8:54 p.m. - 2006-03-21
\"Wild Again, Beguiled Again...\"
First things first...the winner of the CD chain was none other than the Superfly WCG. She posted her review earlier today, while my ass was at work without the track list. So, belatedly, here it is:

Track List for the Mystery CD I Made warcrygirl:

1. Three Dog Night - "Never Been to Spain"
2. Ben Folds Five - "Army"
3. Offspring - "She's Got Issues"
4. Doobie Brothers - "Black Water"
5. Divine Comedy - "Gin Soaked Boy"
6. Aimee Mann - "The Scientist"
7. Damien Rice - "Volcano"
8. Morrissey - "Sing Your Life"
9. Erasure - "Blue Savannah"
10. Girlyman - "The Shape I Found You In"
11. Norah Jones - "One Flight Down"
12. Guster - "Fa Fa"
13. Indigo Girls - "Let It Be Me"
14. Milla Jovovich - "The Gentleman Who Fell"
15. Crispian St. Peter - "The Pied Piper"
16. Pixies - "Here Comes Your Man"
17. Maroon 5 - "She Will Be Loved"
18. Ray Lamontagne - "Shelter"
19. Rialto - "Monday Morning 5.19"

Now, on to the rest of my novel, seeing as how I haven't updated in way too long...

Have you ever noticed that, in your life, there's either not ONE FUCKING THING going on, and you're so bored you could cry, or there is so much going on that you barely have time to catch your breath?

Well, the last week or so has definitely fallen into the second category.

First of all, we have the whole new job thing. After not working for a while...that shit is tiring. Add to that some boy-girl hanging out of the sort where you actually WANT to hang out with someone (as opposed to the "eh, might as well, have nothing better to do" hanging out circa GID time). Then, add to THAT...a 2 am phone call from someone you haven't talked to in forever.

Friday night, I go to bed early. Well, early for me, anyway...probably about 12:30-ish. I am dead asleep when I become vaguely aware that the phone is ringing. The only person in recent memory who has called at that hour is Lando, so I'm thinking he's going three rounds with our old friend Insomnia and Insomnia is kicking his ass.

By the time my sleep-addled brain registers that yes, that's the phone, I realize that it's probably been ringing for a while. My voice mail picks up after 4 rings, so I further realize that, whoever the fuck it is, he or she has called more than once. After I manage to locate my eye drops, clear the sleep snot off my contacts, and squint at the caller ID, I realize that there is no way in hell it's Lando. He might have called once if he was awake and bored, but not six times.

The caller ID reveals the number of TD.

Let's backtrack a little. TD is someone I was friends with in college. I'm sure I've mentioned him briefly here before, but probably not more than briefly, because we had something of a falling-out right before I started this here blog. He is incredibly high-maintenance, and finally, I grew weary of the drama and the bullshit and basically told him to go sell crazy somewhere else, because I was all full up here.

I had peripherally heard of more drama in his life from GEB. See, TD is also in law school, and knows GEB from back in the days when we were dating...and he and GEB now live in the same condo/apartment complex.

Anyway. Back to the 2:30 phone call. He's all upset. Says he took some sleeping pills. Not enough to kill him, but possibly enough to make him very sick. He's having issues with the siblings and his mom is sick, etc. etc., and his sister has filed for a VPO, and he's all afraid that it will ruin his legal career.

So GEB and I come to the rescue. My ass drives to Norman in the middle of the goddamn night, and finally, at about 7:30 am, we manage to convince him that anyone who is pissed off can file a VPO, they almost never get permanently granted, and that even if it DOES, it's not going to affect his future law career. Please. He clearly has not been paying attention to the local news. This is the state where a fucking judge got a DUI on the way to a strip club and is still on the bench, for fuck's sake. The Bar Association will not even blink at some silly-ass VPO (which is not even a criminal matter, unless you violate one.)

At this point, I shall state, for the record, that I never intended to let this person back into my life. He is high-maintenance as all shit, and his drama gets old. However, when someone who used to be a good friend calls in the middle of the night all fucked up in the head and the specter of suicide looms, you feel like an asshole galore if you don't go.

I will say, also, based on the conversations I've had with him over the last week or so (and he's also quit the calling me in the middle of the night every night with the same old tired-ass drama, which used to be a favorite trick of his), he seems to realize that (a) I am not going to put up with any further violation of my boundaries from him and (b) that he cannot continue living his life in a state of emotional chaos, no matter what crazy-ass shit his family is doing. He's an intelligent person, loyal, fun to hang out with when he's not in one of his moods...so I will give him a chance to demonstrate that he's grown up a little.

On to the work....

Ever noticed that, when you're a new person, there are two kinds of offices? The kind where everyone is all meety-greety-friendly, wants to go to lunch, take smoke breaks, chat while you arrange your desk accessories...and the other kind, where everyone's worked there for at least a year and won't talk to you until you have been there a little while longer.

I'm working at the second kind.

No one has been rude, just sort of distant. The last few places I've been have been the other kind, so I'm not used to the silent treatment. I did manage to crack the senior partner's secretary today...she actually had a conversation with me. Another secretary introduced herself right away (she's a friend of a friend of a friend). One of my supervising attorneys has been very nice. The girl training me is telling me I'm doing a good job (glad someone thinks so, because I still don't feel like I have a damn clue). The other legal assistants in my group have been nice, but one of them was getting ready for a hearing, so she didn't have much time to do anything other than say "how high" when the attorneys said "jump." It's just tough being the new kid.

However, the office is fairly quiet, which is nice, and I can listen to music at my desk without headphones, and no one can hear it from more than a few feet away (this surprised me...I'm in an office off the library. It has a door to the hall, but just sort of a vestibule between it and the actual library. The office itself is divided into cubes. You can't hear the music from the vestibule or the back cube, either. Score.) They have free food a lot. They also stock the fridge with Diet Dew, which makes me happy. (And I need the diet soda, because the free food always seems to feature these kick ass cookies...)

One amusing result of all the time we've spent together, though, is his sister's curiosity about me.

"what color hair does she have? blonde or brown?"
Red, actually.

"does she wear a lot of black?"
To work, yes, but not so much outside of that.

"does she have a lot of piercings?"
Just my ears, and Lando, what kind of girls HAVE you been bringing home?? *snicker*

"does she have any kids?
No. Only pets.
"does she have a job?"
...she does NOW...

"does she live in the city?"
Not just the city...the Ghet-TO.

"how did you guys meet?"
...um. Online.

"have you guys kissed?"
Duh.

"with tongue?"
*gasp*

"what flavor is her lip gloss?"
I'm not so much into the lip gloss...but I do have some Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm that's minty fresh, and some chocolatey kind that was on sale at Bath & Body Works.

"is she athiest? agnostic? christian?"
Have to go with agnostic on that one. Actually, this question always reminds me of song lyrics:

And I am not Your faithful servant
I hang around sometimes with a bunch of your black sheep...

(Indigo Girls, "Hey Jesus")

and

I know what this means
Me and Jesus
A few years back
Used to hang, and he said
"It's your choice, babe"
(Tori Amos, "Me and a Gun")

I believe that Lando's sister, however, has passed on the news of "a friend" to his other family members. I'll let him tell that story.

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