The Great and Powerful Moz

It's been a super busy, hectic, crazy, emotional whirlwind of a few days. Moving happened, torrential downpour and all. Nothing that I know of was broken or lost in the melee and I would say I'm about 85% settled in.

New apartment is great except I can't seem to get the hot water in the shower to stay hot. This sucks. But the landlord seems responsive, so hopefully we'll get it fixed. I cannot live without the hot bath option....

But it's been amazing being in Gloucester. People seem really friendly - almost too friendly. There was a wierd incident involving a couple, a Mexican restaurant, a margarita and an invitation. I'm not sure if they're in a cult or an "open" relationship. I think I'll wait awhile before taking them up on their offer to "swing by their place"... (Swing being the operative word, methinks.)

And tonight is the Morrissey concert. I am much excited. It's gonna suck driving in and out of the city on the day of the stupid Red Sox parade (did you hear the "crowd response" from Fenway? I am ashamed to be from the same city as these drunken idjuts...). But I am uber excited for the show. He's so amazing live. *sigh* A gal in love.... Maybe I can hook up with a random Brit again and get invited to the front row. Hey, it worked last time....

And after tomorrow, the writing begins. NaNoWriMo, here I come!

Only One More Sleep till Gloucester

Well, it's arrived. My last night here in Watertown - the night before the dawn before the day of moving.

And while the net/net is definitely a wonderful, positive thing, I do have a few sweet, sad tears for leaving. After all, I've lived in or around Watertown for a grand total of nearly seven years. I know all the local haunts and I can drive around this town blindfolded.

I'm sure that I will get to that point in my new home town. And already I'm liking the people I meet and getting a feel for the local community. I know that belonging to a place - and having it belong to you - is more than just knowing how to get from A to Z or knowing the name of the guy at the convenience store around the corner.

Still, there are a lot of memories in this here apartment, in this here town. It's been pretty good to me, all things considered. I'll miss it.

Feed the Hungry a Word at a Time

Found a great way to while away the bored hours at new job. Go here to play a fun little game where every time you get the definition of a word right, corporations donate 10 grains of rice to the UN to feed the hungry. I had to stop at 500 because I actually have work to do. But, I grinned a lot when "ubiquitous" put me over the 470 mark.

Hackensack ... And Frog

I am still massively bored at work. Altho I had a great brainstorming session this a.m., that's pretty much it for today. I should be revelling in this, but the old Catholic guilt is kicking in.

I do really like the people here, though, and the high-schoolesque lunches in the cafeteria are quite fun. On Tuesday we played CSI Agency and tried to reason out this mystery regarding a woman in the North End of Boston who apparently fell? jumped? off the roof of the building one of my coworkers lives in. We came up with quite elaborate scenarios. I think I'm gonna script it and try to sell it to CBS. Royalties.

Yesterday, a conversation about Halloween somehow morphed into a discussion about Barbies and cheerleading which, of course led to my confessions. I subscribe to the Barbie Newsletter. I used to be a cheerleader. Needless to say, my new colleagues were surprised. Even more surprised to find out that I gew up in New Jersey. Apparently, they didn't peg this no-makeup, no-hairdo, jeans-and-clog wearing hippie as a former Big Hair Girl. As my co-worker pointed out, I don't look like the typical native of New Jersey, Home of the Hair Closest to God.

Which brings me to this YouTube gem. To give credit, I found it on Feministing linked in a terrific post about the oversexualization of young girls. Check it out for some thought-provoking discussion. But for funny, watch this. Ahhhhhh, the lilting accent of my youth...

More Random Thoughts

Someone reminded me (as if I needed to be reminded) that moving is right up there on the stress level with losing a loved one and public speaking. Moving does, in fact, suck out loud.

I'm in this weird place between feeling like my whole life is in boxes and feeling like I have nothing packed and there's no way I'm ready for the movers to show up on Saturday.

And while I know that it will all be OK and it will work out and every time I drive into my new hometown I am amazed and awed at the natural beauty surrounding me, I am still massively stressed.

To top it off, I am STILL BORED at work. How many hours of WebSudoku can I play? Everyone keeps telling me that it's par for the course. But I don't do bored well. I left the office 10 mins early today (not really, since I was there at 8:30, but no one know that since there was a Sox game last night and most folks rolled in around 9:30....) and my boss saw me. He was having an impromptu meeting in an office down the hall about a project I'm remotely involved with. No one had come in to court my opinion, so I can only assume my input wasn't needed. Still, I feel massively guilty about the early departure. Here's hopin he understands.

I almost blew off the gym, as I was a) exhausted b) sore from multiple moving trips yesterday and c) upset and stressed. But I know that exercise is a powerful medicine against depression and so I sucked it up and went. And really glad I did. It was an amazing spin class and I found myself grinning like an idiot halfway through. I even had enough presence of mind to practice some asana afterwards.

Wish me luck for the rest of the week.