Ma Vie en Austin.
So the last couple of weeks have been much better than they were the first few weeks i was in that god-forsaken place.
My friend Kat that lives in San Antonio came up two weekends ago with a friend from college and the three of us went to 6th street. 6th st is supposed to be Austin's version of Bourbon but it's more like Bealle St (i think i mis spelled that) in Memphis or there's a street in Louisville or even Pleasure Island at Disney World. It was nice-- much cleaner than Bourbon but its all UT people.
The next day we went with my current roomate Ginny to a cave. It was pretty cool. There's this place called Inner Space Cavern (just like the one i went to a year and a half ago with Stephanie in Kentucky) but its still really cool. I recomend anyone go check out a real live cave if you get the chance.
Last weekend Ginny and i went with some people from work out to Lake Travis. We rented a boat and went crusing along. Would have been a lot of fun except..... After about two hours out there of just riding and drinking wine coolers, we all had to pee. So we pulled over and figured we could just go in the bushes. Well there was a tube we were pulling because a couple of them went tubing, and we were using that as a bridge to get to land. Two of the other girls stepped on it and then to the shore just fine......Taryn has NO balance though and as soon as i stepped onto the tube, i fell in the lake! I spent the rest of the day soaking wet and freezing. It was worth it to get to pee though.
This Thursday i took off half a day to go down to San Antonio. Work is driving me insane with all the newbies and everything so i was very ready for a mini-break. Tommy was in S.A. on buisness so i got to spend the afternoon with him and then Kat came and met up with us that night. So nice to see MY friends and not have to hang out with the subsitute friends i've made.
Yesterday i drove to Baton Rouge to see Mickey. Saw a couple of other people in BR and then Becca came up for the Mollys. It had been almost three months since we'd seen them play-- was starting to have definate withdrawls.
They of course were amazing but the atmosphere sucked.
I've come to the conclusion that i am a major snob and that i really don't care. There are things i love and things i hate. Texas, for instance, while being a nice place for many people, is not my thing. Something else though that many people seem to really like that i am just NOT a fan-- LSU.
The concert was at the Varsity, this bar in BR. And 98% of the crowd was lsu people. What's crazy is that i felt just as out of place there as i did with the UT people on 6th street. Maybe i should have went to a bigger college...
At any rate..... i am currently 'home'. I feel like i'm in Back to the Future part 2 though. Its home but its like this alternate universe type place. Where's a flux capasitor when you need it??
Everything is so crowded and there's signs for stuff everywhere posting what's open and what's not, etc. Its just sorta crazy.
I'm going later today to get a "new" car. My 94 Cavilier that i've had for the last two years or so since i flipped my Camry in the ditch, is pretty much on its deathbed. So my dad found me another Camry. Its a 98 and it belongs to my aunt's neighbor. I've never seen it but i've agreed to buy it. Not smart. Hope it doesn't suck.
Going back to icky texas on sunday. Hopefully only for a few weeks though. I have every intention of being outta there by thanksgiving. Not sure where i'm gonna go though. My roomate (becca)'s mom has been subleting our apt plus i'd still have to pay rent at the place with ginny in austin. Troubles of two places to live will be over soon, though. Both leases are up in Decemeber. Back to square one then. I really don't know what i'm going to do.
But i'll figure something out.... i always do.

Rednecks and Mexicans.
I spent this weekend down in San Antonio visiting with Stephanie and Kat. Hanging out with them was nice because i don't get to see them often, the activities however were somewhat of a culture shock.
Saturday i went to Six Flags- Fiesta Texas (Steph works there). Kat came and met up with me when she could and it was pretty fun. So far, so good. Later that night though, the three of us along with a few of Stephanie's friends from work went to a bar called Midnight Rodeo. Yeah. The name pretty much says it. Hicktown-USA. It was incredible. It was a pretty big place with this oval shaped dance floor in the middle and people were dancing around it like it was a skating rink. I of course vowed not to 'two-step' but somehow got suckered into it. First with one of Steph's guy friends- that poor guy! I kept stepping on his feet and then i kept losing my shoes (note to self, sandles are not good country dancing shoes) so he was tripping on them. Well i finally after a few spins around mastered the one-two-three rhythm (i think its the waltz) albeit, moving my lips as i counted the whole time. A little while later though i'm sitting at the bar nursing my tequilla sunrise when a one armed cowboy asks me to dance (he had two arms but one of them was in a sling- i didn't ask him how come.) I tried telling him i was bad at it- to date, the thing i was most bad at in the world was laser tag... i think if possible, i might be worse at country dancing. The one armed cowboy insisted i dance with him, though. I was so worried i'd hit his bum arm that i kept knocking his hat off (very strange dancing with a guy with a wide brimmed hat). Other than that though, it was easier dancing with him than guys with both arms. I was more free. I kind of just did whatever i wanted because he wasn't doing a very good job of leading. I think that's my new thing now. I'm going to start looking for guys with only one arm- that way i can feel like i'm a good dancer.
Yesterday Steph had to work again so Kat and i went downtown. We ended up at a Mexican flea market. It was very colorful. There was lots of music (that i didn't understand) and crafts and food and people. There were a lot of people down there. I was definatley the minority of those people, though. Kat speaks Spanish and so when she ordered something it cost her $2. I ordered the exact same thing and they charged me $3. I did get a cool necklace though.
All in all, crazy weekend. Luckily though both places had the same wonderful thing in common- $2 margaritas! :)

My friend Beth has a quote up on her blog from "Garden State" (awesome movie incidently) that i really took heart to when i read it recently: "Maybe that's all a family is, a group of people who miss the same imaginary place."
We went into the office today (ironically my first day back was on Labor Day) and there were 12 of us. We met in the confrence room of this rental space they have and we talked 'game strategy'. They're talking about staying here for 6 months! I'd have to get an apartment and actually live here. I don't know why that's such a big deal to me- i've lived other places before but besides for the fact that i just absolutely hate Texas, this seems different. Its not a controlled experience, not really anyway. When i went away to college, i knew i'd be in Natchitoches for 8 semsters. The semester with Disney had me in Orlando for a set period of time as did my summer in Maine at the camp. Even all my stuff with the airline was on time limits and i could fly into New Orleans as often as i wanted. Here i have no control. I don't have my car, i don't know my way around...i feel lost. Its' okay, i mean i'm not all depressed and all. I'm lucky actually compared to most Katrina victims but it just doesn't feel right being here- even if there are friends of mine from work here. Maybe it will turn out good, though. We all went out to lunch today at this barbeque place called Ruby's, it was very good. And i haven't been downtown yet, i'm sure there's lots of theatres and stuff down there. Besides, i don't exactly have a choice.
My life in New Orleans was predictable. I went to work every day from 9-6 plus three nights a week i was delivering pizza. Most of my free time was spent with Becca and Tommy and lately Matt and Nick- which was fine but predictable. I was like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, resentful of the boring life i was living, unable to appreciate how lucky i was. And here i am, live and in technicolor (sans the yellow brick road and annoying little dog) and while i'm all about enjoying to adventure that lies ahead, i sure hope there's a pair of ruby slippers waiting for me at the end...

The lost city of New Orleans....
I guess i now know what it must have been like to have been part of the underwater world of Atlantis. I don't feel homeless. Homeless people can rome the streets of a house they once had. They are not 'homeless' just 'houseless'. I am the exact opposite because i have a perfectly good house (well maybe) i just can't get to it.
My family left my cousin's yesterday to drive up to Dallas to stay with my great aunt Betty and my dad's cousin Rick. I stayed at my cousin BJs an extra day though because Barrister called... My cousin's hot roomate took me to the Houston airport today to fly out to Austin for work. Evidently the austin office is semi-functional and they're trying to get the company up and running so they wanted me here. Kimber (the former bridezilla) is here with her now husband who works for barrister as is a few other people from work. They have us staying in an extended stay inn for now and as soon as they can get the server up and running, they're going to put us to work. Its kinda crazy. The company i work for wasn't the most organized before so i'm very interested to see how all this will play out. I don't know if they plan on going back to N.O. ever but they at least want to stick it out here 3 or 4 weeks. I just wish i could go back to check on my apt, get some of my stuff, get my car, etc. but i don't i'll be able. A couple of the guys from work managed to make it back into Harahan to get some of the equipment and they said they got pulled over multiple times, each by cops with guns in their faces. They said its horrible- dead bodies on the sides of the road and everything.... .ewwwwww
All i know is that i better get a serious raise if they expect me to stay here. Because it would take a lot for me to stay in Texas of all places....

Getting the hell out of Dodge.....
So here i am stuck in Texas of all places.... Houston- my cousin lives here and his gf works for one of the hotels out by the airport. My whole family practically is here, its kinda nuts. Hurricane Katrina wasn't THE BIG ONE that it could have been- a cat 5 hitting N.O. directly would have leveled it completely but looking at CNN, it still looks pretty bad.
As far as i know, all of my family and friends are alright and from what i understand my apartment should be in decent shape because that part of the city was relatively spared. We're not sure when we can go home, though. New Orleans is under martial law and they're not letting anyone in yet because of all the flooding, etc. I'd imagine the water and debris will be cleaned up in the next couple of days, the next problem though is the lack of power. They're saying it could be weeks before the electricity comes back on. We have extended family up in Dallas so we might drive up there if we have to...
This whole thing was so last minute though. Friday night i went to the Saints game after work and when i went Saturday afternoon to my parents' house to do laundry i was surprised to find them packing to leave. They talked me into going with them of course but as someone who doesn't pay much attention to the news really, i didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal. I have like three outfits with me and that's about it. Everyone has been very generous though. Stephanie and Kat offered for me and whoever to come stay with them in San Antonio, as did Robin in Shreveport and a few others.... i think i'm stuck with the fam, though. I may go insane.
Anyway.... my cell can't receive calls but i can get text messages and i have periodic access to the internet.
If anyone actually still reads this little blog of mine..... if you are from n.o., i hope you are okay. if not, good.
Ohh.... and i ended up getting a stage managing position with the Actor's Theatre of New Orleans..... hope the theatre is still there....

Use it or Lose it.
So my theatrical career has pretty much been at a standstill these last several months. After the rejections of Memphis and St Louis plus the stress of the stupid office job, i had kind of lost the desire to perform.
Lately that desire has come back some, though. I'm not ready to move to New York and try to cut it professionally or anything yet but i do miss being involved. I've been buying showtune soundtracks and going to see really bad community theatre. I even concidered directing. There's this theatre i used to do shows at what seems like a hundred years ago that i want to try to put on a show. Still may happen but no immediate plans. I've also had a few auditions. One was for Rivertown- it BLEW!! The piano was playing one song, i was singing another-- it was horrible. Its not quite like riding a bike where you never forget how. I'm out of practice. I suck now. Gradually it comes back, though. I had another audition yesterday for Actor's Theatre of New Orleans. I'm not sure there's a role for me in the show they're doing but the audition went much better- kind of like languages. Part of it always stays with you if you just get back into the swing.
Otherwise in Taryn world.... (i haven't updated this blog in months) things are pretty much the same as they were in April, though. Barrister (the stupid office job) is slowly draining the life out of me. It feels like i live there and its starting to affect my personal life- even when i'm not there i think about all the stuff i'm going to have to go back to. I dunno, i like most of the people i work with, i like being in charge, i like knowing my job backwards and forwards but i do not like all the stress that is involved with this. I don't like the carry over. With Dominos for instance (which i am still working a few nights a week to pick up extra cash) no matter how busy you are on any give night, by the time you come in the next day you get to start fresh. With Barrister, that's not the case. If i leave early, all of the work that's still there is going to pile up. I think i need to have a job that has closure. Unfortunatly no immediate plans of getting a new job. I am planning on getting a new car though. Probably either a Nissan Sentra or a Toyota Corolla.
Otherwise.... same ol same ol. Hanging out with friends, we've seen a lot of movies lately for some reason. My life is kind of boring. I'm not complaining though. For so long i was going at hyperspeed (namely for the 8 months i was with the airline) that i'm willing to invest a solid year of being the most uninteresting individual on the planet just to unwind. Soon though i'm going to need something else. Rebecca and i made a pact that if nothing extra ordinary happens in the next few months, we'll pack up and go work for the cruiseline. I don't know if i need anything else that extreme but we'll see...

How to Succeed in Buisness Without Really Trying...
So i got a promotion. For months i was an account rep for this one residential account. Then i started doing replacements for all of the residential accounts (a total nightmare- its what happens when we can't fix the computer, we have to replace it. Only its a long, tedious process and none of the clients are terribly happy by the time you speak with them...)
Last week though, i got pulled off replacements (yes!!) to start training on a different residential account. The girl who runs that account is pregnant and when she leaves, i'm taking it over. They had mentioned it to me a while back that when she leaves in August for maternity leave that i might get to run it. Only when she started training me, she told me that she's really planning on leaving in the end of May and she's not coming back (her and her husband are moving back to Maine where they're from) and so i get to take it over permenantly. Its kinda cool but its also kind of scary. Its different than what i was working on before in that this warranty company that we deal with covers printers. Printers are a whole other ball game that i don't know how to approach. Whatever, i guess i'll figure it out. I'm just waiting to see what kind of raise i can get. Probably not enough to quit Dominos altogether but maybe enough to at least knock it down to only once or twice a week. Its crazy how this whole office thing has been working out anyway, its so out of character for me, but lately its sorta of suiting me.
I've been trying to expand my horizons anyway, though.
I've started listening to country- not when i'm alone in the car or anything but i've learned to tolerate it anyway. One of my friends listens to it a lot and plus one of the closing managers i work with and so there's now a few songs anyway that i really like- which is weird because i used to really hate it.
I'm also not generally a sci-fi fan but i've started reading "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". So far, so good. Its really funny. The only thing i don't like is all the names- its all these really long words with too many consanants. Why can't the robot from the planet Solarocktov just be called Sam?
So I went to the dentist today (yeah health insurance!) I have five cavaties! I have never had a cavity in my life and now i have five of them. I'm a big wuss too, fillings will not be pleasent for me.
Anyway, i've got this online friend Zach who discovers the most random bands that no one has ever heard of- his most recent discovery that he's passed on to me is Marah (not Carey): www.marah-usa.com
If anyone still reads this thing and has time to let some 'of their stuff download, you should check it out. Its kinda hard to describe the sound but i like it :)

Always a bridesmaid. Never a bride.
So Kim's wedding was today. The pepto fairy lives! It actually wasn't all that bad. We spent most of the day getting ready and drinking chamagne. The ceremony was performed by the groom's dad and thankfully didn't last that long considering after five minutes I couldn't feel the balls of my feet the shoes I was wearing hurt so bad. There were a lot of old people there but the few young people they had were cool so the reception was fun. I hung out the whole time with my best friend growing up- Ashleigh and her boyfriend (who is a dancing nut.)
The bridesmaids had all taken Kim out Friday night for the bachelorette party- we went to Southport Hall to see the greatest 80s tribute band ever..."The Molly Ringwalds." It was a lot of fun. In keeping with the 80s theme yesterday, Tommy, Rebecca and I went and saw "Ferris Buller's Day Off" in the parish. There's just something about watching a John Hughes movie on the big screen....Especially at the Chalmette show....It was really cool though. We're gonna go there to see Rocky Horror in a couple of weeks.
I can't believe Kim is married!!
I was supposed to get spray tanned. I didn't though because I'm still sun burned from last weekend. Rebecca, Tommy and I went to Dallas to watch Becca's dad's race (he's a pro stock race car driver.) I hate Dallas but we had a good time driving around and stuff. We went to a history museum and to the grassy knoll and to a HUGE mall... The race was kinda cool too, the best part I think though was Becca's dad. He came in third but he was so proud of himself. Its hard- being able to focus on your own accomplishment and not the failure of the task. He didn't care that he didn't win, only that he did his best and had a good time. I wish I could be like that with my acting.
Weekend before last Becca, Tommy, Mickey and I went to Biloxi (where I didn't get sunburned ironically.) We actually didn't make it to the beach though because the weather sucked. Tommy and Mickey went to a country concert and Becca and I went to the casino. I lost some money but we played for a while- my favorite was this penny slot machine of the phantom of the opera, I did good with that one. We also played Hawaii Hi Lo for a while which is like a cross between poker and blackjack- kinda weird. I've also decided when I get my own house, my sinks are going to look exactly like the ones in the bathroom at the Beau Rivage. Plus I got a couple of stoners phone numbers, so all in all good weekend :)
My car broke down the other night. I was delivering pizza and all of a sudden the car just killed. I ended up calling a tow truck and my dad and my roomate, etc. After like an hour of being broken down on the side of the road with all kinds of people looking at it and me imagining worst case scenario, it was determined that I had run out of gas. Apparently the gas gage is broken. I felt SO stupid. Oh well, at least I knew how to fix it...

All that glitters is not gold.
So no word from Missoula. And in this case no news is bad news I think. Josh was in town last weekend doing Pinnochio and I got to go see it. It was a cute little show- amazing that they put that on in a week. Part of me thinks it would have really enjoyed doing the tour: I miss traveling, I miss theatre, it would have been a nice challenge and plus there aren't any other immediate acting opportunities and so I'm very much at a loss. Another part of me is sort of relieved though. Something about it just didn't feel right. I've heard great things about the company and Josh speaks highly of it but it didn't quite click with me. I don't think I'm really ready to work with kids like that yet. I still want to perform, I'm too selfish to cultivate young talent.
Lately I've seen the light literally it seems. My roommate and I have been on this light and laser kick. She and Tommy and I had gone a couple of weeks ago to the planetarium in New Orleans for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (by far the closest you'll ever feel to being on acid without actually having to take any). And then this past weekend Becca and I went up to Baton Rouge for Mickey's birthday. We stopped by D-Con to catch the pie auction and then the three of us and Daniel went to Baton Rouge's planetarium to catch U2s light and laser show. It gives you a head ache but it is so cool! Defiantly my recommendation to anyone who's amused by pretty colors (like myself.)
So in response to my extreme money problem, I've taken up delivering pizza again. I'm back at Dominos a few nights a week to make some extra cash. Kinda nice- I worked the last two nights and pulled in like $70 for not even working that long so that's cool.
Bridezilla had a lingerie party this weekend. It was so lame- a bunch of people sitting around watching Kim open up nightgowns, etc that she is never actually going to wear. I, myself, got her some candles- I've known Kim since she was like 8, the idea of buying her sex clothes is just way too weird!
:)

Meet me in St Louis!
So Mickey and I left at 3am on Thursday to drive up there (it was a ten hour drive.) Got to see some of the city that evening, though. Its pretty nice- other than the fact that the weather absolutely sucks, I could see myself living in that part of the country. The arch was kinda cool, although we got so lost trying to get back to our hotel room that we spent two hours driving around I-270 before we realized it made a loop. Things in St Louis just aren't very linear.
Friday morning was the audition. It went alright- I played Lady Mac and although I went over time, it was a pretty good performance if I do say so myself. I got a call back for Missoula Children's Theatre in Montana. My friend Josh is touring with them now and seems to really like it. Its not really what I wanted- I was looking for a resident theatre that I could do shows for all audiences. This, however, is a traveling show and its for kids- actually, with kids. It is kind of an educational theatre deal, it would involve going into schools and directing young people. I've done things like that before, in college and at the summer camp plus I obviously have experience living out of a suitcase but this would be for a solid year and I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of commitment. Anyway I haven't been offered the job yet but if I do, we shall see if and what becomes of it.
I do know one thing, I have got to find a way to make some money! I went to the ATM yesterday to try and get $20 and got a receipt shoot out that said "insufficient funds". I'm not good at not spending money though. And its not even like I live extravagantly- I have bills and I like to keep busy.
My roommate's birthday was last weekend, Tommy and I threw her a surprise party at the skating rink. It was a lot of fun actually but I almost forgot how uncoordinated I am.
The next day we went shooting. Our friend Eric owns a couple of handguns (a .45 and 9mm) and there's this army post or something on the north shore that we got to go shoot targets at. Me and real live guns, go figure. Again- so uncoordinated! I was lucky if I even hit the paper much less anywhere near the chest.
This weekend was a weekend of stars. Went to the planetarium, that was cool. Oscars were this weekend, I actually got to see all five films that were nominated. All of them were pretty good, I think I liked "Finding Neverland" the best but it didn't have a shot at winning. 'Million Dollar Baby' I had put off seeing, it just didn't look like something I'd enjoy. I was wrong. I have never cried so hard at a movie ever.
Saturday was Bridezilla's wedding shower. Talk about an event that could totally upstage an Oscar party. It was crazy. This old couple from their church has a lot of money apparently and they had invited 120 ladies to their afternoon soiree. Only a little over half showed up but still, it was chaos. Lucky there is a maid and a matron of honor or else my fingers would have been killing me having to write down all the gifts.
This week I'm just trying to get organized- at work and at home. Fun stuff....

If all the world is a stage then I might be in trouble. So audition didn't go so well- maybe I shouldn't have procrastinated so much. I ended up writing my own monologue- about Bridezilla actually (it was pretty good too if I do say so myself) Thing about summer stock work, though is that its all musicals and Shakespeare. I love to sing but for some reason directors like their performers to sing in particular keys when they do (go figure.) So I think I'm gonna attempt Shakespeare for the next one- which is in St Louis in two weeks incidently.
Memphis wasn't a total bust though- met a couple of cool people, ran into a friend of mine from college, plus I got to go to Graceland.
Stephanie, Rebecca and I went and visited the King's humble dwellings and I've got to say that I defiantly have a new perspective on the man. The house is actually really tacky- it was preserved since the 70s when it was last decorated. His plane was really cool though and so were his cars and the museum of him. Rebecca spent part of the next day while Steph was auditioning, running around looking for Elvis stuff- what we found instead were the Peabody ducks. There's this famous hotel downtown (off of the infamous Beale street) that is home of these ducks that parade around the lobby and up the elevator onto the roof everyday that Becca and I (being the goofy people that we are) ran all around this five star hotel looking for.http://sun.science.wayne.edu/~goldkey/ducks.htm Well we missed them- they're pretty fast for ducks so by the time we found them they were back in their cage. Oh well, at least we can say we 'saw' the Peabody ducks.
Anyway, when the three of us finally made it back to New Orleans (sans fluffy mallards) we had Mickey and Daniel here. Then my friend Kat came down and we all hung out for Mardi Gras. The girls went to Bacchus Sunday night while the boys stayed in and watched the superbowl -it was cool hanging out and stuff but I'm really over the whole mardi gras thing, 23 years of it is enough. Monday night I even got talked into going to the Quarter. Becca's dad has a friend who owns a bar on Bourbon so a bunch of us got to go up on the balcony. It had potential to be really cool- ariel view to all the craziness but I was really sick that night so spent most of the night trying to sleep in a corner. On the plus side, everyone was so tired that we didn't even go out mardi gras day. We watched "Ray" -which I've seen actually. I'm trying to watch all the Oscar noms before the ceremony- so far I've seen three, that one, "the aviator" and "sideways". I'm not sure if "finding neverland" is playing anymore and "million dollar baby" looks stupid but I'll probably try and catch it anyway.
We actually rented an Elvis movie last night. We wanted to get "King Creole" but all Blockbuster had was "Harem Scarem" - it was so lame!!
On the plus side, I actually know somebody on "American Idol". This guy Desmond that I went to NSU with is still on the show- he was a theatre major :) Props to him.
And hi, Nick!

A series of unfortunate events.
The new Jim Carrey movie? Or tag line for my life?
The film incidently wasn't half bad. I took my sister to see it last week for her birthday and was surprised how cute it was.
My life on the other hand, while not being bad exactly, has had well...a series of unfortunate events. Sarah never did write me a monolouge, nor did Jeremy help with my song. The biggest audition of my life is now less than two weeks away and I am horribly unprepared (not that i blame them, its totally my own fault.)
Things at work have been really stressful. Much more so than a boring office job should be. Ever since the new year really i've been gradually doing more and more work that should be manager stuff- which i don't mind, its cool that they think me capable and its nice to have a variety of stuff so i don't fall asleep from boredom but that's not the point. If i'm going to be doing the same work as a manager then i should be getting paid like a manager. Three month mark is coming up soon, i really hope i get a raise.
So i finally got into it with bridezilla. My friend Kim's wedding has become this event of monsturous proportions (and its still two and a half months away) I don't feel like i'm in a wedding, i feel like i'm in an army (Barbie Boot Camp all over again-- this time complete will all the lace and frills.) Its bad enough i am being forced to wear the ugliest dress i have ever seen, am going to get the hair all puffed up and toes peticured and even (reluctently) agreed to the spray tan that she has made us all an appt to get but the place i drew the line at was shoes. I don't care how ugly they are (they would be out of place if they weren't) but i need something that i can walk in- even though its not my wedding, i'd still prefer to not roll down the isle (ug, i'd look like a big bundle of pink frosting). After arguing about it for almost half an hour, i finally convinced her to let me go shopping with her. Little did i know, she already had them picked out. They're actually not that bad- well they wouldn't be if they didn't have a four inch heel and weren't pepto pink. I guess compromise was just a dumb idea to present before a bride. I am never getting married. And if i do, i vow to not make poor unasuming women who i call my friends wear anything that looks like a hooker version of little bo peep.

I used to really believe in fate. There's just something comforting about knowing that things happen for a reason and that if something is meant to be then it will be. For a while though, i stopped believing. I liked the 'comfort' of knowing that i was in charge of my own destiny. Now all i know is that we are responsible for our own choices but certain things are out of our control. Take the Saints for instance, they played a really good game recently and even won but due to factors beyond their control, they still didn't have a shot at the playoffs. Life can be a lot like that sometimes.
Lately i've been distracted. At the risk of getting overly philisophical, i guess that's all life is- a sequence of distractions but this past week or so (or should i say year since technically its the same) its really been bad. I have the biggest audition of my life coming up in less than a month and i have done no preparation. That is about to change. I got some new headshots taken recently- good pictures but printed terribly dark, nothing i can do unfortunatly. I just finished updating my resume tonite and i'm going to go to kinkos to get it printed on the back of the headshots and have them all ready. I have a friend named Sarah who is a writer and is getting me a 45 second monolouge and my friend Jeremy is going to help me with my music (i've decided to sing--pray for me!) The only thing that sucks is that this audition is in Memphis and its four days before Mardi Gras- oh well, i'm not all that into it anyway, i just liked the idea of having people from out of town over.
That's what's so crazy about our apartment. We've been here for over three weeks and we've yet to have a single night where it was just Becca and i here. Its not like we're oh-so-popular or anything- its mainly the same couple of people, but still. Our friend Daniel is here alot (last time i was updating my blog he was reading over my shoulder and asked how come i didn't ever mention him, so i promised i'd use his name somehow.) Rebecca and i joke about how re run what seems to be either a bed and breakfast or a whore house. We're not very good proprietors though because the very best a guest could hope for would more than likely be make out and orange juice. Oh well, i guess that's what happens when you try to mix Martha Stewart with Hedi Flice. It is nice to have people around though, exact opposite from all alone in a hotel room when i was flying.
Anyway, i went to a groom shower today, that was kinda weird. I'm in that wedding coming up for my friend Kim and they had a honey-do party for her fiancee. Her brother is one of the groomsmen and so he was supposed to be the one planning it but it was completely taken over by the women. They ran it exactly how they would have a bridal shower except there were more men than women there and the presents were all either tools and stuff or else like playstation games and dvds and other things he might personally like. It was kinda awkward because there were a few guys from work there ( i work with Kim's financee, Ryan and Kim's mom actually.) I really like everybody in my department at work but some of the guys in Ryan's department are dicks. Work incidently is boring the hell out of me. It was kind of fun playing manager during the holidays when everybody was on vacation but its still all crazy because we're playing catch up. There's always plenty to do but for some reason i'm still really bored with it. The HR guy is retiring and i actually emailed the president asking if i could apply for that job. I think they might have already filled it and i'm not actually qualified anyway plus it wouldn't get me out of the office but at least it would be a change. I had a few passengers in the past who have worked in human resources who all really seemed to like it.
I changed the title of my blog again. Thanks Tommy.
I need to figure out how to change the color. I don't like this green. Oh well, not a big deal.
At any rate... if anyone is reading this and they are in or near the new orleans area- my friend Brian is in an improv troupe that performs every friday night at this little hole in the wall bar on Metarie Rd. Candace, Becca, and i went last night and will probably go again at some point if anyone is interested. Also this coming Saturday (a week from today) we (i'm not quite sure who all that includes) are going to see "Seussical" at Six Flags. If anyone who is reading this wants to come, let me know....

Snow on Christmas in New Orleans. Saints still have a shot at the playoffs. Taryn good at an office job. Either there are some serious miracles happening or a sign of the coming apocolypse.
So...i have no money, i just got some crappy headshots taken and my car has started to act retarded. Other than that though, things are good. My apartment has been more like a bed and breakfast lately- there are just always people here! And i've been acting manager all week at work while my manager was on vacation. Its hard when people call up yelling at you and stuff but besides that i've got it down. I just don't want to get pulled into the trap of working all the time. I was supposed to be off tomorrow but i got sucked into going for a couple of hours. Alot of the managers work from home sometimes and if i were to get promoted i wouldn't want to feel obligated to do that.
But anyway, tomorrow is New Year's Eve...guess i'll have to work on a good resolution...

Survivor- the office Outback....
lately its been so crazy at work, people are getting fired left and right. I'm starting to wonder who will be next to get kicked off the island. It won't be me, i'm actually fairly good at what i do believe it or not. I almost in a way wish it would be though. Its starting to get really boring. The only interesting thing that has happened lately is that one of my clients was Joe Horn. I had to call him to set an appointment for a tech to come out and fix his computer. He called me 'baby' -it was funny, all my friends laughed at me. I dunno, its better than alot of office jobs could be i guess, but its still getting to the point to where i wish there were something else.
In terms of 'something else', Becca and i moved into our apartment the other day. We've now slept there the last three nights and have had several visitors so far. Everyone seems to like it- i feel like a proud parent!
Anyway, i had to reinstall the operating system on my computer- that sucked because it wiped out my hard drive but at least it pretty much works now.
Not that we have internet at our apartment yet, we don't have cable or a phone line either but soon we should. Ah...such a nice word- soon.

Moving on up...
so i found an apartment! the plan originally was to get my own apartment in the city but i've now ended up with a roomate in the suburbs. Its kinda expensive, not that big, and like five minutes from my parents' house but otherwise it is perfect!
We're going tonite to sign the lease and we could move in on the 15th (that's next week!)
I know i've had apartments before so this isn't that big of a deal but for some reason i'm just really excited about it.
So much is happening all at once though.
As much as i hate to admit it, i'm actually pretty good at what i do at work. There's like nine of us in my department and everyone is pretty cool so i'm happy for that.
Its good that i have a job because so much money stuff is being thrown at me. I had to get all new tires for my car, i have to get new headshots taken for my auditions next spring, plus with all the moving stuff...its crazy!
The guy who is doing my headshots is this guy that my future roomate Rebecca met. He's a photographer/artist and last weekend i went with him to gallery openings downtown. I've come to the conclusion that of all the museums i've been to (and i've been not only to many around N.O. but also the Met in N.Y. and the Louvre in Paris) that my favorite, is the childeren's museum. I'm just not a cultural type person- a conclusion i came to long ago but still try to go against for some reason. Maybe i'm just too dense to appreciate art. Oh well...i don't care.
I can appreciate alot of other things.... i saw a really great production of "Cymbeline" recently. I went to a concert for Mark Broussard, who is absolutly amazing. I went to the last two Saints games and came to really appreciate the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers (God knows you can't appreciate the Saints)...
You go through periods of time in which nothing productive is happening. This is not one of those times. I really feel like i'm doing things. Nothing of great importance to anyone else but at least i feel like my time is being occupied well and sometimes something as simple as that, can make one feel very good.

She works hard for the money, so hard for it honey...
So one full week of working 9-5 (well 9-6 technically) down and I'm still alive to tell the tale. Maybe I'm being dramatic, I mean millions of people work jobs like that for their whole lives and have absolutely no problems with it. Its not that I think I'm too good for an office job or something, I just feel like its a waste. The job itself isn't too bad. The people are nice and I've caught on pretty quickly to the work- which consists of setting appointments between customers who have purchased extended warranties for their computers and are having hardware trouble and the technicians in their area who will fix them. Its a little more complicated than that, making sure the parts have been ordered and going to the right places and stuff but that's just about the jest of it. Its hard to see progress though because there are always open cases. When I worked for dominos, someone would order a pizza and I could physically see that person's order being placed, pie being baked, and food being delivered- end of story, that's progress. And at the end of the night, everyone who wanted pizza had gotten it. With this job, as soon as one case opens, more are being sent in. Every night I go home and there are still 60 or so cases in my direct attention who need help (and since I STILL don't have internet access on my computer at home, i really sympathize.)
But anyway, at least i have time for a "real life". I went to Natchitoches last weekend (it seems like i go alot, but its always only for like two days at a time.) And this weekend is St Rita Fair! St Rita is where i went to grammar school (in Harahan) and last year was the first time i'd been in like five years at least (Mickey and i went because we were in New Orleans for something for Circle K that weekend i think.) And then i'm going to Baton Rouge tomorrow to go see "Rent" with Becca and Candace and some people. I really like being spontaneous and easy going but its also nice to be able to make plans and for the first time in a long time, i get to do that. Plus its just comforting knowing what city you're going to sleep in in any given night...

Office Space.
So i sold out...i took an office job. My friend Kim (the girl whose wedding i'm in next spring) her mom and fiancee work at this IT company near my parents' house. I'm going to be working there now starting tomorrow. I'm not sure exactly what the job consists of, all i know is there is a computer, a phone, and a cubicle...ug, i think i'm going to die. I've never really had a 9 to 5 type job before. In fact, its been a while since i've had a job where i'd drive to work and just stay there for hours on end (delivering pizza for a year, i'd drive around all the time and then with the whole flight attendant deal, i'd fly around) so this should be interesting for me.
Its sort of ironic that this company does work with getting customers fixed up with technicians to work on their computers since mine at the moment is out of commission. I decided to switch from AOL to Earthlink and when i did my internet explorer apparently went out because now whenever i connect to the internet it says, 'cannot find server. page cannot be displayed'. It sucks, i have spent countless hours on the phone with Earthlink, Microsoft, and Dell- all to no avail so now i'm stuck borrowing other people's computers from time to time because i refuse to do a system reinstall and wipe out my hard drive like they suggested.
Otherwise things have been good these last two weeks. Not having a job was nice- i was home everyday for "The Young and the Restless" but then after a while that fact begins to become a bit depressing, hence the getting a new job thing. Its cool though because i got to do a lot of visiting with friends and stuff these last couple of weeks that i hadn't gotten to do for a while. Its funny, during the month and a half that i lived with my parents between graduation and leaving for flight training i used to go to the Quiznos in Harahan a lot. There was this guy named Keith who worked there and he and i used to trade stories about customers wherever i'd see him (him about customeres he had there and me about Dominos ones). When i told him about my flight attendant job his reaction was very different from anyone else's. Most people i told seemed so happy for me, they thought it sounded like a really great opportunity. I'll never forget what Keith said, "It seems like such a lonely life". Its amazing how profound the words of a lone sandwich maker could be. I don't like to use the word lonley because it seems so pathetic but what i do know is that its really nice to be back in the company of people i know. Why have substitute friends when you can have the real thing?
Anyway, i'm now in a position to be part of a routine. hmm, i guess i'll have to see how that will go...

What goes up, must come down.
There are two types of flight attendants- those who ARE flight attendants and those who WORK AS flight attendants. I was the latter. That doesn't mean that i was any worse at my job than those who WERE IT (i was pretty good actually if i do say so myself) or even that i didn't enjoy what i did (there were aspects that i really did like)- it just means that i was employed in a profession that was holding me back rather than pushing me forward. It was a love it or hate it kind of job i always said and i always thought that i hated it. I'm not sure that that was the case though now in retrospect. For some reason things always seem not as bad when you're remembering them later on. Part of me is going to really miss it- walking through the airport for the last time was definatly bittersweet. But, life goes on and so will i (man, i love cheesy sayings!)
Everyone keeps asking me now though, "what are you going to do now?" I hate that question! I got it alot right before i graduated college (people tend to worry about you when you don't major in anything useful) but i figured something out (granted it didn't pan out obviously but it was something, and i definatly don't regret it by any means.) Only now i'm in that position again and unfortunatly, "ablility to serve coffee in turbulence" isn't a marketable skill. I will figure SOMETHING out though....i always do.

Krakosia!
Life always seems to have a way of catching up to you. My set up of living in an apartment rent free seemed too good to be true- that's because it was. I ran into the landlady (an Austrian or Hungarian or something lady) who said she'd send her uncle up to talk to me (he was the guy who actually runs the place). I felt like Jodie Foster in "Panic Room" (except that technically I was the intruder.) I couldn't breathe as i heard the knock on the door and then the key in the lock. I sat as still and quiet as i could inside the room, hoping that he'd just go away and then what felt like forever, he finally did- for some reason he couldn't get the lock open! I was lucky, too lucky, and i'm not a usually lucky person. The next day i left and i left the keys there too. Only now i'm like Tom Hanks in "the Terminal", living at the airport. The advantage i have over his character though is that i have access to a crew lounge. There's a TV and a bunch of recliners and stuff so its not that bad. Another advantage is that you make friends that way, unfortunatly some seem to think that you are a prostitute...
On any given night four or five people generally sleep there (FAs and pilots). Sat night i stayed up watching SNL with this captain named Dan. He was real nice and like me, on reserve without a crashpad. This guy was getting flown even less than me, though because Sun night i got an overnight and he didn't. Well Mon night i was back and he was still there. He said he was going to go get a hotel room that night though and he asked me if i wanted to come with. I am so damn naieve! I was fully prepared to pay half for our room that i specifically requested have two double beds but he said don't worry about it..hmm. Well everything was fine- we were watching TV from our respective beds when he makes some lame reference to being cold and comes and climbs in my bed! It wouldn't have been so bad just cuddling or whatever but this guy is 43! My dad is only like 46, that is so gross! Plus i have a hangup about age anyway. I mean why is it that men tend to go for younger women anyway? I get aggravated with my guy friends who are 22 and 23 who go after 18 year olds, what would possess this man to try and hook up with a girl 20 years younger? Dan got what was coming to him, though. We didn't go to sleep until like 2:30, at 4:30 crew scheduling finally called him and gave him a trip. He payed all this money for a hotel room he got to sleep in for two hours and not even get any action! Hmm...i guess i'm not a very good prostitute.
I do need to find a new job, though. I have six more days of being an air waitress! I think i'll miss some of the people i work with, things about Chicago, most of what goes into the actual flying part of my job. I'll be so happy to be through with this rediculous schedule though and the BS i have to deal with thanks to my screw-you company.
Hmm...i can feel a chapter coming to an end...