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Below are the 25 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Ms Jack Sparrow, Plague of Womyn" journal:[<< Previous 25 entries]
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10:32 am
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Andy has a job!
Finally, some good news! (and no, I haven't been posting the bad news.) Andy has a job in Waltham, and Good Paying Job doing something he'll enjoy with computers and IT. This for a research & development drug company (dunno the name). It's not too far of a commute (though we'll be poking around back roads other than route 60), and he's making about 220% of what I was making out here - and I'd be stunned if our living expenses were actually double what they were here.... where we mostly lived on my salary. Not entirely - but we are capable of frugality.
Other good news is that we're almost done moving to the Malden apartment, which is definitely a much more pleasant space than our apartment here. We did a lot to make this place attractive but it was very plain. The new place has so much more character and I really enjoy being there. I feel much happier in that apartment.
I'm really going to miss the mountains on my drive to work, and the sheep-ys waddling around laden with wool. I'm going to miss seeing 80% green when I look out the window. I'm going to miss having fewer cars and BETTER DRIVERS.
But I'm not going to miss working customer service (indeed, I stopped working there on May 1st, and while I've been unable to return to the building for some errands that needed doing, I don't dwell as much anymore). And I'm not going to miss being far away from the group of friends I've cultivated in Boston.
For those who are interested, ( the bad news was... )
And my best friend Marc is graduating from Oberlin this weekend and I will really regret it if I am not there. I think we're going to try to drive out there - my mother suggested I use some of my birthday money to cover the cost of hotels and stuff so that I don't feel guilty about spending money on a vacation.
At least road-trips with Andy are basically my favorite thing ever. We did a longer version of this trip last summer and made it round-trip on about $500 which is far cheaper than plane tickets. Either way, we have to finish packing and cleaning and I'm so tired and it's not even 11:00 yet.
So that's me. I'm still keeping up with LJ. I'll be around more soon.
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11:38 pm
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status update: Good
As of May 2nd, I will finally be rid of this fucking customer service job from hell. So that's a relief, even if I am working every day this week.
As of today, we finally are officially renting an apartment in Boston (Malden) from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) buxom_bey and woodwardiocom, which is wonderful in ways that I cannot coherently formulate at this time, but I'm sure you can guess.
Most importantly, it means that you all can tentatively schedule time with me IN BOSTON after May 2nd, though I will not be there consistently (we are overlapping rent so we can be here for Andy's graduation - now that he's officially passed w00t!), and hopefully there will be a reason to visit Marc at Oberlin at the end of this month... though we may visit regardless of the outcome of his semester.
In the meantime, Andy is still sending out initial feelers for a QA job in computer security or network admin positions in the Malden area. If we don't have luck in the next week, he'll be contacting his former employer (who is not exactly near Malden) who had promised him a job waiting for him once he graduated.
It was also wonderfully satisfying to sign up for membership for Theatre at First. I have seriously missed attending the productions and even in a different venue, it was heartwarming to see so many familiar faces. It is amazing to me how many of my friends have been assimilated into that group.
I am still not really sleepy but I am tired so I have to go lie down in bed and pretend to sleep.
Current Mood:  happy
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07:29 pm
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today's mini-rant: fuck color=gender associations
I AM SO TIRED OF PEOPLE CALLING AND ASKING ME TO PICK A "BOY" COLOR FOR THEM. People who refuse to take the time to look it up on a computer themselves (you all have neighbors and libraries where the internets are), AND if you're going to refuse to do that, you cannot be a picky bitch. You need to go with the fucking flow when I say "This one has green and blue." That's the best I can do for you. You can't take fifteen minutes of my damned time asking about different types of yarn in different colors. I want your nephew to wear red and purple, what do you think of that? I bet he'd love it.
( When I have kids... )
anyway, I was thinking about it because I read this post and it reminded me how frustrating that phone call was. The post is great - it's about a kid who got help on his science fair project by having his aunt poll people on LJ. And the kid discovers that some people aren't "girl" or "boy", some people are "other." And then his school refuses to display his science fair project.
I can't tell if we won or lost that one.
Current Mood:  frustrated
Tags: rant
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05:52 pm
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posting here because you can't write this much on twitter
Which I have reluctantly joined, since I'm tired of navigating through individual pages and it's easier (I'm minkrose, as everywhere on the internets). But I really dislike the entire concept of twitter. I don't want people to think I'm angry or bitter about it, but I did want to explain my reasoning since it's going to come up.
I actually really like reading the twitter summaries that my friends post on LJ - it's consolidated, it's on a forum I'm already spending my time on, so there's no additional login. I certainly wouldn't unfriend someone over it because they don't bother me. I also don't mind twitter being in my facebook, especially since you can read the comments on facebook. And that's my real issue with Twitter - the format is alienating to me because it's a public conversation that other people are reading but they can't actually follow both sides of it easily.
If you're just announcing things, which is mostly what Neil Gaiman and Eddie Izzard are doing (though obviously not exclusively), then it's easy for anyone to follow and it's interesting and informative. But if you're having an interactive conversation - like the Questionable Content characters, it's pretty much impossible to follow unless you read the entirety of all their pages (unless you have an account).
So part of this is just that I don't like the format for commenting. I'd rather read the whole history of comments, like on LJ or Facebook, if I'm going to have them automatically spammed at me.
The other part is that I don't answer questions succinctly and if I'm bothering to post anything at all, it's definitely longer than a couple sentences. I'm not going to START posting on Twitter because it's shorter - I don't want to post short things. I'm not that upset about my lack of posting and this isn't going to fix that. Besides, if I really want to text something short, I can text it to my LJ! I don't need an entirely different website to do that.
So yeah, you can now "follow" me on Twitter but I won't be posting. Now you know. If following me allows me to see more of what YOU post, then that's fine, since I'll be casually keeping up. But if you actually want to know what's up with me, you're better off reading my Lj. I have a permanent account and this is what I'm going to be using at my soapbox for the rest of my life.
I'm really tempted to post this entire thing in twitter in pieces. But I'll just post the link.
Current Mood:  sleepy
Tags: twitter
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07:10 pm
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I get to be a librarian!!!
I guess some of you don't know this but I've wanted to be a librarian since I was 15. I've been waiting until I had the right moment to actually DO this but... It's going to happen.
legal info blurred for obvious reasons.
( another larger picture behind the cut )
... I guess I need to get a better librarian Lj icon, eh?
Words cannot express how relieved and excited I am right now.
Current Mood: FUCKING THRILLED!!!
Tags: simmons
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01:19 pm
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hugs
I've been reading a lot of posts on my friends list lately that deal with very weighty issues that I haven't the slightest clue how to offer insight or advice for. I'm always reluctant to comment with something devoid of actual helpful content, since that feels like a waste of everyone's time.
But, I did want to say, I'm doing my best to read journals consistently and I do *think* about what's going on with folks and I wish I could do more to help... If things were less busy/overwhelming around here, maybe it would be easier. I feel like I want to hug you all but I have no arms.
Other than that, I've finished my grad school application and I'm just waiting to hear back in the next couple of weeks. (library science, for those of you who have forgotten that I've wanted to be a librarian for the past decade).
Anyway. I send hugs and love to you guys. I hope everyone figures their shit out and is ok.
Current Mood:  sad
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04:19 pm
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some random thing happened?
People are freaking out - I haven't bothered to read any of the press since (A) I have had a permanent account since June of 2005 and (B) I don't post enough to worry about needing a new place to post.
My LJ is backed up (all seven years of it). I am not going anywhere. At least not for three more years, until the investment was worth it.
I guess I haven't really seen or been affected by any of this sketchy LJ behaviour people keep talking about. I like a lot of the changes that have been made and I've been 100% unaffected by most of the negative things I've heard about. It's pretty hard for me to get worked up about it when what I mostly use LJ for is keeping up with my friends and people I know.
Anyway. I'd be very sad to see people go, especially since rss feeds won't include f-locked entries. I have no interest in getting more accounts on other websites.
That, and I'm just not going to worry about LJ. I don't think I have much control over it and I have better things to worry about right now. My job is in crazy mode, just like last Dec/Jan, so I'm just busy all the time (or trying to sleep).
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08:52 pm
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ugh, whinefest
Andy is out of town until next Monday (the 29th). We only have one friendly neighbor that lives nearby and he's been sick for a while AND he's already gone home to his family in NY.
Everyone else lives about half an hour away.
I would go out and do something on my own tomorrow (sunday) but we're supposed to have a crazy snowstorm. I'm also working Every Day this week, except Thursday/Xmas day itself, which I'll be spending in Boston with my sister & some friends.
( more random stuff )
I wish I had anyone to hang out with regularly around here. I wish I had people I still called and had conversations with. It's too late to do that now because I'd have to catch up with people instead of just talking to them. Everything in my life is crap right now - I'm just trying to get everything set up so I can have a good NEXT year and I don't want to talk about how much I'm sick of customer service or how incredibly poor our office management is. I don't even really want to talk about the vacation I'm trying to plan (which keeps freaking me out) or applying to grad school (which is not freaking me out but is still something that I have to actually DO)... or moving... or Andy graduating and how that will change things.
I want to go see movies and hang out and talk about nothing important. I desperately miss singing (ever, at all) and acting (ever, at all). There aren't enough people around here that do things like that.
I'm only happy that it's snowing because I hate the rain.
Current Mood: worn out
Current Music: stupid loud downstairs neighbor
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09:41 pm
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just nonsense
mink: so this SNL vid that everyone's posting...
andy: "jizz in my pants"?
mink: does it have that guy in it? you know, um...
andy: andy samberg?
mink: NO no. That GUY. Mister Hotstuff McGee.
andy: Uuum?
mink: from dick in a box.
andy: Justin Timberlake?
mink: Yes! I think I'll call him Hotstuff McGee, because that implies that I don't take him very seriously. (pause) Cuz I don't.
So there you have it. Justin Timberlake = Hotstuff McGee in minkbrainland.
I used to post things like this but I don't anymore... So Andy prompted me to post it. And now you all suffer!!!
Current Mood:  silly
Current Music: none, actually
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08:03 am
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bleh, i'm sorry!
It's been a rough couple of months. I haven't cleaned out (or really looked at) my inbox in weeks. I mean, I read the emails - I read all of them! - and then I just never look at them again or reply to them.
Andy is in a special bubble of Fine, but everything else is pretty much On Fire. There are no steps I can take right now to fix that. There are only steps I can take to help me live with that for a while longer until I can do something to FIX it.
Please don't tell me that you understand this better or that this isn't the case. I am not fucking stupid and I have talked my situation to DEATH with everyone whom I feel like sharing it with. It's just not possible right NOW. It WILL be possible. But it's not possible YET. None of the required things hinge on anything I can do.
So, if you get a reply to a really old email or comment, um, that's why. And since i don't have time to do it right now, that still may not ever happen. Everything I write sounds idiotic.
Maybe in June.
Current Mood: apologetic
Current Music: tmbg - we want a rock
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05:08 pm
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relief
I've actually enjoyed the break in cynical posts on my f-list most of all. It's significantly less stressful when the most cynical thing anyone has to talk about is "well, everything still needs to be fixed!"
I don't think I realised how much reading everyone's frustration and despair was affecting my health/mood/etc.
Even the cynical posts are cheery compared to the usual stuff. It's just amusing me.
Current Mood:  exhausted
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10:49 am
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hooray for voting!
I wish I could vote EVERY DAY. I am in such a good mood today!
Or maybe I should just vote for Obama every day - I definitely wasn't this jubilant in 2004!
Current Mood: cheerful
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06:24 pm
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blergh
I am totally getting sick AND it's raining. If I could watch movies on my laptop (who knows why I can't; we think the drive is dead*) I would just go to bed and do that and poke at the internets. My ears feel like they have cantaloupes in them. Advil is doing nothing. This happens when I'm under-slept.
So this is my attempt to keep posting stuff! unfortunately, it's not very interesting. Most of what I've been up to lately either involves customer service stories that belong on http://notalwaysright.com/ or thinking about politics.
I don't really want to post about either of those things here.
Phone Update: A lot of you know I am on Verizon and it's free for you to call me. Therefore, it's important for you to know that I AM SWITCHING TO SPRINT. I still love Verizon - they have great service and I've been happy with them. However, Andy has the Fair & Flexible plan with Sprint and we'd rather be on the same service, especially since that plan is so amazing that they don't offer it anymore. Also, it is hella cheaper to be on the same plan.
I know this affects some of you. I'm not sure we'll get the free in-calling for Sprint unless a lot of folks I know use it? I don't really call anyone regularly anymore but I am curious. I do keep a mental list of VZ users so it'd be good to know.
My phone number will not be changing. I've had the same number since high school and I want to keep it.
Okay. I think that's it for now.
* correction Andy wants me to post: I can't play DVDs on my laptop, we think the drive is dead. Files work just fine, but we just installed XP a few months ago and it's no longer my main computer.
Current Mood: sick
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09:35 pm
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hi!
Some people have pointed out lately that I don't update this much anymore. And it's not that I don't ever read LJ - I just get very hermit-like and don't know what to say. At least half the time, I start writing a comment and decide halfway through that the original poster probably doesn't care about what I have to say. So, I just don't post anything.
I'm still living with Andy in Western Mass (Amherst to be specific). I'm still working customer service, and it's not really much more tolerable than it was before. My co-workers are great but the constellation of people in the specific room I work in is about to change and I'm unhappy that one of my favourite people is moving across the building to another position. It's more complicated, of course, but not really worth explaining here.
You know, I just put on comfy ready-for-bed clothes and I just realised I have to get the laundry. Whoops.
Aside from my job, I'm working at finding friends out here but nothing has been fireworks, you know? Nothing on a poly-dating front, either, but I think that may be partly because I'm too frazzled to try again. Everything with Andy works fine and never feels unstable, even when things need resolving or are problems. It never feels in jeopardy. And I've managed to completely turn off the parts of my brain that attract me to irresponsible assholes, as evidenced by not being attracted to Heath Ledger's Joker (usually my kinda fellow). But a couple of the people I dated and didn't really talk about... those relationships went so abysmally that I've given up on trusting people other than Andy.
Living with Andy couldn't be easier, so I can't complain about that.
( The real news is that we'll almost definitely be moving back to Boston by next summer )
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08:44 am
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posts I will make if I get more time
I figure I should put down notes, so at least I won't entirely forget them.
1) I got this keyboard, which I adore and cannot recommend more highly.
2) I've been thinking lately about how everyone should act more like Neil Gaiman. Those of you who read his rss feed on LJ are aware of the man's class, especially when dealing with people who are obnoxious. Here's a classic example of his ability to treat all people with respect.
I wish tremendously that we were all better at that - myself not only included but at the top of the list, honestly. Since my job directly deals with people being angry over things that probably aren't a big deal and often aren't true, I wish I could handle it with Neil's grace and poise.
3) Lately, I've noticed that when given a choice, people asking for us in Customer Service to do something (print extra copies of something, make a call, etc), they will generally ask me to do it. At first I thought this was because they thought I wasn't doing enough work (since my manager has done this a few times - asking me over my one co-worker), but now I think it's because they know I'll get it done.
But I'm not sure. Thoughts? A regular work environment is still alien to me, honestly. I wish I knew how to interpret people's behavior but since they aren't violently angry with me or heaping me with useless praise, I'm totally confused.
okay, time to hit the road. At least I wrote anything.
Current Mood:  tired
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08:55 pm
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Informative pro-Obama video
Lawrence Lessig just posted this to his blog, and I think the more people who watch it, the better.
Lawrence Lessig takes twenty minutes to explain, using clear examples, why Obama is the candidate to vote for, in a way that makes sense to me.
Sadly, the men I truly endorse refuse to run for president *grin*
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01:10 pm
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Not to offend anyone... (seriously!)
Am I the only person who DOES NOT think that our next president SHOULD believe everything that I believe?
Half our country doesn't agree with many of the things I believe in - but they still live here and they are still important as human beings. Many of them have sane and reasonable reasons for not agreeing with me, reasons that I can respect and I believe their choices should be respected legally (as long as it does not infringe on my right to do as I decide either). NO ONE is going to be exactly what I want, and honestly, no one SHOULD be - I'm not the majority and I'm not the only person who needs things to change. I do not think it is reasonable to expect a candidate who speaks precisely to my opinions on every issue. If they hit the major ones, or even most of the major ones, I can live with that. Haven't we lived with so much worse for so long now?
Finally, I don't think anyone tells the whole truth during the campaign. I also don't think it's reasonable to EXPECT them to - SHOULD they and do we WANT them to? Sure! Of course! But are they GOING to? Probably not ever. So we make do with what we get and try to figure that out, instead of dwelling on how the world isn't exactly what we'd like it to be.
About the best I can hope for is someone who will pay attention to the desires of EVERYONE in this country, and who will try to find a good compromise between them. I want someone I feel I can rely on and trust - and even if I couldn't have guessed what W Bush would have done in office, he was so clearly dishonest at heart from day one... you can tell those sorts of things about candidates, if nothing else.
I think this is the UU in me. I don't think our options are as bad as they have been in the past, yet it seems a lot of people think so. It just confuses me.
Current Mood: tired
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09:03 pm
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fever dreams
I'm dreadfully sick - we've been swamped with our year-end sale and I've lost my voice due to way too many phone calls and too many hours working alone. Anyway, I went in to work briefly this morning (for 3 hrs) and came home, took NyQuil and managed to fall asleep in spite of Andy's boisterous gaming group outside the door (they were here when I got home, wasn't gonna kick 'em out).
I had two awesome dreams:
Dream 1: all the Snakes on a Plane LJ meet-up people were back together! We were hanging out in the randomass countryside and were having trouble finding an open grocery store so we could cook delicious food. We then sat down and had the best ice cream ever, and then the people started bringing us the most delicious hamburgers ever. Needless to say, I woke up hungry... and clearly I miss my LJ people!
Dream 2: Bill O'Reilly was really Christopher Guest in disguise! Cheri Oteri was his wife, and Seth Green was a "reporter" who followed him around and asked him ridiculous questions. I also dreamt he was running for president and he and Cheri would never kiss - just get a weird robot look in their eyes and slowly move towards each other until their faces kind of smooshed together. No one ever commented on how weird this was. Somehow, this still seems completely real now that I'm awake....
Current Mood: very very sick
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03:14 pm
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buried in snow
They let us go home early from work. Snow started blanketing us around noon, and I left at 1:30. It took me an hour and a half to go about ten miles. I'm fine, nothing even close to an accident, mostly just bored out of my skull and feeling nauseous from car fumes. I could hardly see - if it wasn't the weather, it was my foggy windshield or my frozen wipers. There was no way to keep my rear window clear.
It looks lovely and it's supposed to stop tonight - but I am awfully glad I came home early! I don't know how bad it'll get in Boston, but if this is any indication of what you all WILL be getting, it is easily packable and very slippery - absolutely the worst stuff for driving in. It packs onto your wheels and then you skid all over.
We're supposed to get 8 inches or so by tomorrow morning. Eep!
Current Mood: tired
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08:07 pm
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like warm stew on a cold day....
Many of you are aware that my mother and I have had a ... highly spirited relationship for some years now. We have not gotten along terribly well when it comes to my living in her house or living by her rules. I am downright awful at living with her. I have always tried to assure people that I do really like my mother as a person, and I have a lot of respect and love for her, but I have a hard time living with her as a parent. I always hoped that would get better with time, and distance.
I have to say, now that I live with Andy in my own place that is not with my parents, I can much more easily get along with my mother now. One hundred percent of the time, calling her makes me feel better if I am upset about something. And I don't precisely mean problem solving (though I feel I am more willing to accept her help now that I have a better sense of what I am capable of on my own), but all sorts of things like knitting and recipes and how to deal with adjusting to a completely new workplace. In addition, I feel like I can contribute meaningfully to some of the issues she faces.
We were always very honest and upfront with each other during the years when we didn't get along, and I think that was really good for us because the conversations we have now are much more meaningful - I'm calling because I want to, not because I have a history of dependence on my mother. It's actually easier for me to ask for help now because I was so unwilling to depend on her before.
I know there are many of you who have only known me recently, and my disagreements with my mother have become less public over the years... but I figure there are some of you who remember how much I struggled with how to interact with her in high school, and I wanted to let you know that it is a thousand times better.
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10:59 pm
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Don't send your hair to Locks of Love...
I've said this before, I'll continue to say it to anyone who tells me to send off my hair... Locks of Love has NO BLOODY USE for the amount of hair they receive, and most of it gets thrown away.
Plenty of internet sites have posted about this before now, but I think the New York Times counts and a credible resource:
link to full text of the article posted on LJ since I can't pull up the actual NYT link.
I just explained this to someone two days ago. It's completely logical - you can't make a wig out of most of the hair that people have because most people don't take very good care of their hair. On top of that, caring for a real-hair wig is SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult than a fake wig. Anyway, I haven't ranted about this in a while so I thought I'd put it up here.
Current Mood: tired
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02:18 pm
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I had to post this!
Swiped from our friend Anne over here, I felt I needed to pass on the news that Dumbledore has been officially outed as gay!
I'm similarly concerned at the possible directions fanfiction could take, but honestly, I've always felt that Snape/Harry was the worst anyone could come up with and since that's already been done, I doubt they can come up with something that would squick me out more.
In other news, Andy & I bought a used, portable dishwasher for $175 today! That's about half the price of any of the new ones we could find. We had a little trouble finding the means to get it to our place, but my parents decided to cover some of the expenses as an early holiday present, so that helps.
Of course, now we have to get it up to our second floor apartment...
Also, I still like my job and I really like my co-worker Mike. He's so easy to get along with and we are generally like-minded. I'm really glad I'm working with him.
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: wind in the trees, train going by
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08:40 am
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no news is good news, for now...
Things are going eerily well. I'm nowhere near as wiped out at the end of the day as I was at my former job. I'm still working on learning to do things at work on instinct (I have to ask so many questions, but everyone seems okay with it), so I come home and feel very brain-dead but not in an emotionally or physically dead way. So that's definitely an improvement.
Living with Andy is so... easy. I keep thinking there must be some catch or eventually he will grow tired of being an awesome cook and a great companion but :shrug: things are good. I kind of feel like I should be more concerned about this going well but there's not even anything to worry about. We've got pet peeves about each other but those are manageable.
I'd like to post a more detailed update but I refuse to use LJ at work. Aside from the fact that I'm actually busy enough all day that I don't even have TIME to get sucked into LJ, I don't know how they're keeping track of our usage. I'd rather they not know I have an LJ. I've seen other people on email and heard one or two non-work phone calls from my manager, but overall, everyone actually seems to do work. This is terribly refreshing - my former co-workers had a tendency to spend long stretches of time on the phone having conversations with family members in their native language, and they would ignore work while they were on the phone.
Anyway, I may try to compose a post in notepad and post it here when I get home. I am definitely reading but usually only before work or in the evening, both of which are times when I don't feel mentally alert enough to reply to posts appropriately.
Current Location: Amherst, MA
Current Mood: morning wake up sleepy
Current Music: andy in the shower
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11:18 pm
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STOP that Damned Career meme, and for good reason!
I was hoping I would see this go away on its own but I've seen another post with the career meme since I got up today, so it's time to post:
The log-in info for the career meme is licensed to a nonprofit company that would like people to stop now. Here's a post with an impassioned plea to remove the log-in data from your post.
I was really wondering when someone was going to notice. Anything with a login is going to cause trouble.
copied from buxom_bey, etc.
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01:59 am
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the essentials:
- Andy & I are moved in together in Amherst. Hooray!
- We only got internet today, so I'm still catching up on posts and email. Thank you for all the kind words & birthday wishes! I've been too busy to do much phone and email stuff before now.
- Speaking of, sirencio came to visit for my birthday and that was awesome. lakilika also managed to catch me on the phone which was wonderful.
- We're still working on getting furniture (like a real bed).
- I had a job interview today, which is great because the job seems potentially nifty and I hate job searching.
That's it for now. Hi!!
Current Location: Amherst, MA
Current Mood: cheerful
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