thoughts May 31, 2005 ~ 11:58 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closed
Jesse loves when Rick launches him onto the couch like this. He’s a dumbass like that.
It’s Tuesday morning, we’re back at work, and people are surly. Good to know that things don’t change, even with a three day weekend.
I finished the “Afghan From Hell” last night, which is a present for my friend Leenie. Nobody else ask for one, you’re not getting one. I started the damn thing five different times before I was happy with it, and you only get that kind of treatment if you have been my best friend since I was 14, have just moved, graduated from massage therapy school, recently had a birthday, and have been through hell because of a certain man this year. Only Leenie has that distinction. Although Rick might get an afghan in the fall, just because I love him and I could tell that he really wanted the Afghan From Hell. But it’s summer now, and Julie ain’t working on afghans in the heat of a New York City summer. Pictures of the lovely Afghan From Hell (which looks nothing like what Leenie or I would have expected) will be up soon. Along with an explanation of its name.
Found ribbon yarn this weekend in a really cool rainbow pattern. (The picture doesn’t do it justice, just so you know.) As soon as I find a pattern for a slip-stitch scarf that I know I saw somewhere, I’ll make it for Lori’s birthday present. Because it’s glitzy and fun, like she is. And lightweight, which makes it the perfect summer accessory. I think I saw that pattern in Stitch’n'Bitch Nation. Hmmmm.
I emailed my friend Kim, asking her what she was wearing to the reunion this weekend, since our lovely alma mater is asking for “casual.” I told her I might bring some capris and a nice skirt, but jeans were more likely, since I “have to dress up for work, I ain’t doin’ it on my vacation.” Having just moved, her response was: “What I bring is dependent on what I can reach in my closet. Right now, that’s a pair of jeans, two t-shirts, and a bleach-stained Rutgers hoodie.” I replied with four words: “You are my hero.”
I just had a student ask me about his cap and gown: “That thing that goes around your neck, should that have been in with the cap and gown?” Dude, do I look like I know a damn thing about caps and gowns? Ask the Bookstore, where you bought the damn thing.
Overheard in the laundromat last night: two little kids running around singing “We’ve got sugar!” and their exasperated father, who replied “Yeah, because that’s exactly what you need: more sugar.”
There would be more, but my job is making demands on me. Fucking job.
It’s enough to make you misanthropic May 27, 2005 ~ 4:49 pm
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Jesse, doing his imitation of Old Yeller because he didn’t like his medicine.
I came into work today thinking “Alright. It’s Friday. The office door is closed, I can get some serious work done without dealing with students bursting in every five minutes.”
That idea died quickly. See, when I came in, I found out that three people in the Student Records division had taken the day off. And the fourth, who knew he was supposed to cover, called of “sick” this morning. Bastard. He’s called off sick enough that Human Resources is onto him, and he’s quickly digging his own grave. But I’m not going to tell him that.
Now, because there was no one in the Student Records division, guess who had to cover over there? That’s right, me. I spent the whole day fielding calls and dealing with students, and getting next to no work done because I wasn’t on my computer. I can’t access the shared folders from over there, because I can’t log into the computer. Bastards.
Someone will pay for me having to be over there today. I’m not sure who that is yet, but someone’s gonna die. They’re just lucky that it’s a long weekend - my rage may have dissipated by Tuesday.
On the bright side, I did get my pedicure on my lunch break. I’ll try to post a picture later. Now, I’m leaving to take some more boxes home and feed Jordana’s cat. It’s an eventful evening at my house, let me tell you. Oh, but at least I get to watch the Def Leppard performance from this morning’s Today Show. I Tivo’d it. And whoever he was, I have to give kudos to the guy that was holding up the sign promoting the new album. Brilliance, my man. If their company won’t promote them, we will.
Moving…creatively. May 26, 2005 ~ 10:14 am
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Peter Pan, Carl Schurz Park, Upper East Side
I’m having a moment where I really want to do something. Something creative. But I don’t know what that creative something would be. Is it as simple as putting Flicker on the blog (and okay, anyone with a Mac running OS 10.2.8 knows that’s not simple.)? Is it writing something? Learning a new craft? Designing something to knit? I don’t know. I know I don’t have the time to do said creative thing at the moment. I’m at work, for starters. Even if I wasn’t, I have to get ready for my trip to the Burgh that’s in a week. And the start of my moving period, which is in two weeks. I don’t have a lot of spare time at my disposal. So I have to put this impulse on hold for a while, and if I do, it might be gone. Creativity’s a bitch like that. It comes, it goes, it says “Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.”
I’m gearing up for the move, or at least pretending to. I brought ten boxes home from work on Tuesday, and I have at least twenty more to take home. (Working in a college is good - there are tons of boxes from Schedules of Classes. My only restriction is how many I can carry on the bus and subway in a large garbage bag.) Since the move is only next door, I can take a few boxes over, unpack them, and then come back and reload them. I figure in the two weeks I have to move (I start paying rent in the new place June 15, and I have to be out of my current place by July 1), I should be able to do most of the move myself, after work and on weekends. I’ll have my friends over one weekend to help with the furniture, but other than that I should be able to do the rest. It’s just a matter of working out a time-table, I guess. When to call and get the electricity turned on in my name, when to call Direct TV and get them to move my satellite dish from one roof to the other (they’re going to laugh at me, aren’t they?), when to get the phone switched over, that kind of stuff.
But as much as I’m looking forward to being in the new place, I have to say that I really hate moving. It drains me. It will be better this time than it was last time, I know that. The extended moving period makes for less stress. I won’t have an entire apartment filled with boxes like I did last time. I’m used to living on my own, so I know what a perfectly quiet house sounds like now. But still, a whole new place that I have to make my own, have to get used to the late night sounds of, hope the Piss Crusader doesn’t decide to make his personal litterbox. It’s a lot to get used to.
And I have no time for the creative coping methods I use to de-stress. Hmm. Gonna be doing a lot of reading in the next month.
Dribs and drabs May 25, 2005 ~ 11:51 am
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Gracie Mansion, Upper East Side.
Hi, I’m a fucking moron - I just realized that Monday was the full moon. That explains a lot of the shit going on in my office lately. I work with lunatics.
In random bits and pieces, I present the non-work aspects of my life:
- Best cat toy ever: the Feline Flyer, which I got at Petco. It’s attached to the string with one of those pull chains you find on a rabbit’s foot keychain or a plain light fixture, which lets the feathers move like a bird as you swing it back and forth. Cats like birds. Cats play with this for twenty minutes at a pop. Do you know how long twenty minutes is in cat time? It’s like an eternity.
- I just realized that in one week and one day, I’ll be on a plane to Pittsburgh. Time to start checking into what kind of stuff I’m not allowed to take on planes anymore. And time to come up with a knitting project that involves circular needles, since they won’t let the straight ones on the plane.
- A week after I get back, I start moving my crap into the new place. I guess I need to start packing. Or at the very least, organizing. Feh.
- Before I leave, I need to get a pedicure and a haircut. Because really, isn’t a college reunion all about making the people you went to school with think “Holy shit, she looks good!”?
- On Vince’s recommendation, I bought The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr last night, since I loved The Alienist so much. So far, so good. And if you haven’t read The Alienist yet, shame on you. Go get it. It’s good summer reading. Next on my reading list, which will probably accompany me to Pittsburgh, is the new Amelia Peabody mystery by Elizabeth Peters. I know I’m trying to save money, but for Goddess’s sake, I need stuff to read!
No doubt there’s more, but it’s all trivial. Rick’s got the girls this long weekend, and it’s probably the last time I’ll see them before they go abroad with their mother (and the last time I’ll see the Oldest for a while, since as soon as she flies back, she’s going to camp till late July), so don’t expect too much from me later in the week. Until then, posts will probably be all about retarded co-workers and idiotic students. We’re coming up on Commencement, what do you expect?
Fucking Martyrs May 24, 2005 ~ 12:16 pm
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Discarded iris bloom, Upper West Side.
I have spent my past week dealing with passive/aggressiveness at it’s worst. We’ve got a woman in my office in her late 60s, who is a classic passive/aggressive personality. In fact, that’s what I’m going to call her for the rest of this post. P/A. Because it’s also short for Pain in my Ass.
P/A is a thorn in the collective side of my supervisor and I. P/A misadvises students, spends inordinate amounts of time on the phone with students (I can get a student off the phone in roughly 2 minutes, all their questions answered. P/A takes 5 minutes, often 10 to do the same thing.), asks the same stupid questions all the time and when you respond that you have told her the answer previously, she says “Oh, I didn’t hear that.”
I have been waging what I’m now referring to as “The Battle of the Phone” with P/A for months now. I’ve talked about it before, but it’s getting worse, so I’ll refresh your memories. She doesn’t seem to understand proper phone etiquette. When she takes a call and it’s for someone else, she just says “You have a call on line 1.” Doesn’t ask who is on the phone, what it’s in reference to, any of that. Just tells me I have a call. Strike one. I deal with anyone from students, to professors, to deans, to the president’s office on a daily basis. I need to know who I’m talking to and what it’s about.
She also doesn’t take messages. As in, I am on the phone with someone, you can see that I’m occupied, you take a message or have that person call me back. No. Last night she literally stood around at 4:45 while I was on the phone with a student, with one finger raised, so that I would “know” I had a call on line 1. Actually, she looked like a kid who has been taught to raise one finger as a sign to their teacher that they have to go to the bathroom. I put my hand over the receiver and told her to take a message. I proceeded answering my student’s questions about Commencement. I got off the phone about 3 minutes later, and P/A actually asked me “Do you want to take this call now?” I shit you not. I looked at her and said “Did I, or did I not tell you to take a message? What do they want?” She said, “He wants to know if he can go to Commencement.” I replied, “Well, print out the graduation information screen, take his number, and explain that I will call him back after I hear from Student Life.” (Student Life is in charge of ticket distribution.) She whined, “I don’t know how to print out that screen.”
Bitch has been working here for 25 years, the past ten of which she has had a computer and been able to print. Strike two. I lost my temper. I said, quite tersely, “P/A, I have told you all week to print out that screen, and you have been doing it. This is not new information. Furthermore, I should not have to teach you phone etiquette.”
My supervisor was in the room for most of this, and after P/A had left for the day, we had a little talk. In the past, when we’ve had problems with P/A, we’ve written memos explaining policy. That way, she can’t say “Oh, I didn’t know,” because it’s on paper, right in front of her. You guessed it, this morning I had to write a memo on phone etiquette. Strike three.
This morning, after I typed said memo, distributed it, and discussed it with the staff, I was in my supervisor’s office for a while, discussing Student Life and Commencement, and P/A comes into the office. “You have a call on line 2.” I looked at her in disbelief because I had seen her reading the memo, and said “When I’m not in the office, you can take a message,” in the politest voice possible. She wandered off, and I came back into the office a few minutes later. Two minutes after that, my supervisor came in and said “Julie, the student somehow got transferred to my office.” We both turned to P/A, and I said “P/A, why would you transfer the student after I told you to take a message?” P/A’s response? “Oh, I didn’t hear you say that. I thought you said transfer it.” WTF? Strikes four through nine zillion.
This woman only hears what she wants to hear and does what she wants to do. She’s got a great persecution complex going, telling all the other women in the office that my supervisor and I “pick on” her. You’re in your sixties, woman, grow the fuck up. We don’t pick on her, but invariably when there’s a problem, it turns out she’s behind it - we’ve got a file an inch thick of her fuck-ups. I can’t stand martyrs, or people who play at being martyrs. And I also can’t stand when people act like children when they are far, far, FAR past that age. I get along really well with kids, you can ask Rick’s girls. What I don’t get along with are women older than my mother acting like they’re in kindergarten. Get over yourself, P/A.
Six more work days till Commencement and my trip back to Pittsburgh. Let’s see if I let her live that long.
Subversive Feminism May 23, 2005 ~ 12:34 pm
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Tile table, Upper West Side
I have spent the past three hours trying to redo a form for my boss. She wants things all rearranged on it, and unfortunately the fucking thing wasn’t don’t in columns, only with tabs. And every time I think I have cut and past everything to her satisfaction, she decides she wants things redone. I’ve just decided “Fuck it, I’m redoing this fucking thing.” Because in the long run, it will take less time.
On another note, I was thinking earlier about how there are core parts of each of us that other people might not ever see. For instance, I consider myself a rabid feminist, but I doubt others would see me as such. I make jokes about women thinking with their brains, men with their penises, and people bristle a little at that. I tell all the girl children I know that not only can they do anything men can do, they will probably be better at it, and people laugh that off. But then they shrug off both of those things, and ignore that what I’ve said might have merit. Okay, maybe not the men thinking with their penises part, but I have a theory about that.
I am a member of the first generation of women who were taught that we could do anything men could do. We were taught that we were just as intelligent, just as important, just as worthy as men. But when we tried to express these things, the older generation of men still laughed at us and tried to coddle us. So we learned to assert ourselves in a way that wouldn’t raise hackles. We joked about men thinking with their dicks, and got away with it. Maybe joking about that isn’t the best way to be strong women, but it was a step forward. I’m hoping the next generation won’t have to joke. They’ll say they’re as good as a man, and they’ll be believed, because everyone knows that it’s true.
In the meantime, I’ll tell girls that they can be anything that they want when they grow up. That of course they’re good in school, and that I expect that of them because girls are just as smart as boys. I’ll insist on paying my own way, because I can afford to. I’ll be proud of the fact that I have an MFA on my wall. I’ll continue to be a card carrying member of NOW and a supporter of Planned Parenthood and NARAL. And if the world doesn’t see the feminist I am, well, maybe that’s in my favor. Subversive feminism might be even more effective than the in-your-face variety.
Male thought/Female thought May 20, 2005 ~ 4:03 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedPhotobucket is apparently having a spazz-fest. Otherwise you would have a pretty picture right here.
Last night, Rick and I were having a conversation about the difference between how men think and how women think. We discuss this fairly regularly, especially when we’re drunk. Which we were last night. But this time, we had an example before us.
Rick pointed out a comment I made a couple of days ago on here, when I said: “I can blow pretty well with one “digit” in my mouth.” Now, to be fair, there was a little winky face after that. But this is the conversation we had:
Rick: You see, a guy, with their lizard brain, is thinking “Oh! She means me!”
Julie: But I was talking about you. I was going to put “You can just ask Rick” after that, but I wasn’t sure if you would appreciate that.
Rick: Well, I know that’s what you meant, but guys don’t think that way. Any time a girl says a double entendre like that, a guy is thinking, “Hey, she means with me!”
Julie: But I didn’t. I meant with you. And everyone reading that comment knew I meant with you, because I mention you five million times a day in that blog.
Rick: I know that. And you know that. And on an intelligent level, so do other people. But it’s the lizard brain that tells you differently.
Julie: I don’t think women have a lizard brain.
Rick: Yeah, women have a lizard brain, it just tells them something different. It tells them to keep looking until they find the best male genes to add to their gene pool.
Julie: *stares at Rick like he’s nuts, shakes head* You’re making this up.
Rick: No, it’s true–
Julie: *cutting him off* Okay, stop trying to explain. The Apprentice is back on.
Upon further reflection, I think “lizard brain” is a polite way of saying “thinking with your dick”. But the whole “Men are from Mars” theory may have something to it after all. And it’s all about the lizard brain.
Things I’ve been tempted to say lately… May 20, 2005 ~ 11:12 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedA list of things I have wanted to say in the past week:
“How old are you? Why do I have to teach you phone etiquette?” - to one of the women in my office who can’t be bothered to tell me who is on the phone. I need to know if I’m talking to a student, professor, dean, etc. , dumbass, I’m not asking this for my health.
“Mumbling ’stu…’ doesn’t count as telling me who is on the phone!” - to the same woman. Oh, wait, I did tell her that.
“You’re never getting out of here, stop calling.” - to any number of students asking when they’re going to graduate
“She says she’s sick. I’m not buying it.” - to my supervisor, regarding Phone Etiquette Challenged Woman (PECW). Wait, I did say that. PECW has called off the past two days, leaving my office short-staffed at a time when every student on campus is calling to find out if they’re graduating. She has a habit of being sick conveniently at our peak busy times, yet wonders why she’s on my shit list.
“You didn’t get a postcard about Commencement because they’re all sitting in a dumpster behind a mall somewhere in Hackensack.” - to any of the students who have asked why they didn’t get Commencement info. I haven’t said this, but I’m starting to believe it. Seriously, it seems like half the school didn’t get their postcards.
“If this fucking phone rings one more time, I’m going to throw it out the window.” I’m honestly thinking this right now. It’s rung six times since I started this post, and there are only two of us in the office to answer it. After 1 PM, it will be just me here, because the other person is a part-timer.
“Kill me. Kill me now.” I’ll be saying this at precisely 1:01 PM. The only thing saving me is that it’s Friday, and there is a weekend ahead of me. So I will show you my happy place, the thought of which is getting me through this day:
That’s right, beotches, South Park Julie’s drinking a beer. And so will I after I get out of here today.
It’s here…. *Updated* May 19, 2005 ~ 10:04 am
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closedGet ready for the fight of all fights, kids. The Senate debate over the Nuclear Option has begun. Oh, sure, right now they’re just talking about nominees, but we are going to head down the garden path by the beginning of next week.
Bill Frist would have us believe that the Democrats are doing something new and unheard of by filibustering on Bush’s more radical judicial nominees. But then, Dr. Frist would also have us forget that he himself led a filibuster on one of Bill Clinton’s nominees. And that Senate Republicans stalled as many as 70 Clinton nominations with “procedural tactics”. But now that the shoe is on the other foot, and they’re the majority, they want to get rid of the filibuster and push through Bush’s nominees. “Hello, pot, this is the kettle. You’re black.”
Chuck Schumer, a New York Senator I am proud to call my own, took Frist to task on this on Wednesday. He questioned Frist’s use of the filibuster in 2000. What did Frist say? He claimed there was a distinction: “It’s the partisan-leadership-led use of cloture votes to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees, and that’s the difference.” Yeah, riiiight. Because you weren’t doing anything like that when Clinton was in the White House, were ya, Bill?
I’m worried, along with many other people, that if Frist and his cronies manage to kill the filibuster, they won’t stop with judicial nominees. With the controlling votes in a Senate, they would be able to push through Dubya’s Social Security plan - the one that’s going to screw my and future generations right up the ass. Minimum wage? Well, for people who make millions, even billions a year, minimum wage isn’t exactly a top priority. Roe v. Wade? The path would be clear to sweep that one away, too. To use a phrase rapidly becoming cliche, if you’re not outraged, you haven’t been paying attention. Call your Senators, folks. Let them know how you feel about the Nuclear Option. Click here to find out their contact info. Because if you don’t act now, by next week, 214 years of Senate history could be down the tubes.
**Info for this post came from too many sources to count, including this NY Times article.
***UPDATE***
MoveOnPAC.org has put together the best flyer on this issue, ever. I’ll give you a little hint: it’s called Revenge of the Frist. Go check it out. And click on the Save the Republic link to see their new Star Wars- inspired commercial.
It’s a quiz May 18, 2005 ~ 12:41 pm
Posted by Julie in : Daily Grind , comments closed
Strauss Park, Upper West Side
Celti tagged me.
Three names you go by:
Julie
Julz
J
Three screen names that you have had:
julz91
DefLep91
- yeah, I’ve only ever had two. Sorry.
Three things you like about yourself:
Hair
sense of humor
loyalty
Three things you don’t like about yourself:
pot belly
butt
depression
Three parts of your heritage:
Irish
German
English
Three things that scare you:
George W. Bush
the future of this country
the end of the oil bubble, and what that will mean to life as we know it
Three of your everyday essentials:
MetroCard
internet
Rick
Three things you are wearing right now:
Teva sandals
“A World Without AIDS†bracelet
pentacle necklace
Three of your favorite bands or musical artists (@ the moment):
Def Leppard
Queen
Sting
Three of your favorite songs:
â€Waterloo Sunset†– the Def Leppard version
“In My Life†– the Beatles
“The Show Must Go On†- Queen
Three new things you want to try in the next 12 months:
Writing a novel or play
Spending less than I earn
Really learning to play the guitar
Three things I want in a relationship:
Love
Humor
Intellectual stimulation
Two truths and a lie: (in no particular order)
I had a poster of Tom Selleck over my bed when I was 7.
I have been mentioned in the New York Times.
I went to Catholic school until I was 8.
Three physical things that attract you to the opposite sex:
Eyes
Laughter
Good physique
Three things you can’t do without:
Books
Music
Rick
Three of your favorite hobbies:
Geocaching
Knitting/Crocheting
Reading
Three places you want to go on vacation:
Ireland
any South Pacific island
South Africa
Three things you just can’t do:
Respect Dubya
Keep my mouth shut about political issues
Whistle with two fingers in my mouth
Three things you want to do before you die:
have enough money to take care of me and my loved ones
Dramaturg on Broadway
Write a book about Ben Franklin and get it published
Three celeb crushes:
Colin Firth
Alan Rickman
Sting
Three people you want to tag:
I’m not tagging anyone. You can thank me later.
