super crapola day at werk today. used to think i wanted to have my own small business..not so much anymore. i don't know how anyone does it without going mad.
i'm so disappointed.
miss Ruby and i had a nice walk during my afternoon off today. found a great magazine i had no idea existed...The Bark (at the upscale doggie boutique Harry Barkers.) www.thebark.com.
its a very cool gen-x style dog magazine, not at all like the cheezy DogFancy stuff. i love my dog to no end, but i'm not about to knit matching sweaters. or am i? god, i have waaay to much pent-up sexual energy..i find myself delving into hobbies and handicrafts at an alarming rate. keep the glue gun out of sight!
is there anything in this world more annoying than three inarticulate, misinformed 19 year olds loudly discussing god, jesus, organized religion and the origins of art?!?!
i stopped counting after the eighth misuse of the word "metaphysical". my personal fav: "if jesus hadn't died on the cross for your sins you wouldn't be able to paint."
totally ruined my Sunday afternoon...all i wanted to do was sit in the sun with my dog, drink some coffee and do my Word Searches in peace.
pasta, grilled cheese, roast chicken, maybe an omelette?...the choices are so varied! finally! a working stove at last. i almost feel like a complete person.
i have a bathroom sink! i saw my plumber so often the past few weeks we developed a deep bond. it was the best relationship i've had with a man in years. its over now, and i'm lost without him.
i met someone else who is thinking of spending some time in the South of France (6 months or more) this week...i'd better stop telling everyone about Antibes, all the good flats will be gone! by the way, if anyone is looking for a great website about the area i'll be living in, visit www.angloinfo.com. its a hub site for english-speaking expats living on the Riveria...i spend hours exploring the links on topics from english language bookstores to truffle festivals.
miss Ruby graduated obedience school today! she did "excellent"! yippee!
Joel Meyerowitzs lecture and showing of his photographs from the twin towers dig out tonight at SCADs Trustees Theatre was very moving. it made me miss my camera, and the days when i wanted so badly to be a photojournalist...traveling the world, sending home photographs of things no one else i knew had ever seen before. when i was 14ish i even had that dorky photojournalist vest with all the pockets from Banana Republic (back when it was a safari-esque store and not a high fashion mid-level gay mans mecca).
an old idea returned...spending a hot, high-corn summer with my old-school grandparents in Edgar, Nebraska, photographing a way of life that seems so foreign sometimes. seed caps, overalls, men working the old fashioned way, 5am coffee with grandpa's war buddies at the Blue Moon Cafe, weddings at the VFW, old barns and tractor yards, acres and acres of praying mantis irrigation equipment, etc. wonder where that old vest is...
i am stuck in such a rut. what if i don't get this Visa? i have a dossier an inch thick, and I still don't have everything the French consulate needs. i have to figure out a way to get to Atlanta pronto or i'll never get it. i'm stressing out about this whole moving to France thing. i know, i know, it will be great, its a great opportunity, chance of a lifetime, blah blah blah. but what if i get there and have no work, no money? and this taking classes again idea..am i nuts? its never worked out before, (is the FOURTH time the charm?) what the hell makes me think it will work in another country for christ sake? my problems will be the same, they'll just be Euro-problems.
god, i suck.
all i did was say i was thinking that i might, maybe think about having a baby in the next few years (i mean, i am going to be thirty this year)...
kate: "mom, you had two babies by the time you were my age."
mom: "yes, but that didn't make me a complete person."
ok, what the hell did she mean by THAT?!? like i told her, good thing i had triple chocolate chunk in the freezer.
someone knocked on my door tonight; i was in my robe in bed, watching tv, smoking a cigarette, eating oreos, deep-pore-masking. it was 8:30pm.
i burned my tongue something fierce on my morning coffee today, which, when your best companion (dog aside) is food, makes for a real bummer of a day.
my sister Margaret has completed her website detailing her new life in Chile:
http://members.fortunecity.com/memikkelsen/
she's literally on the other side of the planet! wild. rumor has it my mom is in Chicago this week, visiting with said sister for a week or so, seeing as they probably won't be able to see each other for quite a long time (including the holidays).
i'm famous! i was interviewed and featured in a furniture trade magazine out this week (FurnitureStyle). werk at the shop has its perks, however infrequent. its quite a good little spread..a few pictures of the store, including a not-so-fat shot of yours truly, and i was quoted accurately for the first time ever! the magazine is handed out by the thousands at the upcoming HighPoint Furniture Fair ...wierd, thousands of furniture buyers carrying my picture around.
i read a great one today: "Cheer up, death is around the corner!"
is there a birth control pill out there that also tells your MIND that you don't want to get pregnant? i thought having the dog would satiate the desire, but it seems only to have whetted it. oops. i can't seem to get the crazy French baby idea out of my head. hope mom doesn't read this posting, she'll ixnay my stay!
my brother Thomas (www.csene.com) is launching his own computer (mostly mac i believe) consulting business..i'm very proud...it will be hard sometimes, getting it off the ground, but i have complete faith...he's a freakin' genius with that stuff, and people love him.
todays cool weather has made me even more homesick lately for fall in Wisconsin: apple cider, turning leaves, pumpkins, etc. aside from the dead deer hood ornaments and prolific plaid flannel, fall is so pleasant in the midwest. love that little nip in the air...i was built for sweater weather.
Savannah is soon to have a dog park! at the corner of 41st and Drayton Streets, near The Starlander. the Savannah Dog Park Association is seeking members (annual fees start at $25 + 4 hours volunteer work) and larger donations to fund the remaining construction phases. i believe the fence is near completion. it will be a fenced and gated park, members will have entry keys, so no transients and no unhappy neighbors when you unleash your pooch. contact friendly Ruth Nedriga (912-352-7874). i'm so happy to learn of this...spread the word in the doggie world!
two handsome, strapping young college boys (Justin and James) just lugged my old crummy vanity and toilet out of the hallway, down three flights of stairs and out to the dumpster in the alley. not bad for a Saturday night!
oh, dear Mike would have loved this one...a professional Flaminco (sp?) dancing team..the feller in tight black pants up-to-here, stomping and turning and shaking the tightest ass ever on stage. well worth the $10 cover!
the old stinky sink and toilet are still in the hallway. oops.
a new white toity! very exciting! its so cute and little, and there is nothing else in the bathroom (except the shower) right now! i'll be brushing my teeth in the kitchen tomorrow morning.
having a better day today. i just bought a snazzy new toilet tonight for a grand total of $64.56 american. its very simple, small and most importantly: WHITE! my current toilet is very dark navy blue, which is creepy...you can't see anything in it! it's just a big black hole!, the toilet from childhood nightmares.
did i mention the sheer joy of using my kitchen sink for the first time in 18 months? i'm in love. i'm in dire need of a life! ha!
web life: flight001.com >more-affordable-than-the-groovy-graphics would imply, hi-tech, how-did-i-fly-before?-goodies for air travel
miss Ruby is feeling better this morning. miss Kate is not. i vaguely remember mom saying she's cutting back the expense of her usual SUNDAY PHONE CALLs, but i really missed talking to her today. and i overslept..her call usually wakes me up in time for SUNDAY MORNING with Charles II, i am discumbobulated (sp?) having started my Sunday without it.
basically, in a funk.
Ruby's got another urinary tract infection...ten days of antibiotics. she usually catches on to the pill-in-peanutbutter thing on day four. now, she just puked on my best duvet. its a banner day in the mikkelsen household.
i took a PHOTOGRAPH of a LOAD OF DISHES in my new stainless steel industrial kitchen sink the other day! is that wierd or what? doing a batch of dishes has never been more rewarding, though i still do 'em my lazy way..let 'em soak as long as possible. they enjoy it...like taking a bath.
my days of having two sinks in the house will be short-lived though, the bathroom sink comes out tomorrow.
i had coffee at my favorite caffeine cove this evening with a fresh young friend of mine...only one free chair, near the stairs. she offers me the outdoor metal wire grid chair, takes a step for her seat. i say: "ah, the old lady gets the chair, huh?" she says: "nah, old lady gets the waffle ass!" classic!!
i survived the oral surgery yesterday, but i think i'm still hopped up on prescriptions! was feeling good enough this afternoon to finally pick up a kitchen sink...a freestanding stainless steel beauty! should have running water in the kichen on Thursday!