Can’t it be Friday again? January 30, 2006 ~ 11:07 am
Posted by Julie in : In Da Hood, Rick, Urban Family , trackback
Rick and the girls by pyrotechnic lighting, New Year’s Eve ~ Central Park
My legs ache from a weekend of cleaning, moving, and lining kitchen shelves with contact paper. Did you know that last is a lost art? Nor did I until I started doing it at Jordana’s new home only to look up and see three guys staring at what I was doing, fascinated. One of them, who works in a furniture-making shop with Thabiso, told me that I could come to work with them anytime and do the upholstery. He meant it as a compliment, so that’s how I took it.
I’m almost jealous of J and Thabs. They’re in a nice place that they own, and so can fix it up any way they choose. I could do that to my apartment, but what’s the point? Why would I spend time and money renovating something that I will move away from? It’s spending that time and money to fix up someone else’s place, and while I love my landlady, I don’t feel like doing that. The problem is that I can’t afford to buy a place around here. Apartments, even in dicey neighborhoods, still cost $250,000 or more, and with student loans, credit card bills, etc., I can’t feasibly swing it. Some days it’s a real pisser living in a place where if you’re earning below $50,000, you’re living paycheck to paycheck.
Aside from a few momentary twinges of jealousy, it was a good move. One of the guys helping out had to bring his little daughter since his wife was working, and so J and I ended up watching her and directing the flow of furniture and boxes. Little Massai just turned a year old and is a beauty. She was very happy to be with either Jordana or I as long as her daddy wasn’t in view, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of him, she would start to cry like “Why are you leaving me with these women? They’re horrible to me!” She stopped those Academy Award winning performances after a half hour or so, and was just a little ray of sunshine after that. She babbled to us, she tried to help install the contact paper, she ate Doritos and fed me some, she danced, and she tried to talk me out of my beer. Seriously. I sat down with her on my lap and reached for my beer, and she wanted some. She spent five minutes speaking baby-gibberish while eyeing up the beer can, and at the end when I told her “Massai, you’re a little young for beer,” she started up again. That child is going to be one hell of a saleswoman some day.
After all of the moving excitement, I ended up at a reading coordinated by my friend Eugene. Rick had been cast in a small role earlier in the week, but because of another actor pleading flu, he was bumped up to lead yesterday afternoon. He was wonderful, and it was great to see him acting again. The script itself was a little pedantic and stilted at times, but because of some very talented actors (yes, I’ll admit it, my boyfriend wasn’t the only talented one), it worked.
But after all of this, I feel like I need another weekend to recover.
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