Happy Friday!

How's it going, internet? Doing anything fun this weekend? I've got no plans other than working on the script, cleaning house and writing a review for my new job. Damn! Are we glad it's Friday, or what?

So, what's new? That film reviewer job I just told you about has hit a bit of a snag. They still need contributors but have ceased physical publication. It's now strictly a web based magazine. Most of my reviews were going to end up online anyway, so from my perspective it really doesn't matter. But, it's sad to see a locally based national publication give up the print ghost. At least we'll always have you, internet.

My day job is still crappy. Even more so now that a good friend of mine has left for greener pastures. She found out about the offer on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, the gig starts next MONDAY. Nice of them to give her enough time to leave on good terms with two weeks notice. But she had to take it, since she's moving from business to a new career in teaching and this job will have her as a TA at her old grade school.

Here's the thing, since our boss rode her ass everyday about things real, imagined, big and small anyway...this was especially not good news. He became so angry that he actually turned PURPLE. In general, I understand disliking the fact that she didn't give more notice, but the situation was explained to him. It's not really her fault. He's still all pissed that she "was selfish and put herself ahead of the organization." Fuck, man! Who the hell else is going to look out for her future if she doesn't? He even sent an email around the day after she left (she was planning to finish the week here but he told her to get her shit and go by the end of business Wednesday) blasting her publicly for leaving when everyone already knew what happened. He just needed to get that last word in. ASS JACKAL.

And he wears Cosby Sweaters.

All in all, though? It makes for an excellently interesting, maddening, exciting work environment. Drama, thy name is THE WORKPLACE.

Speaking of Weird...

You know how the boyfriend is currently pre-employed? Well he was finally forced into telling his parents about the situation last week. I understood him being reluctant to give up such depressing info, but when you go from talking about work A LOT to never saying a peep about it, well, the ma and the pa are going to notice.

He had a long, frustrating conversation with them on Wednesday night. We were in Quick Trip, actually, and he elected to continue talking in the store, which trapped us there for about a half hour as he fumed silently while my black cherry slush got melty. His issues? The parents think they have to know all the details of his life even though he's out of their house and 35-years-old, they have made him feel guilty about career missteps in the past, they seem to not quite trust him to handle his life (especially where money and naughty pre-marital sex are concerned), they lob woulda-shoulda-coulda at him when he needs support, and he hates lying but feels bad enough already without their needling so he muddies his conscience to keep it at bay.

Oh yeah. Those issues? Not really with the whole parental unit. They are just with his mom. Oy vey, y'all.

The result of that talk was him agreeing to us having dinner with them the next evening. Which was fine and all, except how was he going to keep their work questions at bay FACE TO FACE? It was impossible enough over the phone. Long story short, he didn't have to. I came in the next day while a tense conversation with the ma was going on. Turns out she called him and got right to the point, asking if he wasn't working anymore. He couldn't take all the lying so he gave it up (after three valiant efforts to retain the secrecy).

I have to say, THANK FUCKING GOD. Do you have any idea, internet, how difficult it was to try to bolster him all alone? How deeply hard it was to keep my mouth shut about his pre-employed status to everyone? How sad, angry and depressed I've seen him? I mean, I love him, and I'm helping him as much as I can, but I can only do so much. It's going to be so much easier for him now that his parents know and ma's not freaking out. Again, I really get that he wanted to just bring up the whole mess after getting another good gig, but it's been over a month. It was becoming obvious to me that they were going to figure things out. And THANK YOU, THANK YOU JESUS that they didn't lay any guilt trips on him or supply him with solutions he's thought of and tried a hundred times over already. HE WOULD HAVE EXPLODED. Right there at dinner. In the Steak-n-Shake. Messy, messy, messy.

And the weird part? His mom proposed to me. I guess she was so impressed with my stick-to-itiveness in regards to his pre-employment that she felt the need to bring up marriage. I said yes. It would have been rude to ignore her, right?

Movie Night

We...Are movie people. We rent them. We buy them. We go out to see them.

The boy and I even have similar tastes. All your sci-fi, thriller, dramatic stuff gets us lined up quickly. There's only one genre where we sometimes differ. Comedy. When it comes time to hit the old dvd collection for mindless entertainment we always have the same issue.

"There must be something you want to see. Pick anything."

I pick something, and then...

"Well, I just saw that not too long ago. What about XYZ?

"I have NEVER wanted to see that movie."

"Oh, come on. It's fun."

"What about this?"

"Didn't we just see that?"

"You didn't see it with me."

"Oh..."

This is where I cross my eyes and make the boy promise that if at any moment I feel myself actually getting angry because the movie's so unfunny, we will stop watching immediately. He always agrees. I always regret saying:

"Fine! Okay!"

Our pattern has led to me being subjected to Dumb and Dumber, Charlie's Angels, Fun With Dick and Jane, Cabin Boy and attempts to trap me inside with the Ace Venturas. I cannot believe anyone anywhere liked that crap. I laughed a total of one time during Dumb and Dumber while the boy guffawed until he cried.

Boys...Are...Weird