Addendums
Hello, friends.
As summer approaches, I have been reflecting on the changes brought about by the cold, long, brutal winter we have endured together. I'm happy to say that while life as a whole has not been anything to blog about, these changes have been among the warmest and
most hopeful kind.
Last Saturday, I went to The Exchange in Rockaway. It's the kind of place where you "exchange" laughs, drinks, and smiles with friends, new and old. I had the distinct pleasure of spending some time with my friend George (known to those less fortunate as "Laura's number three"). We hadn't hung out in a few weeks, and while recapping the details of my life as of late, he remarked that a lot was going on. "Oh yes," I said. "You've got to keep up. I'm reaching new lows all the time."
This Saturday, I am in bed watching a Lifetime movie about a woman who chases storms, writing this blog, and feeling the singular kind of regret that comes from drinking too much soda.
After logging onto MySpace to read a new comment, I browsed my old blog entries, and realized that a few things need to be clarified.
In a blog written almost a year ago, I compare myself to "General Hospital" characters. I hastily and sarcastically conclude that I am most like Kate Howard, except without the cute haircut, mysterious past, and thriving career.
I'm happy to report that things are looking up. I now adore Maxie (obviously) and have, through stages, cut my hair like Kate Howard. My career, which I wouldn't categorize as "thriving" is definitely better than it was (i.e. I now work with a bunch of overgrown, overpaid high school students in the medical education industry--we're glorified drug pushers). I'm beginning to edit, which is my dream (a boring dream, but MY dream) and drinking on the job is unofficially encouraged. Mysterious pasts can always be fabricated.
More importantly, my Top 8 has changed. The newest member of the Unicorn Club-I mean, Top 8-is Patty, a friend of the greatest kind. I have known Patty since the first grade, and though we drifted apart, we have ultimately drifted back together, which is what the greatest kind of friends always do. I once wrote a blog about my Top 8, and it's not fair that Patty doesn't have her own little snippet describing why she deserves this honor, now is it? So here we go. Ahem!
Patty: Not everyone in my Top 8 knows how to deal with lost souls. Though you may feel your job title as "social worker" applies only to your chosen career path, I'd like you to know that your efforts to revamp all social settings has not gone unnoticed. While on the clock, you commit to saving abused children, and off it, you commit to making The Exchange a safe place for those who have decided to exchange something most of us are inclined to feel we are stuck with: our gender. You are a social worker of the most supreme variety, and I feel I can speak for all citizens of Rockaway, current, former, and future, when I say that we are glad to have you on our side (both because of the aforementioned reasons and because we have been unable to forget how surprisingly agile you were during that drunken knife fight outside of Adam's Beer Garden). It is my pleasure to formally welcome you, a little late, but without any less fanfare, to my Top 8.
Lastly, I will give some focus of this entry to the only thing that really matters: television. Last March, I made my frustrations with "All My Children" public. I'm happy to report that it has been showing signs of improvement, especially last week with the re-wedding of supercouple Angie and Jesse. Like soap weddings of the 80s, it was lavish and dramatic. They laughed, they cried, they dodged bullets and they boarded a helicopter (Angie as a hostage inside, and Jesse as an ill-fated dumbass, hanging onto the leg (?) of the helicopter as it took off).
It seems my 90210 blog was also perfectly timed. As I'm sure many of you know, there is a NEW 90210 coming out, with Jennie Garth already signed on as a high school guidance counselor. I guess this means Dylan is dead, or something, because I don't see Luke Perry returning, and it was implied that Kelly and Dylan end up together. Oddly, in my 90210 blog I mentioned twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, of the Sweet Valley Kids/Twins/High/Senior Year/University books. It has come to my attention that they are re-issuing the SVH series, complete with new covers and references to modern technology for new readers. I take this to mean that Jessica will no longer watch "Ryan's Hope" when she stays home from school (If they have her watching "Passions" I will write an angry letter). And, she will be text-messaging her snotty friends instead of calling them on the phone and pensively twisting the cord between her fingers. ALSO, in yet another odd coincidence, the new covers will feature Leven Rambin, of "All My Children" (Lily/Ava) as the Wakefield sisters.
One last piece of news: apparently there is going to be a new series of Sweet Valley books, where the twins and their friends are about 26 and living in a gated community. It's supposed to be called Sweet Valley Heights OR Sweet Valley Confidential. I vote for the former. I await this series, along with the seemingly-inevitable Sweet Valley Hospice series, with great excitement.