Tails of a 17th Street Geisha

It just became my birthday. i turned 28 ytears old. as mjch as I feel ofld, i know that I am not as old as most people. bye. have fun.

Well… I realized this morning that the 5600 dollars has dwindled into next to nothing! Here’s how it went…

**700 dollars on a computer (I never owned one before so I figured I saved up enough money to warrant what I consider an exorbitant cost for ANYTHING)

**500 dollars on ONE FUCKING CELL PHONE BILL (thanks to the calls I made to England that month)

**1000 bucks (around) for my sister’s visit to DC.
(breakdown: 300 bucks for flight, 200 bucks for mine/her duran ticket, 300 bucks on food out for the two of us, 140 bucks on theatre tickets, 200 bucks on local transportation=supershuttles to/from BWI, 200 bucks on an H&M wardrobe for her–she’s sooo poor/ghetto she doesn’t have any good clothes! hey, wait a sec, that adds up to more than 1000 bucks… oi vey!)

**300 dollar on spring clothes shopping spree (I lost weight so I need new clothes!)

**about 600 bucks on a trip to Orlando for GAY DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (breakdown: 112 for roundtrip tickets; 160 hotel; 160 disney parks; 200 party entry fees; 100-200 food and drinks–mainly drinks; HEY!!! That adds up to more than 600 bucks)

Well.. all of that doesn’t add up to 5600 bucks, but with random shopping here and there it’s all gone… :((((

God damn "retail therapy"–fuckin’ a, it’s just an excuse…

So I haven’t beaten my allergies but I’m WAY more optimistic about things. I got 5600 bucks back from taxes (thank god for DC first time home owners tax abatement). I’m on allergy meds and I feel better. I take tylenol with codeine at night and sleep well.

Why, this morning I woke up at 8am after going to bed a midnight! All of last week I wasn’t falling asleep until 1am and therefore waking up at 9am—being all late for work and shit.

Today is a new day! The sky is dark and cloudy, with a threat of rain. I’m going to go work out today (haven’t gone to the gym because of allergies in weeks!)

I resisted temptation to go drink last night, even though I had so much energy upon returning home from work last night at 10pm.

I slept well… will read all the papers piled up along my tv ent center. Will clip coupons and go shopping for groceries. Will do laundry. Will go shopping for summer clothes. AND WILL AVOID GOING OUT FOR DRINKS DURING THE DAY OR NIGHT…

phew!

I had the weirdest dream last night. Most of my friends hate when i go on and on about my dreams (all but you Bri)… but since no one can shut me up on this blog, I’m going to divulge them anyway, regardless of how obnoxious it may be–you can always click out of the site (not like anyone is really reading this anyway)…

okay, so in reality, I came home at 10pm after working extra hours @ PHA and spent a half hour watching free "on demand" japanime at Roz’s (I watch the first episode of Noir, which I’ve seen before, but it’s really beautiful and I enjoyed a repeate viewing)… so on to the dream which was totally influenced by noir:

I dreamed that my sister Susan had a bunch of friends over to my house to celebrate her b-day party. I had my 60 CD player but didn’t have a lot of options. I kept playing the same damn songs. All of a sudden, Jackie Chan comes running into my condo. He’s filming a new movie and wanted to take a break and see the neighborhood. I tell him that he has to take a picture with my sister for her b-day, but instead, I hand the camera to Susan so that she can take pictures of me with jackie. First we’re posing like we’re going to beat eachother up. I take of my jacket to reveal me wearing all white with a tank top exposing really buff arms! We start sparring and then he trips me and we’re on the floor. Then all of a sudden we’re making out! My sister is taking pics of me making out with Jackie Chan!!! I don’t really remember the rest of the dream… does this dream have *any* meaning?

I spent the entire weekend drunk. Okay, so did most of my friends, but something different happened that I now realize is a major breakthrough!

I have been able to control the extent to which I get drunk. I have this new internal trigger that slows down my drinking or puts me on auto-pilot straight to home if it appears that things are going to get out of control! For example, Saturday night @ Spinach Dip’s house, I got tipsy/drunk but wasn’t smacking people (who didn’t want to be smacked) and remember EVERYTHING that happened; then, when people suggested going to the Black Cat for Mousetrap, I jumped in a cab and went home to bed like a good girl! Another example: Sunday afternoon: Brad, Howard, Michael Raye, and Jen and I have mimosas at Food Bar-f, drinks at Fox and Hounds where I get drunk off of their mega-drinks, and then several of us go to Jr’s. I can’t even finish the first drink I get without deciding it was time to run-away! I remember all of it, and remember making a conscientious effort to leave before I got too wasted.

It’s the weirdest thing. I may have been drunk this entire weekend, but I wasn’t overboard, wasn’t throwing up, wasn’t doing things I ought not to have been doing… I was completely tame. I was a lazy drunk, just sitting around or chatty… no running around or making out or getting into fights. Not to say that I have beat this thing or anything (seeing as how I wasted an entire weekend drinking).

Aren’t you proud?

Oh yeah, and as always, I made these great new friends:

Roy

Derrek

and Tos (I couldn’t help using his friendster pic… he’s so adorable!)

What do you do when you have nothing to do? I used to think that if I wasn’t preoccupied with work, condo construction and other life necessities, that I would do all these wonderful things to improve my life–like pursue artistic interests, go to museums, cook like a professional chef, sort all of my receipts in microsoft money, write in a diary, pursue my comedic writing in hopes of beinga  stand up comic… however, today I discovered that even when I don’t have anything in life to distract me (my condo is clean and nearly done, I don’t have extra weekend work and I’m not preoccupied with other crap)… and I suddenly find myself with time to pursue towards outside, worldly interests or my own individual and personal growth, I PUSH ALL OF IT TO THE SIDE AND DRINK… drink!! I spent this entire weekend drinking!!!

My sister visited from Texas and I re-discovered DC–"oh how I love this city!" "I’m going to spend every extra minute touring the city…" NOT.  Instead of being productive, I toss it all aside to spend money and get drunk at outdoor cafes. I have a problem…

I’m dying you guys! My head feels like it’s going to explode and my nose is either dripping or dry as a bone. I hate the thought of having to do allergy shots every week. I remember doing this a while ago and I’m so bad at keeping a routine–especially an unsavory one such as getting pricked each week. argh.

Suffice to say I have to get the shots weekly and probably get back on allergy meds. I was on an inhaler, 2 nasal sprays, pills… grrrr….

My sister Alex (the one who has Pulmonary Hypertension, the rare and deadly heart and lung disease that will eventually take her life) visited me in washington, D.C. this weekend. I got a big tax break because of a DC law for first time home owners, so I used the money to fly her poor ass to DC to see Duran Duran in concert. She actually flew in early, into BWI, so we had dinner with her PH friends at Crabby Dick’s (my suggestion, but that night the food wasn’t cold, the service bad, and we waited forEVER for the food). I’m really tired right now, but the best thing happened this weekend–I discovered Washington DC!

I spent 4 years in washington DC (99-2003) and recently moved back after a bad stint in Los Angeles (2004-5) and it takes my sister’s visit for me to finally realize how great Washington DC. Don’t get me wrong–I LOVE DC prior to this visit. But because of anti-tourist preteniousness, I hadn’t been to the monuments, capital area, (even the museums) in a long old while. Now I can’t wait to hang out on the national mall, go paddle boating on the Potomac (did you hear that Paul?) and get back into the museums. As tired as I am after her trip (she left today, sniff!) I’m really happy about our time together and about reconnecting to all the things that draw the tourists to the city.

I love the bars, the gay scene, the young hipster locales, etc., but now I’ll appreciate the tourist traps too. I even went to the Kennedy Center to see a cheeeeeeeeeesy show (I won’t say what because I’m still embarassed!) I promise myself that I won’t take these tourist attractions for granted again! The weather is great and next week, I’ll hang out by the capital building! I won’t even let the tourists get to me, either! I may even go see the blossoms at the Tidal Basin… maybe that’s a bit much.

I LOVE DC. here are my top cities in the world:

Paris

London

Washington, DC (can you believe?)

Stockholm

New York City

West Hollywood

What’s your top cities?

Okay. I’ve been drinking hard core for the last 5-6 years and before that I had a bit of a hiatus because of a really bad relationship (he was controlling and he didn’t drink, so neither did I). Basically, ever since I was 17, I have enjoyed over-indulging in drinking, binging, if you will. I remember reading those typical questions, that if you answered "yes" to 3 or more times, you were considered an alcoholic:

1) Do you ever wake up with inexplicable bruises? (yes, but i’m naturally clumsy and wake up with bruises anyway)

2) Do you ever regret what you’ve done after a night of drinking? (yes, but I’m catholic, so I have loads of regret anyway, what makes regrettable actions while drunk any different than the regret I have of making a bad decision sober?)

3) Do you endanger yourself when drunk? (Yes, but I live in a city and I endanger myself by simply walking in the wrong neighborhood too!)

4) Do you endanger others when drunk? (Yes, but goddamn it, they’re drunk too so it’s not all my fault!)

Basically, according to silly surveys like this, I am considered an alcoholic. However, I don’t really think I am. I enjoy drinking. I enjoy the taste of wine and hard liquor (hate beer, save sweet cider). I think that alcohol is a recreation. Does anyone ever interrogate someone who likes to play tennis for fun? You could answer yes to several of the above questions for tennis players:

1) Do you ever wake up with inexplicable bruises? (Well yes, perhaps you forgot that you were hit by a ball during a game)

2) Do you ever regret what you’ve done after a game of tennis (okay, maybe this one doesn’t parallel drinking, but maybe, you’re creative…)

3) Do you endanger yourself when playing tennis? (Hello? balls flying around at 100 mph!!!)

4) Do you endanger others when playing tennis? (hello? balls flying around at 100 mph!!! and what if you get all mad a la John McEnroe and throw your racket at your opponent?)

Okay. Can someone validate my theory that I’m not an alcoholic? I hate groups, and AA seems a ridiculous way to resolve my problems. 12 steps my ass. The only 12 steps I’m a gonna take are the 12 steps it takes to go to the second floor of Cobalt (my neighborhood bar). I would go to Alcoholics Anonymous only to spike their punch and find more drinking buddies.

I write all of this because I’m mad as hell that a friend wants to drag me along to an AA meeting tomorrow night! Damn I’m mad! I need a fucking drink! JUST KIDDING! I could go on forever on this topic, but I will stop!   

*ps* <— look at how much fun I have when I’m drunk! That’s what memories are made of (if you have a memory of it)

*pps* this whole post is a joke on drinking. I have a problem and am currently working on fixing it

aaargh! I just saved a bundle buying all of my furniture at Ikea yesterday, but i’ve spent the last 24 hours straight doing nothing but trying to put this shit together (and watch E! and style network–what else am I supposed to watch? the news is obsessed with the pope and not reporting on other issues). Anyway, I bought a bed frame for 160 bucks, a desk for 30 bucks and an entertainment center for 375, but so far I’ve only been able to put together the desk and bed. Yuk.

My condo feels like it’s almost my own (my preciousssss!) but I’m still not satisfied with the color. Brown and green: my mint and chip palace. I spent 6 months debating whether I had grown past my fag-hag-dom and the color pink, and finally frustrated with my indecisiveness decided to take make a swift decision and bought a gallon of the color that made me happy (not considering what it would look like on a wall). So that was how I came with the aquamarine green. The guy at 17th Street True Value Hardware (my favorite shop as of late) convinced me to not pair the green with a black but to get a brown instead. And the rest is herstory.

I hate being poor. I wish I could buy already assembled furniture and pay to have someone paint my place for me. Or, i wish I could get an interior designer to help me. OR, I wish I lived in a house and didn’t have to worry about my goddamned neighbor complaining about the noise from my apartment.

And speaking of noise, because of my fucking neighbor and his noise sensitivity (he thinks we live in a library) I haven’t been able to set up my turntables and they’ve been collecting dust since October 25th.

I hate being poor, but I’m not sooooOOo poor. It could be a LOT worse. I remember when I was making 21,500 dollar a year starting out at a non-profit that worked me 70 hours a week, travelling around the country and being a slave to the feminist movement. boy… I need to repress some of those memories.