Things haven’t changed all that much since I moved. July was noisy in this neighborhood, even at two in the morning and two days after the Fourth. They simply really like their fireworks here, and even though the city site says it’s illegal to have them, they’re used to having them, so my San Diego-raised sensibilities get a little annoyed with the occasional disturbance. But by far, my noisiet neighbors are here at the new place. Every other day, I…
Now I know someone’s got a bobble-headed voodoo doll of me stashed in their closet somewhere, and somehow their dog got at it and started using it as a chew toy. Not only was this the week of My Major Sleep Deficit; this was also the week of Bumper Cars With April. It started with a bite to my lip and a grouchily muttered expletive. According to Filipino superstition, if you bite your lip someone’s talking very badly about you….
I know I’ve been remiss in keeping this journal up to date. It’s been at the back of my mind as I worked toward a deadline, unpacked, took on various freelance projects, or cured world hunger as experienced by my cat, but at the end of the day, my creative energy is so completely spent, it’s all I can manage just to keep from drooling. I still have towers of boxes in my new place, and I’ve decided that I…
As incentive to get my book boxes unpacked, I decided to take up where Minnie left off and participate in a meme. The Meme: Take five books off your bookshelf. Book #1 — first sentence Book #2 — last sentence on page fifty Book #3 — second sentence on page one hundred Book #4 — next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty Book #5 — final sentence of the book Make the five sentences into a paragraph….
The move went better than the last two—much quicker, much cheaper, much closer in distance. We loaded and unloaded 80-some boxes and 10 pieces of furniture in record time—two hours and fifteen minutes—with just two movers, three dollies, H.E., and me. I wore ripped jeans for the occasion. My butt knows the drill. But the cleaning of the old place nearly killed me. The day job on Monday morning finished me off. I’d taken Friday off, and while I was…