1. Holiday spirit is alive and well. Which is good because apparently I’m an idiot. Rushing out to the train station yesterday so I could make it into the city for my volunteer gig, I didn’t realize until I was pulling into the lot that I had NO cash to pay for parking. Freaking out a little, I run to find the ATM, only to be told by the convenience store clerk that they removed it. All I have is $3.80 in change to pay for my CTA fare. The clerk, out of nowhere, asks if I’m a regular commuter and says if I am, he can give me $5 for parking if I just pay him back the next day. But as I frantically explain I’m NOT a regular commuter and will they tow my car? (He says, “OH yeah. It’ll be like $300…”) Then the woman next to me, also for no reason, whips out a dollar and says, “Here. Take it. Don’t worry about it.”

Without the kindness of strangers and the fact that the CTA machines take credit cards now, I would be royally fucked.

Huzzah!

2. Today is a day for cleaning, decorating, shipping, presents, baking and other array of delightful Christmas things. I’m excited.

3. My boyfriend’s awesome parents bought Alex and I tickets to see The Nutcracker at the Joffrey Ballet. I’m so ridiculously excited. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed that show until I saw it as an adult for the first time sophomore year at U of I. I also just really enjoy seeing shows at the theatres around Christmas time.

Today is going to be a good day.
I can tell.

OH YEAH.

I gots mail!

I’m wearing two pairs of tights, pants, thick socks, boots, a shirt, a sweater and a scarf.

I’m first cut at work tonight and I ain’t stickin’ around any longer than I gotta.

I am JAMMING my foot in the door of job-success and it is working.

I feel fucking triumphant.

Let’s rock.

When my alarm went off this morning, I was thinking about the week ahead. Dreading it. I have work this morning, doubles the rest of the week (though at least on Thursday my “morning shift” is working for the film fest again) and no time or money to do anything that needs doing. I didn’t even want to sit up.

Until I looked outside.

At which point I hopped up to the window and started singing, “It snowed! It snowed! It snowed!” as I got my morning going.

I like not being too adult and too embittered to enjoy snow.

NOW it feels like December!
Snoooowwww!

For what feels like the first time in my life, my persistence is paying off. I followed up in an email with the Outreach Coordinator for the Chicago International Film Festival and just a few days ago I heard back.

She’s passed my resume on to others in the office who might need help archiving and she’s enlisted me to help volunteer on Thursday at a special screening. She applauded my desire to keep my connection to the festival and Cinema/Chicago.

I’m excited. I feel like this is just one more chance to make sure someone in this field knows my name. It feels good after all my rejections lately to have someone sort of extend a hand, even if I won’t be paid.

One step at a time right?

1. I don’t like that Walt Whitman is being used to schlock jeans.

2. The Fantastic Mr. Fox was, as stated, fantastic. A friend named it Wes Anderson’s best. I was shocked to find that I’d say he’s not far off. Rushmore might always be my favorite, but Mr. Fox is way the hell up there. Way to go, Wes.

3. Up in the Air was great. Very well directed, very well acted. Clooney scores again.

4. Clooney is like the last Cary Grant of Hollywood.

5. Need. to see. Precious. Dammit.

What’s that they say about things that seem too good to be true?

They usually are?

I recently got two checks worth of what seemed to be back-pay from RA. I studied them over and over checking for the familiar stamp of “THIS IS NOT A CHECK” that’s printed on stubs. It was absent. It was an actual check with a spot for me to sign. So I did. I was elated. I would have money for Christmas! I was going to pay off my credit card bill! Fabulous news!!

Today, when the checks should have finally been available in my “Available Balance” I saw that they’d been deducted instead. As if I never deposited anything.

I called the bank and they just babbled that the checks were really stubs. I wanted so badly to argue, well if it was a fucking STUB why wasn’t it labeled as such??? Hmm?

But I didn’t.

Because in the back of my mind I guess I knew that was probably true.

I just feel so fucked. I need to get paid again.
Soon.