Sunday, September 26, 2010

Exhausted, brain fried, overwhelmed, the Tea Party and watching bad reality TV.

I have a new manager. She's great. I love working with her. She's very proactive and doesn't play. She gave me an outrageous deadline for the rough draft of my latest spec. I met it, writing up to 17 pages a day.

With every rewrite the deadlines are shorter. Her notes have been brilliant. We talk about each draft, what's working, what's not. She asks me hard questions about the creative choices I've made.

This weekend was a killer. I wrote all day. Now I'm sitting in my apartment and I'm overwhelmed by the mess. My place is TINY. How the heck did it get so messy so quickly?

I HATE clutter. Like an almost irrational dislike for it (thanks Mom). One of my friends used to have an office with scripts everywhere. I used to get anxious sitting in her office and would wait for her by her assistant's desk.

I can't afford a cleaning lady. I know it's not that expensive but that's my grocery money.

I don't even know where to start. Dishes, ironing, sweeping? Not to mention some of the bigger jobs like switching my closet from summer to fall clothes. Since I live in Europe and have no closet space, all my fall clothes are in under the bed storage boxes.

I also need to mop my hardwood floors, clean the windows, dust everything, clear my dining table of scripts, notes, magazines etc.

I live alone in a 40 square meter apartment (approx. 430 sq feet). My commute consists of walking three feet from my bedroom to my living room/kitchen/family room/office.

As I have mentioned before, my mom somehow managed to work, commute, raise a family, cook, keep a spotless house, etc. Yes, we had chores and my dad helped (mostly outdoors stuff) but it's not like I was cooking dinner.

On the other hand, my mom didn't spend time on the Internet reading about the cast of Jersey Shore. Can I say I find it depressing that Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is going to make 5-10 million dollars this year?!

Why the hell did I go to college or work so hard again? Why is Bristol on Dancing With The Stars? Why am I still broke?

Instead of cleaning I'd rather read fashion and home design blogs. I had to take a break from the news as this election cycle is making me downright stabby. If any of the Tea Party far right lunatics get elected to the Senate or Governorship, I fear for my home country. Why is the GOP trying to act like this is a good thing for them? The Tea Party candidates are knocking out incumbents/stronger Republican candidates and giving the Democrats a better change to hold on to or to win seats. Are they scared of the Tea Party? Why? Where are the moderate Republicans?!

There are not enough words for me to describe how much I dislike Sarah Palin. I will never forgive John McCain for unleashing this ignorant hypocrite on the American people. What happened to the John McCain from the 2000 election?

I watched a new reality show on E! about an entertainment P.R. firm in L.A. That almost pushed me over the edge. This partner in the firm told a young first year associate she needed to put collagen in her top lip because it was too thin. Mind you the woman is gorgeous. She goes with an older colleague to the doctor's office and starts crying. The doctor gives her a temporary filler that lasts a few hours. Even for that she had to get shots and there was a little bleeding.

She returns to work and her boss is like you look great. The other partner could tell she was upset. Then when she said she couldn't go through the real procedure, he flipped out. He started yelling at her and berating her in front of everyone.

I wanted to reach through the screen and punch him out. This sexist Ed Hardy wearing jerk needs to look in a mirror. I doubt any real client would care about the jr. publicist's face and would be more concerned about her ability to do her damn job. The sad thing is PR is one of the most stressful jobs out there. Shows like this makes it seem like it's a fall back job for people who are shallow but can't be famous themselves so they work for celebs instead. For example, this firm asked Mario Lopez to host a party for a tanning lotion. Mario is Mexican-American and has tan skin. He doesn't use or need tanning lotion. He told them that. He did it anyway. I wonder how much he was paid.

Not all reality is mindless. Top Chef and Project Runway are very interesting.

Okay, so why did I bust out laughing when I saw the photo of Bishop Eddie Long rocking skin-tight Spandex? Why are the folks who are the most publicly homophobic the ones who keep getting busted? Why would Bishop send such a photo to anyone other than perhaps a personal trainer?

Speaking of personal trainer, Tracy Anderson needs to STFU about her "Teeny Tiny body" claims.

Alright this post was longer than I intended. I'm procrastinating. My mind is spinning in a million different directions. I have a lot of questions but will save them for another day.

I'm going to drink a glass of wine and make some dinner. Of course this means I will have even more dishes to clean. Arrrgh

18 comments:

Kristina said...

Sounds like you need a day off just to clean your apartment. Seriously. Can you take a vacation day, personal day, or even a sick day? No one can work 24/7 and that's the drawback of working at home, isn't it?
Another option is to take 10 minute breaks every hour when working and pick one task to clean at a time while on a break.
Trust me, if you hate clutter as much as I do, and I hate it but my house gets cluttered nonetheless, you will feel so much better when it's clean.
BTW, I am SO with you on Sarah Palin. I wish she would just disappear and take all her ingorant followers with her.

J.Doe said...

Try to relax a little after the marathon work weekend and if you live near a 99 centissimi store or some other cheap price store buy some paper plates and plastic silverware and just throw them out after use instead of washing them.It won't help with existing clutter but at least you won't get any more 9except then you'll have to throw out the trash....)
It may not be the most enviromently friendly thing or cost effective thing around - but it is better than being upset.

milanese masala said...

I am so with you!! I too am exhausted, brain fried, overwhelmed and watching bad reality tv. No tea party though. Have to cut down on caffeine.
I'm temporarily a desperate housewife and while I love my baby to bits, it means hours and hours of breastfeeding, which means hours and hours of tv to pass the time away. And thank god for Sky! I love Top Chef and hope they'll start showing another season. I've also been really into Project Runway. I watch Hell's Kitchen even though I feel so tense and anxious at the end of the show. I've been trying to stay away from E! but I must admit, I caught a few minutes of the Kardashians and the PR show. Mindless meh!
Let me know which fashion and interior design blogs you read. I'd love to dream a bit.

Anyway, one thing that helps me get things done around the house is making lists. I have a weekly list of things to do instead of a daily one. It's less daunting that way. Good luck!

gibber said...

Yeah, it sounds like you need to take a personal day. And I agree with J. Doe...try to find the easiest stressor to get rid of and abolish it.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the others on here that say you need to take a day to just goof off. I have just completed a writing course and it nearly killed me. So, I cannot imagine having to be writing all day long, every day. It is fricking hard work!

Do you think reality tv will finally implode on itself? How low does it have to go? However, I admit to watching some of them as pure mindless entertainment.

As for time wasters, I just got an ipod touch and downloaded all these games. Talk about not getting stuff done.

Anyway, take care and thanks sharing your life with all of us.

Ms. Violetta

This Time Now said...

My apt. in Paris was smaller than yours, but it was great because I had an amazing loft space where I had my bed and a large skylight/window. The only thing that I added were my little stereo/cd player, and my suitcase. If I had two dishes in the sink, I'd go bananas and to this day I never go to bed with dishes in the sink. Drives my mother crazy when I'm home for a visit!

Cleaning lady? Woman! Take the morning off and get your house in order. You'll feel a lot better, you know that you will! Ciao Bella!

Felicia

Anonymous said...

Why aren't moderate americans as fierce as far-right americans?

Danielle said...

I reeeeally hear where you are coming from, as I read your blog instead of hanging out the washing that is starting to smell funky in my machine...uffa!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

kristina - I can't take any days off until I am done with this script. I did have a few free hours Monday morning (due to the time difference) to get some things done before speaking with my manager about my latest draft. I can't take 10 minutes breaks in an hour while writing, it would mess up my flow but I can try, like you said, to focus on one task at a time before I go to bed or to work out. Unfortunately SP isn't going anywhere any time soon.

J. Doe - I had a good work out yesterday A.M. and feel much less overwhelmed today. I will be up pretty late tonight trying to meet my latest deadline but at least my dining table is cleared off.

milanese - Congrats!! I can't wait to see pictures. I love Apartment Therapy, The Kitchn, Lonny Magazine, Fashionista, The Satorialist, Garance Dore, Decor8, Design Sponge...the list goes on. It's sad. Not sure why I torture myself looking at things I cannot afford.

gibber - No personal days until the script is done. Nothing I can do about that.

ms. violetta - thank you for reading my random posts about my life. I have a deadline so no time off for now but I will take a day or two once I'm done. I think Reality TV is here to stay. The ratings for The Jersey Shore have been through the roof.

Felicia - Same here regarding dishes in the sink. Also when I go out of town, I clean my place so I don't come home to a mess. Regarding the cleaning lady, once my finances improve, I will be asking my friends for recommendations. I can't do everything and something has to give.

anon - not sure what you mean. If you mean more vocal, it's because the far right is made up of mostly fundamentalist Christians. I'm not sure how many Americans consider themselves moderate. I do know that the GOP has changed a lot since the 80s.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

danielle - ha. Thanks for reading.

This Time Now said...

"something has to give" You said it, sistah'! I'm applying this to another part of my life. I don't try to do everything on my own that's so 20th century. Get yourself a cleaning lady when you have deeper pockets. Ciao and good luck! I'll be in Italy soon, let's meetup if you have time.

christine said...

Take a bit of a walk and then come back to your writing.

I know how you feel though.

HUGS from London. xoxoox

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Thanks Felicia and Christine - I had a break this morning after I turned in my latest draft.

Homebody at Heart said...

#1 I never do my windows. I'm too cheap to pay for a cleaning lady and no one ever died from dust, girl, so let it go!

#2 Can't stand Sarah Palin.

#3 Even more ridiculous about the Jersey Shore thing which I don't watch but seem to know about, nonetheless.

Maybe you don't know about these...

#4 Octomom is writing a book and I would be willing to bet that the hiker who was detained in Iran will soon be writing a book as well as getting a made for TV movie deal. Why would anyone in their right mind much less an American citizen hike anywhere near Iran? Not enough places to hike in the US? the Sierras? the Rocky Mountains? Canada, Europe, the Alps, the Pyrennes, the Dolomites, I could go on...oh no, I want to hike as near to the Iran border as I possibly can!

#5 I hope lot's of those TP's get elected, instead of Republicans. They aren't doing anything for the people in their district's but stonewalling President Obama in the name of the Republican Party while the nation suffers. This could be a good thing.

#6 It is indeed, an insane world.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

homebody - Wait Octomom is writing a book?!! About what?

I didn't understand why the hikers were on than border either. Neither country is known as a hiker's paradise.

I think some of those TPs will get elected. I wonder if they will go their own way or try to work with the GOP?

Claudia said...

wow. my head's spinning from reading this!!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

c - I'm sorry. :)

Claudia said...

No need to apologize. I've had those types of days!