Allison’s Eclectic Expatiation

The past couple weeks have been full of awesome and long overdue.

UPGRADE: From unemployment to employment.

Yeah, finally. Obviously I’m not gonna share too much about where I work on this public site, but I love my job. I assist the dept. heads and VPs with, well, everything. I’m a little bit receptionist, little bit gal Friday, little bit office babysitter. But although I have been an admin assistant at many places before, I have never had my position treated with as much respect. I have never done work quite like it, and I feel blessed that I finally have a job after 9 freakin months of unemployment. My only complaint would be the commute, which is about 20 miles away in the Santa Clarita Valley.

UPGRADE: From mothers house to guest house studio (all by myself again!)

I don’t think I realized how much I truly missed living by myself. Please dont judge the picture, my landlords and my friend who used to live here haven’t moved out all their crap.

UPGRADE: Stereo

Stupid, I know, but now I get to listen to my ipod in my car! And I’m one of those cool people who gets to take the front off when she parks, so opportunists dont steal her new toys.

I also switched gyms, going to a less crowded chain that has more locations near my new place, so I can keep up the momentum I had going when I was unemployed.

Those last 2 maybe sound lame in comparison to NEW JOB NEW APARTMENT, but the truth is, my whole life has been one big upgrade the last couple months. I moved to a city I’ve never lived in before, but is close enough to my old stomping grounds so that I’m not totally out of my element. My mother came out to have dinner with me tonight, and she said “I think North Hollywood fits you well.”

I’d be willing to agree with her.

I turned 24 years old yesterday. It was a nice mellow birthday, filled with friends, genuine warm wishes, vegan pizza, and lots of beer. 23 was a pretty miserable age, full of bad luck, heartbreak, and lots of life lessons. But the fact that I got to ring in the age of 24 with friends, loved ones, with lots of possibilities on the horizon…it was much needed.

You know that zombie contingency plans have gotten a little out of control when one of your most passive guy friends very calmly says while on the 405 the other day “I wonder how easy it would be to shoot out that car’s tires from here.”

I have another post coming soon, but for now I’ll say this.

I miss this monster.

She was my partner in crime for the past 9 months, my sidekick. Not only do I work now, but I don’t live with her anymore. And though she’s my mothers dog, and not technically mine, I still feel like I gave up a pet. I really wish mom would let me take her to Fryman some weekend.

Wookit da face.

Note: this was written about 5 days ago

I was going to go to the gym this evening, but decided it would be a much better use of my time to have a tiny breakdown instead.
I’m exaggerating a little. Basically, this (on paper) has been a good week. Had some fun with a new friend early in the week, got a job (more on that later), and have already made plans to North Hollywood by the end of this week. For all intents and purposes, things are starting to head down a good path.
But I also have been, sort of, consistently down in the dumps for the past few weeks. To the point where I have started taking St Jons Wort and have been contemplating going back to therapy.
I had a post all written that discussed in great detail why I’m bummed out, but truthfully, it was written a couple days ago, and I’m feeling just better enough that I don’t want to look backwards. But I’ll leave you with this: How much of your opinion of yourself, the knowledge that you have about the type of person you are, is independent from what other people think of you? A friend of mine says its impossible, that on some level, you need to have your beliefs about yourself reflected back. I’m not sure.

Oh, and a thank you to Stephie, who has picked up on my sad little posts and Tweets, and sending me links and funness. I was actually meaning to give her a shout out, because no matter how shitty things go, she still seems to go towards life with whimsy and positivity. When she comes to Los Angeles to visit…man, we will paint the town sparkly.

I am running out of positivity, despite the good luck I’ve had this week. St Johns Wort seems to make me happier, but it doesn’t help me stop caring.

I feel very lonely right now.

I used to think that my never-ending desire to believe that everyone in this world is inherently good was a noble, positive trait.  Now I’m starting to think that it’s just a specialized form of masochism.

Where is that line?  The one between not writing people off too quickly and letting yourself get treated badly?  Between being an isolated bitch or an isolated doormat?

Could you tell me?  Because I would really like to know.

So, I guess I should, like, post something? Really? Ya sure?

Well, I’ve been sick all week, and I’ve been a colossal wuss about it. It’s just a cold, but I used to get little colds and sniffles and what-have-yous every couple months or something, so I could usually handle them pretty well. But it occurred to me that I haven’t even had so much as a bad allergy attack in… goodness, 6 months or so? Going veggie I’m sure was a contributing factor. So go vegan, boys and girls, so you can handle all illnesses like a big whiny girl!

My one venture was to see Mirah at the Echo last night with my friend Andy, and Mirah was amazing, though her set was a little short (though she closed out the show with “Cold Cold Water” which is my absolute favorite song of hers. But I finally bought my copy of “(a)spera”, drank some, and enjoyed the venue, and the company of my friend who is far cooler than me. It reminded me how much I love seeing live shows of artists I REALLY enjoy, and made me realize how long it had been since I’d seen a concert (to which the answer is end of June of last year.)

On Saturday, I went out to Manhattan Beach, ate some AWESOME blueberry cheesecake (vegan)

Oh yes. I want an entire one of these for my birthday.

… and got to spend the day with my Christopher and his Alexander. Such actors:

yes, there WAS an actual costume change. Seriously, I wasn’t being charmingly self deprecating. We are gigantic nerds.

Other than that, life hasn’t been much more than resume sending while the first season of Veronica Mars plays in the background, kleenex, homemade veggie soup (why on earth have I not been doing that all along), and quality time with this one:

She’s getting fat. I’ve been trying to take her on runs. She waddles a bit now, though, sadly, it only makes her more cute.

Anyways, I’ve been a bit down in the dumps the last couple days, so I’m gonna curl up in bed, down a couple Tylenol PM, and try again tomorrow, which starts off with YOGA! My goal is to be able to do a full lotus position in a couple months.

For those who don’t do yoga, it’s harder than it looks. Trust me.

Namaste.

Besides my birthday, April always seems to be a busy month.  True to form, I can’t think of any examples.  But April is when a million things seem to happen.  I always have 4 friends that all have shows opening that month.  For 3 years, it was my anniversary with my boyfriend.  The weather gets warmer, so people seem to have more social gatherings and get togethers.  This April is shaping up to be similar:

April 4th and 5th – This weekend alone I have my first yoga class since the accident (SO freakin’ excited.  I missed it more than I ever thought I would.), my surrogate family’s monthly potluck in Manhattan Beach (who I haven’t seen since before the accident), my first meeting with the book club I joined (this month we are reading Madame Bovary, and I need to shake a tail feather if I’m gonna finish it in time for the meeting.), and then possibly the Rose Bowl swap meet (just because the RBSM is awesome).  Normally I would be bummed that the majority of my friends are going out of town to different places this weekend, but what do I care, I’m a busy lil’ bee!

April 9th – Mirah in concert at The Echo in Los Angeles.

Mirah has been my new obsession for the last couple months, and she is playing the Echo in LA next Thursday. Her new album “(a)spera” is phenomenal and haunting (my favorite song on the album is “Generosity”), and if I haven’t bought it by then, I’ll probably buy a copy at the show. Also, I’ve never been to the Echo before, OR to a concert by myself , so it should be quite an adventure.

April 25th – Veggie Pride Parade

As much as I like to spread the word about the benefits of veggie-ism, I’m mainly going for the fun and all the yummy vegan food.  And ANIMALS!

http://veggiepridela.com/

April 26th – Los Angeles Festival of Books

A celebration of books, ya’ll.  SERIOUSLY.  Happy Birthday to me, much?  I’ve never been, so don’t know entirely what to expect.  I know there are book signings, and cooking demonstrations, and poetry readings, and a ton of stuff for kids (maybe some year I’ll be able to take my little brothers).  And BOOKS.  Lotsa books.  My wallet will be hurting by the end of the day.  And I get to attend with my best friend who happens to BE a librarian, and will geek out with me.

April 29th – Allison is 24. Oy.

Nothing too spectacular going on this day, no festivities or parties planned.  This year is gonna be low key.  But, if nothing else, birthdays are the one day a year when everyone has to be just a little bit sweeter towards you, and you are free to almost whatever you would like. It’s a chance for you to hear from your loved ones that they are genuinely happy you were born.

All I want this year is a vegan cheesecake.  And maybe to be able to replace my glasses.

In addition to all of these events, there are (hopefully) trips to the beach, dinner with friends (Haley, I’m lookin’ at you, kid.), my best friend Elaine’s final show at college, a trip to the zoo, and other activities.  Spring is the time for adventures, friend, sun, and cute sundresses

Additionally, I am staying optimistic that this will be the month I find a job.  I already (knock on wood) have a place to live lined up, all that’s waiting on it is a regular paycheck.

April is gonna rock.