hi-ho, hi-ho

yesterday, i earned money for the first time since mid-may. i went to a new hire orientation for a certain fancy furniture concern that will soon open its doors in boston. i was conflicted about this job before i said yes. on the one hand, i'm not sure i want to work in retail anymore, the pay is less than slinging latte, and it's a much longer commute. but on the other hand, i won't stink of old milk, it's a new environment with new people, there's the possibility of making commissions, and a whopping discount on pretentious urban furniture. like most jobs, it's a mixed bag.

retail continues to hold sway over my life, but i'm just grateful it's not foodservice (sorry, dad). i like the idea of walking 5 miles during a shift instead of sitting at a desk and seeing how long it takes for my ass to assume the shape of my chair. i like meeting people (some of the time) and being able to talk to them--it's like acting class all over again. it's not fulfilling work, but i don't need it to be. i fulfill myself in my spare time by writing. i just want a way to pay the bills that won't fill me with black despair (or leave me reeking of dairy). and retail fits the bill. if only it fucking paid more, i'd be the happiest boy in town.



p.s. i rode on a scooter for the first time and it was awesome. the only other time i've gone that fast without a seatbelt is on a ski slope. and that time i got a concussion. scooters are sweet.

homecoming, indeed

i'm back in boston for 24 hours and i'm already sick. also, i have no job and nowhere to live as of september first. this sucks.

i (don't) need a roommate (at the moment)!

anybody have any friends in the greater boston area who (might) need a room for the next year (or part of the year) (assuming i can find an apartment that requires me to have another roommate)? i (might) have a room i need to fill for $550/month plus utilities (or some completely different amount). leave a note in comments and i’ll get (purely hypothetical) details to you somehow.

it's a long story. suffice it to say that landlords are a demented subspecies of human (distantly related to the greedius ceo-us that terrorizes american boardrooms. they exist solely to wring every last cent from us tenants by raising rents, making empty promises, and doing their damnedest to stamp out all that is good and decent in this world.

my current (soon to be ex-) landlord rented my apartment out from under my roommate and i back in boston, an event i only recently heard about. now i'm scrambling from many miles away to find a replacement place that is agreeable. my roommate and our tentative third roommate are doing their best as well--resulting in yesterday's aborted lease-signing/celebration/sigh of relief--and i have no doubt we'll find something sooner or later. it's still stressful though, especially so given the fact that i don't really want to live with either of them.

my dream is to have my own place, a studio or a one-bedroom apartment, all to myself. don't get me wrong, i'm a fine roommate and i have no real complaints about the people i've lived with. i just don't want to do it anymore. i'm sick of other people's dishes, other people's friends, other people's furniture, and having to ride herd on people to pay their damn share of the cable bill. but sky-high boston rents and crippling unemployment seem to indicate that i have no real choice in the matter. keep your fingers crossed though, august is a long month, and something good might still happen.

taking a stand!

things i won’t do:

• as outlined below, watch cnn ever again, due to their reporting on the coming armageddon as if it were news.  good job, guys.  as a news source, you’ve achieved the level of trust and journalistic acumen that i usually expect from x-men comics and those larouche pamphlets that the straight-edge kids hand out in harvard square.

• you may have heard of this guy mel gibson.  way back when, he filled out a pair of tights real nicely and once he even went against his mercenary ways and helped a band of post-apocalyptic survivors fend off roving marauders.  those were the days.  now he denies the holocaust and blames the jews for making him drink and drive.  and for starting all those wars.  that were actually started by evangelical christians.  just like mel (catholic, whatever).  anyway, i’m done with this clown—no more mel gibson movies.  in fact, the first thing i’m doing when i get back to boston is microwaving my road warrior dvd!  now, that’s consumer retribution!

• drink miller high life.  also explained below, this piss was vile even back when it was all i could afford.  now, i may be broker than ever, but my standards continue to rise (like inflation!) and at the ripe old age of 25, i can confidently proclaim that i will never force this swill down my craw again!  bring on the miller lite!

that’s it.  everything else is fair game.

not dead again

i'm actually busy at work, if you can believe it, and my sister came to visit today so i haven't been much on the blogging tip. running out of money here in dc, so i've been on the lookout for extra cheap happy hours and the like. heading out to the billy goat tavern for an end-of-work celebration (somebody else's, i still have two weeks left), probably worth it to drop the cashish on a good beer. who am i kidding, it's always worth it to spend on good beer!