April 27-28, 2010

Two well-deserved days off. I didn't do anything spectacular, mind, just the normal. Knocked out the laundry, paid the rent, slept a lot, and watched movies. I liked The Ruling Class and Pursued was okay, but Alphaville was a bit too French for me.

I did get out on the borrowed bicycle some. I rode through the Marigny and Bywater all the way to the Navy Support base on Poland. It was fun and that bike, ancient as it is, makes for a pretty good workout. Last night, I made burritos and went to Cosimo's to visit with the Lesbian Bartender. Work starts back up tonight (Thursday) and this weekend promises to be another booger, and frankly the mood's something of a gloomy one, but as I said, all in all, a pleasant two days' off.

April 25-26, 2010

Ya know, I didn't have to say I'd come in yesterday to work on my day off so Junior wouldn't be alone. I didn't have to go in today and help the boss clean the damn place. The hell was I thinking? Someone, bosses included, asks me to do something when I'd much rather be laying in bed reading, but I say "Sure, I'll power wash the incredibly greasy kitchen and stick to the walls" ever-frigging-time. Oh, well, a fat paycheck is obviously in my future and I can live with that.

In other news, Princess loaded me a bicycle yesterday and, despite two decades' absence, I can still ride one of the things. She's a tough one to read, or maybe it's my natural inability to really for close connections with anyone. Oh, well, at least I got a bike out of it.

And now to begin two days off by sleeping late. Deal with it, bubba.

April 24, 2010

Another ball buster of a day. We did three grand, and when I say "we", I mean me, the Boss Man for a little while and the Big Man's buddy. It was pretty rough and by 10 o'clock, I was done for. Otherwise, not much interesting to report. Sitting at Finnegan's with Princess at about 2:30 a.m., the Preservation Hall Jazz band walked down St. Peter doing the second-line thing, reminding me why I love this town sometimes.

April 23, 2010

What a day. New Girl sliced open her finger and needed stitches, so she's out for the weekend. The upshot is I'm basically working JazzFest by myself - though both bosses and a friend of the Big Man will be on hand to help out - and I'll probably have to come in on Sunday, my only day off since last Tuesday. As of right now, I'm not off again until this coming Tuesday. The Old Queen got fired, too. We all knew it was coming once Boss Man took over, but no one expected it to happen today as it did.

I am beat and the weekend's only started. Blah. On the upshot, I've got six grand in the bank.

April 22, 2010

I forgot to do this last night, so a quick one. Granted, there isn't much to write about. Laid around all day again and then went to work. Not a terribly busy night, though me and Junior had plenty sidework to keep us occupied. After work, I swung by Finnegan's for a couple and then went home. I am dreading this weekend, but on the upside, the thunder is rolling so perhaps the rain will keep it light.

April 21, 2010

And the week begins. I laid around in bed pretty much until two or so, and then drug myself out of bed. My copy of The Gold Experience came today, and it's pretty good. Hell, it's probably the best thing The Artist Now Known Again As Prince did since The Love Symbol album, maybe Purple Rain.

Work was work, though a little busier than Sunday and Monday. I'm very much out-of-sorts and it's obviously written all over my face. Nothing specific or even spectacular, just another case of the blues. Not playing, no one special, no friends, no weed, working too much, blah blah blah. It'll swing through soon enough.

Watching the first disc of the fourth series of "The Last Detective", and it's pretty good so far, better than the third season. I find myself warming to Peter Davison as I get older, the really nice guy that gets the job done despite everyone shitting in his sandbox.

April 19-20, 2010

I forgot to post last night, so sue me. There really wasn't a whole lot to report. Another slow night at work, though slightly busier than yesterday, followed by another chat with the Lesbian Bartender at Cosimo's, which was also dead.

I spent most of today in bed, and then went to the bank to cash my paycheck. Then came laundry and a spaghetti supper. I watched Zatoichi Meets The One-Armed Swordsman, which I liked, and I've been watching a disc of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", which is okay. I have a disc of "The Last Detective", which I may watch after this last episode.

In a gloomy mood, partly because of overwork and partly because of the usual old ennui, frustration and loneliness. Not actually upset or angry, just indisposed to talk to or be around anyone. I've got to work tomorrow and until Sunday. Bleh.

April 18, 2010

Ah, Sunday. I slept right up until I had to get ready for work. I just wasn't into it. Plus, I had to train the new girl tonight. Luckily, we were dead, maybe five tables. I like the new girl, but she's a bit more friendly than I'm comfortable with, and because she's deaf, she's also a close talker. Princess is, of course, tickled with watching me walk backwards around the kitchen.

Went to Cosimo's afterward and had a nice chat with Lesbian Bartender about families and supernatural experiences. She's had a couple and I, of course, have never had so much as a bump in the night I couldn't explain. I am in New Orleans, so maybe it's just a matter of time.

Otherwise, the mood's good and the weather was nice until around 7 or so, when the rain just pissed all over everything. The cat's being friendly and cute, so let's assume she's about to go into heat again. Right now, it's 3 a.m. and I watching Louis C.K. and eating popcorn. Livin' the life.

April 17, 2010

Got us a new cook tonight. Nice girl, late '20s, quick learner and eager to please. She's deaf, which is a new one on me. I don't know if I've ever dealt regularly with a deaf person. I certainly can't remember. It should be interesting, given my tendency to mumble and not look at the person I'm talking to when I'm talking to said person. Furthermore, I'm not sure how we'll manage the intercom, but we'll figure something out.

In any event, we had a fairly busy night, doing almost three grand. Everyone seemed fairly please with our performance, and after work, I went to Finnegan's to drink with Joe-jums and Princess. Someone gave Princess a cheap squirt gun, so her and the bartender were in the midst of a water battle. Such fun. Mood's good and the weather's nice, but it's time for bed.

April 16, 2010

Another day. Laid around in bed until almost work at 2:30. I worked with Junior and we did a $2600 night. Nothing astounding to report, except that Brother Man - the Boss Man's brother-in-law and our weekend dishwasher - was, according to the Big Man, to close the dish room. However, after we closed the kitchen I checked upstairs and, lo and behold, Brother Man was gone. So, we spent the next hour and change closing the damn dish room. Ah, well.

On the other hand, in a better mood today, so there's that. And that's ballgame.

April 15, 2010

So Dread quit today. I sort of saw it coming, but I honestly did not expect him to quit in the middle of the shift.

I woke up in a foul mood this morning after having a work dream that involved bitching out Baby Brother for some reason. I stayed in a foul mood all day and, upon arriving at work, found I had a shit-load of stuff to do. Dread was an hour-and-a-half late again. He told me that some whackjob tried to kill him last night and chased him for two blocks with a knife. This is New Orleans and he does live in Treme, so it's entirely plausible. He was pretty shook up about the whole affair, and spent the entire shift on the phone trying to track down a gun.

So, about 8:30 or so as I was making jambalaya, he comes upstairs and says that it's just not working out. Again, saw that coming. Sweetheart of a guy, but he wasn't catching onto the deal and he had come in at least an hour-and-a-half late for like the last five or so shifts. On top, he was having trouble with parking and seeing his kids, which he can only see on weekends. I figured he was due to get canned in fairly short order anyway, but still and all. Nice guy, hope it all works out for him.

I guess that means I'll be on nights a little longer. Ah, well. We got a new girl who started this week and she's got culinary education under her belt, so we'll see how that goes. This weekend should be slow-ish, but Jazzfest starts next week and I'm sure that'll be hell on Earth.

Good night.

April 14, 2010

First day of the work week, and it was with Dread. He was, of course, late, but that's all gravy. We might've had four tables. I've been in a gloomy mood and the whole desperate loneliness thing has been kicking around fairly quietly in the background, so I suppose we're going to deal with that fairly soon. Ah, well. Lots of folks have been getting on my case about "doing something with my life". Again, ah well.

Good night.

April 13, 2010

Second day off and nothing spectacular to report. I got Momma's birthday present, which was a Cuisinart food processor. It's got a bread mixer so I can make pizza dough. Momma has a funny sense of humor.

In any event, slow day. I cashed Momma and Mommaw's birthday checks, went by Walgreen's for odds and ends, and made a bookstore run at Dauphine Books. Bought me an Ursula Gein and Josephine Tey books because a post at Pandagon brought to mind how few female writers I had in my collection. Then came the laundry. Watched the original The Crazies, which wouldn't have been all that bad had the editing not been so frenetic and the acting not so utterly horrid.

Jaybee called and we talked about this and that for an hour-and-a-half. She, of course, thought my birthday was in June. Never have figured out where she got that, but there ya go. She and the Boy Husband were in Athens for the for a few days, and dammit, I want some decent Mexican food.

And now, Blackadder and bed. Back to work tomorrow, for joy.

April 12, 2010

Happy birthday to me. I slept until almost three recuperating from last night's shots, and after showering, I finally made my way out to the New Orleans City Park. I am in love. The weather was gorgeous and the park is friggin' enormous. I had a blast just walking around, looking at people, and watching little kids throw bread at ducks. I will definitely be going back.

Afterwards, on the Roommate's suggestion, I went to Port Of Call for a decent steak and then to Cosimo's for a beer. The place gave an unpleasant vibe - too many people bitching about their jobs - so I left after two. Now, it's The Man From Laramie with Jimmy Stewart playing a hard-ass. All in all, not a bad day.

Don't know how I feel about being 35 and I still have no clue what to do with myself. I told myself once back when things were bad that if I wasn't in a better frame of mind by 35, I'd kill myself. I don't know if I could say for sure if I was in a better frame of mind and, honestly, apart from the pain I know it would cause Momma, Mommaw and Marcus, I can't truthfully say I wouldn't walk off a parking deck if given the whim. But here I am and here I remain, and I'm sure something will come along eventually.

April 10-11, 2010

Man, we were busy as hell. We did $3500 Saturday and $1600 tonight. Both Dread and Junior were late Saturday - Dread almost an hour - and Dread was late by like 45 minutes today. Both times I was left in a slammed situation, and let me tell you, it did my rotten mood no good whatsoever. Tonight was fairly slow until 7:30 or so, and then we did the bulk of our business. Dread's slow as molasses in January. I've been in a foul mood all weekend.

Still, I had a good time tonight. On a whim after three hours of washing dishes, I decided to go to Cosimo's for a birthday shot. It was the first whiskey I've had in almost five years. Lauren the lesbian bartender got me shit-hammered, boy, but it was fun and I met her girlfriend Leslie. She's cool, too. Apparently, Lauren's taken a shine to me, and as usual, I never know how to deal when someone goes out of his or her way to show me how much he or she likes me.

Drunk as hell on two shots, so I'm going to bed. Happy birthday to me, huh.

April 9, 2010

Eh. Woke up out-of-sorts this morning and pretty much stayed that way all day. No idea why, just that sort of day. I've been in a good mood all week for no real good reason, so I suppose this is the downward swing. By Tuesday, I'll probably be gloomy as hell. I need to get laid.

Otherwise, not a bad day, though nothing interesting. French Quarter Fest is going on and, of course, I have to work. We were pretty busy, something like $2300 - or maybe $2600 - and I worked with Dread and Junior. Dread did sauté, and he did an okay job. I was there until after one doing dishes, and that's about it.

April 8, 2010

Another Thursday and nothing special. Slow night at work with Dread. I came home after work without hitting the bar because I didn't feel like sitting up until 4 a.m. watching cartoons. Of course, here it is 2:30 and I'm watching "Family Guy", so there's that.

Finished The Story of the Stone this morning. It was an enjoyable story, but not as good as The Bridge Of Birds, but that's how it goes. I started Phillip K. Dick's The Divine Invasion, and it promises to be another Dickinsian downer.

Something I noticed while clicking on the "Next Blog" link on the top of my blog. There are a lot of moms with blogs. Lot of teenage girls, too. I'm not sure if that says anything, but there's that.

April 6-7, 2010

Pretty good "weekend", even if nothing interesting happened. For the first time in a while, I was able to enjoy my entire two days off the way I like to enjoy them, by doing absolutely nothing constructive. I could've gone and gotten my license, but I'm going to wait until I no longer look like someone sucker punched me.

Instead, I laid around in bed until about noon or so both days, and went out to face the world around three. It was shorts-wearing weather, so I did. I bought some cargo shorts when I first moved to town, on a whim for the most part, and it's the first time I'd worn shorts at least since I lived in the trailer in Gainesville. I spent both days wandering around the Quarter and the Marigny, reading, looking at women, and generally enjoying having nothing to do. I went to see Mem Shannon at d.b.a. Good gig, but there's only so much of that place I can take in one sitting.

I talked to Baby Brother for a bit. He's well, just burnt slap out (again) on playing in bands and dealing with the drama, so he's thinking about taking a break. I think that's a good idea. He's also thinking about going back to school to be a vet tech. I think that's a good idea, too.

I also come to the realization that because I'm single, straight, childless, in my mid-thirties, rootless, and constantly, unashamedly on the hunt, I am the walking definition of "creepy", and all the feminist leanings in the world won't change that, especially since I have no expectation or even desire to "settle down" in any way. Luckily, I'm pretty harmless, but it does make for a lonely existence. Ah, well.

April 5, 2010

No one sucker punched me tonight, so we're good there. Otherwise, nothing interesting to report. Talked to the Roommate this morning, and she said in her five-some-odd years of living in the Quarter, the only static she ever got was from frat boys, so there ya go. Momma was, of course, completely freaked out about the whole happy slapping deal, but I saw that coming.

Worked with Junior tonight and it was slow but steady. Got some compliments on my omelets, so there ya go.

Bedtime.

April 2-4, 2010

Okay, so I forgot to update for two days even when I totally could, especially yesterday. Perhaps that's why smacked in the side of the head by some jackass. Who knows what strange tricks karma plays.

In any event, there really isn't a whole lot to report. I went into work Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 and I stayed in bed until just about two each day. I've been sleeping badly and having weird if not too terribly disturbing dreams. Last night, for example, I dreamed I was cursed with invisible Lovecraftian horrors that pursued me ceaselessly after the sun went down. Instead of being terrifying, though, they were merely annoying, playing off how much I hate to run. I also dreamed Baby Brother chased me up the old ceader tree that braced one of the old dog pens back home, the one I used to climb all the time whenever I wanted a little peace and quiet. I haven't talked to Baby Brother since his birthday, apart from the odd Facebook quip. So go figure.

Work's been okay. I worked with Dread and Junior Friday and Saturday, and just Dread today, wherein said co-worker was almost three hours late due to oversleeping. I got cut early Saturday, apparently missing both Junior's freak-out at the Big Man letting a nine-top in and Young Queen's table dancing, but on the upside I found a good delivery pizza and watched (and thoroughly enjoyed) a couple episodes of "The Avengers".

So, apart from doing nothing but sleeping when not at work and getting whacked on the head from some chickenshit fratboy, it was a pretty decent weekend. So it goes.

April 1, 2010

And another day slips by. Nothing special about it. Worked with Dread and we had a fairly steady evening. Went out with the Young Queen afterwards for a couple beers and that's basically that, honestly.

March 31, 2010

So, I'm lying in bed this morning, around 11 o'clock, when the phone rings and caller ID says it's the Big Man. Against my better judgment - phone calls for work are rarely a good thing, in my experience - I answer the phone to find out that Dread's under the weather and can I work tonight. Of course, I say yes, because what else am I going to do. Actually, I had planned to go to the Wednesday In The Square, even though it was Cowboy Mouth, and watch In The Mouth Of Madness with a spaghetti supper. But the best laid plans gang aft agley. Big Man said Dread would work either Friday or Saturday for me, but all three of us are scheduled to work both days anyway. I may just ride it out for the hours.

In any event, I go in and it is deader than disco. We might've had five tables all night, and I'm probably being generous. I worked with Junior, but we spent most of the time after we got our prep done hanging out in the front of the house with Young Queen and Sis. It was one of those ridiculously slow nights like we had before Mardi Gras.

After work, I went to Finnegan's, a bar across the street, with Sis and Young Queen for a rather enjoyable evening. Sis's dad was there and he was a fairly cool character, and there was much bitching about work to be done. Sis holds the bosses in much contempt and I can't say that I blame her, even if I'm able to get myself in a work position that suits me. Ah, well, that's work for you.

I also managed to get my taxes done today and not only do I not have to worry about Louisiana state tax, I'm getting back something like $1,200 from the federal. That can't be right, but we'll see. I also talked to Momma for a bit and she's doing well. The weather was beautiful and that's about the long and short of it.