Buster

I just have to say that I love the guy that plays Byron "Buster" Bluth. Love him. He's hilarious. Especially in season 1. So flipping funny. I'm almost done with the series on DVD, and it will make me sad to say goodbye to all those ridiculous Bluths.

Also, I am TOTALLY boy-crazy now, and may need to start going to evil meat-market-type bars (I'm thinking I should at least go to the suburbs so no one will know me) and try to take up drinking again, though it never really "took" when I tried this spring... NAHHHH - I wouldn't really do any of that.

But, my last internet dating site subscription is finally expiring in two days, and I can't tell you what a relief that will be. It has caused me nothing but the complacent annoyance of thinking I am out there doing something when the reality is that a) I'm not actually doing anything by being on there; no one contacts me anyway and b) I have not met anyone new through that site since the dating iditarod. (Well, one guy, on email only.) And you know what? ALL those guys turned up duds. Though I did get two makeouts out of it; that ain't nothin - but it's next to nothin. AND that was 2 months ago! Jeez.

Seriously.

OK also, work is getting really busy, and I get paid so very little that this is the time when I wonder what the hell I am thinking staying here. Then I sign up for my free "Golden Country" class and wear my jogging clothes to work (all sweaty, for a meeting if I want), and leave in the middle of the workday for a swim, and I forget all the bitterness for a couple of hours...

And I am sitting at my desk enjoying a glass of chianti while I do some data entry and phone calls. Hmm.

Been gone so long

This is my friend and colleague C's backyard pool in the suburb of Glenview, where she and her husband allow all of their riff-raff friends to congregate, lay about, swim and grill food every Sunday in summertime. Yesterday was the second time (and last) I've made it out there this year, and it was perfect. My friend R and I rode our bikes all the way out - a 2-1/2 hour roundtrip ride on the forest preserve trail, complete with deer sightings and bug bites. Ah, summer.

It's so hard to blog from work, and as you kids must know by now, I don't have a computer. I am actually busy much of the time at work, plus, I realize I've been spending my wasted work time in the past coupla months emailing my friend M, and since he hasn't emailed today, I am taking the free time to post here, quickly.

I'm doing OK. I'm trying to come to terms with some stuff. I want to meet someone and that's not happening, and am having a bit of money worries - not pressing but definitely lurking, and I just need to make some decisions.

Fall is a portentious time of year for me. It's even more of a "New Year" time than January is, and that means mixed feelings.

The good news is that I'm swimming every day (well, a min. of 5 days a week). I'm doing other stuff - the gym, running every once in a while, biking everywhere, etc. in addition to the swimming. It's good. It's keeping me from getting really depressed, which is great. I haven't lost weight, though, which is frustrating, but I do look pretty good, if I do say so myself. I've also been making a lot of my own food (rather than buying pre-made stuff), trying recipes, taking vitamins, etc.

The bad news is the pool is closing after this week for 3 weeks, so I am not really sure what I am gonna do about that yet. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted on this very important life change. It'll make my schedule even harder to manage, I'm sure - my current pool is a block from work and I go for my lunch break. Traveling anywhere just to swim or work out in the city is a total pain.

Another thing that hasn't been happening (besides the making out, which is driving me BANANAS!!) is that I haven't done the massive housecleaning I have been promising myself for - oh, 37 years or so... I am too busy walking Lois or something, or watching Arrested Development, which is possibly the funniest show ever. Not sure why I can't push the cleaning into high gear, seeing as it'd do nothing but help my life, but I have been slowly giving away clothing that no longer works for me, which is fun. Next, I gotta sell a few things on Craigslist, like my old derby skates. I have long acknowledged that I was not cut out to be a roller derby girl, so why hold on to the speed skates?

If picture posting wasn't such a time-suck, I'd put up some more pictures with this post. Blogger, I wish you'd make it easier to upload and place pics!

Neeeeext!

Ok, so we did it. I helped put on/put together this crazy event last night in the park and we broke our Guinness World Record and had a fabulous, excellent time. Everything worked, worked out, and people thanked me and smiled a lot and there was much hugging, even from my executive director.

But now I don't have anything on the horizon for a while - I mean, of course I have the usual stuff, like teaching my classes, taking my classes, and work, and the upcoming things on my calendar (yea! a gynecologist appointment, molar filling, volunteering for another festival in Sept., etc.) - but nothing really special.

And, mainly, no one really special. No prospects, even. That fact is deeply depressing. I had one of those cathartic late-night, hour-long, dog-walk cries about it on Monday night, and I do feel much better since then, but the fact remains: I am not meeting people here and I've now been here for 10 years, and maybe I'll have to move somewhere else to make that happen for myself. It's weird to have something so dependent on luck be a major factor in my happiness, but that's the way it goes.

So, I'm gonna start really getting rid of stuff in an effort to be move-ready if I can find a place and a job to go to.

The sad thing is, I love it here in Chicago. It's just that Chicago, clearly, doesn't love me. And I guess I should go where I have a better chance at finding someone.

Neglect

An interviewer I don't know, the Tim guy from Polyphonic Spree, Perry Ferrell, and Ted Leo at Lollapalooza Friday. And yes, Chicagoans, that's Jim DeRogatis's head.

Things I've been neglecting lately:
• My job and the people and data I manage
• My physical fitness* and arm transformation project *(beyond just the swimming)
• My messy apartment, desk at work, and teacher shelf in the art room
• My poor sweetybone pooch
• My $525 ticket from the City
• My $3000 bill from the IRS
• My scary-sounding car that needs an estimate, at the very least
• The friends I don't see at work or elsewhere
• This blog

The SPIN tent. My home for 2 days.

What I have been doing instead is:
• Working my ass off while at work on a CRAZY project/event we are doing that I volunteered to produce
• Thinking too much about a person I really shouldn't
• Adjusting to a new roommate, W (will give more details later)
• Trying unsuccessfully to deal with not having a computer at home
• Realizing I really can't go over 3 drinks per night, or else I will find myself with bad random bruises and a beat-up bike, and no memory of certain conversations
• Bartending at Lollapalooza's media area in a Southern Comfort - "SoCo with Lime!" - promo with SPIN magazine

The view I had for Spoon at the end of the evening on Saturday. Thanks T for leading me around.