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Been workin here for .1666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 years as of today, give or take.

Just remembered that I forgot to put a seven on the end for proper rounding. And twitter won’t let me edit. At least, not easily…

Actually made it out to do stuff besides just go to the sto Friday AND Saturday night. It’s been a good wekend thus far.

Mermaid or Whale

Found this and felt compelled to share.

Recently in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It “THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?”

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Barren Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia . Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don’t exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don’t have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they don’t have kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who20smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee with my friends. With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, “Good gosh, look how smart I am”

Allena

Fourtyfourth-I was pleasantly surprised - Mondaytwentyninthjunetwothousandnine.elevenfourteenam.

When I logged onto probably my favorite video game site at the moment and saw the forum topic “Transformers 2: Not the worst movie ever.” Thank you, I didn’t know the internet had it in them not to trash something!

I was playing video games when my mom called me Wednesday night.  My brother was had come into town for the week for Father’s Day and wanted to go to the movie.  I said, sure, since I wanted to see it.  Didn’t know if I wanted to pay full price to see it, but I did want to see it.  Last time I saw the preview showing, but I was working and making nine bucks and hour instead of on unemployment bringing down the equivalent of less than six bucks an hour based on a forty hour work week.  Anyway, thanks to my little (twenty eight, actually) brother paying for a salad and a large lemonade from Wendy’s (don’t text while you drivin my car, though, gnyuckka!) and tickets to the movie.  It was a bit long, but I didn’t notice how long until I got in the car afterwards (we caught the 11:15 show and the clock said just after 2am when he started the car) and could’ve lost a good deal of the toilet humor, but it did have its awesome moments and nods to the original cartoon that I enjoyed.

And then there were the twins…

Ok, they didn’t bother me that much when I saw it, but they seem to upset a few people.  NPR’s Omar L. Gallaga did a piece on Mudflap and Skids, but in the end said “I’d do some field research, but they don’t give me hazard pay to see movies like “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”  Was that necessessary?  Really?  Would it be that bad?  On the issue of the twins, I don’t believe that Michael Bay and company set out to promote this particular portrait of African-American males as a way to demean and weaken our people to the point of reinstating slavery (well, not singlehandedly at least.)  And if so, where is the counter attack?  I was watching Facebook updates on the BET awards last night (don’t have cable, but may catch some clips online) and someone said, ” If the censors have to block out 75% of your performance….you need not perform……..”  To which I responded, “Seconded.”  One the way down to Norfolk to take my little cousin his race car bed, we scanned and found the local rap station, and I gotta say I was not amused.  What are we putting out nowadays?  I’ve switched subjects a few times in this paragraph, but I’ll attempt to bring it back righ here (SPOILER ALERT):  I wonder who got mad when one of the twins got sucked into Devastator’s mouth and didn’t die but came out the other side of his head still fighting?  Could that be metaphorical?  “Think you can kill me that easy?  Just not sayin my name?  We mo powahful than that!  We don’ die, we multiply, muh fucka!  We can’t even count, but we multiply!”

Or did I just read too deep into that?  (End SPOILER ALERT)

Had fun Monday going down to Norfolk with my family to take my little cousin Jordan his race car bed.  Crazy little dude.  He was pretending to be the Hulk when we got down there.  We got the bed in and his mom was happy that he didn’t have to share her bed anymore.  Then we went to eat at Golden Corral (was decent) and then went to the neighboring K-Mart.  My cousin had complained that she’d went in there with her son for one thing, but spent forty five minutes in there because they had a Transformers display at the front of the store.  He was wanting a Bumblebee helmet to go with the Optimus Prime one he already had.  My brother bought him the helmet, which changes your voice and adds in music clips (since Bumblebee communicated with songs on the radio as his voice was damaged) and makes other sound effects, along with the little arm that transforms into a gun and makes sound effects.  Little dude was happy, but I feel for him mom with the new noisemakers in the house.

My mom used to get him to say, “My poor mommy.”

And then, there are those we lost.  Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays.  Damn.  And the rumors of Jeff Goldblum (and I think I heard a whisper of a rumor about Harrison Ford.)  That was a crazy day Thursday.  I hadn’t been online most of the day, but I came on with all these Michael Jackson posts.  Man.  Of the deaths this week, his hits the hardest.  He was a worldwide phenomenon the likes of which we’ll probably never see again.  Not just his talent and his heart, but as it was pointed out on the 404 Michael Jackson special, the times have changed and the music industry has changed to the point where there will be no more stars like Mike.  A friend was complaining that a local soft rock station had decided to play nothing but Michael Jackson.  To which I responded, that’s why I hate that station!  I already hate that they play nothing but Christmas music from the week before Thanksgiving on through to Christmas, and the limits of their format have them running some bull shit in the ground.  And she complained that no one was talking about Farrah Farcett because of Michael Jackson.  She’s mostly country anyway with a few rock bands that I don’t care for (Hinder and Creed.)

I leave you now by saying I love you all, as I don’t know when next I’ll have this chance, as our losses last week have shown.  Sure, with all due respect , Ed McMahon was old, and Farrah had been battling cancer for some time.  But Mike’s was rather out of the blue.  Sure, he had done God only remembers what all to his body, but still it came as a shock.  I rode to an Auto Zone about forty five minutes away where my dad had found a part for my sister’s car (we have closer ones, but I guess this one had the part) and my mom and sister were discussing Mike’s medicine and how the doctor’s should’ve known how not to give him so much.  My sister’s a med student, too.  From what I hear, Billy May’s death was also a bit of a shock.  Well, we await the autopsy results.  I bid you farewell, and ask of the people hating on the movie and my friend hating on Mike (it almost ended up being the title,) who passin out haterade like it’s champaine, and why erbody gotta be drankin it?

And did that date say twenty NINE June?  Damn…

What a day! RIP Farrah and Micheal, maybe Jeff Goldblum, and racist Transformers… Still don’t see why SO much hate for the movie, though

Oh, yeah. It’s the 1st Annual International Sushi Day! Go out and have some! #SushiDay

Had eel sushi from Jui Lin’s Tea Room, was delish. Planning on going out for ingredients to make sushi later. Recipes welcome. #SushiDay

Fortythird - If the first step is the hardest...-Eighteenthjulytwothousandnine.tenthirtytwopm

What about the first step in a long time?

Yeah, been four and a half months. Probably the longest I’ve let a blog die and then come back to resurrect it. My tweets have shown up, but there’s only so much you can say in one hundred forty characters. Sometimes that’s enough, but lately there’s been so much I feel as though a proper blog is in order. I won’t even attempt to go through the entire time since my last official post, but…

I told a lady in my photo club that I had a new job. And she said that I always have a new job. Well, not always, but, guess what? I have a new job

Looking for a job.

I was terminated from my last employer for not meeting daily performance guidelines. I’ve heard that some other people got let go for the same thing the same day that I did, and we were all working through a temp service, so there exists a conspiracy theory that they just took the people who had the least seniority and came up with something. Well, whether or not that is the case, the fact remains that I did not meet production guidelines and was terminated. Which meant that I probably not get unemployment compensation through the state of Virginia. But, I figured it was worth a shot anyway, so I signed up. And got a letter from the Virginia Employment Commission dated 05/07/09 that said:

“A telephone fact finding interview may be conducted by a Deputy of the Virginia Employment Commission in connection with your unemployment insurance benefits on the

4th day of June, 2009.

The following issues(s) has been raised concerning your eligibility for unemployment compensation:

Whether or not you were discharged for suspended for misconduct.”

Muh fucka, why tha fuck y’all didn’t just say no?

Now y’all makin me wait a month for y’all to say no. And even if y’all say yes, what I’ma do til June fourth? Rent is due June FIRST, muh fucka!

And then I got a letter from them the next day with a determination of benefits and instructions on how to make a weekly claim over the phone. So I’m like, does this mean that I got it and the other letter is null and void, or that I have to pretend like I got it, but I won’t git nothin til (unless) y’all say yes next month? Well, this letter came on a Saturday, so I called them Monday.

Busy signal.

Busy signal.

Busy signal every time I called.

Well, I’m doing my job search as directed by the Virginia Employment Commission, kinda hopin against hope that the second letter somehow canceled out the first one. I wait a week. And they make you put in a waiting week, so I didn’t expect nothin that week anyway.

I wait another week. Nothing. Did y’all switch to paying every other week?

Another week. Nothing.

I finally go over there.

“Oh, you have to wait for your hearing to determine if you get your benefits, but you should still do your job contacts just in case you do get approved, and if you do, you’ll get back pay.”

What good is back pay if the hearing isn’t until the forth and bills are due NOW?!

Well, light bill was due, so I sacrificed my 360 to get that paid. Thankfully a local store offered me what I needed to pay the bill for the system after another store wouldn’t. So I’m 360 less and moneyless, but I have lights. For now.

The hearing comes. The rep from the temp service is on the other line.

It doesn’t sound like it went well. So much for unemployment. So I call this other temp service that usually offers this job that I really didn’t want to take. Heard that they overwork you and underpay you. From a friend whose mother used to work there. From a lady I used to work with. From my uncle that used to live with me (you know, the one who wrecked Cole.) I alllllllmost took this job to get away from my last crappy job, but I didn’t have my social security card on me the day I went to sign up and they wouldn’t even see me. And then a girl at work told me that they’d probably cut way back on hours once the holidays were over. But I figured I’d try them out anyway.

The temp service said they didn’t have anything.

So now I’m in trouble. I ended up in the middle of the floor crying and punching the floor. I had fucked up. I had no income, no way to pay my bills. Not to mention that my landlord had threatened to evict me for lack of housekeeping. There was the incident where their bank had switched to another insurance company and the house had to be inspected, so I had a whirlwind cleaning day and hadn’t heard of the impending eviction since. But I didn’t know if that had made any difference in terms of the impending evictino.  And now I had no way to pay the rent and one less reason to keep me in the house.

Well, my great aunt across the street had offered to pay my cousin to braid my hair since I didn’t have it to. And she had proven a touch difficult to get in contact with. Which prompted me to dip into my dimes and come up with some change to put on my prepaid cell (it’s a bit old and I really want another, but for now it’s what I got.) And I put the money in the account, but when I went to check that it was indeed in the account, the site was down for maintenance. This was about threeish in the morning, though. So, I went to bed and checked it when I woke up.

Wait, what’s all this money doing in here? It looks like… Could it be? I don’t touch it quite yet, just in case. But when the mail came, there was a letter from the Virginia Employment Commission (this a praise report, y’all) And it read thusly…

“Based on facts obtained in connection with this claim for unemployment compensation filed effective 05/03/09, the undersigned deputy pursuant to section (blah blah) of the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act renders the following decision…

The claimant was discharged from his job by the above employer due to unsatisfactory job performance. Although the claimant did his job to the best of his ability, he was unable to meet the employer’s standards for performance. There was no evidence of misconduct on the claimant’s part.

The Virginia Unemployment Compensation act provides that an individual shall be disqualified if it is found that he was discharged as a result of misconduct in connection with work. Misconduct exists if it is shown that there was a willful or substantial disregard of the employer’s interest or standards of behavior that an employer has the right to expect of the employee.

Since misconduct has not ben shown, the claimant is entitled to benefits.”

Ok, some of the wording and ordering was changed for dramatic effect, but most of the legalese remains intact. And I praise God for my unemployment! It’s not out of the woods, but some boys is leavin some fish and stuff to grub on, and that is so good. But that does leave the question of where do I go from here. Back to another job like the other job? I do feel that this is and opportunity to take a moment and find something better. Especially when there are so few jobs that erbody tryin to get, I want to try to find something that I can do that not erbody can.

I did get some money for school in the fall. Scheduled classes today. Drawing I, Intro to Computer Graphics, Public Speaking, and College Composition II. Wanted to try and sneak in Intro to Welding, but since it’s not part of my degree, I’d have to pay for it out of pocket.

Hey, hope abides. I do still want to learn how to weld.

And animate.

And play guitar. And piano. And bass. And flute. And vibes. And drums.

I have been experimenting with making bread. Got a recipe from Instructables.com. Seemed easy. Tried it. It was good bread. I’m not there yet, but I am on the path to knocking “learn to make bread” off of my list.

Speaking of lists, I got a few things accomplished this week. Had been meaning to do up a list of jobs that I had applied for, to avoid redundancy. Did it. Had been thinking of taking the spreadsheet software on this computer that I hadn’t even given a first thought, let along second, and doing up a spreadsheet of my bills. Did it. Recovered the login info for my Verizon and AEP accounts, so I can more easily pay those bills online. And I’d bout given up on the AEP account, it had been so long. Got out to see a friend who that I hadn’t seen in forever who scavenged parts off the bikes sitting around the yard to get my bike running after it had been sitting crippled my front porch for a little bit.

Shame my trunk was so small I had to take the wheels off the bike to fit it, and when I was putting them back on one of the lug nuts on the front wheel broke in half. Replaced it while I was out the next day, and we are mobile. Got in a couple rides in today. In part because I’m low on gas.

Did you know that today, eighteenth June, two thousand nine, is the first annual International Sushi Day? Facebook said so. Had a two piece o’ eel downtown (respect to Jui Lin’s Tea Room on Ninth Street.) Was gonna make some, but I was out of nori (the seaweed that you wrap the sushi in.) And I was low on rice and rice wine vinegar, and I didn’t have anything to put in the sushi, so I rode to Walmart to save gas.

Glad I saved the gas.

The only nori they had were these half sheets. And the only rice they had was long grain and extra long grain. You use short grain or medium grain to make sushi. Long grain won’t get sticky. Felt bad about getting the oil I had went there for.

And I forgot plastic wrap!

Oh, well. just be thankful..