If I told you how absolutely effed EVERYTHING in my life is right now, I would just get overwhelmed and start crying again. Snapshot is my professional life is just effed, and we're trying desperately to get the backyard landscaped and all the roof damage in our house repaired (six rooms with holes in the ceiling from the leaks last winter) in time for Mom's SUPRISE (shhh...don't say anything to her) 66th b-day party on Monday. We've got guests flying in from out of town on Sunday, and in the meantime I've been going on three hours sleep living in a construction zone, trying to put out fires and deal with the frustrating world of home repairs. And the word today is that Mom doesn't want to try to leave the hospital on her b-day...she'd rather stay there because she's not sure she can make it home. Can't say anymore. Too tired and dispirited.
So here is genius Warren Ellis' words from his daily email about his craptastic suckfest. If you like his writing, please go check out his graphic novels, especially Global Frequency.
"During this week, I've been leaving the house only once a day, to clear my lungs before returning to my death bed. So I've been getting a single snapshot of the weather each day. And it's no wonder I'm fucking dying. Yesterday, blazing heat, not a cloud in the sky, people moving in slow motion under the oppressive radiation. Today? Black skies, pissing down with rain, gales turning people's umbrellas inside out. It'll be snow tomorrow. Or hot hail." - Warren Ellis
11 comments:
Figured you were having a rough couple of days, what with no recent blog threads.
That's NOT meant to be nagging, just legit concern.
You have my express permission to back out of Aurora's party tomorrow so you can get some rest/ repairs/ real food consumption done. That is completely OK. You can meet my kids some other time.
CC and I understand.
If, however, you (Brenda, too!) are up for a break and would like to chow on some BBQ carne asada and marinated chicken with rice and beans and tortillas, while out in a park next to a duck and turtle pond, you are mroe than welcome.
In the meantime, let me give you a happy little story: Richie (to other readers, my 4-year-old son) was watching Sesame Street before I took him and his sister to daycare earlier this week.
In one sketch, Grover is walking on stilts, with Grover only visible from his "knees" down, and the stilts taking up much of the screen. Something to do with stilt-walkers and dancers in Southeast Asia, I believe.
Anyway, we get in the car later, and I'm talking to Richie while he sits in the backseat. I then ask him questions about Sesame Street, in a sort of test of his short-term memory. Mind you, I can't see his face, so everything he tells me is coming to me, sight unseen.
Me: Richie, did we see Grover today?
Richie: Yes.
M: What was Grover walking on today?
R: Um...I don't know.
M: Was he walking on skis?
R: No!
M: Was he walking on snowshoes?
R: (laughs) No!
M: Was Grover walking on stilts?
R: (laughs) No!
M: Richie! What was Grover walking on, then?
R: (pause) Feet!
Hang in there, kiddo.
MIM
Sigh. That really, really sucks. Hang in there.
The nice thing about home repairs is that they have to end some time, and then you'll have nice ceilings. There's an end in sight. It smells like fresh paint.
And maybe it'll be nice to see the people flying in -- it could cheer you -- it could cheer your mom. Sometimes friends can be helpful that way. I know your blogger friends (like me) hope to be helpful to you.
And no matter how effed up you think your professional life is, it only takes one producer getting interested in your work to turn everything around. In an instant.
The other bright spot in this world are the lovely pictures of Jude in the Nude. Sigh.
XO
NN
Deep breath: in, out. I'm not trying to be trite - it's just the first thing I do when I'm exhausted, anxious and desperate is tense up until I'm barely breathing.
Not so long ago, my life was absolutely suck-a-licious. I'd been diagnosed with a bad thyroid condition, I was allergic to all of the meds that control it, and nothing in my personal or academic life was going right.
And then things turned around, as they do, even though it's always hard to see from the bottom of a hole. The work thing in particular will be okay - I'll echo NN because it's true: you just need one person to recognize your wit and talent (which you have in spades!), and all of that perseverance will pay off.
Hang in there. We're all here for ya, in a metaphysical bloggness sort of way. :)
If there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask. Im sure all of us here would be more than happy to lend you a hand in anyway that you might need. Just try and keep your head up and spirtis high, it's tough yes, but we're all here for you. You've inspired many of us and in my book that counts for a lot.
Ah, you guys. See now I'm all misty. Well, thanks. It's 10:30 and I'm going to stop landscaping now...it's getting too hard to plant in the dark. Don't even ask me what time I was up today, or what time my alarm clock is being set for tomorrow. Seriously not right. I'm not a play-in-the-dirt gal, and I'm not an early riser. What we won't do for mom.
Brian and his twin girls are coming in Sunday, some other friends will be wherever we end up (hospital rec room?) Monday. Still pushing to get everything done in case there's a minor miracle and she gets to leave the place. Figured out she spent her sixth b-day in the sanitarium with TB, and now her 66th with whatever we're callig this. An allergic reaction to remission?
MIM, adorable story. Thank you for the smiles. If it's alright with you, I would like to bow out. But maybe in two weekends I could come meet the kids? All my love to CC, and I hope tomorrow is lovely and fun.
NN, Jude nude. Sigh. I don't know...at this rate I seem to be pissing off everyone. Or at least it feels that way. What does my bumpersticker say? Well-behaved women don't make history? Something like that. I'm always driving the car, not staring at the bumper. Put it on there so I wouldn't haved to memorize the darn thing.
Meg, you are so friggin good to me. Thank you so much. And actually, the writing compliment is well-timed...I've been in one of my I-suck-time-to-quit moods. How did the thyroid issue turn out? I'm on tyrosine or some other made-up-word close to that, and I like it. Goes swimmingly with Effexor.
Lynne, yes, I'm on overload. Nervous breakdown time. Actually, I don't really have those. I just crawl into bed sometimes for a week. No time for that, though, so plant I must! Actually you're right about the friends not caring...it's just so hard to have things be on your to do list for 6-8 months in this town, and it seems like no matter how hard you push, LA is pushing you back.
Case in point: the painters said two days, then it was four days, then they effed up and are going to have to redo everything next week...meanwhile the house is torn up and I couldn't wash clothes, so I'm wearing my underwear inside out (bet you guys thought you were the only ones that do that...of course, girls don't traditionally leave skid marks).
Too much info, right? Lynne, if I was Jeannie you'd be ruling the world.
AK, wow. Thanks. Hey, I saw you're going to be at the screenwriting gathering Sunday. I'm going to try to stop by after I pick up big bro from the airport. Otherwise, we're just going to have to have one of these things again real soon.
Meg,
I don't think you should be reading the Warren Ellis right now eh?
Leia -- Permission granted, Your Highnessness. Do what you gotta do.
Let me know if you're free Labor Day Weekend -- I may have an idea, assuming tix are still available for said idea. I proposed it to CC and a couple of friends last MONTH, I think -- and CC just reminded me that I did so. More details once I make it through Aurorapalooza.
My best to Brenda and your Moms and Brian and the rest of the family... and of course, to you. ;-)
MIM
Ugh. The thyroid is a long story! I'm on what you might be on (thyroxine)...I have/had Graves' Disease. I'm never sure what to say now, since technically I have "radioactive iodine induced hypothyroidism," as they had to zap my thyroid after none of the meds worked. It was h.e.l.l. But at least now things are finally coming under control in terms of mood swings, weight, exhaustion, etc...gotta love the way a body can mess with you.
NN, always room for Warren.
MIM, it's good to be the princess. I am free labor day weekend...and if you're thinking Rocky horror hollywood bowl, it's been on my list of things to do all summer! There are tickets left, I just couldn't find anyone to go with. Please, please, please, is that what you were thinking????
Meg, I soooo understand. Wow. I've never heard of what they did to you. But I'm glad it worked. took years of experimentation to find the right cocktail for my body, and I'm still not back to who I was. But the nice thing bout your body being out of whack, is eventually the memory starts to fade of who you were...I just get reminded of it every now and then and feel that ache for what could have been.
Actually, I forgot it was THAT weekend -- but you're thinking the right venue.. Look who's there on FRIDAY!
Let me see if it's OK with CC to go to your thing -- I LOVE that idea!!!
MIM
Uh, 'twasn't me, the suggestion of reading Warren Ellis.
Now that I turned my dissertation in, perhaps I can get my head out of my ass and read something written after 1600.
Oh yeah, and write stuff!
NN
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