I have been dreadfully behind on posts, I know, but I've been holding down a full-time job at Giant Multinational Corporation, rehearsing for an off-off-Broadway musical that opens this weekend, exercising, auditioning, writing a book, learning poker, dating and trying to keep in touch with friends all at the same time. That's not even counting personal projects. So it's been a little crazy. There's good news though. I finally finished my legal project, which always makes me happy because it sucks, I've been shopping too much but found amazing deals, I have my very first starring role & I have a new boyfriend! He's terrific. I honestly thought I couldn't upgrade from Sexy Englishman but what do you know, miracles happen. Our first date was election day - go Obama! - & 3 days later we made it official. It's been a few days over a month now. I'm scared, of course, but I'm trying very hard to open up & trust that he's for real. It helps that I've met his family & if we don't see each other every day he misses me (& tells me so, even more importantly).
I'm pretty nervous about my show. It is kind of my responsibility for it to go well, since my character is the only one with a story arc and I am central to almost all the scenes. I keep freaking out, as I usually do, but also tell myself to calm down & be effective. Speaking of being effective, I've stopped drinking for a while to lose weight (that's going pretty well) & I finally stopped shopping. I just need to find time to sleep more. Which I should probably go do right now. Wish me luck, everybody!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Punisher: War Zone even worse than first Punisher
I actually quite liked the first Punisher (I mean the one a couple years ago, I don't know if that was also a remake). Thomas Jane is handsome & convincing, one of my favs Rebecca Romijn graces the screen with her "ordinary girl" persona, & there's just enough torture to keep me happy while still watching. But let's be honest, some of the dialogue in that one was really awful. At least the story more or less hung together. If it's improbable that one man could set up such an elaborate revenge while evading or killing all his enemies, the story did make it pretty easy to suspend disbelief.
New Punisher, on the other hand, barely makes sense. There were so many times when I turned to the Boyfriend (he's new, more on him later) like "WTF???" "No one noticed that?" The police force is basically letting the Punisher (Ray Stevenson) do their dirty work for them. To his credit, the actor actually does a pretty good job with the dreck they gave him. Although it's incredible how he manages to mow everyone down, all the time, no matter what. And the continuity of the story is almost non-existent. My biggest problem with this movie, though, is the absolutely gratuitous gore. I like watching torture & violence, believe me, but this was way too much. We do not need to see the one mobster's super-messed up face every other shot. (& calling himself Jigsaw? Come on. No one can take that seriously after Saw.) I really could have done without every exploding head, not to mention impalings, broken limbs, etc. If you thought Hostel was bad, you'll hate this. This was one long series of lovingly-filmed death throes. I was almost relieved to hear silly dialogue because it was a temporary respite from all the murder.
I did like some of the cleverer fight scenes, but even then it was hard to not think how unreal they were. If you've gotta see this, don't waste $12+ on a ticket. Get it on Netflix & keep your finger on fast forward.
New Punisher, on the other hand, barely makes sense. There were so many times when I turned to the Boyfriend (he's new, more on him later) like "WTF???" "No one noticed that?" The police force is basically letting the Punisher (Ray Stevenson) do their dirty work for them. To his credit, the actor actually does a pretty good job with the dreck they gave him. Although it's incredible how he manages to mow everyone down, all the time, no matter what. And the continuity of the story is almost non-existent. My biggest problem with this movie, though, is the absolutely gratuitous gore. I like watching torture & violence, believe me, but this was way too much. We do not need to see the one mobster's super-messed up face every other shot. (& calling himself Jigsaw? Come on. No one can take that seriously after Saw.) I really could have done without every exploding head, not to mention impalings, broken limbs, etc. If you thought Hostel was bad, you'll hate this. This was one long series of lovingly-filmed death throes. I was almost relieved to hear silly dialogue because it was a temporary respite from all the murder.
I did like some of the cleverer fight scenes, but even then it was hard to not think how unreal they were. If you've gotta see this, don't waste $12+ on a ticket. Get it on Netflix & keep your finger on fast forward.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
The Mistress has retired
There was a bit of a legal kerfuffle last week at one of my dungeons, and I decided I've had enough. I've been thinking about retiring for a while. I am perfectly fine but the head mistress went to jail for a couple days (completely undeservedly as far as I know) so that's pretty much it for me. Plus, they have been absolute dicks about money in the last few months & I don't need any extra stress in my life. It's weird - I thought I'd be happy when I could hang up my whips, but it's a little sad. *sniffle* It's the end of an era...
Saturday, August 16, 2008
sorry guys!
I've been terribly remiss with posts & I apologize. But if you knew how topsy-turvy my life has been... Sexy Englishman & I broke up in May. It was absolutely devastating for the first two weeks, but I'm still here. It helped that I started dating the next day. Although lately it seems that he's been regretting his stupid decision. [Fingers crossed, everybody.] More importantly, I went to a 6-week theatre acting intensive and I learned so much. It was crazy! I haven't slept properly in about four months because first I was too busy dating & going out (oh so much partying), then insanely busy learning scenes. We all did at least 6 scenes in 5 weeks. It was so intense my photographic memory came back, probably in solidarity with the rest of me. Plus, I never thought I could do theatre besides musicals but now I want to try.
School was like therapy, boot camp and social awareness training all rolled into one. As an actor you can't be detached from your life - you have to go honestly with the truth of the moment. I had to stop distancing myself from what goes on around me. Which meant that I ended up crying almost every time I got up in class. It was worth it - I kind of knew I was sitting back, watching my life go by, but this smacked me in the face with that fact and stopped me. I also have a hard time allowing myself to express my feelings, because I'm afraid of how intense I can be, & I had to learn that it's ok to scream & throw shit & cry & do whatever short of physically hurting the other person. I found it incredibly difficult to stop controlling my emotions all the time, so I wasn't very good until my last scene. My partner & I were so good, the teacher just tweaked our scene a bit, let us do it again & said, "Thank you. That was fantastic. You've inspired me to greatness. Next!" No one in our classes had ever finished a scene that quickly. I was walking on air the rest of the day.
I'm working at Giant Multinational Corporation again for a while. It sucks because I desperately needed a rest after school but I had to start the Tuesday after it ended. Money is money though. Business at the dungeon is nearly nonexistent anyway, after the police closed two places. I'm going to try to update more often... wish me luck with auditions & boys!
School was like therapy, boot camp and social awareness training all rolled into one. As an actor you can't be detached from your life - you have to go honestly with the truth of the moment. I had to stop distancing myself from what goes on around me. Which meant that I ended up crying almost every time I got up in class. It was worth it - I kind of knew I was sitting back, watching my life go by, but this smacked me in the face with that fact and stopped me. I also have a hard time allowing myself to express my feelings, because I'm afraid of how intense I can be, & I had to learn that it's ok to scream & throw shit & cry & do whatever short of physically hurting the other person. I found it incredibly difficult to stop controlling my emotions all the time, so I wasn't very good until my last scene. My partner & I were so good, the teacher just tweaked our scene a bit, let us do it again & said, "Thank you. That was fantastic. You've inspired me to greatness. Next!" No one in our classes had ever finished a scene that quickly. I was walking on air the rest of the day.
I'm working at Giant Multinational Corporation again for a while. It sucks because I desperately needed a rest after school but I had to start the Tuesday after it ended. Money is money though. Business at the dungeon is nearly nonexistent anyway, after the police closed two places. I'm going to try to update more often... wish me luck with auditions & boys!
Friday, February 22, 2008
busy busy bee
A ton of stuff has happened since December. I quit my hostess job at Swanky Uptown Restaurant after a month of stress; I moved about 80 blocks south; I started sessioning at a new dungeon; & I am now into snowboarding. SUR sucked. I liked the food & most of the other employees but the managers were terrible. I stuck it out through xmas, since I said I'd work, so they took advantage & had me closing xmas eve, xmas day & the day after. Plus they made it so difficult to get my hard-earned money I almost wanted to give up & not bother anymore. At my new dungeon, on the other hand, everyone is sweet & doesn't give me any problems. No one yells or orders me around & the head mistress has shown me some new stuff. I never used a hoist or electrical equipment before & now I know how to. Plus we changed my name to a much better one.
My new apartment is great, it's like a little home. I had a housewarming party a month ago & it's pretty much all set up. Things are going well with Sexy Englishman, although he's still scared of the moving-in-together conversation, & we just celebrated our first anniversary together. It was my birthday a week before that, for which he took me to River Cafe (omigod so good) & threw me a party at Pacha (lots of fun & girl kisses). We're leaving for Vegas tonight - I'm sitting in my cozy new home watching the lovely white snow fall outside, & right now I am very happy. Have a great weekend everybody! (& I promise I will catch up on posting). :)
My new apartment is great, it's like a little home. I had a housewarming party a month ago & it's pretty much all set up. Things are going well with Sexy Englishman, although he's still scared of the moving-in-together conversation, & we just celebrated our first anniversary together. It was my birthday a week before that, for which he took me to River Cafe (omigod so good) & threw me a party at Pacha (lots of fun & girl kisses). We're leaving for Vegas tonight - I'm sitting in my cozy new home watching the lovely white snow fall outside, & right now I am very happy. Have a great weekend everybody! (& I promise I will catch up on posting). :)
Thursday, December 06, 2007
No Country for Old Men
I just got a new job as a hostess at Swanky Uptown Restaurant so I'm pretty busy nowadays. (Yes, I know I could do much better things with my degrees, blah blah thanks a lot for the support Mom. Also, where are my damn footslaves when I need them? 7 hours every other day of standing on hard wooden floors is really painful.) Sexy Englishman & I managed to fit in the movie on Monday, though. I like torture movies & lots of killing but this movie is ridiculous. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh is clearly an absolute psychopath. Not to mention his crazy-ass Beatle haircut, possibly the worst hair I've ever seen (including on real people). He does an amazing job of portraying someone on a completely different wavelength from the rest of us, who enjoys killing just for the hell of it. He leaves almost no one in his path un-butchered. The emptiness in his eyes is almost as horrifying as his favorite, though not only, murder method. He carries around a pneumatic cattle air gun which shoots a bolt several inches forward before retracting. So when he puts it on someone's forehead, it's like shooting them in the head without the messy backsplatter or ear-shattering noise. It's awful.
At first, I thought Llewelyn Moss was an asshole for robbing dead bodies of their guns & suitcase of money. But as he tried his damnedest to get away from the pursuing Chigurh, I found myself cheering for him. Tommy Lee Jones is laconic as the sheriff on whose territory most of the murders happen, & Woody Harrelson has a nice little cameo as an assassin. I thought Mrs. Moss was hilarious, almost a caricature of a redneck wife, but she became sympathetic by the end too.
Do not, I repeat DO NOT, see this movie if you're sensitive to blood or murder. I kept squeaking in fright & so did our other friend. She was so scared she spilled a giant soft drink on her boyfriend right at the beginning. (It starts with a pneumatic air gun murder.) I had to hide my eyes at a couple parts & even though I liked the movie overall, it was incredibly grisly. If you can stomach all that, it's a really good movie. It made me think about what money can make people do & how easy it is to start sliding down that slippery slope.
At first, I thought Llewelyn Moss was an asshole for robbing dead bodies of their guns & suitcase of money. But as he tried his damnedest to get away from the pursuing Chigurh, I found myself cheering for him. Tommy Lee Jones is laconic as the sheriff on whose territory most of the murders happen, & Woody Harrelson has a nice little cameo as an assassin. I thought Mrs. Moss was hilarious, almost a caricature of a redneck wife, but she became sympathetic by the end too.
Do not, I repeat DO NOT, see this movie if you're sensitive to blood or murder. I kept squeaking in fright & so did our other friend. She was so scared she spilled a giant soft drink on her boyfriend right at the beginning. (It starts with a pneumatic air gun murder.) I had to hide my eyes at a couple parts & even though I liked the movie overall, it was incredibly grisly. If you can stomach all that, it's a really good movie. It made me think about what money can make people do & how easy it is to start sliding down that slippery slope.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Avery Fisher concert
I went to the 11/10 concert, which was rather disappointing. The first piece was some weird Chinese modernist thing, which frankly just sounded noisy. I wanted to like it - supporting my sort-of countrymen & all - but I didn't. Gimmicky orchestral stuff isn't my thing. The young composer is quite handsome though. I was excited about Vadim Repin playing the Lalo Symphonie Espagnole, one of the staples of the solo violin repertoire, and yet again disappointed. He was out of tune a lot. At first I blamed it on nerves, but as it kept happening I couldn't figure out a good excuse for him. Also, he was wearing some kind of weird Nehru jacket & suede shoes that made him look as though he was playing in his pajamas & socks.
The only unqualifiedly good thing about the program was Beethoven's Seventh. I recognized a lot of the melodies, which had been floating around in my head unattached to any particular work. Yes, I was a typical diva violinist, only paying attention to concertmaster solos & the violin repertoire. I also pretty much stopped listening to classical music after I got out from under my mother's thumb 7 years ago so whatever I did know about orchestral music got jumbled up or forgotten.
I liked the whole experience of going to the concert though. It felt very grown-up & cultured; dressing up, having champagne beforehand, reading the program notes, etc. We used to go to concerts almost every week when I was growing up. I hadn't been to a New York Philharmonic concert since I moved here several years ago, & the only times I'd been in Carnegie Hall or Avery Fisher were when I was playing. Fortunately Sexy Englishman quite liked it as well, so we'll probably go to another one.
Sadly, I can't say as much for the ballet. A few months ago I begged him to take me to Sleeping Beauty, which was much more old-fashioned than I expected, with lots of solos & irrelevant (though beautiful) parts, & he hated it. He refuses to go to the Balanchine retrospective thingy they're putting on soon. I keep explaining that it was choreographed at least 100 years later but he won't listen. Maybe my lovely friend Dancer wants to go...
The only unqualifiedly good thing about the program was Beethoven's Seventh. I recognized a lot of the melodies, which had been floating around in my head unattached to any particular work. Yes, I was a typical diva violinist, only paying attention to concertmaster solos & the violin repertoire. I also pretty much stopped listening to classical music after I got out from under my mother's thumb 7 years ago so whatever I did know about orchestral music got jumbled up or forgotten.
I liked the whole experience of going to the concert though. It felt very grown-up & cultured; dressing up, having champagne beforehand, reading the program notes, etc. We used to go to concerts almost every week when I was growing up. I hadn't been to a New York Philharmonic concert since I moved here several years ago, & the only times I'd been in Carnegie Hall or Avery Fisher were when I was playing. Fortunately Sexy Englishman quite liked it as well, so we'll probably go to another one.
Sadly, I can't say as much for the ballet. A few months ago I begged him to take me to Sleeping Beauty, which was much more old-fashioned than I expected, with lots of solos & irrelevant (though beautiful) parts, & he hated it. He refuses to go to the Balanchine retrospective thingy they're putting on soon. I keep explaining that it was choreographed at least 100 years later but he won't listen. Maybe my lovely friend Dancer wants to go...
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
trivia master
You know those Delta ads that say something like "Change is: being crowned cross-country trivia champion"? That's me! Delta sucks, but now that I kicked ass from Atlanta to the Bahamas I like them a bit more. (Yes, I know that is not technically cross-country.) Poor Sexy Englishman was overjoyed at beating me by a hair in the first game but I dominated the following 5. I also had the highest score for the entire flight. On a more serious note, Hurricane Noel screwed up our flight on Thursday & I have to say Delta was pretty on the ball about calling us & rebooking us on the next flight out. This is just one plus in their favor though - they've been completely shitty up until now.
This past President's Day weekend, when I flew to Colombia, people trying to check in were forced to stand in the bitter cold outside the terminal because the lines were so long & the staff couldn't figure out how to process people in a non-snail-like manner. They resorted to basically just calling the next flight & taking care of people haphazardly while delaying flights until they'd checked everyone in. Plus, since I was flying JFK to Atlanta to Bogotá, I got in the international line & 2 hours later was told I should have been in domestic. Which makes no sense, because my bags & I were going internationally, & it turned out that cretin was wrong anyway. I swore then I would never fly Delta again but, you know, sometimes one has to save money. I also don't like their weird PR campaign with the new Delta Sky Lounge bar in NYC (I'm not kidding, it's on 57th & 6th), making up new cocktails (!) & thinking that people want not-free movies & TV instead of decent service. All the money they've wasted on that crap, they could have put into improving existing services. I don't need a fancy Rande Gerber cocktail. I want some damn food when I'm sitting in first class from the Bahamas to NYC for 3 hours. Little cracker & cookie packs do not count. I want the flight to leave on time; I don't want a $5 movie on the tiny screen.
There is just no reason American airlines can't get their act together. We had better service & food in Africa than anywhere I've flown in the States. I really think the government bailing the airlines out every time they're about to go bankrupt is unwise. Some of them are bloated, inefficient & need to fail. I don't see why airlines should get special treatment when most other companies are allowed to stand & fall on their own merits. It's been shown over & over that competition is the best way to serve consumers, & it's about time we had some.
This past President's Day weekend, when I flew to Colombia, people trying to check in were forced to stand in the bitter cold outside the terminal because the lines were so long & the staff couldn't figure out how to process people in a non-snail-like manner. They resorted to basically just calling the next flight & taking care of people haphazardly while delaying flights until they'd checked everyone in. Plus, since I was flying JFK to Atlanta to Bogotá, I got in the international line & 2 hours later was told I should have been in domestic. Which makes no sense, because my bags & I were going internationally, & it turned out that cretin was wrong anyway. I swore then I would never fly Delta again but, you know, sometimes one has to save money. I also don't like their weird PR campaign with the new Delta Sky Lounge bar in NYC (I'm not kidding, it's on 57th & 6th), making up new cocktails (!) & thinking that people want not-free movies & TV instead of decent service. All the money they've wasted on that crap, they could have put into improving existing services. I don't need a fancy Rande Gerber cocktail. I want some damn food when I'm sitting in first class from the Bahamas to NYC for 3 hours. Little cracker & cookie packs do not count. I want the flight to leave on time; I don't want a $5 movie on the tiny screen.
There is just no reason American airlines can't get their act together. We had better service & food in Africa than anywhere I've flown in the States. I really think the government bailing the airlines out every time they're about to go bankrupt is unwise. Some of them are bloated, inefficient & need to fail. I don't see why airlines should get special treatment when most other companies are allowed to stand & fall on their own merits. It's been shown over & over that competition is the best way to serve consumers, & it's about time we had some.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
off again
The Halloween party was an epic success - so much so that Sexy Englishman & his housemates are no longer allowed to throw parties with more than about 20 people. We had 200 people show up! It was awesome. & one of our favorite people in the whole world made a surprise visit from London... I was furious at not being told beforehand but so so happy to see him. I couldn't decide whether to whip him or hug him. SE & I, along with Cute Gay Guy & a couple other people, partied through to Sunday morning & then started cleaning up. This was our "bar" at that point.
We had such a great time we're not even going out for Halloween tonight. Plus, we're flying out to the Bahamas tomorrow for his college friend's wedding, & we have to look nice for the über-posh people there. It's going to be at Lyford Cay. The dress code is 4 pages long, I am not kidding. They are so crazy, for breakfast they say that men don't have to wear panama hats but it's encouraged. I'm excited to wear my new dress from Selfridges though!!
We had such a great time we're not even going out for Halloween tonight. Plus, we're flying out to the Bahamas tomorrow for his college friend's wedding, & we have to look nice for the über-posh people there. It's going to be at Lyford Cay. The dress code is 4 pages long, I am not kidding. They are so crazy, for breakfast they say that men don't have to wear panama hats but it's encouraged. I'm excited to wear my new dress from Selfridges though!!
Friday, October 26, 2007
hanzoswords.com sucks ass
I decided to be Go Go from Kill Bill for Halloween, since I already have a slutty schoolgirl outfit & they have a ball & chain at the dungeon where I rent. I bought a mini samurai sword online from hanzoswords.com, because she had one & I always wanted a sword. It was $11 + $11 shipping so I was pretty happy. When it arrived, though it looked good, it couldn't be opened. I tried for a couple days but it was jammed. I left a voicemail for them, which wasn't returned, & then emailed. They replied in a few hours, telling me to get another person & try to open the sword that way. I thought that was kind of stupid, because if I can't open it on my own, regardless of my strength, the sword is useless. Who wants a prop sword they can't even pull out of the scabbard? & if I open it once with someone else, it's still inoperable all the other times. Anyhow, I told them I wanted a replacement by Saturday at the latest. This was Tuesday night. Sexy Englishman, his housemates & I are throwing a huge Halloween party on Saturday so I need it by then. They email back that it's no problem, they can do that. I ask again to confirm that they can guarantee it will get here by Saturday. They say yes, they just need a tracking # for the one I have when I send it back by 6:30 pm eastern time Wednesday.
On Wednesday, I take care of it by 3:30 for $20 because that's the cheapest way I can get a tracking #. I don't know much about shipping so I sigh & say, fine whatever send it FedEx as long as I get it out on time, just do the least expensive way. I email the site. No answer. I email again at 6:30 to make sure they got the first email, because I want that sword in the mail tonight. I get a reply at 9:30 saying "Oh sorry, didn't have time to check mail before I went to the post office this afternoon, we will have to send it express tomorrow (Thursday) & that will cost about $20, but we'll reimburse today's shipping costs since it was our mistake." I said fine just send it to SE's apartment because I won't be home much the next few days. I comment that they must have a great deal with the post office because it took me that much to send to them, & the unfriendly reply is "Oh. No. I did not ask you to send it express. 2 lbs should have been $7. I will only give you that much." I'm already pissed off at this person for not checking her email in time to send the thing out earlier, which is costing them more & entirely their fault. I don't know anything about parcels, the corner shipping store told me what they could do & $20 was my lowest option if I wanted the tracking # hanzoswords demanded.
I feel that I've been quite reasonable & clear up to this point. They send me a defective sword - I ask nicely for a new one. I said I wanted a new sword only if they guaranteed delivery by Saturday - they said yes. I shell out $20 without complaint & email the tracking # as requested, twice before the deadline - they mess that up, won't reimburse most of the shipping & act like I'm the one in the wrong. I email SE's address twice for them to send to - & today I come home to a notice from the US Postal Service saying "Sorry we missed you! You have an express mail package." TWICE I told her the address. I understand that they're busy for Halloween, but this was very simple & they fucked up repeatedly. This means I have to come back to my post office, among the myriad things we need to do to get SE's apartment ready for 300 partygoers, to pick up the damn sword that should have been ready two weeks ago. Fuckwits is a word that comes to mind.
Update: customer [dis]service tried to argue with me over email about this. I told them I wanted someone to call me last week since no one ever returned my voicemail. They said there was nothing to discuss, please pay the bill for shipping, we did everything we could. I explained succinctly & politely why that was not the case & got another dimwitted "please pay the bill, thanks for your business" message. I said I didn't want to keep going back & forth over email & to please call me. All I've gotten since Monday is PayPal reminders, which apparently they send out 3 at a time. Keep digging the hole deeper, dummies...
Update in March 2008: hanzoswords found this post & commented on their side of the story at length, but they used my name so I had to delete it. I told them they were welcome to re-post if they took out my name. It seems like they still don't quite understand what happened, but they canceled the PayPal bill for the shipping & at least made the effort to apologize to me, so maybe it's just their one employee who is messing things up.
On Wednesday, I take care of it by 3:30 for $20 because that's the cheapest way I can get a tracking #. I don't know much about shipping so I sigh & say, fine whatever send it FedEx as long as I get it out on time, just do the least expensive way. I email the site. No answer. I email again at 6:30 to make sure they got the first email, because I want that sword in the mail tonight. I get a reply at 9:30 saying "Oh sorry, didn't have time to check mail before I went to the post office this afternoon, we will have to send it express tomorrow (Thursday) & that will cost about $20, but we'll reimburse today's shipping costs since it was our mistake." I said fine just send it to SE's apartment because I won't be home much the next few days. I comment that they must have a great deal with the post office because it took me that much to send to them, & the unfriendly reply is "Oh. No. I did not ask you to send it express. 2 lbs should have been $7. I will only give you that much." I'm already pissed off at this person for not checking her email in time to send the thing out earlier, which is costing them more & entirely their fault. I don't know anything about parcels, the corner shipping store told me what they could do & $20 was my lowest option if I wanted the tracking # hanzoswords demanded.
I feel that I've been quite reasonable & clear up to this point. They send me a defective sword - I ask nicely for a new one. I said I wanted a new sword only if they guaranteed delivery by Saturday - they said yes. I shell out $20 without complaint & email the tracking # as requested, twice before the deadline - they mess that up, won't reimburse most of the shipping & act like I'm the one in the wrong. I email SE's address twice for them to send to - & today I come home to a notice from the US Postal Service saying "Sorry we missed you! You have an express mail package." TWICE I told her the address. I understand that they're busy for Halloween, but this was very simple & they fucked up repeatedly. This means I have to come back to my post office, among the myriad things we need to do to get SE's apartment ready for 300 partygoers, to pick up the damn sword that should have been ready two weeks ago. Fuckwits is a word that comes to mind.
Update: customer [dis]service tried to argue with me over email about this. I told them I wanted someone to call me last week since no one ever returned my voicemail. They said there was nothing to discuss, please pay the bill for shipping, we did everything we could. I explained succinctly & politely why that was not the case & got another dimwitted "please pay the bill, thanks for your business" message. I said I didn't want to keep going back & forth over email & to please call me. All I've gotten since Monday is PayPal reminders, which apparently they send out 3 at a time. Keep digging the hole deeper, dummies...
Update in March 2008: hanzoswords found this post & commented on their side of the story at length, but they used my name so I had to delete it. I told them they were welcome to re-post if they took out my name. It seems like they still don't quite understand what happened, but they canceled the PayPal bill for the shipping & at least made the effort to apologize to me, so maybe it's just their one employee who is messing things up.
Monday, October 15, 2007
if you don't know what kind of asian I am...
don't fucking call me kim chee, idiot. Or say konichiwa or ni hao. (a) You're almost certain to guess wrong, (b) you know you can't possibly be saying it right, (c) that makes me want to talk to you even less & most importantly (d) that's not my damn name. Assholes.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
yay for boots!
Finally it is cold enough to wear boots again. I missed my beautiful black leather. Plus, since it's raining, it is a practical decision as well. Now, what to wear on top...
In other news, I finished the project at Giant Multinational Corporation so I no longer need to commute to yucky Jersey every day for work. It was 1.5 hours each way! Which comprised 3 trains & about 30 minutes of walking. Planning to cocktail &/or bartend, preferably the latter, though I need to learn how. Can you believe I could get paid more as a cocktail waitress than a lawyer?!?! I've been enjoying sleeping & going to the gym this week.
& most exciting of all, I cooked dinner for Sexy Englishman last night! I can follow a recipe fairly well but I pretty much use my kitchen to store books, boil ramen, or throw 10 things in a pot & call it soup. We go out to dinner 5 or 6 nights a week so it's not like I need to ever put on an apron. I wanted to show him how much I love & appreciate what a wonderful boyfriend he is, & was hankering for some shrimp fra diavolo, so I decided to make it & surprise him. It turned into shrimp & scallops fra diavolo with the help of about 7 internet recipes put together. I bought supplies at Citarella - if you live near one, it is so awesome for getting fresh everything - & went over to his place & plunged in. I have never made pasta that wasn't just boiled noodles with sauce on top so this was new to me. I had to peel & de-vein the shrimp myself, sauté them & the scallops while boiling the pasta, & then toss them all together. Fortunately I didn't try to make the sauce myself (thank you Rao's). SE was surprised & happy when he came home - he said it was very yummy. Next time I will boil the pasta & sauté everything less though. I underestimated how quickly seafood cooks. But overall, yay for my first proper attempt at cooking!
In other news, I finished the project at Giant Multinational Corporation so I no longer need to commute to yucky Jersey every day for work. It was 1.5 hours each way! Which comprised 3 trains & about 30 minutes of walking. Planning to cocktail &/or bartend, preferably the latter, though I need to learn how. Can you believe I could get paid more as a cocktail waitress than a lawyer?!?! I've been enjoying sleeping & going to the gym this week.
& most exciting of all, I cooked dinner for Sexy Englishman last night! I can follow a recipe fairly well but I pretty much use my kitchen to store books, boil ramen, or throw 10 things in a pot & call it soup. We go out to dinner 5 or 6 nights a week so it's not like I need to ever put on an apron. I wanted to show him how much I love & appreciate what a wonderful boyfriend he is, & was hankering for some shrimp fra diavolo, so I decided to make it & surprise him. It turned into shrimp & scallops fra diavolo with the help of about 7 internet recipes put together. I bought supplies at Citarella - if you live near one, it is so awesome for getting fresh everything - & went over to his place & plunged in. I have never made pasta that wasn't just boiled noodles with sauce on top so this was new to me. I had to peel & de-vein the shrimp myself, sauté them & the scallops while boiling the pasta, & then toss them all together. Fortunately I didn't try to make the sauce myself (thank you Rao's). SE was surprised & happy when he came home - he said it was very yummy. Next time I will boil the pasta & sauté everything less though. I underestimated how quickly seafood cooks. But overall, yay for my first proper attempt at cooking!
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Halo 3
My name is [RD], & I can't play Halo for shit. I can't play anything after Super Nintendo actually. I tried to play Gears of War with Sexy Englishman the other weekend, & thought I sucked because we were coming down from a marathon afterparty, but this past weekend I tried the new Halo & couldn't even get my guy to look at the right eye level, let alone direction. I spent most of the time looking for my team! I even got lost trying to find them. I was doing one of my inadvertent whirl-around-with-head-thrown-back exercises when I fell off a small cliff & got completely disoriented. I really want to learn how to play but SE & his housemate Young Entrepreneur are too good at it & I'm a complete beginner, so I guess I'll have to wait until they beat the game & then maybe they can teach me. I always thought of myself as a bit of tomboy who was pretty good at boy games so now I'm sad. You'd think all the years of violin would make my hand-eye coordination good but apparently not in this case.
Friday, September 28, 2007
I heart Roald Dahl
When I was little (& even now) Roald Dahl was one of my favorite authors. In honor of his birthday on September 13, Google made a special logo, how cute is that? If you haven't had the pleasure of acquaintance with his books you should go read them now. They're still awesome to me, 20 years later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
