"Ew, Don't Get Bitchy"

I have a love-love relationship with Christian on Project Runway. I love his clothes and I love his arrogant attitude. One of my favorite quotes from him this season was when he made fun of Jillian for pressing for 3 hours, she responded "I feel bad enough as it is, stop" and he responded "ewww, don't get bitchy!" Well today was a day I really, really wanted to snap that off at multiple people.

I thought today was going to be a relaxing day. At work all I had to accomplish was cutting paper and gluing stuff for my exhibit on women's history month. The ref desk was going smoothly, until about 12:30 when a woman who is a regular approaches. A little background:

-We let 'community members' into the building before 6 pm as a way to maintain relations with the surrounding disenfranchised neighborhood.

-She has been coming here as long as I've been there.

-In the time I've been there she has had me call campus cops because someone sneezed on her and refused to apologize, forced me to go up to another community member and tell her to move her books four inches, was convinced two community members were making fun of her and told me to make them leave, repeatedly asks to sit away from the community members (they get access to 6 computers at a table but not to all the computers the students get to use), and on and on. She has also complained about how the bibles are being misshelved and how unforgivable that is.

-The past three days she has informed me that two men at the community table smell so bad it is making her physically ill. Nobody has ever mentioned this before, the table's always full, and the two men are regular patrons of ours. I've reluctantly moved her to a student desk because she claims my boss lets her do it when its too smelly.

Today I wasn't having it. I had already spoken to my boss and asked him if I was allowed to tell community members that if they don't like our restrictions they can use the public library four blocks away. He said he'd actually love it if I said that because its true. Not to be super elitist but they aren't the ones paying 40,000 a year that I am paid to assist, and they take up the majority of my time and 100 percent of all problems at the desk. So I told her I wouldn't move her. She pulls the "your boss let's me" and I say, well the policy is we don't move people, it's become a huge problem because people see that we move you then they want to be moved, and its out of control. She flips out.

YOU WANT ME TO BECOME PHYSICALLY ILL? I say, it is not my responsibility to tell someone they smell bad, if you don't like it, you can use the public library. Nobody is forcing you to be here.

WHAT ABOUT MY RIGHTS TO NOT BE ILL? Again, I repeat how she actually doesn't have any 'rights' here because she doesn't pay tuition and that we could just not offer any services to the public but we are to be nice.

CAN'T YOU JUST GIVE ME SOME AIR FRESHENER AND I'LL SPRAY IT ON THEM. I say, no, that is not appropriate behavior and we don't have air freshener.

I DEMAND TO BE MOVED I HAVE BEEN COMING HERE FOR YEARS AND I KNOW THE DEAN AND I DEMAND IT. I say, too bad.

I NEED TO SPEAK TO THE DEAN AND YOUR BOSSES. I say, great they aren't here, here are their cards.

and on and on. She even returned twice to the desk to continue to harass me. It left me all shakey because I'm not used to direct confrontation, let alone with a total psychotic germophobe. My shift ends, and I go back to my office and inform the Big Boss what happened. She of course agrees with me, takes the witch into her office and repeats all the same things I said. Of course the idiot continues to prattle on about how she is entitled to be here and blah blah. Nothing gets accomplished other than she's on the radar of the person who can ban her.

This woman is there every day, all day, all hours we let her be there. I will surely see her when I'm on the desk tomorrow, and the next, and the next. I so desperately want to pull an Elaine in that Seinfeld episode - the one where her coworker thinks shes a dirty skank, so Elaine rubs the coworker's stapler under her pits and licks her doorknob.

Ew, don't get bitchy.

So a few hours of cutting paper to calm me down, and I get to go home. I get off the red line at the chicago stop so I can run past the grocery store. The train was super super crowded, which is normal. You have to shove through people to get out, its just how it works nobody flips out. I get out of the train and then everyone is just slowly shuffling along, and there is at least 2-3 person's width of space on the left of the stairwell to get out of the subway. I'm like, wtf, why are people all standing here when there is all this room, so I take to the empty room and walk up the stairs at a normal pace. Some assface shouts at me about halfway EXCUSE YOU all indignant, like its awful that I'm not some doofus walking behind idiots. I still have a bus to catch, and sure enough it was up there waiting. Had I been a sheep drone I wouldn't have made the bus, which also means my dog goes even longer without having pissed. I didn't bug the guy, didn't bug anybody, nobody got delayed or moved because of me, what was the fucking problem? And why does he have to be so nasty? Its the subway! Its crowded and people are in a hurry, get over it or move to the suburbs.

Ew, don't get bitchy.

Then at the store I almost knock over this display of wine, but I don't, and some douche laughs at me! As if I'm not already embarrassed and like "phew that would have been morts" he has to make it known he saw and is LOLzin' at my expense.

Assholes, this city is full of 'em. It's so ridiculous that I can be doing my job and get in trouble for it, or be walking like a normal human being and get yelled at, or be clumsy and get laughed at. It's like, why even try to do anything nice or right ever? You get pooped on by these nasties with their nastiness anyway. Today has left me with a big Whats the fucking point 'tude. Oy vey.

At least Lost is on tonight, and I bought a bottle of wine to drink while I'm watching it. Let's hope the episode doesn't suck.

busts and booms, weekend update edition

Friday night was a total boom. It started with Jacob, Wendy, Nate and I going to Tecalitlan, where I had a few margaritas and we talked mostly about Lost. Really, can't get much better than that. Maybe the addition of Ed and Andy would have sealed the deal on "better than that." Then I showed them my new apartment. I want people to stop by to teach Audrey how to let people in. She wasn't as bad as she used to be, but was still pretty upset at first. Eventually she was doing her job of interrupting dominoes moves and showing them she likes to play fetch. Ed also showed up after poker night, and we went to Happy Village to celebrate a birthday. By that point I had 3 glasses of wine and 2 margaritas, but kept on going anyway. I guess I was 'unwinding' after a month of hell in which I also did not go out. I ended up talking to some guy who's name I forgot about film directors for what seemed like hours but probably wasn't. Either way it was really refreshing to talk to someone who knows films. Wish I could remember who the hell this person was!

Saturday I woke up feeling totally fine, which I was not expecting. I ran some errands in my new neighborhood, and learned how there are a ton of things convenient to me (giant grocery store with pharmacy, salon that does cheap eyebrow waxes). Nate and I went to target to find some more junk for my place, namely some rugs. Bust - no rugs, also didn't find a new entertainment console for my behemoth television. We tried Wickes next door and it was too expensive. Bust.

We decided to perk it up with dinner at John's on western. We ate in the room with the fireplace and had a decent time. Then we came home and watched A Very Long Engagement - total bust, did not like!

Today I got a good haircut and color, boom! It was funny because I was the first person there on a Sunday morning. All the other people there were rich mommies that were soooo annoying. I did not fit in, but had fun secretly making fun of them. My hair lady, Kelly, who I've seen before and she did a great job, talked to me about how she saw Bon Jovie last night and loves Richie Sambora (sp). She kept talking about how hot he is. Awesome. Bust was not going to the dog show, but I guess that's ok because I'm super tight on money right now due to moving.

Another bust: My Jarmusch film from netflix was CRACKED, so I couldn't watch it. Ughhh. Then I really didn't like the Seventh Seal. So much so that I fell asleep and missed the last 30 minutes. Will I finish it? Maybe not. Does that make me a bad movie person? Maybe.

Tomorrow night at hybrid documentary night is this film called Chain that is impossible to rent or see because the director refused to license the music in it. I am super excited to be able to see it!

This must be the place

I remember when I moved from the dank pit apartment on Guerrero to the awesome apartment on Potomac in San Francisco. It was as if I went to some hot springs fancy-pants spa. I felt instantly better and rejuvenated. That same feeling is going on with my current place. The days of nasty-land are behind me, and my spacious, high-ceilined, wood-floored, cozy, perfect apartment is all I can see. Even my new landlords are good! When I moved in there was only ONE lock - on the outer door (that is mine and mine alone!) and you could easily break this window in the door and unlock it. So I asked them to get me another lock on the main apartment door, and voila! I return home to a lock. They are also getting a plumber out here to up the heat on my shower. Responsive landlords? Been awhile since I've seen you.

Audrey has adjusted well to the new place, and barks far less now that she can't hear and see everything on the street. She seems happy. I don't have the dog walker back yet, but that's ok I could use a bit of a break paying him. Speaking of dogs, there's a huge dog show here this weekend and I really want to go. I've never been to one and I bet it'll be awesome in its dorky-dogness.

I'm going to write a bit about it on GCU later, but whoa mama The Terror Dream by the beloved Susan Faludi is incredible. It's basically just one anecdote, quote, and fact after another about the return to masculinity and the disavowal of feminism post 9-11, but the information is infuriating and astounding. It's a nice contrast to Feminine Mystique, but I'll have to save that for the other blog.

My internet (Comcast) still isn't functioning beyond 9:30 pm. Anybody else having this problem? I thought it would go away when I moved, but it didn't. It makes it really difficult for me to do shit, since most of my stupid blogging time comes later in the evening.

I made it!

Made it to the new place!!! Love it!! Cable guys came today so its all fixed up. Everything rules with this place - I love the layout, the bathroom is nice, the sunlight from the big NEW windows (read: no drafts) is great, its just awesome. I need to finish unpacking my clothes, get a new entertainment/tv stand and a rug for the living room but then I'm all set. Oh wait, I also need a recliner-esque chair for this extra space that will be perfect for reading.

Hiring movers was so great - they took two hours, were fast, professional, worthy of a five star Yelp review. I am not sore or tired or beat up from moving. I will never ever move myself again.

I'll take photos once I get the rug and everything set up.

box tower

I'm in the midst of a tower of small, medium, and large u-haul brand boxes. I had no idea how bad dust can get behind bookshelves that you haven't moved in two years! It almost makes me want to return to my < 12 months per apartment time frame just to get rid of that dust. I'm also throwing away things that are so ancient, like some old old dog food that I got when I got audrey over 2.5 years ago! Granted it was canned or fancy stuff the adoption place gave me, but still gross. I threw out her pedialyte too because she doesn't get the doggy runs anymore.

I'm super nervous but also excited, which leaves my stomach a mess. This time tomorrow I'll be in my new place and nearly settled, just have to remember that its only a few hours away. This may be my easiest move yet because its a short distance and I have movers this time.

I stopped by the new place this afternoon with Nate. He liked it, and I liked it even more than last time I saw it. The fridge is totally disgusting inside, but I can clean it. The bathroom floor and shower are a bit grody too.

Long Overdue Update

A combination of being super busy as well as having really shitty internet at home has kept me away from here and my dear side-project, GCU. Without getting too into it, last week my landlord and I really had it out, culminating with him yelling, "Missy you don't know who you are dealing with! You don't want to mess with me!" Uhh... actually I do but I don't have the mental energy. Instead I showed my apartment to about 8 people, and got it rented to someone else. So I'm moving out! I also found a new place within the same week. The landlord of that place rented it to somebody but found some red-flags on the guy so he withdrew it. Gave it to me instead yay! I'm super happy - it'll be closer to the train I take to work, to the restaurants I go to regularly, to Nate, to a spankin' new grocery store. It'll be good. It's on the second floor, has central heat and a/c, dishwasher, a normal sized bathroom, bedroom, living room, den/office, kitchen, hardwood floors...pretty much everything I wanted. I can't wait to decorate! I have movers coming on Saturday to do my dirty work. I've never hired movers before, so I have a mixture of stress about them messing up and relief that I don't have to do it myself in February. This will be my 9th apartment since I was 19. I'm 26 (and a half!) now. With each one I say "this is it until I own" and so far that hasn't happened.

Aside from crazy home stress, I've had an ok time. Went to a show that my coworker was playing with my boss and my student worker. That was really fun. I also decorated cookies at Natalie's house with Nate and their friend Kim on Saturday. Went to a surprise birthday party for Amanda where I had some quality talking with Andy. I feel like I'm missing something huge here...oh yes! Film school.

Tonight was my second film class at Facets. The first one was about the hybrid documentary The Kid Stays in the Picture. The teacher is a really nice woman who runs some pretty decent film fests. There are 7 people in the class, and they are all from a wide variety of backgrounds. One guy even owns his own high-rise window washing company! It was a reminder to me that even the most 'normal' people out there can be super cool too. I was put in my place. This week we watched Touching the Void, which is a super intense hybrid documentary. Next week is a film I've seen before but slept through, In the Realms of the Unreal. I'll be interested to see what the 'expert' says. So far, I've held my own on film and documentary knowledge, so I'm pretty proud of my self-education in the film world. It's so nice to be out doing something that is 'my own' and is different and interesting. It's a refreshing way to start the week, spending my Monday night in a tiny film house talking about my passion - documentaries. I'll have to get more involved with this kind of stuff. I've been saying I want to go to the experimental night at the Siskel Arts Theater but never seem to make it.

So it's been a wildly busy few weeks. Saturday I move, Sunday I unpack, Monday my cable guys come, then hopefully by Monday night I'll be mostly moved in. I'm so excited about it I can barely sleep or concentrate on anything.

My Mon-Fri in 80s theme song

Had a nasty fight with a richie rich aka my asshole landlord. Cursed his rich cheapass.



Found then lost then found again my new apartment. Praised karma for the first time in weeks.



Got excited for my new home sweet home, which I move into February 16th.