My Rantings and Other Non-Sensical Thoughts: 03/01/2003

I won't be updating this site anymore. I have a new one, although this one will stay up & open in case anyone wants to read it. My new site can be found here

Interesting read about the upcoming war with Iraq & what some of Saddam's tactics may be.

Thanks for all the kinds words about the new job. I hope I like it too. Some people started their training today (Kendra & Landon) and I've found out so far that the corporate office downtown has a free gym we can all use (me, in a gym? It could happen), a salon & a dry cleaners. The call center in Addison has free sodas for everyone, and it's really cool. We also get employee discounts on cell phones. So I'm definitely getting hooked up with that. I need one now that I have friends. lol.

The pictures from Friday night are developed. There's only one penis picture that came out (Yum, Dave). Oh well, married women don't need to be looking at friends penis's anyway.

Patty has an interview with Vartec tomorrow at 2. I'm meeting her at 3 and she, Dave & I are going to a late lunch/early dinner. It's so nice to be on vacation. ;)

Well, the last 2 days have been a whirlwind. Thursday I had my 2 interviews. Both went really well. I spent the rest of my day cleaning out my desk, crying, and saying goodbye to the people who've mattered so much to me the last few years. Thursday afternoon, Marlena from Synhrgy called me and they offered me a position. 35k a year - 5k less than I was currently making. I didn't know what to do since I hadn't heard back from VarTec so I just accepted. I felt slightly relieved, but not happy. I got home & was ready for bed by 9pm.

Friday I got to the site around 10:30. The job fair was 9-12 and I wasn't worried about that since I had a job. I hung out with Patty & Dave Rafferty & Landon & Kendra - everyone I was going to miss. They had catered Colter's bbq for lunch. They had free things to give away - pens & things that I guess they found on desks - calculators, extra gifts from the Christmas party the last 2 years - extra tshirts that they had. The asset sale started at 2. There were about 150 people in line (at least!). I hate to say, but I cut in front of about 130 of them. I went to find Kendra - she was towards the front of the line - so I could tell her that VarTec had just called me and offered me a position making my SAME Earthlink salary!!!! AND I don't have to report unti the 24th, so I have a week off. WOO HOO - after I heard from them, I was very, very happy. I got a P3 600 MHZ box for $95 and a 19 inch monitor for $35. They loaded it into my car & Kendra and I were of to the Turkey for drinking (The Wild Turkey is a bar near work - it was the EarthLink bar).

The bar trip started off slow. Shawn & Lisa (my manager and his wife), Kendra & Landon, me, Clay (coworker) and a few others were there. Carter (VP of Customer Service) came and we began the drinking. I think I had 1 goldschlager, 7 buttery nipples, 2 washington apples. I was drunk. Carter left about 3 hours later - he had to catch a flight back to Atlanta. I think the bartab that he paid was $960. The party REALLY got started when he left. Let me just say this - I saw more tits, ass & dicks than I ever thought I would. EVERYONE was drunk as all hell. Shawn showed his penis a few times, his ass, Lisa's tits. Dave showed his penis - unintentionally - Lisa pulled his boxers down. Denzil - one of the reps showed everything -- stripped BUTT NAKED on the deck. It was great.

At the end, the tears were flowing. Veronica got me going since she's not going to VarTec. We headed to IHOP & that's it. That was our night.

I GOT A JOB! SAME SALARY! WOO HOO *happy dance*

A 4 update-day! How lucky are you guys?

Not only do I have an interview at 11:45 with Vartec tomorrow, I have to go to Synhrgy again at 10. According to Marlena, they want to meet with me one more time to decide which team to place me on. Sounds like I got the job, but I won't believe it till they say the words. Everyone knows Synhrgy is my 2nd choice now, but until Vartec offers me something, I'll accept Synhrgy.

Did you hear about this?:

Former Miami Vice star Don Johnson has been caught up in a money-laundering investigation by German Customs officials.

Johnson, 53, was stopped last year while travelling from Switzerland to Germany and officials discovered almost $5 billion in share certificates, cheques, credit notes and bonds in his possession.

Officials in Germany have not filed any charges, but have passed on the information of the discovery to US authorities.

Leonard Bierl of German Customs CID explained why US officials were informed: "That wouldn't have happened unless we were suspicious about why he had all these stocks and shares on him."

The papers were found in a suitcase that the Nash Bridges star was carrying from Zurich.

When he was stopped on November 6 last year, Johnson claimed he needed the documents for a business deal.

The television star - once married to Hollywood actress Melanie Griffiths - is already in hot water in the US.

He is being sued in California for $1 million dollars after allegedly failing to repay a bank loan.

A spokesman for the star confirmed that Johnson had been stopped at the German border, but denied he had $5 billion of stocks and shares on him at the time.
***********************
I have a few questions:
1. Why are we just now hearing about this if it happened in November?
2. What kind of car could you possibly buy for 5 BILLION dollars (I've also heard it was 8 billion).

Something is strange in Denmark. (I know I fucked up the quote, but it's something like that).

WOW!

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) -- Salt Lake City police said Wednesday that missing teenager Elizabeth Smart was found alive in a Salt Lake City suburb earlier Wednesday, and her uncle told CNN she has been reunited with her family.

"We just believe in miracles and thank God she's alive," Tom Smart told CNN by telephone.

He said the reunion involved her immediate family.

Sandy City Police Sgt. Michelle Burnette said two people called police with a tip that led them to a certain address.

"Two separate women called in and said they thought they had spotted `Emmanuel,"' she said. Emmanuel's real name is Brian David Mitchell. He is a drifter who had once done work on the Smarts' home.

Elizabeth, now 15, was wearing a wig when she was found, The Associated Press reported.

Elizabeth was abducted at gunpoint from her family's 6,600-square-foot Salt Lake City home June 5, 2002, while her parents and four brothers slept. Her younger sister, Mary Katherine, 9, who was in the bedroom with Elizabeth, witnessed the abduction.

The younger sister said she pretended to be asleep and later said the kidnapper had threatened to hurt Elizabeth if she didn't keep quiet.

Last October, Mary Katherine told her parents that "Emmanuel" looked like the man who had taken Elizabeth.

Police earlier had focused on 48-year-old handyman, Richard Ricci, calling him "a possible suspect."

He was later imprisoned for a parole violation stemming from burglary charges related to the Smart family. Ricci died in the Utah State Prison August 30, 2002, when he was taken off life support following a brain hemorrhage three days earlier.

I have an interview with the VP of Customer Operations at Vartec tomorrow. YAY! Hopefully he'll offer me a job on the spot, although I'm sure that's not how these things work. But wishful thinking is always a good thing.

So I'm on my conference call and it's 3:57am!!! The guy running the call was like "Chris & Patty you're from Sales?" and we were like "No, Customer Service." He said, "Oh I should have been more specific. We aren't conducting your test until you go live." Which is 7am. So I GOT UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT FOR NOTHING AT ALL SINCE THE CS TEST ISN'T BEING CONDUCTED UNTIL 7AM!!!!!!!!!!! Do you THINK you should have been more specific you fucking jackass????? GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Big changes at Chrisomalley.net check them out & let me know what you think. I went "animation" crazy - sorry about that.

Wow, my Aunt does *not* look happy. I wouldn't either if I were her. They got their asses handed to them last night by Villanova 50-39. Knocked them out of the Big East Tournament, but they're still likely to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The halftime score was 13-13. Lowest scoring women's college game I've ever seen.

It's strange that before September 11, I didn't know of anyone really with a middle eastern name. Now I recognize several:
Osama Bin Laden (sometimes referred to in print as Usama Bin Laden)
Mohammed Atta
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Mullah Omar
just to name a few. I also know names of towns and cities I'd never previously heard of:

Kabul
Rabat
Islamabad
Peshwar
Kandahar
Karachi

I mean good for me that I am paying attention to the danger around us, but this post is more for the interesting-ness of how Islamic names & towns in other cultures have filled our newscasts and they don't seem so foreign anymore. Maybe it's just me.

Everything is back up at Chrisomalley.net :)

Tom and I went to see Old School last night. It was funny if you like stupid comedies (which I do every now and then). That's pretty much it. Non-eventful weekend, but I needed one of those. Now if I just had a definite job offer, I'd feel much better. All of the sudden, I find Luke Wilson very cute. His brother, Owen is cute too, but I hate his nose. Much in the same way that I hate Tom Cruise's nose. Oh well.

Comments are back. Yay! My website has been moved to a new web hosting company. It was only down for about an hour or so. None of the links work because I don't want to manually upload them & everything they point to, so as soon as Front Page Extensions are enabled, I will have them working again. (Not that anyone looks at it, but if you did, I wanted you to know).

Happy Saturday!

Comments are broke. :( They are broken for the other people I know who use the same script as I do, so for once it's not me. Although I'm glad to see my links are working again. I did have 2 banner ads this morning though, so blogger is still not 100%.

"just let your soul glow...just let it shine through...just let your soul glow...till it's silky smooth!...just let your soul glow!"

haha. chris is going to kill me. love ya, tony.

Since Tony was bugging the shit out of me to post, here you go, Bubby.

Looking around my office, it's hard to believe that next Friday it will all be coming to an end. Wow. Just typing that brought tears to my eyes. This company and the people who work here have been my family for the last 5 1/2 years. It's weird to think it won't be here. I really hope Vartec comes through for us - it would be great to leave here next Friday and tell people we'll see them in a week or so. God, I hope that happens.

You guys know I hate change and this is the biggest change I've gone through in the last 4 years. Bigger than Tom not working here anymore. Bigger than merging with EarthLink. Almost as big as my wedding (but not quite - I *can* separate work from home!).

There's your update. :) Oh yeah - if it turns out we DID capture 2 of Osama's sons, that would be the best! When I heard that on the radio this morning, I actually got chills it made me so happy. So THERE Osama!!!!

Links are messed up again. *sigh*. I give up. Will, I can't add a link to you until the links *already* in my HTML show up like they're supposed to.

I had an interview with Vartec Telecom today. Actually, 2 interviews. They were onsite to interview the CS reps and supervisors for available positions. My 2nd interview was with Janine. She was really easy to talk to. She said I'd know in the next week or two, but reps were told they'd know by Monday or Tuesday so I'm not sure if it was lack of information or if it will take the supervisors longer to find out.

I also called Marlena from Synhrgy to see if she had heard anything. She told me that there were 3 positions. 1 had been filled and I was on the very, very short list for the other 2 positions. I seem to recall she said that is was me and another person on the short list and they were deciding who to put where, but that could have been my imagination. I was so glad to hear I was still on the list I don't think I was focusing on what she said after that. I do know that someone else who had interviewed for the position heard he didn't get it today.

Keep your fingers crossed. Vartec is my first choice, but I'll take Synhrgy if I have to. :)

Damn President Bush for having yet another news conference tonight where he will tell us the same thing he's been saying over & over. WHY does he have to pick Thursday nights- quite possibly the best night on Television? Friends will be pre-empted & it's a new one. I wonder if they'll push their schedule back so we don't miss it, although normally they don't. Will & Grace is a rerun, so why couldn't he start his conference later.

I know it's selfish & shallow to be concerned about missing my favorite TV shows when we're going to go to war, but honestly, he's not going to say anything he didn't say at his news conference last week - except maybe that we're working on a compromise.

What is the world coming to when you can't even go to a mall with a "Peace" shirt on? Have you heard about the guy who got kicked out of a mall in New York because he refused to take off his peace shirt? Read it.

Now I'm not against the war in Iraq. In fact, I'm against a lot of the Hollywood stars who are protesting this war. I guess it's not enough that Saddam has killed his own people, raped his own women, and terrorized his country. If these Hollywood stars are all about peace, why do they have bodyguards? They should just love the psychos trying to get at them. In fact, since Martin Sheen & Susan Sarandon are so interested in loving their fellow man, I think we should all show up at their house for a dinner party. They couldn't turn us away. We're fellow humans. Pfft.

I just think it is *ridiculous* to get thrown out of a mall for wearing a shirt they don't like. It could have been any kind of shirt - Eat shit & die. Elvis lives. I slept with John Lennon. Whatever.

Why we can't find Bin Laden:

Thanks for sending me this, Mel. Great picture! :)

*Sigh* sometimes my picture in the top right corner works, sometimes it doesn't. Stupid blogger.

I called the lady in Houston who is a recruiter for Synhrgy to see if I could give her number to a Tech Support supervisor who has benefits experience. She called me back and left me a voicemail and said that I could certainly do that, and that she talked to the people up here and things "went well" today, so she's not sure how many more spots will be available. That sounds like my interview went well, at least that's what I'm choosing it to mean. :)

HOWEVER, there is possibly another opportunity coming up for me by Monday where I can make my *same* salary and work with people from my current department. If that comes up, I'm taking it without a doubt.

I've never had 2 opportunities at once. Woo-hoo!

Tony was teaching me how to post pictures in my blog. Please ignore the beautiful image below (if you can) :)

I'm really not sure how my 2nd interview went. It was 2 parts. One part was with Customer Service managers from Houston - 2 of them. They asked the dreaded question, "How would you handle an employee situation - say the employee has a body odor problem?" Other than telling them they stink & need to use a bathtub? *sigh* I hate answering that question. I heard myself say that I would go around the situation and as soon as that came out of my mouth I knew it was horrible. They both wrote it down too which makes it worse, I guess. *sigh*. Anyway - I answered the other questions pretty well.

Then I moved on to meeting with the "Workforce managers" who it turns out I would report to if I were hired. This part was fine. I answered all the questions & Dave and Katia were very nice.

They told me originally it would take about an hour for the interview and I promise I was only there about 25 minutes. I hate when it seems my meeting was too short, but I guess the overestimate.

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me.

Ok, that want has passed. I would like another dog, but I think I'd like another shiba Inu. They're hard to find.

I've decided I want another dog and I want to name him Buster.

I ordered Showtime today since my free months ran out. The thing is that I only ordered it so I could continue to watch Queer as Folk. I guess that makes me a true fag hag. That's not such a bad thing though, I guess. I found this from Margaret Cho. It's really long, but insightful. :)

On Being a Fag Hag by Margaret Cho

I am fortunate enough to have been a fag hag for most of my life. A fag hag is a woman who prefers the company of gay men. The marriage of two derogatory terms, fag and hag, symbolizing the union of the world's most popular objects of scorn, homosexual and woman, creates a moniker that most of those who wear it find inoffensive, possibly because it smacks of solidarity.

Some women have come to me urgently expressing their desire for a new name. Countless fruit flies, queen magnets and even a swish dish or two have begged me to reconsider the title of such an important entity. While no woman wants to be thought of as a "hag," you must acknowledge that the gay man in your life is not concerned with your youth and beauty. He wants to know your soul. He loves you for your courage and intellect. Whether you are lovely or plain, you are beautiful to him for these qualities -- and many more.

Similarly, most of the homosexuals I know bristle at the word "fag." It conjures up images of awkward, limp-wristed adolescence, of the taunts and catcalls of bullying jocks who are insecure in their own sexuality, all too willing to lash out to mask their fear.

But when you put these two words together, they seem to cancel each other out. The pain vanishes, and as you know, bees without sting offer only pure honey.
As a teenager, I found myself drawn to the slight, sensitive young men in my theater group, perhaps because they reminded me distantly of my beloved Forbes and Dante. High school was a dangerous place, and my search for sanctuary led me to gay men once again, even if they didn't yet know their own sexual identities. Or maybe they did know and just weren't telling. The only thing that mattered was that we found each other. If you are a gay man, think back on the girl you took to the prom. She was your first fag hag.

I was a loud, fat girl, and saw as my natural companion the fey, lithe boy. We were both scared. Thank God we met.
Growing up, getting older, shedding baby fat for womanly curves, my fag, Berry, watched me burst forth from my fleshy cocoon, and I was suddenly seen by the world as the butterfly he always knew me to be.

I heard his voice get deeper, saw his long limbs become corded with lean muscle. His lips, once hesitant and shy, blossomed sweetly, confident and ready. When we walked down Castro Street together, longing looks would be cast his way, and I saw he was beginning to return them.
We never went home with anyone back in those baby days. We just stayed with each other, watched John Waters movies late into the night, daydreamed while listening to Roxy Music's "Avalon," cut each other's bangs and talked about Madonna and what we'd do when we left school and all the bullshit behind.
Berry cried in my arms after he told his family he was gay, and he let me throw things and break them when I was rejected by my first boyfriend because his friends thought I was too fat.

We sneaked into the gay hustler bars on Polk Street and laughed as the chickens and the chicken hawks cruised each other and ignored us. We dressed each other up and took pictures. When we both got lovers, we weren't jealous. We grew up, but we didn't grow apart. When Berry was gay-bashed on Market Street, greeting me the next morning with a black eye and a smile on his face, he tried to make the best of it, dismissing the whole thing as, "Truly funny, if you really think about it," but I knew that it hurt him more than he could say.

When my parents told me they hated me because I was a failure at everything, Berry baked me a cake, made me a mixed tape and loved me madly.
Berry and I dressed more and more alike as we got older. We told everyone we were brother and sister, but it is almost as if we were closer than that.
We both tended to pick boyfriends who cared little about us, which makes me glad that we had each other to love.
We are friends even now, in what seems like a lifetime later. We grew together, grew apart, then together again. We still love to make dinner together and talk about the days when everything was new and life was so exciting because it was just beginning.

If this relationship sounds familiar to you, it is very likely that you are a fag hag. We are from all walks of life, all classes, all ages, all races; straight, lesbian and somewhere in between. We are as diverse as we are numerous. The common bond that we share is our alliance with gay men, a connection that is both nurturing and powerful, sweet and sour, retail and wholesale.

Although our fag hag experiences vary greatly, there are generalizations that can be made. Fag hags usually make all the plans and see that they are carried out in a manner that pleases both the fag and the hag equally. This is because most of us have a knack at organizing and mobilizing. We are leaders and keep our troops in line.
Fag hags like to be the center of attention. It is ironic that at a gathering of men, coming together for the sole purpose of meeting one other, they will all spend the better part of their evening hanging on the only woman's every word.

Unfortunately, this situation does not last. By the end of the party, a fag hag often finds herself alone in the room, in the midst of the overflowing ashtrays and half-finished drinks, deserted by all her admirers -- who have paired off to admire each other. This brings us to the next fag hag rule of thumb: We always drive ourselves to events, and for the most part, we enjoy going home alone. I suppose it could be looked at as a depressing end to an evening, but I find it joyous. I love to sleep in bed alone, tossing my body in slumber every way I can, waking up without having to kiss some sour mouth or awkwardly realizing I have no idea whom that sour mouth belongs to.
I can carry on with plans I made for brunch without having to consult or bring along the "trick." I don't have to gauge his expression to see whether our drunken episode resulted in a fight and try to gauge his mood. I don't have to dress quietly and duck out the back door or learn a new language. Tricks are always much more trouble than they are worth. That is why, every Halloween, when I am asked "Trick or Treat," I always err on the side of chocolate. Yes, it's true. I do live in paradise.
Fag hags, contrary to the wisdom of popular culture, are not "beards." The term "beards" refers to the complicit relationships between some women and gay men, wherein they pretend, for the "benefit" of family and sometimes employers, that they are a conventional straight couple. This is so that they might enjoy the "status" of being "normal" heterosexuals.

I find this a violation, a travesty and an aberration of the fag hag/fag relationship. However, I do not wish to judge those who find themselves in the kind of predicament that requires such a facade. It is not their fault, but the fault of the ignorance of those around them. In my world, honesty rules above all and the truth helps everyone. So have a beard if you must, but I would prefer that you be clean-shaven.

We fag hags love drama and are skilled thespians on the stage of life. We also crave scandal and gossip. Be warned, we don't keep secrets, we harvest them. Of course, we do know when and where loyalty is required, and in these cases, we are true to our beloved. Bitchiness is always appreciated, and insulting others behind their back is a favorite pastime. This is a way for us to repay the world for the way we are treated. Women and gay men have long been considered second-class citizens by the dominant culture. How do we keep our strength? By talking shit about those who think they can oppress us. Herewith one caveat given me by a particularly elegant and flamboyant gentleman: "Fight fire with flame!" Do not underestimate the power of our wagging tongues. Cross us and you will get burned, not licked.
Most of us like to shop and love to be taken to lunch at a restaurant in a department store. Not the food court, mind you. We are still ladies, regardless of how we behave at times.

I still lobby for a "Fag Hag Day," when we might be shown the gratitude we deserve en masse. We are important. We are the backbone of the gay community and, as such, should be honored! Consider that there are holidays as innocuous as "Secretary's Day" -- with special greeting cards to celebrate them. What might a "Fag Hag Day" card look like? Possibly a photograph of a winsome young man in an evening gown, with a darling bit of verse at the bottom: You have stuck by me now and then,
Even though you know I like men.
We are so close, my sweet fag hag,
Sometimes I think you are me in drag!

Gentle reader, if you wish to join us, I bid you "Welcome" with open arms and an arched eyebrow. Let it be known, however, that this is certainly a profession that chooses you. Many of us did not plan to become fag hags, we just looked around one day and realized that was what we were. Others aspired to greatness, and then greatness materialized around them in the form of a group of cute advertising executives spending Labor Day Weekend on Fire Island.
The fastest way to become a fag hag, if you are so inclined, is to get a job as a makeup artist, but this is not practical or realistic for most. (I do not offer the perfect solutions, only the ones I know work.) Another is to become a grand dame of the stage and screen. For myself, this route has been most rewarding. This way, I can "hag" as many "fags" as I like, and bring to the world this kind of love story that is so common, yet so often overlooked.

Whatever road you take, when you get there, be good to the men in your life and let them take care of you. Know that what you have is precious and holy. Remember, regardless of sexual orientation, men and women will always need each other.

So if you've nothing nice to say, go sit next to the cutest, most elegantly dressed and well-mannered guy at the party. He will appreciate it, I promise.

My Rantings and Other Non-Sensical Thoughts

Thursday, March 20, 2003

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

Monday, March 17, 2003

Saturday, March 15, 2003

Wednesday, March 12, 2003

Monday, March 10, 2003

Sunday, March 09, 2003

Saturday, March 08, 2003

Friday, March 07, 2003

Thursday, March 06, 2003

Tuesday, March 04, 2003

Monday, March 03, 2003

Sunday, March 02, 2003

About Me

Links

Previous Posts

Archives