I'm not sure how to feel about this

Something I wrote has been published. Unfortunately, it's not in my name. Also, it's in the New York Post. Should I be happy or sad, I wonder?

Big bummer

So I get a call this morning from the woman who would be my boss at the hedge-fund I was going to switch over to in a few weeks, and she drops a bomb on me: yesterday she gave her two weeks notice. Yup, she quit two weeks before I was supposed to start there. Talk about good ways to start the day...

Sooooo, I'm in a bit of a pickle right now. I can still accept my offer to go work there, though I wouldn't be working with her, who I'd interviewed with and developed a rapport with. But the problem with that is that I don't know who I'd be working with, I don't know if they'd even have a new General Counsel by the time I got there, I don't know how my relationship with everyone else in the office would change now that she's not there, etc.

To top it all off, after dropping this bomb on me she proceeded totell me that she's not sure that I would've liked working there anyway, that the environment is really stressful, that there's a lot of politics and that it would probably be rough on me if she wasn't there. The question is: how much of that was motivated by the fact that she quit after an argument with one of the principals and is thus mad with the fund in general, and how much is actually true?

Talking about it with two attorneys here who have become quasi-mentors to me, they think that I should definitely not jump into that kind of environment, and I've got to say that my gut feeling agrees with them. It's gonna suck to not get the pay-increase I thought I'd be getting, but whatever, I'll live. I'm having lunch with those two attorneys to brainstorm, and then this afternoon I guess I'll have to go to my firm's paralegal coordinator and tell her that something's come up, and see if it's ok for me to stay here until I find something else. Wish me luck with all this...

[several hours go by...]

So everything's cool, and my current boss is ok with me staying here as long as a I want. I've already filled out a profile on Glocap, a company that does recruiting for all kinds of financial and legal-sector jobs, and a friend already submitted by resumé to a friend of hers who works at a hedge fund that needs someone to do legal compliance for them. Well whaddya know!

So by now I'm feeling a lot more positive about everything, and trying to look on the bright side: at least this didn't happen a month or two from now, cuz then I'd be screwed! :-)!

Overdue update

Ok, so I'm officially the worst excuse for a blogger I've ever seen... If it weren't for the diligent work of one Elizabeth Austin this blog would surely not have been updated in months. In my defense I guess nothing of too much consequence has been going on lately, and "the rant" is my preferred form of blog-expression, as I'm sure some of you remember, ;-).

Things with us are great, as I'm sure you have deduced from da pup's posts, and we're even going to a cute little B&B in Old Saybrook [CT] this weekend for her birthday! Our package includes an hour's massage, that I'm letting her have in its entirety, since I'm as averse to having my back rubbed as most cats are to water (though not all of them, teehee! [and yes, I realize that that was yet another gratuitous cute-cat-shot, so sue me]). I'm definitely sure she'll be as happy as a pig in shit for the duration of said backrub.

On another note, my birthday was last Saturday, and though I'm now 24 I can't really say I feel any different than I did a week ago. Birthdays have never been big in my family, and I find it incredibly hard to get excited about my own birthday, or even care too much. I know that sounds sort of sad, but hey, I'm a giver, and I care a lot more about other people's birthdays than I do about my own. Hey, this way you all can get away with not getting me anything but still getting a little something! Ok, fine, that was a bold-faced lie. IF you want to get something good, at least hook a brotha up with a cerveza, :-).

Anyway, last Friday we went to the Brooklyn Brewery with a bunch of our friends, and it was a really fun time. Fine brews at Spuyten Duyvil followed, and I believe we hit the sack at 2am, which has got to be a record for the two of us in the past few months. I mean, seriously, who can get motivated to go out and party hard on a Friday/Saturday when it's freezing out, there's snow/slush everywhere, and you've got Final Fantasies to play at home? Ok, we've only done that once or twice... But still, the point stands.

A final point of information, before I head down to the 16th floor to get some much-needed sustenance (or attempt thereof): I GOT A NEW JOB! Yes yes yes, Luis continues to whore himself out to the system, but this time working at a hedge-fund, so at least he can get paid more for whoring himself out. I'll be doing the same thing I'm doing now, but exclusively for the hedge-fund, working in legal compliance. Everyone was super nice, the location is good (57th and Park) and the pay is more than I was getting here, with the prospect of a much larger Christmas Bonus, hehe, though I don't think I'll be waiting in line at the Masserati dealership come December like all those bankers... But yeah, Newman's got a brand new bag, and he starts on April 4th, after finishing here on the 25th and taking a well-deserved weeklong vacay.

To Market, To Market

Ever since I read that a developer was going to slap up a new residential high-rise (barf) on Third between 23rd and 24th, I've been bracing for impact. Yes, construction is sure to be awful, and yes, it's bound to be loud and stinky in that bizarre, wet concrete way, but most of all, it means that my beloved Garden of Eden is gone.

It's not even that the Garden was that wonderful - it's that it was close, things were fresh, and it was much, much better than D'Agostino.

Now that the GoE has been gone for a few months, Luis and I have tried a few options. Of course, there is always the D'Ag around the corner for little stuff and non-perishables, but for fresh produce, forget it. Todaro Bros. is up on Second right near the Petco (where the pets go!), and aside from being a bit of a hike with heavy grocery bags, it is a perfectly acceptable alternative to GoE, and with a much better meat selection to boot.

It seemed like we were going to be just fine, Luis and I, with this new arrangement: D'Ag for emergencies, and Todaro for real food. Everything changed this Saturday, for this Saturday, we set foot in the Associated on the corner of Second and 23rd.

Sweet baby Jesus. This is a supermarket the likes of which I haven't seen since I lived in Burbank and shopped at Pavilions with my mother. This market is so large, it has whole areas that you can't even see from the entrance. I went into the baking aisle and nearly burst into tears. There was the unsweetened cocoa I'd been trying in vain to buy all day. It sat there gleaming right before me at three different price points - store-brand for value, Hershey's for name recognition, and something fancy-pants for the aesthetes. Three different price points! Wow.

And. And! Do you know what else? They have an immense beer aisle. I guess you can figure out where I lost Luis. Not only that: they stock Tripel Karmeliet, our favorite beer from our trip to Brussels. See? Here's Luis enjoying a tasty Tripel.

Unbelievable. How pitiful that we've lived in our apartment for nine months now, and it has taken us this long to find this place. I really hope that someone doesn't come along to tell me how Associated is really a horrible chain and that they mutilate baby seals or something, because I am happy as a pig in shit right now.

Ten Things I Have Done That You Probably Haven't

Inspired by Michele:

1. I once won a stroller-folding competition.

2. I have worn a bathing suit on stage in front of thousands of people and TV cameras.

3. I've had to swim down the street during a flash flood in Moscow.

4. I have been hit on by Gene Simmons.

5. I have spent an entire paycheck on shoes.

6. I have flown a plane, including takeoff and landing.

7. I once got a boy's ass kicked by a mob of men including my father and brothers.

8. I played a blind woman and got so immersed in the character that I found it hard to look people in the eyes for a long time.

9. I have gone on Viper seven times in a row.

10. I have hired someone based solely on their appearance.

Also

I love the new Tori Amos album, The Beekeeper. It's certainly not her best ever (From the Choirgirl Hotel holds that distinction for me), but it is definitely enjoyable, and it's passed the test of making me tear up at least once while listening to it. The much-anticipated duet with Damien Rice, "The Power of Orange Knickers," is a little lackluster. I'm not sure I can put my finger on the exact problem, though - it almost seems as if their voices don't match properly or something.

For as much as Luis bitches about singer-songwriters and teases me about how vulnerable I am to their manipulations, he's the one who bought The Beekeeper for me a few days ago. What a sweetheart, huh?

Now we've got the new NIN album to look forward to (and the live show at the Hammerstein that Luis and I are going to in May - huzzah!)*. I feel like I'm back in high school or something. Is Prick, Marilyn Manson, or Psychotica coming out with something new? Seems like they oughta be...

*This reminds me of the last time I went to see a Nine Inch Nails show in Maryland with Jenny. We were sitting in the last covered row of seats at an outdoor ampitheatre, and so we were standing on our chairs to watch the show. I had been expecting my period, and just a few songs into the set I felt it start. I didn't want to run to the Andy Gumps in the middle of the concert, so I decided to forget it as best I could and just deal with it when we got home. Jenny and I enjoyed the concert very much, and once we got back to our apartment, I was shocked to discover that I had not, in fact, started my period at all. I was just that happy to see Trent Reznor. I wish I could tell him this story without seeming like a scary stalker girl - I would get a kick out of it, were I a completely hot rock star/sex god.

The Domesticated House-Girl

Luis left the house early in the morning, but I was so sleepy that I barely noticed. I finally woke up late, covered in sleeping fuzzballs, and spent most of the late morning and early afternoon naked on the couch with a box of Cookie Crisp. Finally, when I could find nothing good on TV, I padded around and took forever to clean the house, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing the tub, and making one big pile of magazines and papers for Luis to sort through when he got home.

I left the house only once at 7 p.m. to go to the supermarket. I decided that I would make lasagna for dinner, since it sounded really good to me and I know that Luis loves it too. Right at the beginning of the preparation process, Luis came home and helped me fix dinner right down to the garlic bread.

At one point in my life, this would have sounded like a very disappointing Saturday; however, I can honestly say that it was truly magnificent.