Too Long of an Update
Work has been slow for me in particular the last few weeks. Though there are occasional busy periods, and outright insanely busy days, in general the average is “slow.” I will have moments of activity, hours even, and then great big lulls. I peek at the internet, I tidy papers on my desk, I clean out drawers. I even rearranged the supplies cabinet so I could take inventory better, not to mention last week’s self-imposed task of alphabetizing Nita’s business cards (three binders’ worth). And yet any task I set for myself, or am given, I accomplish quickly and then am left with an appalling amount of time to waste online, or looking busy. I perfected looking busy at my old job, but I feel the amount of time I’ve had to look busy here is the same amount as at home, but I’ve only worked here less than 4 months and worked at my old job for 4 years.
This abundance of downtime should be spent writing, or at least in the pre-production throes of writing. And maybe it shall yet be. I’m currently reading the paperback of Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years written by Michael Palin. I bought it Saturday because it was buy one get one ½ off and because I’ve been missing reading, and, thanks to the weekend’s brilliant weather, am some 160 pages into it. I’m thoroughly enjoying it, and I’m hoping the book’ll inspire me to start thinking of some comedic script ideas, and then actually follow through on them.
Megan’s parents flew in on Tuesday. It’s been nice to have parental units around. Plus, no matter how often Megan and I offer to pay, they treat us to meals. Yesterday I laughed because her dad joked to enjoy it, since they’re leaving this Tuesday. They’re really sweet, though, and I’m glad they’re enjoying their time here. Today they are at Stonehenge.
I’ve done entirely too much walking over the weekend, and all of my shoes and sandals are shit, so I have some nice new blisters in beautiful mirror images on my feet. My most painful ones are the new, large, red blisters on the middle/side of my foot. They make every step a little slice of agony. The ones on the top of my feet, where my Old Navy flip-flops rubbed the skin raw, don’t bother me as much, though they contribute in the overall disease-ridden look of my poor feet. There is definitely more I can do to improve them - lotion every night, buy better shoes, scrape off the dry, dead skin, etc.- but there’s only so much healing they can do when I have to keep walking on them, all the time. Seriously, it’s always walking, walking, walking, and up and down the stairs, and even when I go long periods without running, my feet still take a beating. This week, I’ve decided, I’m going to look into a nice pair of black trainers, something that I can get away with wearing to work but will provide my feet with a level of comfort that I’ve yet to offer them. It’s just, everywhere here is so expensive. I miss Wal-Mart! Target even. DSW.
Saturday, I bought two new books (the Michael Palin one and the new one by Mark Haddon) and some conditioner (very exciting, I know), and wandered around London in my low-cut, orange-and-white flower dress. I met up with Megan and her parents at a pub in Hammersmith along the Thames, and by then it was so windy that my dress kept blowing up, Marilyn Monroe-style. It was a nuisance, but it was warm and all my pants were dirty, so I didn’t bother changing. We went to the Lyric Square Market and then her dad went to the hotel while the ladies and I went to Harrod’s. After getting lost in the store several times, Megan and I realized Harrod’s was a lot larger than what we’d noticed before (mostly because we’d only been in two specific areas). I found some hair clips that looked like regular clips with some rhinestone trim, only to discover the clip I picked up, which honestly looked like something you’d see at Claire’s, was £178.00, or roughly $360.00. Even if I ever become super rich, I cannot see myself breaking free of my cheap/poor roots and splurging on crap like that. But man, to be able to spend that kind of money on a hair accessory. Must be nice.
Saturday night we were tired and stayed in to watch part 2 of the Godfather trilogy which my co-worker, Shanaz, has graciously lent me. We watched part 1 already, which was extraordinarily good. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that there were two discs for the second movie, and didn’t notice that the one I put in was disc 2. We were confused when the movie instantly played, without production company logos or credits or anything, and how there were gaps in the story, but we just accepted it with aplomb. We are such keen moviegoers that we filled in the gaps - oh, they must have had a child, oh, someone must have been caught and now they’re in court - and just thought the movie was taking place far in the future, and that the audience was just supposed to roll with it. We only figured it out when, after about 60 minutes, it was over. “What?” we thought. That was way too short for a standalone movie. And so I went to put on part 3, only to see, upon putting movie 2 back in its case, the first disc. Whoops. And we fell asleep ¾ of the way through the first disc. We’ll get there, though.
Yesterday was busy. I inexplicably woke up before 8AM, as seems to be my wont on weekends. Megan went off for breakfast with her parents, so I had my breakfast and went to the store for suntan lotion. Then I headed to the park with a blanket and my new book and read for hours. After I started to get too warm, I packed up, dropped stuff at home, and took a leisurely stroll through Covent Garden Market, waiting to hear from Megan about when we were all meeting up for the National Gallery and dinner. In the meantime, I wandered over, saw Trafalger Square, and realized the Gallery was right there (and free and air conditioned). I went inside, thinking I might bump into the Fritzs, but instead my mom called me in Room 2 of the Tudors, and I went outside and wandered the streets while we talked. I took a turn off of whatever busy main road I was on, and eventually found myself at Embankment tube station.
Megan called while I was on the phone, and so I went home to kill time for a bit before meeting up with them at Covent Garden for dinner. I brought with the blanket, grapes, and two Scrumpy Jack hard ciders because Megan and I were planning on seeing the outdoor showing of “Rushmore” over at Somerset House at 9:15PM and I wasn’t sure if we’d have time to go back to the house to get our supplies (turns out that we didn’t). I wish the movies weren’t so expensive, though, because I’d love to see Rear Window, ET, and 2001: A Space Odyssey (not that I haven’t seen any of those before, because I have, but how cool to see it on a big screen sitting outside on a beautiful summer night?). They also had an advance screening of “Knocked Up” their first night, but it was too late when I found out about it.
Turns out that my grandma got screwed even more royally in the selling of her house. Well, that's really to be expected, isn't it? I just hope she has enough money that she can live comfortably for the rest of her days, instead of fretting about who's cashing what check when. Someday, I hope to not live paycheck-to-paycheck as well.
Anyway, I should really go back to pretending to work. Ooh, delivery on its way up. There’s something to do!
This abundance of downtime should be spent writing, or at least in the pre-production throes of writing. And maybe it shall yet be. I’m currently reading the paperback of Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years written by Michael Palin. I bought it Saturday because it was buy one get one ½ off and because I’ve been missing reading, and, thanks to the weekend’s brilliant weather, am some 160 pages into it. I’m thoroughly enjoying it, and I’m hoping the book’ll inspire me to start thinking of some comedic script ideas, and then actually follow through on them.
Megan’s parents flew in on Tuesday. It’s been nice to have parental units around. Plus, no matter how often Megan and I offer to pay, they treat us to meals. Yesterday I laughed because her dad joked to enjoy it, since they’re leaving this Tuesday. They’re really sweet, though, and I’m glad they’re enjoying their time here. Today they are at Stonehenge.
I’ve done entirely too much walking over the weekend, and all of my shoes and sandals are shit, so I have some nice new blisters in beautiful mirror images on my feet. My most painful ones are the new, large, red blisters on the middle/side of my foot. They make every step a little slice of agony. The ones on the top of my feet, where my Old Navy flip-flops rubbed the skin raw, don’t bother me as much, though they contribute in the overall disease-ridden look of my poor feet. There is definitely more I can do to improve them - lotion every night, buy better shoes, scrape off the dry, dead skin, etc.- but there’s only so much healing they can do when I have to keep walking on them, all the time. Seriously, it’s always walking, walking, walking, and up and down the stairs, and even when I go long periods without running, my feet still take a beating. This week, I’ve decided, I’m going to look into a nice pair of black trainers, something that I can get away with wearing to work but will provide my feet with a level of comfort that I’ve yet to offer them. It’s just, everywhere here is so expensive. I miss Wal-Mart! Target even. DSW.
Saturday, I bought two new books (the Michael Palin one and the new one by Mark Haddon) and some conditioner (very exciting, I know), and wandered around London in my low-cut, orange-and-white flower dress. I met up with Megan and her parents at a pub in Hammersmith along the Thames, and by then it was so windy that my dress kept blowing up, Marilyn Monroe-style. It was a nuisance, but it was warm and all my pants were dirty, so I didn’t bother changing. We went to the Lyric Square Market and then her dad went to the hotel while the ladies and I went to Harrod’s. After getting lost in the store several times, Megan and I realized Harrod’s was a lot larger than what we’d noticed before (mostly because we’d only been in two specific areas). I found some hair clips that looked like regular clips with some rhinestone trim, only to discover the clip I picked up, which honestly looked like something you’d see at Claire’s, was £178.00, or roughly $360.00. Even if I ever become super rich, I cannot see myself breaking free of my cheap/poor roots and splurging on crap like that. But man, to be able to spend that kind of money on a hair accessory. Must be nice.
Saturday night we were tired and stayed in to watch part 2 of the Godfather trilogy which my co-worker, Shanaz, has graciously lent me. We watched part 1 already, which was extraordinarily good. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that there were two discs for the second movie, and didn’t notice that the one I put in was disc 2. We were confused when the movie instantly played, without production company logos or credits or anything, and how there were gaps in the story, but we just accepted it with aplomb. We are such keen moviegoers that we filled in the gaps - oh, they must have had a child, oh, someone must have been caught and now they’re in court - and just thought the movie was taking place far in the future, and that the audience was just supposed to roll with it. We only figured it out when, after about 60 minutes, it was over. “What?” we thought. That was way too short for a standalone movie. And so I went to put on part 3, only to see, upon putting movie 2 back in its case, the first disc. Whoops. And we fell asleep ¾ of the way through the first disc. We’ll get there, though.
Yesterday was busy. I inexplicably woke up before 8AM, as seems to be my wont on weekends. Megan went off for breakfast with her parents, so I had my breakfast and went to the store for suntan lotion. Then I headed to the park with a blanket and my new book and read for hours. After I started to get too warm, I packed up, dropped stuff at home, and took a leisurely stroll through Covent Garden Market, waiting to hear from Megan about when we were all meeting up for the National Gallery and dinner. In the meantime, I wandered over, saw Trafalger Square, and realized the Gallery was right there (and free and air conditioned). I went inside, thinking I might bump into the Fritzs, but instead my mom called me in Room 2 of the Tudors, and I went outside and wandered the streets while we talked. I took a turn off of whatever busy main road I was on, and eventually found myself at Embankment tube station.
Megan called while I was on the phone, and so I went home to kill time for a bit before meeting up with them at Covent Garden for dinner. I brought with the blanket, grapes, and two Scrumpy Jack hard ciders because Megan and I were planning on seeing the outdoor showing of “Rushmore” over at Somerset House at 9:15PM and I wasn’t sure if we’d have time to go back to the house to get our supplies (turns out that we didn’t). I wish the movies weren’t so expensive, though, because I’d love to see Rear Window, ET, and 2001: A Space Odyssey (not that I haven’t seen any of those before, because I have, but how cool to see it on a big screen sitting outside on a beautiful summer night?). They also had an advance screening of “Knocked Up” their first night, but it was too late when I found out about it.
Turns out that my grandma got screwed even more royally in the selling of her house. Well, that's really to be expected, isn't it? I just hope she has enough money that she can live comfortably for the rest of her days, instead of fretting about who's cashing what check when. Someday, I hope to not live paycheck-to-paycheck as well.
Anyway, I should really go back to pretending to work. Ooh, delivery on its way up. There’s something to do!