when i say bitch i don't mean bitch...
Well, after a few slow days in the office, text-twist can no longer amuse me enough. so here i am, posting an update for the first time well in almost a year. just to set the record straight (in case someone reads this that i haven't talked to since i moved) i'm currently living the rawk* lyfestylee in a basement in astoria, ny. that's right, this kid lives in queens. it actually is a really sweet setup. how to start describing though... well my street is basically a bunch of row houses (connected, but not connected) and i have my own entrance down to what is essentially the basement of my landlord's house above me. there is actually a door that leads upstairs, but its always locked and i have a desk in front of it, but i digress. its a studio, so that means 1 whole room plus bathroom, but don't be fooled, its pretty large. i'm the 2nd tennant to live there, so hurrythang's nice and new. now here's the sweet part... i pay one bill a month. utilities are included and my landlord pipes down free satellite tv and a wireless internet signal. the only downside is that my cell gets crappy reception in my dungeon (if you've ever called me you know this...) and being in a basement natural light is somewhat rare.
i'm pretty close to a couple of subway lines. i can get to work in about 30 minutes door to door (when they're not striking of course). unfortunately since for my last 2 1/2 years at school i never had a class before 11 a.m., getting up at 7 each morning is taking some adjusting (see also my note about natural light). however, i schlep my ass to mid-town and spend anywhere from 8-12 hours at the office. luckily on top of my salary i'm elligible for overtime, so the extra hours i put in come back to me time and a half stylee. my team is great. i get along with everyone and since my job is to basically back them all up, thats a good thing. currently we're having a bit of a spat with our client (directv), so there are more important things going on than making sure i know all of the ins and outs of whats happening. besides, its only been like 2 months, so i have time to become an expert.
for those of you that know me from college, well, i look a tad different these days. though the nipples remain, the earrings are gone and instead of my usual frayed short pants, 311 t-shirt, and chucks i now sport dress pants and a button down shirt with a smart sweater thrown in if i'm feeling it, and fancy brown shoes. my hair hasn't changed color since, well i don't wanna dwell on that...
moving along, i'm adjusting to the whole, living by myself thing pretty well. during the week all i really do is get up, go to work, come home, go to sleep, repeat, so that takes care of itself. if i wanna kill time, theres always 50 some-odd movie channels, my bass, not to mention the gamecube i picked up last week. right now i just have one controller with lotr the third age and ssx tricky, but the classics are keeping me happy.
as far as actually being social goes, i've discovered a nice mix. for those of you that met chris when he visited ithaca, i see him a good bit, and am becoming friends with his crowd. however, i can only take so many trips to crazy gay clubs (despite the free-drinks) so to balance it out, there actually are some familiar faces here as well. my friend jenna from high school lives about 5 blocks from me, and erica from my ithaca days is in the neighborhood as well. and of course through the wonders of myspace, i've met a few cool people on my own.
this is getting long, so i'll end on this. 311 just announced plans to hold 311 day in memphis as new orleans hasn't recovered sufficiently yet. it would have been a trip to visit new orleans and see 311, but memphis will do. starting to work out my plans for that weekend, though i already got the time off work.
one last note for anyone who reads this and thinks to themselves, "i really wish i had more ben in my life." well kids the answer is simple: being the working stiff that i am now, i only get so many days off per year, so unless its one hell of a huge event, i'm not really mobile. the good news is that i'm totally down with weekend visits. i have a queen bed and queen-sized air matress, plus a fun neighborhood (not to mention new york city) so hit me up and i'll pencil you in for a visit, hehe.
oh, and in the words of tupac:
"when i say bitch, i don't mean like, bitch... you know i mean like, a bitch."
i'm pretty close to a couple of subway lines. i can get to work in about 30 minutes door to door (when they're not striking of course). unfortunately since for my last 2 1/2 years at school i never had a class before 11 a.m., getting up at 7 each morning is taking some adjusting (see also my note about natural light). however, i schlep my ass to mid-town and spend anywhere from 8-12 hours at the office. luckily on top of my salary i'm elligible for overtime, so the extra hours i put in come back to me time and a half stylee. my team is great. i get along with everyone and since my job is to basically back them all up, thats a good thing. currently we're having a bit of a spat with our client (directv), so there are more important things going on than making sure i know all of the ins and outs of whats happening. besides, its only been like 2 months, so i have time to become an expert.
for those of you that know me from college, well, i look a tad different these days. though the nipples remain, the earrings are gone and instead of my usual frayed short pants, 311 t-shirt, and chucks i now sport dress pants and a button down shirt with a smart sweater thrown in if i'm feeling it, and fancy brown shoes. my hair hasn't changed color since, well i don't wanna dwell on that...
moving along, i'm adjusting to the whole, living by myself thing pretty well. during the week all i really do is get up, go to work, come home, go to sleep, repeat, so that takes care of itself. if i wanna kill time, theres always 50 some-odd movie channels, my bass, not to mention the gamecube i picked up last week. right now i just have one controller with lotr the third age and ssx tricky, but the classics are keeping me happy.
as far as actually being social goes, i've discovered a nice mix. for those of you that met chris when he visited ithaca, i see him a good bit, and am becoming friends with his crowd. however, i can only take so many trips to crazy gay clubs (despite the free-drinks) so to balance it out, there actually are some familiar faces here as well. my friend jenna from high school lives about 5 blocks from me, and erica from my ithaca days is in the neighborhood as well. and of course through the wonders of myspace, i've met a few cool people on my own.
this is getting long, so i'll end on this. 311 just announced plans to hold 311 day in memphis as new orleans hasn't recovered sufficiently yet. it would have been a trip to visit new orleans and see 311, but memphis will do. starting to work out my plans for that weekend, though i already got the time off work.
one last note for anyone who reads this and thinks to themselves, "i really wish i had more ben in my life." well kids the answer is simple: being the working stiff that i am now, i only get so many days off per year, so unless its one hell of a huge event, i'm not really mobile. the good news is that i'm totally down with weekend visits. i have a queen bed and queen-sized air matress, plus a fun neighborhood (not to mention new york city) so hit me up and i'll pencil you in for a visit, hehe.
oh, and in the words of tupac:
"when i say bitch, i don't mean like, bitch... you know i mean like, a bitch."