Girl Talk Thursday: This Week in Rants

Disclaimer: My week was actually really good. I started two writing classes, I'm working, I have tasty food in my house because I'm working and can once again afford groceries, I got to see old friends and geek out over comics ALL IN ONE NIGHT, I'm going to see Traffic and Parade on Sunday night by myself if I have to, I got asked out on a date*... and some other stuff...

*Not entirely sure I care about this. I know, I'm a bitch.

That being said, even when things are going well we can always find something to bitch about. I suppose it's one of the sadder aspects of human nature (that, and you know, all that violence and greed and selfishness stuff). There is just something so satisfying about a good bitchfest. Who doesn't enjoy taking a few minutes to just VENT. Let it all out? Get the venom out of your system? Bitch over the unfairness of the Universe?

What do I have to bitch about if my week was so wonderful? Wait for it...

1) There are only twenty four hours in a day and I like to sleep. And I do sleep. Too much lately. I think my body is making up for the last two months when I wasn't really sleeping at all. So now I have a hideous time waking up in the morning. And twenty four hours is just not enough time. I have work to do. Writing to, um, write. Activities to take part in. Friends are in plays, they're visiting from out of town, my Monday and Tuesday nights are now dedicated to class taking. There's stuff to do! Please give me more hours Universe. Please?

2) The male sex. OMG. Seriously. I can't really go into details but there have been at least three times over the last week when I've been sorely tempted to nutpunch someone. All different someones. The stupidity of some of it is just baffling. Literally. I am baffled. After this week I am very happy I am single. F that noise.

3) Chloe. Gotta love her. It's impossible not to. And I mean, I know she's a dog and has only so many ways to communicate. For the most part she's a doll. But she has this whine (Jess, if you're reading this, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about). I know it's sunny and nice out and it's been rainy and I wanna go to the park too. But I can't right now. I can in a couple of hours. I'm looking forward to that break. In order to take that break however, I need to get work done first. And as cute as you are, you staring at me with your pathetically adorable eyes, emitting that undoglike whine, is not helping. Anything. At all.

I forgive you though cause when we come back from the park and you curl up and go to sleep you are just So. Damn. Cute. Not to mention when you do that doggy dreaming barking in your sleep thing. I die.

4) Work. It's boring. I don't like being bored. This job is nice in that I do get to work from home and the guys I'm working for are great. I'd even do it again. Truly. Doesn't change the fact that it's boring.

One of these days I'm going to be a rich and famous writer and film director and I will love the work I do. Right guys? Right?

Shut up, it can happen!

5) Dirty dishes. No matter how many times I wash them, no matter how many times my roommates wash them, there are always dirty dishes in the sink. It's gross.

6) Verizon. Who hasn't actually done anything to me this week. They've just put me through so much hell the last two months that they've earned a permanent spot on this list. Probably forever. Because that's what permanent means.

That's it. For the moment. There are always more things to bitch about of course but really, I am in a mostly good mood and don't have all that many complaints over the cruelty of the fates. Life is never perfect but this week it's been good enough. I don't need much. Good enough will suffice. For the moment.

(Also, I really want to read and comment on all of the other GTT posts this week but I can't right now. I really didn't even have the time to write this but I did anyway. Screw you 24 hr day!)

Insomnia

I haven't been sleeping all that well as of late. There's been quite a bit on my mind and even nights when I do manage to fall asleep early I find myself waking after only a few hours. I've seen 5 AM happen more times than an unemployed person really should.

Most nights I get to the point where I give up on sleeping but still I refuse to be officially awake. A lot of lying in the dark with my eyes screwed stubbornly shut happens. When the muscles holding my eyelids closed against their will get tired (ironic?) I give up and just stare in the general direction of my ceiling. My room is fairly dark so I can't actually see the ceiling. But I know it's there. Hovering. Mocking my futile efforts to capture that elusive idea of sleep. Did you know that ceilings mock? I've only just discovered this but trust me, they do.

A lot of tossing and turning happens as well. It's probably a good thing I'm not sharing my bed with anyone at the moment. If I were, my poor unsuspecting bedmate would most likely find their legs covered in mysterious bruises upon waking in the morning. Assuming they were able to sleep through a night of being kicked repeatedly during my bouts of frustrated flailing to begin with. As it is, the only one who has to put up with me is my ever-suffering companion, Funshine Bear. This is for the best I think.

I'm not particularly productive during these nights where sleep refuses to be found. I wish I could say that the nights of never ending awakeness lead to epiphanies and creative brilliance. They don't. Really the only thing they lead to are headaches and crankiness and mornings that start much later than I'd like them to. I used to have all sorts of tricks I would employ on nights like these, but Smashing Pumpkins long ago ceased to lull me to sleep and I have yet to find Melancholy's replacement.

I don't mind though, not really. Naturally I prefer a solid night of sleep, hours of uninterrupted rest and peace, but I've never been the best sleeper and I suppose that over the years I've just gotten used to it. I've accepted the inevitable; there will be periods in my life when I just don't sleep. There will be times when I don't dream. And then there will be evenings of giant spiders distantly related to Shelob stalking me through secret passageways and tunnels blacker than the darkness in my room could ever conceive of being.

Don't worry; I crush the giant spider beast in the end with a satisfying crunch as my heel bursts through its exoskeleton. And then I sleep. Happily, fitfully, without tangling myself hopelessly in my sheets.

These are the things that happen when I sleep. Or they're the things that happen when I don't. It's really all the same either way.

How's the insomnia working out for you?

A Return

Hey guys, check it out! I'm alive! Whoa, I know, it was doubtful there for a second.

Life has been a little busy, a little not. I've been working a little bit. Not the full time job I was hoping to have found by now but little odds and ends here and there. A couple of days as a story assistant, a night helping a friend with a wrap party, a day taking notes for someone else... that sort of randomness. Whatever pays the bills I guess.

I have been going through a bit of soul searching, a bit of that "what am I doing with my life?" business. All kind of boring really!

And since I don't want my first post in over a month to be BORING, let me share fun stuff.

Um... Fun stuff... I have to have something good to share, right? Okay, maybe not much.

I can leave you with a list of what I've been reading, watching, etc. All stuff that's worth checking out.

Watched the Super Bowl yesterday. But that's yesterday's news really. Not today's.

Reading Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)by Anthony Bourdain. Finally. Have loved him forever, No Reservations is a fabulous show, and his book is just as wonderful as I was hoping it would be. Sex, drugs, the seventies, food atrocities, mobsters, this book has got it all. Love it. And him. True story.

Watched An Education this weekend with the roommate. It is also wonderful. Carey Mulligan's performance lives up to the hype and her nominations are well deserved. I really enjoyed the screenplay by Nick Hornby. I have to admit to a bit of the nostalgia factor with all of the talk of French cinema, existentialism, jazz clubs, the wonderful dresses, etc. And there's the whole thing where I love almost all things British... including good looking men with British accents... The ending did leave me a bit unsatisfied, a feeling of "this is it?" Either way, it's a lovely movie that's well acted and I enjoyed it a lot. I'd actually love to see it again so I can think though a few things a bit more but that's what DVDs are for.

On TV I've been watching a lot of Chuck, which is delightful as always, Doctor Who, those last few episodes with David Tennant are Excellent and not to be missed if you're at all a fan, and The Inbetweeners on BBCA. OMG, have you guys seen this show yet? Please do. It's awkwardly hilarious. The kids in that show are such little shithead trouble makers... The episodes leave me in giggles for days.

Also worth noting that this week is the final episode of Friday Night Lights that's been airing on DirecTV. I actually still have the last two episodes to watch so Wednesday I fully plan on having a three episode FNL marathon to be followed up by an episode of The Inbetweeners. When did Wednesday get to be so good for television? I don't know.

Alright, that's what I've got. I will be back for more later.

The State of the New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

I have to say that I'm incredibly excited about the start of 2010. There are good things in the works over here people. I'm still unemployed, go figure, but I'm now moving full steam ahead on two projects. Two big projects.

One of these big projects is my novel. I've brought the first little bit to my writing group, I've started revisions, and I'm really excited to be working on it. My goal is to have it finished and readable and out in the world by the end of the year. Will see how life cooperates with me but I'm feeling rather confident at the moment.

Project two I can't really talk about yet but it's shaping up nicely into a very solid, very real thing. Project two is a film project. Project two has its first meeting scheduled for tomorrow. The monster is coming to life.

Can't really say much else about it yet but don't worry, you will hear all about it. It's very exciting. There will be things for you to get involved in. Just you wait and see.

Consequently I haven't been on this blog nearly as much lately. I'm going to try and continue updating but for the next couple of months I expect to be concentrating mostly on these two projects along with any work I may be lucky enough to find. Okay, the work thing may also not be that desperate at the moment. The maybes have also turned into at least one very real possibility. So we shall see.

Hope everyone has had a good start to 2010. And here's hoping that 2010 is an improvement over the last couple of years. I'm looking forward to a good one.

I'm on the Internets

I really have been kind of MIA lately. On the internet sure but also in real life. It's amazing how quickly time can go by when life things are happening. Is it really the last night of Hanukkah? Only a week til Christmas? When did that happen?

Well, you'll be happy to know that the roommate search has ended, we've found the lucky person who will soon become the latest edition to Bonaparte House. She's a friend which is a HUGE relief and K and I are both confident she's going to fit right in with our crazy. Plus, bonus, she comes with a pup! How excited are we? K and I have both missed having a dog around. It's going to be wonderful.

Of course we're still sad to see J go. We'll keep in touch though and there are nefarious plans in the work for an adventure of epic proportions. That may turn into a movie. I dunno. Anything can happen. Be sure I will tell you more as this THING develops.

Speaking of movies and making them and being a woman who plans to make them... The New York Times ran this article about women in the film industry last week. It's a topic I keep alluding to and yet never get around to actually writing about. Seriously though, it's hard being a woman in this industry! There are opportunities for sure but honestly not as many as you'd think. Especially when your goal is to become a director. Female producers? I have known plenty. Most of them are batshit crazy (it all relates I think) but they do exist. When have I worked with a female director? Um. Twice. Once was a super low budget indie film that shot in Ft. Myers, Florida. The other was a super low budget indie film in San Francisco. And have you heard of these women? Not yet. Hopefully you will someday but yeah. Not yet. Anyway, read the article. It's good.

In other places, I'm on the internet! Go check me out. I'm silly. I really, really am.