This Entry Took Millenia To Type, Goddammit
I'm rolling in happiness today, mostly due to a spate of good news which I'll detail here in bullet form;
* I gots me a job! Well, the wonderful rambleman helped gets me a job. He had two going at his place of work (a book publishing company) which I applied for, but apparently there was fierce internal competition for those so I didn't really stand a chance. However, there was also a temp position (3.5 months) going which they contacted me about, and yesterday I interviewed for it. Apparently, the key to getting work in America is to not blog about it until you get it, and yesterday afternoon I got the call. It was one of my best interviews yet; I was calm, collected, and most of all, I was myself. The people there are lovely, the location is great, the pay is rather good comparatively, and I get to work with Jef. There's even a possibility of it becoming permanent, but I can't expect that. I'm both exhilarated (what with my troubles getting work here in the past two years), and nervous (my professional confidence is in the lavvy), but truly it is an incredible thing. I start next week.
* I LOVE our apartment, and especially our area. The neighbours are lovely, there are trees everywhere, and we're walking/riding around rather than driving. We're a 10-15 minute bike from Trader Joes (LAHVE!), we have a movie cinema down the street, and a farmer's market, we're near the train stations, friends, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff like second hand book and music stores and comic shops, etc. We truly couldn't have picked a better area for us. Thank you to everyone who advised us on this.
* I'd write a review about how amazing The Dark Knight was, but this laptop is too shitty for the typing. Plus, you probably all know by now. But if you don't, it was freaking incredible, and not just from the stance of a comic book nerd (although that helps - this film really caters for the fandom). Another amazing film I saw recently and wanted to review here but couldn't due to the immense frustration of trying to type legibly on this damned laptop is Funny Games (the American version - I still need to see the original, but it's by the same writer/director, and apparently a scene for scene remake) - truly one of the most brilliant, terrifying and disturbing films I'll ever see - a callous, brutal social commentary on the casual cruelty of film violence (or, torture porn). Pitt, Roth and (especially) Watts blew my mind - three actors I rather enjoy in the worst of times. Absolutely horrid, you'll both love and hate it (although I wouldn't recommend it as much for those who love/have kids and are a bit sensitive about such things).I also saw The Signal, which was half horror, half comedy, and all good - many people I know will really appreciate this ambitious and graphic (sometimes cringe worthy) independent film. Soon, Hellboy 2 - typically it would be at the top of my cinema-going list, being such a Hellboy nutcase, but...there was Batman. And holy shit, was there Batman. I wanna see it a million times (and I probably will). Seriously the best comic book adaptation, ever - they went back to the source, bless 'em. O, and did you know that Wes Anderson is making a film of my very favourite childhood Roald Dahl book?! He is! Lots of exciting film coming out of our ears in the near future...
* Squirrels! Everywhere! Fucking squirrels! And not the timid buggers you find in the towns, but fat, evil, beady-eyed pooping garbage monkeys that eat everything, even little plastic Draculas you accidentally leave on your porch! I thought we had two resident squirrels - Fay Boy (a plump, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed pretty boy) and Gag Hag (his one-eyed, mean n' manky girlfriend) - but there are millions of them swarming about eating McDonalds outta trash cans. Chicago does have one thing against it, and that is an overwhelming amount of trash. Hence we have the apartment block dumpster right next to our deck (a trade-off for having a great deck), but it's nowhere near as bad as I'd anticipated. Just rats, and squirrels. Let's hope not for a resurgence of the Black Death, eh?
This town is nowhere near perfect, but I love it, and it's home. I have a little sadness today, too, but that's something I have to keep to myself.
xxCattxx