Can’t sleep, squirrels will eat me. February 27, 2007 ~ 12:59 pm
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats, Random Insanity, Rick , comments closedThe squirrels behind my house are an endless source of entertainment for Joe and me. Well, moreso for Joe, they’re kind of like cat TV. We watch them scurry along phone lines, through the trees, and across our garage roof. I’ve always thought they must be kinda dumb, because they fall out of trees on a regular basis, but this morning I had my doubts.
When I opened the blinds this morning, I saw squirrel tracks in the snow on the garage roof. That was fun since we haven’t had a lot of snow this winter. And then I saw that the squirrels in their frolicking had made a perfect right triangle on the flat roof, with no other tracks through it. I called Rick over to verify this. He agreed that yes, indeed, my squirrels are geometry savants. I took a picture this morning but didn’t have time to upload it, so you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.
Then I started to think. What if the triangle is just the beginning? What if the squirrels are trying to send me messages and just put the triangle out there to catch my attention? I asked Rick what he thought.  “They could be,” he said. “Next thing you know, you’ll look out there and they’ll have spelled ‘Some cat’.”
Joe will not be amused.
Down in the Underground. February 25, 2007 ~ 11:42 pm
Posted by Julie in : Drama Queen , comments closed
This is where I spent Saturday. Right underneath those observation towers that doubled as UFOs in Men in Black. And I do mean under. I was at Queens Theatre in the Park for a reading, and while the ground floor of that institution is above ground (thus the name “ground floor”) the theater spaces? Underground. I did not see sunlight after I entered the building at 12:15. Hell, I didn’t see outside again until about 11 last night, when the reading and the talkback were over. The people at QTiP (hehehe…q-tip) were very nice, they kept all of us participating in the reading well fed and watered (they have these things catered for the talent, since there is NOWHERE to buy food out there), they paid me at the end of the day (woohoo! $35! That sounds mean, but this is the first time I have ever been paid for being part of a reading, so I was truly excited.), and most importantly, I got to hear the play I’m going to be dramaturging in March out loud for the first time in over a year.
I’ve been reading various versions of this script for a month now, and while it’s looking tighter and the playwright (my boss at the theatre where I’m resident dramaturg) has incorporated a lot of my suggestions, it’s always different than you thought when you first hear it out loud. Things that you thought were clear? Not so much. Things that you weren’t sure about? Go down a storm. In spite of losing an entire day of my weekend, this was totally worthwhile. Can’t wait to go into rehearsals and start tweaking. Aboveground, where we can see the sunlight on our breaks.
I had to. February 22, 2007 ~ 12:06 am
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Rick, The Girls , comments closedMost days I would swear to you that I am dating one of the best looking men on the planet. Other days, I try to take a nice photo of him and he does this:
The normal looking guy on the left is his brother Jeffrey.
Interestingly enough, Rick’s brother Bill made the same face while he was concentrating on the father-daughter dance, a mambo:
If it weren’t for Jeffrey, I would swear it runs in the family.
Occasionally Rick can have a picture taken where he doesn’t look like a spazz:
(That would be the Youngest on his lap. There was a doozy of her making a horrible face, but the lighting was crap, so it didn’t turn out.)
The Oldest also poses. This is what I call her “I am a serious person pondering ideas far beyond the scope of your tiny mind” pose:
I did manage to take one pretty damn good picture of all the girl cousins, though. The one on the left is Rick’s sister Becky’s daughter, then the Oldest, then the bride (Bill’s daughter), then the Youngest.
Alas, there were no photos taken of me. That’s the good thing about being the one with the camera in your hands.
Ya know what? February 21, 2007 ~ 4:14 pm
Posted by Julie in : Shorty, Technobabble , comments closedWork was such a bitch yesterday and I was so discombobulated by the furniture upheaval in my house that I completely missed my blogoversary.
Happy 3rd birthday to the artist formerly known as Rabid Rabbits & Psycho Squirrels. To celebrate, I give you the great Tim Curry singing (no, not Happy Birthday, that would be lame) “The Zucchini Song”!!! If I could find the video that goes along with this, I would totally post it, but it seems like anyone who had it lost it…probably like I did when someone who shall remain nameless but whose initials are Rick accidentally taped over it.
The Debilitating Effect of Disarray on the Psyche February 21, 2007 ~ 2:17 pm
Posted by Julie in : About a Julz , comments closedButchie fixed the leak. Or so I am told. I got home last night to find no water coming from the light fixture, none in the garbage can under the light fixture, and none in any new and aggravating places. Landlady called at about 8:30 to tell me she thought I could move the bed back into the bedroom, but with temperatures supposed to stay above 40 all night and more snow to melt, I decided to be prudent and kept the bed in the living room. Tonight, should all still be well when I return home, I will move the bed back where it’s supposed to be and try to make order out of the chaos.
Last night was weird. I kept wandering from room to room, not really sure what to do with myself because nothing is where it’s supposed to be. The bed is currently occupying the greater portion of the living room floor and has to be walked around. The coffee table has been pushed off to the side and cannot be used as my dinner table as a result. The dining room table (as if I have a dining room) was covered with things I had pulled out of the bedroom to save from the water. The light was off in the bedroom (obviously we keep those things off when water comes out of them) and I couldn’t get to the bedside lamp without ducking around the boxsprings, which had been pushed as far away from the leak as possible. The only room that was normal was the bathroom, and there is only so much time one can spend in there (well, okay, there’s only so much time I can spend in there - I understand that guys can spend much more time in there).
I’ve long had the suspicion that I am basically a neat person - sometimes the mess gets out of hand when I’m busy or tired or whatever, but I generally try to keep everything in its place. I used to think it was a procrastination method, since I would often go on a cleaning spurt in college right about the time a major paper was due, but I’ve changed my mind. The past few days when I haven’t been able to do that have actually been hard on me. I can’t settle into any sort of a routine and I’m completely at loose ends. I think I’m turning into Monica from Friends. Help me.
Weekend update February 20, 2007 ~ 10:43 am
Posted by Julie in : About a Julz, Random Insanity , comments closedThings that I did this weekend:
-Went to Rick’s niece’s wedding in Delaware, remembered most of the responses to the Catholic mass, and danced a storm.
-Slept for 15 consecutive hours when we got back. That was nice.
-Woke up to my ceiling fixture dripping on me. That was not so nice. Fortunately, I caught it right at the beginning and thus far, nothing has been ruined. Today’s downright balmy temps (41* at the moment) mean that maybe the repair guy (whose name is Butchie, and no, I am NOT kidding) can get up on the roof and patch it. He couldn’t before because it was frozen. Good times.
-Dragged my mattress (okay, I helped Rick drag it) into the living room and slept on the floor in front of the TV Sunday night and last night. I’m getting used to being able to watch TV until I fall asleep. I also have that new carpet smell in my nostrils all night.
-Spent a lovely day with Jordana yesterday where we not only went bead shopping for our fledgeling business (hopefully Savvy Brooklyn will be up and running for your buying pleasure next weekend) but also visited the Clinique counter at Bloomingdale’s in Soho. I like getting makeovers.
-Spent a very large amount of time with Rick over the course of the weekend as well. He looks damn good in a suit and he encouraged me to dance like an idiot to “I Wanna Be Sedated.” He also brought me a big garbage can to catch my roof leak in. I love him completely.
-Got two tickets to see the Police at Madison Square Garden on August 1. Tickets sold out for both MSG shows in 14 minutes, so I am ecstatic. I get to see THE POLICE!!!
Perfect together February 15, 2007 ~ 4:11 pm
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Rick , comments closedWhat I got Rick for Valentine’s Day: Nike+ sport kit for his iPod Nano, a $25 iTunes giftcard, and a Shoe Pouch for the Nike + sport kit.
What Rick got me: Bose headphones for my iPod.
Not only did we buy each other tech for Valentine’s Day, we shopped at the same damn store. Do we know each other or what?
V. good V-Day. February 15, 2007 ~ 11:29 am
Posted by Julie in : Academic Office Monkey, Coupledom, Rick , comments closedYesterday when I came into work, braving sleet, ice, snow, and crowded MTA transportation, I was greeted with “Boy am I glad to see you!”. That sounds sweet, doesn’t it? Yeah, not so much. They were glad to see me because while I was gone, one of my staff came down with a stomach virus, another got bronchitis and her husband got penumonia, and a third passed out at work with some undiagnosed illness that even the hospital threw its hands up at. Oh, and a fourth, who is 76 years old, was going to be late because she had to wait for her super to be able to escort her to work - the sidewalks were slippery, so I didn’t blame her.
So that left me and two part timers to deal with the flood of students who called and came in. Good times.
When five o’clock finally came around and I was able to catch the train to Rick’s house, there were all sorts of delays. First, there were other trains in front of us. Then the story changed to say that there had been a power outage on the line because of the snow. Then they were going to route us up the East Side line. Then everything was fine and we were back on the regular line. All told, I was on the subway for an hour and a half when I can generally make it from work to Rick’s in 50 minutes. Grrr.
But when I finally got there, all the tension from the day melted away. We cracked open some wine, Rick made a wonderful dinner, there were gifts, there was shagging, there was dessert, and I got to spend time with my boy, the best boyfriend on the planet. In the end, yesterday was a very good day.
And today, the stomach virus victim is back to work, so there are four of us in the office. Hooray!
Vacation doings February 13, 2007 ~ 7:51 pm
Posted by Julie in : About a Julz, Daily Grind , comments closedIt’s been an eventful few days here at Casa de Julz. I could seriously get used to this “don’t have to work or do anything you don’t want to” thing if I could only get an unlimited supply of cash to fund it. As I can’t, it’s back to work tomorrow. However, in the past six days, I’ve:
- Watched Barack Obama announce his run for President. I want this man to be President more than I’ve wanted anything for a long time.
- Gotten new carpeting in my living room. Goodbye, Piss Crusader smell! Maybe I can get Joe a new friend now. It’s also nice to be able to walk to my closets without thinking “ew, I’m on the piss part of the floor!”
- Moved the furniture around in my bedroom and cleaned the place thoroughly.
- Done a monster load of laundry. That’s still waiting to be put away.
- Watched a ton of Stargate SG-1.
- Thoroughly cleaned the living room.
- Reorganized most of the kitchen cabinets.
- Read a couple of plays and made dramaturgical notes on them so I can meet with their playwrights.
- Set up an Etsy shop to sell Jordana’s and my crafts. Nothing on it yet, but watch this space.
- Got my taxes done and will be receiving a refund large enough to pay off my credit cards. This is a HUGE load off my mind, and will be off my wallet as well. Said credit cards suck $350 out of my bank account every month. This means that I will now be able to put money in savings and keep it there, instead of having to withdraw it to make the rent payment.
- Met Sloth and the Retropolitan, which probably should have been first because it was the most exciting, but I was trying to do this in chronological order. That failed when I couldn’t remember anything I did on Thursday.
- Found a couple of suitable outfits for Rick’s niece’s wedding on Friday, courtesy of Jordana. The last time I raided someone else’s closet like that, I was rushing for a sorority. It was kinda fun. Ah ha! That’s what I did on Thursday! That and…
- Helped a friend pack up her kitchen so she could move.
- Spent a fair amount of time cuddling with my boy. I would like some more time doing that. Good thing tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.
- Been completely and utterly happy. Shame I have to go back to work tomorrow, innit?
Saturday night, high and…not dry February 11, 2007 ~ 6:31 pm
Posted by Julie in : Urban Family , comments closedI spent Saturday night out bar-hopping on the Lower East Side with two of the more mysterious inhabitants of the blogosphere. Well, not bar-hopping so much as bar crawling…because you know, sloths can’t move that fast. I now have dual citizenship: Slothville and Retropolis. You wish you were me.
