Saturday, December 30, 2006

Playing Catchup

A short summary of what's happened over the past fifteen days:

1) I handed in my thesis and my final, and received a 4.0 at Pace as the grand award. Although I'll have a diploma showing my masters sometime this month, I'm actually more excited about getting my tuition reimbursement money.

2) NO MORE DRAMA is my new favorite song cuz my roommate (with some coaxing) moved out the weekend before last. I was so relieved when she was gone. When my new roomie gets her shit unpacked and we can redecorate with RENT and Bing Crosby posters, I'll be completely satisfied with the bad-vibe cleansing of the apartment.

3) I went home to Wisconsin and I: drove on a freeway turned ice rink; used the outhouse because a snowstorm knocked out the power; drank coffee with Poofy; drove my rental car about 700 miles; and enjoyed $1.75 drinks with Iseult, Ryan and his friend Brent and a truly dumb girl named Stacey.

4) I love my family, but I woke up in Wisconsin the day before I was supposed to leave thinking, "I want to go home." Even though I've lived here for over 2 years, I never felt that way before. Way to go me.


5) I saw DREAMGIRLS last night with Sharon & Jill at the Ziegfield--Ihighly reccomend both the movie and that particular theatre, since the ambiance is a perfect compliment.

Meg's Review of Dreamgirls: Unlike RENT, I didn't get the feeling of "I know these people" but instead I got chills from the geniune vocal performances, the civil rights angle in making the Dreams huge and the "can't they get sued for copyright infringement?" amazement for the musical totally knocking off Motown, and in particular, the Jackson Five.

Jamie Foxx made me forget he was Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy really can sing and this is the perfect part for him to make us forget about "Party all the time." But for me, the whole movie is about the ladies:

For all of her buzz, Jennifer Hudson really is terrific. But, unlike a lot of people, I LOVED Beyonce in this movie. She is a true talent: she proves she can actually act and tone down her amazing pipes. Simply put, when Deena stands up for herself, you love her. Although I loved Beyonce and Jennifer, my ultimate favorite was Anika Noni Rose---cute, spunky and a bystander to the drama, just like me (except I don't fuck Eddie Murphy). Definitely a must-see movie.

6) Work is up in the air. One of my editors is leaving and offered to take me with her. I'm not sure what to do, but I have to wait for the current editor-in-chief to tell me what opportunities I'll have in my current position. I've gone back and forth several times, almost making up my mind and then changing it right back. I drove myself nuts until I realized that I'm the luckiest mother fucker because I have TWO jobs to choose from. Duh!

So that's the summary. I have lots of stories, but this one remained at the top of my list so here's your comedic closing to a pretty long post:

My old roommate is still clearing some things out of our apartment. So she came in over the time I was gone and Pough was staying there, watching Jasper The Cat. I told him he could make himself at home.

Roommate calls me and says: "He really made himself at home. You'll freak when you see it."

I think she's being dramatic, so I shrug it off, "It's just a playstation.."

Then I get home to discover not only the playstation (on the floor!) but also: mismatched shoes strewn about the living room, half-eaten takeout in the fridge, laundry in a shopping bag in my bedroom, a partially made bed, and male toiletries on a desk in my room (including athlete's foot powder!).

I had a heart attack.

Even though I was exhausted, I ran around cleaning up and making the apartment look like a girl's again. The shoes got organized, the takeout was thrown away, the laundry was put next to my hamper, the bed was made, and I put the toiletries in his bag. Then I breathed easy and made myself comfy watching Tyra to get some estrogen back in the apartment.

Being the big mouth that I am, I told Pough about my freak out except I made it sound casual. He seemed concerned, and the next night he asked me if I wanted his set of keys back. "Nah," I said, "your apartment is closer than Sharon or Michelle, which is who I would give them to."

The commitment freak just gave a bit of her life away. But it's only fair--he cleaned up Jasper's poo for five days, after all. And got me JERSEY BOYS tickets for tomorrow.

Friday, December 15, 2006

I'm done!

At exactly 8am today, I turned in my last final for my masters.

NOW I deserve the flowers Pough gave me on Wednesday.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Thank God for David Sedaris

In August, I was on vacation in Wisconsin, camping in my favorite spot (Otter Lake) curled up reading David Sedaris' NAKED. And about halfway through, I stopped.

I wasn't laughing.

If you've ever read Sedaris you know he, like his sister Amy, is hilarious. And I was so out of it that I didn't laugh. Couldn't laugh. I realized that I had gone so far into a depression that it was changing my entire outlook. I made myself give up the ghost of Todd and whatever it was that was holding me down the next day.

Last night, I was reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and started laughing so hard I almost made myself choke. When I realized what had happened, I stopped reading and sent up a prayer.

"I'm back. I'm really back. Thank you. And thank God for David Sedaris."

I would truly be flattering myself if I thought this had any impact on Mr. Sedaris whatsoever, but like so many people, I love reading his words about his family and hope that someday I would be able to be a writer that's nearly half as funny about my own family (who will probably disdain me for writing their stories equally as much).

I want to thank all my friends for putting up with me. I have the best friends in the world here in the Big Apple, where I'm making even dreams I didn't know I had come true. Now they can bitch and moan to each other about how domestic and sappy I've become....

All my friends back in the Midwest know this Meg, so if you miss her call me. I miss you all too.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Snark on hold

At dinner last night with Kelly:
"I think I'm actually happy..."
K: "Well, the ranting posts have definitely gone down..."

Yes, people, they have. Because despite having a million social engagements getting in the way of laundry and other Things I Have To Do Before Wisconsin (including cleaning my entire apartment, moving out my current roomie and moving in a new one), I am happy. I have a wonderful boyfriend who thinks I'm gorgeous and treats me right.

He better watch out, because I'm already so smitten. I'm the girl with the pic of herself and her boyfriend on her cell phone wallpaper and the computer wallpaper for goddsakes. But at least they're different pictures.

On a completely different note, NYC is becoming small. I ran into our old copyrights girl from work yesterday at brunch, went into Sabon to buy product from a girlfriend who is working there for Xmas cash, and have run into random people on the street.

For good measure, see how cool I am at Josh & Josh. I seem to run into these guys a lot, even though we're just three people in a very big city. I feel like I should know them even though I don't. Maybe sometime we'll actually purposefully hang out. Can one become friends out of mutual blog-appreciation? Virtually no one reads this compared to their audience, but one can only hope.

Yesterday, Kelly & I went to the same event at elmo to see this girl from my high school perform. It was pretty random seeing her--not to mention having her introduce me to someone as "Shea's sister". I got the same feeling I always get when I see someone from Merrill in New York. It's a weird queasy feeling, but a kind of nice and cuddly sentiment from somewhere deep in my heart that loves acknowledging the past.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Fodder for Losers Like Me

There's been so much to blog about that I have no idea where to start. But since I have to leave for work in 10 minutes, I'll have to trim it down.

First off, I got a galley of a book called WHEN I WAS A LOSER: True Stories of (Barely) Surviving High School. Although I had to read it fast since my book club is reading it very soon, I haven't put it down since I started. It's terrific quasi-literary (which is my favorite label since true literary is pretentious as hell) essays from young-ish (30s) writers about theier high school experience and how it defined them. Highly reccomended.

I thought about writing my own essay here, but I can't in 10 (now 6) minutes. So look for that soon...

Also, I watched another episode of THE BIGGEST LOSER last night. That show always makes me cry. My own personal transformation wasn't nearly as drastic as ther participants or even that are inspired by the show's at-home component, but when they showed the high schoolers that the trainers inspired saying that this made them feel like a different person, I knew EXACTLY how they felt. It's not just being able to show off parts of your body that you used to hide, or being able to wear nearly everything. It's about confidence, and knowing that you can do anything when you put your mind to it.

I think that's why I feel connected to Pough. Even though I suspect I had to work harder to lose less weight, he used to be fat. Really fat. Triple chin in his drivers license photo fat. And, since he started dating me, he joined a gym. "I want to look as good naked as you do," he told me. I've never told him the truth: that I wouldn't have dated him if he was fat, but I think he suspects it with all my body issues. But I know why last season's finalists of BIGGEST LOSER married each other--no one understands than someone who's been there.

I've been a size six for over a year, but I didn't really feel comfortable in my own (new) skin until recently. I work out while I watch THE BIGGEST LOSER--because despite that I was never 200 lbs, I was one of them. And still am.

Monday, December 04, 2006

A Relaxed Weekend

Although I went out both Friday and Saturday nights, I had a terrific weekend. Friday, I went downtown to meet Pough and another member of the Po-Town Clan (his friends, who are all from Poughkeepsie) for dinner and drinks. Then we headed uptown to my girl Kelly's bday party at the Dublin House. It was great fun...and by midnight, Pough, the friend, and I were in a cab headed back up to the Heights.

On Saturday, Pough and I layed around for a while and then he had to leave to meet the friend downtown to go to Poughkeepsie (big surprise, huh?). Then I went for a run and sat around until it was time to go to Jody's holiday party. I was uncertain I would actually go all day on Saturday but I got my ass out to Astoria anyway....and had a blast!

I was drunk when I headed back into Manhattan but in the best way: relaxed and a bit sleepy. I blasted Beyonce and RENT to keep myself awake on the A and then on Sunday I woke up sans hangover because I made myself drink two glasses of water before passing out.

Yesterday, even though I should have gone downtown to Kmart for supplies, I sat on my ass. I went running, but otherwise I didn't leave the house. 20 text messages to Pough, my usual 60 Minutes-Amazing Race veg in front of the TV, and three hours spent on the phone with Lori & Poof later my weekend finished out.

This week I've got two drinks dates, two tipsheets due, some back cover copy to write, a date with Pough and a dinner. So who knows when I'll be back....since when did buying Christmas presents become the last thing I do during the holidays?

Friday, December 01, 2006

A great big smile

Although I always like people visiting, I always love when they are gone.

On Tuesday morning, I put Iseult in her car early (Harlem Cars always arrives super early) and proceeded to put on my Ipod headphones and walked to work. It was so enjoyable to ride the subway, be on my own and walking fast around Midtown...

Days like Tuesday remind me of just how much I love this city.

More posts soon....