EvilJulie.com

The dishwasher in our apartment is, as our landlady says “one hundred years old.” I’m not sure about that, but I’m pretty sure it’s as old as I am. It’s a Magic Chef, with fake wood laminate on the front so that it can blend in with our fake wood laminate cabinets. (Our kitchen, it looks mildly Germanic and Tudor at the same time.) Now, it’s old, but it’s served us in good stead since we moved here…um, I think that was five years ago on Thursday. Damn!

Today, however, I guess the dishwasher had had enough. I started the cycle (Energy Saver, mind you, because Con Ed already owns my soul in the summer) and all was going well. I retreated to my office space to work on my thesis download apps and songs from iTunes with the gift cards I just got from my credit card company. Rick had mildly mocked me for being on the laptop and the iPad at the same time. All was going well, I was playing a new game, and suddenly I smelled smoke. I figured it was from outside. Since I had headphones in, Rick had to come over to ask me if I smelled it, too. Nothing on the stove…and then we both saw it coming from the dishwasher.

Rick’s best guess is that it finally burned out its motor or its wiring. The smoke smell was kind of sweet, not exactly what I would have associated with an electrical fire, but what do I know? We’ve talked to our landlady and she’ll see what she can do about getting a new one for us. Worst comes to worst, hey, more storage for dishes! It will suck to have to wash everything by hand, tho, so I’m hoping not to go that route.

Sometimes, when the things are happening right and left and I should have a million things to blog about? That’s when I can’t blog to save my life because there are just too many things. I’m experiencing them fast and furious, and the only way I can even acknowledge that they’re happening is through quick tweets or status messages on Facebook. But there was a story behind each of them that I’m now wishing I had written it down. So the game plan, for now, is to write a list of things that have happened over break and expand upon them (or not) as I feel and as you all want. That’s write, audience participation! In the comments, if there’s something from the list you’re particularly interested in, let me know and I’ll try to tackle that soon. If no one says anything, I’ll take them as the mood hits me. Here, at least, I’m going to try to get them down in chronological order.

• The Piss Crusader, Jesse, died as I was writing my term papers.
• I got some weaving done, just in time to give it as Christmas presents.
• We spent Christmas here, there, and the next place, with Rick’s family, Rick’s Ex, and by ourselves, and I got some pretty snazzy presents out of them.
• We got 18″ of snow and then the entire city pretty much closed down and I had two unscheduled holidays because I couldn’t get to work (there is a rant about how the outer boroughs were treated like second-class citizens involved in this one).
• I spent New Year’s Eve here, there, and the next place.
• My godchild knows how to write her own name and can recognize her mother and father’s names on paper, which means she can spell them. She also gave me a Christmas card on which she wrote (with spelling help) my name and Rick’s. She is a genius at three and a half.
• I maintained my 4.0 average with an A in Black America and an A+ in my Vietnam class.
• I saw the HBO taping of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse on Broadway.
• We had another snowfall of an inch, and the plows were out in force, unlike when we got 18″.
• Our office’s heat went into overdrive and we hit 90* in here. Later that day, when they had “fixed” it by turning on the a/c, we were back in our normal 65* range. I now have sweaters and a t-shirt in here, just for the extremes.
• We got more snow! Only 8″, yet half my office was still out, and I felt like a total chump for coming in.
• The zodiac changed, and there is no way in hell I am a Virgo now.

That’s the past three weeks. Details on some to come, depending on your opinions and my inclinations.

I know some people think gift cards are totally impersonal, but I flat out love them. Don’t get me wrong, I like getting gifts as well, especially if someone has put some thought into them or found something so quirky it makes me laugh out loud–for instance, Jordana got me the second season of True Blood on Blu-Ray with the idea that we will have more Girls’ Nights where we just watch True Blood and drink. Lori got me (among other things) a coffee mug with the bottom of Abe Lincoln’s face on the side so that when you drink out of it, your eyes are visible on Lincoln’s face, which makes me crack up every time I look at it.

However, gift cards are awesome as well because they mean I get to indulge in retail therapy. And boy did I this weekend. I had gotten two Amazon gift cards, a Barnes & Noble gift card, and an iTunes gift card. I parlayed that into the fifth season of Doctor Who (pre-ordered), the pair of black wellies I mentioned in the last post, a book on M*A*S*H for my Vietnam paper, M*A*S*H the movie on DVD, and six CDs (three actual CDs, three on iTunes): Vampire Weekend, Keane, Band of Horses, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, and Neon Trees. That is a serious amount of shopping! And it didn’t stop there because I also hit Urban Outfitters and Gap. Twice. And Gap.com. It is not my fault that they were having a 30% off sale for cardholders this weekend. It is not my fault that Gap makes the most comfortable jeans leggings in the universe. It is not my fault that apparently everyone in Manhattan is a size 8 like I am, which meant that when I hit the second Gap last night, they looked like they had been hit by a plague of size 8 locusts, meaning that I had to go fitting room diving to find a pair of dark rinse jeans leggings. It was the perfect shopping storm, and when I realized that they did not have the grey jeans leggings that I also wanted, I had to go online. PS, they’re out of them online, too (I am really unsure as to how that happens), and a lot of what I wanted was backordered, but my 30% discount meant I ordered it anyway. I will just be receiving fun packages for a while.

And I will need to go to Gap again next week because FSM help me, those grey jeans leggings will be MINE.

I took yesterday off from work to celebrate the birthday. These are the highlights:

• I am so tired of rain I could scream. This entire week has been an exercise in not getting soaked, and yesterday that exercise was futile. Today, it is sunny and beautiful out, but I used birthday Amazon gift cards to buy a nice pair of tall black wellies that will go with many outfits (important when you are wearing them throughout the day and then have to go somewhere nice at night, still wearing them). Not going through this shit again.

• I went shopping at Urban Outfitters and Gap, and as usual, found that it is really easy to drop cash on clothes. Gap jeans leggings (I refuse to say “jeggings,” I think that is the stupidest word in the world) are super comfy. However, the fashion trend that I was not anticipating a return of threw me for a loop: stirrup pants are apparently back, FSM save us all.

• I had my first warm apple cider of the fall. It was amazing.

• I bought four bottles of wine for $30, proving yet again that I live in the most amazing city on earth.

• I saw my friend Lori in a play about Deep Throat. She was excellent, but this morning I wonder why our culture is so blase about female frontal nudity, but so Victorian about male frontal nudity. If I am going to be seeing boobs and cooch, I would like equal opportunity dick, please. (Equal Opportunity Dick would be an amazing band name, don’t you think?)

• I got carded when we went to a bar after the play, because we were down by NYU. It made me feel good, especially when the bouncer wished me a happy belated birthday. I think this means I am officially old, because when I was young, I hated getting carded. People told me this day would happen. I did not believe them.

• Last night I had a whiskey sour for the first time in about 6 years. Actually, I had two. They were just as good as I remembered them to be, and STRONG.

• I took a taxi home last night. It is a luxury I rarely indulge in (it was $25 with tip from the Washington Square area to my house), but it was so nice not to have to deal with the subway and NYU kids and bridge & tunnel elements in the subway when I was under the influence of two whiskey sours. And the two Red Stripe tall boys I had during Lori’s play. Totally worth the cash.

Tonight, I head up to Lincoln Center Atrium for the first night of their free DJ series, which is going to turn into impromptu birthday celebrations, night two. Before that, more shopping. But no stir-ups. I just cannot do that to myself at this age, it was bad enough in junior high. (And even the mannequins looked stupid wearing stir-up jeans with flats.)

Five Minute Rule says I should post something, but does not take into account the days when I have absolutely nothing to say because I spent them fighting a cold, doing homework, and going to class.

Although I will say, Mother Nature, I’m getting a wee bit ticked with you, because there is no way that I should have mosquito bites to show for eating my dinner outside on the Autumnal Equinox. Nor should I have been able to wear shorts today, or to have been seriously considering turning on the air conditioner. Damn, Woman, give a sick girl a break!