Breaking the Silence: a REAL update.
Hi folks.
This journal is being written on my newly resurrected laptop, fixed here at the Mac Store at the Staten Island Mall. (It had a busted Delete key, which made writing difficult and I finally got off my ass and got it fixed!) I am ensconced in a Starbucks in said center of commerce and the words are just flowing. Maybe it's the black-eyed iced coffee, maybe it is that I feel like I've been silent on a lot of things for too goddamned long. This may be a rambling post but it feels like an important one, at least at the speed that I'm banging it out. It feels really good to be WRITING again after all the shit I've just been through. So, as Ice-T once said (not when he landed on me) "I'm back, motherfuckers!"
It seems this journal gets very quiet when things are at their most turbulent. And the last six weeks have had enough activity and enough personal change to keep this LJ silent as the tomb. I am not going to document every single misfortune that happened in November. Suffice it to say that a complex tax issue from my mother;s estate, and the discovery of the poor condition of the house in New Jersey has led to my decision to sell that house to a neighbor--money which ca be used to solve a major issue with my mother's estate taxes. But it's OK. I have a good accountant and a good lawyer, and all shall be dealt with. On top of that, we're selling my mother's apartment too and waiting for the co-op board to approve my buyer. And yet we keep hitting snags when it comes to actually moving the stuff out of her apartment. Tomorrow was supposed to be the third attempt to do so but the weather is calling for a wintry mix and possible freezing rain. Not ideal moving conditions. Sigh.
In other news, we now own a car (Yes, I am going to finish my damn license as soon as I have a moment!) My neighbor decided to sell us her '91 Honda Civic SE sedan. It's a sturdy, durable little workhorse, and useful in terms of expanding the Paul and Emily sphere of influence and not having to cadge rides and rely on the increasingly expensive and unreliable transit system. With the price of gas below $2, this is a good time to have wheels.
In other words, LJ Nation, late Fall 2008 has been a time of great personal growth, and it feels like, at 35 and a half, I have at last made the full transition to responsible adulthood. Of course, holding a full-time job might make that transition a lot more pleasant, but what are you going to do? (Except get on the stick and keep applying--I have a few irons in the fire and am cautiously hopeful that I can get hired, even in this economy.
Would that mean the end of Mr. Freelance Opera Journalist? No. It would simply mean I would freelance only as a supplement to a steady income and not have to pay everything (insurance, dental) out of pocket. And the occupation I may find myself in? Teaching. Journalism of all things, a subject I could probably teach while blindfolded and being beaten about the thighs by certain statuesque dominatrices) (Hmmm maybe we should do that as a workshop next BR?)
It I think I finally "got" the teaching bug at BR this year when I had that overwhelmingly positive experience with the class I taught. So much so that I am fired up to teach more--possibly caning, possibly other subjects of interest. (Cigars? Whips? Aural mindfuck? Knives?) With all that in mind I am considering applying for a teaching gig at a couple of upcoming summer events. I would need to talk to certain people there, (some of them are reading this I think). Maybe something about tobacco products for CC? Then of course t next year's BR. Have a few subjects in mind but of course if you have a suggestion of your own I am open to it.
OK that's enough. Told you this would be an entry worth reading.
All for now
The Owl
This journal is being written on my newly resurrected laptop, fixed here at the Mac Store at the Staten Island Mall. (It had a busted Delete key, which made writing difficult and I finally got off my ass and got it fixed!) I am ensconced in a Starbucks in said center of commerce and the words are just flowing. Maybe it's the black-eyed iced coffee, maybe it is that I feel like I've been silent on a lot of things for too goddamned long. This may be a rambling post but it feels like an important one, at least at the speed that I'm banging it out. It feels really good to be WRITING again after all the shit I've just been through. So, as Ice-T once said (not when he landed on me) "I'm back, motherfuckers!"
It seems this journal gets very quiet when things are at their most turbulent. And the last six weeks have had enough activity and enough personal change to keep this LJ silent as the tomb. I am not going to document every single misfortune that happened in November. Suffice it to say that a complex tax issue from my mother;s estate, and the discovery of the poor condition of the house in New Jersey has led to my decision to sell that house to a neighbor--money which ca be used to solve a major issue with my mother's estate taxes. But it's OK. I have a good accountant and a good lawyer, and all shall be dealt with. On top of that, we're selling my mother's apartment too and waiting for the co-op board to approve my buyer. And yet we keep hitting snags when it comes to actually moving the stuff out of her apartment. Tomorrow was supposed to be the third attempt to do so but the weather is calling for a wintry mix and possible freezing rain. Not ideal moving conditions. Sigh.
In other news, we now own a car (Yes, I am going to finish my damn license as soon as I have a moment!) My neighbor decided to sell us her '91 Honda Civic SE sedan. It's a sturdy, durable little workhorse, and useful in terms of expanding the Paul and Emily sphere of influence and not having to cadge rides and rely on the increasingly expensive and unreliable transit system. With the price of gas below $2, this is a good time to have wheels.
In other words, LJ Nation, late Fall 2008 has been a time of great personal growth, and it feels like, at 35 and a half, I have at last made the full transition to responsible adulthood. Of course, holding a full-time job might make that transition a lot more pleasant, but what are you going to do? (Except get on the stick and keep applying--I have a few irons in the fire and am cautiously hopeful that I can get hired, even in this economy.
Would that mean the end of Mr. Freelance Opera Journalist? No. It would simply mean I would freelance only as a supplement to a steady income and not have to pay everything (insurance, dental) out of pocket. And the occupation I may find myself in? Teaching. Journalism of all things, a subject I could probably teach while blindfolded and being beaten about the thighs by certain statuesque dominatrices) (Hmmm maybe we should do that as a workshop next BR?)
It I think I finally "got" the teaching bug at BR this year when I had that overwhelmingly positive experience with the class I taught. So much so that I am fired up to teach more--possibly caning, possibly other subjects of interest. (Cigars? Whips? Aural mindfuck? Knives?) With all that in mind I am considering applying for a teaching gig at a couple of upcoming summer events. I would need to talk to certain people there, (some of them are reading this I think). Maybe something about tobacco products for CC? Then of course t next year's BR. Have a few subjects in mind but of course if you have a suggestion of your own I am open to it.
OK that's enough. Told you this would be an entry worth reading.
All for now
The Owl