Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
THREE POSTS!
I guess I must be trying to make up for the lack of posting I've been doing. Either that or it is the coffee milkshake I had a few hours ago that I assumed wouldn't have coffee in it because I am a dumb dumb!
Anyway, I've been writing some mini character sketches about some of the people I meet at work. I think I might start putting them up here. I am sorry if they are boring, but you will get to know some of my regular clients this way. These aren't real interactions but they are inspired by real interactions. Some are pieced together and other stuff is made up to get the point across quickly. I wish all of my friends could meet my clients, but this is the best I can do. First one up is DOM! (I change their names.) I swear in this, because he swears incessantly. You have been warned!
Dom is quick to judge the street sweepers.
“Look, Miss Addison, don’t put me down here. Sweepin’ no streets. That’ll tarnish me.”
He looks at me, his mouth agape a little.
“I know you know I need a job. I appreciate what you’re trying to do. I’m just saying putting me down here, in that damn purple t-shirt, it won’t work. People will come up to me and say ‘Dom, what the hell you doing down here? ‘The fuck are you doing, cleaning up Skid Row? What the hell happened, man?’”
Dom is a homeless vet. He has lived in Skid Row for 15 years, but he’s too proud to admit to being from “down here.” He is also very proud of his service to our country. Dom spent two years in the Navy: 1985-1987. He is just as proud as the recent vets that come into the office after getting back from Iraq and Afghanistan. He is even prouder than the Viet Nam vets that come into the office after years on the streets. The Viet Nam veterans wear hats that state their status as such, but they are pretty quiet about their time in the service. Dom is not.
“They’ll see me down here cleaning up trash and needles, people know I’m a veteran, and they will think something is fucking wrong with me.”
Dom lives off his SSI and I want to say “there is something wrong with you, Dom. Yesterday you told me you “always felt like a cat all day on Tuesdays.’”
“Sorry about the language. Two years in the fucking Navy, though, I come by it honest.”
Anyway, I've been writing some mini character sketches about some of the people I meet at work. I think I might start putting them up here. I am sorry if they are boring, but you will get to know some of my regular clients this way. These aren't real interactions but they are inspired by real interactions. Some are pieced together and other stuff is made up to get the point across quickly. I wish all of my friends could meet my clients, but this is the best I can do. First one up is DOM! (I change their names.) I swear in this, because he swears incessantly. You have been warned!
Dom is quick to judge the street sweepers.
“Look, Miss Addison, don’t put me down here. Sweepin’ no streets. That’ll tarnish me.”
He looks at me, his mouth agape a little.
“I know you know I need a job. I appreciate what you’re trying to do. I’m just saying putting me down here, in that damn purple t-shirt, it won’t work. People will come up to me and say ‘Dom, what the hell you doing down here? ‘The fuck are you doing, cleaning up Skid Row? What the hell happened, man?’”
Dom is a homeless vet. He has lived in Skid Row for 15 years, but he’s too proud to admit to being from “down here.” He is also very proud of his service to our country. Dom spent two years in the Navy: 1985-1987. He is just as proud as the recent vets that come into the office after getting back from Iraq and Afghanistan. He is even prouder than the Viet Nam vets that come into the office after years on the streets. The Viet Nam veterans wear hats that state their status as such, but they are pretty quiet about their time in the service. Dom is not.
“They’ll see me down here cleaning up trash and needles, people know I’m a veteran, and they will think something is fucking wrong with me.”
Dom lives off his SSI and I want to say “there is something wrong with you, Dom. Yesterday you told me you “always felt like a cat all day on Tuesdays.’”
“Sorry about the language. Two years in the fucking Navy, though, I come by it honest.”
Also
Today I saw Ann Veal from Arrested Development on Sunset after I got out of Where the Wild Things Are... which was really bad. Don't go see it!
I don't think that I can take it! 'Cause it took so long to bake it! And I'll never have that recipe again!
So recently LA has been getting on my nerves. Mostly for the past week. Let me tell you why!
1) It's too hot here! It's October, it shouldn't be 93. I've been told that October is often the hottest month, because of the coming and going of the Santa Ana winds. Anyway, there's no fall and it's hotter here now than it was in August.
2) The men. The way men treat women here is terrible. I have mostly only experienced superficial indicators of what must be a larger problem. The other day I was walking on the subway platform toward the stairs, when I passed a guy sitting on a bench. He then proceeded to whistle and click his tongue. I thought he was calling a dog. He kept doing it so I turned around to see where this dog was. He was calling me! The dillweed.
3) Rain. I miss rain. DEARLY. I think living here will cure my Seasonal Affective Disorder. My roommate and I watched, and enjoyed, Twilight just because of the rainy weather. I don't even remember anything the characters said. I just needed to see and hear rain. (When it wasn't terrible CGI, which it often was.)
Right now I am just a little miffed at the city. I'll get over it. LA did have one saving grace this week: MacArthur Park, the song, by Richard Harris. I heard it playing in the bathroom as my LA-native roommate was getting ready and I knocked on the door and I was like "what song is this? I LOVE IT!" and she told me. It's named after MacArthur Park, which is near downtown LA. I enjoy the love/cake metaphor and the mention of a "strip-ed pair of pants." Please enjoy! (You don't have to listen to the whole thing, just a minute or two.)
1) It's too hot here! It's October, it shouldn't be 93. I've been told that October is often the hottest month, because of the coming and going of the Santa Ana winds. Anyway, there's no fall and it's hotter here now than it was in August.
2) The men. The way men treat women here is terrible. I have mostly only experienced superficial indicators of what must be a larger problem. The other day I was walking on the subway platform toward the stairs, when I passed a guy sitting on a bench. He then proceeded to whistle and click his tongue. I thought he was calling a dog. He kept doing it so I turned around to see where this dog was. He was calling me! The dillweed.
3) Rain. I miss rain. DEARLY. I think living here will cure my Seasonal Affective Disorder. My roommate and I watched, and enjoyed, Twilight just because of the rainy weather. I don't even remember anything the characters said. I just needed to see and hear rain. (When it wasn't terrible CGI, which it often was.)
Right now I am just a little miffed at the city. I'll get over it. LA did have one saving grace this week: MacArthur Park, the song, by Richard Harris. I heard it playing in the bathroom as my LA-native roommate was getting ready and I knocked on the door and I was like "what song is this? I LOVE IT!" and she told me. It's named after MacArthur Park, which is near downtown LA. I enjoy the love/cake metaphor and the mention of a "strip-ed pair of pants." Please enjoy! (You don't have to listen to the whole thing, just a minute or two.)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
This Post is for Caroline Barba
Some guy from Lost was in the same line as me at Trader Joe's tonight. If I watched the show, I'm sure I'd know who he was! The checkout guy had to tell us; I was lost!
It wasn't the guy who was also in Lord of the Rings, and it also wasn't that wicked fat guy.
It wasn't the guy who was also in Lord of the Rings, and it also wasn't that wicked fat guy.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
I just went to Beauty Bar. I said "no thank you, I like real men" to drink offers from guys who were really into gambling and financing box office flops and really into hating reading. My turn down made more sense in context (and it wasn't 100% mean). I love my biff! (Biff feels my statement needs explanation: When asked how I liked Hollywood, I said it didn't seem real. They did budgets for action movies. I said that didn't sound like a real job. They said their hobby was gambling, I said that wasn't a real hobby, etc. It was all in pretty much in jest.) Other than that, I had a great time. You get a manicure when you order a martini. But... I didn't get a martini. I got me two cocktails. (Tim just told me martinis and cocktails are the same thing. I thought the glasses made them different. This is why I drink beer all the time, I guess!) Also they do your makeup, if you want, when you walk in the door. I also didn't take them up on that because I already had mascara on and, CLEARLY, I was DONE. We started the whole club a-dancin', and some English ladies said I looked like the girl from Harry Potter, but without the frizzy hair. YEAH RIGHT!
Next time, I won't edit my post so much, I'll just do a better job FROM THE GET GO
Next time, I won't edit my post so much, I'll just do a better job FROM THE GET GO
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Fall in Los Angeles
I just have a few words about fall in LA. Basically, it doesn't exist in the way that we are all used to. However, after a week of searing heat, thanks to the Devil Winds, 72 degrees does seem a lot cooler. I caught myself saying "ooh, it's nippy this morning!" It was 68. I think a lot of the reason people here wear sweatshirts when it's 70 is because wearing t shirts and sleeveless dresses all the time gets boring and you'll wear a sweater as soon as the weather is cool enough so you don't sweat all day.
Also, LA is not as into Halloween as I'd like it to be. AND I found out that other people know that Massachusetts loves Halloween. My co-workers were like "oh well it makes sense that you like Halloween so much, because you're from Massachusetts." WEIRD!
Also, LA is not as into Halloween as I'd like it to be. AND I found out that other people know that Massachusetts loves Halloween. My co-workers were like "oh well it makes sense that you like Halloween so much, because you're from Massachusetts." WEIRD!
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