jaysaint Getting it all down on paper…

Like the grown up woman I am, I’m hiding behind the couch, on the floor, crouching over my laptop while the movers do their thing. They did all the packing for us, for which I am eternally grateful.
But it’s hard for me to reconcile the fact that five strange men are packing up my underthings while I sit in the other room. At least I did get in there and pack the most, shall way say, private of my stuff. The guys have been really nice and I’m enjoying listening to their packing trash talk. “Fool! You know you can’t pack a box!” reply: “Fool! You know I done packed four (pronounced ‘fo’) boxes while you only packed two!” So how could I not love these guys? I just bought them a ton of pizza, so maybe they love me too.

But it doesn’t change the fact that they’re strangers, and I get hugely uncomfortable around strangers. At least when I don’t have a role to play. For example, I’m not uncomfortable around my dentist. But we both have very clearly defined roles. This, not so much. I’m actually better than I was. When I was a teenager I wouldn’t order pizza because I didn’t want to talk to a stranger on the phone. It drove my Mom crazy. I still won’t answer the phone. I always think “I have no idea who that is. I’m not picking it up.” All gratitude to my cell phone for the Caller ID.

But they’re very close to being finished, so I should be free and clear shortly. Then I can sit on my floor without the strangers! Our next few days are still a total mystery. I don’t have a closing date. I don’t know where/what the temporary housing situation will be. I just called the relo folks a few hours ago and said: I will need somewhere to live starting tomorrow. So could you let me know where that will be? I don’t have any clue how long I’ll need to be there. And wherever I go has to take my cat.

So I’m waiting to hear back.

It may be that I missed the cultural moment in which this movie was special and significant. I just watched ‘Blue Velvet’ for the first time and found it… irritating. And not in that way that irritating can be good. It felt like it offered a combination of torturous emotion and insignificance. Oh, and I HATE Dennis Hopper. I HATE everything he does. He’s predictable and ridiculous.

I would love to be one of those weirdos who lives in a hotel. Life is so much easier when I’m here. And I’ve found ‘China Xpress’ which has fantastic steamed shrimp dumplings and will deliver it to me in the lobby or my room. So what on earth else could I ask for?

I wish I weren’t so sleepy tonight. I got up at 5:30 and I’m feeling it. I wanted to call John and see if he wanted to grab dinner, but I was just too tired. I keep watching the True Hollywood Story of The Exorcist over and over because I don’t feel like trying to find something else.

That William Friedkin is not a good guy. Artists who think talent justifies their bad behavoir are just boring cliches.

We were laughing at work today because the names on our team are so great.

Jody Jones
Romy Pokorny
Jillian St. Charles

And tomorrow we’re interviewing someone named Charity Curley to round us out. How great would that be? Romy and Jody will be one team, and Charity (if she works out) and I will be the other. We sound like ‘The Facts of Life: The Next Generation.’ I hope I’m Jo.

After watching me log in to this site about a zillion times, Damon says to me tonight: Do you have an online journal?

I think he thought I was just lurking, which wouldn’t be a bad guess.

Actually, one of the great things about Damon is that he doesn’t stick his nose into everything I do. I don’t do anything I’d be specifically concerned that he didn’t know about, but I don’t enjoy tons of scrutiny. I know I have some goofy quirks. It doesn’t mean I want to explain them, or even hear how adorable they are.

Anyway, once I assured him that I don’t write bad things about him he seemed to lose interest. That may or may not stick. Either way is okay.

The apartment came through. There was much relief and rejoicing when the lawyer sent over a note telling me that the contracts had arrived and that all was in order. He then promptly went on a week-long vacation, so we probably won’t get closing set up until then. But that’s fine. I’ve got temporary housing until the end of September and if I use it all, that’s fine with me. Knowing that we’ll be in place before the snow falls is all the comfort I need.

I had a lively weekend in NYC with Sarah and Jody. We spent too much money, which was the source of some whispering and anxiety between Sarah and myself. But Jody was definitely taking it down a notch or two, and we appreciated the effort. I also resorted to pouring my wine down the drain when Jody wasn’t looking because I simply cannot keep up.

One week from now the packers will be at the apartment, getting us all boxed and ready to go. I’m bizarrely excited to watch that. I just can’t get my head wrapped around the idea that we’re going to move and that I don’t have to pack or carry a single box.

Tonight we’re going out for sushi with a little gang of pals to say goodbye. It will be sad, but a snap compared with our Atlanta departure.