New column today
If you’re a Chicagoan, check RedEye for the latest column that urges us not to confuse dating with a job interview.
More babble later!
Archive for September, 2005
The boot
I was up early this morning, trying to re-work an article before coming in to my client’s office. My home office window faces the front of the house, which is great, because it allows me to be a modern-day Mrs. Kravitz and watch the goings-on of the neighborhood.
Anyhoo, I saw the Department of Revenue truck slow down in front of my house.
If you’re not a Chicagoan, the Department of Revenue is tantamount to the grim reaper. They’re the ones that install those horrible yellow boots on the cars of those with over 4 outstanding tickets.
I remembered that my car was sitting in front of my house, so I watched intently as they slowed down to check everyone’s license plate numbers. I knew I was safe, but they lingered on the car in front of mine — a Camry that I’ve seen before, but couldn’t identify as one of my neighbor’s. They jumped out of the van, and put that boot on faster than the blink of an eye. It was fascinating, actually.
Sucks to be the owner of that car.
Too much emotion . . .
So, this morning after a hard workout, I was walking back into the locker room, and saw something disturbing. In the first bay of lockers, there was a woman dressing — in plain sight — and she had a colostomy bag. Now . . . I’m not saying that people with colostomy bags should hide from the world, but I could have done without that visual. That 5-second glimpse took me through an intense emotional cycle.
My first thought was: “Oh my God! Is that what I think it is?” Then I turned away for two reasons — I didn’t want to gawk, and I didn’t really want to see it. Then I felt sort of disgusted. Then I felt bad about being grossed out. Then I felt worse for the poor woman, and wondered what she must have been through. I worried for her health. Then I worried for MY health, and made a mental note to schedule a checkup.
This was all WAY too much to happen before 8:30. WTF?
So, I decided to blow some calories on a tall-skim-no-whip-mocha. The thing is that I don’t drink coffee. I’ve probably had 3 cups in my life, so I feel like someone should pry me off of the wall.
I can’t wait to crash later.
Crazy weekend . . .
Had an extremely busy weekend. I think I need another weekend to recover from the weekend. I could also use a good stomach pumping. My eating was WAY out of control. There were, of course, a few highlights.
I interviewed Lisa Altalida, author of Dating Boot Camp. I’ll be incorporating her into one of the future columns. We hit it off and lots to discuss. We share a lot of the same principles, and it’s always nice to meet a great woman. If you’re interested in revamping your dating style, I highly recommend her book. I’ve already read several chapters and find myself nodding my head in agreement to a lot of her suggestions.
I had two reading group meetings this weekend, one of which was hosted at my home. Those are always a great time. And of course, book discussion often takes a back seat to personal topics.
Today was godchild day. My friend Teri and I are godmothers of siblings, so we took them out for a movie (Corpse Bride) and dinner. I spent a shitload of money. I have no idea how families do this on a regular basis. It’s expensive as hell for a family to have an enjoyable evening. Another exciting element of single life.
I did miss having birthday drinks with two different people on Saturday, so my apologies. That’s what happens when I’m overscheduled, so I really need to work on making sure my time is better allocated.
The parental situation with the Red Eye column is getting worse. It’s bad enough that my mother is reading my column. Now she wants to send copies to all of her sisters, who live on the east coast. She’s the youngest of 11, and the only one who lives in Chicago. The rest of the family lives elsewhere, and she’s very close to her oldest sister, who’s 20 years her senior. For some reason, she thinks it’s appropriate to send copies of my column to a woman in her 80s. I found a way to hold her off, although I probably can’t do it forever. She must be stopped.
New column today!
The column was released in Red Eye today, and it’s about how I hate being fixed up. I still got a teaser on the cover, but the picture is, thankfully, significantly smaller. It’s the same photo from last week’s cover shot, but they keep cropping it. Pretty soon, it’ll just be a picture of my nose.
What’s weird is that my mother has started to read it. That’s a first, since she never read the online version. I feel that she’s getting far too much information about my life. I don’t particularly like sharing the details of my love life with her, and she gets a firsthand account throught the column.
Before I could park my car this morning, she was calling me on the cell phone, asking if I’d seen the column, and how I liked it. I have to keep reminding her that since I wrote it, reading it really isn’t necessary. Then she tried to get all journalistic on me, by asking me if my editor had done a good job. I responded that Curt always does a good job, so I never have problems there. She seem satisfied with my answer, and the column, and then went to do her Sudoku puzzle, which is, coincidentally, the feature story today.
CLTV
I got up and drove WAY out to the western suburbs to do an interview for CLTV. It was pretty interesting because I was interviewed by Tonya Francisco, who is a morning anchor, and a good friend. Fortunately, it was a short spot because I have a tendency to get carried away in interviews with friends. I forget the camera’s there and say things I shouldn’t. The good news is that I’ve only done that a few times, and it was for a show on a local cable access channel.
Actually, I’m surprised at the amount of people who watch cable access. I have satellite, so I miss out on the world of cable access, as well as CLTV, which isn’t carried by DirecTV. I egocentrically think that, since I can’t watch it, most others can’t either. This is the very wrong assumption.
After the airing of a taped show with the publisher of the online column for cable access, I kept noticing a weird number popping up on caller ID. Hold this thought for a moment while I digress . . .
I’m one of those neurotic people that doesn’t answer calls from numbers that I don’t recognize. This is not because I’m shady, but because I like to know what people want before I pick up the phone. Usually, if I’m at home, hanging out on the couch, I don’t feel like engaging in a lot of extraneous conversation, so therefore the calls get screened. I’m the same way with my cell phone. I don’t give out my cell number freely. I programmed it to have a different ring for calls that aren’t in my address book. Whenever I hear “Senorita” by Justin Timberlake, there’s a good chance that I’m not answering — unless it’s during business hours and could be a client.
Okay, I’m back. So, finally, when the phone rang at 11:45 pm and it was that same foreign number, I answered it, thinking it must be a friend who’s desperately trying to reach me. Instead I heard the voice of a creepy man who had seen the show on cable access, somehow got my number, and wanted to go on a date. I tried to be relatively nice (for fear that he might hunt me down and kill me)but firmly told him that his call was inappropriate, and that we wouldn’t be able to go on a date now, or in the future.
The guy I was dating at the time made me call the phone company to make sure that I wasn’t listed, and that my address wasn’t listed. I also got privacy manager, which is a wonderful tool.
What was the point of that story? Oh yeah . . . I think the segment airs tomorrow (Friday) morning, although I don’t know what time.
Whew!
WHAT a crazy week!!! Got up early and derailed my workout plans to finish 5 articles that were due today. Those articles are in addition to the client work that I’m doing now, or to the RedEye articles that I also have to write. I’m also hosting book club on Friday night, and attending another book club on Saturday night. Saturday should be interesting. I have an interview first thing on Saturday morning in freakin’ Rosemont (should be fun, though), a wedding in the afternoon (that I knew nothing about until yesterday. Apparently my invitation was lost, somehow), book club at 6:00 in Oak Park, and a birthday party at 10 in Lincoln Park. I was also trying to get over to Green Dolphin to see my father play, but I don’t think that’s going to happen somehow.
Speaking of music, I have an advanced copy of the new Public Enemy CD, titled “New Whirl Odor.” I love it. Seriously. Love it. It has beats, messages, and phenomenal music — REAL music. I’m not biased . . . honestly. My dad has a solo on the last track, and Chuck is a dear friend. But really, I’m not biased. The true test, for me, was that I was listening to it on the elliptical machine yesterday morning, and I had to force myself to stop. That never happens. It comes out on November 1 (last I heard). Do yourself a favor and get a copy.
Okay . . . back to work.
Unbelievable
Things to do with a stolen mobile phone
Reasons not to “relate to yourself” in public
Thanks, Niall, for those intriguing bits of levity.
Another early workout
I had my alarm set for 6, but I woke up naturally at 5:45. Because of that, I knew I was destined for a morning workout.
I use the elliptical machine, which is the closest I get to running. Having a bad knee means that I have to have as little impact as possible. My problem with cardio machines is that I get bored, so I need a myriad of stimuli to keep me on the machine long enough to burn any sort of fat. I have the iPod, and I watch the TV screen with closed caption.
I’ve concluded that if you’re hearing impaired, it’s likely that you’ll never know what’s happening on TV unless you’re a superb lip-reader. The people that are typing the closed captioned feed are probably the most inaccurate typists ever. It’s rare when there’s not a typo, if not an entire line of botched characters jetting across the screen. WTF?? I can’t believe that nobody complains about this.
Cute joke
Q: What’s Bush’s position on Roe v. Wade?
A: He really doesn’t give a damn how people get out of New Orleans.
