So Long August

A place to live has been found.

Now, off with me to sleep.

Tomorrow, words on another city.

Forgot

Sorry, I don't really have time for tales of my trip today.

I'm heading off to Redtown with my mom to look for a place to live this afternoon through the time we leave tomorrow (probably about 24 hours after we leave here).

So, my take on the trip will be around later this week, but for now you can read Heels's version here.

There and Back Again

Been back a bit, but want to let my brain firm up before I write about it. So, you have to wait for details. Know, however, that I had fun.

Face Time

Be back on Monday.

Take a Look

Because it still makes me laugh when I see it.

Good News, Everyone.

Some people think that I should have put this up yesterday, but yesterday, I just woke up, ate breakfast, and went to work. So, here's the news now:

I got hired at that job in Redtown. I start on the 12th. That means major apartment shopping next week, during some time off from work that I scheduled two months ago (I think).

More importantly, the last day I can be scheduled at 'Bucks is September 5th and I'm taking vacation from tomorrow (Thursday, for those who don't know.) until next Friday!

People at work seem more excited about my new job than me. I think that there are two reasons for this. The first is that I have to find a place to live, once that happens I'm sure I'll be more excited about the job. The second is that I'm extra super excited about visiting Heels and Johnny Logic (who hasn't updated in a while, maybe I'll finally understand what the hell he's studying) this weekend! That's right, I fly out early Friday and pester them for three nights sleep! That's what I'm excited about right now.

Sittin'

I sat on the steps near the front porch for about twenty minutes tonight, petting the cats and thinking.

Somewhere along the way, I think I dropped the ball and haven't been able to find it to pick up.

This Week's

I felt like this all week.

Wanna Go!

The more I think about it, the more I want to go and see Wicked again. Too bad I could only find tickets for $200 or more. Sometimes, rarely though, I wish I lived in New York.

For Me?

Yesterday, just as I started my break, The Manager called to speak with Assistant Manager #1. There were only three people on the floor, so there was no way I was going to pull her off the floor and lose my first break (only ten minute break, actually, even though I was there for eight hours).

So, The Manager decided to chat with me. All I wanted to do was read my book, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"I'm at a job fair," she said.

"I thought we were having a job fair here tomorrow?" I asked.

"We are, but I want to find tons of people. I'm going to hire tons of great people for you."

Basing "great" on the other hires she's made this summer, the word has fallen in meaning.

"Uh-huh," I said, trying to read while on the phone with her.

"Really," she said, "I'm hiring them for you."

"Yeah."

"No, I really am because I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay and be happy."

And here's the point where I could have, and probably should have, gotten into it with her, again. She knows that the main reason I'm unhappy is because there's no place for me to go in the store. I can't be promoted in this store unless we lose two shift supervisors, The Manager told me. There is no way that two of them are leaving. The one that they want to get rid of is getting paid more than $11 and hour; the next highest person, one who started with this store as a shift supervisor with 'Bucks's base pay, would be about $9.16 an hour; a bit difference. He's not leaving and he's not going to demote himself and lose some pay. None of the others are going to step down, and they shouldn't have to, they're pretty good. So, if I was to be promoted, I'd have to go to the next closest store, which is over 30 miles away from our store, way too far away to make an extra dollar an hour worth the drive; I'd spend more than that in gas money each trip.

Plus, there's that whole thing about our store getting a third assistant manager (which will be an outside hire, of course, since they haven't spoken to the shift supervisor we have who should be promoted), when we're not making enough money to pay for one, which would mean that for me to be promoted we'd need to lose three shift supervisors. Don't I feel better.

So, I said, "Uh-huh."

"Well," she said, "I'm doing it for all of us, I suppose. But I do want you to stay, really."

"Yeah," I said. "I'm on a ten. I'll tell [Assistant Manager #1] you called. She'll call you back in a bit."

"Sure, 'bye."

"'Bye," I said and hung up the phone.

I've been mulling this conversation over in my head all day. I could have been nicer, more interested, but I also could have been much more short with her. I'm sick of all the bullshit going on. I know The Manager wants me to know that she appreciates having me there and thinks I do a good job, but what good do words and empty promises do me?

Another Quiz

the Cutting Edge (66% dark, 53% spontaneous, 36% vulgar)

your humor style: CLEAN | SPONTANEOUS | DARK Your humor's mostly innocent and off-the-cuff, but somehow there's something slightly menacing about you. Part of your humor is making people a little uncomfortable, even if the things you say aren't themselves confrontational. You probably have a very dry delivery, or are seriously over-the-top. Your type is the most likely to appreciate a good insult and/or broken bone and/or very very fat person dancing. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: David Letterman - John Belushi

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 73% on dark You scored higher than 80% on spontaneous You scored higher than 60% on vulgar

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

Last Week's

I always smile at this sign. I'm not sure why.

TV

So, I've noticed that a lot of Fridays this summer Fox has been showing two hours of Arrested Development. It's schedule jerked around so much this season that I only saw the first three or four of the season while I still lived in Cowcity. Then I moved back here, where there is no TV hooked up. Sometimes, I like not having TV (apparently, my dad uses the no TV thing as a point of pride with his friends), I read more, write (but don't finish anything) more, I don't zone out as much. But there are shows that I like to watch. I missed half of the Gilmore Girls this season, probably five episodes of Veronica Mars, nearly all of Lost, and at least half of Star Trek: Enterprise in it's best season. So, that's five shows that I like to watch, one of which is gone next season. That's not too bad, is it? I miss the characters and the stories. I miss being able... I guess I just miss TV. I think I wrote that before, but right now, knowing about Arrested Development on tonight really makes me miss the shows that I like.

What To Say About Wicked?

Wicked is, on one level, an attempt to answer the debate over nature vs. nurture. Elsewhere, it's about growing up, or the lengths people go to gain power, or how some idealists are forced to do bad things to get their message across, or how fear unites people, or how much people just want to be liked by others. But, mostly, Wicked is about a friendship between two very different girls.

Elphaba, who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, was born green and was always very smart and, therefore, immediately is disliked by everyone. Galinda, later Glinda the Good, was blonde and beautiful and, therefore, immediately liked by everyone. They met at Shiz, an Ozian University, and were forced to be roommates. One day, Galinda accidently did something nice for Nessarose, Elphaba's sister, which led Elphaba to do a kind thing for Galinda who then realized that just because she has a creepy skin color doesn't mean that Elphaba was a bad person and Galinda helped to get Elphaba accepted by the other students. And they started to become friends, sometimes despite their differences and sometimes because of them.

From there, the audience watches the making of a wicked witch and development of one of the most unlikely, but wonderful, friendships I've ever seen.

I've read and enjoyed the novel (Wicked by Gregory Maguire) which the play is based on and was worried that I'd hate the play, but I didn't. They cut down some of the plots to focus on the friendship between the two witches and I think that was a smart move. I liked Elphaba from the start, probably because she's a lot like me, and couldn't stand Galinda, but as their friendship grew, I saw Galinda grow as a person as her love for Elphaba grew and I ended up liking Galinda as much as Elphaba did. One of the songs they sing together (I lost my playbill, so I can't give the title, sorry) they say to each other that they're not sure if knowing the other changed them for the better, but it changed them for good. I think that's a great statement for their friendship.

The second really smart thing that the play did was mix it up with the mythology everyone knows from the Judy Garland movie, rather than the books, like Maguire did. We see the creation of the Cowardly Lion (which actually is in the book), the Tin Woodsman, and the Scarecrow. That was fun for most of the audience because it really put the story in the Oz that they've know for their whole lives. For me, who's read many of the Baum books, I found the creation of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodsman distracting because my insides were screaming, "That's not how it happened in the Oz books, dammit!" I got over it, for the most part.

Dorothy is in the play, but you never see her. She takes Nessarose's shoes, she weeps in the castle, and she melts the Elphaba, but the audience is never allowed to see her or get to know her. If we did get to see Dorothy, would we have a harder time seeing Elphaba as a decent, but flawed, person? If we saw her, would it ruin the original that so beloved because she melts the hero of the play? I'm not sure, but maybe.

The sets were simply amazing. A giant moving puppet/robot head for the Wizard to speak out of. An enormous clock face with moving gears. A huge map of Oz as the curtain. A giant bubble for Glinda to fly down on. Flying monkeys. And a witch that flies because of a broom.

My only problem with the play, which is usually my problem with everything, is the ending. Maguire ends his book in the way he has to. I'm going to put it here for you all to see:

And of the Witch? In the life of a Witch, there is no after, in the ever after of a Witch, there is no happily; in the story of a Witch, there is no afterword. Of that part that is beyond the life story, beyond the story of life, there is--alas, or perhaps thank mercy--no telling. She was dead, dead and gone, and all that was left of her was the carapace of her reputation for malice.

For me, it was like seeing/reading Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. These characters have to die because it's written. The play, however, ends on a much happier note. I'm sure most of the audience was pleased with this, but sometimes isn't it nice to have things end in a way that's not so perfect?

So, go and see and enjoy. It's not the Oz you grew up. It's better.

Amazing

The play was absolutely spectacular. If you have the money and a day to get to The Bay (or NY, if you're on that side of the country) go and see Wicked.

I'll try to do a better post on it tomorrow. I'm tired now.

Play

Tomorrow, I'm off to see Wicked in The Bay. I adore the book and hope that the play lives up to it.

Brief Interview

JtI: So, how's work been going.

JtA: Well, I've been having a recurring fantasy that a guy comes into the store with a gun to rob the place. He yells and screams and waves his gun around a lot. The cops arrive and he decided to take everyone hostage, which is silly, considering most of the front of the store is window, but I digress. To prove to the police he's serious, he shoots me in the head.

JtI: Uhh... That's all the time we have, folks.

Funny-ish

Always strange, but that's what I like.


One of the best looking strips out there. I wish it was in US alternatives.


I pulled this from Scott McCloud, who, I think, pulled it off of this site, who, apparently, claimed this guy was the creator. Is it wrong to stare at?


This one's the background for my desktop right now.

Hours and Hearts

I was given ten hours more than I want next week. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to pawn one of the days off on SRMB. He'll probably take it because he's rarely given more than 15-20 hours a week, since he sucks and never should have been hired in the first place. It's too bad you can't fire someone for incompetence without the fear of being sued anymore.

One of my uncles is in the hospital and my parent's went down with my aunt to somewhere near Joe's Ville yesterday before I got back from my interview. Last I heard no one knew exactly what the problem is, only that it has to do with his heart, so he's being moved to another hospital for lots of tests. I hope nothing too bad is going on. I don't want there to be any chest cracking involved.

Interview

I think it went well. It was brought up, by the head judge guy, not the woman who would be my direct supervisor, that I don't have much office experience, but he seemed to warm up to me. The two lady's in there were really nice, but let the judge ask all the question.

I wouldn't mind working there, even though the city has over 100,000 people.

Oh, I forgot to say that I won't hear anything back until after the 16th because the judge is going on vacation. Long wait.

It's Comicing Time

One for last week and one for this week.

I Don't Know

So, there was no crazy phone call today. That's good because I haven't answered the phone before the machine picks up in two weeks and that means my mom would have answered it and gotten the earful. (I pre-apologized to her on the way home last night.) It's bad because she might be saving up for tomorrow night, which is a dinner for a cousins birthday, to nail me in person.

Wait, she isn't like that. It would be rude to ruin someone else's night. So it won't happen.

I have an interview on Thursday in Redtown. I don't want to be disappointed when I don't get the job, but I want it so bad. I have no idea what I'd be doing and I've even forgotten what the place is, but I need to get out of this place and into some where different.

That evil question keeps coming up, "What do you want to do?" My uncle asked me last night. In my brain, I have an answer, it's just not one that anyone wants to hear. So, I say, "I don't know." Are you who keep asking me what I want sick of that answer? If so, quit asking the evil question. Please, I'm sick of hearing it and I'm about to fall into the sarcastic.

I'm tired. I'm going to sleep soon. First, though, I'm going to finish an article about Serenity, the movie I'm most looking forward to this fall. The week before the movie, I'm planning on watching all of Firefly again.

'Night.

Guess Who's Stuck At Dinner

I didn't bring a book. That's the biggest problem.

The first, of the very few rules I have for my life is: "Always bring a book." I usually do.

Tonight, I didn't.

But I didn't know.

I thought that we were just stopping by dropping off gifts. I thought that after the opening, we would be off for home. I didn't expect that we'd be here for dinner, and the cooking of dinner, and the preparation of dinner.

So, we've been here for over an hour now, my mom and me. I'm bored. I watched some TV with my cousins, but they kept flipping the channels in the middle of the show. I'm only a channel flipper during the commercials. It's like a race to see how many times I can get through all the channels before the show starts up again, but once the show starts, I watch. My cousins don't.

That's when I got up and spoke with Mom, quietly so my grandma couldn't hear us, to see if we were staying for dinner and found out I'm stuck.


Every day I've worked for the past two weeks, Mom has asked me to tell her one good thing about the day. Usually, I just tell her about the day and she points out something good, or better than expected.

Today, after asking her about dinner, she asked me. My answer was getting to leave. My grandma said, "Now, I don't believe that. You need to focus on the positive things that..." It was the beginning of a lecture that I don't want to hear, considering I heard more bad news at work. Fortunately, my mom interrupted her, distracting her with a question about dinner. Thank you, Mom.

I escaped the kitchen/dining room and perused the bookshelf. Not much that interests me there. How many volumes of Reader's Digest versions of books do you need? A 200 page version of War and Peace? That's nuts. So I headed to the computer to play solitaire.

Ten games later and I'm sitting at my grandma's computer, typing about how much I don't want to be here. I can hear my mom, my grandma, and my uncle talk about things. The topics may be different, but it always ends with Grandma lecturing. She doesn't know how to have an active conversation. She constantly interrupts the person speaking, often saying something similar to what the original speaker was going to say.

Once, my grandparents paid me to come down and help with cleaning the yard and one day was spent pulling nails from the wood that was once a roof. Grandma joined me. And she spoke at me. Topics ranged from the president (Clinton at the time) to single mothers to the greatness of Rush Limbah (or however you spell that blow-hard's name) to people needing religion to save society and on and on. I don't think I said more than twenty words to her in five hours of nail pulling. When I got home, my mom had already spoken with my grandma who said, "I just love speaking with him." I figure the only reason is because I didn't say much and that made her thing that I agreed with her, which I didn't.

Tomorrow, she'll probably read this and have some choice words for my mother about people being polite and things that should be said in private and how not to say anything if you have nothing to say.

To that I say, I don't need a lecture. Get over yourself. You don't have to read this page if you don't want to.

Soon it will be time for dinner. Wish me luck.