well be the oldest form of cooking there is. it’s so easy, a caveman could do it. sure, they didn’t have frozen burger patties and individually wrapped cheese slices back then (it took america to individually wrap its cheese, by gum!), so i guess we can lay our claim to the experience if not the method. but is grilling really any more american than frying things? kfc and paula deen probably don’t think so. we can probably call the fish-fry an authentic american experience, and it’s even appropriately summery, but i don’t think it’ll ever catch on as a 4th staple.
also, when the temperature rises, there’s a certain segment of the population (myself included) that will always reach for one specific beer—la corona! That’s just an inviolable fact of summer. and despite the overall (and also inviolable) blandness of the corona, i have yet to find an american lager that a) combines as well with limes and b) refreshes quite so perfectly. sure if push came to shove, i would sell my cervezas down the river for a pint of harpoon summer, but sadly, that miracle beer hasn’t made to my little corner of the swamp that is dc. anyway, the point is that our nation’s birthday is doomed by its own summer date to be celebrated with mexican beer. (don’t worry, america, my coronas were in celebration of their election, not your birthday!)
lastly, fireworks. we all know blowing things up is as american as apple pie. but the chinese invented fireworks! and yes, i suppose if there’s one thing america does better than any other country, it’s appropriate culture and assimilate people. all things considered though, there’s not one thing about this holiday that’s actually american (not counting mike’s supersnack)! we even had tortilla chips (mexico again) and pretzels (dutch or german, i don’t know).
i guess what I’m trying to say is, good job america! this holiday has actually shown me that we can thank the various immigrants we’ve had over the centuries, because i’m pretty sure that without them we’d be eating deep-fried cheetos and setting off real bombs every year.
the 4th of july is an odd duck of a holiday. not so much in the reasons for its existence, but more in the way it’s celebrated. is bbq-ing american? sure it is, unless you count all of the other cultures—africans, arabs, asians—who beat us to it. there’s also the pesky fact that holding raw meat over open fire may very well be the oldest form of cooking there is. it’s so easy, a caveman could do it. sure, they didn’t have frozen burger patties and individually wrapped cheese slices back then (it took america to individually wrap its cheese, by gum!), so i guess we can lay our claim to the experience if not the method. but is grilling really any more american than frying things? kfc and paula deen probably don’t think so. we can probably call the fish-fry an authentic american experience, and it’s even appropriately summery, but i don’t think it’ll ever catch on as a 4th staple.
also, when the temperature rises, there’s a certain segment of the population (myself included) that will always reach for one specific beer—la corona! That’s just an inviolable fact of summer. and despite the overall (and also inviolable) blandness of the corona, i have yet to find an american lager that a) combines as well with limes and b) refreshes quite so perfectly. sure if push came to shove, i would sell my cervezas down the river for a pint of harpoon summer, but sadly, that miracle beer hasn’t made to my little corner of the swamp that is dc. anyway, the point is that our nation’s birthday is doomed by its own summer date to be celebrated with mexican beer. (don’t worry, america, my coronas were in celebration of their election, not your birthday!)
lastly, fireworks. we all know blowing things up is as american as apple pie. but the chinese invented fireworks! and yes, i suppose if there’s one thing america does better than any other country, it’s appropriate culture and assimilate people. all things considered though, there’s not one thing about this holiday that’s actually american (not counting mike’s supersnack)! we even had tortilla chips (mexico again) and pretzels (dutch or german, i don’t know).
i guess what I’m trying to say is, good job america! this holiday has actually shown me that we can thank the various immigrants we’ve had over the centuries, because i’m pretty sure that without them we’d be eating deep-fried cheetos and setting off real bombs every year.
6.28.2006
oh hell
here i've been in washington for a month now, and i can't help but feel that i have astonishingly little to show for it. not that that's anything new, mind you. i have very little to show for all of my 25(!) years on this funktified orb i call home. sometimes (not often, i admit) it's enough to actually get me down--much like spending hours complaining about the rain and then, when the sun finally decides to shine, i am forced (by my sense of responsiblity! thanks mom.) to spend 8 hours at work and 3 at class. this 9-5 stuff is for the birds.
quick aside about class, then back to whingeing:
so, i think it's pretty clear that i am young at heart. but in my wednesday night class, i am the oldest person in the room (not counting ms. marjorie "i met alexandra pelosi once...once!" kline). also, i am the only one in grad school, where i learned how to "contribute to class discussion" and "talk out of my ass about things like tim russert's eyebrows" still, despite my prodigious verbalizin' skillz, i don't know how long i can go on carrying the damn class. speak up, undergrads! i'm not even getting a grade and i'm kicking your early-twenties asses up and down the aisles in class participation. while solving the crossword. and looking mighty fine. and composing haiku in my head.
here's one:
longest summer days
in class, a waste of beer time
maybe bratwursts too
whingeing:
that actually cheered me up quite a bit. i also realized that the creative parts of my brain are working overtime (two novel ideas in a month? unprecedented!) and what really has me down is my lack of actually getting writing done.
and i was all set to complain about having nothing to blog about except the oh-so-uninteresting life of an off-the-hill intern. i have to "work on the website" this week since our legislative agenda is on hold til after the 4th recess. and nobody told me that the newsletter deadline was monday this week (dude, i had a lecture. i can't be held responsible). also the website just got hacked by a teletubby, so there goes any hope of being productive today. i didn't get a picture of the teletubby itself (it had some good news about noo noo) but a little while later, they hacked us again. this time to endorse firefox (my favorite browser!) and decry microsoft.
if the movie hackers taught me anything, it's that every wired-in misanthrope either looks like jonny lee miller or angelina jolie and they fly through the internets on virtual skateboards. also, they're probably jerks who dress like they're on acid. so, thanks, hacker, for pointing out our vulnerability. now run along, you're probably late to algebra class.
quick aside about class, then back to whingeing:
so, i think it's pretty clear that i am young at heart. but in my wednesday night class, i am the oldest person in the room (not counting ms. marjorie "i met alexandra pelosi once...once!" kline). also, i am the only one in grad school, where i learned how to "contribute to class discussion" and "talk out of my ass about things like tim russert's eyebrows" still, despite my prodigious verbalizin' skillz, i don't know how long i can go on carrying the damn class. speak up, undergrads! i'm not even getting a grade and i'm kicking your early-twenties asses up and down the aisles in class participation. while solving the crossword. and looking mighty fine. and composing haiku in my head.
here's one:
longest summer days
in class, a waste of beer time
maybe bratwursts too
whingeing:
that actually cheered me up quite a bit. i also realized that the creative parts of my brain are working overtime (two novel ideas in a month? unprecedented!) and what really has me down is my lack of actually getting writing done.
and i was all set to complain about having nothing to blog about except the oh-so-uninteresting life of an off-the-hill intern. i have to "work on the website" this week since our legislative agenda is on hold til after the 4th recess. and nobody told me that the newsletter deadline was monday this week (dude, i had a lecture. i can't be held responsible). also the website just got hacked by a teletubby, so there goes any hope of being productive today. i didn't get a picture of the teletubby itself (it had some good news about noo noo) but a little while later, they hacked us again. this time to endorse firefox (my favorite browser!) and decry microsoft.
if the movie hackers taught me anything, it's that every wired-in misanthrope either looks like jonny lee miller or angelina jolie and they fly through the internets on virtual skateboards. also, they're probably jerks who dress like they're on acid. so, thanks, hacker, for pointing out our vulnerability. now run along, you're probably late to algebra class.
6.26.2006
dogs and cats, living together...
we had some epic rainfall in washington this weekend, practically biblical. as much as i love a good rainstorm (and who doesn't?) it was all a bit too much. especially when i woke up to discover that the subway tunnels had flooded on the orange/blue and green/yellow lines!
i mean, what the hell? this is a city built on a swamp, in the middle of a floodplain! shouldn't they be prepared for a little rain? i'm not a big fan of riding in the rain, mostly because my tires suck and i don't have fenders, so wet pavement equals wet accident waiting to happen. but when i discovered that the damn subway had flooded i figured i had to go for it.
big mistake. it turns out the bible allusion earlier was dead on because the situation on dc's roads this morning was straight out of the end of days. a few stoplights lose power and mass anarchy descends on the nation's capitol. i genuinely (sort of) feared for my life on the morning commute.
i mean, what the hell? this is a city built on a swamp, in the middle of a floodplain! shouldn't they be prepared for a little rain? i'm not a big fan of riding in the rain, mostly because my tires suck and i don't have fenders, so wet pavement equals wet accident waiting to happen. but when i discovered that the damn subway had flooded i figured i had to go for it.
big mistake. it turns out the bible allusion earlier was dead on because the situation on dc's roads this morning was straight out of the end of days. a few stoplights lose power and mass anarchy descends on the nation's capitol. i genuinely (sort of) feared for my life on the morning commute.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
