The Not-So-Secret Diary of a Bad Luck Girl

I think I have Mouse Elbow.

I’ve had it for a while, probably, but only in the past couple of years has it gotten bad. Before the pain would come and go, but now it’s pretty much always there, unless I lay off the computer for several days in a row.

Last night I tried sleeping with an ace bandage. I felt like I needed pressure and support in that area, and while at first it felt better, today it’s sore. In a different way, but still sore. The only thing that helps is taking a break from computers overall. And some Ben Gay, which reminds MB of his grandmother. Romantic.

At work now I almost always use my left hand to mouse, but my right arm still ends up being achy for some reason. My wrist doesn’t hurt at all, just my forearm, around my eblow, and my shoulder.

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No plans for Halloween tonight, which is okay by me. The only costume I have is last year’s slutty school girl uniform, though I could probably go as a Japanese tourist. I kind of look like one when I wear my floppy hat. Then I’d just need kakhis, a cardigan, and a huge camera, and I’m all set.

I’ve registered for my spring semester classes. I need four more to finish the program, and since summer classes don’t seem as good as fall and spring, I’ve decided to take three next semester.

I’ll be taking Human-Information Behavior, which is more of a theoretical class; Management of Libraries/Information Centers; and Collection Development. I was tempted by classes like information architecture and digital archiving, but technology changes so quickly, I think I’ll be better off learning on the job, or taking a continuing ed class here and there, rather than “wasting” credits on them in this program.

After the three, I need just one more class. In June there’s a two week intensive 3 credit e-publishing class in London. I know I just finished saying technology changes quickly, but hey it’s London! And it’s only two weeks! And the other summer classes blow. At the end of the course, there’s an e-publishing conference where you can schmooze with other librarians and see vendors hawk their wares.

Hoepfully I’ll be able to handle the workload next semester. These past few have not been difficult, though of course at times I feel just plain lazy about it. In the spring, one class is at 3:30 on Wednesdays and my boss has said it’s okay for me to leave early one day a week, while another is on Sunday at 1, which is fine by me. I’m so tired at the end of the day, I’d rather have my evenings free. The third class is Mondays at the regular time, 6:30.

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In other news, I am actually excited about voting next week. But despite all the polls and what the media is saying, I am still holding back somewhat. I won’t believe it till I see it.

No clever title either, apparently.

Friday
Friday night MB and I went to that jazz/house/disco band performance. It was pretty fun and a lot less of a pain than seeing his classmate perform heavy metal Wednesday night. We had time to eat dinner, and even dessert. And we did *not* have to wait outside.

The music was fun but a lot of the audience was annoying. It seemed to be mostly gay men and straight women. We were sitting at a table against the wall, and when we went to the bathroom, had to step over a lot of people. When I did, these women just stared at me. Like, what? Is this a private party or something? Then when MB did, one of the women said loudly to her friend, “People should really say excuse me when they walk by!” Oh gee, maybe people shouldn’t sit with their legs all splayed out in a very crowded club right in front of the bathroom.

Then there was one woman who seemed to be swimming in a sea of gay men. She had on this annoying silver scarf, and kept dancing right up to the tiny stage, putting a thumbs up or clapping like a robot right in the lead singer’s face. Then she’d turn around and blow kisses at one of her gays sitting at the table behind her, and do horrible vogue-wannabe movements with her arms. Then suddenly stop stock still and start Blackberrying madly. Then start dancing crazily again, over and over.

I wanted to kill her.

At least the music was fun.

Saturday
Exhausting overall. At about 1 I went to pick up my parents from Penn Station. From there we hopped the subway to the theater. Chicago’s been out FOREVER, but there were still a zillion people waiting to get in.

This is the fourth time I’ve seen this show. The first was many years ago in Boston with ES. Then I saw it through work for free, and then I think ES and I saw it again because we got cheap tickets. All the performances, including this weekend’s, were good, but the best had to be the time both Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking were in it (I think that was the time through work).

This performance was very good. We had great seats – orchestra right – and most importantly, my parents really enjoyed it, my dad in particular. He kept saying how “professional” everyone was. Plus we were so close we could see the sweat glistening on the dancers’ bodies, including the amazing pecs of this one guy. *squeeze*

After the show we headed over to the restaurant, where MB would meet us, having decided to forego the musical portion of the day. It was a challenge because suddenly it was all rainy and windy. And my parents walked really slowly. I tried really hard to slow down, but they would still end up way behind me.

I wanted to take my parents somewhere other than Asian food so I picked Kellari Taverna, this Greek place I *think* I went to through work. The food was pretty good. For appetizers we had fried octopus in this delicious vinegary sauce, and fried zucchini and eggplant “chips.” Then we just got a couple of pounds of fish – I forget which ones, I let MB do the choosing – and a couple of sides, potatoes and green beans. For dessert we shared a chocolate souffle, which was incredible.

The food was good, but a little overpriced. Still I was happy to treat my parents. Most people have big banquets when they turn 70, and spend thousands of dollars. But my dad wanted something low-key.

After dinner we took my parents back to Penn Station, made sure they knew what train to look out for, and headed home.

Although I was pooped it was still early, not even 9. We thought about going to see the midnight showing of Monty Python’s Holy Grail, but then MB noticed that Swedish vampire movie we’ve been wanting to see was out.

It was GOOD. The vampire stuff was very subtle, and we noticed that they didn’t show a lot of violence, which I think is how it is with lot of European films. For instance, a guy would be slitting another guy’s throat, and they’d only show the guy from behind, but it was just as menacing and disturbing.

The people behind us were, guess what, ANNOYING. They kept making loud, snarky comments all during the previews. Now I know the previews aren’t the movie, but they are like mini movies so everyone should shut the fuck up. Then when the actual movie started, which it did so silently, with no music, against a scene of softly falling snow against a dark sky, the girl behind us goes, “It’s so QUIET.” Really? Do you think it’s cuz YOU’RE IN A MOVIE? Luckily they all shut up once the film started.

Sunday
I was semi-productive in the morning, getting a load of laundry done. That afternoon I headed out to meet YP to see The Secret Life of Bees. I actually had no idea what the movie was about. It wasn’t bad, of the Fried Green Tomatoes/Steel Magnolias type. Some melodrama, some stereotypes, and lots of crying.

At home I found that MB had bought another guitar (!!!). That makes four. Oh well, he really loves it and a got a good deal.

After getting some food – noodles at the Lower East Side Noodle Bar - we had a quiet evening in. There was a new It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Hulu (that show is frigging hilarious), plus we watched the pilot episode of Sons of Anarchy (enh) and an old Family Guy.

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In other news, I decided to start a movie blog, in addition to my book blog, to keep track of all the movies I see. I may or may not add very short reviews, or at least one word ratings (eg, Sucked, Just Okay, Pretty Good, Awesome). At the very least, the movie posters are cool to roll through.

I’ve written that now that MB is in music school, we’ve been going to hear a lot of live music. Mostly it’s been fun. We’ve heard folksy stuff, jazz, and of course his classmate’s metal band.

Wednesday night that band was playing again. Last time they were in Brooklyn in a very mellow bar. So mellow that for the first half of the show, there were hardly any people in the audience. But it was still fun. This time it was in Brooklyn again, but it was anything but mellow.

First off, for some reason we have a really hard time figuring Brooklyn out. We’ll HopStop a place, and it’ll show us some crazy route involving two or three trains when we could have just taken the L somewhere and walked.

But even walking is not direct. Wednesday night I swear we ended up walking all the way down one street just to cross to the street parallel and walk all the way fuck back in the other direction! Twice we did this! And me in uncomfortable shoes.

The show was supposed to start at 8:30, but they made us wait outside for at least an hour. And it was freaking cold. I had my winter coat but was still chilly. Plus my feet, grrr! When they finally let us in, I expected to find the place packed, but it was half empty.

Then more standing around, listening to this mediocre reggae band. Luckily MB had brought us earplugs cuz that shit was ear bleedingly loud. With the plugs it was normal. The band wasn’t bad, but the lead singer was such a faker. Sometimes he had a Jamaican accent, and sometimes he sounded like he was from New Jersey.

The finally, FINALLY, around 10, MB’s classmate’s band started to get ready. But of course that took at least half an hour. My feet were hurting more and more. We sat for a while on the edge of this platform but it wasn’t super comfortable.

So the band was fun but they didn’t sound as good as the first time we heard them. Part of it was the sound. One of the guitars and the bass were really loud, but MB’s classmate’s guitar was almost silent, you could only hear part of the drums, and the lead singer kept coming in and out. As soon as they were done, we were outta there.

We’ve decided we’re way too old for this kind of thing. How old? The club was 18 and over, and some girls waiting in line couldn’t get in. (The band members are 17 to 21, and a had a shitload of little groupies.) MB and I – 34 and 36, respectively – were laughingly out of place. But I don’t really care about that. It’s more like no more schleps out to frigging Brooklyn on a week night to stand outside in the cold in uncomfortable shoes and then hear music that’s just okay.

Tonight we’re hearing this jazz/disco/house improv group. Now *that* should be interesting.

This is why I don’t friend people on Facebook with whom I haven’t been in touch for a long time.

If someone contacts me, I am always super friendly, responding to their messages in turn. But this is the response I got from an old college friend to whom I had written, “Hey, it’s been so long! What have you been up to?” (Bracketed phrases are mine.)

I’m in [Some State], because I just married someone who works here. I left [Overseas Country] in 2003, as an internal transfer at [Boring Company] to their head office. I decided to leave [My Field] in 2006 and moved back to the states for a job at a [Finance-y Sumpin] in [Another City], where my husband [Robot-Guy] and I met. I’m looking for a job right now and not expecting to find anything in this economy. I’m applying to [Some Training Program], so I’ll have something intellectually stimulating to do and not drive my husband crazy by ranting about [Something Finance-y] all the time. ( I used to be a [Finance-y Sumpin] in [Another City].) [Robot-Guy's] parents are taking us on a cruise next June, and we board the ship from [Yet Another City], so I’m going to try to see [Another Robot Girl from College Who Never Even Replied to My Facebook Message], who lives there now. [Robot-Guy] and I leave for [Hometown] on Saturday.

Yes I know, there’s nothing wrong with the message itself, but c’mon, can I buy a greeting? A “Hey! It’s great to hear from you!”? ONE question, or even just a “Hope all is well”? It reads like a form letter, the form letter she sends out whenever someone from the past contacts her.

I almost wish she didn’t even write a message and just friended me back. Because that’s what it’s all about you know, how many “friends” you have on Facebook.

I have been so lazy about blogging lately. This is what happens when I get caught up in my writing.

I think I wrote that I attended a “how to sell your first book” seminar, and that the instructor, a former teacher of mine, suggested I contact two other former teachers for advance blurbs for my agent letter. Well, I finally sent the revised letter about a week ago. One teacher returned a blurb that night, while I just got the other one. Yay! I didn’t think I’d ever get that second one. Problem is now the letter is too long. Time to cut.

I don’t remember if I already wrote about this, but I decided to restructure my book (again!). Right now it sort of alternates between what I’m calling the China and adultery stories, and while the China sections were pretty much chronological, the adultery sections were not. In a way it’s interesting because certain events resonate, but it was too confusing.

So I’m putting the adultery sections in chronological order too. But the whole books open with a pivotal scene so that readers will know immediately what happened. It’s not about maintaining suspense but about exploring why this and other events happened. Also, putting these sections in order is also helping me fil in the blanks with additional anecdotes and whatnot.

I’ve also been somewhat busy with schoolwork. I had a paper due last week, and a short presentation to give this Thursday, based on a resource. I was going to look at the book on Sunday, but it was at a branch of the library that was closed. So I have to go at lunch today. I totally could have done it on Friday or Saturday, but I was feeling lazy.

MB is deep in music-school-world now. This weekend he got a keyboard, 61 keys. It’s fun to have a keyboard in the apartment. He’s been encouraging me to play again and bought a beginner’s classical book, saying that it was for himself to learn out of. But he totally knew I’d want to start playing those pieces, which is what I did most of yesterday afternoon. Now I want to pick up some old piano books from my parents’ house.

The only thing about the keyboard is that you can’t play louder and softer. In that way Bach is more fun to play since he wrote for the harpsichord, which also was not adjustable in terms of volume.

This weekend we saw Quaruntine, which was pretty dumb but also pretty scary. Why is people behaving like animals so disturbing? This upcoming weekend I’m taking my parents to see Chicago for my dad’s birthday. It’ll be my fourth time but I don’t mind since it’s for my dad who has never seen a Broadway musical before, and it’s one I really like. Plus I got a special deal through my credit card, $100+ tickets for $60! Orchestra seats.

Okay, work time.